The man did as Fisher asked. Then he jumped into the Chevy Impala and powered the window down.
“Stick with him. I’m going after her.”
With that, Fisher slammed it into gear and turned the large vehicle around. When he finally hit the gas hard, he realized the extra power he had at his disposal. The car burst with energy as he came to the street where Li had left the Trooper.
It was gone. That was actually a good thing. If she had changed vehicles, he would have had no way of tracking her.
He called in for her position.
34
Colonel Powers paced across the living room in the small bachelor officer’s quarters apartment across from the officers’ club. It was close to midnight, and he knew he shouldn’t be there. Yet, after his marriage had failed years ago, with no children to show for his thirteen year union, he had become more and more focused on his career in the Air Force. He knew he was taking a chance now just being in the same apartment with another officer under his command. Impropriety was as much a matter of perception as it was with the actual reality of the situation. That’s what he had always told his junior officers when they had strayed. Something told him, something deep within himself, that he needed to take this chance. Life was too short and he was too close to retirement to care that much anyway. With twenty-two years under his belt, he could walk away at any time. That’s how he felt on one level. But he still couldn’t help wonder if there was a star in his future, assuming his current mission was favorable. He had a chance to make history in Alaska.
He glanced around the curtains at the airfield, frozen solid, the lights from the runway shining off the crystallized snow.
When he heard a noise behind him, he turned to see her cross the room with a drink in each hand. Her dark hair flowed back in rivulets with each step, her wide smile somewhat hesitant.
“Two vodka martinis, Sir.” She handed one to him and raised hers for a toast. “To warmth in this frozen tundra.”
They touched glasses and each took a short sip. Then she sat down onto the sofa, her dark eyes still penetrating what must have been total uncertainty in him. My God, he thought, this is Sara Chavez, a captain that he had first worked with in Colorado Springs when he was a rising major waiting to pin on lieutenant colonel, and she was a second lieutenant right out of ROTC.
She patted the sofa. “Sir, please take a seat.”
He hesitated. “Sara, try not to call me Sir. We’re off duty.”
“That’s gonna be hard. But I’ll try.” She thought for a moment. “We’re just having a drink here. It’s not like we’re havin’ sex.”
His heart raced with that thought, and he had to admit to himself that he had considered that option even back in Colorado while he was still married. Maybe he needed to feel alive again. Feel wanted by a woman. Especially a woman as beautiful as Sara Chavez. Reluctantly, he came around the coffee table and sat on the couch a few feet away from his captain.
“We’ve had drinks before,” Sara said to him.
“Official parties,” Powers said. “Once in a while with other officers out on the town. This seems different.”
“Does that bother you? We’ve known each other for seven years. I’m thirty years old. Quite single. You’re divorced. Quite divorced. Two adults who have a lot in common.”
“But you work for me.”
She took a sip of her martini and set the glass on the coffee table, shaking her head. “Let’s say we work together. Let’s say we both work for the government. It’s not like I’m gonna slack off just because we’ve had a few drinks. You know me.”
That was true. She had to be the hardest working officer he had known. A true professional. Which is one reason he had been surprised when she asked him to come here after drinks with the entire officer corps earlier in the evening. He had said yes without thinking about the consequences. Could he forget about them now?
Her eyes seemed to glisten and penetrate him. She was a mesmerizing beauty, that was no doubt.
He needed to change the subject. “It’s hard to believe what happened this morning,” he said.
She let out a deep breath. “Is there any motive?”
“OSI is investigating, along with the Agency.”
“Really. The Agency’s involved?”
He sipped his martini. She did a great job on that, he thought. “I don’t have to tell you the importance of this test. You’ll make major first time up just being involved with this project.”
“You could get your first star.”
Not if anyone found out he was fraternizing with one of his captains, he thought. “I’m not too worried about that,” he said. He didn’t want to mention that he had been offered a job by two separate defense contractors for much more than he made now. That, with a colonel’s retirement, would set him up nicely for the rest of his life. But what good was money if he couldn’t share his success with someone else?
“Will we have to delay the test?” she asked.
“Just a few days while the OSI investigates,” he said, and then finished off his drink and set the empty glass on the table. “You know them. They see conspiracies behind everything.”
She quickly finished her martini to catch up with him. “Let’s have another.”
Before he could respond, she got up and walked back to the kitchen. Damn. What a fine ass. In fact, he couldn’t find one flaw in her.
From the other room she said, “Shaken, not stirred, right?” She poked her head around the corner and smiled.
He caught himself smiling back.
“I knew you had that in you,” she said, returning to the task at hand.
Moments later she returned carrying two more drinks. This time she sat down closer to him, placing the martini in his hand, and her hand staying longer on his to make sure he had the glass.
“Sara, can I ask you a personal question?” Colonel Powers asked.
“Of course.”
He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “You are a beautiful woman. Why…”
“Don’t I have a husband?”
He laughed. “I was thinking boyfriend, but yeah.”
She ran her fingers through her long hair, pushing it away from her eyes. “As you know, I had a boyfriend in Colorado for a while. It didn’t work out. He was a civilian. Didn’t understand my passion for the military. And I did work some crazy hours.”
“And now?”
She shrugged. “Now we’ve been here a few months, and there aren’t many men I might be interested in here.”
“None worthy?”
She laughed. “You could say that.”
There was a long silence, with both uncertain how to proceed.
“Now, can I ask you a personal question?” she said.
“Sure.”
“Are you going to kiss me?”
He didn’t need any more prompting. He took her glass from her hand and set both of them on the table, and with the next move he closed in and kissed her passionately. Together they rolled back to a laying position on the sofa, still embraced.
He ran his hands through her hair and she grabbed his strong biceps.
They didn’t say another word as they rose and left a trail of clothes all the way to her bedroom. Seven years of sexual tension exploded from each of them. Twice in the first half hour.
Colonel Powers lay on his side in her bed, her clock radio reading ten after one in the morning. He knew he should get back to his quarters, but he didn’t want to go. She had gotten up to go to the bathroom adjoining the bedroom.
When she stepped out and the light shone on her beautiful smooth skin and hard body, she stood for a moment gazing at him in her bed. Her nipples were hard from the chill in the air.
“I think you’re standing at attention,” he said to her with a laugh.