Part 56 (1/2)
”But you're a doctor,” Joan said. ”Didn't you have a practice there?”
”In Boston,” she said. ”Yes, I did.”
”And you just... walked away from it, from your whole life and career?”
”I'm still practicing medicine,” Kelly said. ”Doctors never lack patients. Trust me on that one.”
”Did you and Tom even talk for one minute about him moving to Boston?”
”No,” Kelly said. ”That was never a serious option.”
”That doesn't seem very fair.”
Kelly smiled. ”It's fair.”
Joan laughed in disbelief. ”How can you say that?”
”Because it is fair. Look, Tom is the most incredible man in the world. He does things that only a few people on this planet are capable of doinga”and he does them for our country. He could make astronomical amounts of money in the private sector, but he chooses to serve. I figure I can do my share, too, by taking on the role of Navy spousea”although, okay, I haven't managed to marry him yet but I'm working on that. Marriage license or not, when you're the wife of a Navy SEAL, Joan, you do things like move when he gets rea.s.signed. G.o.d, I'd fly halfway around the world for a chance to see him for fifteen minutes.”
Whoa. ”You really love him, don't you?”
”Yes, I do.”
Joan sighed. ”What if you loved him that much, but you had a career that you absolutely couldn'ta”didn't want toa” give up. What if you were doing research at Harvard and you were only years away from, I don't know, say ... curing childhood cancer?”
Kelly didn't laugh at her, even though it was clear she was trying not to smile. ”Or what if you worked in the White House and really loved your job there?” she countered.
Joan rolled her eyes. ”I'm that transparent, huh?”
”Mike Muldoon is the sweetest guy I've ever met on any of the teams.”
s.h.i.+t. ”Obviously our attempts to be discreet have failed miserably. Does everyone know?”
”No. Tom told me about having lunch with you and Mike, and I put two and two together. Don't worrya”I haven't told anyone else. Not even Meg. You didn't get a chance to meet Savannah, did you? Kenny's wife?”
”Kenny?”
”Wildcard Karmody,” Kelly explained. ”No, I guess you didn'ta”she was out of town that evening you came over. Long story short, she and Ken have been married for close to six months now, and she still lives in New Yorka”which doesn't mean she doesn't love him, because I know she does. She just has other things happening in her life, things that she couldn't just drop the way I could. They're making it work. It's not easy, but they meet in Dallas or Chicago as often as they can. It is possible.”
”What are you doing here?”
They both turned to see Tom Paoletti standing behind them. He was looking at Kelly, and he didn't look happy.
Muldoon made sure his lip microphone was off before he dialed Joan's cell phone number.
As he watched, she excused herself from the CO and Kelly Ashton, and dug her cell out of her pocket, flipping it open.
”h.e.l.lo?”
”Hey,” he said. ”It's the rescue squad. Need a good excuse not to be in the middle of a domestic squabble?”
”It's not exactly a squabble,” she said. ”He's just really worried about this event, and he's trying to get her to go home without flat-out ordering her to leave. Did you know Meg Nilsson's here, too?”
”Oh, c.r.a.p.” They'd made a point of suggestinga”stronglya” that wives and families stay home from this event. Paoletti went as far as setting up an alternate demo date for wives and families. ”Is she alone?”
”No, she's got her baby with her.” Joan paused. ”Cute kid.”
”I like kids,” Muldoon said. ”On the off chance that you were wondering...”
She laughed. ”Mike.”
”I love you,” he said. ”In case you were having trouble remembering that. Sleep deprivation can screw up your memory, you know, so I should also probably remind you that you promised to meet me in your hotel room right after this is over.”
”No, I did not.”
”See? Maybe I should be more explicit, so as to jog your brain cells,” he said. ”I was planning to come over, and we were going to order room service, and we were going to get very, very naked and take turns licking... Uh...”
Lt. Jazz Jacquette was standing right beside him, listening to every word he was saying, one eyebrow heading toward the sky.
”Gotta go,” Muldoon said to Joan. He closed his cell phone with a snap.
”Were you actually making a booty call, Lieutenant?” Jacquette asked in his ba.s.so profundo.
”I know, sir,” Muldoon said. ”Wrong time and place. It won't happen again.”
Jacquette looked at him. ”d.a.m.n,” he said. ”I just lost my bet. I had twenty dollars riding on the fact that you were not entirely human. Stay focused, Lieutenant,” he added as he walked away. ”Who would've ever thought I'd have to say that to you?”
The President was coming.
The call had just come in on Husaam's cell phone, letting him know that Bryant's entourage was almost here.
Ihbraham was standing pretty close to the stage. If Husaam had really been a religious man, he might've turned around and lefta”leaving Ihbraham's fate in G.o.d's hands.
But he hadn't made it this far in his career by letting someone elsea”even G.o.da”orchestrate the fate of a man who had to die.
He approached a group of bikersa”three men dressed in leather jackets that declared them to be members of h.e.l.l's Angels. Good. They wouldn't be afraid to get into a fight.
”There's a man over there,” he said to them in a low voice, pointing to Ihbraham. ”An Arab man. He's acting really strange. I'm going to go find one of the Secret Service guysa”I know they're around here somewhere. But will you keep an eye on him? You know, get close to him, make sure he doesn't go anywhere. And if he does anything, just, you know, beat the s.h.i.+t out of him.”
”That guy in the blue T-s.h.i.+rt?” one of them asked.
”Yeah,” Husaam said. ”With the sandals. Don't let him out of your sight. I'll be as fast as I can, but I may have to go all the way back to the gate.”
”You got it, chief.”
They moved closer to Ihbraham, as Husaam, true to at least part of his word, moved back toward the gates, well out of range of all the weapons he'd helped smuggle onto the base.
”When the President climbs up the stairs,” the woman named Myraa”Joan's bossa”told Charlie and Vince for the umpteenth time, ”he's going to stop and greet you and your husband. You'll already be on your feeta”everyone will stand when his car pulls up. But if you need to sit down, don't be ashamed or afraid to do it. It's quite warm out today. No heroics, do you understand?”
”Absolutely,” Charlie told her. ”I'm not a heroa”I'm only the wife of heroes. Did you know that my husband, Chief Vincent DaCosta, was a frogman during the Second World War?”