Chapter 18
Rad took the stairs two at a time and burst through the door of the room where he’d been told the reporter was waiting, almost as violently as if he were on a raid. Once inside, he slammed it closed behind him. “What are you doing here?”
The woman, who stood with her back to him staring out the window, didn’t turn around until the last trace of the exiting helicopter disappeared over the mountaintop. “That’s not exactly the greeting I was expecting, Rad.”
“That doesn’t exactly answer my question.” Rad ran his gaze over the woman he hadn’t laid eyes on in person for nearly three years. Her blonde hair was pulled back and there wasn’t a strand of it out of place. She wore khaki pants that clung tightly and boots with at least a two-inch heel—hardly war-zone attire.
“You look well.” Angela Powers ignored his curtness as she moved toward him. “It’s good to see you.” She threw her arms around his neck even though he did nothing to return the embrace. “Is this any way to treat an old friend?” she whispered before kissing him on the cheek.
Rad wiped the red lipstick off his face with his hand as he took a step back. “Old friend? You mean ex-fiancée don’t you?”
She let her arms fall to her sides. “Really, Rad? You’re still jealous after all this time?”
“Jealous?” Rad laughed. “Of what?”
“Oh, come on.” She gave him a pitying look. “I married someone wealthier and more powerful than you could ever be. I’m sure it has to hurt.”
“I’ll admit it hurt when I came home to find my apartment cleaned out and a note on the table.” Rad stood with his hands on his hips, staring at her. “But do you want to know what hurt the most?”
She shook her head, looking up at him with wide open eyes as if expecting him to tell her he’d been left with a big hole in his heart.
“What hurt the most is that you never gave me the opportunity to thank you for saving me from the biggest mistake of my life.”
Angela’s mouth dropped open at the insult, and then slammed shut just before she turned her back on him to stare absently out the window. “Who was that woman?”
The hair on the back of Rad’s neck rose. “What woman?”
She smirked and glanced over her shoulder at him. “That woman.” She nodded toward the landing zone that was now empty. “The one you just said goodbye to.”
For the first time, Rad’s gaze fell upon the long camera lens sticking out of an expensive-looking tote bag on the table by the window. “None of your business, Angie.”
She whipped around. “It’s An-gel-a. Angela Powers.”
Rad rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I forgot. So, for the third time, what are you doing here An-gel-a?”
“What do you think? I’m a reporter. I’m here for a story.”
Rad looked at her incredulously. “Really? CNN sent you to cover a story in a war zone?”
Angela glared at him. “For your information, I volunteered. I happened to hear something big was getting ready to go down over here, and I wanted to get the story myself.”
“Oh, I see.” Rad’s heart thudded at the thought there was a leak about the mission already. “I don’t suppose you just happened to hear something from your husband, chairman of the Intelligence Committee.”
“He’s not like that. He won’t tell me anything.” She crossed her arms and turned away. “He’s got the disease of moral integrity.”
“Aw. That’s too bad,” Rad said sarcastically. He walked to the window and gazed absently at the landscape outside, trying to envision what Angie had seen and what she could infer from it. “So to make a name for yourself, you had to come and get the story firsthand.”
“Something like that,” she said. “Luckily, I have old friends who are sources in the field.”
“You do?” Rad turned around. “Who?”
Angela snorted. “You.”
Rad laughed out loud. “Not on your life, Angie.” He turned to leave.
“They wouldn’t have called you in to lead this mission unless it was big,” she said. “I’m not going home without a story.”
He stopped and whirled around. “Who said I was leading it?”
She smiled deviously. “Like I said, I have sources.”
Rad studied her a moment. “Well, sorry you wasted your time on this one. Win some. Lose some.” Again he turned to leave.
“Let’s put it this way.” Angela no longer tried to sound agreeable. “I have enough sources to find out who that woman is.”
The statement was made in such a threatening tone that Rad stopped with his hand on the doorknob. He didn’t say anything and he didn’t move.
“I know people. Men who will talk.”
Rad tried to sound calm and indifferent as he turned his head. “I know you missed the class on journalism ethics, but do you know anything about national security?”
“You seem awfully defensive of her.” Angela took a cigarette out of a silver holder and put it up to her lips. “And the way you two were acting out there,” she nodded toward the window, “well, it has made me curious.”
Rad stood perfectly still, trying to calm his pounding heart and decide the best way to proceed. Is she bluffing or does she suspect something? With Angie it was hard to tell.
“Anyway, Rad, I have a favor to ask.” Angela touched a lighter to the cigarette and took a deep drag as if her threat was now forgotten. When he remained silent, she looked up as if to make sure she still had his attention, and then continued the conversation.
“I need an introduction.”
Rad just stared at her.
“To your CO. McDunna.”
He laughed. “And you think I’m going to do that for you?”
“You are,” she said, casually, “if you don’t want the focus of my story to be on her.
“You don’t even know who she is.” Rad hoped that was the case anyway. Angela Powers was good-looking, manipulative, and with a senator for a husband, powerful. There was always the possibility she did have sources that would talk. Not likely here—but definitely in D.C. The enemy he faced on the battlefield was not the only, or even his most formidable foe. The bureaucrats, politicians, and liberal media had the ability to bring this mission to an end before it even began.
“I have a pretty good idea of what she is,” Angela said when he did not respond. “That’s enough to get me started.”
Rad blinked his eyes in disbelief. “So you would do a story based on your assumptions, not facts, possibly jeopardizing the lives of people serving their country?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I’m a journalist.”
“So I can either protect the life of one of my fellow Americans by giving you the introduction, or decline and possibly ruin her career at best… or conceivably, get her killed.”
“You needn’t put it so bluntly,” Angela said curtly. “I’m only asking you to make an introduction for heaven’s sake, not enter a torture chamber.”
Rad took a moment to contemplate the options and the risk. She could be lying about doing a story based on mere speculation—or she could be just malicious enough to be telling the truth. Was it worth the chance? He found it distasteful to introduce someone he loathed and did not trust to someone he respected, but the alternative could mean that an embedded American’s identity would be revealed. Just as significant, and possibly more dangerous, was that Pakistan and the entire international community could be alerted that something was about to happen. There were so many ways this thing could unravel. Having Angela Powers in country just quadrupled all of them.
On the other hand, there was no one in the world he trusted to handle the likes of Angela Powers more than McDunna. He would not fall for her seduction tricks or her power threats. In fact, he would be insulted by both.
Rad took a deep breath and studied her. She wanted a story, and it appeared she was willing to do anything to get it. He was dealing with a woman who was calculating, cunning, and controlling—and just spiteful and vindictive enough to get someone killed.
“You know damn well I’m not going to jeopardize the life of a fellow American.”
“Of course I do.” She turned to pick up her leather tote bag, then looked over her shoulder and winked. “Let’s go.”