Iris Johansen - Dead Aim

"She won't be hurt. I promise. I won't let her near me."

"That's not good enough." He muttered an oath. "Don't you think I'm going to go after the bastards who shot Sarah? But I can't do it now. I have to get her well first. Leave it to me." She shook her head.

He drew a deep breath. "Think about it. Reconsider. I'm taking Sarah to our place by the ocean. When she gets well enough to ask questions, I want to be able to tell her you're absolutely safe."

"I'm sorry. There's no use talking anymore. I can't do it." A multitude of expressions flitted over his face as he watched her open the door. "Believe me, I'm sorry too."

He turned and strode toward the policeman standing guard down the hall.

That had almost sounded like a threat, Alex thought. Logan clearly liked his own way and was terribly concerned about Sarah. Well, so was she. She had been terrified all the way to the hospital until she'd gotten the word that Sarah was going to be all right.

Sarah's eyes were closed as Alex approached the bed. But she must have sensed a presence, for her lids lifted. "Hi."

"How do you feel?"

"Blurry. They've got me doped up." Her voice was slurred.

"I think… Was John here?"

"Yes."

"Good. Always wanted you to meet him." "I'd rather it not have been like this."

"Where's Monty?"

"He's curled up beside your bed. I raised hell until they let him stay. It helped that they knew you were one of the search-and-rescue teams. You and the other rescue workers are their heroes."

"Bull. But thanks for Monty…" She yawned. "Sleepy." "I'll get out of here. I just wanted to see- I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Fine…" Her eyes were closing. Then she suddenly came awake. "Who was it? Who tried to hurt you?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. He was gone by the time the fire department came."

"Tell John. You could be… Might happen again."

"Hey, I'm fine. Leopold called in the FBI and I'm going to be positively surrounded." She brushed the hair from Sarah's face. "And you were the one who got shot."

"Bad aim?"

"He probably aimed for you because he wanted the car to go off the cliff and explode. There wouldn't have been much evidence left." She leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Now stop worrying and go to sleep. Everything will be fine. I'm going to go now. Leopold wants me to talk to Bob Jurgens, some FBI agent."

"Good. But tell John." She was dozing off again. "He'll fix it. He's good at fixing things."

Alex had a sudden memory of Logan's grim expression when she'd told him that she wasn't going to do what he wanted. "I'm sure he is," she murmured as she headed for the door. "And I imagine he's pretty good at breaking things too."

Sarah was sleeping.

Logan sat down in the visitor's chair and covered her hand with his own. God, she looked fragile.

Don't panic. The doctor said she was going to be fine.

He'd better be right. Logan wouldn't be able to stand it if

Sarah was taken from

Stop it. She was going to get well.

Monty whimpered, got up, and put his chin on Logan's knee.

"Shh." He stroked the dog's head. "We've got to let her sleep. We have to take care of her, boy."

And he would take care of her. This wasn't going to happen again. He couldn't take any chance of Sarah being hurt. He would stay here beside her for a little while, holding her hand and celebrating the fact that she was alive and still with him.

And then he would phone Galen.

The White House

3:35 A.M.

"Could I speak to you for a moment, Mr. President?" Andreas leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

God, he was tired. He must be getting old. "As long as you're not here to tell me there's been another bombing, Keller. I'm not up to that right now."

The Secret Service man smiled faintly as he shook his head. "I beg to disagree. I've known you too long, sir. In an emergency you bounce right back."

"Your confidence is gratifying," Andreas said dryly. "If to tally misplaced. Why are you here, Keller?"

"It's the trip to Arapahoe Junction, sir. There have been some developments that make me uneasy. I want to cancel your visit."

Andreas stiffened. "What developments?"

"I told you about the recent landslide. It's not safe."

"Bullshit." His gaze narrowed on Keller's face. "You told me that the dam disaster was probably caused by an earthquake. This second landslide seems to indicate an aftershock. Has anything changed?"

"No, it's the most likely explanation. There doesn't appear to be anything suspicious."

"Well, I want to go there and see for myself."

"Sir, we weren't compromised."

"Compromised? What a nice clean word when you're talk ing about the death of over a hundred people." He met Keller's gaze. "I'll accept the possibility that natural disasters happen. I won't accept the possibility that we may not be exploring every avenue to determine that's what it really was."

"The CIA assures me that there's absolutely no sign there was terrorist involvement at Arapahoe Dam. Ben Danley says Cordoba and his Matanza group were too busy staging the bombing in Mexico City. They may be widespread, but it would take enormous resources to attack us on our own turf.

That hasn't been their modus operandi in the past."

"That doesn't mean they can't change. Maybe they're graduating to the big leagues."

"Mexico City was fairly big league, sir," Keller said quietly. "Two of our embassy workers were killed. I know it pales in comparison to Arapahoe Junction, but I'd say Matanza was stepping up to the-"

"I know," Andreas said. "I wasn't thinking." He was so tired it was difficult to focus. "So tell me the real reason you don't want me to go to Arapahoe Dam."

Keller hesitated. "It's not just this trip. I believe you should stick close to the White House for the next few months.

I've proved I can keep you safe here. We've managed to foil two attempts on your life since the last election."

"And I'm duly grateful." He grimaced. "I'm particularly grateful you managed to keep the attempts from Chelsea."

"I don't want gratitude for doing my job. I'm only saying that the Matanza threats against you are becoming increasingly frequent and pointed. There'll come a time when Cordoba and his group will have to put up or shut up and lose face among their fellow terrorists. I think that time is very

" near.

"So do I."

"Then don't go. The Vice President can make the trip. You know he's offered to go wherever we think there may be a threat to you."

"And I let Shepard stand in for me at two hot spots I'd rather have handled myself."

"But it would be perfectly logical to let him go to Arapahoe.

He's already visited there once with Homeland Security, right after the break. This would just be a follow-up. You could empower him to do anything you would do."

"We don't even know that there is a threat at Arapahoe. And I'm not going to let just the possibility that it might have been Matanza change my schedule. I've cooperated, I've given in to your restrictions more than I like, Keller. Since you have no proof, I'm going to Arapahoe Dam as planned." He smiled as he bent over his desk. "It's your baby. Protect me. I guarantee my wife will have your head if I lose mine."

He sighed. "I don't have the slightest doubt of that, Mr. President."

Ben Danley got to his feet as Keller came out of Andreas's office. "No luck?"

Keller shook his head. "He's going." He grimaced. "I might have had a leg to stand on if you and your CIA buddies hadn't sworn that Matanza had nothing to do with the dam break. Want to change your mind?"

Danley shook his head. "I have to call them the way I see them. Unless new evidence surfaces, I have to stand by my intelligence reports."