“It’s all about family, Jane.”
“Whose family?” she asked. “You mean the family our father used to talk about? That’s not family, Matthew, that is just business.”
“We are given our family, Jane. Family demands loyalty. If someone betrays that…”
“You’re wrong. Family is not given, Matt. It is created by our choices.”
“It’s all in motion already.”
“What is that?” Jane asked.
“The Admiral and Viktor’s plan. It’s unfolding as we speak. The seeds are everywhere.”
“Yes, I know. But, seeds are not much good if no one waters them,” she said. She turned to leave.
“You’re leaving? Just walking away?”
Jane turned back. “What do you expect me to do, General? Shoot you in your office?”
“It’s true, isn’t it? The Broker? He was Sphinx,” Matt said. “You knew where to look because he passed it to you.”
Jane smiled. “You listened to Dad’s bedtime stories too much,” she said. “It sparked your imagination about too many things.” She started to leave again.
“Jane…”
“Have a nice day, General.”
“I’m still your brother.”
“My brother was a man who understood family. My brother would never have murdered his sister’s husband, betrayed her confidence about the son he loved and never got to know. He would never have put her through that pain. You, Matt are General Waters. My brother said goodbye a long time ago.”
Jane turned on her heels and left him in his office. She closed his door and fell back into it, the air stolen from her lungs. “I am so sorry, John. So sorry.”
***
Claire had her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath when she heard a motor approaching.
“Get on,” Alex instructed her.
“You came back.”
“Don’t make a big deal out of it. Coming or not?” Alex asked.
Claire climbed on back. “Can’t say I ever expected to put my arms around you again,” Claire cracked.
Alex chuckled. “Well, we have at least one thing in common,” she said as she sped off.
***
“So, what have you been doing in the cellars of Siberia all these years?” Brackett asked McCollum.
“Undoing your madness.”
“See, that’s your problem, Jim. You never had any vision,” Brackett said. “You and Nicolaus and this idea that there are limits. There are no limits unless we create them.”
“Bill!” Edmond interrupted him. “My God, look what you did to your daughter.”
“I didn’t make Claire who she is. She did that.”
McCollum chuckled in disgust. “No, you just made her forget who she was. You think that is different somehow?”
***
Alex pointed ahead to Claire. She cut the motor on the snowmobile. “Three o’clock, I see him,” Claire said.
“I’ll take care of him,” Alex offered. “You get to the back of the cabin.”
“No,” Claire said. “I recognize him. You head for the cabin. I’ll take care of him.”
“Are you…What the hell?” Alex stopped short. Her sight fell ahead to where Marcus Anderson was creeping up behind the subject of their discussion. “Anderson?”
“Good morning, ladies,” a voice greeted Alex and Claire. They both turned to find Tate leaning an unconscious man against a nearby tree.
“Tate?” Alex asked in disbelief.
“Nice to see you too, Alex.”
“How did you?” she looked back toward Agent Anderson as he approached.
“Jane,” he explained. “Krause had a run in with Daniels.”
“We need to get in there,” Claire said.
“They are just talking,” Tate said.
“How long have you been here?” Alex wondered.
“Just long enough,” Tate replied.
“Where is Hawk?” Claire asked in concern.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t hear her in there.”
“Alex,” Claire urged Alex.
“Hawk can handle herself, Claire. Anyone else?” Alex asked the men.
“Just the Admiral. Jane’s plan apparently worked. He’s cockier than usual.”
“What plan?” Claire asked.
“Later,” Tate said.
“I want to get closer,” Alex said. She looked at Anderson. “Marcus, Cassidy is with the kids. I think she was headed to the restaurant just before the resort.”
“I’ve got it covered,” Marcus assured her.
“Come on,” Alex beckoned Claire. Claire tipped her head in surprise. “I want to hear what they are talking about, don’t you?”
Alex and Claire moved toward the cabin. Alex managed to peer in the front window. Tate was right. Brackett had his back to the door. He was nothing if not confident. McCollum caught her eye and nodded almost imperceptibly. Alex understood the subtle message. Cassidy’s father felt he had control—stay put.
“This new world order of yours,” Edmond said. “This is worth Claire? Eleana? Jesus, Bill. We agreed. The five of us. We promised.”
“Always the idealist, Edmond. What did you think? Lynx was Donald’s project. You thought he would end that?”
“Donald Waters was as arrogant as he was foolish,” McCollum replied.
Tate looked at Alex. “Jane’s father?” he whispered. Alex nodded.
“No, you lost your faith in the family long before the rest of us,” Brackett accused McCollum.
“What the hell are you talking about? We are back to this? Rose has nothing to do with this,” McCollum spat.
“Everything to do with it. You went outside the family and look. You began to see a different pathway. Tainted Nicolaus with it. And, Edmond? He has too much of his mother in him. Always ideals with you three,” Brackett told him.
“You are not seriously suggesting that Jim’s marriage is to blame?” Edmond uncharacteristically raised his voice.
“Family, Edmond. Family. We were brothers once,” Brackett said. “The ultimate bond. The same duty.”
“Duty?” McCollum laughed. “You’re a fool, Bill. You and Donald and this twisted idea you have of family. Isn’t Claire your family? What about Marjorie? Jesus, you fucking murdered your wife in front of her daughter!”
“She was in a position to compromise us with Ivanov. She would have too.”
“Why?” Edmond asked. “The truth.”
“She found out about the school. About Claire’s training. About Claire’s….”
“Programming?” McCollum guessed.
“If you will. She worked inside, you know that. She had more information than I did most of the time. To tell you the truth, I wondered if she might be Sphinx,” Brackett admitted.
“So, you killed her,” Edmond surmised.
“I did what had to be done.”
“And, O’Brien?” McCollum asked.
Brackett shrugged. “Ivanov’s pawn originally. Part of Petrov’s project. A seed.”
“And?” McCollum urged. “Tell me, Bill. It’s just us. What was his objective?”
“Simple really, marry Lynx’s daughter and start a family,” Brackett said.
“Why?” McCollum asked.
“You walked away. Made no contribution, James. But, you had information. No one is ever that cautious. Your family holds answers they do not even know they possess,” he said. “Cassidy would have surpassed them all had she not interfered.”
“Cassie is not your asset. That was not Rose’s decision. It was mine to keep Cassidy from those schools.”
“Perhaps. It runs in the family, apparently. Your daughter saw to it that the boy stayed out of the program.”
“What is he talking about?” Alex whispered to Claire. Claire shrugged.
McCollum laughed. “She demanded he go to public school,” he guessed. “Kept him from the program without even knowing it.”
“Mm,” Brackett said. “But, O�
��Brien…He got ambitious. His bumbling hid his brilliance. He traced those wires into his campaign. Right through ASA and back To MyoGen.”
“That’s why my father cut off the funds to ASA,” Alex whispered to Tate. “They were funding SEED somehow at MyoGen.”
“Found some data, so he claimed,” Brackett said.
“And, you think Dylan knows what it is?” McCollum asked.
“I think he knows where it is.”
“Long shot.”
“Worst case scenario I recover one of Ivanov’s assets and alleviate some annoyances in the process,” Brackett said. McCollum struggled to suppress his anger. “Not that we didn’t try before. John screwed that up.”
“You never expected Alexis and Cassidy,” McCollum chuckled.
“No. Fisher should have accomplished the task. It would have cleared O’Brien,” Brackett said.
“To take custody of Dylan,” McCollum surmised. “He’s just a boy.”
“He’s family,” Brackett said. “If O’Brien did expose the boy at all, knowing his objective could be a major asset. O’Brien squarely in play would have been a benefit now that it is starting. The boy? That would have pacified Viktor and given O’Brien more leeway.”
“To take your directives and feed you information,” McCollum guessed. Bracket shrugged. “And now, you think I am going to help you? Help you program Dylan? You’re insane.”
“You will if you want your grandchildren to be safe. Consider that my way of honoring our friendship.”
Alex burst through the door gun blazing. “You son-of-a-fucking-bitch!”
Admiral Brackett turned in surprise. “Alexis.”
Alex’s hand was shaking in anger. “You are not going to touch my children.”
“So much like your father,” Brackett laughed. “You think I am the only person you have to worry about? Grow up, Alexis.”
Claire stepped around Alex coolly.
“Claire,” Brackett greeted his daughter. “You look surprisingly well.” Claire kept moving forward. He turned his chair to face her. Claire stared at her father. “You have something to say?” he asked her dryly.
“No,” she answered as she drew her gun.
McCollum moved quickly. He swiped Claire’s legs out from under her and knocked her backward. Brackett began to laugh. “I know what I need to know,” McCollum said. He pulled his gun. One loud blast and Admiral William Brackett was slumped over in his chair.
McCollum stepped back and moved to Alex. She was still standing, pointing her gun at Brackett, her hand shaking with anger. McCollum lowered her arm and took the weapon. “No more, Alexis. We made this, not you, not Claire. You do not need blood on your hands. That belongs on mine and his. No more.”
Claire pulled herself up and moved hesitantly toward her father. She stood over him, staring blankly. She wanted to feel something. She wanted to feel anything. She looked across the room at Alex. They stared at each other for a moment. Claire realized what she felt—relief.
Hawk burst into the room with her gun in hand. “What the hell?”
Claire turned and looked at Hawk. Hawk saw Claire wavering and walked deliberately to her. Claire looked into Hawk’s compassionate eyes and immediately fell to the ground. She cried. She cried for her mother. She cried for what she had become. She cried in relief, relief from fear that had permeated every moment of her life for sixteen years.
Hawk folded Claire into her arms and looked up at Alex. Alex smiled at her sadly. Alex turned to James McCollum. “Dylan?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Alex,” he said.
“Can you…”
James McCollum grasped Alex’s arm. “No. He’s a boy. Let him be that boy. Even if O’Brien had done anything, it would need a trigger and that trigger died with O’Brien.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Alex, please trust me. If the time ever comes that you grow concerned, we will talk. I don’t think it will. Let him be that boy. Nothing good will come of exploring a maybe. Trust me, please.”
Alex nodded as Tate made his way to remove The Admiral. “I need to call Cass.” McCollum nodded. “Jim?” she addressed him by name. He looked at her curiously. “Thank you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Alex thought that she should feel strange with the occupants of the cabin. Oddly, she felt a sense of comfort. Mackenzie had fallen asleep on her shoulder and Alex could not bring herself to let go of her daughter. Dylan was sitting with Jim McCollum. It was evident that Dylan was curious about the man. Alex smiled slightly at the gleam in McCollum’s eye as he spoke to Dylan. There was still a great deal of tension among the adults. McCollum saw Alex from across the room. She watched as he smiled at Dylan and walked toward her.
“A moment?” McCollum requested. Alex nodded. She reluctantly passed Mackenzie to her mother. Helen offered her a reassuring smile and Alex followed Jim McCollum outside.
“What are you going to do?” she asked the older man.
“I don’t know,” McCollum confessed. “Stay here for now, I think. Cassie was right. Whatever might come to pass, it has to be new, at least where my family is concerned.”
“You made a good start today,” Alex observed.
McCollum’s defeated sigh surprised Alex. “No. I murdered a man I once considered a friend.”
“Claire would have, if you hadn’t,” Alex said.
“I know. I couldn’t allow that. She’s suffered enough.”
“She’s caused her share of suffering,” Alex reminded him.
“We all have,” he looked at Alex. “When we met, I thanked you for taking care of my family,” he said. “The truth is, they are your family now, Alex.”
Alex nodded. “I can’t speak for Rose or Cassidy,” she said. “I don’t know what they will do, but I am not blind,” she said. “It might not be what you want, but they both love you.”
McCollum’s halfhearted smile told her more than any words could have. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope.
“What’s this?” Alex asked.
McCollum shrugged. “It’s a letter, to me. I think, perhaps it is meant for you now,” he said. “You read it,” he told Alex as he started to walk back into the house. “You know, Alexis,” he addressed her by her given name. “Your father was a complicated man at times. He was my best friend. And, I can tell you that no matter what you think, he was always very proud of you.”
“I don’t think…”
McCollum nodded. “It’s funny what self-loathing will do,” he told her as he entered the house. Alex opened the letter.
My Friend,
The time is approaching. You will forgive this method of communication. It is best for now. You wanted to know what it was like. I was not there. I hardly felt I should attend. I do know that Alexis is happy with Cassidy. Strange, isn’t it? That they found each other in spite of all of our hope to keep them away from this madness. I wonder at times if there is a conspiracy greater than our own that somehow dictates where we fall.
You are the only person who has ever understood the burden I carry. I have passed that now, and it makes me sick to do so. But, she is the one person…The only person I believe will remain true to our work. I don’t know that it will ever end, Jim. Too many people. The map is beyond what I can even draw. Like the ever-expanding universe, I wonder when it will collapse in on us.
I did see your grandson, several times. He is a handsome young man, bright too. I see a great deal of Rose in him, and your Cassidy, but he also reminds me of his father. I marvel at them. John, Jane, Alexis, Cassidy. They are so unlike us, wanting to change the world and believing they can. I wonder when we lost that. I wonder if we ever possessed that.
Jonathan has his path. I cannot intervene. I have tried. But, I am certain in time that they will discover the truth. And, there is truth. I have come to understand that now. When the veils of perception are pulled away, truth is always at the center, waiting to be discovered. Perhaps,
we had forgotten that. I am sorry that my time has come. I cannot watch over them any longer from here. In truth, I failed in that endeavor miserably. For that, I could never expect forgiveness.
My solace now is in knowing that we did create something better without even trying. I see it in my daughter’s face and I do not have the stomach to look in the mirror afterward.
I am forever grateful to you. She will be in touch. You will find protocols enclosed. I hope one day you will be able to have what I leave this world without. Be well, old friend.
Nicolaus
Alex folded the letter and placed it in her pocket.
“Alexis?” Helen walked out the door and to her daughter.
“Why didn’t he ever tell me?”
“I don’t know,” Helen said honestly. “I wish I could give you the answers you are always looking for. Your father loved you. Why he couldn’t tell you, I don’t know. It tormented him and it broke your heart. Such a waste. He loved all of you. Someday Nicky will need to accept that as well.”
“What about you?” Alex asked.
Helen smiled. “I loved him, and I always will. No matter what he did, I can’t change that and I would never try to. I love you, Alexis—all of you. You and Nicky are a part of us, the best and worst we shared. Jonathan? He is a part of your father,” she said with a smile. “How could I not love him? Just like you love Dylan.”
Alex nodded. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go inside.”
“Are you all right?” Helen asked.
“I will be,” Alex said. “I just have some decisions to make.”
“I know.”
“How do I know which one is right?” Alex asked her mother.
“Follow your heart, Alexis. That is where they all lost their way,” Helen said.
Alex walked back inside and removed her coat. Her eyes found Claire, who was sitting on the end of the sofa, silently staring off into space. Alex had been a bit surprised at the obvious affection she had witnessed between Claire and her former partner. But, Claire was not the same. And, Hawk was someone who Alex understood needed a partner who could challenge her. She chuckled. She had her reservations, but Alex was certain that Cassidy would demand they give Claire every reasonable chance, particularly after the day’s events.
Conspiracy (Alex and Cassidy Book 4) Page 37