“I told you I wasn’t going to put up with that nonsense!” The words rang out from behind the closed door. “What do you take me for? Do you really think I’m that much of an idiot?!” To anyone in the office, Cameron had just returned from her Boston vacation.
“Just because you’ve paid my bills for two years doesn’t mean you own me!” came the snarling answer.
“You’d better think twice about that! I’m the one that kept that parole officer off your back! And don’t you forget that! Not that…that…woman you’ve been seeing behind my back in Boston! Did you think I wouldn’t know why you went up there last weekend?
Allison tried not to listen as the argument became louder and more heated. They’d been at each other’s throats ever since Cameron had returned from her trip and it made the office an uncomfortable place to work at times. Thank God there were no patients waiting this time. She looked up at Don, the young guy who worked in the mail service downstairs, and gave him a weak smile as she saw him glancing toward the door.
“Sounds like trouble in Paradise,” he muttered, as Allison handed him the signed clipboard and started to open the overnight mail packages he’d just handed her.
“It’ll blow over,” she offered, in a feeble attempt to cover her own discomfort.
The yelling continued through the door. “Well, if you think you don’t need me, you can just walk right out that door. But don’t think you can slink back in whenever it gets too tough out there for you.”
“Slink back in!? Are you serious? You’re the one who’s going to be on my doorstep begging me to come back!”
“Delusions again, my dear.”
“I already have a place to go!” The anger sounded loudly. “I don’t need your handouts and I do not need you controlling my life!”
“Fine. Then open that door and get out.”
There was a pause. Then the door flew open and Allison watched the athletic-looking brunette stalk angrily through the outer office and out the door, slamming it loudly as she stomped out into the corridor.
Allison sighed and looked up at Don, who stood there staring at the slammed door.
“Yeah, it blew all right. Up, not over.” He took the clipboard and turned to go. “See ya later.” He smiled as he went out into the corridor.
Allison didn’t know whether to be upset or relieved. She liked Cameron a lot but the changes that had come over Doctor Thomason in the past few weeks were disturbing. As the outer office door closed gently, Allison turned back to the insurance papers she’d been working on.
Finally, as she completed the last form, Allison looked at her watch. It was 5:20. She rose from her desk and walked over to the closed inner office door. Tapping gently, she slowly opened it and looked inside.
“Dr. Maggie…” she started, as she peeked into the room, “are you all right?” Allison asked.
Dr. Maggie looked up at her as she sat back and pushed the wisp of salt-and-pepper hair back from her face. A small smile warmed her eyes. “Yes, Allison, thank you. Maybe I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight. I know I haven’t been very good company these last few days.”
“I know it’s been hard for you. These…things are never easy.”
“Well,” said Maggie, laying her pen down on top of the client files she’d been working on, “at least it’s settled.”
Allison nodded her agreement. “Is there anything you need before I leave?” Allison asked.
“No, hurry home to your family. I’ll be fine.” Maggie smiled. It was the first smile Allison had seen in days.
“Your first client isn’t until eleven tomorrow. I’ll open up at nine as usual. If you want to sleep late, I’ll be here.”
“Thank you, Allison. I just might do that.” Maggie picked up her pen as Allison closed the door behind her.
Why was she still worried, Maggie wondered? They’d already discussed everything and Cam’s preparation had gone exceedingly well. Everyone agreed it was the right way to go. Why couldn’t she stop worrying? Cameron would be fine. It wasn’t like she was out there totally on her own. And at least it wasn’t like it had been when she’d been in prison and there had been no way that Maggie could protect her.
“Protect her?” Maggie thought. “Get real, Thomason, you couldn’t protect her if both your lives depended on it.”
Maggie twirled the pen absentmindedly as she sat back and sighed. Was this the “Mother Hen Syndrome?” Why didn’t she feel this way with the other agents she now oversaw? Why did her stomach still twist nervously when she thought about Cameron? Wasn’t this exactly what her profession termed “unethical”? Had she lost her perspective and gotten close to Cam, the person, so that she couldn’t evaluate Cam, the agent? Was she too close?
Maggie sat forward and grabbed a file she’d been working on. Now they’d just have to see what would happen at that banquet on Friday.
* * * *
The phone rang only once before Cam heard that low, French-Canadian accent.
“Oui?” Michael’s voice always sounded so sensual, even with that one short word. Cam felt a familiar wetness below her belly. How she ever did that to Cam was beyond Cam’s comprehension.
“It’s me, honey,” was all Cam had to say.
“Cherie! It is wonderful to hear your voice! You caught me at a good time. I was going to go out to get something to eat.”
“Your own cooking isn’t good enough anymore?” Cam laughed. Michael had started a course in cooking at the local college. Some of her creations had been quite good, but a few, especially the soufflés, had been a disaster.
Michael’s laugh was her response. “I do not have time to cook. I have been busy working on a proposal for the Commissioner General.”
“Is this about your ideas for classes for the wives and children?” Michael had spoken of her wish to create a program to teach self-defense to the dependents of the constables. She was the lead martial arts instructor for the whole country. At first, it was just sparring with her brothers, who were also part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Then she began to advance in belt. When she earned a third level black belt and it became apparent that they could not beat her, it drew the attention of the head of the district, and he asked her to teach her skills to the other officers. From there, it blossomed into an intra-district assignment, then intra-Provence, and she’d garnered praise from many of the top echelon of the RCMP. Now she could almost write her own job description.
“Oui. It is that. I’m going to Vancouver for a few days to teach some classes and I hope that the Commissioner General will adopt my entire program while I’m there. It is time that the women and children learn these things so they do not have to always rely on someone else.”
“You don’t have to convince me, sweetie. I think it’s a marvelous idea. You make me very proud.” Cam’s smile almost overtook her entire face. God, she loved this woman.
“Oh no, cherie. I have not done it yet. I will let you know when to be proud,” was Michael’s reply. “And I have been missing you so very much. “
“I’ve missed you, too, but I won’t be able to come to Montreal to see you for a while. I’m on another case.”
“Verisment? Where are you this time?” Michael’s voice got a bit subdued.
“Right here in Baltimore for a while unless something turns up outside of town,” Cam said. She and Michael both knew that Cam couldn’t say anything else.
“Then you must do your work,” Michael said when she had finished. “I am glad that Pauly and Maggie will be there to help you.”
“Me, too.” Then she chuckled as she thought about the other plans she and Pauly had. “We have to go to a banquet this week. Pauly will be my date. I’m not looking forward to it,” Cam admitted. “It will be strange wearing a gown.”
“You will be beautiful, cherie. More so than usual.”
Cam smiled and shook her head. “That’s what I fear most.” She laughed. “I haven’t had to worry about makeup and clothes in many, many years.”
“Oui,” was Michael’s response. “But makeup and clothing do not make you beautiful. Your heart says that you are beautiful.”
Cam found no response to that logic. “And what does your heart say?” Cam threw back at her.
“My heart says that I love you very much. And I wish you were here in my arms.”
Cam let that thought warm her. How did Michael always know just the right thing to say? “Soon, I hope.”
“Oui, soon. But not until your job is accomplished, no?”
“Not until my job is accomplished, yes.” was the answer.
“But you must be careful, cherie. I will worry until you have done your job.”
Cam laughed. “I think the only thing I need to be careful about is that I don’t sprain my ankle on those high heels!”
As always, Michael’s laugh sent chills through Cam’s entire body. If Michael kept this up, Can wouldn’t be able to get through the phone call.
They talked for another twenty or thirty minutes.
“Oh!” Cam remembered, as they started to say good-bye. “I have to give you a new phone number. I got a little apartment to work out of. Pauly helped me move in on Monday. I got a cell phone so I can be in touch but you have to be careful in case someone else answers it. Maybe it would be better if you called Maggie or Pauly and I can call you back.” She gave Michael the new number.
“But Maggie or Pauly will always know where you are?”
“Yup,” Cam responded, “or know how to get in touch with me.”
“And remember,” Michael concluded, “our relationship should not have to interfere with your work. Whatever you need to do, you must do. Do not be concerned about casual liaisons if it brings you the information you need. I’ll understand.”
“And I wouldn’t want to keep you from your favorite pastime.” Cam laughed. Michael was known for her love of sex. “We don’t have an exclusive relationship, so if a situation presents itself that you can’t resist, I’ll also understand. It’s only fair when we’re apart. When we’re together, however…” Cam let the sentence hang.
Michael smiled to herself. What a wonderful relationship! They trusted each other. Michael had never had that kind of relationship before.
“Just remember our agreement and come home safely to me.”
“I will,” pledged Cam.
How did this relationship happen? Cam mused as she clicked the phone to off. They’d met when Cam was training for her first assignment. Michael had been hired to teach her martial arts. At first Cam had thought Michael must be straight because of her clothing and the way she interacted with Charlie Harris, her other trainer. For two weeks, Cam had sweat as much from the physical exercise in the hot Caribbean sun as from being near this six foot blond. When Michael had made a pass at her after two weeks of intense training, Cam had pushed herself away.
“Have I misinterpreted?” Michael looked perplexed. “I thought…that you were attracted to me, as I am to you.”
“But…” Cam searched for words. “I thought…I mean, I assumed…I am attracted to you…but I mean, well, I thought you were straight,” she blurted. That’s right, be articulate, express yourself succinctly.
Michael looked at her incredulously.
“Straight? Mais non. Why do you think that?”
“I…I just assumed. You’re so…intimate…with Charlie…”
Michael smiled and relaxed back onto the floor. “Intimate.” She shook her head. “Intimate with Charlie? Is that why you have been avoiding my advances?”
“I just thought…and you’re my teacher. I just…” Cam stared at the floor.
“Intimate,” Michael repeated. She smiled thoughtfully. “Oui. Charlie is my friend. We know each other very well. He is my confidante. We were intimate, once,” she admitted, “but only because we were dating the same woman. That is how I met him. She wanted us both at once. It was…interesting. But she dropped us both. Charlie and I have become great friends. And we now make it a point not to date the same women.”
Cam laughed at the memory. Oh, if things had remained that simple but they’d had a misunderstanding and had parted on not such good terms. They hadn’t talked about it and it had haunted Cam for the ten months she’d spent in prison. It was only when she’d been paroled and had gone to Maggie’s bay house to rest and recuperate, that she and Michael had begun their relationship again.
Michael’s words were soft, tentative. “I have thought of you constantly since last summer. I have been very good these past few years at being inaccessible, emotionally. It was a big shock to realize I could not erase you from my mind.”
Cam stared back into eyes that burned into hers, but didn’t trust her voice not to break. “I…I’m still undercover. Legally, I’m on parole…”
“I know.” Michael’s eyes turned away. “Maggie explained it to me. I know that you must be free to play your part…” She hesitated slightly, “And I understand that.” Michael looked back at her, hesitantly. “But I…I want to be a part of your life, too. Even if I can’t know everything that you do.” Michael took a small step back and inhaled deeply. “Cameron, I need you to know…what happened on that island…I was not playing. Maybe I was too serious. I did not make love to you to teach you a lesson. I made love to you because I wanted to make love to you. That is still what I want to do.”