November 11th.
CIA HEADQUARTERS
LANGLEY BUILDING
MCLEAN, VA
"The body of terrorist Jack Thorpe was recovered at 0500 this morning on the Potomac River, the body was badly decomposed and had to be identified by dental records. It's over."
Tim Fawkes said as he closed the file on his desk with a slap.
"How sure are we that it's actually Thorpe's body?"
Webb asked.
"It's dental ID Clay, it's virtually 95% and the wounds on the body match the ones you described inflicting exactly."
Webb looked at Tim.
"But 95% is not 100% is it Tim? There's that 5% chance that this is someone that Thorpe has set up to look like him."
"C'mon Clay, this is ridiculous. You threw a grenade into the basement, it blew a hole in the floor and the body went into the Potomac and sank. Two weeks later the body floats and DC police find it, I see nothing unusual about this. You're being paranoid."
"After the last 3 months, can you blame me?"
"No, but I think you need something to take your mind of this, that's why I'm reassigning you to the Vlakov case, you leave for Moscow tomorrow morning."
"Gee thanks."
Webb said with a frustrated grimace.
"Anytime."
CLAYTON WEBB'S APARTMENT
ALEXANDRIA, VA
Webb walked into his apartment and shut the door, the mail lay on the floor where it had fallen and his coat lay on the chair.
It was over, he told himself, really over now.
Cody had been avenged, a killer stopped and Casey was safe.
He picked up an envelope that had been dropped through the mail shute and walked into the living room to check his voice mail.
"You have 1 new message"
"Well Agent Webb, it appears you won the game after all...but appearances can be so deceptive, don't you agree?" Thorpe's voice on his answering machine sent chills down his spine."I left something for you to ponder in an envelope by the door."
The call ended as abruptly as it had begun.
Webb stared at the envelope in his hands and held it up to the light, no devices that he could see.
He flipped open the flap and pulled out a group of photo's.
The first was of him exiting his apartment this morning, briefcase and trench coat in hand.
The second was of Casey sitting in her apartment drinking coffee as she read the morning paper.
The third was of Curran as he arrived at the private agency.
All of them were taken today and showed each person to be an easy target for the trained assassin.
He looked on the back of each photo, nothing was on any of them except the one of Casey.
'You stay away from her...and so will I."
He picked up his phone and called Tim.
"Get a sound specialist down here now, Thorpe has resurfaced."
CASEY MCDANIELS APARTMENT
ALEXANDRIA, VA
November 11th
Webb walked up the path to Casey's apartment, manila folder in hand, he was not surprised to see Curran exiting the building. He had heard from Tim amongst others, that Curran and Casey had been seeing each other since the Thorpe incident.
"Curran, how's the wound healing up." He asked, almost sounding like he cared.
"Getting there, takes more time than I'd like."
"And Casey, how's she doing?"
"You could just ask her yourself." Curran said, indicating the door to her apartment.
"Actually I just came to drop these off, I got them today, they're from Thorpe."
"He's alive?"
"Apparently, he left a message on my answering machine today."
"You taking the case again this time?"
Curran asked, wondering if Webb could handle the stress of going through all this again.
"No, I've been reassigned. I just thought that Case could use the information."
Webb handed the manila folder to Curran.
"You'll see that she gets it?"
Curran didn't take the folder, instead he looked at Webb and shook his head.
"Do yourself a favor Webb, go in there and talk to her."
"I'd love to, but I have to get going, I've got a flight to Russia in 14 hours and I need some sleep."
"How can you be so damn callous Webb? She needs to talk to you, she needs your help to get her through this. This is never going to be over for her until you two get this sorted out .I know you say that you don't care and that you don't love her anymore, but we both know that it's a lie, you can't deny that you still want her."
Webb looked at Curran, the anger and frustration at the situation all plainly displayed on his face and then looked through the window of the apartment at Casey sitting on the sofa, her back to him.
"Sometimes, we just don't get what we want." He said simply as he turned and walked down the stairs, leaving the parcel of documents on the hall table. "Make her happy, she deserves it."
Curran watched Webb walk away, his trench coat snapping behind him in the brisk October breeze, the very model of a CIA operative.
"You're a bastard for walking away Webb." Curran yelled after him. "She'll hate you for doing this."
"If it keeps her alive, then I can live with that."
THE END