Betrayal (29 page)

“You need to settle down, Agent.” There was that voice again. “I’m going to get you to Cassidy, Agent Toles.”

“Cold.”

“Yeah, you’re in shock. Just relax,” he said filling a syringe from a small bottle.

“Thinks I was in New Mexico.”

“I know, Agent. I know more than I should. You’re gonna be fine. I promised.”

Alex could hear the words but it was hard to understand what they meant as the pain began to encompass her body. A sudden sharp pinch and the words from the deep voice began to fade into a gentle tone. It was so familiar and so comforting. The agent began to relax as the voice echoed in her mind. “Cass…”

“Where the hell did they go?” Steven Brady yelled from the front seat of his car. Reaching the far side of the warehouse, there was no evidence of Christopher O’Brien or Claire Brackett. “Shit!” The NSA agent bristled at his own actions.
“What the hell were you thinking, Brady?” he chastised himself. “DAMMIT!” He threw the car into reverse and hit the gas pedal with force. “Alex…I hope you are there.”

“What?” Michael Taylor asked for clarification. “When?” He rested his forehead against a closed fist and exhaled the breath that he had been holding. Slowly, he replaced the phone to his ear. “Brady hasn’t checked in. What do you mean....Are you certain? We’ll need an extraction.....How the hell did…” The NSA director nodded his silent understanding to the voice on the other end of the call. “Yeah, I’m here……You want me to call her...I don’t know if that’s wise. Someone should warn her….. Are you sure? How far out are you?” Taylor shook his head and sighed. “Fine, I’ll work on Brady. Keep me in the loop.”

“What in the hell were you thinking?” Claire Brackett screamed.

“He was pointing a gun at you!”

“Jesus Christ, O’Brien!”

“What was I supposed to do? What are we doing in here anyway?”

Brackett gritted her teeth and groaned. “We’re waiting.”

“For what?” the congressman asked.

“For the smoke to clear, you idiot.”

“Look. Claire…I’m done with this. We…”

“You,” she said as she moved to take a menacing position over him, “are just beginning.”

“I need to get back to….”

“You aren’t going anywhere, Congressman. You’ll be lucky if you leave this pier.”

Light was just beginning to peek through the tiny slits in the blinds as Cassidy rolled over. Dylan was sprawled across the bed and she smiled at the contented expression on his face. She stretched and looked over at the alarm clock and sighed. It was not even 6:00 a.m. yet. Occasionally, right about now, Cassidy would awake to find a tall, sweating agent hovering over her sporting a toothy grin. “One more day,” she said to herself as she planted a soft kiss on the sleeping boy beside her. “Coffee now.”

The teacher reached over and retrieved her cell phone. She smiled as she opened the text message from Alex. “Cassidy. I can’t explain. I know Rose is with you. Someone is on their way to pick you up. Just be ready, please. You’ll understand then. Please, trust me. Pip.” Cassidy froze. This was impossible.

Christopher O’Brien had been prattling on, mumbling for hours about how he needed to get back to Washington. The cement floor was cold, it was damp and he was growing increasingly tired of his surroundings. He was feeling a bit emboldened by the earlier altercation with his ex-wife’s new lover, and a bit gratified as well. His constant chatter, albeit nearly inaudible, was grating on Claire Brackett’s nerves. The congressman stretched his legs out in front of him and rested all of his weight against the wall. He closed his eyes, recalling the episode hours ago. “See what you get,” he sighed as a smirk swept over his face.

“You really are not very bright. Are you?”

“Excuse me?” he asked.

Claire Brackett shook her head. “Krause.”

“What about him?”

“Get up, Christopher,” she demanded.

“Are we finally leaving this hell hole?”

Brackett licked her lips and nodded. “I’m leaving this hell hole.” The congressman looked at her and a new wave of fear
overtook him. She laughed. “If, by hell hole you mean this dank warehouse, yes, we are leaving. Assuming you can shut up long enough to follow what I tell you.”

“And then?” he asked, struggling to lift himself from the floor.

“I have a plan. Just be quiet and wipe that smirk off your face.” He grinned a bit wider. “You think if Toles dies all will be well?” She shook her head. “Either way you went from a nuisance to enemy number one.”

“She’s just an agent.”

“You think so? My father had the President of the United States assassinated; on the basis of a suggestion. He won’t kill Alex Toles. Why do you suppose that is, Congressman?”

“Who knows, Claire?”

“Mm-hum…Well, all I know is that whoever
she
is connected to is powerful enough to worry my father. No one worries my father.”

“No one even knows…”

“Everyone who matters knows we were here or they will within hours. You just keep your mouth shut and do what I say and maybe we will both live long enough to get back to Washington.”

“Mom?” Cassidy gently shook her mother from her sleep.

“Cassie?” Rose blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she pulled herself to a sitting position. Cassidy’s expression frightened the older woman. “Cassie, what is it?’”

“I don’t know,” Cassidy faltered.

“I don’t understand.”

“I got a message from Alex’s phone.”

“What did she say?” Rose asked.

“It wasn’t from her.”

“Cassie, that doesn’t make sense.”

Cassidy could not stop trembling. “No. It doesn’t, but in a way…”

Rose reached out and took the younger woman’s hand. “Cassie, who was it from?”

“An old friend.”

“Of Alex’s?”

“No, of mine. It’s hard to explain. I just know someone is on their way here. Something is wrong. There is no way that…” She stopped as her body began to shake more violently.

“Sweetheart,” Rose pulled her daughter closer. “Alex, she’ll be all right.”

“What if she’s not? Mom? What if she….”

“I don’t believe that, Cassie. You shouldn’t either.”

Cassidy took a deep breath and nodded. “I packed a bag. Can you….”

“I’ll do whatever you need, you know that. But, what makes you think you…”

“I can’t explain it. Pip…if he was with Alex, from what Alex told me…I can’t explain, Mom.”

Rose pursed her lips and sighed. “Okay. I’ll get Dylan up. You do….”

Cassidy rose from her seat on the bed and headed for the door. “All I can do is wait. That’s all I can do.” She left the room with her hand on head. “Alex, is this what it was like for you?” Suddenly, Cassidy realized what it must’ve been like for the agent when she realized that Carl Fisher had managed to capture Cassidy. The difference was that Alex moved heaven and earth to reach her. Alex knew what calls to make, where to go; Cassidy was helpless to do anything but wait. “Alex,” she pleaded.

“Where am I?” the agent asked, sensing familiar surroundings.

“You’re in good hands, Agent Toles.”

“Where’s Brady?” she asked, still struggling to pry her eyelids open.

“Still in France, Agent.”

“What do you mean?” Alex tried to move and immediately fell back.

“I need you to listen to me, Agent. Don’t try to open your eyes. Just listen to me.”