Alex was getting dressed. “I need to go shower and get to the office.”
“Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“I am taking Dylan to see Chris today.” Alex turned with concern. The congressman was still in an out of consciousness with heavy swelling in his brain. His room was a conglomeration of tubes and monitors, an unsettling sight for an adult, never mind a six year old boy. The teacher saw the very parental protectiveness in the agent’s eyes. Alex was finishing buttoning her shirt and Cassidy patted the bed for her to sit. Alex’s expression showed concern mixed with a hint of fear as she sat down.
“Cass…Are you sure you, I mean Dylan might…”
Cassidy put her hand over Alex’s. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“What?”
Cassidy smiled. “Alex, if anything…if Chris doesn’t make it; Dylan needs to see his father.” Alex sighed. It was true and the fact was that the congressman was still Cassidy and Dylan’s family.
“You’re right. I just know he might get scared.”
“Yeah…Alex…”
“Yeah?”
“Can you take us? I know you have to work, but later? It won’t be along visit.” Alex looked at Cassidy with genuine surprise. She would have expected that one of the Secret Service agents assigned to the congressman would pick them up. “Dylan loves you, you know?” Cassidy said. Alex loved Dylan, but she wasn’t certain it was her place. “I need you there, Alex…just to know you’re there and so does Dylan.”
Alex Toles swallowed hard. “I don’t know about all of that, but of course I will take you. I just don’t want to…”
Cassidy sat up, the sheets falling from her and Alex lost her breath. The teacher raised her brow. “You listen to me, Agent Alex Toles….You said you’d never let me go and I intend to hold you to that. You are not an intrusion in my life.” She stopped, wondering if she should continue. Looking at Alex, she couldn’t help but allow the words to pass, “you are my life.”
Alex was absolutely blown over by the woman’s honest and plain admission. She kissed Cassidy on the forehead. “I’ll pick you up around three.” The teacher smiled, knowing by Alex’s unflinching reaction that she felt an equal gravity in their connection. Alex looked at her now with a slight gleam in her eye, the sheets at Cassidy’s waist as she sat. “You are beautiful,” the agent sighed receiving an appreciative grin in return. Alex put her hand on the door and turned back, “I love you, Cass.”
Cassidy pulled the sheets back up and laid back down. “I love you too, Alfred.”
Agent Brian Fallon was at his desk sipping a cup of coffee when his partner entered. “You drinking that sludge we get here?” Alex asked jokingly.
“It works.”
“Yeah. What do you say that you and I got get some REAL coffee?”
Fallon closed the file on his desk. They could not speak freely in the office, not about everything. The pair headed down the street to a small coffee shop and Alex ordered them two coffees while her partner grabbed a corner table. “So, you started to tell me something last night?” Alex asked.
“Yeah…how was your night?” Fallon poked, noticing the bounce in his partner’s step.
“My night was fine, Fallon; yours?”
“Mhmmm.”
“So…” Alex implored, changing the subject.
“Okay…look…there’s no FBI file on that photographer, Fisher?”
“That’s impossible. It’s standard procedure to complete a work up on congressional staff,” Alex replied in disbelief.
“Yeah…well, standard or not…it ain’t there.” Alex rubbed her temples. “You think he’s the stalker?”
“I don’t know…I didn’t really think anything until right now,” she paused in deep thought. “Fallon? What if there WAS a file…I mean at one time. How hard would it be to find that out?”
Fallon groaned. “Depends, I guess…..You mean like, if someone destroyed the file?” Alex raised an eyebrow. “Why would anyone do that?”
“Why would anyone send fake letters to the congressman? Why would someone change street lights, edit traffic cam footage? Christ, Fallon, that’s the question right? I mean if we find out why, maybe we find the ‘who’….If we find the ‘who’, maybe we find out why.” Fallon rolled his eyes. “It’s call investigation, Fallon, it’s what we get paid to do,” Alex said sarcastically.
“Oh you’re a regular comedian today, aren’t you?”
Alex started to speak when she felt a hand on her shoulder and noticed Fallon looking deeply into his coffee. “Agent Toles….nice to see you back in Washington.”
Alex turned. “Brackett,” she acknowledged coolly.
“Oh, come on…you’re not still mad at me are you?”
“Actually, no…just disgusted,” Alex replied.
“Toles…come on…let’s kiss and make up,” the redheaded agent half kidded and half flirted.
Alex flashed a fake smile onto her expression of obvious disdain. “What do you want, Brackett?”
The tall redhead pulled up a chair. “Just to say I’m sorry.”
“Okay. You said it,” Alex replied as Fallon sipped his coffee silently.
“Geez…she always this touchy, Fallon? Look, Toles…how was I supposed to know you were diddling the congressman’s wife? I mean not that we were exclusive…but why would I think that?”
Alex’s jaw visibly tightened. ‘Diddling’? Fallon pulled at his eyebrow fearing his partner might literally throttle the rookie. “Brackett…the point is that there is a certain decorum we use when we are on a case.”
“MMM….like sleeping with the victim?” Alex shot her another look of repulsion. “Oh come on, I’m just kidding…ease up already….no hard feelings…How is Mrs. O’Brien? Any leads?”
Alex’s gaze narrowed. “She’s fine, and we’re actively working a few possibilities. Thank you for your concern.”
“Well….my only concern is to be certain that you accept my apology. If I can help at all, you let me know. It would be awful if anything happened to the poor woman now…with the congressman and all…and that adorable…”
Agent Alex Toles had reached her limit, “nothing is going to happen to Cassidy or Dylan, Agent Brackett. Agent Fallon and I have things under control.” Alex pushed out her chair and motioned to her partner.
“Well, just the same,” Brackett remained in her seat.
“Have a nice day, Agent,” Alex said dryly heading out the door.
“What the hell was THAT?” Fallon asked. “What the hell did you do with Brackett to get her that pissed?” Alex was silently rubbing her temple as they walked. “Toles?” Alex continued forward with no response. “ALEX!”
“What do you know about Agent Brackett?”
“No more than you…in fact I would have to say I know a whole LOT less than you,” Fallon tried to make a joke.
“Funny. I don’t know anything. Except that her first name is Claire and she’s overanxious in bed. That’s it; since you seem so curious,” Alex’s tone was sharp.
“Toles, she’s just jealous.”
“Yeah…why is she so curious about the case?”
“God, you are starting to be paranoid,” Fallon said as he tossed his cup in a trash can.
“No…not starting…I am. See what you can find out about Fisher. I have someone I need to talk to.”
The rookie stayed in her chair watching the pair walk away through the large window. She sipped on her latte with satisfaction. A large yellow envelope dropped over her shoulder and landed on the table. She unclasped it and pulled out the stack of photos. The man that slowly crouched to take a seat across the table smelled of booze and cigarettes. “What the hell is this?” She asked. He glared at her. “So, she’s opening a trunk…holding a door…who gives a shit? That was not the assignment.” His scowl only increased. “You get me what I asked for…get closer…and do it soon.” She pushed the envelope back at him.
He put the pictures car
efully back into the envelope, stopping to notice his favorite. He held it for a long moment, staring at the blonde beauty in the photo. “Closer,” he muttered.
Cassidy emerged from her shower feeling refreshed but already missing her new lover. It was a welcome feeling. She dried her hair with the towel and pulled the black sweater over her head. Voices were coming from the large kitchen and she entered to find Dylan coloring with a glass of juice next to him and her mother perusing the morning paper with her coffee. Cassidy smiled again, feeling the bounce in her step and grabbed herself a cup of coffee. “Gooood morning,” Rose called from behind the paper.
“Morning,” Cassidy answered making her way to the table.
“Sleep well?” Rose chided.
Cassidy smirked, “actually, Mom, I did. Thank you for asking.”
“Yeah exercise does that,” Rose joked, causing Cassidy to spit her coffee across the table and splatter Dylan’s page.
“MOM!” Dylan yelled.
Cassidy stared blankly at her son. “Dylan,” Rose said fighting off a fit of laughter. “Why don’t you go put some cartoons on in the other room? You remember how?”
“Sure,” he said picking up a Matchbox car from the end of the table and heading off, leaving his coffee stained picture behind.
“So?” Rose asked.
“I cannot believe you said that,” Cassidy shook her head.
“Well, dear, you weren’t exactly silent last night.”
Cassidy choked again. “What?”
Rose laughed out loud. “Oh don’t pay any attention to me. I’m just jealous.”
“Mom! You didn’t really hear us.” Cassidy got up to get a towel. Rose looked into the paper smirking away. “No…you’re just….Oh my God,” the teacher continued to muse to herself as she wiped the coffee from the table.
“Oh Cassie, I’m just teasing you, but thank you for the confirmation,” she winked.
“That was mean.”
Rose smiled. “You look very happy, Cassie.”
“Mom?”
“Mmmm?”
“I love her,” Cassidy admitted.
“I know, dear.”
“No, I mean I really…”
“Cassidy, I know,” her mother cut her off.
“Do you think that’s weird?” Cassidy asked.
“Why would I think it’s weird?”
“Well, because….”
“Does it feel weird to you?”
“No.” Cassidy answered definitively. “But you might think it is.”
Rose tried not to giggle. “Cassidy, Alex is a beautiful, intelligent woman who loves you and your son. Why on earth would I think it was strange for you to love her? Because she’s a woman?”
“Well….”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Well, Cassie, I can’t speak for the rest of the world but I adore Alex. I certainly can understand what you see in her. So, no…not in the least.”
“Mom?”
“What?”
“I love you.”
“I know you do,” Rose smiled.
“Thanks.”
“Cassie, don’t thank me too soon. You’re on your own with Dylan tonight. He’s a kicker.” Cassidy laughed. It would be another long day but Alex would be part of it and so would Dylan and her mom. It was her family, strange as that seemed. It simply was.
lex walked down the long hallway and stood in front of the camera positioned over the door at the far end of the corridor. She held up her identification and waited for the click to turn the handle. Entering the room she was greeted immediately by a somewhat rotund man with a moustache and a receding hairline. “Captain Toles,” he smiled.
“Michael…It’s good to see you,” she said. The man led her past several desks to a small office at the back of the long and narrow room. She entered and he closed the door behind them.
“I have to say, I was surprised to get your message. I would’ve expected you to call on the colonel.”
Alex sighed. John Merrow would have been her first choice were it not for the political nature of the situation. Michael Taylor was her only other resource. She did not relish the idea of turning back to her NSA roots but Taylor and Merrow were about the only people she trusted implicitly. They had earned that very unique place many years earlier and the three had an unspoken understanding and bond that Alex Toles was grateful for. “I don’t think it’s wise to involve the president.”
The man stroked his chin. “All right. You wouldn’t be here without a good reason, Alex. What’s going on?”
“I need a favor, Taylor.”
“Okay…”
“I need two backgrounds…and I need it strictly between us,” the agent explained.
“Name it.”
“Claire Brackett, FBI and Carl Edward Fisher – preliminary says he is a Stanford grad, twenty-nine, from Santa Monica and working as a photographer.”
The man looked at her curiously. “Not exactly what I would expect,” he inquired. “Can I ask what this is about….I mean other than the O’Brien case?”
Alex took a deep breath. “Taylor,” she paused. “I don’t want to say much yet. It’s a feeling…about Brackett anyway, and about this case. I’m sure there is more than one thing going on here.”
“You haven’t told me much about it, Toles,” he reminded her. “That tells me almost everything I need to know.”
Alex pinched the bridge of her nose. “Taylor…is there an open case on Congressman O’Brien?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Why?” Alex shook her head. Michael Taylor studied her expression. “Look, Toles,” he continued. “Say no more.”
Toles, Taylor and Merrow had all served in Iraq together; Merrow the colonel, Taylor her captain and Toles, at the time a lieutenant. They worked in and around Baghdad determining possible terrorist threats aimed at targeting both the troops and the states. Alex spoke seven languages; an ability attributed largely to her eidetic memory; a trait few realized she possessed. She was fluent in Arabic, Farsi and Kurdish as well as Spanish, French, Italian and Russian. The agent’s ability to remember fine details and large bodies of information with ease often meant she saw pieces in a puzzle that others missed. That ability saved the lives of the three friends many years ago. It formed an unbreakable bond of trust that continued over the years. When Taylor took a leadership role at the NSA, Alex followed. Her decision to leave the NSA and take a job at the FBI was one Taylor initially resisted. But, in the last three years their respective positions had often become an asset to the other. Cooperation between investigative agencies was often more competitive than it was collegial. The ability to tap one another’s knowledge and resources proved highly beneficial on more than one occasion.
“Toles?” Taylor began. “These letters, I looked at the files you sent me.” Alex nodded, seeing immediately that her friend identified the same issues she had. “I’m curious, I can understand the photographer….Why the agent?”
Alex’s jaw line became taught. “More than one thing. Cocky, too cocky for one. Rookies aren’t that cocky.” Her friend leaned back in his chair knowing it was more than that. “All right…a couple of weeks ago I noticed an envelope on her coffee table. The handwriting looked just like the ones that came to the congressman’s office. I didn’t get a close look.”
“You think she’s a spook?” Alex shrugged. “All right. I’ll see what I can find.” Alex rose to head to the door. “Toles… whatever you’re into here… just be careful.”
The agent stopped. “Taylor…nothing to John for now; okay?” He nodded his agreement.
“Alex,” he said. “I don’t want to pry, but her coffee table?” He smirked.
Alex laughed. Taylor was well aware of his friend’s conquests. “It wasn’t anything, believe me,” her eyes sparkled a bit as the congressman’s ex-wife entered her mind momentarily.
“Really?”
Alex shook her head knowing her friend could read her fairly well after so many years. “Conversation for
another time, Taylor.”
The man smiled, “I’ll look forward to THAT.”
“I’m sure you will, Taylor. Thanks,” Agent Toles said earnestly.
“Anytime, Captain. Sorry, but Agent just doesn’t sound right to me,” he winked. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks, Fallon…Do me a favor, let me know when you finish talking to those witnesses…..yeah…..I have to go…I will…..no….pick me up at the townhouse in the morning….yeah that works. Thanks.” Alex hung up with her partner and looked at the front door of the large townhouse. She put her face in her hands and tried to rub out the realities from her day. The case was preoccupying her thoughts now. There were a lot of puzzle pieces on the table and she was certain they all fit together somehow. If she could just get the frame done, then maybe she could see the whole picture. She was still worried about Cassidy but she felt a sense of relief having Taylor in the loop. Fallon was a terrific agent, better than she often gave him credit for, but Taylor was a literal genius and he knew how to maneuver red tape like no one Alex had ever met, not even the president.
Alex’s NSA background was classified, and for good reason. It was not something that either her partner or A.D. Tate had any knowledge of. As she took a deep breath and tried to quiet her thoughts she found herself wondering when she would declassify her life to the woman that waited for her inside. It was strange. There was no question of if, it was only a matter of when. That was one way she knew that she wanted to hold on to Cassidy O’Brien. Alex exhaled her thoughts as she transitioned her mind to the people awaiting her inside; people she had grown to love more than her heart could fathom in such a short time.
Cassidy was on her cell phone when Alex walked into the spacious living room. “Yeah…no…I’ll be back on Monday….I appreciate that but it isn’t necessary….No…..I’m sure. I emailed the lesson plan…Just please ask that the sub hands it out….yes…thanks.” Alex leaned up against the doorway and listened. The conversation she overheard was just one more reason that she loved Cassidy. The blonde woman turned to catch the agent observing her with obvious admiration. “How long have you been there?” She asked. Alex just smiled. “What?” Cassidy asked, puzzled by the agent’s continuing silent gaze.
Intersection Page 16
