Intersection (37 page)

“Well, Agent, Federal life is treating you well I see, particularly if this is your partner,” Ferro complimented.

Alex smiled which surprised her. Generally she did not like professional compliments that alluded to her gender. Detective Ferro was charming and his manner was not chauvinistic, but seemed genuine. Fallon stumbled a bit, worried
what his partner’s reaction might be. “Uhh… yeah, this is my partner, Alex Toles.”

“Detective,” Alex smiled. “Thank you for meeting us.”

“No…Happy to help a friend. So, what is it you feds need from this beat boy?” He kidded, looking directly at Alex. That told the agent what she needed to know. He had that sixth sense; the ability to read people and he knew Alex held the information. Alex pushed a file toward him across the table. He opened it and studied it, taking a brief moment to thumb through each page. Occasionally he sighed and rubbed his chin, his eyes remaining intense through every glance. After a short while he closed the folder and looked at the pair across from him. “Psycho.” Alex nodded and raised her eyebrows in agreement of his assessment. “So…what do you need?”

Alex pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. He looked at her probing her thoughts with his eyes. She gestured to him to open it. He pulled out several letters and photos. “Originals?” She nodded.

“He’s got to have some place nearby,” she said. “Detective, Carl Fisher is a former CIA agent. He’s the real deal, crazy, incredibly intelligent and beyond sophisticated when it comes to training.”

The detective nodded his understanding. “You want me to see what we can gather locally? See if we can find where he might be? I can do that, but New Rochelle is not my town, Agent.”

Alex poked at her cheek with her tongue and looked at Brian Fallon. There was one thing she had not told any of them yet. “Harlem,” she said. Agent Fallon looked at her with great curiosity and the detective stared forward eyeing her carefully. “The first pictures, they were outside the school. He’s near Cassidy’s school,” she gestured to one of the letters.

The detective held it over his head to the light and snickered at her discovery. Most people would never have seen what
Alex did. It was so faint he barely saw it. “They didn’t find this in the lab, did they?” He laughed. She shook her head.

“Find what?” Fallon demanded.

“Your partner here should be a beat cop,” Ferro mused. “She knows the old fashioned ways, been in the field at some point I’d say.” Alex acknowledged his appraisal of her. Fallon still did not follow. “Well, Fallon, there is just a tiny impression on the far left corner… ‘lem’…that’s it…just ‘lem’…but it might tell the story,” Detective Ferro smiled.

“How the hell?” Fallon said.

Alex shook her head. “Something I picked up in the field. You just learn all the technology in the world isn’t always as good as a bright light and a strong pair of eyes, Fallon. You’ be surprised what analysts and forensics miss with their case loads.” The detective nodded his respect. Alex had gone over every letter a least a thousand times in the last couple of weeks. She never dismissed anything. And, she had learned that sometimes, many times, local law enforcement was more tenacious than her federal compatriots. They didn’t sit at computers. She respected that.

“Okay,” Pete Ferro said. “I’ll get on it.”

The female agent smiled. “Detective?” He looked at her as he was rising to leave. She scrawled out a number on a napkin. “Use this number, it’s…” The detective understood. Former CIA was all he needed to know; whatever his friend and his partner were into they needed to be off the grid. Pete Ferro started to leave and Alex stopped him again. “Last thing. It may or may not come to pass,” he looked at her curiously. “You may hear some things about me.” Alex was anticipating a press leak on Cassidy. She hadn’t told her lover her fear, but it made sense. In some ways Christopher O’Brien would do himself the most harm by going to the press, if keeping their relationship quiet was his goal, but he was imprudent and reactionary and Alex fully expected a leak to come from him.

“What is it agent?”

“The congressman’s ex-wife,” she began.

Pete Ferro smiled. Cassidy was a popular figure around the city, far more popular than her ex-husband. Alex had witnessed that firsthand when people would approach her at the grocery store or at George’s, just wanting to talk to the pretty and affable school teacher. “She’s quite the lady,” he offered.

Alex couldn’t help but get a twinkle in her eye. “I agree,” she said with a tilt of her head.

The detective chuckled. “Can’t say as I saw that coming,” he winked. “But, you’re a lucky woman, Agent. You’ll break an awful lot of hearts with that one.” Alex chuckled at his good natured response. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll find him. I know how to reach you.” Alex felt much better. Pete Ferro clearly could read all of her signals and in between the lines.

“Fallon?” Alex called across to her partner,

“Yeah?” He answered as he waved his friend goodbye.

“Promise me…whatever happens…well…just keep her safe.”

“Whatever it takes,” was his simple answer.

“Cassie, what’s wrong?” The woman’s mother asked. The school teacher sighed as she took a seat on the couch, folding her legs beneath her. Rose McCollum was certain her daughter was on the verge of tears. “Did something happen with you and Alex?”

Cassidy couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as she felt tears begin to sting her eyes. “Not like you are thinking, no. Chris…He called. He found out.”

Rose to a deep breath and nodded. “Are you worried about Alex?”

“She’s probably going to be reprimanded and removed from the case.”

“You don’t know that for certain, Cass….”

The small blonde woman looked across to her mother with assuredness. “I do know. I know him.”

Cassidy’s mother moved to her daughter’s side. “Cassie, Alex loves you.”

The teacher’s emotions were in overdrive. “I know…but…”

“But what?”

“This could ruin her career, Mom, and it’s my fault.” The small blonde woman couldn’t hold back any longer and her tears broke forth.

“Cassie…” Rose rubbed her daughter’s back.

“The worst part, Mom? I almost don’t care about her career. What if she doesn’t come back? What if she leaves and she ends up hating me for it? God. How selfish can I be? I should just let her go; who needs all this?”

The older woman bit her lip to contain the smile that seemed determined to make its presence known. She had seen her daughter and the agent, the way that they looked at one another. She was as certain as she had ever been about anything that no job and no person would keep Alex Toles from her daughter for long. But, she could feel her daughter’s fear and pain. “Listen to me, Cassidy, Alex loves you. I don’t think anything will change that, not from what I have seen.” Cassidy’s tears were turning to sobs as she collapsed into her mother. She couldn’t speak. The thought of losing Alex was far more frightening than Carl Fisher had ever been. She didn’t want the agent to know how insecure she was feeling or how guilty. Cassidy was not accustomed to breaking down, but at the moment all she wanted was to cry and as she did she began to think that it might never stop.

Carl Fisher dragged the large man to the corner of the room. The resemblance was uncanny. Fisher stood over his prey, admiring him. He stroked his own face and his eyes took on a slight glow. He lifted the weight into the chair and considered the form before him again as his eyes began
to grow a shade darker. He made his way into the bedroom and retrieved the shotgun, carrying it at his side to the other room. There were a few more last details he needed to complete. He placed a picture carefully in the lap that sat before him, but not before examining it closely. He inspected the neatly polished finger tips of the man, admiring his handiwork. Three steps back, perhaps too far, he thought. He stepped eye to eye with his victim. Carefully he moved back, just a quarter of a pace. He put the man’s hands around the barrel and…..

“No, I understand…Thanks, Brady….yeah… I got it….what about that French company? Ever heard of them? …You think the congressman knows?...…. No, right now I’m more worried about Fisher….I agree…Brackett might be more involved ….. No, he knows…..No, I’m sure….Just waiting really….I appreciate that…I don’t want to call Taylor….better if you and I stay in contact. Okay. I’ll let you know when it goes down.” Alex hung up the small flip phone and took a deep breath.

“What was that about?” Agent Fallon asked.

“That was my contact at the NSA. No meeting today; he’s been digging into Krause and Tate and Brackett. Apparently, Brackett’s father was at the Pentagon for years. He was a Rear Admiral. Not sure what he did but he was very connected until his formal retirement two years ago, AND he was connected to Jon Krause. Brady will keep digging. There are still bigger fish to fry here. Everything he’s found on Fisher seems to match what we already know. We need to find him, sooner than later.”

“Toles,” Fallon began,” maybe the letter thing is over and the ...Well, maybe the spook is spooked.”

“Spooks don’t get spooked, Fallon. That’s why they are called spooks.”

“But he’s not CIA anymore.”

“No and that’s what scares me. He has all that training and no structure…. And he’s obsessed. It’s like starting a fire with gasoline.”

Fallon looked at his partner. “It’s more than that. I can see it on your face.”

Alex wasn’t certain how to answer so she did so bluntly. “I said no structure. I never said there was no one else involved. Our involvement is a liability. Now people, people who are connected to whatever is going on here, know about Cassidy and me. I’m just worried who is going to light the match.”

“Toles…you think he’s gonna’ make a move?”

“Let’s just say I hope your friend Ferro finds something fast. That, or someone views Fisher as the greater liability.” Alex paused and looked at the agent seated across from her. “Fallon, whatever happens, if you need to walk away from this; I will understand.”

“What are you talking about?”

Years of training and the ability to distance her emotions kicked in. She had lost friends before and understood the risks. She would never let that happen to the woman that she loved. Alex was determined to get to the bottom of things eventually, but nothing mattered more than the teacher’s welfare. “I mean that I will do anything to keep Cass safe. Anything.”