Intersection Page 13

  Agent Fallon shook his head. “Yeah… I know… but there’s a couple of problems… watch.” He typed in numbers on the keyboard cueing a different point in the video. “You have no idea what it took to get this footage,” he said.

  Alex moved around the side of her partner’s chair, completely obstructing her partner’s view. “Play it again,” she ordered and he complied. “Where did you get this?”

  “There’s a little convenience store just about a block from the intersection. Just so happens they installed two outdoor cameras a few days ago after a break in. They record movement in both directions toward the store,” he explained, rolling the video again.

  Alex watched closely as the blue SUV drove down the street at a fast pace and continued straight through the green light. “He’s not going eighty…speeding, but…Fallon….stop it right when they are about to hit.” Agent Fallon backed the tape up and played it, pausing it just before the collision. “Again,” Alex instructed.” Can we split screen this? Show both?” Fallon looked at his partner. “Fallon….if both lights were green…”

  “I know…neither driver had a chance.”

  “Does that store keep recordings for more than the current day?” Alex asked.

  “I don’t know, why?”

  Alex sighed and began to pace. “The lights didn’t turn green on their own, Fallon….Aren’t there traffic cams at that intersection?”

  He frowned. “There are.” Alex put her hands in the air questioning him silently. “That’s where I got the tape of the congressman’s car.”

  “Okay, so what about the tape of the SUV?” He cued another point on the video and set it in motion. Alex pinched the bridge of her nose hard.

  “I know,” her partner said.

  Alex sighed. “So, that’s where the 80 miles per hour scenario came from….somebody altered that footage.”

  “Yeah….and the log for the lights. It clearly shows that the Pennsylvania light turned red 6 seconds before the collision.” Alex took a deep breath continuing to pace and rub her temples simultaneously. “So…what now?” Fallon asked. “Do you think Cassidy’s off the hook?” Alex didn’t answer. “Toles, if this is all about O’Brien…I mean… it makes sense that Cassidy… the letters were probably meant to scare him off…you know… I mean…”

  “Yeah, I know…. But there’s a problem with that scenario. I agree…the later letters probably were meant to throw him off….something….or to try and paint him in a negative light…. he didn’t bite, didn’t go public and we got put on the case…. BUT, Fallon…. The first letter, that was all about Cassidy, not politics…the fifth, the picture….somebody who knew about that first letter….somebody leveraged that…or tried to,” Alex stopped her pacing and rubbed her eyes.

  “What is it?” Fallon asked.

  Alex looked at him now. “If the light was green…Where are all of the witnesses?” She shook her head. “The middle of the day… middle of the day, Fallon…What about the car behind the SUV? What about the pedestrians? No one saw this?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying… this is a lot bigger than a car crash. Get those witness statements.”

  “What are you going to do?” He asked.

  “I want you to run backgrounds.”

  “On the witnesses?” He asked with some reservation.

  “Yeah…Fallon…on the witnesses.”

  “What about Tate? Don’t you think…”

  “I think this stays between us for now, Fallon. Tate made it clear to me this morning he was not pushing to open a review of the accident. I don’t know if that’s his decision or someone else’s…. BUT, knowing Tate, with what I did tell him, it wasn’t his call. There’s got to be more than one thing going on here.” Alex paused and looked at the frozen image on the screen. “Whoever is behind this didn’t count on our involvement.”

  “What about Cassidy?” He asked. “You still want that background for that photographer?”

  Alex looked at him. She felt sick. This was much bigger than she anticipated. She still suspected there were two very different motivations behind the letters. That meant Cassidy was in far more danger than the agent had originally thought. “Yes. I’m not discounting anything. Someone goes to these lengths to deter a congressman….If he lives….”

  Fallon nodded. He looked at his partner whose face was grim and he could feel the tension pouring from her in a way he never had before. “Toles?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Maybe…. Maybe this will…you know….take the heat OFF Cassidy, even if there are two.” Alex swallowed hard and forced a fake smile. “Toles, really…”

  “Fallon, just run the backgrounds…and no emails or calls… okay? I’ll call you in a couple of hours and let you know where I am. Bring them hard copy…. And pick up some Chinese food on your way.”

  “What?” He asked.

  “Look, Fallon…no one can know we suspect this…understand?” He nodded as she began to head out the door.

  “Is Cassidy going back to the congressman’s?”

  “No. She doesn’t want to stay there.”

  “She staying with you?”

  “My place is not really…. Well….No. I have a friend who has made arrangements for Cassidy and Rose to stay at a condo in Arlington his family owns.”

  “A friend?” Fallon shook his head. “You’re talking about the president.”

  Alex gave the first hint of a real smile seeing that her partner was still annoyed by her failure to share her friendship with the president with him. “Fallon, we’ve always kept our friendship quiet. I’d prefer it stays that way, okay?” Fallon didn’t really understand but he smiled and nodded his agreement. “I’ve got to go…stuff to do before we head over the bridge. I’ll call you when I get there….Get those files.”

  lex pulled up in front of the congressman’s apartment building and stared up at it. She didn’t know how she could keep all of her suspicions a secret from Cassidy, but she didn’t want to cause the woman she loved anymore fear or stress than she already was dealing with. Still, the truth was that Cassidy could seem to read the agent like no one else. Alex suspected that she would have to tell her something. She took in a deep breath and let it out. Years of profiling killers, stalkers, terrorists, arms traders and criminals of every kind had taught the agent a great deal about people and their motivations. There was little doubt in her mind that Cassidy had a stalker. What frightened the agent was the reality that she might now be in danger from a political agenda as well.

  Alex was tempted to call on her friend, the president. The truth was there were only three people she would trust right now and John Merrow was one of them. But, she feared that he too might become compromised. She’d learned many years ago during her military career that nothing was more dangerous than someone on the inside; someone you believed you could trust; someone that in truth wanted to do you harm. She’d survived that with her former commander. Now, here they were again. This time, however, the stakes were much higher for the agent. There was nothing that she wouldn’t do to keep Cassidy O’Brien safe. The agent made her way to the apartment door and again paused to compose herself. She pressed the buzzer, stood in front of the camera and waited for the door to open. Heading down the long hallway she stopped and acknowledged the Secret Service Agent that was positioned outside the door. He returned her nod and opened the door for her. Immediately, she heard Rose’s voice and followed the sound to the kitchen. Rose and Cassidy were sitting at the table engaged in a conversation about how long Cassidy intended to stay in Washington. “I can’t just stay here and wait. Thursday… Thursday either way, we’re going home.” Cassidy looked over and saw the agent approaching. She hadn’t seen Alex since the agent had dropped her back at the apartment to go and pick her mother up at the airport that morning. The tension in her body seemed to evaporate as she captured Alex’s stare. Rose watched the severity in her daughter’s face transform gradually into the hint of a smile. “
When did you get here?” The teacher asked looking at the agent.

  “Just now.”

  “We were just…” Cassidy began.

  “I heard,” Alex raised her eyebrow. “The condo should be all set. I talked to Tate. The Secret Service is being pulled off once you move there. The FBI will have full jurisdiction. So, you’ll have a little more privacy. Well, except for having to put up with me, of course.”

  Cassidy chuckled. “I think I’ll manage,” she said flirtatiously, soliciting a sideways smirk from her mother.

  Rose tried to contain her laughter. “Well,” Rose began, rising to her feet somewhat dramatically. “I think I will go get that boy together and give you and your ‘protector’ here a few minutes to discuss your, plans.” The older woman stopped and faced Alex closing her left eye slightly and raising her right brow before heading off.

  “Ummm… did you tell her?” The agent asked the teacher nervously.

  “Tell her what?”

  “You know….about….”

  Cassidy laughed. “No…..But, Alex….my mother, well… Let’s just say I don’t usually have to tell her much.” Alex sat down in the chair Rose had recently occupied, her face suddenly a pale gray. Cassidy looked at the agent and shook her head. “Alex…it’s all right.”

  The agent forgot completely about everything she had been mulling over in her mind on the way to the apartment. “She must….Oh, she must think I’m…”

  The small blonde woman reached across the table and placed her hand over the agent’s. “Alex, if I love you, she’ll love you.” The agent looked up at the green eyes that sparkled across from her. There was happiness in Cassidy’s eyes as she looked into the agent’s now. Suddenly, the moment was all that mattered to the agent. She searched Cassidy’s eyes as the woman finished her statement with a quiet, but decided admission, “and I do…love you.” Alex struggled for a moment to speak. She was consumed by her emotions as the reality of what she had learned earlier began to swirl in her mind again. As she feared, the woman she loved immediately recognized the agent’s subtle change in expression. “Alex, what’s wrong?

  “Nothing,” Alex clasped the hand over her own gently. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  “You are a horrible liar, Alex Toles.” Alex unconsciously pinched the bridge of her nose. “See,” the teacher observed. “That’s exactly what I am talking about.”

  “What?” Alex looked at her curiously. “I didn’t say a thing.”

  Cassidy pursed her lips a bit, “you’re worried.”

  “Of course I am worried….You’re upset about being here…. and there’s the letters…”

  “No,” Cassidy said, “It’s not that.” Alex’s eyes darted sideways and she pressed on her temple with her thumb lightly. “See…right there…when you are worried you always do that.”

  Alex could not help but let out a chuckle. “What do I do?”

  “Rub your temples, pinch the bridge of your nose… ummm… squint sideways.”

  “Is that right? Think you have me pegged, huh?”

  “Stop trying to change the subject.”

  Alex sighed. “I am worried, Cass, I am. But, that’s my job… you know?” She tried to change the tone of the conversation and Cassidy understood that whatever was driving Alex’s concerns she either wasn’t ready or she couldn’t tell the teacher now.

  “Okay,” Cassidy conceded momentary defeat, which surprised the agent.

  “Okay?” Alex asked curiously.

  Cassidy moved to the agent, prompting her to pull out her chair. The smaller woman took the opportunity to sit on the agent’s lap and wrap her arms around Alex’s neck. “Yeah, okay.” Alex scrunched her face into an expression of playful doubt. “You tell me when you’re ready,” Cassidy said plainly.

  The agent relaxed and felt her heart swell. “I love you, Cassidy.”

  “I know,” the blonde answered capturing the agent’s lips. As she slowly broke their kiss she looked into Alex’s eyes. “Whatever it is, Alex, just promise me….”

  The agent stopped the teacher’s words with the gentle pressure of a finger to the woman’s lips. “You let me do the worrying right now.” Cassidy smiled. “Go get your things,” the agent said. “Let’s get you someplace where we are all more comfortable.” Cassidy kissed the agent on the cheek and began to make her way slowly out of the room. She knew there was something Alex wasn’t telling her. It was in her nature to push, but she trusted Alex completely and with every moment that passed she seemed to gain a greater understanding of the woman she had fallen in love with. Whatever it was, Alex would tell her when the time was right.

  “Alex,” she called back.

  “Yeah?”

  “How big is the condo?”

  Alex tried to hide her amusement. Their brief interlude had left the agent a bit breathless and she knew by Cassidy’s question that the teacher had a similar response. “I don’t know…big.” The agent bit her lip.

  “Hmmm,” Cassidy mused as she continued out of the room.

  “Oh boy, Toles,” the agent whispered to herself. “You’re in trouble.”

  “I heard that,” a playful voice called back.

  “How does she do that?” Alex laughed. She didn’t know how she was going to handle this case, but right now handling the rest of the evening seemed both more important and more nerve-racking.

  “That too,” the voice called. Alex shook her head. Silently she thought to herself, ‘I don’t know how you do it, Cassidy O’Brien.’

  The man took a deep breath as he watched her emerge from the building. Click. Click. Click. The tall, dark haired woman took the bags from her hand and placed them in the open trunk. The beautiful blonde was watching her closely. He grunted as the taller woman closed the trunk and made her way to open the door for the blonde. “Bitch,” he groaned as his finger pressed the button again. Click, click, click. He shuddered at the sound. He looked at the seat next to him, his companion a dirty, red duffle bag. Again he pointed the lens. Click, click, click, click. A deep sigh escaped him as the black sedan pulled away. He tossed the camera aside, unzipped the bag and retrieved a small flask, raising it to his lips and gulping the fluid down as if quenching an insatiable thirst. He wiped his lips with a swift pass of the back of his hand, closed the flask and returned it to his companion on the seat.

  A deafening screech pierced the silence of the automobile. He grasped the offender and looked at it with deep resentment. Placing it to his ear he spoke, “yeah.” Again there was silence. His face contorted as he listened to the words echoing through the little black box. “Yeah. I got it. Yeah…Yeah she’s there.” He clawed at his own cheek leaving a red streak across it, “understood.” He tossed the small black box onto the dash board and pulled at his hair. “Understood,” he muttered to himself again as he turned the key in the ignition. “She’ll understand,” he groaned closing his eyes momentarily. “She’ll understand.”

  The building was dark inside. A tall figure in a business suit stood at its center watching as the woman approached. “What did you find out?” He asked as her figure came into clearer view.

  The woman smirked and pulled a chair out from the small table that was positioned in the otherwise vacant building. “She wasn’t there long….other things to attend to, I suppose.”

  “Well, it’s your job to find out what those other things ARE,” the man’s voice deepened.

  The woman crossed her legs and leaned leisurely back in the chair. “I would imagine they have something to do with a cute little blonde right now,” she mused, licking her lips.

  The man moved closer, bending over her and placing his forehead squarely against hers. “I don’t care about that…you find out what she knows, not who she screws.” He removed the contact and stood erect.

  “What are you worried about?” She tossed her hair with her hand. “The congressman’s out of commission and his ex-wife is… well… she’s preoccupied.”

  He walked slowly acr
oss the room toward the large rolling door that marked its entrance. “Don’t underestimate Toles. That would be a mistake that you will regret.” He completed his walk, a smaller man rolling the door open so that a beam of light momentarily struck the woman’s red hair. He did not turn when he spoke. “Find out. Don’t disappoint me.” He was gone.

  ***

  Alex shook her head as she placed Rose’s bag in one of the large bedrooms. “Christ, what is it with these people?” She mused. The townhouse was immense, four bedrooms, a study, three full bathrooms and another half bath, an enormous kitchen, three fireplaces and a finished basement. “Who the hell needs all this?” She rolled her eyes.

  “Alex!” Cassidy called up the stairs. “Brian is here!” The agent filled her cheeks with air and then released it making a whistling sound as it passed. She knew Fallon would have at least some of the files she asked him to get, and she knew Cassidy would suspect that her partner’s visit had less to do with Chinese food than it did with work. She was relieved at the woman’s earlier agreement to let her questions lie but she knew that would not last forever. That wasn’t even the fact that troubled her the most now. Alex couldn’t avoid the inevitable much longer and the she knew it. Her desire to be with Cassidy seemed to be growing by the second. It invaded her thoughts and the normally confident and suave agent was beyond nervous. Cassidy, in a short time, had become the most important person in the agent’s world. She loved the teacher in a way that seemed to defy the logic she always relied on both in her work and in her life. Expressing that to the woman who had unexpectedly captured her heart was something Alex was unsure of. Alex hated to admit it, but she wasn’t certain she had ever made love to anyone. Seduction was a skill she had mastered long ago and sex was its mistress, until now. Cassidy was different. She didn’t want to seduce the teacher, she wanted to love her. That was more disconcerting to Alex Toles than any case had ever been.

  Alex sat down on the edge of the large king size bed and put her face in her hands. Her anxiety was made worse by the presence of both Dylan and Rose. One thing she knew for certain after Cassidy’s afternoon kiss, making the presence of family in the house a reason to postpone time alone with the blonde was not going to fly. Cassidy might be willing to give Alex space where the case was concerned, but when it came to their burgeoning relationship, Cassidy O’Brien was not going to be as patient and Alex knew it. “Alex!” Cassidy’s voice called up the stairs again. “Did you hear me?”