Honor Under Siege

“You talked to her?

“Briefl y. Shes scared, Blair. Dianes voice broke. “She scared,

and shes alone.

“What did she

say?

Diane shook her head. “Not much. It was only a couple of

minutes. She laughed unsteadily. “And I was kissing her about

half the time.

Blair rol ed her eyes. “Why am I not surprised. Jesus, Diane.

You have to be careful. When Diane started to pull away,

Blair tightened her grip. “Im sorry, I know you love her. And

I love you. And if shes in trouble, you could get hurt. Blair

felt Diane shiver. “What? What happened?

“Nothing, Diane said quickly. “Real y. Its

just

“What?

“Someone came into the stairwell while we were together,

and Valerie acted as if she expected someone to try to hurt

her. She was armed and

“Thats it, Blair snapped. “You have to talk to

Cam.

“I dont have to do anything until Im certain Valerie will

be

protected.

“You dont trust Cam?

“Shh, Diane warned, aware that Paula and Felicia had closed the

distance behind them. “I dont know who to trust, al right? I trust you .

Just let me have a few days. Please.

Blair bit back another angry retort, thinking that she would probably

behave the same way in Dianes position. Stil , she wasnt certain she

trusted Valerie, not just with her best friends heart, but possibly with her

life.

Chapter Nine

I ts Cameron Roberts, Cam said in response to the question cal ed

through the door. The thunk of the lock disengaging was fol owed by the

door opening, and she was face to face with a panicked-looking Renée

Savard.

“Is Paula okay? Savard asked, her voice

tight.

“Yes, Cam said immediately. “Shes fi ne. Sorry, I shouldnt have

come by unannounced. I wanted to talk to you.

“Thats okay, Savard said, running her fi ngers quickly through her hair

as she stepped back.

“Thanks, Cam said. A quick visual sweep of the dimly lit room revealed

closed drapes, an unmade bed, and a room service cart just inside the

door. The food on the uncovered plate was mostly uneaten. The three

bot les of Becks were empty.

Savard grabbed the cart. “Here, let me get rid of

this.

“Ive got it. Cam held the door open with one hand as she pul ed the

cart out

into the hal . Then she fol owed Savard toward the two chairs and

smal table that comprised the sit ing area. She noticed Savards

limp fi rst and then registered that she wasnt wearing her knee

immobilizer over her navy FBI sweatpants. The loose wrinkled white

T-shirt was also FBI issue. Savards initial panicked expression had

changed to one that Cam recognized as weary resignation. “Hows

the leg?

“Fine, Savard avoided her eyes. She eased into one of the chairs

without bending her knee.

“Going a lit le stir-

crazy?

Savard grimaced. “Been there and

back.

“How did you like being assigned to counterterrorism? Cam asked as she

took the chair opposite Savard at the lit le round table.

Savard blinked, then her body seemed suddenly infused with energy.

She sat forward, her elbows on the table, her eyes fi xed intently on

Cams face. “Before

9/11 it used to bug me a lit le bit, how much time I had to spend at the

desk on the computer, sifting through bits of data and chunks of memos,

screening crazy tips from civilians about strange looking characters in

their neighborhood. She shrugged. “Stil , when we identifi ed persons

of interest or traced messages to potential cel s, I felt like I was doing

something.

“What about now? You said before

9/11.

Savard averted her gaze again and slumped back in her chair. “I

fucked up.

“You did? You personal y? Cam had seen Savard close to coming apart

when Stark had been hospitalized fol owing exposure to a possibly

lethal biological agent. Even as bad as it was then, Savard hadnt looked

or sounded like this. As if shed somehow already given up on

everything. “How do you fi gure that?

“I was there, Commander. Not just in New York City, but right in the

goddamn building that they hit. What kind of an agent sits in the target

zone and doesnt even have a clue about whats coming?

“I was in the Aerie, Cam said, “and my only job my number one priority

was to see that no one got close to Egret. I failed.

“Thats not true, Renée said sharply. “Blairs alive because of you and

your team. No one could have anticipated that kind of assault in the

middle of Manhat an. Jesus, Foster was one of us.

“Thats real y the point, isnt it? No one anticipated either of those events,

which makes us al equal y responsible. Cam didnt point out the very

real dif erences between her degree of culpability and Savards. It had

not been Renée Savards responsibility to anticipate disaster

scenarios on a worldwide scale, but safeguarding the fi rst daughter

against any conceivable at ack had been Cams. No amount of