Fires of Autumn (22 page)

It was a
rich and luxurious room with a marble fireplace and great mahogany walls.  It
smelled of things old and timeless, and of tobacco that seeped from the very
walls.  Colt remained standing as Mr. Meade reclaimed a chair next to the
softly glowing lamp and a half-empty bottle of Glenfidditch.

“I am
assuming you are bringing me good news,” Meade said as he poured himself
another glass of the amber-colored liquid.

Colt
watched the man fuss with his ice cubes. “What do you mean?”

Meade
looked at him, the dark eyes shrewd. “Colt, I didn’t call you over here to
night to be toyed with,” he said sharply. “Tell me of your progress with
Talbot.”

Colt
shifted on his big legs. “No particular progress to report,” he said. “You know
that something like this is going to take time, establishing trust and….”

“Stop with
your excuses,” he snapped, cutting him off. “Tell me about Casey Cleburne. I
understand you have a relationship with her now.”

Colt tried
not to react one way or the other; he didn’t want Meade to capitalize on
anything, good or bad.

“I was
told to get to know her,” he replied evenly. “I’ve done that.”

“How
well?”

“Well
enough.”

“Enough so
that she’s in love with you?”

Colt could
feel himself getting defensive, and very protective.  He knew that Peter had
told Meade what Colt had discussed with him, which underscored to Colt that he
needed to be very careful with what he told Peter.  As a secret service agent,
Colt trusted him, but when it came to Meade, that was entirely another matter.
Colt wasn’t surprised, but he was displeased.

“That’s
the rumor,” he said quietly. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Is it
true?”

“That’s
she’s in love with me?” Colt was very careful in his reply.  He shrugged
non-committally. “We get along well. I’ve at least earned her attention.  She’s
a beautiful woman.”

Mr. Meade
watched Colt, the man’s body language, and remained silent until the quiet grew
oppressive.  Finally, he sipped at his drink.

“Can you
swear to me that your attention towards her is all business?” he asked.

Colt
didn’t want to lie to the man; if he did, everything he had worked for all of
these years would be destroyed.  His relationship with Mr. Meade was based
solely on trust.  But he was protective of his feelings, of Casey, and Meade
was venturing in to the realm of the personal where he didn’t belong.  It had
never happened before and it was a struggle for Colt not to lash out at the
man.

“No,” he
said quietly.

“Then you
are attracted to her?”

“I am.”

“How
strongly are you attracted to her?”

“Strongly
enough.”

Mr. Meade
set his drink down, rather hard. “Tell me the truth, Colt,” he commanded
quietly. “Tell me what you’re feeling for this woman so I at least know what
we’re dealing with.”

Colt held
steady. “No matter what I feel for her, it will not affect my mission or my
goal.   I will complete my assignment.”

Meade
wasn’t buying it.  His expression turned hard. “You were told to use her, not
fall for her.  Emotions will get in the way and we’ve worked too long and hard
for this to fall apart at the end.  Am I making myself clear?”

Colt
considered all of the implications of that statement.  Rather than argue with
the man or stand his ground, he chose to remain silent on the matter.  It would
be better for him, and for Casey, if he did.

“You are.”

“Good,”
Mr. Meade collected his drink again and took a healthy sip. “Now tell me about
the President’s trip to New Mexico. I want to hear everything, and I also want
to hear about any progress you’ve made with  the President’s financial
records.”

Colt had
no choice but to give a full report, which ended up lasting most of the night. 
He never made it to Casey’s house, nor did he give Meade the impression that he
had better places to be.  He was fearful, in the back of his mind, that Meade
might lash out towards Casey somehow if he thought she was distracting Colt
from his task.  It was a fear he had, only because it had happened once before
when The Core took measures against a certain young lady in Russia where Colt
had been reassigned a few years back.  Everyone thought it had been the Russian
mafia who had assassinated her, but Colt knew better.

He knew
exactly what happened to her. If the same thing happened to Casey, Colt
couldn’t live with himself.

***

Monday
morning was rainy and cold.  Casey woke up in the darkness, checking her phone
and seeing that there were no messages from Colt.  Feeling increasingly
despondent, she got into the shower and cleaned up.   As she was putting on her
makeup with the television morning news on in the background, her cell phone
rang.   Putting down her mascara, she saw that it was Colt’s number. She nearly
dropped the phone trying to answer it in her haste.

“Hello?”

“Hi,
angel,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call or come over last night.
Please don’t be mad at me.”

Her heart
fluttered at the sound of his voice, like all was right in the world again.
“I’m not mad,” she said. “But I was concerned. Are you okay?”

“I’m
fine,” he assured her. “I got home, set my stuff down, and sat on the couch for
a couple of minutes to take off my shoes, and ended up passing out.  I didn’t
realize I was so exhausted. By the time I woke up, it was three in the
morning.  I’ve been up for a couple of hours but didn’t want to call you too
early. I’m so sorry.”

She
smiled. “That’s okay,” she said. “But you owe me breakfast.”

“Gladly,”
he said. “I’ll pick you up.”

“I’m going
in to the office,” she said.  “Just bring me a bagel and we’ll call it even.”

“I’m
picking you up,” he said again. “We’ll get something to go, somewhere, and
drive in together. Then I’ll take you home.”

She
sighed, hesitant. “Honey, if we’re trying to keep this quiet, that’s not the
way to go about it,” she said softly. “I’m already freaked out enough that Russ
knows. If people see us coming and going together, it’s not going to take a
genius to figure out that we’re together.”

“Too
late,” he said. “I’m already out in front of your house.”

Casey
jumped up and ran over to the window, facing the street. She could see his Audi
parked on the curb below and she laughed softly. “Okay, you win,” she said. “I
still need to dry my hair and get dressed. Do you want to come in?”

“No,” he
said. “I’ll sit out here and do some work. You take your time.”

Casey
hurried and finished her hair and got dressed.  Riley was downstairs, bumping
around in the kitchen, as Casey dropped her purse and briefcase off by the
door.  She headed in to the kitchen.

“Hey,” she
said to her sister. “Where’s Hunter?”

Riley was
yawning over her cup of coffee. “Still in the shower,” she said, noticing her
sister was dressed in a dark purple suit that looked amazing with her
coloring.  “Are you heading to the hospital now?”

Casey
shook her head a she pulled out the bread and went about making Hunter’s lunch.
“I’m going to go to the office first and then head over there,” she said. “How
about you?”

Riley
yawned again. “I’ve been over there for two days straight,” she said. “Now it’s
your turn.”

Casey
nodded. “Thank you,” she said sincerely as she made a ham and cheese sandwich.
“You get the Aunt of the Year award.”

Riley
waved her off, started out of the kitchen, and then stopped. “Hey,” she looked
at her sister. “Thanks a lot for blindsiding me with Sheridan.  I’m seriously
going to kick your ass for it when I’m not so tired.”

Casey
grinned. “Like I said, it just happened really fast,” she said, glancing at her
sister. “He’s a keeper and I’m totally in love with the guy, so don’t be too
hard on me. This is serious.”

Riley
leaned against the door frame, mug in hand. “Really?” she lifted an eyebrow
with interest. “How serious?”

“Serious
enough. Let’s just leave it at that for now.”

“Are you
going to marry him?”

“Maybe.
Probably.”

Riley
exhaled slowly, struggling to adjust to the idea. It was shocking to say the
least.  “Wow,” she said after a moment. “I just…
wow
. That’s a lot to
take in.  You’re not the kind to make rash decisions, Case.  Why Sheridan?
What’s so special about him?”

Casey
paused as she prepared Hunter’s lunch. “Everything,” she said quietly. “He’s
sweet, considerate, thoughtful… he’s perfect. Just perfect.”

Riley was
forced to agree, at least from a physical standpoint. “Seriously, could that
guy be any more handsome?” She wanted to know. “You have to date Mr. Perfect?”

Casey
giggled. “He’s pretty darn good looking,” she agreed. “But he’s more than that.
He’s got a good heart.”

“I hope so,”
Riley turned around and headed for the stairs. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

Casey
finished with the sandwich and put chips and an apple in a brown sack for her
oldest.  Hunter wasn’t long in coming, pounding down the stairs and hugging his
mom when he came into the kitchen.  The kid was a hugger.  He poured himself
some cereal, turning on cartoons as he told his mom about a book fair at the
school that night.  Casey promised she would attend with him because there were
some books he wanted to buy.  Kissing her son, she put on her coat and gathered
her stuff by the front door, emerging in to the cold and cloudy day. 

Colt saw
her coming and unlocked the door.  His car was nice and warm, the seats heated
up, and he put his Ipad away as she opened the door.  He took her briefcase and
purse, putting them in the back seat as she climbed in.  She looked gorgeous
and he leaned over, kissing her sweetly.

“Good
morning, beautiful,” he said softly. “How did you sleep?”

Casey
shrugged. “Okay, considering I was worried that you hadn’t called or shown up,”
she put up her hand to silence his additional apology. “That’s just the way I
roll. I get worried easily. It’s the mother in me.”

He smiled.
“I’m going to say I’m sorry again,” he replied. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“No harm,”
she returned his smile, drinking in the sleek sight of him in a dark suit and
perfectly combed hair. “You look pretty sharp this morning. Any reason?”

His smile
grew. “I have to look good for my girlfriend because she’s a total babe and I want
to impress her,” he said, watching her laugh. “Plus, the President flies in at
thirteen hundred hours, so I’ll be at the airport.”

She
nodded, putting her hand on his as he moved to put the car in gear. “I’m only
going to be at the office for a few hours this morning,” she said. “I’m going
to spend the rest of the day with Brody.  Unless you plan to drive me to the
hospital, I should probably take my own car.”

“When do
you want to go to the hospital?”

“Probably
about the same time you head over to Andrews Air Force Base to meet Air Force
One.”

“Then I’ll
take you over to the hospital.”

“What if I
want to leave? What if Brody is discharged and I can take him home?”

“Then you
call me and I’ll send a car over to get you. Or I’ll come over myself. Either
way, I’ll take care of it.”

It sounded
simple enough.  Shrugging, she sat back in the seat as he pulled away from the
curb.   He took her through her neighborhood and back to the freeway, heading
on into the city.  It was a nice ride, made better with just the two of them,
holding hands and listening to satellite radio.  Casey was just as happy as she
could be as they finally entered the city and parked in their customary parking
structure.  Colt took her briefcase and she took her purse, and he lugged his
stuff and hers stuff across the street, detouring to go into the sandwich shop
and get a couple of breakfast sandwiches.  Then it was on to the White House.

Casey took
her briefcase from him as they drew close to the property and he gave her a
wink as they separated.  She checked in through the guard shack at the north
entrance and on into the west wing while Colt went in another entry.  Since the
President was out of the office, it was rather quiet at that early hour as
Casey passed Lisanne’s desk and then Maggie’s, stopping to chat with her
friends for a few minutes and letting them know how Brody was doing.
Apparently, word got around about his injury and she was touched by all of the
concern. Moving on into her office, she set her stuff down on her desk and was
surprised to hear the sounds of typing coming from Sheridan’s office.

Casey
turned around to see Colt sitting behind his desk, working on his computer.
Somehow, he had beat her into the office but she realized she had been talking
to Maggie and Lisanne, which always took time.  He would have had plenty of
time to slip in and settle in.