Point of Departure Page 18

  “I’m walking you through that gauntlet.”

  She smiled a little. “You’ve always been there for me. Thanks.”

  The next morning, Ty was at his desk in his small, cluttered office. He sipped hot coffee and tried to pay attention to the curriculum information in front of him. But his head and his heart wouldn’t let him forget Callie. How was she doing? Glancing at his watch, he saw it was 0755. At 0800, she had to be over at Intelligence, where he was sure Remington was waiting for her. His hand moved into a fist, and Ty admitted to himself that he wanted to punch the bastard out for what he’d done to her.

  Forcing himself to concentrate on his upcoming class, Ty rose. He took the mug of coffee and his lecture notes with him as he moved purposefully down the tiled passageway. The young pilots sat at their desks waiting for him, and the noise died away as he entered the room. As he went to the lectern, they became straight-faced and attentive. It was the last place Ty wanted to be; he wanted to be with Callie to protect her from Remington.

  After the lecture, Ty went back to his office to prepare a test for the pilots. To his surprise, Callie, in her light blue summer dress uniform, was waiting for him. He smiled a little and quietly closed the door to his office so that they could have some privacy.

  “Hi…”

  Callie nodded. “Hi, yourself. I thought I’d come over and tell you what I did.”

  “Did?” Ty dropped the lecture notes on his desk. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She was very pale, her eyes very dark. “Remington?” he growled.

  “I didn’t give him a chance. Here, read this,” she said, handing him a piece of paper.

  Ty released her and stepped back to read the letter. His brows knitted and he glanced up at her. “You’re resigning your commission?”

  “As of tomorrow morning.”

  His heart thumped hard in his chest. Callie was leaving the navy. Where would she go? Suddenly, he felt like a greedy miser, unwilling to part with his newfound riches. Handing the paper back to her, he saw a new light in her blue eyes—one of challenge.

  “I never expected this.”

  “Neither did I. Maggie got home last night, and we talked long and hard about it.” Callie’s mouth lifted in a hint of a smile. “I’ve had it, Ty. I’ve taken all I can in the navy in the arena of sexual harassment. I told Maggie everything last night—including what happened to me back at the academy.”

  “What was her reaction?” Ty leaned against the desk, studying Callie and finding hope in her eyes.

  “She cried. Partly out of anger—and partly because she hadn’t known.” Softly, she added, “We just held each other and cried together. Maggie was hurt because I hadn’t told her or Alanna, but she understood why I didn’t, too.”

  “So what led to this resignation?”

  With a sigh, Callie moved around his small office. There was a photo of Ty standing proudly beside his F-14 fighter plane, his helmet beneath his arm. He was a warrior in every sense, but a warrior with morals and values—a rarity in today’s navy, she thought. Lifting her chin, she held his troubled gaze.

  “I showed Maggie all the phone messages, the letters and cards that have been sent to me. She was just amazed. So was I.” Callie moved her finger along the smooth, polished surface of the maple desk. “A woman lawyer, Louise Jordan, came over to talk to me last night as well.”

  “Who is she?”

  “She works with the ACLU in San Diego. Maggie met her and liked her, too. Louise has been trying to create a sexual-harassment center in the city. She has permission to create an extension of the American Civil Liberties Union devoted to prosecuting sexual-harassment cases. After reading the newspapers and listening to the television reports, she felt that I would be perfect to help her.”

  “Oh?” Ty moved over to her. Callie’s face was thoughtful with purpose.

  “Yes. She made me an offer that I didn’t want to refuse, Ty. I’m going to work with Louise to open a center where sexual-harassment data can be collected, public-relations work with the media can take shape and cases can be pursued.” She searched his face and saw relief flash across it. “What do you think?”

  With a slight grin, Ty asked, “Better yet, how do you feel about it? Is this something you want to do?”

  “More than anything,” Callie breathed, her voice quavering. “Ty, I’ve had over fifty phone calls now. Do you know how heartbreaking it is to sit there and hear these women tell me how they’ve been sexually harassed? How it affects them? No, I’ve never felt more right about anything.”

  “So you’ll stay here?”

  “Yes.”

  Releasing a long breath, Ty murmured, “I’m glad. I was scared you’d be leaving, moving off somewhere….”

  She read between the lines of his admittance. “We really haven’t had the time to get to know each other properly, have we?”

  With a chuckle, he shook his head. “Not unless you count no time and a lot of pressure as proper. Now that I know you’ll be hanging around, I’m making you my priority, if you don’t mind.”

  Heat rushed into her face, but Callie didn’t worry about it as joy flowed through her, sweet and hope-filled. “I like being your priority, Commander.” Reaching over, she touched his clean-shaven cheek. “I’d better leave. I’m sure you’ve got work to do.”

  Ty nodded. “I’m afraid I do. I’d like to take you to dinner, though, Callie. Tonight?”

  She smiled a little and met the promise in his dark, narrowed eyes. “Ty, are you sure?”

  “About us? Of course I am. Why?”

  “Once the navy finds out that I’m actively handling at least fifty sexual-harassment cases that have originated on this station alone, your name will get dragged into it if you see me—or are seen with me.”

  Touching her flaming red cheek, Ty murmured, “I don’t give a damn.”

  “But—your career…”

  Just the soft velvet of her skin made him tremble inwardly with need of Callie. He saw the searching, worried look in her blue eyes and managed a deprecating smile. Framing her face between his hands, he whispered, “I learned the hard way about what’s really important to me, Callie. I lost a marriage because I put flying before my wife.” His voice dropped with feeling. “Never again. I’m not blowing it this time. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  Drowning in his gray gaze, Callie felt such incredible hope thread through her that she was speechless. More than anything, she wanted to kiss Ty. It wasn’t proper because they were on a military station, but suddenly she didn’t care. Placing her hand tentatively on his chest, feeling his reassuring heartbeat beneath her palm, she leaned upward. As she met his mouth, she wasn’t disappointed. Ty’s arms swept around her, molding her to him, his hunger for her as stunning as it was beautiful. In those moments, all of Callie’s fears dissolved in his heat, his giving and taking as their mouths met and clung to each other. His breath became her own, his heart matched rhythm with hers, and she spiraled into a world where she was cherished and loved.

  As Callie eased away from Ty, she searched his hooded eyes, which mirrored turbulence and desire. Love? There was that word again. She’d been so gun-shy about ever saying it, much less possibly feeling it. Shaken, but knowing that now they at least had the time, Callie didn’t want to look at the revelation too closely. Not yet. As she stepped back and Ty’s hand slid down her arm to capture her fingers, Callie realized just how wounded both of them had been by their separate pasts.

  “I—I’ve got to go,” she whispered unsteadily.

  “Sure…” He wanted to step forward and kiss her again. Kiss her until she was breathless. Her mouth looked soft, beckoning—and Ty had never felt this depth of feeling. “I’ll pick you up at 1900?”

  “Yes…fine…” She was behaving like a giddy schoolgirl, but Callie savored the feelings and didn’t apologize for them. Quietly leaving his office, she walked down the passageway. Her papers would be processed speedily, and she knew that with
in a week she would be leaving the navy.

  As she moved out into the bright, hot sunshine and walked to her car, Callie felt tremendous loads from the past falling away. She had lost her case before the board. She had been made out to be a liar by a group of pilots who had conspired against her. All along, her main concern had been for her career. Now she laughed, the sound carrying across the asphalt parking lot, free and lilting.

  In the eyes of the pilot fraternity, she was a loser—someone who had made trouble for them. She was an outsider because she was a woman. What a loss, she thought as she opened her car door to let the accumulated heat out of the vehicle. She was no less intelligent, no less capable than any man, and she knew that. She’d always known it, but because of the incident at Annapolis, she’d demoted herself. Shame was a great leveler, and Callie realized, as she slid into her car, that it had stopped her from standing up and fighting back a lot sooner.

  Dr. Lipinski had done her a favor by reporting the incident, she decided as she drove off the station to her home. At the time, she’d been very upset with the doctor’s insistence. Now she was on the other side of the storm, and she saw very clearly why the doctor had been adamant.

  Feeling better with every mile she put between herself and the station, Callie shifted her thoughts to Ty Ballard. A frown began to form on her brow as she drove up to her home. He was risking his career by continuing to be seen with her. As soon as navy personnel realized that she was going to become a civilian spokesperson on behalf of sexually-harassed navy women, the heat on him would be turned way up.

  Her heart jagged at the thought. Climbing out of the car, she moved to the shade and opened the door to her home. More than anything, she didn’t want Ty hurt by all of this. Yet the look in his eyes and the promise in his voice told her that hell could erupt and it wouldn’t make him back away from knowing her better.

  How much her life had changed in one week! She’d been cowering in fear as Lipinski had turned the report in to the legal department. Now she felt revitalized, with a mission that she knew could change the landscape for all women—civilian and military. Compared to her life as an Intelligence officer poring over reconnaissance maps and satellite photos, this was an exciting and challenging change.

  Shutting the door, Callie breathed in a huge sigh of relief. At least the reporters were no longer dogging her heels. She’d made some allies among the women reporters, who’d promised her air time when the center opened.

  Change, if it was going to come in this sphere, would be made one mincing step at a time. As Callie dropped her purse on the sofa and eased out of her heels, she smiled. Moving into the bedroom, she slipped out of her uniform and threw it in the clothes hamper to be washed. As she went to her closet and opened it, Callie realized that very soon she’d no longer be wearing uniforms. The thought was foreign for a moment as she stood, contemplating what to wear.

  As she dressed in a pair of white cotton slacks and a multicolored, short-sleeved blouse, Callie’s thoughts rested on Ty. He was a fighter, there was no doubt of that. And more than anything, she liked him for his clear morals, values and principles. Not every navy pilot was like Remington and his group. No, Ty represented the other part of the navy, the part that would begin to work at getting rid of sexual harassment and giving “zero tolerance” some meaning.

  Suddenly, Callie was excited as never before. There was fear there, too, but the deep excitement touched her heart and made tears come to her eyes. The next weeks and months were going to be brutal, she knew. Ty had shown his loyalty to her in every way. She only hoped that it wouldn’t damage his career.

  The phone rang. Frowning, she went to the bedstand and picked up the receiver.

  “Hello?”

  “Lieutenant Donovan?”

  Callie didn’t recognize the deep, baritone voice of the man on the other end. “Speaking.”

  “This is Admiral Winston Burke calling from the Pentagon. Do you have a moment, Lieutenant?”

  Shock made Callie stand very still. Admirals didn’t make phone calls from the pentagon just to chat. Something was up. Her heart began to pound. “Yes, sir, I do.”

  Burke cleared his throat. “Good. It came to my attention late this afternoon that you are resigning your commission, Lieutenant. Is that true?”

  “Yes, sir, it is.”

  “Would you reconsider?”

  Taking a deep breath, Callie whispered, “No, sir, I wouldn’t. Not under the circumstances.”

  “The board decision?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “May I be frank with you, Lieutenant Donovan?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ve followed your career for nine years, and I like your work. Because of the board decision, I’m initiating a separate investigation on what took place and the attack you suffered, Lieutenant. I don’t know what they will find, but I hope it’s closer to the truth than what the board allowed in their findings.”

  Relief flowed through Callie and she released the breath she’d been holding. “You are?”

  “Further,” Burke went on brusquely, “I’m asking you not to resign your commission until we can investigate this impartially, with an outside team from another naval air station. I guarantee that there will be both women and men on this team. Will you reconsider your decision?”

  “Well…I—”

  “Lieutenant, I’m ordering the Miramar Personnel Department to hold your resignation until you think about this new development. I want you to realize that not all male officers will protect the ‘good ol’ boy’ system. The navy has invested nine years and almost half a million dollars in your training to do what you do well. I find it reprehensible to lose someone like you over such an issue.”

  Callie slowly sat down, dizzy with shock. She tried to think coherently. “Sir, this is all so sudden. I do have to think about it, and not just because of what happened to me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sir, there are fifty other women on my station that have contacted me personally to say that they’ve also been sexually harassed.” She gulped and went on quickly, knowing it might be the one and only time someone with clout—possibly even the power to change the situation—would listen to her plea. “To honestly consider withdrawing my resignation, Admiral, I’d have to have your promise to investigate all these women’s claims—not just my own. I’m happy to know that someone cares about me and the job I’ve been doing for the navy, but this situation is much larger, much worse than just my case.” Her voice lowered with feeling. “If you’re really serious about this, Admiral Burke, you’ll launch a station-wide investigation into all the cases, not just mine.”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “Is that what it will take for you to stay in the navy, Lieutenant Donovan?”

  She heard the tightness in Burke’s voice and knew she’d thrown him a curve, but she couldn’t apologize for it. “Yes, sir, that’s what it will take.”

  “Very well,” Burke said, “you have my word on it. Captain Walsh will give you a follow-up phone call in two days with details. In the meantime, my people will alert the station commander that we’ll be coming in.”

  Callie closed her eyes, relief moving sharply through her. “Thank you, Admiral. I just never expected this…help.”

  “Not all military men are harassers, Lieutenant. I hope this proves it to you.”

  “It does, sir.”

  “Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye, sir.” Callie heard the phone line go dead and she stared at the receiver for a long, long time before gently replacing it in the cradle. Burke was right: not all men in the navy were harassers—or willing to go along with a cover-up. Her heart was optimistic for the first time as she rose and thought of the wonderful dinner she was going to share with Ty. Callie could barely wait to tell him the turn of events.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ty wanted a quiet restaurant with a lot of privacy, so he’d driven with Callie to The Shadows, a very ex
clusive, expensive watering hole in La Jolla for the rich and famous of Southern California. Money wasn’t the issue tonight; having uninterrupted privacy was. Besides, Callie was worth it, and as he walked into the restaurant, he’d never felt prouder or happier. When she’d shared her latest news with him, he’d been stunned but elated.

  Callie practically floated at his side. Her whole world had suddenly been turned inside out by one life-sustaining phone call. And now she had a whole evening alone with Ty Ballard. She looked up and gave him a soft smile. This man in the dark blue suit, white silk shirt and paisley tie was the center of her existence. How handsome Ty looked, recently shaven, his hair dark and emphasizing his rugged features. The gleam in his gray eyes sent her an exquisite message of just how much he liked her. Perhaps, she wondered, even loved her? Callie kept telling herself it was too soon, that love wasn’t something that one stumbled upon in such a short space of time.

  Feeling very special, she had chosen her clothes carefully, knowing full well that Ty was taking her to a very chic restaurant. She wore a sleeveless black silk dress with a tasteful scoop neck, and over it, a vibrant silk jacket with Aztec-inspired graphics in red, yellow, blue and green. Her small gold earrings and necklace accented the jacket, which was woven with gold metallic threads as well. With black heels and her shining black cap of hair, she felt beautiful indeed. And if she were any judge, Ty thought so, too.

  The mañfitre d’ showed them to a maroon-leather booth, projecting all the pomp and circumstance of an official military parade. Callie curbed a smile, her arm twined around Ty’s as they walked behind the man dressed in a black tuxedo and white shirt. The booth was in the rear of the restaurant, surrounded by a luscious assortment of greenery. The area reminded Callie of a jungle setting, and as she sat down next to Ty, she smiled at him. After a brief flurry of activity by the vanguard of waiters, the silence was broken only by soft piano music drifting from another region of the large restaurant.