Chase finally stopped and looked up at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Well, for starters, you took off out of there like a shot. You looked spooked. And now you’re in here talking to yourself like a nut and wearing holes in the grass with your boots.”
She sighed and moved to the bed. Seeing Norah was the last thing she’d expected. But for so many years it had been the first thing she’d hoped for. Now, she was here. In front of her. And all Chase could see when she looked at her was the downright hatred Norah had for her. Rattled? She was more than a little rattled. But she wasn’t about to tell John that.
“We used to…we have a past. That’s all I’m going to say about it, except to promise you that it won’t get in the way of my doing this job.”
He shook his head, seemingly pleased, and clapped her on the shoulder. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
John had arranged the meeting between Chase, Norah, Jamie, the two epidemiologists, and a virologist named Dean for exactly an hour later, and Norah was impressed by his militaristic punctuality. Much of Norah’s anger had simmered to a low boil,but the question of who was running this clown show was still very much up in the air.
She assumed that since John had the most field experience, he’d oversee the operation. And although Norah didn’t love the CDC taking control, John seemed like a reasonable man with an impressive CV, and she figured she’d adapt to the idea if need be.
“Okay, John. It’s your call.” Chase stood to his left, a full foot shorter, her navy T-shirt stretched over her muscled shoulders and arms. She was almost forty now, but God, she’d aged well. A few new lines traversed her angular face, and a hint of gray now colored her temples. She wore a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that Norah assumed were readers as she glanced over the notes she held. The years had been long, but they seemed to have been damn good to Chase, her boyish good looks now replaced by a sophistication that Norah couldn’t help but find incredibly sexy. The inconvenient fact that Norah even noticed this quality enraged her all over again.
“I’ve given this situation a lot of thought,” John said.
“In the last hour?” Norah heard the words escape her mouth before she had a chance to rein them in. Her goal here was to minimize hostility between the two branches, not encourage it.
“Since I heard about this deployment. When Justin Pitman sent me down here, with orders from the director of the CDC, he gave me strict instructions. We were to work with the army, not against them. Apparently, he had quite the meeting with your guy Briggs back home. Now, I see absolutely no reason why that can’t happen. But I also know some things need to be straightened out ahead of time.”
Norah bit her lip in frustration. She had no idea where the old man was going with this line of thought, and frankly, they didn’t have a lot of time to play politics right now.
“Although Pitman left me in charge, and Briggs agreed with this idea, I’m too old and tired to be taking the lead on anythinganymore. That’s why I want Norah and Chase to run the operation down here together.”
A gust of air escaped from Chase, who was leaning against the edge of a nearby table. Norah sat on a folding chair just a foot away from her, each occasionally glancing at the other.
“You want what?” Chase asked, stepping away from the table and closer to John.
“I want you and Norah to work this together.”
“But…” Norah rose from her seat, wringing her hands. “That’s impossible.”
“Oh? And why is that?” John asked, his tone implying a degree of knowledge beyond what was clearly a professional conflict between the two.
“Because…because you can’t have two people in charge. Especially not a military doc and a CDC doc,” Norah said.
John’s freckled forearms were crossed over his large belly, and his face suggested the subject was not up for debate.
“Sure, we can. And we will. I don’t see any good reason you two can’t work side by side on this. Do you?”
Norah allowed herself to look at Chase for the first time since their meeting earlier. Her expression was stern and fierce, like so many times Norah could remember. It was a face that said she was pissed and nothing was about to change that fact. Norah held her gaze, and Chase seemed to soften a little, until a version of something resembling a small smile emerged on her lips. Norah was always good at talking Chase down—disengaging her. Chase burned hot, and when the temperature got too high, Norah would settle her back down. Evidently even time didn’t change some things.
The entrance to Norah’s tent was splayed open when Chase got there, as if she were expecting her. Maybe she was. It tookChase over two hours to work up the nerve to walk the short distance to the army’s camp after their meeting had disbanded. She told herself she was too engrossed in the most recent numbers rolling in from the CDC to bother with the meeting, but that was pure bullshit. And if Norah’s expression earlier was any indication, she was still far too angry to approach Chase.
“May I come in?” The greeting felt uncomfortably familiar to Chase. Inappropriate almost. But what could she say?Hi. Sorry I messed everything up so many years ago. Want to work on this outbreak thing together?
Norah’s shoulders visibly tensed as she turned from the desk she’d rigged out of a plastic shipping container and a trash barrel.
“Of course.”
Chase remained near the entrance, unsure how to position herself. Sitting felt too informal, but standing felt defensive. Should she just take a knee or something? No. That was weird too.
“Have a seat.” Norah gestured to the cot next to her, its sheets perfectly tucked in hospital corners. “Just, you know, take your boots off.”
Chase stared at her, a coy smile finally sneaking its way through. “There she is. That’s the Norah I know.”
Norah held her gaze, her own eyes narrowed and scolding, until they softened just slightly, her full lips Chase used to know so well loosening into a grin.
