Fires of Autumn (10 page)

“Special
Agent Sheridan?” she asked. “Can I get you some coffee?”

Colt
already had a paper cup of coffee-house coffee by his left hand. The computer
monitor had apparently blocked her view of it, so he nodded.

“Thanks,”
he said.  “Just a little creamer.”

Casey
flashed him a sweet smile and turned back for the coffee service.  When her
back was turned, he quickly dumped his coffee into the trash and covered it up
with a few pieces of paper. 

Colt
watched her shapely backside as she poured him a cup of coffee. He happened to
glance at Senator Dane, standing by the edge of her desk, and noticed that he
wasn’t the only one watching Casey.  Senator Dane was zeroed in on her as
well.  Colt eyed the man he’d heard about but never met, realizing he didn’t
like the way he was looking at Casey. He couldn’t put his finger on it but he
knew, instinctively, that he didn’t like it one bit.

Oblivious
to the pair of men checking out the shape of her ass, Casey turned around with
a full cup of coffee and went into Colt’s office, extending the cup.  He took
it from her, their fingers brushing. 

“Thanks,
angel,” he said softly.

He sipped
the coffee and set it down, pretending to busy himself with his computer. The
truth was that he didn’t want to look at her because he didn’t want to see the
expression on her face.  He’d called her by a pet name because he’d wanted to,
like it had just slipped out when the reality was that it hadn’t. It was
planned. He didn’t look at her because he didn’t want to see a negative
reaction on her features.  He wanted to keep doing it until she either told him
to stop or told him that she liked it. 

Casey
watched the man go back to work, slipping from his office and going back to her
desk. The term of endearment hadn’t gone unnoticed by her. 
Angel
. Maybe
he called all the girls that, but somehow given his straight demeanor and somewhat
harsh reputation, she didn’t think so. It was a strange thing indeed, but not
unwelcome. She kind of liked it but she knew that if anyone else had heard it,
it might be construed as sexual harassment.  She was sure Sheridan knew the
same thing, which made the comment all the more puzzling. 

Sheridan
went back to work and Dane sat down on Casey’s couch to do a few things on his
smart phone before heading out. Casey kept busy, confused yet flattered by
Sheridan’s comment and unaware of Dane’s discreet glances in her direction. She
buzzed the President when it was time to depart and Russ soon emerged from his
office with his aides in tow. 

The
Presidential limousine was waiting in front of the North portico as Colt,
Peter, the young agent who had escorted Casey to her car on Friday night,
Steven Case, and a few other agents began to move with the President outside. 
There were at least twelve to fifteen of them on any given movement, plus more
following in chase cars.  Casey was never really sure how many there were
because they seemed to be everywhere.  Colt and Peter led the way out of the
office, taking the group from the Casey’s office out through the lobby of the
west wing where the big black ‘beast’, or Talbot’s limousine, was already
waiting.

The day
was blustery and clear, dead leaves kicking across the driveway as Colt opened
the passenger door for the President.  Russ climbed in, followed by Barbara,
Jason, Senator Dane, and finally Casey.  Her arms were full of items, like a
pack horse, and Colt watched her deftly juggle the mess as she climbed in
last.  He resisted the urge to offer to help her; that wasn’t his job. Closing
the door on the limousine, he signaled the other agents in the chase cars
behind them, climbed into the front seat next to the limo driver, and off they
went.

Pulling
out onto Pennsylvania Avenue, they took 15
^th
Street down to
Constitution Avenue eastbound.  There were helicopters in the air over head and
the D.C. police had the intersections blocked off for the Presidential
motorcade. The people of Washington D.C. took such things in stride because it
happened all of the time, so the traffic the President created didn’t make too
much difference.  Once he was through the intersections, they were re-opened
and people went on with their lives.

Casey sat
with her back to the front passenger seat of the limousine, directly across
from Russ. She handed him his folio of papers, which he dutifully scanned.  He
seemed to be talking more than he was reading, which was normal for him.  Casey
waited until he was finished with the folia exchanging it for the President’s
IPad, which had his encrypted email on it, and Russ rifled through a few emails
while he chatted with Senator Dane.

As the
President went through emails and exchanged opinions on the strength of
different teams in the National Football League, Casey turned her attention out
of the window.  The October landscape zinged past, the land still green even
though the chill had been very strong over the past few weeks. She found
herself thinking about Sheridan, seated behind her with a window and car
bulkhead separating them, thinking once again about their Friday night together
and their pleasant exchange this morning.

It wasn’t
realistic to think about him and she knew it. She’d known it from the start.  
She didn’t know anything about the man personally, but what she did know was
that office romances were discouraged. Not that she was hoping for anything
with him, but he was certainly her type. The whole ‘Anti-Christ’ reputation
notwithstanding, she found Colt Sheridan to be a charming and gorgeous man.

She heard
rumor about how the ‘Anti-Christ’ reputation got started, how Sheridan had
worked for Clinton, Bush and Obama and how the man was always the first one on
the line, shoving back crowds or restraining anyone who tried to get too close
to the President. He scared the crap out of people and rightfully so; he was at
least five or six inches over six feet with a big, muscular body. He was the
secret service’s muscle. He had been Obama’s Special Agent in Charge the last
two years of the man’s term and now Sheridan found himself heading up Talbot’s
forces. He was still very intimidating just by the way he carried himself, but
she wasn’t afraid of him.  In fact, she rather liked him. 

Russ
finished with his email and handed her back the IPad, distracting her from her
thoughts.  As Casey took the IPad, she noticed that Senator Dane was watching
her.  She smiled pleasantly at the man before packing away the electronic
device.  When Talbot’s cell phone rang, she answered it. Being that it was Mrs.
Talbot, she handed the phone to Russ and listened to him calm his wife down
because the family cat had escaped the confines of the White House and they
were trying to track the feline down. Over next to Russ, Senator Dane snorted
at the conversation, catching Casey’s attention.  When she grinned at him,
because it truly was a hilarious conversation, he winked at her.

It was a
rather bolt gesture and Casey’s genuine smile turned rather confused.  She
quickly turned her attention back to the window, watching the landscape go by
and pushing aside the senator’s rather saucy wink.  She didn’t even want to
think about it so she pulled out the other IPad and busied herself with emails
and other arrangements for the rest of the President’s day.   She didn’t look
at Senator Dane for the rest of the ride.

GreenTopia
was in an old renovated building by RFK Stadium.  There was press and police all
over the place as the Presidential limousine pulled up to the front of the
building and Colt jumped out of the front seat, making sure his agents were in
position before moving to open the car door.  When he did, Russ emerged to a
thunderous applause from the crowd and he waved, flashing the winning smile
that had helped garner him an election.  Barbara and Jason emerged after him,
and then Senator Dane.  Colt had already moved off with the President so Peter
was left holding the door open for Casey.  She emerged with one IPad and one
cell phone, and followed the President’s entourage inside.

It was the
typical tour.  Russ was shown great schematics of green projects in the giant
two-storied lobby and then there was a host of photo opportunities.  Two major
news stations were in attendance and the cameras were rolling as Russ studied
the schematics with interest and shook a few hands. 

Casey
stood back, watching the events unfold and catching a glimpse of Colt as he
coordinated the security around the President.  She found herself watching him
more than anything else, the broad stretch of his shoulders and the handsome
lines of his face.  He was at least a half-head taller than most of the people
there so he wasn’t hard to miss.  His gaze, his focus, never left the
President. He was a man on a mission.

Russ was
supposed to have lunch at Washington Hilton with a group of women’s rights
advocates so Casey kept a close eye on the clock. Russ was deep in conversation
with the CEO of GreenTopia when Casey’s cell phone went off.  As she went to
answer, she noticed that Jason’s cell phone had gone off as well. He just
happened to be standing a few feet from her and she saw him answer it.  As they
both answered their cell phones, Colt put his hand to his hear, listening to
information being fed to him from the secret service coordinator in one of the
chase cars.  Casey didn’t pay much attention to the simultaneous rings as she
answered her phone.

“Casey,”
she heard Maggie’s voice on the other end. “The Washington Hilton’s on
lockdown.  Someone called in a bomb threat.  Secret Service should be moving
Russ back to the White House immediately and I….”

Casey
swung around, phone still to her ear, to see Colt, Peter and the rest of the
detail already very quickly herding the President towards the entrance. 
Everything was moving in fast motion. 

“They’re
already moving him,” she said, interrupting her.  “I’ll call you back in the
car.”

She hung
up the phone and packed it away, moving for the main entry but realizing she
was blocked by a substantial crowd, including news crews.  She tried to push
her way through, but there were just too many people.  By the time she got to
the front, the Presidential limousine and all of the chase vehicles, including
the police, were tearing off across the parking lot.

Casey
stood there, watching her ride disappear as the crowd around her disbursed.

***

“I get
that you were trying to get me to safety,” Russ was furious as he faced off
against Colt. “But in doing so, you left half of my people behind. What about
them?”

“Your
aides aren’t my concern, Mr. President,” Colt replied steadily. “My job is to
protect you and that was exactly what I was doing.”

Russ
wasn’t satisfied in the least. “Casey and Barbara had to take a taxi back
here,” he spat. “Your job is to protect my office, and that means everyone.”

“I have to
disagree, Mr. President,” Colt’s boss, Mark Miller, was the head of the
Presidential Protection Division.   A trim, bald man, he had run over to the
White House from his office when Peter Harrios had called to let him know that
Colt was taking some serious heat from the GreenTopia incident.  “The American
people pay us to protect you, not your staff.  I thought you understood that,
sir.”

Russ knew
that, fundamentally. But he was still irate. “So you just leave them to fend
for themselves in a crisis situation?” he wanted to know. “Look what happened
to Jim Brady during the Reagan assassination attempt. I don’t want one of my
aides face-down on the concrete with a bullet wound in the forehead.”

“Jim
Brady’s injury had nothing to do with the any perceived lack of Secret Service
protection,” Mark said quietly. “Although I understand your point, I have
reviewed Special Agent Sheridan’s actions today and have found nothing wrong
with them. He did what he was supposed to do.”

Casey had
to shut the door to the Oval Office; she didn’t want anyone else hearing Colt
get reamed for how he handled the evacuation from GreenTopia. Mark was at least
defending the man, but she felt badly for Colt getting in trouble his first few
days on the job.   Picking up the remote on her desk, she turned up the volume
so no one could hear the raised voices.

“So,”
Chris was seated at his desk next to Casey’s, trying to rearrange the
President’s schedule for the next couple of days. “Was it as bad as the
President thinks it was?”

Casey
shook her head, perched on the edge of her desk as she watched the news about
the bomb threat at the Washington Hilton. “Of course not,” she replied. “I took
a taxi back. Big deal. I’m honestly not sure what Russ is so worked up about.
Special Agent Sheridan certainly doesn’t deserve to get his ass kicked like
that.”

Chris just
wriggled his eyebrows and continued typing.  Casey sat on the edge of her desk
for awhile before moving back to her seat and going through some emails.  The
Oval Office had grown oddly quiet and as she prepared an invitation for a
private dinner with the President and some old friends during next week’s trip
to New Mexico, the door to the office suddenly opened and Mark Miller
appeared.  He smiled pleasantly at Casey as he walked through her office,
followed by Special Agent Sheridan, who went right to his desk.  Russ followed
shortly, hands in his pockets as he approached Casey’s desk.