No way.” Callie cut him off mid-sentence. “He would never say a word.”
Barry leaned over and placed his palms on Callie’s desk. “How the hell did this happen, Callie?”
“Maybe you need to talk to Lank. Whatever this is, it had to come from someone close to him.”
Barry lifted his hands off the desk and buttoned his jacket as he stood up. “I’ll call him, but we need to make sure this goes away and fast.”
“I was thinking about doing some damage control, but no one will be in yet,” Callie said, nodding her head. “Plus I’d rather wait until we find out what she has.”
“Do you trust her?” Barry asked.
“With my life.”
Barry started to pace again, but said nothing for close to a minute. He stopped again in front of Callie and looked down at her.
“I think you need to talk to Lank,” Callie said, looking her boss in the eye.
“I know these guys, Callie. Most of them won’t do anything to incriminate themselves, but if more information comes out, they will stick it to us first, believe me.”
Callie took a moment to think about what the consequences would be if one of the Senators talked. She stared at Barry with an all too serious look on her face. “What then?” she asked.
“I’m not sure we can afford to wait that long. We need to get out in front of this and take that option off the table for any of those cowards on Capitol Hill.” Barry sat back down in the chair and relaxed a little, at least for the moment. “We might have to go into defense mode right away. “What about Mike?”
“What about him?”
“What did he have to say?”
Callie paused for what seemed like an eternity.“Nothing.” What Callie and Mike talked about was none of Barry’s business, but either way, it wasn’t in her best interest to discuss it with Barry.
Barry stood and turned for the door. Callie followed behind him as if only to move the day forward and that would not start until he was gone from her office. “See what Kacey knows,” Barry said. “We may have to handle it ourselves.”
Callie looked curiously at Barry, not sure what he meant by that, or how he thought they could handle it themselves. He walked through the open doorway then doubled back with the express purpose of looking in her eyes when he delivered his next piece of advice.
“Callie, we need to close ranks on this and fast. Do not trust anyone.” Barry started to leave then turned back to Callie once more.
“And I mean anyone.”
Callie watched Barry walk down the hall, then scurried back to her desk, sat down and picked up her cell phone. She leaned back in her chair and dialed Mike’s number.
“Hey, you,” Mike said when he picked up.
“I think I’m going to need a raincheck on lunch, sweetie.”
“Why’s that?”
“I have to get together with Kacey…talk about this piece in the paper.”
“You have any idea where it came from?” Mike asked.
Callie hesitated a moment before she answered, “Not as of yet, but that’s why I have to dump you today.” Callie stood up and sashayed over to the corner of her office, kicked off her white Ruthie Davis pumps and spread out on the couch.
“What about dinner? You want to go somewhere?” Mike asked.
Lying down, Callie closed her eyes, and enjoyed a momentary escape from the barrage of land-mines that awaited her. “I’m thinking maybe we could eat in…jacuzzi…your legs wrapped around me…falling asleep in your arms…”
“I guess eating in’s not so bad,” Mike said with a smile she could not see.
Callie laughed. “You guess not, huh?” She smiled, immersed in the excitement of their solitary secret. “You see Todd, today?”
“I did.”
“Did you tell him about us?”
“I did.”
“Did he say anything about it?”
“He did.”
“Duh…why are you making me work so hard…what did he say?”
“He said you’re really hot.”
“He always says that. What did he say about us, the marriage thing?”
“He said you made a good decision.”
“You made a good decision, as in you Mike, or that I made a good decision as in I, me, Callie?” Callie was engrossed in conversation. She paid no attention to the calls that continued to pound her office phone.
“As in you over there. He said you, Callie, made a good decision.”
“Screw him. I mean, are all CIA guys assholes?”
“What do you mean all CIA guys?”
“Mike, you speak eight different languages, what do you think I mean?”
“Are you saying I’m an asshole?”
“I just asked a question...” Callie said.
“Oh, no, I don’t care if you called me an asshole just so long as you marry me.”
“Don’t make me regret my good decision…”
“Ouch. That’s cold, Cal.”
Callie hung up the phone, stood up from the couch and slipped back into her heels, knowing that play-time was over. She walked to the window and recalled what Barry had said about having to handle it themselves. What was he referring to? What she did know from her own experience with him was when Barry got involved, things did not stay clean and simple for long and usually those who were in the way, did not stay in the way. What she had to do now, she thought, was make sure that anyone close to her did not get in the way.
Eight
The Capital Beltway, it could be argued, was the site of the worst congestion in the entire country. Mike Ferguson sat in it on his drive back from the Capitol following a frustrating meeting with Senator Reid McCombs. McCombs was President Conroy’s closest ally in the Senate and it is assumed that when Conroy wants to get something off his chest, McCombs does the dirty work for him. The one great thing about being a field agent, Mike thought, was not having to deal with people like McCombs. Mike could never understand why legislators like McCombs, who claimed to have the Country’s best interests at heart, constantly behaved as if that concept was the last thing they had on their mind.
“In my opinion, the money we are wasting with
