Intersection (8 page)

“What did it say?”

“I haven’t seen it yet… Fallon is sending it now.” Cassidy set down her mug and let out a nervous sigh. Alex opened her laptop on the table and logged on. She could see Cassidy’s anxiety as she opened the attachment. She tried to remain stoic as she read it to herself.

I see her

Every night

You left her

Out of sight

I’ll take mine

She’ll have me

Before you know

What you can’t see

Alex felt a chill rush through her body. She looked over at the woman across from her. This was no simple game and Alex knew it. It wasn’t a prank and it wasn’t about the congressman. Someone was obsessed with Cassidy and his rhetoric was increasing.

“Well?” Cassidy urged.

Alex took a deep breath. There was no point in lying or hiding anything from Cassidy. “It’s about you.”

“Me?” Cassidy thought she might throw up.

“Listen, Cassidy…”

“What the hell? Why would anyone want to hurt me? To get at Chris?”

“I’m not sure…and I don’t think this is about the congressman really, other than resentment toward him….I think…. well, I think you have a stalker.”

“That’s insane.”

Alex filled her cheeks with air and released it. “Look, I need call Fallon back. Just give me a minute, okay?” Alex picked up her laptop and carried it into the other room. She studied the document again and picked up her cell phone. “Hey…. yeah I’m looking at it now…..I don’t know….I think she needs some protection…..what? Yeah, well…..I know…..is Tate on the line? …Yes, Sir… I know…I realize that, but…you and I both know this will likely escalate, no…that’s not…yep….yes, Sir…I understand…Fallon?...yeah… just get those damn work ups done.” Alex hung up the phone and rubbed her temples. She looked at the words on the screen one more time and then logged off, closing the laptop slowly. “Oh shit, Toles,” she said quietly to herself. Her stomach was in knots. Fallon was right, she was taking this personally. The thought of anyone harming Cassidy terrified her. “What the hell is wrong with me?” She said aloud softly again “Not even three days, Toles…get a grip.”

Alex took a few deep breaths to calm herself and then walked back into the kitchen. Cassidy had her face in her hands; her long blonde hair falling over them and resting on the table. Alex fought to breathe. She pinched the bridge of her nose hard. The agent’s emotions felt foreign to her. She didn’t understand how this woman could be affecting her so deeply and in such a short time. It wasn’t just an attraction, although as Alex approached the kitchen she could not deny that she found Cassidy alluring. It was more than that, not just the job; she felt an overwhelming need to protect the woman. “Hey,” Alex said very softly, setting down the laptop and putting her hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. Cassidy lifted her gaze and Alex immediately saw that she had been crying. Her heart sank. She gave the woman a gentle smile. “Listen, let’s take that drive…okay? Get away from here for a while, what do you say?’

“Alex, you don’t have to babysit me…I…”

“Actually, I do,” the agent said and saw Cassidy look down. “But I really wouldn’t mind a drive….or the company.”

Cassidy looked back at her. “That’s nice of you to say.”

Alex looked into Cassidy’s green eyes, eyes that had turned slightly red from tears. “No…it’s not,” she was overcome by the need to comfort the woman before her and touched her cheek. “It’s just true.”

Cassidy looked at her. ‘Oh my God,’ she thought to herself as she found herself wishing Alex would kiss her and somehow make all the fear disappear. She caught her breath, “I’d like that.”

Alex pulled back trying to regain control of her own emotions. “It’s settled…you pick the place and I’ll drive.”

Cassidy shook her head. “Actually…I can’t even think right now, Alex.”

“Well, then…I’ll pick the place and I’ll drive.” She laughed. “Why don’t you go ahead and get yourself…”

“Together?” Cassidy chuckled.

“Your words, not mine,” Alex winked. “I’m going to put this all away…and I’ll figure something out…okay?”

Cassidy pondered the agent’s offer silently for a moment watching her put her files neatly in her briefcase. “Alex?” The agent looked up. “I’m glad you are here.”

Alex smiled as Cassidy left the room. “I hope you remember you said that,” Alex said quietly to herself.

“I will,” Cassidy called back.

Alex looked up in shock. “She really does have ears like a bat.”

“Yes, I do.” Alex snickered. She was going to find something to take Cassidy’s mind off things, something.

“Okay… thanks…. Perfect… no…I will… about four o’clock or so.” Alex hung up her phone and grabbed her wallet, her
badge and her side arm. She knew Cassidy would hate that, but she couldn’t take any chances. She would put it in the glove box for the drive and then she would gauge whether or not she needed it. The truth was that she was beginning to think the undercover scenario was foolish, but that was not her decision to make. Cassidy walked back into the kitchen after deciding to take a quick shower. The teacher thought it might help settle her nerves about everything. Alex looked up and saw Cassidy and thought she might have stopped breathing. Cassidy was wearing jeans and a black sweater that seemed to cling to her perfectly. The teacher smiled noticing that Alex was staring at her.

“So…find something?” Cassidy asked.

“I did…listen before we go…”

Cassidy suddenly felt sick. She wondered if Alex was a having second thoughts about leavingorworse that she had noticed Cassidy was looking at her. And why, Cassidy wondered, was she looking at her? Her head was spinning. “Alex, we don’t have to go…”

Alex shook her head. “No…no… I just… I’d feel better if I brought some protection,” she pointed to the pistol.

Cassidy sighed partially from relief and partially from the gravity of her new reality. “I understand.”

“I promise...I won’t wear it unless I think…”

“Alex, it’s okay….really.”

Alex was the one to breathe a sigh of relief now. “Good… enough of that…you ready? ... First question; are we on a timetable?”

Now Cassidy was curious. “I haven’t had a curfew in at least six months,” she joked.

“Good.” Alex was surprised by the butterflies she felt in her stomach. She felt a bit like a teenager on her first date, but she had a good plan mapped out to take Cassidy’s mind off things, at least she hoped she did. “Well…let’s go.”

Alex put on her long black leather jacket and watched as Cassidy slipped on her short denim jacket. They walked out the door and Cassidy turned to lock it. When she turned back Alex was holding the car door open. Cassidy walked to the car with a flirtatious grin. She stopped at the door right in front of Alex. Inches away from each other, Cassidy looked directly into the agent’s eyes. “Are you going to tell me where we are going?”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Nope.”

Cassidy held her stare for a moment not wanting to look away. There was a feeling running through her body that she could not explain. What she did know was that Alex made her feel safer and more appreciated than she could remember. “Hummm,” she groaned her curiosity as she got into the car.

They had been driving for a while, talking about everything and nothing and laughing at nearly all of it. Alex had started singing a song to the radio and Cassidy was struck by her voice. “You should have been a singer,” she remarked.

“Ah… maybe if hip hop had been popular in the eighties and nineties,” Alex joked. “What about you?” The question prompted Cassidy to tell Alex about her one attempt at playing a musical instrument and how she “fell flat.” They just kept talking, Alex breaking into a harmony to some song on the radio every now and again. The agent had shared a bit about her first days at West Point and how she almost got kicked out for punching an obnoxious cadet. The conversation was easy and natural and both women quickly forgot what had led them to be together in the first place. “Hey….here we are.”

Cassidy had not been paying any attention to where they were going, consumed in the conversation and in listening to Alex sing. “Where are we?” She asked. She wasn’t even certain how long they had been driving.

Alex just smiled and got out of the car. Cassidy stepped out and looked behind the car to see the ocean as a backdrop. To the left was a large white building adorned with white lights. A
covered deck with a large fireplace at its center sat overlooking the water. “You like seafood?” Alex asked hopefully.

“I do, actually.”

“Well, good…not that they don’t have other things,” Alex began to lead Cassidy toward the building. “But they have the best seafood around…but I’m not exactly an objective party.”

Cassidy wondered who the ‘they’ was until she reached the door and saw the name
Toles
. Alex opened the door and stepped through. “Ummm, Alex?”

“Alexis!” A handsome man walked up to the agent and gave her a hug. Cassidy was completely perplexed.

“I’m sorry… Cassidy O’Brien…meet my brother, Nick.”

Cassidy was sure her eyes were as big as saucers. The resemblance was undeniable. “Nice to meet you,” she said. He took her hand and squeezed it.

“I don’t know what a beautiful woman like you is doing having dinner with this fool,” he pointed to his sister. Cassidy laughed watching Alex roll her eyes. “Oh well, follow me ladies.” Nick led them out to the patio to a table beside the fireplace. It was warm for March, but still cold enough that sitting outside was not normally an option. Nick handed them each a menu and whispered to Cassidy. “Make sure she leaves a big tip.” Cassidy giggled and nodded.

“Alex…”

“Oh…well… you said you couldn’t think…”

“Where are we?” The teacher asked curiously.

“You really weren’t paying attention, were you?” Cassidy gave the agent a look of mock annoyance.

“Okay…okay… we are in Connecticut…Stonington to be exact,” Alex answered.

“Are you from here?”

“No….Massachusetts actually, but my brother, he moved here right after college and opened this place. I haven’t been here in a couple of years, it’s great though…only place you can
sit outside almost year round…and I promise the food is excellent…the service…eh.”

Cassidy laughed. The view was beautiful, almost as beautiful as the agent with the fire light reflecting in her eyes. “It’s beautiful,” Cassidy remarked unable to look away from the agent.

“Yes…It is,” Alex responded looking into the green eyes that seemed to captivate her.

A young waiter interrupted their moment. “Mr. Toles asked red or white?”

Alex looked at Cassidy; silently directing the question to her. “White?” Cassidy answered a bit unsure.

“White it is,” Alex directed the young man who smiled and headed off.

Cassidy was looking out at the water. The sun was still up but it had begun its slow progression downward. She took a deep, cleansing breath, filling her lungs with the ocean air and closed her eyes drinking it all in. Alex just watched, mesmerized. The waiter returned and Alex silently directed him to leave the wine and the plate of shrimp on the small table that was next to her. Cassidy opened her eyes to see Alex pouring her a glass of wine and moving the plate of shrimp cocktail to the table. “Alex…this is…”

Alex gave Cassidy an impish grin. “How are you feeling?”

Cassidy had to laugh, “relaxed…but you don’t…”

The agent poured her own glass of wine and then looked across the table. There was an ease and gentleness about this woman that she had never experienced. She felt as if they had known each other forever. Alex wore no masks, and even when she tried Cassidy seemed to strip them away with a glance. “There isn’t any place I would rather be or anyone I’d rather be with,” Alex said plainly. Cassidy felt her entire body go weak wondering who this woman across from her was.

Dinner progressed just as the car ride had. The sun set as they ate and they talked and laughed, the waves lapping the
shore behind them. It was getting late and Cassidy had consumed her fair share of wine. She looked around the patio. “Alex, no one else has been out here all night.”

“I know,” Alex smiled. “I asked Nick to keep it closed…no side arms…no people… no press.”

“You did that for me?” Alex managed a slightly embarrassed shrug, rendering Cassidy speechless.

As they were leaving Nick said his goodbye to Cassidy who walked ahead looking at a large saltwater fish tank in order to give Alex a moment with her brother. Nick saw the twinkle in his sister’s eye. “She’s a keeper, Alex.”

Alex took a deep breath. “She’s straight, Nick.”

“Ohhh…. So you’re not…falling in love with her then?” Alex was completely floored by her brother’s insinuation. She was ready to give him a piece of her mind when Cassidy turned and directed a smile her way momentarily. The agent sighed. “Well, I may not know a lot Alex…but I know you…and I know what I see when I see it.”

“Nick…I am assigned to protect her…for God’s sake her ex-husband is a congressman.”

“Huh?’ He mused. “I thought she looked familiar….oh whatever, Alex…I saw you two out there. You want to fool yourself out of a good thing? Well, that’s just stupid…but that’s your business…you’re not fooling me.”