Blair reached for Cameron's arm, gripping her with surprising strength. "I don't want to go to a hospital. The media will be all over this. My father is in Southeast Asia, and there's no need for him to be disturbed."


Cameron had no intention of arguing with Blair. Even now, her team was taking the suspect downhill to the lodge. She would question him herself as soon as Blair was taken care of. She had to approach this as if it were an attempt on Blair's life. Because that was all she could assume it was. The time for respecting Blair's wishes was past. This was not something she could compromise about.


Blair watched Cameron's jaw tighten, and she knew there was no room for negotiation. "At least let me call him and tell him I'm all right, before this is all over the news."


Cameron nodded. "Of course."


**********


Six hours later, Cameron nodded to the agent seated outside Blair Powell's hospital room and gently pushed the door open. She stood for a moment, trying to ascertain in the dim light if Blair were awake.


"Come in."


Cameron approached the bed, and stood looking down at Blair's pale face. "Did I wake you?"


"No. I was just lying here plotting my escape."


Cam laughed with just a hint of sarcasm. "Why is it that I believe you?"


A faint smile flickered across Blair's full lips. For an instant, her eyes sparkled with a youthful joy that had not been present for many years. "Perhaps because you're starting to learn my tricks."


Cameron edged the chair close to the side of the bed and sat, leaning forward so that Blair could see her. Softly she said, "I doubt very much that I will ever recognize all of your tricks."


"You might," Blair whispered, "if you gave me the chance to teach you."


It was Cameron's turn to smile. She chose to ignore the remark, instinctively sensing Blair's vulnerability, and recognizing that this was not a time for them to struggle. She stared at Blair's hand, lying motionless on the thin hospital-issue covers. She remembered the grace with which that same hand had moved across the sketch pad, capturing her own likeness with startling perceptiveness. No one since her mother had been able to portray her so accurately. Without meaning to, Cameron gently covered Blair's slender fingers with her own. She had meant to reassure her, and found herself reassured instead.


For a brief moment on the mountainside, she had thought that Blair was injured. Her choking fear was much more than just her concern for the person she guarded. She could not bear the thought of Blair being harmed, and she dared not examine too closely the reasons why.


Cameron cleared her throat, trying to ignore the sudden tingling in her fingers as Blair intertwined her fingers with Cam's. "Your assailant was a 16 your old boy who decided he was going to ski downhill through the trees from an adjoining trail. He wasn't even supposed to be there, but somehow no one was watching that particular part of the course. He had no idea who you were, and in fact I still don't think he does."


"So I'm safe for the moment?" Blair asked with just a hint of bitterness.


Cam nodded. "We've managed to keep this very low profile, and I don't think there's going to be much publication about it in the media."


Blair sighed gratefully. "Thank you. I want to get out of here this afternoon and go back to the lodge."


"Why does that not surprise me either?" Cam said with resignation. "I've taken the liberty of checking with your physicians, and they told me that if your headache is okay, they'd be willing to discharge you."


"Good. I feel like I'm in a fish bowl in here."


Cameron stood, resisting the urge to brush the errant strands of blond hair off Blair's cheek. "I'll see to the arrangements."


Cameron was almost to the door before Blair spoke. "Thank you for protecting me this afternoon," she said softly. She still felt the unexpected comfort of Cameron's embrace as she had lain in Cam's arms in the snow.


Cameron gripped the handle so hard her fingers ached. For a brief moment, she felt again the sheer terror she had experienced as she watched Blair fall. She could not afford to feel that for her. She could not afford to feel anything for her. In a tone harsher than she intended, she said sharply, "I was only doing in my job, Ms. Powell."


Then she was gone, and Blair was alone once more.








Chapter Fifteen



"How's your head?" Cam asked as she slipped into the seat next to Blair.


"I'll live," Blair responded, strangely subdued. In fact, the slightest vertical movement of the aircraft produced a wave of nausea that threatened to overpower her considerable self-control. Fortunately, the skies were clear and the jet streaked toward New York City with very little turbulence. Otherwise, she was very much afraid she would embarrass herself.


It didn't escape Cam's notice that Blair's face was chalk white, and her normally crystal clear blue eyes clouded with pain. Cam inclined her head closer, although the other agents and Diane were 10 rows further forward, engaged in conversation or napping. She and Blair were quite alone. Nevertheless, Cam did not want their private conversation overheard. "You don't have to be a hero, you know. Why don't you take a couple of pain pills and try to rest."


Blair started to shake her head, and abruptly stopped when the slight movement caused her stomach to lurch. "Believe me, Commander, I am no hero. The problem is, the pain pills tend to make me sicker than the pain."


Cam laughed softly as she shifted in her seat and pushed the center arm rest up out of the way. She laid her left arm along the backs of the seats and offered Blair her shoulder. "Just try to close your eyes for the rest of the flight. It's probably the only thing that will do any good. Believe me, I've been in your position more than once. The only way to get through it is pills or sleep."


Blair knew instinctively that Cam's offer of comfort was prompted by sympathy, and no special feelings for her. Nevertheless, what she needed at that moment was precisely what Cameron offered. Simple human comfort. She allowed her body to relax against Cam's side, and rested her head in the curve of Cam's arm. She knew she wouldn't sleep, but perhaps if she closed her eyes the pain would lessen.


Cam gently stretched her legs out in front of her and settled back into the seat. In only a minute or two, she knew from the rhythmic motion of Blair's breathing that she had settled into sleep. The faint background drone of the engines and the warmth of Blair's body along her side lulled her into a sense of peacefulness that she had long forgotten. She stared out the window, and thought of nothing. For those few precious hours, Blair's presence was all she needed. As she dozed, she rested her cheek on the fragrant softness of Blair's hair.


**********


As the plane touched down, Cam and Blair awoke together. Neither of them moved. Cam's hand had drifted down from the seat and was curled gently along Blair's side, resting just beneath her breast. In her sleep, Blair had turned to thread her arm around Cam's waist. She lay with her head tucked beneath Cam's chin, resting in her arms. They held each other as if it had always been.


As the others in the cabin began to stand and stretch, Cam lifted her arm from around Blair's body, acutely aware of how much she did not want to let her go. "Ms. Powell, we need to depart."


With a sigh, Blair pushed herself upright and brushed her hands through her wild tresses. She noted with just a hint of surprise that her headache was gone. "Yes, of course we do."


She glanced at Cameron, startled to see a fleeting look that might have been regret cross her handsome face. Then, the professional impenetrable mask returned, and Cam simply smiled in agreement.


Cam left her then to move forward and speak to her people regarding the plans for transportation back to the townhouse. Diane worked her way down the aisle to Cam's vacant seat. "You two looked very cozy together," she remarked dryly.


"Leave it alone, Diane," Blair said quietly.


Diane bit back the retort she had been about to make. There was something in her old friend's voice that warned her off. In fact, theyhad looked very good together.Too good together. They looked as if they had held each other a thousand times before. Diane simply shook her head and left unspoken her words of caution. Something told her that Blair was beyond hearing.


**********


Cameron sat her paper cup of coffee down on the worktable and glanced over at Mac with a quizzical lift of her eyebrow. "Is she still upstairs?"


"Yup, three days straight," Mac said with a shake of his head.


Cameron wasn't sure what to make of it, but she knew she didn't like it. Ever since they had touched down at JFK, Blair had not been herself. She had sent word that she intended to work in her studio, and would not require daily meetings with Cameron. Cam had not protested, feeling that to do so would be a further invasion of Blair's privacy. Nevertheless, the atmosphere in the command center resembled the calm before the storm. All of them expected Blair to burst forth from her isolation at any moment, and lead them once again on a merry chase. For her part, Cam almost wished she would. There was something unnerving about the sudden change in Blair's behavior.


Better the enemy I know,Cam muttered to herself. She picked up her coffee and headed to her small glass enclosed office. Mac looked after her, thinking that Blair Powell wasn't the only one who was not acting like themselves.


Things continued much the same for another week. The agents came and went, whiling away the hours of their shift reading, talking in hushed tones, and generally wondering when the bomb would drop. Cam spent as little time as possible within the confines of the command center. She jogged, she worked out, she read in her apartment. She left strict orders to be called the moment Blair gave any indication that she was preparing to leave the building. On the night of the eighth day, the call finally came.


"She just got into a cab and is headed downtown," Mac informed her.


"Shit," Cam cursed. "How did you let that happen?"


Mac's discomfort was nearly palpable, even over the phone. "There wasn't anything we could do short of physically stopping her. She just walked out of the building, stepped into the street, and flagged a checkered down. We were lucky to get the car out fast enough to follow her."


Cam sighed slightly in relief. "Then you have her in sight?"


"Roger that. Hold on a second--"


Cam paced the confines of her living room, the cellular phone gripped tightly in her hand. Although they had had no further contact from whoever had left the note outside Blair's door, she was worried that they weren't the only ones watching the President's daughter. Anytime Blair was without an escort, Cam was fearful for her safety.


"She just went into a bar on Houston," Mac informed her.


"Name and address?" Cam asked tersely.


"Rendezvous," Mac stated. After a second, he gave her the address as well.


"I'm on my way."


Less than 15 minutes later, Cam was in the bar, scanning the already crowded dance floor and surrounding tables for Blair. It was approaching midnight on a Saturday night, and the room was packed. The lighting was dim and the air thick with smoke, making it difficult for her to see across the room. She began threading her way through the crowd at the perimeter of the room, guessing that Blair would be in the shadows somewhere. Sure enough, she finally saw her talking to a young woman with impressive tattoos encircling both upper arms.


The woman with Blair was obviously a serious body builder, and her tight white tank top was clearly meant to display her hard-earned physique. She wore low-cut button fly jeans that showed off her muscular thighs to full advantage. At the moment, her hand was stroking the length of the Blair's bare arm, drawing closer to Blair's breast with each movement. Cam gritted her teeth, and tried to ignore the seduction in progress. She watched as Blair pressed closer to the other woman, remembering the moment when Blair had moved against her like that, claiming her insistently with a kiss. Cam's body immediately stirred to the memory, her clitoris hardening almost instantly.