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“If things keep up this way,” Catherine said with a shaky laugh, “I’m going to have to take an emergency room medicine residency.”
“It’s not always like this,” Rebecca assured her swiftly.
“So you say,” Catherine said softly, laying her head against Rebecca’s chest, just enjoying the solid comfort of her. “Come home soon. I want to hold you.”
Kissing her forehead, Rebecca held her tightly, refusing to think about anything beyond the moment when they could be together. “Sounds like just what I need.”
She wondered if Catherine had any idea how very true those words were.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
SARAH MARTIN QUIETLY pushed open the door to room 614 and stepped inside. The vertical blinds over the one window had been closed and the room was suffused in the pale yellow light of late afternoon. A steady beep from the monitor above the bed and the faint rasp of breathing were the only sounds. Walking to the figure who slumped in a chair by the bedside, she whispered softly, “Sloan.” When she got no response, she leaned down and gently shook the other woman’s shoulder.
Sloan’s eyes flew open and she straightened with a start. Immediately, she looked toward the bed and then sagged slightly in disappointment. Michael had not regained consciousness since the one brief moment with Catherine nearly twelve hours before. Turning to her companion, she rubbed her face with both hands and said, “What time is it?”
“Three-thirty. Jason is on his way to the office for the briefing.”
“Right,” Sloan rejoined wearily, rising slowly. “Show time.”
Sarah stilled her friend’s motion with a hand on her arm. Quietly, she whispered, “Maybe you should call it off, Sloan.”
“No, we might not get another chance.” Sloan moved to the bedside and ran her fingers lightly over Michael’s cheek. Leaning down, she threaded the fingers of her left hand through her lover’s and murmured close to her ear, “I won’t be long. I love you.” She kissed her fingers, then, gently, her lips.
Then she walked out of the room without looking back. Outside in the hall, she turned to Sarah. “If Jason doesn’t make contact with this guy tonight, he’ll get spooked and suspect we’re on to him. We don’t know how closely he’s in contact with other members of this organization. He might not know anything; he might be a central player. We can’t afford to tip them off at this point.”
“Jason said the same thing,” Sarah said with a sigh, remembering their strained conversation only an hour before. “Look, go home and take a shower. If Jason’s going through with it, I’ll feel better if you’re there with him. I’ll stay with Michael.”
“If she wakes up…” Sloan swallowed hard and continued, “When she wakes up, if I’m not here, tell her I’ll be back soon. Tell her I lo…”
Smiling faintly, Sarah took Sloan’s hand. “Sloan, believe me, Michael knows that. Go get this thing done and come back.”
Sloan nodded, a hard glint in her eyes. “Jason and I will see you in a few hours.”
Catherine and Rebecca dressed silently on opposite sides of Catherine’s bedroom. Catherine pulled on navy cotton chinos and a short-sleeved polo shirt, topping it off with a blue blazer. Rebecca slipped into jeans and a button-down collar shirt, strapped on her shoulder harness, and covered it with a dark blazer of her own. They had slept most of the day and had said very little after rising and showering together.
“Be sure you stay with Clark,” Rebecca said quietly, her back to Catherine. From her gym bag on the floor she pulled two extra magazines for her automatic and slipped one into each of the front pockets of her jacket. “We’ll all be miked, and you should be able to hear everything that’s going on. Even if things get…chaotic…stay in the car. Don’t come forward until I personally call for you.”
“How likely is this to turn into some kind of standoff?” Catherine asked, registering Rebecca’s anxiety for her but considering it unfounded. Of much greater concern to her was the possibility that Rebecca would be in the middle of a firefight. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’re in no condition—”
“We have no reason to believe that this guy will resort to violence,” Rebecca said immediately, facing her now. “I just want to be prepared for any contingency. On the off chance something does heat up, I don’t want you at risk.”
“If someone has to go through a door,” Catherine said persistently, “let it be Watts. Not you. Not this time.”
Rebecca looked past Catherine out the bedroom window, struggling to find some balance between who she knew herself to be and who she would need to be if she were to keep Catherine in her life. “If we need to go through the door, I’ll let Watts go through first today, but I can’t promise you that I won’t be right behind him.” She met Catherine’s eyes. “That’s the best I can do.”
“All right.”
Rebecca’s piercing gaze intensified. “And what about you? Am I going to have to worry about you while I’m trying to control the scene?”
“I’ll stay with Clark until I’m needed. I promise.”
They both moved at once and met each other in the middle of the room. Simultaneously, each slipped her arms around the other’s waist, pressing together for a fierce kiss. A minute became two until finally each drew back a fraction with a regretful smile.
“Time to roll,” Rebecca said softly, gently releasing her.
Mitchell ran through her mental checklist. Automatic loaded. Back-up .32 in her right ankle holster. Extra ammo in the right front pocket of her jeans. Badge in the opposite front pocket. Cuffs in her left rear pocket where she could reach them while holding her gun on a suspect with her dominant right hand. She stopped by the front door of her apartment and snagged her black leather jacket off the clothes tree. She was in jeans, sneakers, and a short-sleeved football jersey. She couldn’t think of anything else she needed—or needed to do. Fleetingly, she thought about making a phone call, but then thought better of it. It seemed like there should be someone, but there never really had been. Her family had never understood her reasons for wanting West Point, and had understood even less her reasons for leaving. Of course, it hadn’t helped that she couldn’t tell them why she resigned, because she would have been betraying secrets that were not hers to reveal. Now she was a cop, something else that no one in her family of business executives and investment brokers could fathom. The only person she could think of, in fact the only person she really wanted to call, was someone who considered the police her enemy. In the end, as it had always been, she was alone. She stepped through her door and went down the two flights of stairs out onto the sidewalk. A car was idling at the curb and she slid into the front seat.
“You all set, kid?” Watts asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
When Rebecca and Catherine arrived at Sloan’s shortly before four p.m., they found Sloan, Jason, and Mitchell waiting for them in the conference room. Avery Clark, along with two men who were apparently DOJ agents, joined them soon thereafter. Once they had all gathered around the table, Sloan and Jason flanking Rebecca at one end and Clark at the opposite end, the detective and the federal agent regarded each other expressionlessly, as if a silent debate were taking place as to who would speak first. Finally, Clark said, “Why don’t you go ahead and lay it out for us, Detective Sergeant.”
“Mr. McBride is to make contact with the subject at the Upstairs Connection, a cybercafe at 17th and Market at seven p.m. tonight.” As she spoke, none of her surprise at the fact that Clark had allowed her to take control of the operation so easily showed in her face. It wasn’t her experience that federal agents ever relinquished the lead to local law enforcement. It might simply indicate that Clark was the straightforward agent he represented himself to be, one whose only interest was in breaking the case. Only time would tell.
Then she continued speaking, letting every thought except those of the upcoming engagement fade from her mind. “As instructed, he will log on as BigMac10, his internet persona, in the usual chat room and wait for contact. Presumably, he will be given further instructions at that point. Sloan will be monitoring from a wireless unit in the lead trace car, both there and at the final destination. At this point, we have no reason to assume that the subject, LongJohnXXX, suspects Mr. McBride to be anything other than someone interested in viewing live sex with minors and a potential customer for future live broadcasts. Therefore, we don’t expect resistance. Nevertheless, the exact location on this subject within the hierarchy of the organization is unknown, and he’s considered a potential threat risk.”
“Are you going to wire him?” one of Clark’s agents interrupted, indicating Jason dismissively and drawing a quick flicker of disapproval from Clark.
“No,” Rebecca answered calmly. “We considered it, but that’s the one thing we think that the subject might check for, given even a normal level of suspicion. We don’t want to blow McBride’s cover before he gets inside the subject’s house and we have access to the most recent downloads.”
As Rebecca continued to outline the upcoming maneuver, Catherine watched her and the others at the table. She loved to watch Rebecca work. When Rebecca was in charge of an operation, every ounce of her considerable personal presence emerged—her strength and confidence and skill were undeniable. There was something both comforting and exciting in the unshakable certainty she exuded as she enumerated each detail—the order and positioning of the stakeout vehicles, each team’s role in the apprehension of the subject, and the contingency plans if the subject deviated from the scenario they predicted him to follow. It was fascinating and terrifying to listen to the individuals seated around the table discuss an upcoming maneuver which could potentially result in injury or death to any one of them. All in a day’s work, it seemed. To be able to confront that reality and ignore it required tremendous powers of both denial and self-assuredness. It also required a tremendous amount of trust. She began to understand the bond between police officers in a completely different way. It was more than just the connection that grew between two people who worked together. When you relied on someone for your very life day in and day out, the allegiance and commitment formed a bond that very little could break. She wondered what it would be like to have to work within that tight community and not have the support of one’s fellows. For an instant, she thought of Mitchell and her experience that night in a dark alley when she had called for backup and no one had come. She glanced at the young officer and saw dedication and determination etched in each intense line of her face. Then her lover’s voice penetrated her consciousness again and she saw only her.
“So,” Rebecca said, her tone shifting as she wrapped things up. “Once we have the subject in custody, the crime scene team will be standing by to oversee evidence documentation.” She looked around the room, assessing each individual. Clark seemed calm; his two agents fidgeted slightly as if impatient to get on with things. Jason had listened intently, but she had a feeling that he and Sloan had already had their own briefing. They appeared far less interested in the tactical maneuverings of the police than they probably were in their own plans for information assessment and transmission during the operation. Watts slouched next to Jason, looking bored as usual. Mitchell, next to him, had never moved her eyes from Rebecca’s face during the entire briefing, as if she were memorizing each word. To her left, Sloan had not moved during the entire time either, and Rebecca detected a faint tremor in her hand where it rested on the table. On the far side of the security consultant, Catherine sat composed as always, quietly watching, absorbing, and evaluating.
“Sloan?” Rebecca asked, “Anything to add?”
Sloan cleared her throat and straightened slightly in her seat. “The success of the operation depends upon us hitting fast with absolutely no warning. Anyone with something to hide who knows anything about computers might program a destruct sequence which can be initiated with a keystroke or two. Depending upon this guy’s level of knowledge and his degree of suspicion, he may very well have something like that in his system. We are going to have almost no time between entry and immobilization if we’re going to preserve the critical evidence on his hard drive.” She glanced to Jason once, an unreadable glance passing between the two of them, and then added, “The most important thing is that LongJohn has absolutely no reason to believe this is anything other than a meeting with a prospective client and fellow connoisseur.”
“What about arming McBride?” Clark suggested. “He would be the logical one to subdue the subject if it seems as if he’s about to destroy critical evidence.”
Rebecca shook her head. “Not advisable. The subject is very likely to search him for evidence of weapons or a wire. We’ll have a front and rear entry team, assuming there are two entrances, or a tandem front strike force. We’ll be moving very quickly. Hopefully the element of surprise will be all that’s necessary. In addition, I don’t want McBride exposed as one of us. I intend to arrest him along with LongJohn and take him in to preserve his cover. Tonight is just the beginning of this sweep.”
Clark nodded, and every law enforcement officer at the table knew that the individual at most risk in the entire operation was Jason, who would be unprotected and unarmed in the middle of a potentially violent situation.
Jason looked relaxed and calm, perfectly at ease. “Once we start receiving the live download, Sloan will be able to pick it up. I’ll be expecting you, and he won’t.” He shrugged as if that settled things.
“All right,” Rebecca said, standing. “We need the surveillance teams to move into position at 1800 hours. Assume that LongJohn is smart enough to check the area before he enters the cafe, so keep an eye out for anyone looking into parked vehicles.”
Everyone rose, then began to separate into separate groups. Rebecca motioned to Catherine with a faint tip of her chin and the two of them stepped out into the corridor.
“If we’re lucky, we won’t need you,” the detective said quietly.
“I think that I should ride with you and Sloan,” Catherine said just as quietly. “Sloan’s going to be monitoring the actual conversations that Jason and Long John are having, isn’t she?”
“That’s the plan,” Rebecca said, beginning to see where Catherine was going and searching for an argument to counter it.
“In that case, I need to know what is being said between them as well. That’s the only way I can judge the tenor of the situation, and it will give me a much better idea of LongJohn’s state of mind. If I can be of any help at all, it’s going to be in evaluating the threat risk. And to do that, I need to know what’s being said.”
“She’s right,” Sloan said from a foot away, having approached without their notice. “I was about to suggest the same thing, but I didn’t want to do it in there.”
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