Fires of Autumn (27 page)

She turned
around and walked away, shaken and upset, returning to her office and planting
herself heavily behind her desk as she threw the overnight envelope onto the
surface.  She didn’t say a word to Chris, or to Colt.   She just went right
back to work, or at least she pretended to.  Chris noticed she didn’t have any
coffee in her hands.

“Casey,
where’s the coffee?” he asked.

Casey
paused and looked around as if realizing she had forgotten something. Then she
just shook her head.

“I don’t
need any,” she said, resuming typing.

Chris
cocked an eyebrow. “What about Special Agent Sheridan?”

She
faltered again. “Caffeine slows healing. He doesn’t need any, either.”

“But…?”

“Shut up.”

Chris
promptly did just that, although he had made it his mission in life to harass
Casey every chance he had.  Still, just by her demeanor he could tell she
wasn’t taking his teasing very well.  She’d had a hard week with her kid and
all, so he decided to leave her alone. At least, for now.

Colt had
heard the exchange and the tone of her voice, concerned. It wasn’t like her to
snap or slam things around, so he casually stood up and went to his office
entry.  Casey was focused on her computer.

“So… did
they run out of coffee?” he asked.

She paused
and looked up at him. “Sorry,” she said, although she didn’t sound like she
meant it. “I got sidetracked. If you really want me to, I’ll go get you some.”

Colt shook
his head. “No worries,” he was already heading out of the office. “I can get my
own. I’m not a complete invalid yet.”

He walked
out and Casey returned to her computer, feeling worse and worse.  The truth was
that if there really were rumors going around, he would hear them sooner or
later. So would Russ and everyone else, and the dynamics of the situation would
change. She was scared to death he would be reassigned, but after what just
happened with the attempt on the President, maybe not. Maybe he had proven his
worth and they would leave him where he did the most good.

As she sat
there and messed with her email, her cell phone buzzed. She had a text message
and she picked up the phone, seeing that it was from Colt. 

Lafayette
Square now.

Casually,
she set the phone back down and continued messing with her email.  Then, she
opened up the overnight envelope on her desk, pulled out the contents, and went
into the Oval Office to put them on the President’s desk.  Coming out of his
office and closing the door, she went back to her computer, locked it, and
picked up her cell phone.

“I’ll be
back,” she said.

Chris
didn’t look up or acknowledge her. Only when she was out of earshot did he roll
his eyes and grunt. “Go take some Midol or something,” he muttered.

Casey
didn’t hear him. She passed through the lobby, past Lisanne’s empty desk, and
out of the main entrance of the west wing. She had her I.D. badge on as she
went past the guard entry and took the gate out onto Pennsylvania Avenue.
Crossing the street, she headed into Lafayette Square under gray and
threatening skies.

Colt was
waiting for her by the statue in the middle of the park.  He saw her coming and
went to meet her.

“What’s
wrong?” he asked quietly.

She looked
frustrated and teary as she tried to reply. “Maggie said she heard some of the
uniformed secret service guys talking about you,” she said. “They said that
someone at the hospital said that your wife came to visit you and that your
wife’s name is Casey.”

He sighed
faintly, calmly digesting the information.  “Well,” he said after a moment.
“There were a lot of people there that day.  People that know you saw you there
and I’m sure someone saw you when you went to visit me.”

“Maggie
said a nurse said your wife came to visit.  Now she’s pissed off because she
thinks… oh, it doesn’t matter what she thinks. What are we going to do?”

“What does
Maggie think?”

Casey
crossed her arms, cocking her head at him. “She’s been hot on you since you
started,” she replied. “I think she wanted to date you and now with these
rumors, she thinks I betrayed her.”

Colt just
lifted his eyebrows thoughtfully.  “Angel, even if you didn’t exist, there’s no
amount of money or persuasion that could convince me to date Maggie Broom, so
don’t let her guilt-trip you into thinking she even had a chance.  She didn’t.”

“That’s
mean.”

“That’s a
fact.”

Her
expression darkened but she refrained from verbally sparring with him. She just
looked away, watching the cold pigeons hobble around a few feet away.  Colt
took a step closer to her and crossed his big arms.

“What,
exactly, are you upset about?” he asked softly.

She
shrugged, still watching the pigeons. “Everyone is going to find out.”

“So what?”

She looked
at him then, shocked. “So
what
?” she repeated. “We talked about this in
the beginning, Colt. Office romances are discouraged to say the least and….”

“This
isn’t an office romance,” he cut her off. “It’s not a fling or a thing or
casual sex or anything else like that. I love you and you love me, and you’re
mine forever. The President knows and Peter knows. We can’t stop the gossip, so
are we going to deny it instead? Are we going to lie to people and carry on in
secret like we’re ashamed of each other? I don’t want to do that anymore.  We
can come out in the open and still conduct ourselves with self-control and
dignity. We can be two people in love who happened to work together.”

She just
stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” he
said firmly. “Why do you have a problem with that?”

She shook
her head. “I didn’t say I did,” she was starting to soften up. “But I’m
terrified that your bosses are going to reassign you. Colt, I don’t want you to
go anywhere. Things are so good right now and I just don’t want anything to
mess it up.”

He put his
arms around her, in public, and held her close.  Casey let him, wrapping her
arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest.

“I’m
not
going to get reassigned,” he murmured. “I don’t care if anyone knows that you
and I are together. It makes me so proud to have your love, Casey. It’s the
best thing that has ever happened to me.”

She looked
up at him, smiling.  His calmness with the situation eased her considerably
and, if she thought about it, she felt the same way he did. She was so proud to
be with him.

“Me, too,”
she whispered. “So… what do we do?”

He
shrugged. “As much as I want to, I’m not going to go around shouting it, but if
anyone asks, I won’t deny it.”

She sighed
heavily and squared her shoulders. “Okay,” she agreed. “Me, too.”

“One more
question.”

“What?”

“You never
have given me an answer about marrying me.  I want to marry you and have a life
with you.  Do you think we can talk about that?”

Her eyes
widened. “Right now?”

“Why not?”

She
thought on that.  Then, she pulled out of his embrace but she took his hands in
hers. “Okay,” she said softly. “Of course I’ll marry you. I just thought you
already knew that. “

“I wanted
to hear it from you.”

“So now
you have.”

“And I
don’t want to wait forever.”

She cocked
her head. “What did you have in mind?”

He
shrugged, squeezed her hand, and began walking back towards the White House. “I
liked calling you my wife in front of that nurse,” he admitted. “I’d be happy
if we did it tomorrow or in six months, but I don’t want to wait for years. I
don’t think I could take it.”

Casey
loved the feeling of holding his hand in public.  It was sweet and liberating.
“Come over tonight and meet Hunter,” she looked up at him. “You still haven’t
met him.”

“That’s
because every time I come over, he’s asleep.”

She
grinned. “Well, come for dinner if you can.  The sooner the boys start getting
accustomed to you, the sooner we can take the next step. I don’t want to do
anything unless they’re comfortable with it.”

“I
understand.”

She smiled
at him as they reached Pennsylvania Avenue and crossed the street.  The second
they reached the White House grounds, he let go of her hand and they continued
onto the property.  They reached the west wing and Colt opened the door for her
as they walked in together. It was the first time they had ever entered the
west wing together, which was something of a milestone. Colt stopped to talk to
the uniformed secret service agents at the desk as Casey continued in to the
complex of offices. 

Maggie’s
office was to the right when she came into the lobby area.  After a moment’s
deliberation, Casey went in to Maggie’s office to find the woman behind her
desk going over some reports.  Maggie glanced up, saw Casey, and pulled her
glasses off.

“Casey,
I’m sorry,” she said before Casey could open her mouth. “You’re right; I
listened to gossip and I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have. Please don’t be angry
with me.”

Casey went
around the woman’s desk and hugged her.  “I’m sorry, too,” she said. “I
shouldn’t have been so harsh about it.  I guess… I guess you just caught me off
guard.”

Maggie was
holding on to Casey’s hands. “It was wrong and I’m sorry.”

Casey
shushed her. “Listen to me,” she said quietly. “The rumor you  heard was wrong,
but only slightly.  I’m not Colt’s wife yet but I will be.  It all happened so
fast… we love each other, Mags. Colt is the most wonderful, brilliant and sweet
man in the whole world and I love him to death. I know you had a thing for him
and it was never my intention to betray you or hurt you.  It just sort of
happened.  So the rumors are mostly true. I’m just sorry if you feel hurt by
all of it. I never meant to hurt you.”

Maggie
stared at her for a moment before breaking into a weak smile. “Like I really
ever had a chance,” she said softly. Then she hugged her. “I wish you all the
best, you know that.  I’m so happy for you.”

Casey
smiled timidly. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Thank
you. That means a lot. But I would appreciate it if you didn’t spread it
around; we’re trying to keep it as low-key as possible.”

“Sure.”

Casey
touched the woman’s hand one last time before leaving her office, emerging into
the lobby about the time Colt was passing through.  He very nearly ran her down
as he came around a corner and she yelped as he bumped into her. 

With a
grin, Colt grabbed Casey to keep her from toppling over on her towering high
heels but she returned his smile and waved him off, regaining her balance.

“Holy Cow,
Sheridan,” she exclaimed softly. “Working with you is hazardous.”

He cocked
an eyebrow. “No more hazardous than those three foot tall heels you wear.”

“Leave my
heels alone. If you insult them, you insult me.”

He fought
off a grin. “Not an insult, Ms. Cleburne, but a statement of fact.”

“Don’t you
like them?”

He cocked
an eyebrow, looking at her legs rather seductively. “Ask me that again tonight
when we’re alone,” he whispered.

She just
grinned as they headed back to their offices. Casey preceded him into the office
area and went straight to her desk, shoving aside one of the two or three
storage boxes partially shoved under her desk so she could sit.  She went right
to the box on the top and resumed where she had left off before all of the
excitement of the morning.  As Eckart yelled at someone on the phone again,
Colt paused by her desk to see what she was doing.

“What are
you working so hard on?” he asked. “I saw you pull out these boxes last week.
Looks like you’re moving.”

She
grinned. “Russ has me fishing out some records,” she said. “He’s trying to
establish a history of donations to one of his charities, so I’ve been going
through all of his bank and financial records since last week.  Some of this
stuff goes back ten or fifteen years even, when he was the governor of New
Mexico.”

“Audit?”

She
nodded. “Exactly. The President’s tax and bank records have to be transparent,
even before he was President.”

Colt
simply nodded and went back to his desk. But he was seized with the
possibilities;
bank records that went back fifteen years
. It was the
golden opportunity he had been waiting for, to do what he had been positioned
there to do.  He was feeling the pressure from Meade, something he tried to
push out of his mind, but something he couldn’t seem to shake.  Meade said a
lot of things. Meade meant a lot of things. But Colt was extremely protective
over Casey, feeling torn like he had never felt in his life. 

The
morning went on and Russ came into the office sometime close to noon. His time
in the office was infrequent because of Tracy’s recovery, and even now, he
looked weary and beaten. Casey looked up from the stacks of files on her desk.