Intersection Page 45

  “Well, how many things did you test drive last night?” Rose laughed. Cassidy poked her cheek with her tongue as Barb nearly spit her coffee across the room. “Oh… come on… I meant the game system and the television and the jet tub… honestly…you two have your minds…”

  “My mind is a direct product of my genes,” Cassidy quipped back. “And to answer your question; I have full knowledge of how everything in the house works.” She raised her eyebrow, soliciting a fit of full blown laughter from all three women that would take more than a few minutes to subside. It was the beginning of what Cassidy thought might truly be the happiest day of her life.

  Jonathan Krause paced the floor in his apartment, staring at the small flat object that lay just a few feet away. Eleven in the morning and he was already on his second scotch. He rubbed his hand over the top of his head and shook the ice in his glass. “Christ, John,” he muttered under his breath. “How the hell did we get here?” A faint rattling disturbed his private thoughts and he very slowly reached for the offending party. “Krause,” he said flatly.

  “Je suppose que tout est préparé (I assume all is prepared?)”

  “Bien sûr, Edmond. Il sera toutefois soirée ici (Of course, Edmond. It will be evening here however),” he answered.

  “Et Strickland comprend son rôle? (And Strickland understands his role)?”

  Krause felt his jaw clench tightly. “Everyone understands his part.”

  “Well, then let us hope that everyone can execute his part effectively. Il s’agit d’une nécessité regrettable, mon ami. (It is an unfortunate necessity, my friend),” Edmond Callier offered.

  Jonathan Krause continued his pacing, considering the man’s statement. He stopped at a small cabinet and set his focus on two photos that sat next to each other. In one, two young men stood side by side; one just slightly older than the other who had his arm across the younger man’s shoulder. The other was a picture taken in front of the Eiffel tower; a much younger Jonathan Krause smiling wildly at a pretty blonde girl handing him a balloon. He took a deep breath and sipped his scotch, remaining fixed on the faces that lay behind the glass. He offered his response deliberately. “Ce n’est pas une entreprise pour l’amitié. Attendez-vous à monappel (This is not a business for friendship. Expect my call).”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Michael Taylor blasted through the phone. “What chatter?”

  Steven Brady rubbed his jaw with some force. “It’s just chatter.”

  “There is no such thing as just chatter, Brady. Either it leads directly to something or it is meant to lead us directly from something. Either way we need to know what the direction is. Timing?”

  Brady shook his head and exhaled before speaking back into the phone. “No timeline in the communication.”

  Taylor rubbed his brow. “Location?”

  “West coast,” Brady repeated.

  Taylor put his face in his hands. “What the hell is going on?” He muttered into his hands.

  “Sir?” Brady asked unable to understand the words through the phone.

  “Dig…. And dig fast.”

  “What’s the rush?” Brady said. “There was no timeline.”

  “That’s what worries me… Dig now,” he hung up the phone and tilted his head backward over the chair. “Shit, Colonel… what are we into?”

  “Nope… sorry Speed!”

  “Aww… come on, Alex… one more.”

  “It was one more like five games ago,” Alex laughed, receiving a small pout. “We’ll both be in time out if we aren’t ready for your party.”

  “You’re not gonna’ be as much fun now, are you?” He asked with some seriousness.

  Alex tried not to laugh. “Me? I’m Alfred. Is Alfred fun?” He shrugged. “Oh.” Alex grabbed two small legs and pitched the boy over her shoulders. “We’ll see who has fun!” She said to the sound of a delighted seven year old squeal.

  “How many people does she think we are feeding?” Cassidy shook her head to Barb.

  “She’s a Toles. You get your genes from Rose, well wait ‘til you meet Helen.” Cassidy looked at Barb curiously. “Oh… yeah,” Barb winked. “She might not be affectionate all the time but she sure as hell feeds us. I think that’s where Nicky got his culinary obsession.”

  “Not Alex,” Cassidy laughed.

  “Nope. I think it would be safe to say that Alex and Helen are the human equivalent to oil and water.”

  “That bad?” Cassidy asked.

  “Don’t be too frightened. Remember, I endured that alone. You have me to protect you.” Cassidy laughed. Her curiosity was now piqued about Alex’s parents. It remained a subject that saw little conversation between them, even in the presence of Nick and Barb.

  “Cassie!” Rose called. “You’ll never guess who is here?”

  The teacher made her way to the front door and was astounded to see Brian Fallon with his entire brood in tow. “Brian,” she smiled immediately taking him into a warm hug. “Thank you for everything,” she gleamed, embracing him tightly.

  Fallon tried to temper the rising blush he felt in his cheeks. Cassidy had a quality that he rarely found in others. She was completely genuine and unaware of how beautiful she was. It was a combination that existed in few people in his experience and he understood fully how Alex had lost her heart to the small woman. In truth, there was nothing small about Cassidy O’Brien. She was larger than life. “No need to thank me, Cassidy.”

  “And this must be…”

  “Cassidy O’Brien, this is my wife, Kate.”

  Cassidy extended her hand to the woman beside her friend. Kate Fallon was an attractive woman in her own right. Her auburn hair fell at her shoulders and she had dark blue eyes that highlighted her fair complexion. Cassidy could tell just from her smile that she had an easy way about her. “Welcome. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m sorry we have kept him away so much,” she said earnestly.

  “Comes with the territory,” Kate said smiling sweetly at her husband and then back at the teacher. “You’ll learn,” she said jokingly.

  Leading the group through the door Cassidy came even with the woman and returned the good natured joke. “After being married to congress I’ve learned how to do nearly everything by proxy.” Kate laughed.

  Barb stepped in and guided the Fallons’ three children off to the family room to play. “Come on kids. I hear there is some cool driving game running in the other room. Better claim it now before Alex gets back.” Cassidy laughed. There was some truth in that statement she thought.

  The banter was quickly interrupted by the sight of Alex chasing a giggling Dylan toward his room. “No, Alex!” The boy was laughing so hard he could barely run.

  “Paybacks Speed!” The agent called after him.

  “No…Alex….”

  The agent caught the small boy and picked him up in her arms. As she moved to tickle him she caught view of the small group watching in amusement from below and cleared her throat. “Yeah….Speed….Umm….sneakers,” she placed his feet back on the floor facing the room.

  “I win,” he laughed running into his room.

  Alex shrugged and smiled at the group below before following Dylan into his room. Kate looked at her husband in awe. “I told you,” he said.

  Rose broke the moment. “Ahh, still the honeymoon. Give it time. When she finds out how awful Cassie really is at yard work, it’ll wear off…summer’s coming.”

  Cassidy shook her head and Fallon laughed. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “You’re welcome dear.”

  “Who’s coming?” Dylan asked while making bunny ears with his laces.

  “Well… Mom and me…”

  “Doesn’t count. You live here,” he said.

  “What?” Alex pretended to be hurt. He laughed. “So it’s like that, huh?” He laughed again. “Well, Grandma and Aunt Barb and Uncle Nick….Cat and Cat’s friend Bobby.” Dylan looked at Alex and smiled. “And, Mr. Fallon and his family… he has three kids�
�”

  “I know.” Dylan said.

  Alex laughed. She watched him finish his laces and thought silently how much she loved him. “You ready now?” He nodded.

  “Alex? Will you be here when I am eight?”

  Alex smiled. “I hope, Dylan…that I will be here when you are eighteen.”

  “That’s old,” he said.

  “I guess it is, Speed.”

  John Merrow looked out the window and then down at his notes. “Mr. President,” a young man in a suit approached. The president looked up from his papers. “We’ll be on the ground in about twenty minutes. Is there anything you need before?”

  “No, Rick. Thank you.” The president returned his gaze out of the small window and then rested his head against the back of the seat he was in. He liked to watch the clouds when he was afforded the time. As a boy he dreamed of being a pilot. His father would take him to the air shows and his uncle, an Air Force pilot, would sometimes take him flying. It was not to be. There were other plans ahead for John Merrow. When he told his father, an Army General, that he wanted to attend the Naval Academy and become an aviator, the idea was immediately stamped out. John Merrow’s path had been carved out long before he gazed into the clouds and dreamed of soaring through them.

  Most people saw President John Merrow’s life as charmed. He was a decorated Army officer, married a beautiful woman who had briefly had a career on film. He had two beautiful daughters and was widely considered one of the most intelligent and trustworthy people in Washington. It was not the life he would have chosen. It was the life he was given. It was not the woman that he fell in love with; though he had learned a great deal about that emotion from watching her with his children. Looking at the clouds he often wondered whose life he was leading. So many choices. So many directions. He was responsible for them all. Another day, another bridge that needed to be built. It seemed to him, looking into the clouds, that long standing bridges were crumbling now. Perhaps it was the foundation, he mused to himself. Perhaps the engineering was just outdated. He sighed and closed his eyes. It was no matter. Build the bridge. Mend the fence. That was the expectation. Failure was never an option.

  Cat was leading a small contingent of eager climbers to master the small tree in the front yard. Cassidy had stepped out on the front porch to check on them and stayed to watch the scene unfold. Fallon’s son, James, was eleven and he was helping the younger children reach the first branch. He looked a great deal like Brian, Cassidy thought, and he shared his father’s kindness. “No…it’s Dylan’s birthday. He should go first,” James said.

  Cassidy stood smiling. So many nights she had wished that Dylan could have a life like this. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. “Watcha’ doing?” Alex whispered in her ear.

  “Just watching.”

  “Ummm….that tree might end up being the best investment,” Alex acknowledged.

  “Maybe,” Cassidy agreed leaning back into the agent and soaking in her warmth.

  “Come back in,” Alex said. “I promise he’ll climb the tree again.”

  “I know.”

  “Hummm,” Alex pulled Cassidy a little closer. “You’re happy?” Cassidy didn’t answer, instead placing her hands over the two that came to a point in front of her. “Me too,” Alex said. “Come on.”

  “They won’t miss us that much,” Cassidy answered. The agent was more than happy to comply with the teacher’s unspoken request. Standing here with this beautiful woman in her arms watching Dylan, the emotion Alex felt was almost more than she could fathom.

  Rose reached the door to call the pair in and stopped. She pressed her lips together and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. The tall, commanding agent was gently holding her daughter and placing small kisses on her head. She wasn’t certain if Alex was saying anything, but the look in her daughter’s eyes was unmistakable. Rose McCollum had one great love in her life, her daughter. She had never shared all the truths of her own struggles with love with Cassidy. Cassidy’s father died when she was only ten and Rose never tainted her daughter’s memories of the man that she had worshipped as a child. The older woman had always hoped her daughter would find what had alluded her in her own life: love. She kept silent watch now in the distance as Dylan made it to the first set of branches and she studied the expression of pride on both Alex and Cassidy as they watched. “MOM!” Dylan yelled “Look!”

  “I see!” Cassidy called back.

  “Hey…Alex is watching too,” Cat waved to his aunt and Cassidy.

  “I know!” ALEX LOOK!” Dylan yelled.

  “Good job, Speed. Be careful,” Alex praised and instructed. He nodded. “I think your son is having fun,” Alex said. Cassidy turned in the agent’s arms and looked into her eyes. She lost herself for a moment. “What?” Alex asked.

  Rose took a deep breath as she witnessed her daughter’s hand tenderly stroke the taller woman’s cheek. Cassidy’s smile grew and her voice carried with a confidence that completely astounded her mother. “I think,” Cassidy said, “that our son is lucky to have you.”

  Alex closed her eyes as Cassidy’s lips met hers. “Cass…”

  Cassidy turned back in the agent’s arms and held them around her firmly. “Talk to your son, Alex. He chose you; he got me.”

  Rose smiled and began to turn on her heels slowly. This was their moment. No jokes. No banter. No advice. “Oh Cassie, I love you,” the words slipped from her at the same time as another tear fell.

  “Mom?” Cassidy heard her mother’s voice in the distance.

  “How do you do that?” Rose waved innocently.

  “Welcome to the family,” Cassidy laughed taking Alex’s hand to walk toward her mother.

  “I’ll take it,” Alex said with a smile.

  “I’ll remember you said that.”

  “I know,” the agent laughed as they walked back through the door of the house.

  “I’m not sure,” Brady faltered.

  “Best guess?” Taylor demanded. There was an almost audible pause, the breath of both men heavy and strained. “Brady… Best guess… credible or not credible?”

  Through a heavy release of air the younger man spoke into the phone, “I would not dismiss it.”

  Michael Taylor froze. It was the call no one ever wanted to receive and no one wanted to make. If he was wrong the fall out would be brutal. If he was right the consequence of not calling would be unforgivable. He steadied his breathing and laid his forehead on a closed fist. “I’ll make the call.”

  “Sir…”

  “Brady….I hope to God that you are wrong.”

  “Alex!” Cat and Dylan burst through the front door.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex immediately envisioned someone toppling from the tree.

  “There’s a big truck here,” Cat said with Dylan nodding wide eyed.

  Cassidy tried to fake a curious expression when Alex looked at her. She shrugged and the agent caught the corner of her mouth curling into a smile. “Cassidy?” Cassidy shrugged again and tried not to look at Barb as Alex made her way to the door. “Can I help you?” Alex asked the man now on the porch.

  “I have a delivery for Toles?”

  “I’m not expecting anything,” Alex combed through her recent purchases in her mind. “No. I think…”

  The agent felt Cassidy’s hand on her back as the teacher pushed in alongside of her. “Downstairs,” Cassidy directed.

  “Cass? What the….”

  “Oh so you think you’re the only one who can keep a secret, huh?”

  Alex turned to see the man unloading a large box and recognized the name Olhausen. “Cassidy…what did you…”

  “What is it?” Dylan asked. “Is it a birthday present?”

  Cassidy smiled. “It looks like your mom bought us a pool table, Speed,” Alex observed. He looked at his mother hopefully and she nodded. After an energetic high five with Cat the boys followed the delivery team downstairs into the finished basement. Alex looked at h
er lover. “I can’t believe you…”

  Cassidy raised an eyebrow. “I expect you to teach me.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow of her own remembering their first attempt at that endeavor. “I think that could be arranged,” she smiled and kissed the woman before her. “I love you, Cass.”

  “Yeah? As much as that pool table?”

  “I’ll let you know after the next lesson,” Alex chuckled.

  “I’m sure you will,” Cassidy answered leading the agent off to the basement.

  John Merrow stepped off the small platform and reached forward to accept the customary hand shake of his hosts. “Thank you,” he said with a firm grip.

  “We’ll get it done,” Congresswoman Collins whispered as he offered her a friendly hug.

  “I know you will,” he said pulling back with a confident nod.

  “Sir,” a voice broke into his ear. “We need to change the exit.”

  “No,” Merrow answered.

  “Sir, I am afraid I must insist.”

  John Merrow turned and faced the Secret Service agent. “No.”

  “There is…”

  The president stood firm. “I appreciate your concern. I cannot change tonight’s plan. Figure it out.”

  “Great party,” Nick said. Alex smiled. “Alex,” he continued. “Can we talk for a minute?

  “Yeah, of course.”

  Nick pulled his sister aside. “I’m betting that you already know.”

  “What’s that?” His sister asked.

  “That Barb is pregnant.” Alex laughed. “It’s fine. I told her I was going to tell you tonight.”

  “Nicky, I am happy for you.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Listen, Alex when are you going to tell Mom.” Alex felt all the muscles in her body tense. “I mean… she knows, Alex… it’s all over the…”

  Alex nodded. “Not now, Nick. Not today….all right?”

  Nick sighed. “I just…”

  The tension in the agent at the mention of her mother was palpable. “I know you want things to be different. I do. Right now, I just need to be with Cass and Dylan. Enough has happened. I don’t need to deal with…”