“What about…” Rose’s apprehension was growing.
Claire looked at Helen. “Just tell me where to go. Stay with them. It’s safer. And, anyway…I think you might have a clue what I mean.”
“Not as much as you might think,” Helen said. “More than I would like,” she admitted. “Walk across the lot. There is a sign for Bear Claw. You can’t miss it. Take the first lift to the lodge. It’s only about 100 yards down the hill when you get off. You’ll see it. That’s where Alexis is.”
“Okay. Just sit tight until I get back, unless you can’t.”
“What about Edmond and Jim?” Rose asked fearfully.
Claire smiled at the older woman. “If anyone can beat my father at his own game, it’s Cassidy’s father. Sit tight,” she told them.
***
Cassidy lifted her goggles and squinted to focus on a familiar figure in the distance approaching the platform for the chair lift. “Claire?” She put her poles in the ground and pushed off forcefully.
Claire was determined to ignore the searing pain in her shoulder and her ankle. She had not taken any medication in over twenty-four hours. Mentally, she slapped herself for not listening to Hawk and taking something before the car ride. With the weather, the four-hour trip had become nearly seven. Hawk had argued that Claire could sleep while she drove and that Claire needed something. The effects of the medication would be slim by the time they reached Alex. Claire would not even discuss it. She felt as if a fog were lifting from her mind and she had no intention of clouding it again in any way. As she struggled toward the platform ahead, she realized pain had its own unique way of clouding thought.
“Claire?” Cassidy came up behind the agent. Claire spun more quickly than she had intended and momentarily lost her balance. Cassidy grabbed her arm and steadied her. “What the hell are you doing here?” Cassidy demanded.
“I need to find Alex,” Claire replied.
Cassidy immediately recognized the desperation in Claire’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if it had been brought on by fear or physical pain. “Why? Where is Agent Hawkins?” Cassidy asked.
“Cassidy, please. I know….I don’t want to…She’s with your father at the cabin.”
“Why?”
“Cassidy….”
“Dammit, Claire! What is going on?” Cassidy demanded.
“My father,” Claire said. “He knows your father is back. He knows he’s here. Please, Cassidy.”
Cassidy’s heart dropped and she began to panic. “Mom and Mackenzie…”
“They’re safe,” Claire told her. “I brought them down. Alex’s mom is with them. I promise—they are safe,” Claire assured Cassidy. “Cassidy, you and Alex….You might not be. Please?”
Cassidy guided Claire toward the lift. “You are going to tell me what is going on while we are on this lift.”
Claire looked at Cassidy hesitantly. “Cassidy…”
“Claire, I mean it. This is my family. I have a right to know.”
“Maybe,” Claire said. “It’s not true, though,” Claire mumbled as they reached the platform and waited for their turn.
“What’s not true?” Cassidy asked.
“That the truth sets you free. Sometimes it just takes you prisoner,” Claire said.
***
“Time to pay the piper, Edmond.”
Edmond nodded his agreement. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
McCollum smiled at his old friend. “You never lost that ability, Edmond.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You always believed in Bill. Always thought somehow the five of us would remain true to our word,” McCollum said.
“I was a fool.”
“No, you were a friend,” McCollum disagreed.
“And? Where did that get me? Where did it get Claire or Eleana? And, this? If I had known…”
“It would have changed nothing,” McCollum said flatly. “Bill trusted you with more than he did Nicolaus. The Major took you into his confidence, gave you Ivanov to liaise with. It gave us clues. It bought us time.”
“Little good that did for John and Elliot,” Edmond reminded his friend.
“Elliott followed his own tune. He may have been your son, but he did not follow in your footsteps. He chose the game over any sense of purpose. That is not your fault. As for John…John knew where he was heading. He knew it for a long time, Edmond. That is why he went to Nicolaus. He needed to protect his children. And, that is why Nicolaus passed his work to Jane when the time came. There is a different meaning of family for some of us.
McCollum closed his eyes. He heard the vehicle outside and looked back at Edmond. “We cannot go back, my friend. It’s time to move forward now. We owe them that.”
***
Krause rolled over when he heard a rattling by the bedside. “Fallon? Where the hell have you been?” he asked heatedly.
“Krause,” Brady’s voice was raspy.
“Brady?”
“Krause….Fallon…Fuck. There was an explosion at Rand.”
Krause shot up in the bed, waking Eleana. “Brady, where is Fallon?”
“I’m sorry, Jonathan.” Krause sat shell-shocked. “He…He saved my ass, Jonathan.”
Krause closed his eyes to quell the roiling of his stomach. Alex had never wanted Fallon in this game. Fallon had insisted. Krause had agreed with Fallon. Now, he berated himself for that decision. Alex’s worst fears seemed to all be coming true. Everything they had sought to protect was hanging in the balance.
“Why were you at Rand?” Krause fell back on the only thing he could—the job.
“Doesn’t matter. Listen, we found something. Thought we had time. Makes sense they would blow it to hell.”
“What did you find?” Krause asked. Eleana sat beside him watching him thoughtfully.
“You might call it a map.”
“What kind of a map?” Krause asked.
“Something called SEED. Handlers, assets, objectives,” Brady said. “Krause?”
“Yeah?”
“O’Brien was on that list.”
“I know,” Krause said.
“It’s worse. So was Dylan.”
Krause nodded silently. “I know that too.”
“How? Brady asked.
“Ran into an old friend at MyoGen. He had some interesting files. Incomplete but enlightening.”
“Maybe what we sent will fill in the gaps,” Brady said.
“Sent?”
“Fallon redirected the dump to Alex’s secure server.”
Krause smiled. Fallon had proved himself over and over again. “Are you injured?”
“Yeah, was about to call Jane for an extraction.”
“No. She’s otherwise engaged. Can you get somewhere secure?”
Brady coughed. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Do you need…”
“Nothing life threatening. I think my ankle is broken, some smoke inhalation, a few deep cuts. It can hold.”
“Fine. We’ll be there in a few hours. Call me when you have a location.”
“Krause?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry….About Fallon.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Jonathan?” Eleana asked when he placed the phone back beside him and closed his eyes.
“Was that Brian?” Krause shook his head. “Jonathan?” she implored him gently.
“We need to pick up Brady.”
“Where is Brian?” she asked with growing concern. Krause stroked Eleana’s cheek. “No…”
“I’m sorry, Eleana.”
Eleana fell into Jonathan Krause’s arms. “When will this end?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I don’t know.”
***
Cassidy walked into the lodge and leaned her skis against the wall. “Come on,” she said to Claire.
“Cassidy, I am really sorry.”
Cassidy turned to Claire and nodded. “Let’s go.”
Alex started to walk toward Cassidy, excited to see her wife when she caught sight of the person walking a pace behind. “Dylan, stay here.”
Cassidy noted the stiffness in Alex’s gait. “Alex…”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Alex demanded of Claire.
“Alex,” Cassidy took hold of Alex’s arm. “Just listen to her, please. I’m going to get Dylan,” she said.
“I’m waiting,” Alex said.
“My father is on his way here.”
“Here as in where we are?”
“Here as in where you are staying.”
“Jesus Christ…Mackenzie….”
“She’s okay,” Claire said calmly.
“How do you….”
“She’s in Hawk’s Jeep with your mother and Cassidy’s.”
“Where’s Hawk?” Alex asked.
“At the cabin. Alex, it’s not just Cassidy’s father he wants.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He thinks O’Brien might have…He thinks Dylan might know something.”
“I need to get to the cabin. My gun is in the car.”
“No, it’s not,” Claire said with a slight grin.
“What?” Alex asked. Claire pulled Alex aside and handed her the Glock. “How did you?”
“McCollum gave it to me.”
“How did he?”
“I don’t know,” Claire said.
“Claire, only Hawk is armed.”
“I doubt that is true now,” Claire said.
Cassidy smiled at Dylan. Inside she was shaking like a leaf, but she did not want him to see that. “Hi,” she greeted her son.
“Mom? Why is Ms. Brackett here?”
“You remember her?”
“Yeah, she took me with Uncle Brian once.”
“Yes, she did. She’s here to see Alex.”
“Is Alex leaving?” Dylan asked.
“I think so. You and I are going to go meet Grandma and YaYa and have some breakfast. We’ll catch up with Alex later.”
“But, Mom…I can’t ski down.”
“It’s okay. I’ll ride down with you.”
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Who is Jim?”
Cassidy smiled. “Well, why don’t we save that for the ride?” she suggested. Dylan nodded. “I’ll be right back,” she promised her son. Cassidy ran her fingers through Dylan’s short hair and made her way back to Alex and Claire.
“Cass…”
“Don’t,” Cassidy told Alex. There was no anger, only fear in her voice. “You can get to the cabin from here. There’s a trail behind the lodge. It actually isn’t that far, just on the other side of Allagash. You’ll see the signs for the summit lift. The snow is pretty deep, but you will see my tracks. Just follow it. It leads you to the woods behind the cabin.”
“Claire, go with Cassidy,” Alex said.
“No way!”
“Claire! You can barely walk. You will only slow me down,” Alex argued calmly.
Cassidy sighed. “There’s a ski patrol station when you reach Allagash. That’s only about an eighth of a mile. If you can get there…”
Alex nodded her understanding. Claire started back for the door. “Where are you going?” Alex asked.
“Getting a head start so I don’t slow you down.”
“Alex,” Cassidy implored her wife.
“Cassidy, take Dylan and get the kids out of here. Get some distance between you and this place. Do you hear me? I will call you when it’s safe.”
“Alex, my father…”
“Don’t underestimate him,” Alex told her.
“Dylan. Why?”
Alex pulled Cassidy to her. “It doesn’t matter right now. Just go.”
“Alex,” Cassidy began to cry.
“Trust me,” Alex said.
“I do.”
“Then trust that I will call you,” Alex said. She kissed Cassidy tenderly. “Take Dylan and go, Cass. Please.”
Cassidy nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Alex smiled at Dylan and waved. “I’ll see you soon,” she promised.
***
McCollum looked up as the front door to the cabin began to open. Brash as ever, he thought. He looked back down at the table and spoke. “You are back early,” he said without looking at the person in the doorway.
“And, you have been gone forever.”
McCollum looked up at Admiral William Brackett at the same moment Edmond turned to face their old friend. “Bill?” Edmond asked as if he were surprised.
“Hello, Edmond. Sorry to drop in so unexpectedly. Where’s the family?” he asked. McCollum remained stoic and silent. “No matter. I’m sure they’ll be back from wherever they headed off to soon. It gives us a little time to catch up.”
A tall, muscular man stood just behind The Admiral. “You want me to find them?”
“No. I imagine they are off enjoying the mountain. They have to come back sooner or later. Surprised you didn’t join them,” Brackett addressed McCollum.
“I’m not exactly the guest of honor here.”
Brackett laughed. He took a seat at the table. “Oh, but you are,” he said. “Keep an eye out,” he told the man in the door. Brackett turned back to McCollum and Edmond Callier. “So? Let’s catch up.”
***
“Shit,” Claire yelped as they moved down the trail.
Alex sighed heavily. She pulled Claire toward a tree. “Just stay here.”
“No way, Toles. I’m not running away from him this time.”
Alex nodded. “I know. Just wait here.” Alex took off in as much of a sprint as she could manage.
“Toles!” Claire called. “You’re not leaving my ass here!” Claire leaned her head against the tree and caught her breath. She had managed to keep pace with Alex, but she was quickly losing that ability. She took a deep breath and pushed down the pain before pressing forward.
***
“Mom? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, Dylan.”
“You look worried,” he observed.
“Well, I am,” she admitted. “Alex has been worried about work,” she told him honestly. “She has to meet with some people back at the cabin,” she explained. “Grandma and YaYa are waiting for us.”
“Why is Ms. Brackett here?”
Cassidy smiled. “Her father and Edmond are friends.”
“Oh,” he replied. “Who is Jim, Mom?”
Cassidy took a deep breath. “Well, Dylan, that is a hard question for me to answer.”
“Why?”
“Because I am not really sure myself.”
“But, Grandma said that he was someone important to you.”
“He is,” Cassidy admitted. “I’m going to tell you something and I want you to listen. Okay?” she said. He nodded. Cassidy looked out over the mountain as the lift began its descent. “My father loved this. Looking out over the mountain.”
“I do too,” he said.
Cassidy looked back at Dylan and smiled. “I can’t really explain it to you because I don’t really understand it myself. I was only about your age when my father had his accident.”
“I know.”
“Mm. They never found my father. His car went into the river. They looked,” she said. “It was a bad accident. We just all assumed he was dead. He never came back.” Dylan looked at his mother curiously. “Jim….Dylan, Jim is my father. He is your grandfather.”
Dylan considered her information. “He didn’t die?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t he come back?” Dylan asked. “He made you so sad.”
“He did. I don’t really know, Dylan. He couldn’t come back for a long time. He was far away.”
“Did he forget where you were or something?” Dylan asked.
“He forgot a lot of things,” Cassidy replied honestly.
“Did he forget who he was?” Dylan tried to understand.
Cassidy s
ighed. She smiled sadly at her son. “Yes, I think he did,” she replied, realizing that it was an honest answer. “In a way, he did—yes.” Cassidy felt a tear slip over her cheek.
Dylan took his mother’s hand. “Don’t cry, Mom. He remembered.”
Cassidy nodded and chuckled in spite of her falling tears. “I guess maybe he did, Dylan. Maybe he did.”
***
“Matt.”
“Janie!” General Matthew Waters rose from his seat happily. “What a surprise!”
Jane nodded. “I’m not the only one it seems with some surprises.”
“Are you all right?” he asked his sister. “Janie? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Why, Matt?”
“Why? Why, what?”
“Why did you do it?” she asked.
“What did I do?” he asked.
Jane shook her head sorrowfully. “John trusted you. I trusted you.”
“Janie, what is this about?”
Jane took a deep breath. “Dylan is safe, Matt.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jane threw a file onto his desk. She nodded to it. “Christopher O’Brien: Handler Viktor Ivanov. Objective: Cassidy McCollum—Program SEED.”
“What is this?” he asked looking at the file.
“Keep reading,” she instructed him. “Matthew Waters: Project Lynx. Handler: William Brackett. Objective: Continuation Project Lynx. Program Integration—Program SEED.”
Matt nodded. “So?”
Jane smiled at him ruefully. “Why? Why would you align yourself with The Admiral? You fought our father over that for years.”
“It’s not that simple,” he said. “It was given to me, Jane. I did what was expected.”
“Given to you? You had a choice to make. We all do.”
“No, I didn’t. I never had a choice. What do you know about it?” he shouted angrily. “You made the choice, Janie. After everything, you made the choice!”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know who implemented Lynx?”
“Of course, I know. Jim at our father’s direction.”
“Yeah, and do you know who was slated for that program? You think that SEED is the first of its kind? Come on, Janie.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying Dad made a deal. You were left aside,” he told her.
Jane closed her eyes. “If he agreed that you would be placed. Matt…”
“Everything I did was for you.”
Jane looked at him and shook her head again. “No, Matt. It wasn’t. That was our father’s choice, not yours. You’re right, I did make my choices. Some, I am not very proud of at all. I would never have compromised my children like he did. I cannot believe that you would allow that. My God, you sanctioned it. You…”
Conspiracy (Alex and Cassidy Book 4) Page 36