Faithful Service, Silent Hearts Read online

  "I'll have Mike concentrate his signals work on those locations, boss."

  "Okay Jeff, that's good. I'd like to get a look at both of those areas before we commit one of the ground teams. Also, Jeff, keep working on the voice intercepts. We need to confirm that the group in the hills is actually Hamas affiliated. If they are, the close proximity to the Shi'a living in the area just outside our gate is troubling."

  Devon stood and stretched, trying to work the tension from her back and shoulders. She stepped outside and walked the several hundred yards to the south side of the hanger that housed the helicopters. As she entered the large arched metal building, she marveled at the magnificence of the sleek black birds. She stopped a few feet from one, looking straight up to take in the enormity of the machine.

  "Incredible, aren't they?" A smooth tenor voice came from behind her. Devon turned to see Mac standing a few feet away, her eyes glowing as they wandered over the expanse of the Blackhawk helicopter.

  "Yes." Devon agreed, looking at it with wonder. She had flown in this and other birds in jump school, but they never ceased to amaze her. "How long have you been flying?"

  "Ten years," Mac shrugged as if to say it was no big deal. "I've always wanted to fly, since I was a kid." She smiled and her eyes reflected a distant memory.

  "Realizing a dream is a wonderful thing."

  "Yes," She said seriously, her mind drifting in memory a moment. With a shake of her head she pulled herself back to the present. Mac said casually, "So, they say you're the new super sleuth on the signals front."

  "Not really," Devon replied, "I just like to compile all the data, shuffle it all together, look at it from another angle and see what fits."

  "Kind of like getting a different perspective from the air, I guess?" Mac rejoined, "Makes sense. Speaking of which, are you just here by accident or would you like to take a ride and get a look at that new perspective?"

  "I think a look from on top would be a fine idea." Devon agreed.

  "Well then," Mac laughed, "Let's get going. We'll take one of the smaller Huey's for today's short trip."

  She indicated one of the Hughes 369 light observation helicopters that was sitting out on the helipad. This machine had been the military's helicopter workhorse for more than two decades. The egg shaped craft was designed to carry a pilot and four passengers. It also carried a 7.62mm minigun and for the purposes of the current mission, a compact version of the unit's direction finding equipment was installed on the passenger side of the cockpit.

  The two officers climbed into the cockpit and Mac handed Devon a headset. Motioning to the small boxes to the right, "Your electronic spy equipment is right there, in case we run into anything you find interesting," she said.

  Mac then began powering up the Huey and notifying the controller in the tower of their intent to depart. After a few moments, Devon heard the machine-like male voice give Mac of their clearance for takeoff. The rotors began winding and soon were spinning loudly, drowning out the possibility of conversation except by way of the headset, and even then the sound was a loud growling noise that competed with their voices and the low hum of Devon's equipment.

  Once they were in the air, Devon allowed herself a few minutes to simply take in the beauty of the sunset view from the aircraft as they ascended into the sky. Mac effortlessly banked the aircraft toward the west, taking them in a wide arc along the outer perimeter of the U.S. compound.

  The view was breathtaking. They could see the city. Beirut was commonly called the Paris of the Middle East, and Devon could understand the comparison. It had all of the appearances of a modern world commerce center. Unfortunately, the raging civil war was damaging the infrastructure as well as the reputation of the former tourist destination. As soon as she caught sight of the areas where she and her crew needed intelligence, she switched on her on board equipment and began searching the frequencies. Her right ear was trained on the incoming signals and the left remained connected to Mac.

  As the helicopter continued to make its wide bank, Devon adjusted the receiver to allow the random search for signals. Soon she spotted a small cluster of buildings that she didn't recognize about a mile to the east of the airport. The small compound was surrounded by a barbed wire fence.

  "What's that?"

  Mac looked in the direction Devon was pointing, "Temporary Embassy and CIA headquarters."

  "Really?" Devon couldn't suppress a smile. She hadn't had much time to think about finding Alex since she had been there, but the thought of her being that close pleased her. When she saw Mac looking at her inquiringly, a dark eyebrow raised, she shrugged, "I have an old friend assigned with the CIA here." She was irritated with herself when she felt the heat of color rise in her cheeks.

  "Must be quite a friend, huh?" Mac smiled. "You look like you want me to drop you right in the middle of that compound." Her eyes twinkled with amused interest.

  Devon wondered now at her reaction. Alexandra was her dearest friend and she did want to see her, but she was surprised at the physical response she was feeling just thinking about Alex. Her body immediately tingled at the thought of Alex being so near. The memories of their lovemaking were burned permanently into her consciousness and her body reacted of its own volition.

  "Yes, she is quite a friend."

  Mac nodded without commenting. She saw a flicker of something that looked a lot like desire in the blue eyes. That's interesting, she thought.

  The sound of chatter on the frequency interrupted Devon's thoughts and she quickly sat forward to concentrate. She adjusted the mobile antenna and took as many readings as she could before the voice went silent again.

  "Did you get something?" Mac asked when she sat back from the monitor.

  "I won't know until we get back and I can get a map drawn up, but the area up there in the hills seems to be the heaviest activity. We keep getting readings from the housing area over there," She pointed to the north, "But we haven't been able to connect the two. I think they are related somehow." If I could only talk to Alex, maybe we could piece this together and save us all lots of time.

  "You have an idea?" Mac was studying her. "I heard that you had some unconventional ways of gathering information."

  "Not really." Devon shrugged. "I just don't think we should limit ourselves to the conventional." She grinned.

  "Well, I wrote the book on breaking from protocol, when the rules get in the way of getting things done. Does that friend of yours figure into your methods?"

  "As a matter of fact, she does."

  Mac was banking the helicopter in for their landing; she glanced sideways again at her passenger, "How about we take a ride over there when we get in? I have a friend with the Embassy who can probably put us in touch with your friend."

  "Let's do it, then." Devon agreed.

  Chapter 22

  After stopping at the ops center to retrieve a stack of printouts on the areas in question, Devon and Mac drove to the Embassy complex. Inside the doorway where a marine guard was posted, they were met by a short red haired woman wearing a starched white shirt and dark green skirt. The woman gave Mac a warm welcoming smile, "Hey stranger," she said as the two women embraced.

  Stepping back, the redhead appraised Devon, "Who's your friend?" Her green eyes traveled from Devon's face, down the length of her body and returned where their eyes met.

  Devon heard Mac chuckle, "This is Devon. Devon, Sheri."

  "Pleased to meet you," Devon murmured, but all she could think about was seeing Alex. They hadn't spoken much on the ride over; Devon was preoccupied with her thoughts. She hadn't thought about much of anything but her work since arriving a few weeks ago, but now that they were in the building housing the CIA field headquarters, she couldn't seem to think of anything else.

  Sheri led them down the hallway to what appeared to be a small conference room. "Help yourselves
to coffee. I'll only be a minute." She flashed a provocative smile at Mac before disappearing through the door again.

  Devon poured them each a cup. She set one in front of Mac and took seat in a leather high back chair beside her at the long conference table. Mac looked curiously at Devon as she sipped her coffee.

  "So, how is it that you and someone from the CIA worked on a project together? That's not exactly SOP."

  Her grey eyes danced with amusement as she watched the lieutenant shift in her chair and look away. When Devon looked back at her the usual sharpness was back in her expression. She knew Devon was evaluating her, deciding how much she could reveal. What Mac thought, but couldn't be certain, was that the hesitation was more personal than a professional security concern.

  Devon took a swallow of her coffee. She set the cup back on the dark wooden table and looked into the cup for a few seconds. Mac sat quietly waiting for her answer.

  "Just a fluke. They needed some data and I just happened to be there," she shrugged.

  The door behind them opened and Mac looked up to see Sheri coming back through the door. Just behind her, an attractive woman with large deep set brown eyes strode into the room. She wore a navy suit which was tailored to fit her obviously trim but shapely figure. Her rich brown hair danced around her shoulders and she brushed back a stray lock that fell across her face.

  The woman's stare fell on Mac, quickly assessing her with sharp precision before moving to the blonde next to her as Devon turned toward the sound of their entry to the room. When she registered the identity of her companion, Mac saw the granite eyes melt to a warm dark chocolate color. The woman froze just inside the door and the sound of a sharp gasp escaped her throat.

  As Devon turned in the direction of the woman, Mac saw an electric smile light Devon's face. The two women embraced fully. Not the shoulder to shoulder, kiss in the air squeeze that women so often give to friends. No, this was a full body embrace that spoke of intimacy.

  Oh, this is no fluke, Mac laughed to herself. She could feel the heat between the two women shimmering in the air.

  Alex spoke first, "What are you doing here?"

  "Same as you, chasing bad guys," Devon grinned.

  "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

  As soon as she asked, she felt ashamed, realizing that she had never contacted Devon after the week they spent together in D.C. True, it had only been a little over a month ago, but Devon would have no way to get in touch unless she had called or written, which she hadn't. She told herself that she had just been busy with her new assignment, which was partly true, but she also had been afraid that Devon might be uncomfortable now that she knew how Alex felt.

  And just how did she feel? Alex thought that their time together would be enough to satisfy the longing that she had felt for Devon since college. The opposite was true. Making love to Devon had stoked the flames of embers long simmering in her soul. It had been more incredible than she had ever dreamed. Now Devon was here and Alex was terrified that Devon would tell her it had all been a mistake.

  As if reading Alex's thoughts, Devon said quietly, "Did you think coming to Beirut was far enough? You can't get away that easily."

  Devon held her stare long enough to allow Alex to read the feeling inside, because even if she could talk to her right now, she wasn't sure that she could find the right words. She was humming inside with a flood of feeling. Friendship, gratitude, excitement. Longing. Suddenly she felt searing heat where Alex's hands were holding her arms. Drawing a deep breath, she quickly stepped away, turning back toward Mac.

  "Captain Erin McKinley, I would like you to meet Special Agent Alexandra Sommers."

  The captain stood and extended her hand, "Mac."

  "Alex," she returned the firm grip.

  "Well, I guess we can let you two catch up a bit," Mac looked at Sheri, "Want to take a walk?" She whispered into her ear, "We should give them a little privacy, I think," Sheri nodded and smiled knowingly. As they left the room, Mac smiled back at Devon, giving her a wink as she closed the door.

  Once they were alone again, Alex hugged Devon tightly. "You have no idea how good you feel," she said breathlessly

  Devon leaned in to rest her cheek against the side of Alex's neck, breathing in her scent as fresh as spring rain. "Mmm, I just might," she sighed softly against the delicate skin, sending a shiver down Alex's spine. Feeling her own body respond, Devon straightened and backed slightly away, breaking the contact. They both took a deep breath to reign in their reeling senses.

  Devon pulled out a chair and indicated with her hand for Alex to sit, taking the seat next to her.

  "Hopefully, we'll have time to catch up that way soon, but right now we're working, so I guess we should talk about that before we get into trouble." The familiar beautiful smile lighting her face made Alex's heart ache with desire.

  "You're right, of course," She barely managed to keep her voice from shaking.

  Devon removed the stack of documents from her briefcase and placed them on the table in front of them. "I have noticed two specific areas of concentrated activity in these two areas," she pointed to the areas circled on the maps. "My linguist tells me that the indications are that Hamas members are at these locations. The additional signals intelligence corroborates this."

  Devon watched Alex carefully as she spoke for any reaction. With the exception of her eyes hardening a bit, she did not seem surprised by the information. She cocked her head sideways to draw Alex's eyes to hers.

  Alex looked at Devon expressionlessly. The CIA had been working around the clock to identify and uncover the locations of the terrorist group responsible for the attack on the embassy in April, wiping out their entire team. It was personal, and although she trusted Devon, the Agency wanted to exact the retribution on this group themselves. They were close to having all the information they needed. She briefly wondered how much Devon had been able to uncover already. She is so good at this. She should work for the Agency, not the Army.

  "Well, I see you have your spy face on," Devon suddenly felt like an unwanted guest. "What are you now, just like the rest of the bureaucrats?"

  Devon's accusation stung and Alex recognized a mixture of sadness and anger swirling in her eyes. It hurt Alex to see Devon look at her that way. She covered Devon's hand with her own.

  "I'm sorry, you're not the enemy. It's just different here, Dev. The intensity is incredible because we all feel so much pressure to bring someone to justice for hitting us right here where we live."

  Devon considered that. She couldn't imagine how they must feel, so she pushed her anger aside and squeezed Alex's hand, "No, I'm sorry; I should have realized how personal this is to your team."

  "It's okay."

  "Listen, I just want to help, you know that. My commander has given me the green light to be creative," she grinned. "I don't want you to compromise yourself, Alex, but I still think we can find a way to help each other."

  Alex looked doubtful. Devon continued, "C'mon, you know we can find a missing piece of information if we compare notes." She was grinning again and Alex's defenses fell.

  Raising her hands in surrender, she laughed, "Okay, okay. We can give it a try, but don't get mad at me if I can't tell you some things…"

  "Not a problem," Devon shook her head, "I appreciate your position."

  "Good," Alex linked her fingers with Devon's, "so how about having dinner with me tonight?"

  "Dinner…hmmm," Devon rubbed her thumb across the knuckles on Alex's hand, her eyes narrowed as she spoke, "Should I save room for desert?"

  "Well, I wouldn't want anyone to think you were collaborating with the enemy," Alex's voice was low and suggestive.

  "Is that what you are?" Devon brushed her leg slowly along Alex's beneath the table, watching her brown eyes darken to black.

  Her voice was almost a whisper, "That's th
e thing about spies, it's hard to tell who's side they're on."

  "Oh, but I have special interrogation techniques."

  "Really?" Alex leaned forward slightly, her eyes locked with Devon's.

  The door flew open and Mac walked briskly in. "You two all caught up?" Her eyes playfully bouncing between the two women seated at the table. She didn't miss the way both women were leaning toward each other and then jumped as they heard her enter.

  Devon ran a hand through her hair, blushing, "Not quite."

  "We better get back to our side of the world," Mac said lightly, "You ready?"

  "Sure." Devon stood to leave and Alex caught her arm.