Page 61 of A More Perfect Union

Her words trailedoff, but it didn’t matter because Rook was no longer listening, her entirefocus trained on the second text Zoey had sent. Two simple words—Luv u—andat the sight of them, Rook’s heart pounded, her chest tightened, and heatsurged through her.

This. This was thetipping point. The signal that her growing feelings for Zoey were mutual, andit was up to her to make the next move. But Zoey’s hesitancy, the edge in hervoice, and the fact she’d pulled her hand away, forced Rook to recalculate.

She studied themessage. The spelling was casual, juvenile even, but by her own admission, Zoeyhad been under duress. But she’d taken the time to send the message. It had tobe true, right? Or had duress, not love, been her sole motivator? Rook knewbetter than most that people said all kinds of things in the heat of themoment, not all of them true.

She looked up intoZoey’s eyes, knowing she’d find answers there, and she wasn’t wrong. Reflectedback at her was true affection, but it was mixed with a healthy dose of regret,which didn’t bode well as building blocks for the future.

A loud crash startledthem both, and Rook jerked her head around, looking for the source of thesound. Louden lurched out from behind a file cabinet, heading toward them. Shestared, unable to move, and Zoey grabbed her, pulled her out of the way, andran toward Louden. Rook yelled for her to stop, but Zoey’s arm was already inmotion and she landed a punch square on Louden’s face, knocking him to theground.

Rook ran to her side.“Are you okay?” But Zoey didn’t answer, instead pointing to where Louden lay,his face red and his body wracking with uncontrollable seizures. As Loudenthrashed on the floor in front of them, the door to the corridor flew open andarmed soldiers burst in yelling for them all to hit the deck.

Chapter Twenty-one

Zoey heard thecall to attention and stood ramrod straight waiting for the rest of theceremony to begin. There was a time, when she was a young soldier, thatstanding in this position for any length of time had been an almost intolerableburden, every thought a distraction, every fluttering breeze a tickle designedto make her feel like she was coming out of her skin, but she’d learned towelcome the peace and serenity of having nothing more to do than stand still.In the calm she was able to dig deep and push out all distractions. She used tojoke that standing at attention was like military yoga.

Not today. Today, aweek after she’d watched Lieutenant Louden, a Soviet agent, take his own lifewith a cyanide pill after she’d confronted his asset, she was acutely consciousof her surroundings.

Normally, a promotionceremony would be conducted on base and the full company would be inattendance. But today she would receive her silver leaf in the Rose Garden atthe White House, in the presence of less than a dozen people, and the persondoing the pinning wouldn’t be her mentor, but a man she’d only met a few weeksago.

When GeneralBloomfield called her name, she broke her formation of one and walked towardhim. Then and only then did she glance into the audience, seeking out the oneface she truly wanted to see. Rook was behind and to the left of the general,looking as dashing as she had the first time Zoey had seen her. Dressed in ajet-black suit with a royal blue shirt, Rook sat with her legs crossed, leaningback in her chair, looking completely at ease here in the center of power.

They’d had onlycasual contact over the past week. Both of them had been debriefed extensivelyby several federal agencies, and Rook had traveled to New York for FarahHamil’s mayoral candidacy kickoff event. When she and Rook had spoken, they’dboth danced around the subject of anything more than the next conversation, thenext meal, and they certainly hadn’t talked about their uncomfortable sceneoutside of Sharp’s office.

Zoey knew the lack ofconnection was mostly her fault, if fault was even the right word. Sharp hadbeen right about one thing. She was suffering from a bit of trauma and wasstill reeling from the one-two punch of having to turn in peers for fraud, andthen finding out her mentor was a kept asset of the KGB and had been for years.The system she’d spent her life to support had failed her miserably, and shewasn’t sure of her place in it anymore. If she wasn’t sure about the rest ofher life, she knew for certain she had no business making promises to Rook shedidn’t know if she could keep.

The receptionfollowing the ceremony seemed elaborate, considering Zoey was the only officerwho’d been promoted, but she supposed the general’s presence was a key reasonthe White House was putting on a show. Bloomfield had announced his retirement theday before and pledged to help the president find an unimpeachable candidate toserve as Head of the Joint Chiefs. Although nothing about the investigation sofar implicated Bloomfield in the scandal, he felt responsible for not knowinghis deputy was engaged in espionage and, according to Julia, he’d stated hisoversight as the reason for his retirement. Zoey was sad to see him go, but sherespected him for his decision.

“I haven’t been tomany of these, but usually the person being promoted looks happier,” Rook said,handing her a glass of champagne.

Zoey reached for theglass and let her fingers linger over Rook’s for a moment, wondering if theheat between them would ever fade. She met Rook’s hopeful expression and wishedshe could return it with one of her own, but she was leaving and Rook’s lifewas here with the clients whose controversies demanded her attention. If shecouldn’t have Rook, Zoey wanted a mission, a 24/7 distraction from the outsideworld, preferably in a desolate foreign country where there was no possibilityshe would be in the public eye. “Sorry, I am happy for the promotion, butconflicted about what’s next.”

“Whatisnext?Although before you answer, you should know there’s a rule that if you savesomeone’s life, you have to spend the rest of your life at their side toprotect them from further harm.”

Zoey smiled. “I’mpretty sure that’s just in the movies, but even so, I didn’t save your life.Louden must’ve bitten down on the cyanide pill the minute he left Sharp’soffice. The poison takes a few minutes to take effect.”

Rook waved a hand inthe air. “Don’t confuse the issue with science. Seriously, you charged that guyand punched him in the face. Pretty damn impressive. I heard Bloomfield ismaking sure you get whatever assignment you want.” She lowered her voice to awhisper. “So what is next for you, Colonel?”

“I asked fordeployment.” Zoey blurted out the words, hoping rushing the news would make itless painful for both of them. “I can do the most good when I’m in the field.”

Rook’s smilevanished. “How many times have you been deployed? Don’t you think it’s someoneelse’s turn to risk their lives for their country?”

Zoey uttered a silentcurse for her insensitivity. Of course Rook was thinking about Rory. Sheinjected her voice with what she hoped was a soft, comforting tone. “I’m inlogistics, not combat. No real danger there.”

“You’re smart enoughto know there’s always danger.”

“Maybe, but it’s thekind I can handle, not the back-biting controversies that swirl around in thistown.”

“Sounds like it’s meand my work you want to get away from.”

“Look over there.”Zoey pointed across the room at the press corps lining up waiting to catchphotos. “I’m supposed to talk to them later so they can all write stories aboutthe fresh faced soldier, new to the Pentagon who punched out a Soviet spy,while helping blow the lid off a major scandal. The headlines won’t beaccurate, the stories will only contain the most sensational details, and theywill all gloss over the careers that were compromised along the way. That’swhat I want to get away from.”

“What about the textyou sent me from Sharp’s office?” Rook said, her voice shaking. “You said youlove me.”

“I did. I do, butwhen I sent that…” Zoey grappled for the right words to explain she’d sent themessage in the heat of the moment, without considering the consequences. Shecertainly hadn’t factored in the poor cell signal that caused the message toshow up after the danger had passed. “I didn’t think, I didn’t know…”

Rook finished forher. “You didn’t know if you’d ever see me again. So it was like a good-bye.”

“I guess so. Yes.”Zoey sagged with relief that Rook understood, but at the same time sadnesswashed over her at the thought of saying good-bye to Rook. Nevertheless, shehad to do it. She couldn’t straddle Rook’s world and hers. “Please tell me youunderstand.”

---