Radclyffe - Word of Honor

Blair smoothed her hand over Cam’s chest and down the center of her abdomen. “What did Valerie need to see you about?”

Cam hesitated, her natural instinct not to worry Blair surfacing even as she knew what she had to do. What Blair needed her to do. “We got a little bit of a break. We might have a lead as to Matheson’s whereabouts.”

“What will you do if you find him?”

Blair’s tone was casual, but Cam felt her tense and the hand that had been playing over her abdomen grew still. “We’ll go after him.”

“We?”

“The last time I shared our intelligence, someone warned him and he slipped through our net.” Cam couldn’t keep the fury from her voice. “That’s not going to happen again.”

“But I thought that was because Valerie’s handler was working with Matheson and tipped him off. There’s no way that can happen again.”

Cam sighed. “No, that particular leak has been taken care of. But I can’t trust that he was the only one who wanted Matheson to succeed, and what happened yesterday afternoon makes me suspect Matheson has more friends on the inside than we realize.”

Blair sat up so she could look directly into Cam’s face. And so that Cam could see hers. “I understand, I really do. I know he has to be stopped. I know how badly you want to stop him.” What she had to ask next—opening herself, revealing herself—went against every instinct and everything she was, but she did it without hesitation. Cam meant that much to her. “I need it not to be you who goes after him. Please, Cam. Send someone else.”

“Ah, baby,” Cam murmured. She wanted him dead, but she could live with him behind bars. What she couldn’t live with was him free to come after Blair again or help orchestrate another savage attack that could cost hundreds, possibly thousands of lives. Matheson and everything he represented was the reason she did what she did. In many ways, fighting men like him made her who she was. Valerie’s voice played in her mind. You can’t keep doing this to her, Cameron.

For as long as she could remember, Cam had relied on her duty to give her a sense of purpose and meaning, even in the darkest moments. After Janet had been killed and she’d been tormented by guilt, when she’d felt dead inside and disconnected from everything in her life, her duty and Valerie’s humanity had been her only salvation. She was not that person any longer, and she had other duties, perhaps even a greater duty, beyond that to her country. “We have no evidence that he has a large force with him. Hopefully I’ll only need a small team to apprehend him.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll put Savard in charge.”

“And you won’t go?”

Cam took Blair’s hand. “I won’t go.”

Blair bowed her head and kissed Cam’s fingers. “Thank you.”

Cam shook her head. “Don’t thank me. I love you. You let Stark and her team protect you, and I know how much you hate it. You do that because I need it.”

“It doesn’t feel like the same thing.”

“It is.” Cam threaded her fingers through Blair’s hair and drew her back down beside her. She kissed her. “It’s exactly the same thing.”

“This love thing is really hard, isn’t it?” Blair murmured.

Cam laughed. “It is. But I wouldn’t change a thing.” She guided Blair on top of her and shifted her legs so their bodies melded. “And it definitely has its advantages.”

Blair skimmed her mouth over Cam’s breast. “Let me show you just how many.”

Chapter Eighteen

Renee found Paula working at the desk that used to be Cameron Roberts’s in the far corner of the command center. Other than the agent watching the monitors at the opposite end of the room, the place was empty. It was five p.m. on Saturday, after all, and the agents who were off-shift were probably either with their families or out enjoying themselves. She couldn’t remember a time when Saturday night had seemed any different than a weeknight. She and Paula hadn’t had an evening alone together since before 9/11. And they weren’t going to tonight, either.

“We got a hit,” Renee said. “I’ll be leaving soon. Probably won’t be back until late morning.”

Stark put her pen down and pushed the work aside without looking up. After a pause, she shifted slowly in her chair and looked up at Renee. “You’re heading the mission?”

Renee nodded. The OHS team routinely shared intelligence with Blair’s protection detail, especially when the information impacted the first daughter’s security. This mission didn’t, not yet, but they all had a stake in tracking Matheson down. Especially Paula. Renee didn’t want to worry her lover any more than necessary, but she’d already changed into her black camos and T-shirt. She wasn’t wearing her weapons yet, but Paula had to know what kind of operation was planned.

“Where?” Paula asked.

“Where we suspected. Virginia.”

“How many people are going with you?” Paula asked.

“Enough. All good people.” Renee checked that the other agent’s attention was occupied, then squatted down beside Paula’s chair and put her hand on her knee. “I won’t be able to call until it’s over, but I will as soon as I can.”

Paula held Renee’s hand in both of hers, her head bowed as if she were studying the surface of Renee’s fingers. She rubbed her thumb over Renee’s knuckles. “You’re okay? You didn’t get much sleep.”

Renee leaned closer. “I’m fine, sweetie. I hate for you to worry.”

“Make sure someone has your back, okay?” Paula raised her head, her eyes dark with thinly disguised anxiety. “Don’t be a hero.”

“I don’t plan to be.” Renee kissed her. “We’ve got more than enough of them around here already.”

“Okay then,” Paula said, forcing a smile. “So I’ll see you tomorrow sometime. We may be on our way to Colorado by the time you get back.”

Renee brushed her thumb over Paula’s cheek, then straightened. “Then I’ll see you on the slopes. Love you.”

“I love you too,” Paula murmured.

Renee turned and walked swiftly away, knowing that the best way for her to ease the worry in her lover’s eyes was to get the job done, get it done right, and come home. That was exactly what she intended to do.

Blair closed her book and dropped it onto the floor beside the couch. She could feel Cam’s tension from across the room. “Why don’t you go downstairs.”

“In a few minutes.” Cam leaned over and kissed Blair’s forehead. “Trying to get rid of me?”

“Actually, yes. You’re driving me crazy with your pacing.”

“I’m not pacing.”

“We’re going to have to have the floors resurfaced in front of the windows, darling. You’ve walked off the varnish.”

“Sorry,” Cam muttered.

“Sit for a second.” Blair patted the space next to her. They’d slept all morning, then Cam had showered and gone to the command center. She’d come back a little over an hour before so they could eat dinner together. Cam tried to hide it, but Blair could tell she was distracted. “You’re sending a team out, aren’t you?”

Cam settled next to her and leaned her head back. “Yes.”

“Is it big?”

“We might have Matheson’s safe house.”

Blair tensed. “How?”

“Felicia tracked a suspect cell phone call to the Norfolk area. We found a property in the tower radius owned by a man named Jeremy Barton. He’s the son of an Army buddy of Matheson’s. We’re hoping Matheson is there.”

“Did Lucinda call in the special ops?”

“Not this time,” Cam hedged, since Lucinda didn’t know about the operation. No one did. “We’re going in fast and light. Just our people and some of Tanner’s.”