Intersection Page 43

  “Hi Aunt Alex.”

  “Hey there. How are you, Speed?” Alex smiled. The small boy just smiled back silently as Alex took a seat next to him on the bottom bunk. “How was your day?” He shrugged. Alex took a deep breath and nodded. She had barely seen him the last two days. “Did you go out with Grandma?” The agent tried to start a conversation. He nodded and then looked down. She sat for a few minutes wondering what the right thing to say was. “I’m sorry I wasn’t home, Speed. BUT… think about it like this, pretty soon you’ll be sick of me,” she winked.

  Dylan looked up at the agent and she noticed he was struggling with his tears. “Aww, Speed… What’s wrong?” He shrugged. “I’m sorry, Dylan.”

  “Alex,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “Dylan, I’m not leaving. I just had some things to do. You know… somebody’s birthday is this Saturday; and, can I tell you a secret?” He nodded. “I’m kinda’ trying to surprise your mom with something,” she whispered.

  “Can I help?” He asked earnestly.

  “Actually, Dylan, you can.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah… you can make sure all of your things are together tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

  “Are we going home?” He hung his head.

  Alex took a deep breath. She had already changed her plans and she didn’t want to give away the whole surprise. “We’re not going back to New York, no.” He looked at Alex curiously. “It’s a surprise,” she winked. Finally, he smiled. “Okay Speed?”

  “Alex?”

  “Yes, Dylan?”

  “Are you gonna’ be my mom too? Mom said you can, if I want you to.” Alex couldn’t move. Dylan was so sweet and so honest. Her heart was suddenly in her throat and she wasn’t certain what to say.

  The agent had been gone longer than a usual good night warranted and Cassidy had crept up the stairs to see what was going on. She had just reached the doorway when Dylan finished his question. Alex faltered, afraid and unsure how she should answer. “Dylan, your mom…”

  Cassidy had not had a chance to tell the agent about her conversation with Dylan the day before. Alex’s back pain and then her flying off so she could catch up with Fallon had prevented that discussion. She bit her bottom lip as she watched and then decided to intervene. “Mom thinks that whatever makes you both happy is all that matters,” Cassidy nodded to Alex.

  Alex took a deep breath. “Why do you ask that Dylan?”

  He shrugged. “‘Cause,” he hesitated and she leaned into him. “Cat said you can’t be.”

  Alex rolled her eyes. “I did not!” Cat called from above, still awake and listening. “I just said she’s just Alex. You have a mom and a dad. That’s all I said.”

  “It’s okay, Cat,” Cassidy said softly as she made her way to Dylan and Alex.

  “What do you want, Dylan?” Alex asked.

  “Well…I kinda’ want to call you Alex,” he admitted, clearly feeling badly about the truth.

  Alex smiled with relief. “Well, that’s good because that’s my name,” she chuckled.

  He looked at his mother and then at the agent and his voice became a whisper, “but I still want you to be my mom too.”

  Cassidy closed her eyes. His innocent proclamation overwhelmed her. He loved Alex. She loved Alex. Everything in all of their lives had changed so suddenly and yet it felt so familiar somehow. Alex put her hand on the boy’s back as her own tears threatened to surface. “That’s even cooler than being your Alfred, Dylan.” He looked at her and grinned. “Who wouldn’t want Speed Racer for a son,” she winked.

  “Yeah ‘cause I’m fast and…”

  “Cool,” they said in unison to Cassidy’s amusement. He sprang up a bit like a jack in the box and hugged the agent’s neck. “I’ll be ready,” he whispered in her ear.

  Alex smiled and looked at the boy. Her eyes grew a bit darker with emotion and she spoke deliberately and quietly. “Thank you, Dylan.” He just smiled. Alex felt Cassidy’s hand tenderly stroke her back. “Okay…into bed, Speed.” He complied with a jump and Alex covered him lightly. She leaned into his ear and spoke so softly he had to lean closer to hear her. “You are the coolest son any one could ever have, Speed. I love you.”

  Dylan beamed. He looked at his mother, his eyes brighter than she had ever seen. Then he looked back to the woman he had only barely met, who somehow captured his imagination, his trust and his heart. “I love you, Alex.” She winked again as her lips curled into a knowing smile.

  “I love you, Mom,” he said to his mother.

  Cassidy moved in and kissed his forehead. “Love you too, Dylan… get some sleep.”

  “YEAH!” He cried out a bit louder than he meant to. “Surprises tomorrow!”

  Cassidy cocked her head at the agent who answered only by opening her eyes a little wider and giving a shrug. “Ummm… I see,” Cassidy chuckled. “Okay… good night boys.”

  “Good night,” two voices answered as Alex led Cassidy from the room.

  “Surprises tomorrow, huh?” Cassidy tipped her head and pursed her lips in amusement.

  Alex sighed. “Come on,” she said leading Cassidy toward the room they shared.

  “Don’t you want to eat?” Cassidy asked.

  Alex shook her head. “No. I just want to be with you for a while.”

  Cassidy continued forward, following the agent through the door of their room. “Alex, are you okay? I mean with Dylan…”

  “Just surprised.”

  The teacher walked to the agent and looked up into her eyes. Alex was tired and Cassidy could see the exhaustion. “You need some sleep,” she said. The agent took a deep breath and kept her gaze on the striking green eyes that could captivate her in an instant. Affectionately, the agent lifted a hand to the smaller woman’s cheek and brushed it lightly with her thumb. With her other hand she pulled Cassidy closer to her. “Alex?” Cassidy saw tears forming in the strong agent’s eyes and she felt the firmness in her grip.

  “I don’t want us to be apart another day.” Cassidy searched the agent for her meaning. “I almost lost you, Cassidy. I can’t make that go away with a house.... not with a…”

  Cassidy took in a deep breath and released it. “No, you can’t,” she said gently. Her nightmares were still vivid and she dreaded the night.

  “Tomorrow, I want to take you and Dylan… I want to tell him…”

  “Alex…you were so excited…”

  The agent stopped her lover’s thought. “It will still be a surprise. No more secrets, Cass… not even little ones… not now...I just want to be with you both tomorrow, alone...spend the day…”

  “You don’t need to convince me,” Cassidy smiled letting her hands caress the agent’s back. “I just wonder what changed.”

  “Nothing, really,” Alex said. She closed her eyes. “I just looked around and realized you weren’t there...I want you there.”

  Cassidy grinned and stretched to kiss her lover. “You surprise me, Agent Toles.”

  “Yeah?” Alex asked. Cassidy nodded. “Well,” Alex began, “I have to tell you something”

  “What?”

  “No secrets,” Alex said firmly.

  “No. What is it?” Cassidy asked.

  “I’m going back to the NSA, Cass.”

  Cassidy closed her eyes and licked her lips. She was afraid of losing Alex too. “Is it…”

  “Cass…I really am good at what I do. I need to keep you and Dylan safe…”

  “I thought you said…”

  Alex set out to clarify her meaning. “You are safe. But, I mean from…”

  Cassidy leaned her head into Alex’s chest and mumbled the name, “from Chris.”

  Alex swallowed hard. “From whatever he is into, Cass.”

  Cassidy pulled back slightly. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

  “I am.”

  The blonde nodded her understanding and th
en the teacher took a deep breath. “Okay…no secrets, right?”

  “No.” Alex smiled.

  “I went baby shopping with Barb.”

  Alex laughed. “That’s a secret? I mean I know I am not supposed to know yet…but…”

  “No,” Cassidy giggled uncomfortably. “It made me think about it.”

  Alex smiled seeing Cassidy’s apprehension in sharing her feelings. “Oh… Hum…”

  “What?” Cassidy said nervously.

  Alex laughed. “Cass, you already told me you want more children.”

  “Yeah but that was just in a…”

  The agent kissed the teacher and let her kiss linger. She pulled away slowly. “You can tell me anything, Cassidy.”

  “I know,” she answered sheepishly.

  “Hey…” Alex lifted the teacher’s face. “Vanilla cake first. Okay?” Alex winked.

  Cassidy laughed. “You and your cake.”

  “Yeah well, I like cake.”

  “Alex, I….”

  “Cass…no secrets. I love you. The only thing that scares me is losing you. That’s all. We’ll get there, past all of this… we will.”

  “I know,” Cassidy answered looking at the agent. “But…. this is all so new…I never want you to feel like I am…”

  Cassidy amazed Alex in every moment. The agent couldn’t remember if she’d been with the woman a day or a lifetime now. Life before Cassidy was empty for Alex, in so many ways. She wondered who she was then. Now, she felt a part of something bigger. Being with her brother and Barb, watching Dylan and wanting to share the deepest parts of herself with this woman; it wasn’t a choice. Alex didn’t care what anyone thought. This was where she belonged and this was the life she had now. There was nothing she would deny the woman. She would move heaven and earth just to see Cassidy smile. “Je vais passer le reste de ma vie en vous faisant plaisir (I will spend the rest of my life making you happy).” Alex kissed the woman in her arms. “Come sleep with me. Let me hold you,” she said tenderly.

  Cassidy was breathless at the words as they fell from the agent’s lips. She laid down beside the agent and let her head rest softly on Alex’s chest. “Je t’adore,” she promised.

  “And I adore you,” Alex smiled. She didn’t care about anything other than holding Cassidy close and letting the world fall away.

  “Alex?”

  “Hum?”

  “Don’t ever let me go,” Cassidy’s voice was shaky, partly from her love for Alex and partly in fear of the dreams to come.

  Strong arms gently pulled Cassidy even closer. If anyone understood the power of nightmares it was Alex Toles. “Never, Cass. I’ll be right here, I promise. Je vaisvous garder en sécurité, toujours. Je t’aime. (I will keep you safe, always. I love you). No nightmares tonight, dream about tomorrow.” Alex felt Cassidy release a breath in contentment and she closed her eyes. Tomorrow was a day Alex had never imagined and she couldn’t wait for it to arrive now.

  “What is it that you want, Agent Brackett?” Christopher O’Brien asked.

  “Hummm… I’d say we have a lot more in common than you think,” she breathed in his ear.

  “How is that?” He asked.

  “Ohhh… Well, neither of us likes rejection,” she admitted. “And, both of us tend to cause...Oh, well what would you call it? Tension...in others,” she cooed.

  “And you think you and I can change that somehow?” He asked as he felt the woman’s breath on his neck.

  “I think I am quite adept at relieving tension,” she offered.

  “And, why would you want to do that?” He continued as his breath became shallower.

  “Mutual interests should always be explored,” Claire Brackett suggested. “Alliances are crucial in our work, Congressman.”

  “Are you suggesting, sleeping with the enemy, Agent?”

  “Are you my enemy, Congressman?” She looked at him directly and saw the twinkle in his eye. “Ummmm….That’s what I thought. Like me, whatever you need to be. I think it’s time we explored all of our options.” Christopher O’Brien accepted the woman’s kiss. Brackett smiled. Her red hair fell onto the congressman’s shoulder as she nipped at his neck and breathed her final words. “Know,” she whispered, “I can keep a secret….and I will discover all of yours.”

  Jonathan Krause paced the floor of his apartment. He looked at the phone lying on the coffee table, wondering whether he could will it to ring. The knot in his stomach was not customary. His entire life was meant for these moments. It’s what he prepared for, what he was taught, what he was literally bred to do and there were moments that he hated it. Maintaining distance was something the man had become a master of. Only two people had ever managed to bridge that distance. One was an unlikely young woman who had, within a moment in her presence, captured a piece of him forever. The other was the brother that had steadied him, encouraged him and taught him about obedience and resolve. Not a brother by blood. A brother born of a bond even thicker than blood. A man who shared the same reality and came to embrace it long before the man pacing now. A sound pierced the silence and Krause picked up the offending party. “Krause,” he answered.

  “It’s set.”

  “Where?” Krause asked.

  “Inside the hall. Should be about 20:00. Give or take. Only variable.”

  Krause closed his eyes and shook his head. His lips were pressed so tightly together they had gone numb. “Make it clean. Do you understand?”

  “Understood,” the voice answered. “Expect my call.”

  A breath escaped the tall, muscular man standing at the center of the room; a breath he did not realize he had been holding. “Jesus Christ, John,” he lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “That’s the best I can do now.”

  “And…”

  “He will fall in line,” the redheaded woman smiled slyly.

  “I am sure he will,” John Merrow replied. “Be careful, Claire. Christopher O’Brien’s ego may just outmatch your gifts.”

  “I think I can handle the congressman,” she smiled tracing the rim of her glass. “It doesn’t bother you?’

  “What’s that?” The president asked. She stared harshly at him and he chuckled. “Really, Claire? We all have our roles to play and our unique ways to play them.”

  “When are you leaving?” She asked.

  “Early tomorrow morning.”

  “Another speech?”

  “We need to get Senator Blare and Congresswoman Collins’ support on amending this resolution. It’s the only way to sway the chairman. Your new friend certainly compromised us there,” he said with contempt.

  “You don’t like the congressman much, do you?” She observed.

  “I don’t trust the congressman.”

  “Why? Because he’s ambitious?” She said with a hint of admiration.

  John Merrow moved closer to the young woman. He stopped just shy of her and looked directly in her eyes, holding her gaze in a silent dialogue before offering his thoughts. “He’s not just ambitious, Claire. He stands for nothing. No loyalty. He believes in nothing than ‘more’. He’s a dangerous kind of ambitious. The kind that destroys everything around it,” he warned.

  “Hummm…worried about that agent of yours?” She cooed with dripping sarcasm.

  The president took a deep breath in an effort to quell the anger in his voice. “Alex can take care of herself. But, yes…I worry about where he will lead her. You don’t know Alex Toles, Claire…you just think you do.”

  “Jealous? I’d say I know her more intimately than….”

  A roaring laugh interrupted the young woman’s statement. “You think a couple of rolls on the mattress with Alex is intimacy?” Merrow shook his head. “You really are foolish, Claire. I’ve known Alex since she was younger than you are now. I’ve seen her give her heart once…one time…and that is to Cassidy O’Brien.” He stopped and walked a few paces to the window behind his desk, momentarily lost in thought. “Alex would die for the people she loves, for the p
eople she trusts.” His voice became a hush, “even when she has no reason to trust them.” He turned and looked at Brackett. For the first time the young woman saw in the president’s eyes a hint of not just concern but sadness. “She will not rest now, not after Fisher… and THAT, Claire…That is what I fear. Not for Alex Toles…for you…for me.”

  “You give her a great deal of credit.”

  He smiled and sighed. “And so should you. Keep him close. Alex will follow; it’s inevitable now.”

  “Because of the teacher?” She rolled her eyes.

  He nodded and then shook his head. “Oh, Claire…you have a lot to learn.”

  “You’re what?” O’Brien screamed through the phone.

  “It’s not up for discussion,” Cassidy answered flatly.

  “This ordeal has clearly effected your judgment,” he asserted.

  “I agree,” she answered.

  “Good.”

  “Yes, it’s made me realize that our marriage was a farce.”

  “Excuse me?” He asked.

  “Look, Christopher. This is what I need…what Dylan needs.”

  “Oh to take off on some lesbian excursion?” He shot back with malice.

  Cassidy just shook her head and looked out the window where Alex was putting Dylan’s things in the car while Dylan told her some story with great animation. She smiled and sighed. “It’s not going to work, Chris.”

  “What’s not going to work?”

  “Your guilt trip, your insults or your threats. We are moving. Not that far; but far enough away for all of us. Face it. I have. We had separate lives for our entire marriage.” The congressman collapsed back in his chair. Cassidy spoke now with a quiet confidence he had not heard in many years. She felt her body become lighter as she continued. “I love Alex. Dylan loves Alex. I hope you find that, Chris. I really do. This is my choice.” She caught Alex’s gaze as the agent shut the trunk of the car and felt her heart beat slightly faster. “If you care about us at all, you’ll be happy for us both.”