"There are people that do not see things the way we do."

"And who might the 'we' be in this?" she asked.

"Not here, Alex. Tomorrow, take Ca.s.sidy on the tour of The Tower. Break away and meet me at the Salt Tower. 2:00 p.m."

Alex pulled her concentration from him as she saw Paul Daniels approaching beside Ca.s.sidy. "I'll expect you have something worth the effort," she said flatly as she flashed a smile at the oncoming pair.

"Some things are as you suspect, Alex. Some may not be." He let a slight laugh escape him and changed the course of the conversation. "Well, if I knew all it took to get you to cross the pond was a fancy dinner, Agent Toles, I would've made the arrangements long ago."

"Something tells me she's not here for our company, Russ," Paul Daniels surmised, giving Ca.s.sidy a wink.

"Well, you two certainly aren't as pretty or as interesting." Alex took Ca.s.sidy's hand. She leaned into Matthew's ear as she walked away. "I am beyond suspecting. 2:00 p.m."

lex was grateful that Ca.s.sidy had opted for an afternoon of shopping with Jane in lieu of her proposed sightseeing trip. She realized that Ca.s.sidy suspected there was an ulterior motive in her proposal for the day. Attempting to fool Ca.s.sidy in any way was generally a futile effort. She laughed at the thought as she traversed the South Wall of the Tower of London toward her intended destination. She stopped briefly to regard the iron sculpture guarding the entrance and allowed her thoughts to travel momentarily backward in time. Looking out over the expanse of the tower's property she sighed. Power had always been dressed up as protection. This fortress was as much about power as it ever had been about protecting a nation. Its walls stood tall, for centuries they stood at a staggering height. Even now this place emanated a feeling of power, regardless of the fact that it was dwarfed by the monoliths surrounding it. She took a deep breath and made her way into the building.

There was no one in the small room except a tall figure in a long black trench coat. She chuckled. "Glad you made it," he said. Alex came even with him to look into a mirror. It provided a ghostly illusion of living inside the Salt Tower as a prisoner. "Eerie, isn't it?" he suggested.

"A bit. Why here?"

Russ Matthews turned and looked into Alex's steel blue eyes. Her resolve and her skepticism were equally evident. "Do you know, Alex, what this building was originally called?"

"Did you bring me here for a history lesson, Amba.s.sador?"

He nodded and sighed. "Perhaps a history lesson is called for, Agent. Humor me. This is one of the oldest parts of this fortress. It's stood for nearly eight hundred years. Do you know what it was originally called?" Alex pursed her lips and shook her head. She was already growing tired of her friend's cryptic game. Matthews laughed. "Julius Caesar's Tower." Alex stood stoic. "Aside from the fact that it is generally quiet here this time of day, I thought it a good place to speak; instructive."

"Interesting," Alex said quietly. "While I am fascinated by history I am far more concerned with the future."

"Yes, well, Alex...Most times the answers to the future can be found in the past," he offered as he began to pace the room.

"Perhaps. You are the one that came to me first, Russ. Obviously, something concerned you about John's death, about..."

"A great deal concerns me."

"I'm sure. Being a CIA agent in an emba.s.sy must come with a great deal of expectations," she concluded.

He turned slowly. "There are always expectations. The question is whose expectations you choose to meet."

"And whose expectations are you rising to, Amba.s.sador? You didn't travel to London from Moscow just to dine with our friends either."

"No. I suspect that you already know why I am here, or at least you think you know." The amba.s.sador took a deep breath and returned his focus to the mirror. "Can you imagine, Alex, being trapped in here? In this s.p.a.ce? Left to ponder your fate without any control?" Alex did not answer his rhetorical diatribe. "When this was built England was Rome. No longer content to simply fortify its defenses. No longer at peace with the idea of prosperity for its people." He turned and faced her. "Caesar had everything a man could ask for. The more he acquired, the more he seemed to require. King, emperor, supreme leader, general, none of it was enough. There was more and more and more until..."

Alex exhaled forcefully. "I understand your point. That does not help me..."

"Alex," he began softly. "Rome is no longer limited to one hemisphere or one continent. Caesar is no longer one man."

"I understand. What does that have to do with John? With you?"

"We are headed for a collapse, Alex. John could see it. I can see it." He stopped for a moment and gathered his thoughts. "We thought we were the walls, Alex. That's what we were told. We were the walls that protected the mighty fortress. We aren't. We might as well be locked in this tower." Matthews stopped again and licked his lips. "This transaction, the reason I am here. It can no longer be prevented. Not, at least, at this juncture. The consequences of interrupting it I fear, would be far greater in scope than the risk of allowing its completion."

Alex bit her lower lip gently. If her efforts with Krause were on target, the transaction that Matthews spoke of now would be interrupted. She considered in her mind what the amba.s.sador might fear more than the technology for biological weapons in unpredictable hands. "What about SPHINX?" she asked.

Matthews sighed and looked back in the mirror. "Ghosts," he whispered to himself.

"Russ? What do you know about SPHINX? If it is still an operation that..."

The amba.s.sador turned on his heels swiftly. "Alex, Sphinx is not an operation."

"What are you talking about? I've read the files. It was the operation that John was charged with in Iraq...that our team..."

Alex watched as he shook his head and interrupted her. "Yes that is all true. But, Alex...Sphinx, Sphinx is a person."

"What are you...."

"No one knows who Sphinx is. Well, no one at my level. Not even John, though I suspect he was close to that discovery."

"You're telling me..."

"This is not simply about selling secrets, Alex. Believe me. The Russians are unpredictable right now. The French are at odds with what our friends here in London and at home propose. John was close, too close."

"Who killed him?" she asked.

"I suggest you speak to Krause about that."

"I will do that. That does not answer my biggest question. Whose expectations are you..."

"Alex, I have reached the point that John reached long ago. The only expectations I can hope to rise to meet are those of my own conscience. I don't expect you to believe me or understand. The answers you seek are found in the past. That I know. If you want to change the course of the future you are going to have to travel places that..."

"That is not very specific."

He laughed. "Alex, no one in this business is ever given specifics. You know that. It's plausible deniability. The only people who know the specifics you speak of are locked in fortresses much like this, nearly impenetrable and obscured from sight."

"Nothing is impenetrable," she said a.s.suredly.

The amba.s.sador offered her a genuine smile. "People did not want you in this game, Alex."

"What people? You mean John?"

"No. I don't. Maybe at one time."

"Who?" Before he could answer she continued, "and more importantly, why?"

He shrugged. "Maybe to protect you in the beginning. Now?" He laughed. "Probably to protect themselves."

"You're not going to tell me."

"Callier. You should speak with Callier. If you want answers... that is the place to start."

"Who is..."

"He may not be Sphinx, but he almost certainly knows who is. If he doesn't, he may be the only one that can help you uncover it."

"What about you?"

"ASA is an issue. Ivanov..."

"Victor Ivanov?" Alex sought clarification.

"Yes."

"What does the head of ASA have to do with all of this?"

"He has as much to do with this as anyone. And, if I am right...more to do with John's a.s.sa.s.sination than anyone... even Admiral Brackett."

"Are you telling me that the admiral was complicit in John's death?"

"Speak to Krause. He obviously trusts you. I only know John suspected the attempt on his life was imminent. What he told Krause, I don't know. Callier is key, Alex." He began to head toward the exit and stopped. "Follow the money. That is what John was doing. I have a different course I have to take."

"Russ...what about Ca.s.sidy and Dylan? O'Brien..."

He took a deep breath. "Alex, Ca.s.sidy and Dylan are tied to all of it. They are tied to you. Ca.s.sidy and Krause...well..."

"You know?"

"News travels fast. For what it is worth, you have powerful allies," he told her.

"I don't..."

"It's not my place, Alex. Whatever you think you know; John was your ally, not your adversary. Jane...I suspect even Krause. If Ca.s.sidy has a chance at being safe it is with you. It isn't her safety I fear for."

Alex nodded her understanding. "I appreciate your concern," she said somewhat incredulously. "I can take care of myself."

"Yes. Don't be foolish. O'Brien's carelessness in France is child's play compared to what you are choosing to immerse yourself in. You are right to keep a close eye on the sparrow, but even she is far more of a pest than a threat."

"Sparrow?"

"The admiral's daughter."

"Claire," Alex spoke in a hushed tone.

"Everyone has their sign, Alex, their handle. And, this I will tell you...their sign has its purpose and reason," the amba.s.sador offered as he turned to leave.

"And what is your sign?"

"Crow," he answered. Alex nodded and chuckled to herself, considering the absurdity in all of this. "I wonder what they would call me?" she mused aloud.

"Spider," the answer came in the distance. "You are the spider."

Monday, May 19th "You all right?" Ca.s.sidy asked the agent as they turned the corner onto their street.

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know. You've been quiet all day."

"I'm just tired."

"Alex, you don't have to tell me anything. I just worry about you sometimes. Are you worried about seeing your mother?"

Alex drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and Ca.s.sidy reached out to take hold of the agent's hand. "I just don't know what to say," Alex confessed. Ca.s.sidy was certain that their weekend in London had produced its share of stress and questions for Alex. She could read the expression in Alex's eyes as the agent rolled through her thoughts. Alex Toles' mind was seldom, if ever, silent. The only times Ca.s.sidy ever saw Alex truly at peace were when she was playing with Dylan or sleeping beside Ca.s.sidy. Sometimes, even in those moments, Ca.s.sidy would notice Alex's thoughts straying and turning wildly. Alex was curious about everything and she sought answers to every question that posed itself in her life. There was one thing that Ca.s.sidy had grown to realize very clearly; nothing unsettled Alex Toles as much as dealing with her parents seemed to.

The discovery that her father had engaged in any meeting with the congressman had not only angered Alex, Ca.s.sidy knew it had demolished any hope of reconciliation. Alex was compa.s.sionate, but she had very definite ideas about right and wrong and she was nothing if not devoted to those she loved. Her father's betrayal ironically coincided with the establishment of a renewed relationship with her mother. Ca.s.sidy was fully aware that Alex was perplexed by the situation. The agent was confident in her abilities to solve daunting mysteries in her work, but her relationship with her mother remained an enigma. "Alex, why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

"I'm not sure I know how I feel."

Ca.s.sidy stroked the back of Alex's hand with her thumb and thought silently for a moment as the car rolled to a stop in the driveway. She tightened her hold and directed Alex to look at her. The apprehension in Alex's eyes pulled at her heart and she sighed deeply. "I think you do know. No matter what happened in the past, your mother loves you....and you, you love her. I see it every time you mention her. She is here. She came here. That should tell you something. Just tell her the truth. Tell her what you feel."

"I'm not sure I..."

Ca.s.sidy pursed her lips and then began opening her door. "Tell her you love her, Alex. I'm betting those are words you really need to say."

"I don't..."

"Yes, you do know how. You'll feel better once you do."

"I don't think I can forgive him," Alex muttered.

"I know," Ca.s.sidy answered. She stretched up and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Just don't miss an opportunity and end up struggling to forgive yourself."

Alex nodded. Somehow Ca.s.sidy always seemed to understand what Alex needed, both what she needed from Ca.s.sidy and what she needed from herself. The trip abroad had opened doors for Alex. She was beginning to see the outline of a very complex picture. She didn't like what was developing, but that was a puzzle she felt a.s.sured she would be able to complete in time. And, the inescapable truth was, no matter the risks, she enjoyed the challenge. What awaited her beyond the door she now opened completely dumfounded her. She thought it was almost strange that what she now confronted in her professional life posed potential dangers to millions; to everyone; yet the challenges of building her family had become the mission she viewed with the greatest sense of urgency. "Thanks, Ca.s.s," she whispered.

Ca.s.sidy just smiled. "Let's go."

"What did you find?"

"Well," Detective Pete Ferro scratched his forehead, "nothing that knocked my socks off."

"So, you think Tate just made a natural move to the Secret Service?" Fallon asked.

"I didn't say that. He was well respected here, Fallon...and well liked. I didn't know him. He garnered a lot of respect after the World Trade Center bombing in '93. Guess he liaised with the FBI. Made some in roads for the department with the federal services. You know how it can be."

"That's it?" Fallon asked.

"No one seems to have much to say about Captain Tate, Fallon. One interesting fact I did overturn."

"What's that?"

"When he left the department it wasn't for the Department of Treasury or the Secret Service."

"There is a gap..."