Valerie turned her icy gaze on Dana. “I can have you removed from this room and permanently denied access to Blair Powell in less than a second. How much do you want to complete your assignment?”

“All right,” Dana said slowly, holding Valerie’s gaze. “I’ve been saying this a lot tonight, but off the record, how long do you think it will be before we hear anything?”

“I don’t know.” Valerie turned her attention back to the street. “The White House has a press department that handles the kinds of questions you’re asking.”

Dana laughed. “And I believe in the tooth fairy too.”

A smile flickered at the corner of Valerie’s mouth. “I’ve only allowed you to stay this long because this morning the deputy director cleared you to have unrestricted access. If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be here.”

“So you’re in charge when she’s unavailable?”

“No comment.”

“Can you give me your official title?”

Silence.

“How about a last name.”

Silence.

“All right, no questions. I’ll talk.” Dana rubbed the back of her neck, calculating how many shots she might have in getting anything out of the Sphinx. “This is how I see things. There’s two teams working out of a base somewhere in this building—one is the first daughter’s Secret Service detail and the other is some kind of special OHS detachment. The deputy director heads the team of OHS people here— you’re one of them, probably second in command. There’s some kind of crossover between the two teams, because Stark is following your lead now, which is really unusual for someone in her position.” Dana thought about that for a minute. The Secret Service was notorious for not sharing responsibility for their protectees. They usually liaised with the White House press staff during advance planning for public events, but the Secret Service made all the calls on security. And yet Stark readily deferred to Valerie. Why? “Stark knows you. She trusts you. If she didn’t, she’d be fighting you every step of the way. How am I doing so far?”

“No comment.”

“I’m going to print what I see if I don’t have anything else.”

Valerie ignored her, still looking unfazed.

Dana worked her hands into her pockets and rocked back and forth, figuring the angles. “There’s only one reason for the OHS and Blair’s security team to be so entwined. I’m betting some of the OHS detachment here used to be Secret Service.” Her heart rate shot up as the pieces fell together in her mind. When that happened, it was always a rush, nearly as invigorating as the adrenaline high of danger or the orgasmic satisfaction of great sex. “Jesus Christ. Blair Powell is the focus of both teams because someone thinks the terrorists are after her.”

Valerie sighed as if in disappointment. “Writers have such active imaginations.”

“Or maybe they’ve already tried. When? When was the attempt on her?” Dana couldn’t believe the White House had kept this quiet. And now she understood why Cameron Roberts supported her being this close to Blair. Roberts was trying to limit Blair’s visibility because she was a goddamned target. Oh yeah, there was a story here all right. A hot story. Dana started away, knowing she wasn’t going to get anything out of this agent, if that’s what she was.

Valerie stopped her with a viselike grip on her arm. “If I were to think you were going to write about any of your theories, I might have to sequester you and restrict all your communications.”

Dana wasn’t all that surprised by the threat, but she hadn’t expected the complete absence of anger. Valerie No Last Name appeared to be completely unprovokeable. Even Cameron Roberts had shown some fire when Dana had pushed about Blair. This woman Valerie fascinated her. And she knew one thing for certain now. There was nowhere she wanted to be for the foreseeable future, except with Blair Powell. “I suppose it’s been a long time since you’ve read the Bill of Rights. You know, the part about freedom of the press?”

“I’m not playing games,” Valerie said easily. “Your press pass doesn’t protect you when matters of national security are at stake.”

“And who decides that?”

“I do.”

“Who’s going to decide exactly what will be on the record, other than the menu for the wedding?”

“I believe that will be up to the deputy director.” For an instant, Valerie’s cool facade shifted and Dana caught a glimpse of something dark and dangerous in her eyes before Valerie added, “When she returns.”

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Emory tugged Dana’s sleeve and pulled her away from Valerie, who immediately turned back to the window.

“Sure.” Dana followed Emory to the breakfast bar, surprised that Emory had sought her out since she was pretty certain that her talking to Blair had confirmed for Emory just how self-serving and callous she was. She slid onto one of the stools. Someone had turned the lights down so that the area was dim, giving the false impression of privacy. “Something wrong?”

“I thought I should rescue you before you got yourself into trouble.”

“Worried about me?” Dana said lightly. Ordinarily, she would be irritated by anyone trying to interfere with her work, but the little frown lines between Emory’s dark brows indicated real concern. After witnessing the passionate interconnections between Blair Powell, her friends, and those who guarded her, Dana realized just how much she wanted someone to care about her. To wonder about where she was and to worry if she didn’t come home. Maybe that was a pipe dream, but the breathless pleasure she got from the troubled look in Emory’s eyes was not a dream. The feeling was real and sweet and she wanted more of it. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a champion.”

Emory’s lips parted in pleasant surprise, and as she leaned closer she rested her hand on Dana’s thigh. “I can see what you’re doing, and you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Dana grinned. “For a scientist, you’re remarkably subtle. And at the moment, imprecise too.”

“Don’t joke. You don’t know what’s going on here, and if you push these people…” Emory shook her head. “Just do the job you came to do. Write about what a warm, wonderful woman Blair Powell is and how much she cares about her country and how much she loves her father. Write about what it costs her to be open and honest about her life with the whole world watching, and a good part of it criticizing. Write about the beautiful love between Blair Powell and Cameron Roberts.”

“I can’t just write about the things that are pretty,” Dana said. “Or easy. Or what people want to hear.”

“Blair’s life is not easy.” Emory snorted. “Believe me, there are a lot of people who don’t want to hear about Blair and Cam.”

“I know that. And I will write about her marriage. But what about what else is going on? What about the danger? Who’s after her, Emory?”

“Don’t. Please don’t go there.”

Emory’s voice was low and almost tortured and Dana had this sudden need to erase her pain. She covered Emory’s hand where it lay on her leg. “You know, don’t you? You know what’s really going on here.” Dana began mentally sorting what she knew about Emory and the things she had read about the first daughter. Blair and Diane Bleeker had been friends since they were teenagers. There had never been any mention of an acquaintance with Emory until some brief news clip about the two of them at a fund-raiser early the previous month. But from what Dana could see now, something had bonded Emory, Blair, and Diane in a powerful way. What’s more, Emory knew a lot of the inside players in the room. Valerie had recognized Emory the instant she’d stepped off the elevator. “Something happened last month, and you were there, weren’t you? When was it? In Boston? Was there an attempt on Blair’s life?” Dana had another thought and her stomach clenched. “On yours?”

“I’ve always been a private person,” Emory said as if she were talking to herself. “But I’ve never had so many secrets in my life.” She pulled her hand from beneath Dana’s and got up. “I wish you weren’t so good at what you do.”

“Emory,” Dana said urgently as Emory turned away, but Emory did not look back. Her abrupt departure left Dana feeling hollow and unspeakably lonely. For the first time ever in her life, she wished the story didn’t always come first.

“Hey,” Blair said, squatting down next to Paula’s chair. “You ought to try eating some of that sandwich. You’ve been on duty all day and it might be a long night.”

“That’s okay. I’m not hungry.”

Paula had never learned Cam’s infuriating ability to hide her pain, but Blair didn’t think Paula was any less good at her job because of it. Paula would do whatever she needed to do, even while she bled to death inside. She was bleeding now, and Blair ached for her. She understood firsthand just how hard it was to silence all the little voices that kept screaming she was going to lose what mattered most to her. But fight to silence the nightmare demons she did, and she would keep on fighting no matter what. “As soon as this is over, I want to get out of here. Tomorrow, let’s go to Colorado.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Or Sunday. That’s only moving things up a couple of days. We were going on Monday, anyhow.”

“I’ll have to clear it with the commander.”

Blair’s heart warmed to Paula’s automatic certainty that Cam would be back. “Why? You’re my security chief. Everything is set out there, right? Mac and Ellen have done all the advance work.”

“They probably have a few more simulations to run with local law enforcement and the medical evac teams, but we’ve been at full readiness since midweek.”

“There, see?” Blair grasped Paula’s arm. “We’ve been planning this for over a month. Now more than ever, Cam, and Renee too, will need to rest. I don’t care what they say. I don’t care who needs to be chased, who has to be caught, who must be punished. For a few days, they need to recover.” She leaned closer. “Or, Paula, next time someone’s going to get hurt.”