Part 48 (1/2)

Two Seahawks, each carrying a squad of men, were going to kick off the presentation. Those men, dressed in BDUs and combat vests, carrying a full a.r.s.enal of weapons, were going to fast-rope down to the parade ground. In a matter of seconds, they would rig an ancient antiaircraft launcher with enough explosives to create a controlled blast that would ”put it out of commission.”

They would then be pulled back off the parade grounds via helo and SPIE rigging.

It would all take place inside of a few short minutes. And that was just to get the showa”which included plenty of colored smoke and other whiz-bang insertion and extraction techniquesa”started.

They did a dry run of the President's arrival, with the teams of Secret Service men and additional security under the command of Admiral Tucker all swarming the area. Also milling around were the members of the President's staff who would be on hand. Commander Paoletti came and stood next to Muldoon and shook his head at the chaos.

Joan had just walked about a dozen yards away to get: a little privacy for a call coming in on her cell, and the CO looked at her pointedly and then looked back at Muldoon.

”You know, when you first asked to be kept out of the helos for this thing, I thought your knee was bothering you again,” Paoletti said quietly. ”I thought you were trying to avoid the fast-roping.”

Sliding forty feet down a rope from a helo and going immediately into a dead run had been tough on Muldoon's knees before he'd been injured.

”No, sir,” Muldoon said. ”I'm fine. I still have twinges, and I'm still using the brace, but I'm fully up to speed. I wouldn't lie to you about that.”

”I didn't think you were lying, Lieutenant,” the CO said easily. ”I thought you just conveniently forgot to tell me.”

”No, sir,” Muldoon said again.

”Yeah, I realize that now,” he said, glancing at Joan again. ”I'm curious though. Most guys would've leapt at the chance to play hero. Show off a little.”

”I'm not going to impress anyone by jumping out of helicopters,” Muldoon told the commander. ”I'm not exactly sure how I am going to impress ...” Jeez, who was he kidding here? Just use her name. ”... Joan, but believe me, sir, I'm working on it.”

He had decided to approach his entire relations.h.i.+p with Joan as if it were a mission with a ”Do not fail” order. His plan so far was to spend the next few days as close to her as possible.

But no s.e.x. That gigolo crack still stung. He had to make it clear to her that, in his eyes at least, their relations.h.i.+p was about way more than s.e.x.

He'd realized last night, after he'd begged her to take him back to her room, that s.e.x would only serve to make things even more complicated.

He'd realized a lot of things last night.

It had occurred to him then that as much as he wanted to spend all of the next three weeks in bed with Joan, that wasn't going to get him what he really wanted.

And what he really wanted was a long-distance relations.h.i.+p. If that really was the only way they could make a relations.h.i.+p with two high-octane careers work, then dammit, he wanted to try. He wanted a chance at having something real with this incredible woman.

”If that's the case, if you're really determined, Muldoon, then she doesn't stand a chance,” Paoletti said. ”I'll definitely be dancing at your wedding, kid.”

Wedding?

”Uh,” Muldoon said. ”Well...”

Jeez, the CO actually thought that he and Joan... ?

”Thanks,” Muldoon said. ”Sir. I'll be, um, sure to invite you.”

To his wedding. To Joan. G.o.d, what a thought. What an incredible thought.

Muldoon and Joana”married. He started to laugh. Married. But, hey, why not? He was crazy out of his mind about her. The thought of never seeing her again scared him to death. For days now, he'd been alternating between deep depression and giddy euphoria.

He loved her.

Hopelessly. Endlessly. Totally.

He wanted to wake up every morning knowing that she was in his life.

The COa”as usuala”was as right about this as he was about most things. Muldoon simply hadn't been thinking on a grand enough scale.

He could imagine their weddinga”a simple ceremony where they'd put rings on each other's fingers and seal the promises they made with a kiss. G.o.d, he wanted that so badly he had to remind himself to keep breathing.

He'd never pursued a woman before, not like this. He'd never had to. He'd never wanted to. But like the CO had said, if he was determined...

What would she say if he asked her to marry him?

There are too many obstacles.

Yeah? As Sam Starrett would say, so the f.u.c.k what? What obstacle ever stopped a f.u.c.kin' SEAL?

What Muldoon had to do was find out exactly what her perceived obstacles were and. ..

He had to talk to her. He had to get inside her head. Find out what she was thinking. Let her know what he was thinking, too. G.o.d, he had to let her know what he was feeling.

Okay, that one wasn't going to be either easy or fun, but neither was BUD/S training, and he'd made it through that. You do what you have to do to get the job done. And if that's what it would take...

He had to make Joan see that it was worth it, that what they shared was well worth the hard work that came with a long-distance love affair. The sparks that they made together, and the sheer comfort of the fit that he felt when they were togethera”and he knew she felt it, tooa”was worth keeping. Forever.

He was nota”was nota”just going to let this one go. He wasn't just going to let her slip away from him. Not this time. Not Joan.

And he had to make her realize that he was worth keeping, too.

Paoletti glanced at Joan again. ”You know, she made quite an impression on Kelly. Funny and really smart, Kel said. Really sharp, really together.”

”Yeah,” Muldoon said. ”She's fabulous, sir.”

”What is it about smart women?” Paoletti asked. ”Don't try to answer that, Lieutenant. It was a rhetorical question. Although maybe someone as intelligent as you could actually figure it out. If you come up with anything, let me know, okay?”

Muldoon laughed. ”Aye, aye, sir.”

It was good to see the commander looking a little more relaxed. Or was he?

As Paoletti watched the Secret Service and other security personnel at work, his eyes narrowed slightly and his mouth got tight.

Muldoon had the feeling that the CO wished nothing more than for this honor to be over with.

”Joan seems to be under the impression that all threats have been diminished,” Muldoon said. ”The information she's received implies that when the FBI took out that terrorist cell yesterday, they completely eliminated any potential danger to the President. I tried to tell her that wasn't necessarily the case.”

Paoletti shook his head and laughed his disgust. ”Apparently there's only one al-Qaeda cell operating in this part of California, right? Yeah.” He laughed again. ”I've made my opinion as clear again today as I did yesterday and the day before, but no one wants to hear ita”especially not since the current threat has been downgraded. And G.o.d knows it's time to start campaigning.” He rolled his eyes. ”I thank G.o.d I don't have to be reelected as Team Sixteen's CO every few years.”

Muldoon did, too. Pa.s.sionately, in fact. Tom Paoletti was a major part of the reason Sixteen was the best team in the Navy. ”Twenty-four hours, and it'll all be over, sir.”

”Twenty-one hours and twenty-eight minutes, Lieutenant. I'm practically counting seconds here.” Paoletti sighed, his easygoing smile fading. ”I've actually got a love-hate thing happening with this a.s.signment, if you know what I mean.”