by Lynn Ames
“I hope you’re right. Thank you for running with it as a special edition, by the way. If we had failed in saving the president…well, that might have been our only means of exposing the plot.”
“Do you think you’ve put them out of business?”
“Not even close,” Kate said. “You know what they say about cutting off the head of a Hydra?”
“Cut off one, it grows two more.”
“Exactly. That’s the kind of organization the Commission is. We’ve slowed them down for the moment, but I’m sure we’ll hear from them again soon.”
“I’m sorry for interrupting,” the president broke in. “Kate, may I borrow you for a moment?”
Lynn Ames
“Of course, sir.”
The president led them along the same path they had walked that fateful night when he had asked her to meet Keith at the reception. Both of them shivered.
“Kate, have you enjoyed your time off?”
“Two weeks alone with Jay?” She laughed. “It’s been tough, sir, but I’ve muddled through.”
“I have to say, you look much better these days. You seem really happy.”
“Jay has that effect on me, sir.”
“And you on her,” he noted, watching her as she talked with Mimi in the distance. “I wondered if you were ready to get back to work.”
“Of course, sir, any time you need me to.”
“Good. Here’s the thing, though, Kate.” He stopped momentarily, biting his lip as he decided how to word what he would say next. “I’m not entirely convinced that press secretary is where you belong.”
“No, sir? Have I not been doing a good job?”
“It’s nothing like that. You’re the best there is.”
They began walking again. “Then what is it, sir?” Kate asked.
“I want to find a more…suitable position for you.”
Kate frowned. “I can’t imagine there could be such a thing, sir.”
“How would you feel about a more senior level post?”
“Sir?”
“I want to create a new position for you—I haven’t worked out all the details just yet, but the title would be senior adviser to the president.
There’s no one whose judgment or expertise I value more. You would be on a level with my chief of staff. What do you say, Kate?”
“Mr. President, I’m incredibly flattered. But you can’t be serious. I’m not qualified…”
“Of course you are. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise. Look, if you’re tied up dealing with the press all the time, you can’t be examining more global issues. I want to free you up to look at the big picture—to help me chart a strategy for this nation and this administration.”
“This will cause a lot of resentment on your staff, sir.”
“The hell with them,” he waved dismissively.
“You need them, sir.”
“I need you, Kate.”
“Sir, I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you take a day or two to think about it?”
“Thank you, sir, I’ll do that.”
“Kate?”
“Yes, sir?”
The Value of Valor
“Peter asked me a question a while back before everything went to hell about Michael Vendetti being somehow tied to Bob Hawthorne. I want you to know I called him in and questioned him about it.”
“You did, sir?”
“Yes. He admitted everything. Seems he was desperate to be press secretary to the president of the United States. He was part of the Breathwaite-Redfield thing. He says Hawthorne was the ringleader.”
“No kidding.” Kate shook her head sadly.
“I fired him on the spot, and I’ve turned the information over to the authorities.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m sorry to hear all that. I didn’t think Vendetti was a bad guy.”
“I never thought so, either. I guess we were both wrong.”
They walked along in silence for a while longer.
“Sir? I’m a little worried about something—actually, more like someone,” Kate said.
“Who is it?”
“Lorraine King, sir. Her cover is blown now. The Commission isn’t going to take kindly to that. They’re going to come after her.”
“I know. That’s why I called her in this morning to offer her a position inside the White House.”
“You did, sir?”
“Yes. You and I both know we haven’t heard the last of the Commission; they’ve got people everywhere—we saw that firsthand.
I’ve charged her with coordinating our efforts to root out their operatives, starting with the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service. As you know, she’s already gotten a head start on my contingent.”
“That’s great, sir. But it still doesn’t protect her personally.”
“I’m worried about that, too. She’s mulling over taking a new identity and undergoing plastic surgery but hasn’t made any final decisions.”
Kate nodded.
“Kate, I really do hope you’ll give my offer serious consideration. I don’t make it lightly. I think you’d be a great asset in that post.”
“As I said, sir, I’m incredibly flattered. Jay and I will give it serious consideration, I promise you.”
“Do you think they deliberately double-teamed us?” Jay asked, as she climbed into bed.
“Of course they did. The strategy was for the first lady to work you over while the president was pitching me at the same time.”
“Shrewd.”
“He didn’t get to be president by being dumb.” Kate bit on a convenient earlobe.
Lynn Ames
“Mmm. So what do you think?”
“I think you taste magnificent.”
“Not about that, Katherine. About the job.”
“What job?” She licked Jay’s collarbone, sending a shiver down her spine.
“The president’s adviser job. Stay focused.”
“I am focused,” Kate said in a husky voice.
“All right, that’s it.” Jay grabbed a pillow and hugged it.
“Hey, I was busy.”
“And I was trying to have a conversation with you.”
Kate growled, finally relenting. “Okay. I think it’s amazingly flattering, it’s barrier-breaking for a woman to be at that level, it’s history-making since it’s a position that doesn’t currently exist, and I think it’s political suicide for the president.”
“Why?”
“Every Cabinet member and high level staffer would be pissed. It would kill morale and stifle productivity.”
“The first lady said the president needs you to focus more globally; you can’t do that when you’re dealing with the media full time.”
“I know, I got the same pitch. Trust me, Jay. The internal fallout would eventually have repercussions for him on the outside. I would be a huge liability.”
Jay bristled. Kate put a soothing hand on her arm. “Not because I wouldn’t be good at the job, honey, but because it would detract too much from what he’s trying to accomplish.”
“Is that it? Don’t you want to think about it more?”
Kate captured Jay effortlessly with a smoldering gaze. “Right now, love, the only thing I want to think about is you.”
Jay sighed, gladly setting the discussion aside for another day. Like Kate, all she wanted to think about at the moment was a future spent together. The details—well, they really didn’t matter.
THE END
The Value of Valor
Other Novels by Lynn Ames
Coming in May 2006— The Flip Side of Desire
Trystan Lightfoot allowed herself to love once in her life; the experience broke her heart and strengthened her resolve never to fall in love again. At forty, however, she still longs for the comfort of a woman’s arms. She finds temporary solace in meaningless, albeit adventuresome encounters, burying her pain and her emotions deep inside where no one can reach. No one, that is, until she
meets C.J. Winslow.
C.J. Winslow is the model-pretty-but-aging professional tennis star the Women’s Tennis Federation is counting on to dispel the image that all great female tennis players are lesbians. And her lesbianism isn’t the only secret she’s hiding. A traumatic event from her childhood is taking its toll both on and off the court.
Together Trystan and C.J. must overcome their challenges to find the flip side of desire.
Books in Print—The Kate and Jay Trilogy
The Price of Fame
When local television news anchor Katherine Kyle is thrust into the national spotlight, it sets in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever. Jamison “Jay” Parker is an intensely career-driven Time magazine reporter. The first time she saw Kate, she fell in love. The last time she saw her, Kate was rescuing her. That was five years earlier, and she never expected to see her again. Then circumstances and an assignment bring them back together.
Kate and Jay’s lives intertwine, leading them on a journey to love and happiness, until fate and fame threaten to tear them apart. What is the price of fame? For Kate, the cost just might be everything. For Jay, it could be the other half of her soul.
The Cost of Commitment
Lynn Ames is back with the second installment in the lives of Katherine Kyle and Jamison Parker.
Kate and Jay want nothing more than to focus on their love. But as Kate settles into a new profession, she and Jay are caught in the middle of a deadly scheme and find themselves pawns in a larger game in which the stakes are nothing less than control of the country.
In her novel of corruption, greed, romance, and danger, Lynn Ames takes us on an unforgettable journey of harrowing conspiracy—and establishes herself as a mistress of suspense.
The Cost of Commitment—It could be everything...
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Forthcoming Titles Available from
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The Chosen
Assignment Sunrise
Verda Foster
I Christie
None So Blind
Journey’s End
LJ Maas
LJ Maas
Document Outline
Advance Praise
Title Page
Copyright
About THe Author
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Note From The Author
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Other Titles By Lynn Ames
Other Intaglio Publications Titles