FALCON PROTECTION SERVICES HEADQUARTERS
SUITE 7, LANGDON BUILDING
WASHINGTON D.C.
October 27th
"You'll be pleased to know that at least one of our friends at Langley is willing to play ball."
Curran said as he walked back into the office, throwing a manila folder down on the desk.
"Should I ask who?"
Casey said as she grabbed the folder and quickly scanned it's contents.
"Better off not knowing, trust me."
Curran walked to the coffee machine and poured both himself and Casey a cup. He had been to see Tim Fawkes and give him an update on their progress in their investigation, prior to him leaving Fawkes had asked him to pass on the information to Casey as discreetly as possible.
"Tim did a good job compiling this information, there's a few good leads in here that they can't cover domestically. Does he have anything else we can use?"
Curran almost choked on his coffee.
"You knew?" He croaked.
Casey smiled benignly
"Of course. You didn't think I actually believed that garbage you fed me about leaving the Teams just to go private on your own did you?"
"I thought...I.." Curran was caught between anger and being embarrassed at being caught out. "All this time and you knew that this was a sham? And you said nothing?"
"Yup." Casey grinned. "You were having such a good time being chivalrous, I didn't want to spoil your fun. Besides cloak and dagger is all part of the fun of being a spook."
Curran put down his coffee and leaned over her.
"I ought to..."
"No you won't, we have new leads, new information, listen I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner but it just never seemed like the right time. Look how about, I take you out to dinner, we go over the new information and you can forgive me."
Curran smiled.
"Dijon's?"
"Deal, you can pick me up at 7pm and we'll go to Dijon's."
7PM
DIJON'S FRENCH RESTAURANT
ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA
Two pairs of eyes watched the attractive couple in the back corner table intently, as they sat drinking their wine and chatting quietly to each other. One pair of those eyes belonged to Clayton Webb.
"Curran, I should have known he would move in for the kill." He muttered to himself.
The female agent he had been assigned to gave him a puzzled look, he merely arched an eyebrow and she looked away. Casey wouldn't have looked away, he thought to himself, she would have given him that challenging look he had always been so fond of.
"I want a background run on Curran, everything from where he lives to what brand of toothpaste he used when he was 5. I want it on my desk by tomorrow morning." He said softly, the small lapel microphone he wore relaying his orders back to the surveillance van that had been tailing Casey since this afternoon.
"Sorry, no can-do sir." Came the reply from the van.
"And why not?"Webb asked with gritted teeth.
"He's got a Grade 11 clearance Sir."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Sir, that Curran is one of ours. He's a Company man, it says here that he's designated to the Directors office and is currently on Special assignment.
The rest of his file is a blackout."
"What the fuck is going on? Why hasn't Tim told me any of this? Get me Curran's home and business address." Webb ordered, he scribbled down the address and planned his next course of action.
From across the room he heard that familiar husky laugh, and watched as James reached out and held Casey's hand in his laughing as he pretended to bow over it, sharing with her some private joke.
He had missed the sound of her laughter, he closed his eyes and he could still see the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, the way amusement danced at the corners of her mouth before she laughed. Then that picture in his mind was replaced with the look that she had given him when he'd said those cruel words to her after Cody's funeral.
The devastation, the glittering anger.
With a sigh he opened his eyes and picked up the glass of ice water on the table, he remembered the look of loathing and the words she had said as he had reeled drunkenly in front of her ...
" I understand that you lost your son Webb, and I miss Cody too, it's like a huge piece of me is missing. But unlike you I am trying to find out who did this and make them pay. If you want to dishonor the memory of your son by spending the rest of your life crawling around the bottom of a bottle of scotch, then that's fine, go right ahead. Just don't expect me to be here when you sober up."
He had not had another thing to drink since that night, her words had fuelled him with determination to find Cody's killer and he had been working the taskforce ever since to make that happen. He didn't know what he had expected her to do after she left him , fade quietly away, disappear from his life as all the other women he had dated had done.
He guessed he should have known better than to think that of her, she was like no-one he had ever known and she was the only one he had ever loved.
Across the room, an old man, his hair grey and thinning, sat watching the couple in the corner , his attention wavered between them and the man watching them with envy in his eyes.
He smiled to himself, Dalready had been right, McDaniels and Curran were indeed working together and my, my, my didn't it seem that Agent Webb had a problem with that idea.
Jack Thorpe signaled the waitress, watching as the leggy blonde made her way towards him , a smile on her face as she anticipated the tip she would get from her elderly customer.
"Thank you, the meal was delicious." He handed her a blood red rose he had been carrying in a plastic tube
"Sweet dreams my dear."
The waitress took the rose as her customer shuffled his way out of the restaurant and into a waiting taxi out front, she sniffed the newly opened bloom smiling at the kindness of the gesture before tucking it into her apron.
Thirty seconds later, the waitress collapsed while clearing Webb's table, her lips turning a deep shade of purple as her eyes rolled back into her head.
Webb didn't see Casey and Curran leave, although he had been alerted to the fact via his earpiece, his attention was fully garnered by the waitress who's body now twitched with seizures. It was as he was clearing a space around her that he noticed the rose in her apron, with his hand covered by a napkin, he reached down and picked up the bloom, raising it to his nose. The faint chemical smell emanating from the flower gave credit to the theory that the waitress had been poisoned.
It was as he was studying the bloom that he noticed a mark on one of the petals, pulling a knife from the table he moved the petal so he could study it better.
The word "Next "was printed on the petal.
Clay moved the petal under it.
"Time"
With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach he unfolded one petal after another.
"Next Time It Will Be Agent McDaniels, Catch Me If You Can.Thorpe"
He put the flower down on the table and walked towards the door, the female agent he had been with following him.
"Agent Bascomb , you stay and let the DC police know what happened, I have to be somewhere."He said in a voice that brooked no argument.
On the way to his destination he phoned Tim Fawkes.
"He was at the restaurant, I want her protected."
"She is."
"You mean Curran?" Webb snorted. "Why wasn't I told that he was one of ours?"
"I was worried about your reaction, it appears my fears were not baseless."
Tim said with a sigh.
"Just keep her safe Tim, that's all I'm asking."
"We're doing our best Clay, but she's trying to nail Thorpe as well. I can't protect her from herself."
"No but I bet I know someone who can." Webb said as he hung up.
45 minutes later, he knocked on the door of the small houseboat and was not surprised when it opened within 20 seconds.
"You took your time, I was expecting you about half an hour ago."
"I got held up at dinner."
JAMES CURRAN'S HOUSEBOAT
Curran leaned against the counter, the beer he had just opened held lightly in his hand.
"So what do you want Webb?"
"Thorpe."
"Can't help you."
"He killed that waitress tonight in the restaurant."
"Bit of a stretch don't you think Webb?"
Curran eyed him carefully.
"There was a rose in her apron, it had some sort of neurotoxin on it."
"Could have been any number of people, maybe she had an ex who didn't like her."
"True, but I doubt her ex would have written "Next Time It Will Be Agent McDaniels- Catch Me If You Can" on the petals."
Webb noticed he now had Curran's full attention.
"Looks like our boy is getting cocky." Curran stared at the drawn look on Webb's face. "What were you doing at the restaurant Webb?"
"We've got Casey under surveillance, in case Thorpe tries anything." Webb said softly, running his fingers through his hair. "Does she know we were there tonight?"
"Does she know? Damn man, she pointed you guys out to me! "Curran laughed. "Turning up in person was hardly very subtle Webb."
Webb shrugged.
"I had no choice, I'm working the task force on this."
"You could have stayed in the van and we both know it."
"I get claustrophobic, now you want to tell me how you managed to get involved in this?" Webb asked.
"Not particularly."
Curran scowled at Webb.
"How long have you and Casey been seeing each other?"
"None of your damn business."
"So you don't deny that you are seeing each other?"
"I'm not confirming or denying anything to you webb, you're nothing to me."
Curran smirked.
"I'm in charge of the Thorpe investigation, you are answerable to me."
"I am on a special assignment linked directly to the Directors office, and until such time as you become Director of the CIA, we have nothing to talk about."
"Except Casey's safety."
Webb said with agitation.
"You were hardly concerned about her safety 4 weeks ago , when you let her walk out of the house and disappear."
"I was drunk."
"So I heard."
"Curran, you know nothing about the situation between Casey and myself, so stay out of it."
"I can't."
Curran said quietly.
Webb looked at Curran, he had been more angry at Clay's treatment of Casey than he had been about Thorpe.
"You like her don't you."
Webb's statement was made quietly and with hint of a question.
"Like I said Webb, none of your damn business."
"No that's where you're wrong. Taking advantage of Casey's grief to get closer to her, that must be an all time low for you Curran."
Curran stepped closer to Webb.
"I think you'd better leave before I do something that the coroner's office will have to deal with later."
Webb shrugged.
"Personally, I don't care what your relationship with Casey is, all I want to do is make sure she's safe."
"She is."
"Fine, make sure she stays that way, or I'll hold you personally accountable."
Webb left the houseboat feeling like he'd just been slapped.
CASEY MCDANIELS APARTMENT
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
28th October
She had review that same file over four times now and still nothing jumped out as vitally important.
The last 24 hours had been gruelling, collaborating the existing information that James had gotten from Tim with the information they themselves had gathered from their sources. She felt that she was finally getting somewhat closer to nailing Cody's killer, the proof that she was getting somewhere had been Clay's arrival at the restaurant last night. The Company had her under surveillence, and she had to admit she was almost glad that someone was watching her back, even if it was someone she was supposed to despise.
The incident at the restaurant yesterday had been Thorpe, of that she was sure, he appeared to be seeking her just as she was seeking him.
She covered her mouth as she yawned aloud, she was tired, bone tired.To tired to cook, she picked up the phone and dialed for Tony's pizza, after being told they had a delivery time of 45 minutes she sat down to run through the file again.
One hour later , she was on her third slice of pizza when the wave of dizziness swept over her, startled by the sudden onset she got to her feet and walked to the bathroom. Disturbed by the unrelenting waves of dizziness, she walked back into the living room and grabbed the phone, the world spun again and she barely managed to make it to the couch before the dizziness forced her to lay down completely.
Pressing the redial button on the phone she heard a male voice.
Sweat beading on her forehead and nausea ripping through her stomach she whispered.
"Curran, help me..."
One final wave of dizziness swept her towards unconsciousness, not before she saw the door to her apartment open and pair of black boots make their way towards her.