Commitment (43 page)

“I should be home now,” Alex scolded herself. Krause looked to Callier helplessly. “How did you even find out?” Alex asked the older man.

“That’s not important right now,” Callier said. “Jonathan, will you be accompanying Alexis home?”

“No,” Alex answered for him. “You and Eleana need to follow up on what we gathered at ASA.”

Krause knew a protest would be futile. “All right. At least let me ride with you to the plane,” he said.

Callier watched the exchange between Krause and Alex and motioned for his daughter to follow him inside and give them some privacy. Eleana looked at her father curiously. “What is it?” she asked him. Her father’s eyes glistened slightly in the faint light that surrounded them. She had seen the genuine affection and concern cross his face as he spoke to Alex.

Edmond Callier looped his arm around his daughter’s. “You and Elliot were never that close,” he said.

“No,” Eleana admitted. She and her brother were drastically different people. She would’ve liked to say that their distance bothered her, but that would have been a lie. She had
not missed his presence in her life. Elliot’s primary interest was in lustful pursuits of any kind. He seldom visited home and when he did she recalled the arguments that erupted between her father and her brother. “I sometimes wondered if he was really my brother,” she confessed.

Callier laughed. “He was. He had more of his mother in him,” Callier said. “Those two,” he glanced back at Krause and Alex, “they are kindred spirits.”

Eleana followed the direction of her father’s gaze. She had only just met Alex, but she had known Jonathan Krause for many years. He softened in Alex’s presence. It was as if Alex somehow smoothed the rough edges of his life. Eleana smiled. “Do you think it’s good for them? Working together?” she asked.

Callier nodded as he led his daughter inside. “I think it is what was meant to be.”

“Claire has gone missing.” Assistant FBI Director Joshua Tate said.

“Missing?” Agent Fallon asked.

“Apparently,” Tate answered.

“What does that mean…exactly?” Fallon asked for clarification.

“It means she’s off the grid entirely,” Tate explained. “No one has had contact with her since last Friday.”

“Coincidence?” Fallon asked. “She disappears the day the embassy in Moscow is attacked. I doubt that is by accident.”

Tate nodded. “I don’t imagine it is, Agent Fallon. It is not what you are thinking,” Tate said. “I suspect her absence is of a personal nature.”

“I don’t follow,” Fallon said.

“Imagine learning that you were involved in killing the one person you were close to,” Tate said. Fallon’s confusion
was unmistakable. Joshua Tate pulled a photo from his jacket pocket and handed it to Fallon.

“I don’t understand,” Fallon admitted.

“Claire spent Christmas in Belarus with a friend; an old friend. I would say her only friend; a Spanish national on the CIA’s payroll,” Tate explained.

Fallon looked up at the assistant director in disbelief. “You’re telling me that the translator killed in the embassy attack was agency?” he questioned.

“That’s not something you find very surprising; is it, Agent Fallon?” Tate mocked him slightly. “What’s more surprising is her choice of companions,” Tate offered.

“You think that this Eleana Baros was complicit in the attack?” Fallon asked.

“No. I don’t. I think she was a fixture in Claire Brackett’s life. I know that Claire had a hand in orchestrating the attack. That Cesium she and Anderson absconded with last spring is playing a leading role in the propaganda machine. That is not a coincidence,” Tate said.

“I’m still not following you,” Fallon shook his head.

“Agent, if you unknowingly were complicit in the death of someone you loved…if you believed the people you worked for betrayed that personal trust; what would you do?” Tate posed the question to his agent.

“You think she is going to go after Kargen and Ivanov?” Fallon asked knowingly.

“I do; among others,” Tate supplied.

“So…what does that mean for us?” Fallon inquired.

“Check in on our old friend the congressman,” Tate instructed.

“You think she’ll go to O’Brien? What can he do? He’s due in court again on Tuesday,” Fallon reminded his superior.

“Just check in on him,” Tate repeated his direction. “You don’t seriously think the only money Christopher O’Brien squirreled away all these years was in Cheryl Stephens’ accounts?”

“Holy shit,” Fallon groaned. “You think she wants him to finance her.” Tate just smiled. “She’ll never be able to get him out of the country,” Fallon said.

“She may not have to,” Tate chuckled. “If she chooses to, believe me, Claire Brackett has more than enough connections to get Christopher O’Brien anywhere she chooses. He is just foolish enough to botch her plans without knowing. If her father and Taylor don’t know where she is….we follow O’Brien.”

“Don’t you think they will do the same thing?” Fallon asked.

“I’m counting on it.”

Sunday, January 25
^th

lex looked out of the tinted glass as the car slowed its pace.

She stilled herself as her eyes swept over the place she called home. She accepted her bag from the driver and flung it over her shoulder, keeping a steady pace toward the front door. The faint caress of snowflakes tickled her bare hands and nose, and she took a deep breath when her fingers reached the door handle. This moment reminded her of another time she had come home to the woman she loved. That was less than a year ago. Alex had left early that morning to travel back to Washington D.C. Only a few hours later, Cassidy had been taken against her will. Alex remembered the note that Cassidy had enclosed in her bag along with a photo of the two people she loved most in her life. The myriad of emotions running through her now was eerily familiar; anticipation, relief, anxiety. Only the sight of the woman who held her heart would serve to quiet the competing sensations and emotions.

Alex stepped through the doorway quietly and removed her coat. She was struck by the silence that in its own way was deafening. She closed her eyes for a moment. As she opened them, a presence made itself known in the distance. A shimmering green gaze captured her attention. Cassidy stood perfectly still in the doorway to the kitchen. Alex was certain she had never seen anything so magnificent. She dropped her bag and began to slowly close the distance between them.

Cassidy’s eyes shut instinctively just as Alex reached her. The feeling of Alex’s hands tenderly cupping her face sent Cassidy’s emotions crashing. As she opened her eyes, she saw an expression that she was certain mirrored her own. Tears spilled over Alex’s cheeks as blue eyes sought to convey every thought and feeling that coursed through Alex’s being. Cassidy reached for Alex’s hands and held them as they continued to caress her cheeks gently. She felt Alex’s lips brush against her forehead and the release of a breath that she knew signified the relief they both felt.

Alex lifted Cassidy’s chin to look into the eyes that she had grown to adore. She wasn’t certain how it was possible to become completely lost and found in one perfect moment. Alex was convinced that looking into Cassidy’s eyes was the closest thing to perfection that could exist. They told a story. They whispered unspoken secrets known only to these two souls. They were the doorway to home; Alex’s home. She captured Cassidy’s lips with her own tentatively and lovingly; a promise without words. As Alex pulled back, Cassidy’s lips curled into an understanding smile.

“I missed you,” Cassidy whispered. The pace of Alex’s tears increased as she continued to marvel silently at the woman before her. Cassidy sensed Alex’s fear and guilt and set out immediately to quell it. “I’m all right, love,” she said.

“Never again,” Alex whispered. Cassidy wiped a tear from Alex’s cheek with her thumb. “I’m so sorry, Cass.”

“Stop. You’re here now. You’re safe. And you are holding me,” Cassidy said. “That’s all that matters.” Alex closed her eyes again, reveling in the tenderness and compassion her wife always offered.

“Alex!” an excited voice broke through their private moment. Within seconds, a lively little boy crashed into Alex’s hip.

“Hey, Speed,” she welcomed his embrace and lifted him to her waist. “Did you behave while I was away?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “Mom was sick,” he told her.

Alex sighed and fought the surfacing tears she feared might be endless. “I heard,” she said softly. “I’ll bet you took good care of her, though.”

“Yeah and Mackenzie too,” he said. Alex looked at Cassidy inquisitively. Cassidy just chuckled.

“Mackenzie?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, my brother,” Dylan said as if she should know that.

For the first time in hours, Alex felt a sense of lightness wash over her. She smiled at her wife. “Guess we have some catching up to do,” Alex surmised. Cassidy just arched her brow.

Helen stood at the top of the stairs listening to the conversation below her. She wiped a falling tear from her eyes as the sound of laughter that had been absent for many days began to filter through the house. Rose came up behind her and smiled.

“Guess she’s home,” Rose said.

Helen nodded. “I hope she realizes just how lucky she is,” Helen said softly.

“She does,” Rose patted her friend’s shoulder. “Come on. I think our daughters could use some family time. You, me and a good bottle of wine,” Rose suggested.

“Sounds perfect,” Helen agreed. “Who’s driving?” she laughed.

“Alex still has her penance to do. We’ll call her if we need to,” Rose joked.

Helen followed Rose down the stairs, listening as Dylan prattled on to Alex and Cassidy about his name and Mackenzie excitedly. “Oh, Alexis,” Helen thought to herself. “Don’t waste a single minute,” she prayed silently.