Intersection (61 page)

Cassidy laughed and gently stroked Alex’s hand. “Alex?”

“Yeah?”

The smaller woman sighed. Alex left her breathless now, just looking at her. Her eyes were so blue and they seemed to shimmer. The way that Alex was looking at Cassidy completely overtook the teacher. “God, you are beautiful,” Cassidy whispered.

Alex smiled. “Where did that come from?”

Cassidy stroked the agent’s cheek as her smile began to widen. “You know, I think I would like the master bedroom sage; it’s calming.” Alex felt her heart jump into her throat. She wasn’t certain that she had heard what Cassidy said correctly, and she wasn’t sure it meant what she hoped. Her eyes gave her questions away immediately to her lover. Cassidy raised her eyebrow. “Do you have something against sage?”

“I… uh…. Cass – what…”

Green eyes twinkled and Cassidy leaned in planting a light kiss on Alex’s lips. “I love you, Alex…I don’t know exactly how to say this….”

“Just say it.”

“I want us to be a family.”

Alex smiled. “Me too. Are you sure, Cass? Because I….”

Cassidy stopped the thought with a kiss and pulled back slowly. “It scares me.”

“What scares you?” Alex asked softly.

“Everything I want with you.”

“Why does that scare you, Cass?”

The teacher sighed and continually caressed her lover’s cheek. “Because I want everything with you. I’ve known that from the beginning, I think…..but after yesterday….and then walking into that house…and Barb telling me about the baby…”

Alex sat straight up. “The what?”

“Oh shit….I didn’t mean to let that out.”

“Barb’s pregnant?” Cassidy tilted her head and shrugged, feeling badly that she had let that slip out. “Huh,” Alex chuckled. “I’m not going to say a word. I’ll act like a kid on Christmas when she tells me.” Cassidy smiled. “It’s not as big as your house.”

“It’s perfect.”

Alex kissed Cassidy and searched her eyes. “I want you to be sure.”

“I am sure.”

“What about work?”

Cassidy shook her head. “Well, I suspect that is going to get a bit dramatic now, thanks to his highness and his comments.” The agent had thought about that as well. All the press coverage would fade but it would inevitably complicate both Cassidy and Dylan’s lives in the immediate future. “I think maybe I should just look at the fall.”

“You mean take the some time off?”

“Yeah. Why; do you think that is a bad idea?”

“No, actually I think it’s a great idea.” Alex said. “And… I’ve been thinking myself…”

“About?” Cassidy asked. Alex sat up and her posture stiffened slightly. “Alex….what’s wrong?”

“Nothing…honestly. Just Tate wants me back at the NSA and it might help…if I did…”

The teacher rubbed her eyebrow in thought. “Help with what, Alex?” Alex shook her head. “How did you know?” Alex looked at her lover with a touch of fear in her eyes. “Alex, how did you know I might be in trouble?”

The agent felt sick. A nice conversation was turning a dangerous corner. “Cass….”

Cassidy shook her head with a sarcastic smile. The answer was written across Alex’s face. “Chris.” Alex bit her lip. “Of course. What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t really know, Cassidy…I just know he’s into something... deep.”

“Is Dylan in danger?”

“No…I don’t think either of you are in danger, Cass….honestly….but I won’t lie to you. Putting some distance between him and both of you…I know he’s Dylan’s father but… I just… I don’t trust…” Cassidy was furious with the congressman but Alex’s rambling was endearing. It was one of the things the teacher loved so much about the woman beside her. Alex could pivot from the most commanding presence to a rambling child in less than a second and Cassidy found it utterly adorable. She couldn’t help but smile at Alex. “I’m rambling,” Alex admitted and Cassidy nodded.

“Distance is good,” Cassidy agreed. “I don’t want to talk about him, not tonight.” Alex smiled. “You know I will support whatever you want to do, Alex. I just want you to be safe.”

“Cass, I am good at what I do,” the agent assured her lover.

“I know that, but I can’t help but worry.”

Alex kissed the woman’s forehead. “I worry about you. I guess we have a lot in common.”

“I guess we do,” Cassidy admitted and laid her head on the agent’s chest.

“Let’s do Dylan’s party there,” Alex said.

“What?” Cassidy asked in surprise.

“Let’s have his party at the house.”

“Alex...there isn’t even anything at the house…there’s no table – there’s no…”

“Eh…minor details,” Alex dismissed the observation playfully.

Cassidy laughed. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

“Come on… we’ll go shopping.”

“Shopping? Alex, you hate shopping. You can’t stand to be in the grocery store for five minutes.”

“Different.”

“Really?” Cassidy propped herself up to look in the agent’s eyes.

“Yeah… Come on,” Alex urged. Cassidy was delighted by the spark she saw in Alex’s eyes. There was an excitement there that the teacher had not expected. The agent was like a small child getting a new puppy, wide eyed.

“Shopping for?” The teacher inquired.

“Stuff.”

“Stuff?” Cassidy raised her eyebrows again.

“Yeah…Come on, Cass…. Seriously… a FRESH start. What do you think Dylan would say about a Batman room?” Cassidy shook her head and kissed Alex. “What?” Alex asked innocently.

“I love you, Alex Toles.”

“Good thing,” the agent said.

“Is it?”

“Yep. Do you think we could make it Dylan’s birthday present?”

“What?” Cassidy asked smiling.

“You know… the house…his room…”

“You really are Alfred,” Cassidy laughed. Alex looked at her hopefully. “I think that could be arranged…yes…but I think,” Cassidy kissed Alex gently, “that you,” she pulled back and kissed Alex’s nose, “might have some other things to worry about first.”

“Really?” Alex asked. “Like what?”

Cassidy ran her hands up Alex’s sides. “The lady of the house requires the butler’s service.”

“I already did the dishes,” Alex joked. Cassidy looked at her and Alex took the woman into a passionate kiss. “But I live to serve.”

Michael Taylor sorted through the large pile of files on his desk. “Jonathan Krause,” he whispered. “Where have you been?” He leafed through a few papers before settling on one. He brought it closer and studied it for a long moment. He set it down
and moved to his computer keyboard quickly typing in some words, hit the ‘enter’ button and waited. “Well, well….Admiral Brackett….and Major General Krause… What do you know? Old friends? …. Let’s see… I wonder,” Michael Taylor typed some more words and waited. He shook his head and tried something else as his tapping on the computer keys becoming more insistent. “Oh…. Fisher….Colonel Edward Fisher…fascinating…..What?” Taylor stopped abruptly and pulled his chair back slightly. He ran his hand over his head. “What is going on here?” Taylor picked up his phone and dialed. “Hey…Brady I need something.”

“What is it?” Steven Brady asked.

“Well, what would you say if I told you that Claire Brackett’s father, Carl Fisher’s father and Jonathan Krause’s father were all old friends? They all worked on a project together in the seventies.”

“Weird. But not that weird… we all know service runs…”

Taylor stared at the screen in front of him. “Yeah…I would’ve dismissed it myself…if it were just Brackett and Fisher… but Krause?”

“What do you think it means?”

“Maybe nothing at all except that it brought them all together…but IF it IS what brought them all together, it would stand to reason that whoever is at the core of this mess with the congressman was part of that crowd too…Don’t you think?” Taylor asked.

“It does. Is the congressman…”

“No, but there is a name on here that almost made me fall off my chair.”

Steven Brady was curious, “Who?”

“Lieutenant General Anthony Merrow.”

“As in?” Brady asked nervously.

“As in President John Merrow’s father.”

Cassidy woke up and heard the shower running. She groaned. Alex was already up and moving. The teacher threw the pillow over her head and grumbled some more. “What’s the matter,” Alex called playfully.

“Why are you awake?” A muffled voice answered.

“We’ve got things to do today,” Alex said happily.

“Yes…couldn’t we do them later, though?”

Alex laughed as Cassidy removed the pillow from her face and sat up slightly against the headboard. The agent leaned in and kissed the woman in the bed, her cold wet hair brushing the teacher’s bare skin and causing Cassidy to shiver. “Awake now?” Alex asked.

Cassidy smacked her lightly. “And just what is on your agenda today?”

“Our agenda, Cassidy…We’re shopping.”

Cassidy shook her head. “You are serious about this party, aren’t you?” Alex shrugged. The agent was smiling broadly and Cassidy was both amused and touched by Alex’s plans. “Alex, we have everything Dylan needs at home.”

The agent pulled a black sweater over her head. “Yeah, well…we can sell it.”

“You have lost your mind, Agent Toles.” Cassidy said half serious. When Alex turned to face her, the teacher could see that for whatever reason, this was important to Alex. “Alex… What is this about?”

“I just want it to be our house, Cass.”

That sentiment was something that Cassidy understood and she expected that Alex would want to make the house their own. “We haven’t even talked about affording the house, Alex. I mean, I own the house in New York. It was mine in the settlement, but it might take time to sell, particularly after the…”

“Yeah…I know. It’s fine,” Alex said as she turned to finish getting dressed.

“What do you mean it’s
fine
?”

“I mean you don’t need to worry about it.”

Cassidy took a deep breath. “Okay...look… I am not going to have you…”

Alex laughed. “It’s fine because technically I own the house in Westport.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nick needed to take out the loan for the restaurant. I took out the mortgage on that house for him. We rented it until three months ago. We put it on the market, but no offers that met my price…so, I’ve been paying the mortgage anyway.”

Cassidy was stunned. “Alex…that house has to be worth…”

“Yeah… I know… good thing I am good with money, huh?”

“Alex…”

“Relax, Cassidy. My parents invested well for both of us. Nick’s went toward the restaurant and this house. Me? I just kept investing. I’m not wealthy…not like, well, not like what you’re used to…but I’m all right. Now, I can just enjoy what I’ve been paying for.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cassidy wondered.

“I would have told you no matter what decision you made, but not until you made it.”

“Alex…”

“Listen, whatever you want to keep from your house…that’s fine. God knows I have nothing in the way of things to contribute to a house. I really want to do this with you.”

“Shop?” Cassidy giggled. Alex shrugged. She looked at Cassidy hopefully. “This is really important to you?”

“Yeah…it is… I want Dylan to…”

“Dylan loves you; you don’t have to impress him with things,” Cassidy reassured.

“It’s not that.”

“Okay….”

“Look…. I missed six birthdays.” Cassidy felt the breath leave her body as she listened to the woman now sitting next to her. “He’s been through so much, more than a six year old should….and he is still happy… I just…”

“Okay,” Cassidy stopped the agent.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Cassidy said with a smile.

“You’re sure that you…”

Cassidy chuckled. “Alex, my head is spinning. It really is.” Alex’s face dropped in fear and the teacher caught the change. “No,” Cassidy laughed. “It’s not a bad thing….just spinning. This is….you are….I just, well you surprise me….and then you….I can’t…” She saw Alex trying not to laugh. “What?”

“You’re rambling, Cass.”

“Yeah? Well maybe it’s contagious.”

“Must be,” Alex agreed.

Cassidy sighed. “Just promise me, not over the top….okay?”

“So… that truck cab and the 65” TV are out?” Alex said seriously. Cassidy just stared. “I’m kidding, Cass. Butlers don’t make that kind of money and neither do FBI agents. I’m afraid you’ll have to call Bruce Wayne there in Washing…” The statement was stopped abruptly by a kiss. “Or you could just do that,” Alex said.