Before Sunrise (70 page)

Liam forced a smile. “We are together. Life
moves on when you’re not in it. I understand that. But ultimately,
the healing of our family is a personal matter. We thank you for
respecting our privacy.”

He turned away on his cane, and pulled
Kennedy with him. She made sure not to aid him, to let him stand
and walk at his own pace. The president addressed the noisy press
and they quieted. Kennedy didn’t hear any of it. She just focused
on Liam. And he gave her reassuring smiles to let her know the
worst was over.

***

The remainder of the day flew by in a blur.
Kennedy was kept away from the meetings that Liam had with Eric,
Vasquez, and politicians she knew vaguely of from the news, and of
course Alexa. She’d only caught glimpses of him since the ceremony
and could barely talk to him during the presidential lunch. She
didn’t mind. In fact, she hoped he answered all their questions, so
when they left he’d never have to return.

Now however, alone and impatient, she felt
the sharp edges of anxiety seep in.

The door opened and Kennedy’s head shot
up.

Liam limped in on his cane. A cool wave of
relief swept through her to see him. Rising to her feet, she beamed
a bight smile his way. “Hey. Everything okay?”

He gave her a simple nod. “I’m sorry to have
kept you waiting.”

“
It’s okay. I knew it would
be a long day.”

“
Right.”

His tone sounded a bit tense. Kennedy walked
over and kissed him. She felt his cheek and his forehead with the
back of her hand. To her shock, he was burning up with fever.
“Liam? Are you sick?”

“
I don’t know. I just…I just
want to leave. Kind of wiped out.”

“
Okay, let’s go. I’ll take
care of you at the hotel.”

“
Kay, wait.” He stopped her.
He pulled her up against him. His arm circled her waist and he held
her intimately, close.

“
What is it?”

“
I won’t be able to leave
with you.”

“
What?”

“
This evening, I mean.” He
swallowed and blinked through the beads of sweat gathering along
his eyelids. Kennedy went across the room and got a tissue, then
hurried back over to wipe his face. “I’ll meet you for dinner
tonight. Eric will bring you to the restaurant and—”

“
Absolutely not. I don’t
want to be separated from you. What’s going on? You don’t look
well, baby.”

Liam shook off his lethargy. “Tired. I get
stressed and sometimes it gets the best of me.”

“
You’ve felt this before? A
fever?”

“
It’ll pass.”

“
Liam, I’m getting worried.
I want to take you home.”

“
It’s just some questions I
have to answer.” He drew her hand down from his face. “Kay, trust
me, babe. I got to do this and then we’ll go.”

“
Liam, no. I can wait here.
Don’t let them take you…I don’t trust them. Alexa, she’s been
giving you looks all day. I—”

“
No one’s taking me. I have
to meet with some people. It’s part of it. I’m okay.”

Kennedy tried to pretend to understand. It
was hard. He looked pale, but felt hot. She hadn’t noticed a fever
before. They were draining him, pushing him too hard. What was she
to do? Be a good little military wife and watch these people suck
him dry? How the hell was she supposed to do that when she wanted
to scream her head off that they should all back the hell off?

He lifted her chin. “I’ll see you at
dinner.”

“
You swear?”

“
I swear.”

She ignored the dread gripping her heart.
Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him and held on
tight. “Then we’ll go home, right? You and I? Mac is waiting for
us.”

“
Kay, I’m not leaving you. I
swear. I swear. We will spend new year’s together.”

***

Monday, January 1, 2007

“
Where is he?!” she shouted
at the woman who answered the phone at Eric’s office.

“
Hold the line,
please.”

Kennedy paced. She sat down on the edge of
the bed. She rose and paced again. If Eric didn’t take her call
this time, she’d drive her rental car through the Pentagon
gates.

“
Kennedy?”

She let go a deep breath. “Why haven’t you
called me back? You said you would call me back!”

“
It’s complicated, Kennedy.
He got sick, I told you.”

“
That was seven days ago.
seven! I need to see him today. We missed new year’s eve together;
he would never be away from me. You’re lying to me. I know it.
Where is he? What is wrong with him?”

“
He’s okay. He’ll be in
contact with you as soon as he can. I swear it.”

“
Damn you, Eric! You’re his
best friend! He trusted you, Eric. I trusted you.” She broke down.
Days and nights of crying had her weak and nauseous. She hadn’t
eaten, either. Kennedy dropped to her knees and wept.

“
Kennedy, listen to me. He’s
fine. I swear it. But you have to trust me on this. Go home. Wait
for me to call you. Leave.”

“
NO!”

“
Kennedy—”

“
You’re lying to me. How
could he be sick and I can’t see him? He would want to see me. I’ve
been patient, but enough of this shit. I’m going crazy here. You
know he didn’t want to be separated from us. You set us up, you
bastard!”

“
No. I swear it. It’s not my
doing. I’m trying to get him out.”

“
What does that mean? Out of
where! First he’s sick and now you’re trying to get him out? You
know what I did New Year’s Eve? Do you? Sit on the phone and try to
calm down his daughter who needs us
both
. Tried to convince our friends
and my family that things are okay, when you and I both know he’s
in trouble. You’re stalling me. I want answers!”

“
You can go home, I promise
I will—”

“
No! No! I won’t leave him.”
She shook her head furiously. “I want to talk to him. It’s Alexa,
isn’t it? She did this. Didn’t she? That bitch!” Kennedy shot back
to her feet.

“
Kennedy, listen to me. Are
you there? Are you there?”

“
Yes, I’m here,” she said,
trying to calm herself.

“
He’s fine. I’ve seen him. I
wouldn’t lie to you. Just be patient. Things are moving slow, but
they are moving. Liam’s strong so you need to be strong for him. Go
home, Kennedy. Trust me.”

“
Go to hell!” She slammed
the phone down.

Kennedy crossed her arms
around her and rocked through her grief. Flashes of Liam, pale and
exhausted, kept her up at night. She felt his fever. She should
never have let him leave her side. Now they had him. The government
couldn’t do this. They couldn’t just take him like this. This was
America, after all. She wouldn’t let Alexa and those damn
politicians force him into some mission or whatever and risk losing
him all over again.
Damn
them
.

She wiped her tears. Kennedy closed her eyes
and sucked in a deep breath, then went to the bathroom and splashed
water on her face. After caught her breath she shed the clothes
she’d been in for three days and stepped into the shower. Kennedy
spent twenty minutes grooming her self. She spent another twenty
minutes packing everything they owned. She called downstairs and
rang for a bellhop. Liam told her this could be the outcome. He
needed her, dammit, and she wouldn’t fail him now.

Dressed in the suit she wore to the White
House, Kennedy grabbed her purse and strode to the door.

***

“
Excuse me, ma’am. Mrs.
Flanagan, ma’am.”

Alexa Sinclair had an office of her own.
Kennedy thought she read a sign that said Special Forces when she
exited the elevator. The entire place had walls of glass and
serious-looking men and women in military dress or dark suits who
made eye contact each time she passed them.

After the announcement of
her arrival, Alexa glanced up. Kennedy could see her hard stare
through the glass wall. It had taken her a full hour to get through
the security screening and still she had been told no one, let
alone Colonel Sinclair, would see her. The Pentagon was a fortress
like none she’d ever seen. Kennedy told the soldier refusing her
entry to deliver a single-word message to her good friend
Alexa:
Scorpion
.

Suddenly, doors previously closed to her
were flung open. She was assigned an escort who said not two words
to her and marched her through plain halls and an elevator ride
that swiftly lowered her to an underground level. Kennedy nerves
were frayed. Several times she felt the stares of the cameras that
trailed her every step. Now she wondered if she truly had the
courage to see it through. The soldier stepped aside and Kennedy
entered.

Alexa offered her a polite smile. Despite
her classic beauty, her eyes were cold and full of mockery.

“
That will be all,
sergeant.”

Kennedy held her stance. Alexa gestured for
her to sit. Keeping her composure, she did so, never taking her
eyes off her nemesis.

“
I got your message. Using
big words aren’t we? Scorpion?”

“
I know what you’ve
done.”

Alexa smiled. “What have I done, Kay?”

“
Don’t call me Kay. Only
Liam calls me Kay,” Kennedy said through clenched teeth.

Alexa leaned back against the desk. She sat
on the edge and tapped her long nails on the surface. “Why are you
here?”

“
To warn you,” Kennedy said.
She forced a smile. “To make sure Senator Clayton and whoever else
is behind his detainment understands how far I plan to go to
protect my husband and my family.”

Alexa released a soft laugh. She smiled
brightly, her eyes dancing with calculating madness. “Please.
Continue.”

Kennedy swallowed her anger. She needed to
keep her calm. “You have forty-eight hours to send him home or
Operation Scorpion will be a featured national news story.”

Alexa narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure what
Liam told you, but even he isn’t stupid enough to risk the safety
of his family over his duty.”

“
Are you threatening
me?”

Alexa brow arched. “I’m doing you a
kindness. If you even evoke the name Scorpion outside of these
doors, Liam’s homecoming is the least of your worries. Hasn’t Eric
explained this to you, Kay?”

“
Don’t call me—”

“
Liam is a decorated officer
whose commitment to serve his country has never wavered. He’s here
because of honor and commitment to his country. When his tour is
over, he’ll return home like any other honorably discharged
serviceman. Until then, take up a hobby and raise your
daughter.”

“
You go to hell. I’m not an
idiot. You set him up. How, I don’t know, but Liam knew you would.
He told me things—”

Alexa waved her comment off. “I heard he
took ill.”

“
That’s a lie. He isn’t.”
Kennedy said.

Alex rose and walked around her desk. “They
said it’s his liver, some parasite that the doctors missed. We’re
doing the very best to keep him well. It’s probably why he hasn’t
called you. Trust me, Kay, you’ll see him soon.”

Kennedy stood. Her limbs felt as loose as
jelly. “I know why you and Liam’s team were sent on that mission.
And I also know a lot of powerful people are interested in keeping
that information contained. If Liam isn’t released to his doctor in
Carolina in two days, with me right there by his side, you can
answer the questions before a congressional hearing, because Alexa?
There is nothing you can do to keep me quiet.”

“
You sure about that?”
Alexa’s gaze flashed up and the hatred and contempt Kennedy saw
there made her confidence waver. But she refused to show it. She
decided to try another tactic. “Liam said he cared about you. He
said you were part of some brotherhood and you protected each
other. Why you’d abandon him now when he needs us the most is
beyond me.” She turned for the door. Kennedy stopped before she
opened it. “He’s paid a heavy price for your freedom. Isn’t he
deserving of some, too?”

Kennedy walked out of Alexa’s office. She
glanced back to see the witch glaring after her. She nervously
quickened her pace. Two soldiers fell in step behind her. She
feared they’d grab her and drag her somewhere she’d never escape.
But the men shadowed her at a reasonable distance until she found
her way out of the maze of halls, through the lobby and into the
parking lot.

She hoped Alexa would prove to be as
predictable as she was evil. Kennedy’s message would certainly
shake things up and get the right people’s attention. Now she had
to set the rest of her plan into motion.

“
Airport, please,” she said
to the driver who’d been waiting for her return.

The African man with a receding hairline
flashed her a polite smile in his rearview mirror, the first
friendly smile she’d had in seven long days.

The car soon coasted through the checkpoints
and headed for the expressway. Kennedy glanced back over her
shoulder several times to be sure she wasn’t being followed. For a
brief moment she relaxed, believing she wasn’t.

Then, swiftly, two dark SUVs pulled along
both sides of the cab. Kennedy swiveled in her seat and looked out
of the back window. Another darkly tinted SUV rode the bumper of
the cab, so close the driver was forced to accelerate instead of
slow down.