Cassidy threw a towel that had been laying on the counter at her friend. “You are worse than Alex,” she laughed. “Do me a favor and go make sure those two are actually cleaning that room.”
Domesticity was not Krause’s strong suit, but he enjoyed spending time at Alex and Cassidy’s. Both his parents had been gone for years. It didn’t take long after his mother’s sudden death four years before, for the rest of the family to grow farther apart. He had a nephew and a niece, but he rarely saw them. His father had been rigid, but his mother was warm, and he held fond memories of his childhood. Dylan seemed to rekindle that. He gladly obliged his friend’s request.
Cassidy set about her tasks and paused to put her face in her hands momentarily. She felt for the chain around her neck and smiled. “Santa Claus, huh?” she giggled.
Monday, December 22nd
“Happy to be back, Ms. Toles?” Marta greeted her boss.
“Marta, for the love of God! Alex. Just call me Alex.”
“Whatever you want. So, the big move starts today?” she asked.
“Yes, it does. You know, you don’t have to make such a big move. I can certainly find a comparable spot for you here,” Alex offered.
“No. Change is good. I worked for your father for the last fifteen years. He’d never forgive me if I left you high and dry. You were the apple of his eye, you know.”
“No, I didn’t,” Alex tried to smile at the woman’s earnest compliment. “He was fortunate to have you,” Alex said honestly.
“I’m not sure he always felt that way, but thank you,” Marta said.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Alex mumbled as she entered her office. Alex sat down at her desk and began booting up the computer. She looked at the pictures carefully placed just inches away and then at a small, carefully wrapped box nearby. A gradual smile played across her lips as she thought about her family’s first Christmas together. She closed her eyes attempting to imagine Dylan on Christmas morning.
“You look cheerful,” she heard in the distance. Alex opened her eyes and was startled by the presence of her mother in the doorway. “Good thing you are inside and it’s December, or you would be catching flies,” Helen laughed.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asked.
“Happy Holidays to you too, Alexis.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect to see you,” Alex explained.
“Well, I wanted to check up on my investments,” Helen joked. Alex shook her head at her mother’s playful nature. It was true, technically Helen Toles now owned fifty-one percent of Carecom. She had never displayed any interest in the actual workings of the company. Alex was more than aware that the only investments her mother truly had an interest in regarded family.
“Did Cassidy send you to make certain I finished my Christmas shopping?” Alex asked.
“No. She doesn’t need my help keeping you in line, Alexis. I, however, am eternally grateful for her.” Helen’s reply was cheerful in its delivery, but Alex immediately sensed the underlying sincerity of the statement and she couldn’t help but smile. “Actually, I was hoping I could convince you to have lunch with me.”
“Mom, it’s nine in the morning.”
“Thank you. I have been able to tell time since before what they call the digital era. I meant later.”
Alex laughed. “You really are spending too much time with Rose. I don’t ever remember you having a sense of humor,” Alex said as seriously as she could manage. Helen just smiled at her daughter and awaited a response to the invitation. “Why do I think there is an ulterior motive in this lunch?”
“Alexis, not everything is a case to solve,” Helen sighed.
“What time were you thinking?”
“One-ish? I have a doctor’s appointment this morning,” her mother replied.
Alex’s expression grew pensive. “Is everything all right?”
“I’m fine. Routine. How about Fazzini’s? I have a few errands to run this afternoon in that area. I want to get them all put to rest so that I can leave for Nick’s early tomorrow,” her mother explained.
“That should work. I have a meeting at noon, so if I am a little…”
“I will get us a table,” Helen said.
“All right. Mom?” Alex asked. “Everything is all right, isn’t it?”
Helen walked to her daughter and looked at her lovingly. Alex’s eyes glistened slightly, and Helen smiled. It had taken time for the two to reach this point in their relationship. Trust had to be rebuilt, and Alex did not trust easily. Helen was not certain what Alex had learned about her father since agreeing to take his place at Carecom. It was clear that her husband’s actions toward Alex and Cassidy’s relationship had wounded her daughter deeply. It remained a subject she did not approach with Alex. Looking into her daughter’s eyes now she witnessed the naked fears of a little girl she once comforted after a nightmare. No matter what had come to pass, it was evident that Alex still felt the loss of her father profoundly and Helen could see the question in her daughter’s eyes.
“I’m all right, Alexis. It’s just a physical. I promise,” she reassured her daughter. Alex just nodded. “We’ve just been spending so much time together. Well, to be honest, I would have loved to spend Christmas Eve with you and Cassidy. I’ve spent so many with your brother.” Alex’s surprise was evident. “But, Barb could use my help this year,” she winked. “So? Lunch?” Helen asked. Alex nodded again. “Good. I will see you at one.”
“Director Taylor?” Brian Fallon called through the door.
“Agent Fallon,” Michael Taylor answered. “Happy Holidays to you,” the NSA Director said cheerfully. “I didn’t expect to see you in here this week.”
Fallon nodded. “I hadn’t planned on it. Something’s come up. I didn’t want to hold it until after the holidays.”
Taylor rose and shut the door quietly. “All right.”
Fallon placed a large manila envelope on the NSA Director’s desk and watched as Michael Taylor slid the contents out and examined them. Fallon waited patiently, watching as his superior’s face became tauter. Taylor set the contents down, placed his hands deliberately on them, and slowly leveled his gaze at the agent before him.
“I can’t say for certain what it means,” Fallon said. “It could definitely explain Christopher O’Brien’s convenient accident.”
“Maybe,” Taylor conceded. “Skimming money off of a campaign is not really NSA material. Why not take this to the FBI?” Taylor asked with the quirk of his brow.
“Assistant Director Tate shut down any formal investigation into O’Brien’s accident last April,” Fallon reminded his boss.
“Yes. But, this is a federal crime; if it’s true.”
“I understand that,” Fallon said. “You don’t seriously think it’s unrelated? It’s not thousands of dollars…it’s….”
“I can see what it appears to be, Agent Fallon. Why do you think the FBI refused to pursue that investigation?” Taylor asked.
“I can’t say that, Sir. There were many inconsistencies as you know,” Fallon responded.
“I am aware.”
Fallon pointed to the documents on the desk. “Sir, if Assistant Director Tate had decided to pursue the investigation he would have had to involve the Attorney General. We both know that politics effect the decision-making process at the bureau more than they do here,” he said.
“That they do,” Taylor agreed. “So, what is it that you want, Agent Fallon?”
“A closer ear to the congressman,” Fallon replied.
“You know that the NSA carefully watches transcripts from all campaigns,” Taylor answered.
“I do. But those are limited to key phrases. As they are for candidates,” Fallon reminded him.
Taylor took a deep breath and let it out slowly, considering the request. “Has Alex seen this?”
“No.” Fallon watched the doubtful expression cross Taylor’s face. “Director Taylor, I came to you first. If Alex saw this now
… well, let’s say O’Brien can fire her up like nothing I have ever seen.”
Taylor laughed at the observation. “All right. It will take a few days. Believe it or not I have channels I need to navigate as well.”
“I know,” Fallon said.
“Give me until Monday,” the director offered. Fallon started to speak, and Taylor stopped him. “Don’t thank me. This is your op, Fallon. Yours and yours alone.”
“I understand,” Fallon replied.
“Good. Have a nice holiday, agent,” Taylor said with a smile.
“I will. You as well.”
Michael Taylor watched as Fallon took his leave. He ran his hand over the top of his head in frustration. Returning his focus to the papers on his desk, he glanced over them again before crumpling one is his hands and tossing it violently across his office. “Shit.” Shaking his head, the director picked up his phone, punched in several numbers and waited. His voice dropped an octave as he spoke. “We have a situation.”
Claire Brackett stretched her long frame across the king size bed and closed her eyes. Belarus was not exactly her first choice for holiday vacations, but if she had to be here, she intended to make the most of every moment. She turned over and moaned slightly at the strength in the hands now kneading her tired muscles. “What makes you think anyone from the ambassador’s staff is going to tell you anything?” a deep voice questioned.
“Oh, I have my ways,” she replied.
“I’m sure that you do, Claire,” he said. “I’ve heard you can be very charming,” he chuckled wryly. “Not that I have ever seen any evidence of that.”
“You find me perfectly charming,” she replied.
Agent Marcus Anderson smacked his partner’s bottom and laughed. “There is a difference between being charming and being salacious,” he reminded her.
“Are you implying that I am a slut?” she asked. There was no malice in her tone. It was tinged with a hint of both curiosity and amusement.
“No, but I think you need to broaden your methods of influence,” Anderson said.
“Agent Anderson, if you wanted to be Captain of the Morality Squad, I am afraid you picked the wrong agency.”
“It has nothing to do with morality. It’s about practicality,” he explained. Brackett rolled over and opened one eye, squinting to bring her partner into focus. “You need more than one weapon in your arsenal,” he told her.
She pursed her lips. “I’ll get the information with whatever weapon I need to deploy,” Claire said. “Some are less….well, let’s say I prefer less clean up. Don’t fool yourself, Marcus. I have a few techniques you have not seen.”
“I’m sure,” he said with a smirk.
“Are you complaining? You should be grateful. You get to listen.” Her lips turned up slightly into a cocky grin. “I suppose either way there will be screaming,” she said, licking her lips as her smile widened. Claire sighed and closed her eyes in contentment. Anderson shook his head. “Oh, Marcus. Why don’t you keep me company? Don’t tell me you aren’t curious?” she baited him.
“I’m very curious, Claire.”
“I’m sure,” she said softly without any movement.
“Just get the information,” he said. “I’ll be next door…. waiting.”
Alex walked into Fazzini’s Restaurant fifteen minutes late and looking slightly frazzled. “Sorry, Mom,” she said.
“Are you okay?” Helen asked in concern.
“Huh? Oh yeah. Just trying to get things squared away with moving the office. I wish that’s all I had to deal with this week.”
Helen studied Alex intently. “Alexis?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you happy working at Carecom?” Helen asked pointedly.
Alex looked up from the menu in front her with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”
Helen took a sip from her water. “I mean, are you happy there?”
“I’ll be happier when the office is moved. Is that why you wanted to have lunch? Are you concerned about me running Carecom?” Alex asked.
“No. I wanted to have lunch with my daughter; who arrived looking a great deal more stressed than she was this morning,” Helen responded firmly.
Alex released a heavy sigh. “I’m not unhappy there. It’s been a big transition.”
“I’m sure it has,” Helen agreed. Alex narrowed her gaze as her mother opened the menu before her.
“Mom? Seriously; what is it?”
“Let’s order lunch first, Alexis.” The two women sat quietly, both pretending to peruse a menu of items they could have easily recited from memory until the waiter arrived to take their orders. They continued their silent companionship until he was far from sight.
“Alexis, don’t let your father’s life become yours.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Alex asked somewhat defensively.
“It means that a great deal of what you saw in your father came from running that company for so many years. It changed him. That’s what it means. You have a beautiful family. I just….”
Alex closed her eyes and nodded. Cassidy often pressed Alex to be more open with her mother. For a while, Alex resisted, afraid of being rejected again. She opened her eyes and looked at the older woman. Her mother had changed dramatically over the last year. It started in earnest the day that Alex walked into her parents’ home and confronted her father about his dealings with Christopher O’Brien. There were still moments that Alex still felt her world reeling from the memory of that day. How could a father knowingly do anything to hurt his own child; worse something that would hurt Cassidy or Dylan? Giving Cassidy’s ex-husband ammunition about Alex’s personal relationships for the press was something that Alex could not easily forgive. She could not fathom any parent betraying the trust of a child. Alex shuddered slightly at the memory of her father working with Christopher O’Brien at all. Two fathers who had seemingly dismissed all care for their children; for her son. It sickened her as a daughter and even more so as a parent.
There was one evolution from that day that Alex had become grateful for. That was a renewed relationship with her mother. It was not a storybook reunion in which Alex forgave every transgression and confided her deepest fears to the mother she had missed. It was more akin to strengthening a bridge that had buckled to the point of total failure. It was strengthened piece by piece and tested one step, one weight at a time. Now, as Alex looked at her mother, she felt the last remaining vestiges of doubt fade. Helen Toles loved her. She loved Alex’s family. It was worry that creased the older woman’s brow at this moment. It was the protectiveness of a parent that sat in the driver’s seat of this conversation. That was an emotion Alex had come to understand all too well.
Alex smiled at her mother and reached for her hand. “I’m not Dad.”
“I know that, but whether you like it or not….well, you are very much like him in some ways,” Helen reminded her. She could see Alex mounting her protest, and she squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Alexis, you need the challenge, any challenge. That’s what I mean. It can consume you…and then…”
For the first time in her life, Alex noticed a distant pain evident in her mother’s eyes. She suspected the older woman had held it at bay deliberately for many years. Alex squeezed her mother’s hand gently in understanding. “If I ever start to feel that my job, no matter what it is, compromises my family….I promise you that will be the end of it. Nothing means more to me than my family.”
Helen smiled. “I know how much you love them…”
“In case you forgot, you are part of them,” Alex reminded her.
“I know,” Helen smiled. “But it is nice to hear you say that.”
Helen got up from her seat and went to hug her daughter. The public affection startled Alex momentarily. It was another change that Alex was still adjusting to. The once reserved matriarch of the Toles family had become far more demonstrative since the death of Alex’s father. Alex surprised herself by welcoming her mother�
��s embrace enthusiastically. She watched as Helen pulled back slightly and reached for the chain that hung around Alex’s neck. Alex had not removed it since her wedding day. It was the second most precious gift she had ever received. The first was Cassidy’s love and commitment, the other a promise from their son, her son. Dylan made a vow to them both, embodied in a simple heart adorned by two stones. One stone; a diamond represented Dylan’s birth, and a sapphire represented Cassidy’s. She watched her mother finger the delicate charm and recalled Dylan’s words. This is for you, Alex. This is the half of my heart I give to Mom, so you can always keep us close. Alex noticed her mother studying the charm carefully.
“Mom? What is it?”
“Alex, this is loose,” Helen said.
“What are you talking about?” Alex asked in confusion.
“This stone on the pendant Dylan gave you,” she pointed to the diamond. “It’s loose.” Alex moved to grab hold of it, and Helen stopped her. Her daughter’s eyes were quickly filling with tears. “Alexis,” she soothed. “It’s all right. Don’t play with it. It will make it worse.”
“I can’t lose it. Dylan…:”
“Here,” Helen said as she moved behind Alex. “Let me unfasten it.”
“But…”
“Alexis….I will take it to Marv this afternoon. He’ll fix it as good as new.”
Alex nodded sadly. “I haven’t taken it off since…:
Helen’s eyes danced as she watched her daughter close her eyes to still her emotions. No matter how close they had become, Helen continued to marvel at Alex’s devotion to Cassidy and Dylan. “I’ll bet he can have it done before I leave. I’ll drop it off with Cassidy on my way to Nick’s. Okay?”
Alex just nodded. When she finally looked back at her mother, she noted that a smile had replaced the lines of concern from a few moments ago. “You look like you are relieved about something,” Alex noted.
“I am.”
“What?” Alex asked.
“Well, let’s just say that I believe you. The look on your face when I unfastened this,” Helen reached out and touched her daughter’s cheek. “I just want you to be happy. Your father never felt he could make that choice for some reason. Even when I knew he wanted to. He wouldn’t leave the company, not even….”
Commitment Page 14