“Chris, I’d like to talk with you,” he began slowly, “but if you’d rather be alone…”
“It’s okay,” she replied. “I’ve been alone with my thoughts for the last few weeks, and I could use the company.” Her words were somewhat stilted, but not as much as he had expected.
She gazed across the farmland in the distance, and Harrison joined her.
“It feels good to be back in Fayetteville,” she said. “It brings back memories of when things were simpler and more carefree. Before we carried the weight of the world, it seems, on our shoulders. I even miss the mean tricks your brothers and the other boys played on me on occasion.”
“Well, you were the only girl in the gang, and some of the boys wanted it to remain a boys-only club. In their minds, it was your periodic participation fee.”
“Yeah,” she said, “I kinda figured that out, and I didn’t really mind. I do have one regret, though. I always wanted a cool nickname, but you guys refused to give me one. I made up a few imaginary ones for myself over the years, but I’m thinking — I’ve got the perfect nickname now. How about… Scarface?”
“That is so not funny,” Harrison replied.
Christine tried to laugh, but the sound came out distorted. The muscles in her face hadn’t fully healed.
There was a long silence, and Harrison sensed Christine’s mood turning serious.
“Your parents said you wanted to talk with me, and I’m sure it wasn’t just to reminisce about our childhood. We’ve both had a lot of time to think about things, so why don’t we get started?” She turned to him. “I’ll go first.”
She fell silent for a moment, and Harrison sensed the emotion gathering in her chest.
“I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened to you,” she finally said. “Angie’s death, Maddy’s injury, and Mixell almost killing you twice. You were right — all of it was my fault, dragging you into the effort to track Mixell down when it wasn’t essential. I risked Angie and Maddy — and you — because of my selfish desires. You said you didn’t want to have anything further to do with me, and I don’t blame you.”
She turned away, staring into the distance, unwilling to meet his eyes.
Harrison was stunned by her last sentence. How could she possibly believe he didn’t want anything more to do with her? Then he realized that they hadn’t spoken since Easter Sunday on the phone, when he had warned her about Mixell’s C-4 egg plot. When Christine’s life had hung in the balance in the Alexandria warehouse later that evening, he had been forced to confront his conflicting emotions, and everything had changed.
He wasn’t sure where to begin. His feelings for her ran far deeper than he could ever express, driven by more than physical attraction. He had buried those feelings during his marriage to Angie, and now that they had resurfaced, they were stronger than they had ever been. As he sat beside her in the loft, he realized that Christine was simply an incredible woman, and nothing that had happened in the past would change that.
“I don’t blame you anymore,” he said. “You got caught up in a chain of events that I started when I turned Mixell in. I still think it was the right thing to do, but the events that followed were the result of my actions. Both of us made decisions that had unforeseen and horrific consequences. But we both did what we thought was right at the time, and that’s the best I can ask of myself and of you.”
Harrison placed his hand atop hers, and she let him curl his fingers under her palm and hold her hand tightly. When she turned to face him, moisture glistened in her slate blue eyes.
He recalled the time, in this very spot, when he had tried to hold her hand, but she had moved hers away. Had he been successful, he was going to try and kiss her.
He leaned toward Christine, stopping a few inches from her face. “Will it hurt if we kissed?”
She smiled and caressed the side of his face with her hand. “There’s one way to find out.”
Then she closed the remaining distance.
AMERICAN CHARACTERS
KEVIN HARDISON — chief of staff
MARCY PERINI — secretary of state
TOM GLASS — secretary of defense
PETER SEUFFERT — acting secretary of defense
SHEILA MCNEIL — secretary of the Navy
NOVA CONOVER — secretary of homeland security
THOM PARHAM — national security advisor
CHRISTINE O’CONNOR — director (DCIA)
MONROE BRYANT — deputy director (DDCIA)
FRANK MCKINNON — deputy director for operations (DDO)
TRACEY MCFARLAND — deputy director for analysis (DDA)
BECKY ROCK — deputy director for support (DDS)
JAKE HARRISON — paramilitary operations officer (former SEAL, code name Riptide)
ROBERT WILSON — paramilitary operations officer (former SEAL, code name Leviathan)
STEVE HILE — paramilitary operations officer (former Delta Force, code name Pile Driver)
ERIC WHITE — paramilitary operations officer (former Delta Force, code name Cutlass)
BOB LESHER — paramilitary operations officer (former Night Stalker, code name Falcon)
KHALILA DUFOUR — specialized skills officer, National Clandestine Service (code name Stingray)
BILL GUISEWHITE — director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
RYAN NOSS (Captain) — Commanding Officer
DOLORES GONZALEZ (Captain) — Combat Direction Center (CDC) Operations Officer
MICHAEL BERESFORD (Lieutenant Commander) — Officer of the Deck
MURRAY WILSON (Captain) — Commanding Officer
TOM MONTGOMERY (Lieutenant Commander) — Executive Officer
RYAN JESCOVITCH (Lieutenant) — Weapons Officer
BRIAN RESOR (Lieutenant) — Officer of the Deck
BRITTANY KERN (Lieutenant) — Officer of the Deck
KEITH RESSLER (Lieutenant) — Officer of the Deck
JON PETERS (Commander) — SEAL Team Commander
TRACEY NOVIELLO (Lieutenant) — SEAL Platoon Officer-in-Charge
RUSS BURKHARDT (Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief) — SEAL Platoon Leading Chief Petty Officer
MICHAEL KELLER (Special Warfare Operator Second Class)
KURT HACKER (Special Warfare Operator First Class)
DAVE NAREHOOD (Special Warfare Operator First Class)
GARY WATSON (Commander) — Commanding Officer
RUSTY IDLEMAN (Lieutenant) — Weapons Officer
BRAD WALLER (Commander) — Commanding Officer
JOE SITES (Admiral) — Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
SARAH GREENWOOD — waitress at Irina’s Diner
GEORGE GREENWOOD — Sarah’s father and owner of Irina’s Diner
IRINA GREENWOOD — Sarah’s mother
TRENT MCENTYRE — Sarah Greenwood’s ex-boyfriend
GLORIA POTTER — rents cottage to Jake Harrison
NICHOLAI GHERKIN — customer at Irina’s Diner
LEONID ROMANKO — customer at Irina’s Diner
MIKHAIL GOERGEN — customer at Irina’s Diner
JACK CARVER — Carver Construction owner