Betrayal (40 page)

All he had to do to get the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was win over the Carrs. That should not be too hard. He had Odi cold for the CEO murders. Besides, his story made them national heroes. They would be fools to contradict it. Hell, he could even marry Cassi now if he wanted. Even Stuart could not object to having a bona fide hero as First Lady. No one could attack her without reminding everyone of Wiley’s finest hour.

The thoughts were coming so fast and furious that Wiley momentarily forgot that he was on TV. As he turned to refocus on Fitzpatrick, Wiley caught sight of Cassi standing at the corner of the soundstage. His bowels turned to water as they locked eyes. As he read the intentions telegraphed by her expression, Cassi held up a DVD.

“... don’t you think?” Fitzpatrick asked.

Wiley forced his attention back to his host. “I’m sorry, could you repeat the question?”

“Well, it’s good to see that you are human. I was beginning to wonder. I asked if you would be content with the VP slot on the ticket after today. Perhaps you’ll consider challenging Carver for president?”

Cassi waved the DVD behind Fitzpatrick’s shoulder and gave the thumbs-down sign with her other hand—although that arm was in a sling.

Wiley made a split-second decision—not that he had any choice. He refocused on Fitzpatrick. “No, no. I’m not so ambitious. In fact, I informed the president earlier today that I would not consider running for any office at all.”

“Really!” The unflappable Fitzpatrick seemed genuinely shocked.

Cassi nodded but kept waving the damn recording. The message was clear: she wanted more.

Wiley felt an irresistible urge to strangle her but he had to sit there looking affable on the air. He thought of everything he had sacrificed in the course of giving whatever it takes. He thought of Potchak, Drake, Rollins, and Abrams. He thought of a yacht on the Chesapeake, a cabin on Lake Maroo, a clinic in Iran, and a daycare center in Baltimore. He thought of Stuart’s smarmy smile, Cassi’s agonized eyes, and Odi’s brilliant Creamer. He thought of Air Force One, the White House, and the Presidential Seal. He saw his dreams flash brightly before his eyes and he saw his future fade to black. He looked directly at the camera. “Yes. In fact I’ve decided to let this last operation be my crowning achievement. At that same meeting I informed the president that I was retiring from the FBI. This was my last day in the Director’s chair.”

Epilogue

Six weeks later
. Arlington, Virginia

“A
RE
YOU
SURE
this is the right place?” Odi asked the government driver while studying the unfamiliar brownstone.

“Yes sir, this is it. Number twenty-one.”

“What’s here?”

“I don’t know any more than you do, sir,” the driver replied.

Odi slid out of the black Lincoln, pulling his duffel bag behind. The brownstone certainly looked more inviting than the suburban Maryland safe house he had been locked away in for forty days and nights while patiently waiting for the powers that be to decide his fate. But looks could be deceiving. Had the offer been a ploy? He wondered. Were they about to take him out?

Standing there on the elm-lined curb watching the Lincoln disappear, he realized that he was alone outdoors for the first time since throwing Ayden from the Queen Mary’s deck. It felt good. Whatever his fate, he would embrace it.

He closed his eyes and let the late afternoon sun shine down on his face for a minute. For six weeks he had been chomping at the bit, frustrated by the slow spin of bureaucratic wheels. Once everything fell into place, however, things started moving very fast. One minute he was sitting in his cell, the next he was getting an overview of his new assignment. Five minutes after that he was sitting in the back of the limo.

As he reached for the bell to number twenty-one, his eyes fell on the brass plaque beside the door. He sprouted a satisfied smile. Now he understood.

A grandmotherly lady with lively eyes answered his ring. “Good afternoon, Odysseus. My name is Mary. Please come in.”

Mary ushered him into a cozy parlor appointed in yellows and greens. He took a seat in a soft armchair across the coffee table from an attractive woman of his own age. Once Mary disappeared, the woman asked, “Since you’re alone I assume that you’re here to interview the doctor?”

Odi chuckled to himself at that notion. “In a manner of speaking.”

“She’s wonderful. My Stephen was having the worst nightmares and,” she lowered her voice, “wetting the bed. She cured him in just three sessions. I was going to stop coming after that but Stephen threw a tantrum. He actually looks forward to their talks. Can you imagine? A six-year-old looking forward to talks? The first time I brought him here he was screaming murder. I’m Melanie, by the way.” She held out her left hand rather than her right. Odi understood the eccentricity when he saw that her ring finger was bare.

“Odi. I’m glad to hear that you’re so pleased. Actually—”

The thick wooden door at the end of the room flew open and a boy with carrot-colored hair came rushing in, cutting Odi short. As Stephen hugged his mother, Cassi stepped into the doorway. She looked radiant.

Odi excused himself and walked into his sister’s new office. They embraced the moment she closed the door.

“I can’t believe that you left the FBI, Sis, but I’m so glad that you did. You look great.”

“I feel great. Better than I have in years. Better than any time since mom and dad died.”

Odi raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

“My life is about compassion now—rather than hate. But enough about me. How about you? The isolation must have been terrible. I knew that you’d be okay though, being so tough.” She took two steps back and appraised him in full. “You look good, even great.”

“I had the use of a small gym to while away the hours.”

“I was assured that you were being taken care of, but other than that I was kept in the dark. Then the new Director called me personally yesterday to say that you had reached a mutually beneficial settlement. I appreciated the courtesy, but would have preferred the details.”

“Mutually-beneficial, eh?” Odi mused. “I guess that’s right. I can’t say that I’m entirely comfortable with their decisions, but I agree that the country will be best served in the end.”

“You sound dubious.”

“Ayden is getting posthumous blame for my killings. They will release the story of his father’s unfortunate death as motive and try to keep the profile low. Meanwhile, to complete the whitewash, I’m receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom for my deep-cover work—and a new job.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

Odi nodded. “I’ll command a group of high-tech operatives tasked with identifying and counteracting soft spots in homeland security.”

“That’s wonderful Odi. I’m happy for you.”

Cassi motioned him to take a seat and then asked, “What’s happening to your Creamer?”

“That was both my biggest bane and my best bargaining chip. For a while I was worried that they would make me disappear in order to make it disappear. In the end I gather they decided that such an approach would be shortsighted. If I could concoct Creamer, so could someone else. I’m to work with industry experts to design a means to detect and neutralize it. Ayden’s contact in Iran knows that Creamer existed, but he doesn’t have any technical details, so we should have detection equipment in place long before he or anyone else is able to recreate it.

“But enough about me. I didn’t have any access to news while in isolation, and my handlers never answered a single question unless it suited their purposes, so I’m more curious than a boy scout in a brothel. Seeing as how you are doing so well, I guess I’ll start with the big one. What happened to Wiley?”

A shadow crossed Cassi’s face, but it vanished in an instant. “The official word is that he went overseas for an extended vacation—something about visiting Norway and Scotland to track down his roots. I don’t know anything more than that.”

“Do you believe it?”

Cassi shrugged. “I try not to think about him.”

“And Stuart?”

“There’s been little mention of him in the press, and no mention at all of his connection to Wiley. The bottom line is—he drowned. A fisherman found his body. He had two severely broken arms and the autopsy revealed a broken back. The Reedsville Police are assuming that he fell off a cliff onto some rocks and his body washed out into the bay.”

“I get the impression that you know better?”

“Some things are better left unsaid.”

“I see,” Odi said. “So tell me about your new practice. How’s it going? From the looks of things I’d say great.”

“It is. I’d love to tell you more but I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

Cassi blushed. “I have to run, Odi. I have a date.”

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,
 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading
Betrayal
. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would be so kind as to take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere, I would be very grateful.
 

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I know this can be a bit of a pain, so if you do write a review, please email me at [email protected] and I will forward you the unpublished story behind
Betrayal
, and my thoughts on what happens to the characters next. I thought that would be a fun way to say
thank you
.
 

All my best,

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