Betrayal (52 page)

“Don’t screw this up,” he muttered as he watched her leave.

Friday, May 16th

“Alex, I’m sorry to disturb you.”

Alex stretched out on the bed and looked at the clock, 3:30 a.m. “Who is it?” Cassidy grumbled, pulling her pillow a little closer.

The agent kissed her head. “Go back to sleep,” she whispered to an already complaint school teacher. “What is it Fallon?”

“Shit, I’m sorry. It’s only like 3:30 there, huh?”

“It’s okay Fallon. What is it?”

“Look, I don’t know if it is anything. But, well…”

“Fallon, out with it already.”

“Did you know Tate originally worked for the Department of Treasury?” Alex considered the statement silently. “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah. Secret Service?”

“Says Intelligence Research.”

“When?”

“2002 until 2006.”

“He worked for FinCEN,” Alex surmised.

“What?” Fallon asked for clarification.

“FinCEN. Surprised you never crossed paths with them during your money laundering investigations. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Patriot act baby. What about before 2002?”

“Captain, NYPD 1996-2001.”

“Interesting.”

“Sounds typical,” Fallon assessed.

“It does. I wonder, though. What did A.D. Tate do when he left the NYPD until he began with FinCEN?”

Fallon could hear the wheels spinning in his partner’s brain. “And?”

“And, I wonder what the good captain did before he became the good captain.”

“That’s easy. Right here. Lieutenant, 1992-1996. Detective, 1990-1992…”

“Well, I think it might be worth a call. Why don’t you call our good friend Detective Ferro? See if he recalls anything about Joshua Tate.”

“I mentioned Tate during the Fisher investigation. He never said a word.”

“Just check it out,” Alex urged him.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m not really. FinCEN deals extensively with international money laundering. You have to admit. It is interesting.”

Fallon laughed. “Yeah, I guess it is. So, uh...set a date yet?”

“Fallon it’s 3:30 a.m. and I am in London.”

He laughed harder. “Didn’t answer my question.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be on the invitation list.” Alex glanced over and caught Cassidy mumbling in her sleep. “I have to go. Call Ferro. See if he can dig a little….and Fallon, just don’t schedule anything for the 31
^st
. Tell Kate, she’ll remember.”

“Why?” Alex started laughing. “That’s like two weeks away.”

“Can’t fool you,” Alex poked. “Gotta go. Call you when I get back Monday…and Fallon?”

“Yeah?”

“Nobody knows yet, except Rose…so just…”

“I got it.”

Alex hung up her call and crawled back in bed beside Cassidy. In a few hours she would be making her way to Jane’s room, though she was certain it was to meet with someone else. She sighed. The envelope Cassidy had handed her didn’t tell a full story. It certainly shed a good deal of light on the enormity of what she was entering into. It mapped out a small framework of known entities; businesses, intelligence personnel, politicians and freelancers that were tied to the known sale of technology, secrets and even drugs. She couldn’t imagine
how on earth Jon Krause planned to immerse her in this in any believable way, but that was the least of her concern at this moment. She brushed Cassidy’s hair aside and snuggled against her with a deep sigh. “I swear,” she whispered softly. “I will keep you both safe, no matter what I have to do.”

“I know you will,” a scratchy voice answered. “Just keep yourself safe too.”

Alex couldn’t help but smile as she felt the body next to her wiggle closer. Cassidy surprised her in the simplest of moments. “I will.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Cassidy answered before drifting back to sleep in the agent’s arms.

“Agent Toles.”

“Agent Krause.”

“You ready for this?”

“I’m not sure I know what
this
is yet.”

Krause nodded and smiled. “You looked at the files.” Alex lifted her eyebrow. “So you know Daniels is a player.”

“Yeah, apparently.”

“Look, Agent Toles….Daniels is set to give Matthews a disk tonight. That’s not its final destination. It’s marked to be delivered to Moscow where it will pass to an SVR agent who will take it to Bucharest. There he will receive a drive with appropriate bank routing numbers.”

“Okay. What is he delivering?” Alex watched Krause carefully. He was difficult to read, but she sensed his hesitancy. “What is he delivering, Krause?”

“Schematics. Locations and schematics.”

“For?”

“The placement and use of organophosphorus materials.”

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose. “Chemical weapons?” Immediately her thoughts were flooded to an investigation she
had been tasked with some years ago. The trail of funds led her to a Somalian fringe group that had gassed its own people. She straightened her posture and pressed down her emotions. Looking at the man before her it was obvious there was more. “What else?”

“Toles.” Alex challenged the CIA agent with her eyes. “Protocols,” he stopped momentarily and moved to begin a steady pace across the room. “Scientific protocols. I would call them instructions rather than experiments.”

Alex was beginning to understand. “You are telling me this disk is a roadmap to some type of biological weapon. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Who is the buyer?”

“I don’t know specifically. It isn’t my operation, Toles. That’s not how it works. I only know it has been delayed multiple times. It won’t be delayed again. I know it is a Yemeni interest.”

Alex regarded the man silently for a moment. “Is this what he was trying to prevent?”

“I think so, yes. Though it is obvious he was working things for some time.”

“So you want the disk…”

“I want to swap the disk.”

“And Matthews?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know what he knows. Whatever you can surmise will be a bonus. It doesn’t change the objective.” He pulled a small disk from his shirt pocket. “This is convincing. Trust me. It will take them some time to realize it’s a fake. Daniels will have the disk on him. At least that’s what I am given to understand. So, we either switch it on Daniels or we switch it on Matthews. That means we need to get close. Very close.”

“Okay. I have some ideas on that front. It is a party after all,” Alex smiled. Krause raised an eyebrow. “Daniels is an old friend. I’m discovering a lot about my
friends
these days it seems.”

“Well, there’s more.”

“What?” she asked pointedly.

He handed her a piece of paper and watched her study it without notable expression. “Matt sent that. He has reason to believe there are accounting files here on Daniels’ computer.”

Alex pressed on her right temple with her thumb. “Do you know where it is? This computer.”

Krause got a slight gleam in his eye. “I do.”

“And, if one of us were to find this computer; how would we access these files?” He handed her a hotel key card. Alex looked up at him in moderate disbelief. “And this is?”

“Magnetic strip side down on the computer. It will decode the passwords and give access.”

“And then?” He handed her a small travel drive and shrugged. Alex couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re not kidding.” He offered her a sideways glance. “Ideas?”

Krause smiled. “A few.”

“Care to compare?” she asked, surprised to find the intrigue of the situation almost as alluring as she found the realities of failure incomprehensible.

Krause smiled. “You are going to have to trust me, Agent.”

“You’re going to have to earn that,
Pip
.”

Alex headed straight for the shower when she returned from her meeting with Jon Krause. She’d seen many things in her years of investigative work from the carnage inflicted by terrorists to the sadistic gore of more than a couple of serial killers’ handiwork. This was an entirely new world and yet one that felt oddly familiar. She let the water flow over her, attempting to somehow wash away her doubt, and even dampen the tinge of excitement that seemed to be pulsing within her. For many years she had been bound to policy and procedure that she so often found was prohibitive in achieving results. She turned her face upward to the water and stretched. As much as it frustrated her, she understood that there was a need for
policy and procedure, checks and balances. She suspected many of the people she was about to encounter had somehow lost sight of that. That was something she never intended to do. She laughed softly as a sudden memory of Dylan passed through her mind. She had something men like Jon Krause did not. She had a reason for her endeavors beyond curiosity, adventure or even duty. She had a family.

The agent continued her routine, drying her hair roughly with the towel before deciding that this might be an occasion to take some time on her appearance. She smirked realizing that Cassidy had never seen her quite as she would this evening. She hadn’t shown Cassidy her gown and she wondered what her lover might think. Her cheeks flushed slightly, partly from embarrassment and partly from anticipation of the entire evening.

Cassidy heard the blow drier and turned curiously toward the bathroom door. It was a rarity to say the least. Not that Alex was carefree about her appearance. She normally pulled her hair back and out of the way. It was something she had to do as a runner and in the military and she told Cassidy it just stuck. Cassidy asked her once why she didn’t just cut it shorter and Alex just shrugged. “I like it long.” The teacher turned back to her own task with a smile.

Alex stepped out of the bathroom and caught sight of her lover across the room. The agent had seen plenty of pictures of Cassidy at events like this evening’s, but none did the sight before her justice. Cassidy turned and immediately captured the agent’s stare. Alex was certain the lump in her throat would choke her. Cassidy was in a fitted, deep red evening gown. Her hair was lifted in a swirl and soft tendrils hung to each side. She stood at least an inch and a half taller than usual and the simple pearl necklace she wore highlighted the top of her cleavage. “My God,” was all Alex managed.

Cassidy smiled softly. Then she allowed her own eyes to fall over the agent. Alex was, as Cassidy often mused, riveting. That was the only word she could find to describe Alex Toles. The
agent could be wearing her uniform, a suit, or a pair of sweat pants and Cassidy found herself riveted. Each represented a different side of the complex woman she loved and Cassidy cherished every part of Alex. Slowly, she crossed the room and lifted her hand to Alex’s cheek. “You are beautiful, Alex.”

The agent could feel the heat rising between them. Alex’s hair cascaded over her bare shoulders freely. Her black gown nearly touched the floor, but the long, narrow slits that ran up each side gave an enticing view of the agent’s long legs. Cassidy caressed the agent’s shoulder and she felt her hands unconsciously begin to glide along Alex’s long frame. The agent closed her eyes and tugged at her bottom lip. She sensed, more than felt Cassidy reaching for her and slowly responded with a soft kiss that quickly deepened. Cassidy broke away and caught her breath with a desperate giggle. “I am going to go get those earrings on now.”