Conspiracy (Alex and Cassidy Book 4)

by Nancy Ann Healy

  “And, this is the man Claire is chasing?” Krause asked.

  Edmond shook his head. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose so.”

  “You don’t think he exists,” Krause asked skeptically.

  “That depends on what you mean,” Callier answered. He saw Krause’s jaw tighten. “Legends come from somewhere, Jonathan. Someone creates them whether intentionally or not.”

  “Edmond…”

  Callier shook his head and made his way to pour himself another drink of scotch.

  “Edmond,” Krause urged his old mentor.

  Callier swished the scotch in his glass and took a long pull from the glass, savoring the sting on his lips and the burn in his throat. “I think that the ghost was just that for many years. Until about a year ago,” Callier said.

  Krause suppressed a rising tide of emotion. He nodded, understanding instinctively the suggestion that Callier was making. “He’s dead, Edmond.”

  Callier smiled sadly. “Perhaps. Perhaps not,”

  “What are you two talking about?” Eleana interrupted.

  “You think he is Sphinx,” Krause surmised.

  “Indeed,” Callier replied. “Not everyone remained dedicated to that pact. There is only one man I know who was more committed than he and I, Jonathan. And, that man is long dead.”

  Krause’s pupils narrowed to pinholes. He shook his head in disbelief.

  “Jonathan, ton père (Jonathan, your father),” Edmond began.

  “My father is dead. Both of them,” Krause answered harshly. Eleana rose and came to Krause’s side. She placed her hand firmly against his lower back to steady him.

  “Perhaps,” Edmond said. “There is only one way to know that for certain. Nicolaus would have moved the heavens for his…”

  “Enough,” Krause stopped Edmond’s exposition. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know that, Jonathan. Follow the legend and perhaps you will discover the ghost,” he suggested. He crossed the room to the young pair before him and shook his head. “So much you have yet to understand. So much you have yet to accept. Sometimes it is better to let the ghosts lie in the past, my children. You keep looking, you will always find something. The question is, do you truly want to find it? Let it go,” Callier pleaded quietly.

  “I can’t,” Krause confessed.

  Callier nodded his understanding. “ C'est faux, ce qu'ils dissent—que la vérité vous rendra libres? Parfois, elle vous tiendras en otage. (It is not true, what they say—that the truth will set you free? Sometimes, it only holds you hostage),” the older man advised. “Faites attention à ce que vous cherchez. (Be careful what you seek),” he said. Callier kissed Eleana’s cheek, turned and handed Krause an envelope. “Soyez certain que vous êtes prêt à affronter le passé avant que vous ressuscitez les morts. (Be certain you are ready to face the past before you raise the dead),” Callier advised. He looked at Jonathan Krause warily. With a nod of respect, the older man slipped quietly from the room.

  “Jonathan?” Eleana called for his attention. Krause managed a contrite smile and opened the envelope Callier had passed him. “Jonathan,” Eleana repeated.

  “Get some rest,” Krause suggested to her. “We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow.”

  ***

  Alex sat facing Dylan as he searched through model parts that were spread across the floor. He had opted for a model airplane. Dylan had been markedly quiet for quite some time. She watched him curiously as he diligently worked to put it together with minimal assistance every now and again.

  “Alex?” Dylan looked up from his project to meet Alex’s eyes.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you miss your dad?” he asked.

  Alex bit her lower lip. Dylan looked back at the half constructed model on the floor. “Sure, I do,” she admitted honestly.

  “Mom misses her dad too,” he said a bit sadly.

  “She does,” Alex agreed. She regarded Dylan closely as he snapped a small piece into place. She could tell his mind was working on something more than the puzzle of a model plane. She wasn’t certain what he was trying to piece together. “Speed?”

  Dylan kept his focus on his hands. “Did you ever think you were adopted?”

  Alex sucked in a ragged breath. She and Cassidy expected that her formal adoption of Dylan would be granted in a few weeks. She wondered if he was worried, but decided to play along with his line of questioning for the moment. She chuckled a bit. “A few times,” she confessed. “Why do you ask?” she wondered. Dylan shrugged. “Speed?”

  “I will be adopted,” he said.

  “That’s true, Dylan. Does that bother you?” Alex asked. Dylan shrugged. Alex’s heart sank. “Dylan, I don’t have to adopt you. We can stop…” Dylan looked up at Alex with tears in his eyes. Alex immediately pulled him into her lap. Generally, he had begun to shy away from this type of affection. Now, he accepted it gratefully. “What’s wrong, Speed?”

  “I want you to be my dad. You can’t be. You can’t be.”

  Alex closed her eyes and held Dylan close. “No, but I can still be your parent.”

  “But, not really,” he cried in her arms.

  “What? Of course, really,” she assured him. “Dylan?”

  “Why couldn’t you be?” he cried.

  “Dylan…”

  “Kenzie is yours. I’m nobody’s.”

  Alex fought back her tears. “That’s not true, Speed. That is not true. I love you every bit as much as I love Mackenzie. Don’t you know that?”

  “It’s not the same,” he whispered.

  Alex let out a long breath and placed Dylan in front of her. “Dylan, I want you to listen to me, okay?” Alex said. He nodded. “I wish every day that I had been there to see you be born. I wish I had seen you throw your peas. I even wish I had been there to change your diapers,” she said with a grin. Dylan smirked slightly. “The thing is, Speed…I know this is hard to understand, if I had been around then, you wouldn’t be you. You’d be some other Dylan. I love this Dylan. I don’t want any other Dylan to be my son,” she said honestly. “That doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could have been there, Speed. I do.”

  “Alex?” Dylan asked shyly.

  “Yeah, Speed?”

  “Can….”

  “What is it?” she asked him.

  Dylan shrugged. “You’re Kenzie’s momma,” he said.

  “Yeah. But, I’ll bet she won’t always want to call me that,” Alex chuckled.

  “Then what will you be? I mean if Mom is Kenzie’s mom?” he asked.

  Alex pondered the question for a moment. “I don’t know,” she told him.

  “Kenzie won’t call you Alex,” he murmured.

  Alex sighed, suddenly understanding what was driving Dylan’s insecurities. “No,” she said. Not if she wants to live to adulthood. “I don’t know what she will call me…Maybe Ma, maybe she’ll call me Mom too.”

  Dylan kept his eyes on the floor. “Can you…I mean…Can I…”

  “Can you what, Dylan?” Alex asked.

  “Can I call you that?” he asked timidly. “I mean, just when we are alone or whatever.”

  Alex quickly wiped a tear from her eye. “Anytime you want,” Alex said honestly. Dylan looked up and Alex wiped a tear from his cheek. She could see the blush of embarrassment and insecurity creeping up his neck. “Speed…it’s okay,” she said. “You can always tell me anything, okay? Anything at all,” she told him as another tear cascaded over her cheek. Dylan collapsed against her as he used to when she had first met him. Alex closed her eyes and savored the moment. It was a moment she was positive would not be often repeated in the future. She couldn’t help but think about her father, about Cassidy’s father, about Dylan’s father. She could tell that Dylan was quickly falling asleep. It had been a busy day already, and an emotional one. She kissed the top of his head and rocked him gently. “I love you, Speed—more than you will ever understand.”

  Chapter Four

  “Un
clear. Movement in Ukraine. Movement in London and Paris as well. Los Angeles and New York have been mentioned. I suspect it will begin in earnest abroad before we see it directly. ”

  “Are you certain?” McCollum asked through the phone line.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Jane Merrow answered.

  “This is worse than we had anticipated,” he said. “They’ll be moving soon.”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “And Jonathan?” he inquired.

  Jane sighed heavily. “I imagine he is speaking to Alex,” she said.

  “Mmm.”

  “Jim,” she called to him over the line. “I need Alex here.”

  “I agree,” he replied. “What made Strickland call?”

  “This is not a legacy any president wants,” she said frankly. “It may not be his conscience, it certainly is his common sense. Where do you think they will strike first?” she asked.

  “Hard to say. London? Maybe even Paris,” he said without hesitation. “They are not afraid. Wherever it is, it will pave the way.”

  “The Cesium,” Jane surmised. “And then?”

  “I think you can guess,” McCollum said. “They will be looking for assets to deploy. We both know where that will lead them.”

  “MyoGen.”

  “Yes, and Carecom. They will try to tie Alexis’s hands.”

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “Anderson,” he replied.

  Jane let out a low groan. “You want to bait Claire? That is a wild card.”

  “Fifty-fifty,” McCollum said.

  “What about O’Brien?” she asked.

  “Time for a heart to heart—face to face,” he said.

  “You honestly think he knows more?” Jane asked skeptically.

  “Without question.”

  “All right,” she agreed. “I can’t keep Jonathan at bay long.”

  “Don’t keep him at bay at all,” McCollum replied.

  “You want me to lead him there?” Jane clarified.

  “The sooner, the better.”

  “Jim…You think they will hit Carecom this soon?”

  McCollum made no response. “Not just Carecom. And, yes, it’s time,” he said. “In fact, it’s overdue.”

  “Edmond?”

  “Leave him as he is,” McCollum responded. “He’s played his role—better than the rest of us,” McCollum said. “This is not his war.”

  “He won’t see it that way,” Jane said.

  McCollum chuckled. “No, I don’t imagine he will,” he said. “I owe him this much. One of us should be able to face our children as an honest man,” he said.

  Jane nodded on the other line, silence hovering for a moment. “I’ll expect you.”

  “No. I have other business first.”

  “Jim….”

  “I’ll see you soon enough,” he said as he disconnected the call.

  Jane Merrow looked at the phone in her hands and sighed. “I hope we are wrong.”

  ***

  Cassidy entered the bedroom after tending to Mackenzie to find Alex sitting on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands. Alex had just returned home after receiving a call late in the afternoon. “Alex?” Alex looked up slowly with a weary smile. “What is it?” Cassidy asked.

  Alex held out her hand to Cassidy. Cassidy crossed the short distance and Alex wrapped her arms around her wife’s waist, collapsing her head against Cassidy’s stomach. Alex held on tightly and inhaled deeply, allowing Cassidy’s hold to calm her as only Cassidy could.

  “Alex?” Cassidy called again with growing concern. Alex finally looked up and smiled at her wife. Cassidy returned the loving expression. “Tell me,” Cassidy urged gently.

  Alex merely smiled. She reached up and touched Cassidy’s cheek. “I love you,” she said.

  “I know,” Cassidy replied. She took the opportunity to sit on Alex’s lap. Cassidy searched Alex’s eyes for some clue as to what was traveling through her mind. “Do you want to talk about it?” Cassidy asked.

  Alex closed her eyes and nodded. “Jonathan called,” she said.

  “That’s why you stepped out earlier,” Cassidy surmised.

  Alex had left abruptly, explaining that there was something that needed to be addressed at Carecom. She had apologized profusely to Dylan for having to abandon their taco night. Cassidy had assumed that it had something to do with the MyoGen merger that had been plaguing Alex’s time and concerns for weeks. Alex had been gone for nearly six hours before she returned. Cassidy had chalked up the lengthy absence to Alex’s need to address details. A call from Jonathan Krause likely meant something else needed to be discussed—something that required security.

  “You went to Natick?” Cassidy guessed. The Carecom office in Natick possessed a secure room. Cassidy had never seen it, but Alex had explained that it was one of the main reasons she would never venture to close that office. “Are you leaving?” Cassidy asked. Alex shook her head. “Alex?”

  “I can’t leave right now,” Alex said. Cassidy was puzzled. Alex looked at her and shook her head again.

  “Alex?”

  Alex sighed. She pulled Cassidy down again and kissed her reverently. Cassidy pulled back slightly to regard her wife. Alex tucked Cassidy’s hair behind her ear and smiled genuinely. “Right now, I just want you.”

  “You have me, Alex.”

  Alex smiled and pulled Cassidy down to her. “I know,” she said as she repositioned them on the large bed, Cassidy now beneath her.

  Cassidy had grown to understand Alex. Inevitably, Alex confided her concerns, her fears, and her dreams to Cassidy. They had promised each other long ago that there would be no secrets between them. Neither would ever break that promise. There were times, and Cassidy understood this, that Alex needed to cross an emotional bridge first. She needed to feel Cassidy, to connect in a way that defied words. Cassidy looked up at Alex knowingly. This was a familiar dance—a dance that Cassidy prayed they would never grow tired of.

  Alex’s lips met Cassidy’s softly. Cassidy’s lips parted and invited Alex in. Alex held herself just above Cassidy, their bodies pressing together gently. Their kiss continued, searching and speaking all at once. Alex felt Cassidy’s hands moved tenderly over her back, communicating both a growing need and a deep understanding of what coursed between them. She pulled back slightly and began to lay a trail of kisses over Cassidy’s throat, lingering slightly whenever Cassidy’s breath would hitch in response.

  Cassidy closed her eyes and held onto Alex as Alex’s hands deliberately addressed the buttons of her blouse. She could feel Alex’s eyes upon her as Alex opened the blouse and her fingertips brushed faintly across the swell of Cassidy’s breasts. Familiar and completely new all at once, making love with Alex was always that way. It never ceased to amaze Cassidy, the way Alex could convey so much with a tender caress. Cassidy opened her eyes as Alex’s kisses fell like soft raindrops over her skin, sending shivers up her spine. She reached out and touched Alex’s cheek. Cassidy’s eyes met Alex’s in silent understanding. No words. Some declarations and promises went beyond words, needing to be felt rather than heard. Cassidy let her head fall back and submitted to Alex’s touch willingly and gratefully.

  Alex was lost in the woman beneath her. She marveled at Cassidy in the simplest of moments. Watching Cassidy feed Mackenzie, talking with Dylan, when Cassidy was cooking dinner, or even brushing her teeth—moments that people often took for granted, Alex considered the most breathtaking in life. She looked at Cassidy and smiled earnestly. “Tu es ma vie (You are my life),” Alex whispered before continuing her loving exploration of Cassidy’s body.

  Cassidy sighed deeply and tugged at her bottom lip when Alex’s hands took hold of her jeans and began lowering them. Alex’s hands held Cassidy’s hips as she lowered her lips to taste Cassidy’s skin, lightly bathing Cassidy’s stomach in a flurry of kisses. Alex lifted herself higher and teased a taut nipple, soliciting a short gasp followed by a pleading mo
an from Cassidy. Alex glanced up and lost her breath at the expression on Cassidy’s face. While she craved Cassidy’s touch, nothing set Alex ablaze the way making love to Cassidy could. It had been that way from the first time they had made love, and Alex had no doubt that it would remain that way until death one day parted them.

  “Alex,” Cassidy called to her wife breathlessly.

  Alex lifted herself higher yet again and placed a delicate kiss on Cassidy’s lips. “You are everything, Cass,” she whispered as tears began to bathe her cheeks.

  Cassidy took Alex’s face in her hands and caressed Alex’s cheeks with her thumbs. She wiped away a falling tear that had begun to trail down Alex’s face and smiled. “Show me.”

  Alex’s hand quivered slightly as it slowly fell over Cassidy’s skin, tracing feather light patterns along its way. She delighted in the way that Cassidy moved with her, gliding sensually against her. Needing to feel closer, Alex sat up momentarily and pulled her shirt over her head. Cassidy looked up at Alex appreciatively. Alex kissed Cassidy’s fingertips as they reached out for her and then placed Cassidy’s hands over her head, holding them firmly in place as she placed a seductive kiss on Cassidy’s lips. She faintly brushed her lips over Cassidy’s again.

  Alex leaned in and whispered in Cassidy’s ear, her breath caressing Cassidy’s skin as her words embedded themselves in Cassidy’s soul. “Permet-moi de te faire l'amour. (Let me make love to you).” Cassidy sighed, turned her head slightly and Alex took the opportunity to nip lightly at her wife’s neck. “Si belle. (So beautiful),” Alex said reverently.

  Steadily, Alex’s body glided against Cassidy’s, descending gradually in constant admiration, as if she were seeing her wife for the first time. Cassidy’s breath had grown shallow and her hands had again found the expanse of Alex’s muscular back, mapping out Alex’s flesh and gripping gently to her in a feeble attempt to steady a rising tide of pleasure and emotion. Alex’s lips dropped deliberately over Cassidy’s center and Cassidy whimpered in anticipation. Alex lost herself again in a familiar dance. She held onto Cassidy as Cassidy’s hips rose to meet her in a desperate plea.

  Tenderly, Alex began her exploration of the woman she loved. Cassidy was the most gentle, giving person Alex had ever met. More than anything in life, Alex desired to give to Cassidy as honestly and completely as Cassidy always gave of herself.