Radclyffe: Love & Honor

"What about his wife?" Cam asked. "Anything there?"

Mack shook his head, reading from the screen. "Not that I can see. They were married four years ago. Wife Patricia, maiden name Carpenter, educated-"

"Patty Carpenter? College at Amherst?"

Mac's head snapped up. "That's right."

"God," Blair breathed. It was her turn to stand and pace. She walked from the group to the windows, needing a semblance of space and air. Even the huge loft seemed suddenly too small. As she considered the new information, she ran her fingers over the double-paned bullet proof glass. She was beginning to see how all of this had come about, but what to do about it wasn't as simple as she had imagined it would be. Knowing did not make the solution all that easy. She jumped, startled, when Cam came to her side.

"What is it?"

"I know her. And I think I know how her husband came to have that photograph of us."

"But?" Cam asked gently, sensing Blair's struggle.

Blair took a deep breath and turned to search Cam's eyes. They were tender, patient, giving her time to decide. And in the deep, uncompromising love she found there, she found her answers.

"But nothing, really. Your reputation, your career, is at risk here. Our relationship is at least in danger of being interrupted by negative publicity and pressure from any number of quarters. I can't let that happen."

"It's a friend, isn't it?"

"Yes," Blair sighed, resting her palm on Cam's chest, her fingers gently stroking, "it's a friend. And you're my lover."

"Blair, we can find a way through this. I don't want you to betray-"

"Cameron," Blair said with a fond shake of her head. "When are you going to learn that you are the one thing that matters more to me than anything in this world?"

Without waiting for Cam's answer, she walked back to Felicia and Mac, who were pointedly not looking in their direction.

"Mac, try cross-referencing those two committees with the name Gerald Wallace."

Mac's eyebrows flew up, and even Felicia's normally calm countenance registered surprise. "SenatorWallace?"

"Yes," Blair said.

"With a name to follow," Felicia commented as she stood, smoothing the lines of her skirt over long slender thighs, "I might have something for you within a few hours."

"Senator Wallace," Mac repeated. "Theres been a low level hum for months that hell challenge your father for the nomination. Jesus Christ, this is going to get ugly."

Cam moved to Blair's side, and rested her fingers lightly on the back of Blair's hand. "Let's try to see that it doesn't. Keep this totally under wraps. Advise Stark and Savard, but nothing gets written down. Reset the hard drives, and only one hardcopy to me along with all the disks," she advised.

"I can guarantee our security here," Felicia said without hesitation.

"Good. I'll be here when you have something."

The two agents nodded and departed. Cam turned to Blair and said, "Can you tell me now what's going on?"

Blair sat heavily on the sofa, extending one hand for Cam to join her. When they were both settled, facing one another, Blair said quietly, "Gerald Wallace is AJ's father."

"Ah-and how did you make the connection?"

"Patty and AJ were roommates at Amherst. That's why she used Patty's husband-because he would hold off on a follow-up story if AJ asked him to, whereas any other reporter would have kept digging."

"It fits," Cam mused. "That explains why the media interest in you has been pretty low-key, too, despite that one photo in the Star. There hasn't been anything else to chase." She grimaced. "Of course, they'll still want their story."

"That explains why AJ didn't call me, too. She warned me in the only way she could without betraying her father. I doubt that she ever thought we would figure it out and uncover his involvement."

"Christ, if Justice and the Bureau and Wallace have been colluding to covertly investigate political figures on the Hill, including the president, it's going to be a scandal of major proportions."

"And if it comes out that AJ was the leak, she's going to lose her job." Blair tightened her grip on Cam's hand. "I don't want that to happen, Cam. She was trying to help me. I can imagine how hard it must've been for her to send me information when it endangered her father's career. I can't turn around and destroy her's."

"It might be better if we just did nothing," Cam said resignedly. "I can weather a Justice inquiry."

"Not if the cards are stacked against you," Blair protested. "You know and I know and everyone involved knows that your actions were perfectly appropriate during the entire Loverboy operation. But if Doyle has enough pull to get you investigated, who knows what the outcome might be? We can't chance that."

"But if it means we can avoid creating a public scandal that might extend even further than we imagine, I'll chance it." Cam ran the hand that was not clasping Blair's over her face. "I have a responsibility to the Agency, to the system, and I don't want to put it on public trial for my own personal benefit. I'm willing to risk the inquiry."

"Well, I'm not," Blair said softly, lifting her free hand to run it through Cam's hair. "Not when it's you. Besides, it's not just a Justice inquiry. God knows what they're going to do with the information about you and the escort service, or how they might try to link me to it."

"If I can get hard facts, I'll go to Carlisle before Justice convenes tomorrow," Cam said, thinking aloud. "It's possible with that kind of ammunition he can stop the inquiry before it becomes a matter of record. I'm not sure yet what we can do about the rest of it."

"I might have some ideas," Blair said.

"I don't suppose there's any chance that I can talk you into staying out of this, is there?"

Blair smiled softly and kissed her. When she drew back, she said, "Not a chance in hell."

Chapter Thirty-Five

Blair's bed faced the floor-to-ceiling windows, and from the top floor, all Cam could see was the moon and the shadows of buildings across the square. Blair was curled around her, her head on Cam's shoulder, one arm and leg thrown over Cam's body. Resting her cheek against the silken softness of Blair's hair, Cam breathed her scent and softly stroked the curve of her hip and listened to her even breathing as she slept.

They'd made love quickly, not because of time, but because of need. Their kisses had been ferocious, their hands greedy, their bodies aflame. When they'd climaxed, it has been as much with hunger as release.

Lying there with her, realizing it was one of the very few times they had ever spent even part of the night together, Cam struggled with the anguish of knowing that it might be a long time before she would hold her again. Despite the hope that her colleagues and friends would find some concrete evidence that she could use as a bargaining chip with Carlisle, she despaired that she would be able to change what had already been set in motion. Thinking about Doyle and his deeply harbored animosity over a relationship that was long dead and his jealousy over a woman who had left him long before she died as well, Cam struggled to keep the regrets and remorse over Janet's death buried. She knew Blair was right-that it wasn't her fault or even her responsibility-but she couldn't stop remembering the disappointment that had flickered in Janet's eyes just before the life left them. Now she might lose another woman, a woman whom she knew she couldnt live without, and she felt the dams crack.

Blair stirred and whispered, "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Ididn't mean to wake you," Cam managed, wondering why her throat felt so tight.

Blair ran her fingers over Cam's face and drew a sharp breath. Her hand came away wet with tears. Stunned, heart aching, she pushed herself up in bed and gathered Cam into her arms. "It's all right," she murmured, holding her tightly, rocking her without even thinking about it. "Tell me?"