Alex And Cassidy: Betrayal Part 19

"If Alex was with him..."

"Dylan, come here. Alex would not have been with him, even if she wasn't with us. And, he wanted her to be with us."

"Why?" he asked.

"I guess because he loved Alex, just like you and I do. And, because he liked you very much. And, he knew that Alex loved us just like we love her."

"He did? Like me?"

"Yes, Dylan. He did."

"But what if that bad guy wants to hurt Alex?"

Ca.s.sidy ruffled his hair and pulled his face to meet hers just as her mother reached the doorway. Rose looked on as her daughter tenderly touched her grandson's cheek and she saw the younger woman's eyes soften. "Dylan, has Alex ever broken a promise to you?" He shook his head. Ca.s.sidy smiled. "The truth is sometimes bad things happen, Dylan. Sometimes even to the people we love." Ca.s.sidy's thoughts momentarily turned to her own father. It mattered very little what his shortcomings had been. Losing a parent produced unimaginable pain. And, losing John Merrow had set her thoughts in a new direction. There were things she needed to set right. The fear, her fear, Dylan's fear of losing Alex was real, but Ca.s.sidy understood now more than ever that even if Alex had a desk job; there were never guarantees. Her own father was all the proof she needed of that fact. What Alex did for work was attached to dangers and Ca.s.sidy was certain that the agent tried to shield her and Dylan from that reality as much as she could. It was a reality that the teacher would need to learn to accept and learn to make some peace with for all of them to feel safe. She smiled at her son. "That's why Alex went away. To keep the people she loves safe. And she loves you very much."

"She loves you too."

"Yes," Ca.s.sidy giggled. "I guess she does."

"Mom?" Ca.s.sidy opened her eyes wider, encouraging him to continue. "I don't want Alex to die."

She pulled him to her chest and took a deep breath. "I know, baby. You have to trust Alex, okay? Why would you be thinking about that, Dylan?"

"Cause Alex has a gun."

Ca.s.sidy kissed his head. He had asked a lot of questions about the president before Alex left. He didn't understand everything. He did understand very clearly that a 'bad guy' killed someone he thought of as a friend, and that had happened with a gun. "I know she does, but what did Alex tell you about that?"

"She doesn't want to use it."

"And?" Ca.s.sidy urged.

"It doesn't make her a hero."

"That's right."

"I still think she is a hero," Dylan said proudly.

"So do I, Dylan."

"Mom?"

"Hum?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"What the h.e.l.l would he be doing here?" Brady wondered.

Alex looked out the windshield and shook her head. "I don't know. I don't like it."

"A pier? I mean, Toles; does that make sense to you? Seems like a bad spy movie." Alex clenched her jaw and focused on the pier ahead. "Toles? I thought Fallon said the email on Claire's computer indicated they wanted him framed."

"That's what he said, yeah."

"Does it look that way to you?"

Alex sighed. "I don't know what it looks like, Brady. That is why we are watching."

Brady shook his head. "You think Brackett is with him?"

"Yeah, I do and that's exactly what worries me," Alex said. She pressed on her temple with her thumb and bit her lower lip. "Claire, Claire," she whispered. "What is your game?"

Ian Mitch.e.l.l pulled up alongside a small building that stood on the narrow road to the pier. "Well, Congressman, I wonder if she has a bullet for your back," he said as he loaded his Glock 30 and placed it is his holster. "We'll just see, Sparrow, where you fly to now."

"Here he comes, Toles." Brady gestured out his pa.s.senger side window as the congressman emerged from the cement faade across the long pier. "What the h.e.l.l is he carrying?"

"I don't know. Just keep an eye on O'Brien," she said as she carefully opened the car door.

"Where the h.e.l.l are you going?" he grumbled at her, trying to keep his voice low.

"Just stick with O'Brien, Brady. No matter what, you stick with O'Brien. Understand?"

"Toles," he cautioned.

"Something doesn't feel right here," she said holstering her HK 45.

"I'm coming with you."

"The h.e.l.l you are," she said leaning back into the car. "This is what we do. I saw something over there on the right. I don't think we are alone, Brady."

"I will back you up."

Alex was growing impatient. "Follow O'Brien and Brackett. We can't lose them. I can take care of myself."

"You aren't James Bond, you know," Brady reminded her.

Alex shook her head and chuckled. "No, he didn't speak as many languages...I don't think."

"Toles...seriously...."

"Brady, don't make me sorry I brought you."

"Taylor sent me."

Alex was already moving away from the car and edging herself closer to a large pile of stacked pallets. It seemed her best hope for concealment while she moved closer to O'Brien. Seeing wasn't enough. She needed to hear, to know who was behind all of this and why. John Merrow and Christopher O'Brien were linked to her family. That presented very real dangers for the people she loved. One way or another she was getting to the bottom of it all. "Come out, come out wherever you are," she whispered, sensing another presence nearby.

Ian Mitch.e.l.l walked deliberately toward the tall pole that held a dim light. He had been in these exact situations thousands of times with only one exception; the woman who murdered his best friend was here also. Like all ghosts, Agent Ian Mitch.e.l.l was a master at appearing confident and remaining emotionally distant. His stride gave away no emotion to the man that had begun to tremble just paces away. Mitch.e.l.l would sweep in, sweep away any evidence of his existence, and glide away as quickly as a cloud carried by the wind; seen one minute and invisible the next. "Where is your friend, Congressman?" he mused to himself.

Christopher O'Brien felt his throat go dry and his hands tingle in fear as he watched the approaching figure. No one was supposed to show. Claire had arranged that. "Calm down," he told himself as he desperately tried to tame the beating of his heart. He felt in his pocket, fondling the hard, cold plastic that rested there. He caught his breath as the figure came even with him and he forced his stance erect.

"Congressman, we meet at last," Mitch.e.l.l smiled, extending his hand.

"What in the h.e.l.l? s.h.i.t. Mitch.e.l.l." Brackett retrieved her sidearm and readied herself. If Mitch.e.l.l was here then he likely knew about the meet and its purpose. The question was who had sent him. Brackett shook her head and released a heavy sigh. "Couldn't have been Mercier," she said aloud. "Unless he told you before..." It didn't matter. She needed to get O'Brien out of the area and fast. The question was how to do so without compromising herself in front of Mitch.e.l.l. The redheaded agent stretched her neck and dropped the gun to her side. She skulked along the edge of a cement barrier, just peering over its top. "Just be ready, Congressman," she said as she licked her lips. "It's show time."

Steven Brady heard the car door opening. "Thank G.o.d you came to your senses," he began as he turned to the driver's side. He jumped at the smile that greeted him.

"Agent Brady," the man smiled. "Well, we meet again."

"Meet again?" Brady knew the man and knew him well. He had sorted through dozens of files on this agent. "We have never met, Agent Krause."

"Oh, I forgot. I had the advantage that day."

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" Brady asked apprehensively.

Krause nodded and gestured out the front window. "O'Brien and Brackett are not alone, Brady; look."

"What the..."

"You need to get out of here," Krause ordered.

"I can't. Toles is..."

"I'll take care of Agent Toles. You get to the other side of the pier. If Brackett and O'Brien make it that far; follow them. Go."

Steven Brady was no coward but Jonathan Krause was nothing short of a legend in intelligence circles. He traveled in the upper most echelon. He was an anomaly; known and yet untouchable. "I am supposed to leave Toles with you? I don't think so."

Krause snickered. "You are over your head, Brady. I will get Agent Toles out of here," he said as he began to reopen the door.

"Why would you help Alex?"

Krause winked. "Over your head, Agent. Trust me, if O'Brien and Brackett make it to their car, you'll want to follow. Don't make me tell you again," he said coolly.

Brady swallowed hard and moved into the driver's seat. He watched as the tall CIA agent expertly made his way closer to Agent Toles. "What the h.e.l.l is going on?" he asked himself.

"You're here alone then?" Mitch.e.l.l asked, catching sight of a shadow off to his left.

"Of course."

Ian Mitch.e.l.l smiled. "Relax, Congressman. Were you not expecting me? You look as though you have seen a ghost."

The congressman fidgeted with the case in his hands. "This is...uh, what you came for, I believe."

"Is it now?"

"I'm sorry?" O'Brien asked.

"What's in that case, Congressman. That is what I came for?"

"I was given to understand..."

Mitch.e.l.l laughed as he kept tabs on the shadow that was edging closer. "You were given to understand what exactly, Mr. O'Brien?"

"Well...I...President Strickland made clear that you would..."

"Have you seen another ghost, Congressman? You seem to have gone white again." O'Brien swallowed hard and attempted to steady himself as Mitch.e.l.l turned his attention away. "BOO!" he yelled in the direction of the cement barrier.

Claire Brackett popped up, gun held securely at her side, just concealed by the three foot high barrier. "Ian. What brings you to Corsica?" she fluttered her eyelashes.

"I came at a friend's request. Didn't expect to see you, Claire. Daddy send you to protect the little flower here?"

O'Brien bristled at the statement. "Claire is only..."

"BOO!" Mitch.e.l.l barked at the congressman causing him to leap backward a pace. Brackett tucked the gun in her pocket and kept her hand firmly on it. Deliberately and seductively she walked toward the pair, winking at the congressman along the way and hoping he would understand that as her subtle signal to be ready. "Daddy won't be happy that the sparrow flew so far from her nest," Mitch.e.l.l said.

"Oh....I like to think of myself more like a falcon," she cooed.

"Really? A messenger bird, is that it?"

She allowed a slight sarcastic laugh to escape her as she moved closer. "Strong, beautiful, commanding," she said moving closer to the MI6 agent as the congressman seemed to remain planted in place.

"Strange," Mitch.e.l.l said. "I see you more as a gull. You know; what do they call them? A dump duck?" Claire Brackett seethed at his insult and tightened her grip on the gun in her pocket. A few feet away Christopher O'Brien did the same. She moved only slightly and before she could retrieve her weapon, found Mitch.e.l.l's aimed at her.

"Now, Ian; is that any way to treat family?"

"s.h.i.t!" Alex growled, looking across the short distance that separated her from the threesome. "s.h.i.t," she repeated. The taller man was pointing his weapon at Brackett and O'Brien. She focused her gaze on the congressman. "Christ, Claire you gave that imbecile a gun?" O'Brien was aiming directly toward the unknown figure now. Alex withdrew her sidearm and grasped it firmly with both hands, swiftly moving in a sideways motion toward the unfolding scene. "Dammit," she groaned as she pressed forward. "O'Brien!" she yelled as she moved closer.

POP. POP. POP. POP. Four quick pops lifted Steven Brady from his seat. He looked in the rear view mirror. It was dark. Someone was falling toward the ground. He couldn't make it out. He shifted his gaze out the side window and saw Brackett lifting something. "s.h.i.t. Alex, where are you? DAMMIT." He considered his options for a split second. Jonathan Krause's words were still ringing in his ears. The breath in his lungs fell forcefully out of his mouth in a large rush as his foot connected with the gas pedal. "Better be right, Krause."

"IAN! NO!" a voice bellowed. Alex shifted her gaze slightly to try and see who the voice belonged to.

POP. POP.

"IAN!" the voice called a second time. "TOLES!" POP. POP. Krause fired his weapon toward Brackett as she pulled the congressman to his feet. "STOP!"

It felt like gla.s.s, sharp gla.s.s. Searing pain traveled down one arm and it seemed as if might never stop. Connecting with the ground felt like falling twelve stories. In the distance there was a faint voice. "Christ, Ian; what were you thinking? Get out of here...GO!" It sounded m.u.f.fled somehow; far away. The warmth that Alex felt traveling down her back seconds ago suddenly turned cold. It was eerily familiar and she fought to keep her eyes open when the voice returned. "Toles. Jesus. Just hang on. Hang on." The voice was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it.

"What?" Alex struggled to speak.

"Toles...just relax. I'm gonna get you out of here," the voice promised.

There was noise all around but it was becoming harder to discern. "Brady?"

"Fraid not, Agent. Hang in there."

"I don't," Alex tried to open her eyes. She could see the hint of an outline in the falling lights but everything was swirling now.

She heard a clicking sound and then the voice spoke again. "It's me. I need a favor.....no....no, it's Agent Toles....Calm down...Just calm down and listen to me." There was silence for a moment before the voice continued. "I know that....I can get her there....No, I won't. Just listen. Do you have a way to get to Ca.s.sidy...I sent Brady off......I will....I'll explain later...Just get her there." Another click. "Hold on tight, Agent," was the last thing Alex heard before her world went dark.

m I dreaming? Ca.s.s? Are you there? Ca.s.sidy?" Alex wasn't certain if her words were only in her head or if she was actually speaking them. It was dark. Her head was pounding and she felt cold, incredibly cold. There were voices. She strained to listen. She struggled to remember. "Where the h.e.l.l am I? Who's? Ca.s.sidy....."