The vice president buttoned his jacket, hurried down the stairs and was greeted by the mayor, the police chief and the director of the FBI field office. After they shook hands, the FBI director said, “May I have a few words, Mr. Vice President?”
They moved to the side and the man said, “We got ’em, sir!”
Cammy stood at the top of the stairway and scanned the runway. There it was. Hunt’s F-16 taxiing slowly into position as the ground crew signaled for him to park just to the side of Air Force Two.
She waited and watched as Hunt climbed down from the plane, took off his helmet and sauntered toward the 757. Other members of the vice president’s staff along with the press pool were climbing down a second set of stairs at the back of the plane. She ignored them.
She also ignored the gaggle of reporters and cameramen who were bunched up taking pictures of the vice president and the FBI director. She ignored them all as she ran down the stairs and over toward the fighter jet.
With her blond hair was flying in the breeze, Camy threw herself into Hunt’s embrace. He held her tight as she flung her arms around his neck, lifted her face to his and kissed him.
They stood there like actors on a stage, not caring about how many people were watching, who might be shooting film or what was happening nearby. She didn’t care about any one or any thing. She only cared about Hunt. Hunt Daniels. The man who had saved her life. Hunt Daniels, the man she had fallen in love with so many months ago. Hunt Daniels, the man she knew she had never stopped loving.
They finally broke the kiss and stared at each other. “God I’ve missed you, Cam,” Hunt said, trying to catch his breath. “I’ve waited a long time to do that again.”
“Me too,” Cammy murmured. “Thank you.”
Hunt took her hand and started to walk toward the vice president and his entourage. “Don’t thank me. You invented that gadget, you know,” he said with a grin.
Jayson Keller saw them and excused himself from the coterie of officials. He walked over to Hunt and extended his hand. “God damn good flying, Hunt. I never thought I’d see anything like that. We’re all in your debt.”
Hunt laughed. “It was Cammy. She was the puppeteer. I was just the marionette.”
“Yeah, right,” Cammy said, “Let’s just say you knew what strings to pull.”
Jay looked at the two of them, standing hand in hand. “I think that all of this deserves a celebration, but as you know, I’ve got a big speech downtown. And since I’ve seen a rather graphic demonstration of this three-sixty laser of yours, I can report to the audience that we have a proven system to protect our fleet of airliners from missile attack. And,” he leaned in to whisper to the two of them, “I’ll be making another announcement today.”
“What’s that, sir?” Hunt asked.
“We got the bastards who shot that missile at us.”
“Really?” Cammy said. “But that’s fantastic!”
“I first have to talk to the president and see whether we got the bosses too. I expect we still have a bit of mopping up to do.”
“If it really was the Chinese, do you think you can get them to make amends and restitution for all the other attacks?” Cammy asked.
“Either that or … well, I’ll let the president handle that one.” Jay looked at them again and said, “Well, it looks like you two could stand some down time after all of this. Hunt, why don’t you take a few days? I’m sure the NSC will be able to function without you for a while. A short while, that is. And as for you, Dr. Talbot, you deserve not only a few days off, you deserve a God damn medal!”
Cammy didn’t respond. She merely blushed.
“Thank you, sir,” Hunt said as he gazed at Cammy and squeezed her hand. “I do have a few plans in mind.”
Jay took one more look at Cammy and realized that it was probably the first time in his life that he had played a game and lost. He gave a mock salute to Hunt and said, “Take care of her.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
EN ROUTE TO SAN FRANCISCO
The vice president’s motorcade pulled out of the airport and made its way to the Bayshore Freeway. There were Secret Service vans in front and behind his car, followed by several staff cars and finally the press pool. Jayson sat in the back seat hurriedly jotting words on the margin of his upcoming speech. His chief of staff sat next to him. His press secretary was perched on the jump seat.
“Sir?” the press aide said, handing him a series of four by six cards.
“Yes?”
“You might want to incorporate these notes. They won’t be on the prompter, but they should fit right in. The press pool that was on the plane is back there scrambling to get whatever they think they know, or saw, on the news feeds. Then they’ll be showing up, along with the local boys, to record your speech in the city. Getting a first-hand account will be terrific coverage. So now, this first card would be your opening statement about your … our, I guess … miraculous escape with the help of Dr. Talbot’s technology. You know, give her a big plug. The second card is about Col. Hunt Daniels and how he executed that maneuver and deployed the laser, the one the president should be announcing any minute now.”
Jay nodded as his staffer continued. “Then the next card is a about catching the bad guys … uh … terrorists, although I’m not sure if you should use this until it’s cleared.”
“Right. I need to speak to speak to the president if I can get him now,” Jay said, reaching for his cell phone. He dialed a number and hit the switch to encrypt the call. The president’s secretary asked him to wait a moment. She had barely put him on hold when he heard the president’s voice.
“Welcome to the world of the living! I was tied in to the tower and heard the whole exchange. Damn, Jay, what a story!”
Jay chuckled, “Yes. I suppose I could say ‘you should have been there.’ But it’s best that you weren’t.”
“So tell me, you’re okay? Dr. Talbot’s okay? No injuries or anything?”
“As far as I know, everyone came through it. I can’t speak to their blood pressure though.”
The president chuckled as Jay continued. “I’m in the car heading to the Commonwealth Club. But I don’t want to say too much until you make the announcement.”
“We’ve got the technicians in here right now setting up for a short speech. I’m scheduled to go live in ten minutes. I’ll thank Dr. Talbot and Hunt Daniels. Oh, by the way, where are they? I want to thank them personally.”
“Actually, I don’t know. After all they’ve been through, I told Hunt to take a few days off. Looked to me like they were going somewhere to unwind.”
“That’s exactly what they should be doing. What a feat though. I didn’t know the boy could fly like that.”
“I didn’t either. Took a lot of guts to pull off that E-DIRCM maneuver, though. Looked like something you’d only see in a movie with special effects.”
“I’ll bet. Well, never mind. I’ll get a hold of them later. Right now I’ve got my people writing a quick statement about how the laser saved Air Force Two and all on board. So you can incorporate that story into your speech. After all, a first person account will have that audience eating out of your hand. But I don’t want to say anything about catching those three guys in San Francisco just yet. The agents had their license number and got them as they were leaving some place in San Bruno. That’s where they launched that missile, right out of the sunroof of a God damned SUV. Can you believe that?”
“That must be how they did it all the other times too.”
“I’m still waiting for a report from Janis about whether they’ve rounded up the other cells, especially the ones in Boston and right here in Washington. And then after I get off the air, I’m calling the president of China again because I see that those military exercises have been stopped, but I want to be damn sure that factory we saw on Borealis is leveled and the people who ordered the attacks have been arrested. We still have a lot of loose ends to tie up, so let’s just concentrate
on the laser, how we can now protect our planes and how our economy should recover soon.”
“Got it! But you say you’re going to call back about that missile factory? What if it turns out that the Central Committee knew about this whole thing all along? Or, if they didn’t know, what if they won’t take responsibility? Then what?”
“Well, I sure hope their president doesn’t go through one of those, ‘I was shocked … shocked …’ routines.”
“Yeah. I can just see a Claude Raines moment here.”
The president chuckled and simply said. “Stay tuned.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA
“I have a friend who told me once that ‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away,’ and that little stunt of yours sure took my breath away,” Cammy said as she leaned over and squeezed Hunt’s hand.
He was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge toward the first town on the right. He flicked on his blinker, took the turnoff to Sausalito and started down a winding road to the village.
“It was all your doing, my lady,” Hunt said with a grin.
“Oh no! Listen, when I heard you say you were going to hook up with us, the first thought I had was that you were going to get yourself killed. Like Alexander Hamilton going to Weehawken.”
“Not really. I knew I had the laser and besides, if Hamilton had the same kind of shield, Aaron Burr never would have nailed him.”
Cammy laughed and shook her head.
Hunt went on. “Now think about it, Cam. You had the idea about missile defense.”
“That was an idea I got from my father who heard it in President Reagan’s speech. Dad told me about it when I was nine,” she reminded him. “I just sort of expanded on the concept.”
“Okay. So you had this idea, and you ran with it. Ideas do have consequences, you know. Your first idea, Q-3, means that nobody in his right mind is going to lob a cruise missile at our people, or our allies, because now it can be taken over and re-directed. And your second idea, the three-sixty laser, means that no terrorist group is going to be able to blow our planes out of the sky. No more crazy gambits by crazy gamblers.”
“Because of my gadget,” Cammy quipped. Then she gazed out the car window at the sight of San Francisco Bay where a group of small sailboats had hoisted their spinnakers and were heading toward Angel Island.
The wind was kicking up white caps, and she knew the sailors would have a challenging time as they hit the currents in Raccoon Strait that ran between the island and Tiburon. “I’m just so happy to be with you. And … I’m happy to be back here in the Bay area. You know we spent a lot of time here on weekends when my dad was posted at Travis.”
“Yeah, I remember you talked about that. This really is a fabulous place. See that restaurant over there on that dock?”
“Sure. I know that one. It used to be called The Trident years ago. I think the Kingston Trio group was involved in it way back.”
“Really? Sure has a great view right over the water. Maybe we’ll go there for dinner tonight. What do you think?”
“I’d love that. There’s another story I heard about the place. It happened a long time ago.”
“What’s that?” Hunt asked, continuing his drive down the main street of the colorful town.
“Well, I heard that late one Saturday night, the staff had closed the place. They were counting the money when all of a sudden these guys climbed out of the water over the deck and burst inside. They were wearing wet suits, goggles and they had swim fins, the whole get-up. They held up the place, took all the money, dove back into the Bay and evidently swam out to some boat. Nobody ever caught them.”
Hunt laughed. “That’s pretty clever.”
“Not half as clever as you were in that F-16 today,” Cammy said with a smile. “And when word gets around about that little maneuver you pulled off, I’ll bet you get a promotion.”
Hunt shrugged. “Well, maybe. But at least I don’t think I’ll ever be relegated to doing the elevator briefings at the Pentagon.”
“Elevator briefings?”
“Yeah. They always have a guy on the staff of the joint chiefs. You know, the top officers who are too busy to read their briefing papers. So the staff guy has to read everything. Then when he’s in the elevator with them, going to whatever event it is, he gives them a thirty-second briefing. He has to compress all the facts into whatever the general is supposed to know at the time.”
Cammy burst out laughing. “I always wondered how they kept up with everything.”
Hunt was reaching the north end of town. He turned to the right and headed toward the water.
“Where are we going?” Cammy asked. “You wouldn’t tell me before.”
“Remember Pete Feldman, at Travis?”
“Well, sure.”
Hunt fished in his pocket and held up a key. “He gave me this key to his weekend place. Told me to take you there. Uh, I mean, if we worked it all out. He thought you’d like it.” Hunt pulled the car into a parking space, hopped out and came around to open Cammy’s door. “Let’s grab the bags and see what this place is like.”
Cammy took her shoulder bag and computer case while Hunt handled both of their carry-ons. He said, “Follow me.” He led her out to a dock. They walked along until he found a number and pointed to a modern two-story houseboat painted blue and white.
Hunt walked with her down a small gang plank. They climbed on board, and he fit the key into a tall door. “Voila.”
“Oh, wow, this is gorgeous,” Cammy said stepping onto the polished wood floor and gazing out the tall windows. The light was almost violet as it glinted off the water. Along the walls, there were two couches covered in off white duck fabric and a large wooden coffee table in the shape of a wheel.
To the left was a wooden table and four chairs with blue and white striped cushions. A small modern kitchen was just beyond the dining table, and a small circular staircase led to the upper deck.
Hunt dropped the bags and took her hand. “First of all, let’s turn off our cell phones for once. I think we deserve a little time away from … whatever there is.”
She grinned, pulled hers out of her purse and switched it off.”
He turned off his regular cell along with his blue secure phone and left them on the dining table. He took her hand and said, “C’mon. Let’s see what upstairs.”
They wound their way up the little stairway and found themselves in a large room with a king size bed covered with a navy blue comforter and a half dozen blue and white throw pillows with little anchors in the pattern. The down filled pillows were lined up next to the headboard.
“This is charming. The guy has great taste,” Cammy said as she sat down on the bed and motioned Hunt to sit down beside her.
That’s all the invitation he needed. He kicked off his shoes, sat down and pulled her into his arms. They lay back against the pillows. He pulled off her headband and tossed it on a bedside table. He smoothed a few wisps of strawberry blond hair away from her forehead, leaned down and kissed her.
She wound her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. He had waited so long to have her in his arms again. Too long. On the drive from the airport, he had told her his stories about being sent to Russia and South Korea, about meeting with arms dealers and all sorts of other thugs in his search for nuclear weapons on the black market.
He told her how he was afraid he might never get out of there and how he didn’t want to make her wait for him in case the mob bosses decided to get rid of him altogether.
He told her about finally coming back to Washington and wanting to pick up where they left off, but then realized he should have figured out a way to explain the long absence. And he told her how he was afraid the vice president was making a play for her and how he wasn’t sure he could compete with somebody like Jayson Keller.
She had listened intently and said it didn’t matter now. She said t
hat while Jayson was a good man, it never really went anywhere because all she could think about was Hunt. She admitted that she was devastated when he left and had decided that she didn’t want to be hurt again, so she had put up a pretty strong wall between them. But then when he got into that F-16 and risked his life to save her, save all of them, she realized she had never stopped loving him and she was petrified he would be killed.
By the time they had crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, they were laughing and holding hands, and he was being very cagey about where they were going.
Now they were here in this gorgeous houseboat with nothing but time on their hands. Time to show her how much he had missed her, how much she meant to him, how much he loved her.
He leaned down, inhaled the scent of vanilla in her hair and once again kissed her deeply. He couldn’t hold back any longer. Cameron Talbot was his once more.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
THE WHITE HOUSE
“Sir, I have the president of China on the line,” the secretary said.
“Thank you. We’ll take it in here. The president reached for one of the phones on the polished desk in the Oval Office and nodded to the interpreter sitting to his left. The chief of staff handed his boss another note, and the president glanced again at his talking points as he lifted the handset.
He greeted the Chinese leader formally and then began to outline the entire case they had built against the People’s Republic of China. First, the president told him that FBI agents had arrested a nest of Chinese terrorists in San Francisco who had been given instructions by a general in China to shoot down several of our unarmed airplanes in U.S. territory, specifically the cargo plane carrying the Bandaq employees as well as Air Force Two earlier that very day.
He went on to say that the FBI was now in the process of rounding up additional Chinese agents in both Washington and Boston who had also committed acts of terrorism aimed at airplanes as well as civilian targets on the ground.
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