Chapter 11: Rhea's Disclosure

Casey was crouched and feeling along the interior of Rhea's mini-van when she came outside the complex at six-thirty in the morning. She was dressed in a sleek black pantsuit with a white silk blouse and high-heeled black boots. She looked the epitome of New York City class. Casey was still in his grungy T-shirt and jeans and he needed a shave. He stood up and craned and flexed his neck and muscles. He'd gotten much too used to the King-size Serta at his apartment.

"Glad we had the same idea about getting up at the crack of dawn, I have to get into my apartment for a decent shower and a black suit."

"That's right, the services start around 9:30…I don't know if you want to be there for all the pomp and circumstance, but…"

"No. But we'll find them. I…I called Chuck's house. Ellie and Devon are having a separate, private burial and Morgan's family is having his ashes buried in the same plot. Friends to the end, I guess."

"And Agent Walker?"

"Her remains were cremated and flown back to Washington for a Hero's funeral. Agent Bryce Larkin's shouldering that responsibility, he left a coded message on my cell."

Rhea wanted to press about his family, but kept silent. She suddenly realized he'd had gotten into the car without using keys.

"What are doing? How did you get in there?"

"I got ways. I did a bug check, it's all clear. You and I need to have a little talk…if not now, then on the ride home." He opened the drivers side. "After you, Agent Jones."

Rhea climbed in and Casey went in the passenger side. He glanced at the sky, half expecting rain under the circumstances, but the sun shone bright as ever. He lay back and closed his eyes numbly.

"Wake me up when we get to my place."

~Oo~

The small, but emotional funerals passed by like a blur. The usually tranquil cemetery was filled with wailing relatives and friends of many victims. Casey and Rhea stood solemn in the distance as the Bartowski and Grimes families wept together. Casey remembered the day of Bryce Larkin's 'funeral' and how he'd watched Chuck by the gravesite. Beckman warned him of his assignment to kill Chuck from the beginning, once the new Intersect was secured in Washington. Even then, the thought of wantonly murdering Chuck sparked a change in him.

Beckman's officials didn't approach Casey, and Rhea wondered if they even bothered to show up. Chuck was nothing more than a tool to house their precious Government secrets and he became expendable once he outlived his usefulness. With the Intersect gone, the Government dug itself into a massive grave, and it seemed there was no way out.

"My assignment with the Intersect…resurrected my humanity." Casey whispered to the trees, listening to the pastor talk about resurrection and life. "Before this, I completely lost it."

Casey's eyes and nose turned bright pink and he struggled to keep his tears in check. Rhea glanced at him. This scene was not unfamiliar to her as she recalled her own tragedies. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Casey didn't speak, but returned the gesture and then put his hands in his pockets.

Rhea felt a tingle of fear crawl down her back and she looked around. Everyone was involved in their own ceremonies and hundreds of saddened onlookers packed outside the cemetery gates to pay their respects. Her gaze swept across the lush green lawns and rows of headstones and crumbling statues. She changed her view down the winding, paved road. A stream of parked hearses snaked the path. The drivers leaned on their cars, quietly chatting amongst themselves, but there was one who kept silent.

It was difficult to make him out in the distance, but when their eyes met, her arms prickled with gooseflesh. He had a lopsided smile on his serene face–not out of sorrow–but perverse delight. His head bobbed up and down slowly as he observed the mourners and contemplated the fruits of his labors. Rhea turned to Casey, but he'd walked away to Chuck's gravesite. Casey had his head lowered and his arms behind his back while talking to Ellie and Devon and offering whatever comfort he knew how to give.

Rhea glanced at the pallbearers again, but the one watching her was gone. She wiped her eyes and left the area. As she made her way to her vehicle, Casey caught up. He put his hand on her elbow and drew her close.

"Don't make yourself a target. I saw him, Rhea. About six foot one, thin and muscular, crew-cut black hair and bright eyes…he stood out like a sore thumb."

Rhea gazed at him in wonder; Major John Casey never missed a beat.

~Oo~

The drive back to the Headquarters continued in a silence that chafed Casey's nerves. After getting into the Mojave territory, the traffic eased up and Rhea picked up speed. Casey's impatience exploded and he slammed the dashboard. Rhea gasped and swerved violently to the left. The mini-van took a spin and Casey grabbed the steering wheel, driving her off the main road and into a sand hill. She glared at him livid and put the car in reverse.

"What the hell did you do that for? Are you trying to kill us too?"

"Stop the car"

"But…"

"I said stop the car!"

Rhea followed his commands and the mini-van lurched to a sharp halt. She bounced back in her seat. Casey finally let go and strummed his fingers, his jaw clenched red.

"I want to know about Agent Costa and why you're so suspicious of him. Something isn't Kosher with that Tracking system, I know it…I can feel it…but you need to tell me!"

Rhea pulled at her hair and sank lower in the seat, she was just as furious as he was, but less apt to explode in a swinging rage. "Alright, Major…you want to know my little back-story, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything and then you figure it out!"

"Good! I'm all ears!"

She unbuckled her seat belt and pushed her chair out, facing him cross-legged. "In nineteen-ninety-six I became a personal secretary for Special Agent Costa. He was the head of a Government Telecommunications company that worked out of the World Trade Center. While there I met my future husband, Christopher Jones. He was one of Costa's head Technicians, specializing in satellite development. It was love, it was bliss, and we were married in ninety-eight with all the hearts and flowers you could imagine."

Rhea delicately toyed with her ring finger, which Casey realized was bare.

"Chris was a wonderful man, quiet, mild, a real genius…not to mention tall, dark, handsome and extremely well-built for someone tethered to a computer all day. For a long time I was the envy among the other gals while we were dating. I got the feeling that Costa was jealous of Chris too. He'd never made full on advances to me, but it was always in the air that he wanted more out of the personal aspect of my job description. He was also irritated with all the time and attention Chris devoted to me. Something critical was going down and he always had him working long hours."

Casey moved closer with interest and laid his seat flat, scooting cross-legged like her.

"Keep going, this is getting juicy."

Rhea grimaced at him, but continued. "Around two-thousand, things got awkward at home. Chris put in massive amounts of over-time, getting more stressed and guarded about his work assignments. Costa literally had me contacting Government officials all over the world. I spent days gathering the names and addresses of science labs, doctors, physicists, you name it. It was grueling for both of us and I was even more aggravated. Chris promised we'd buy a house and we were planning to have children."

She glanced out the window sadly, and Casey snapped her back to attention.

"Don't stop, Rhea. I need to know more." He said with a kindness that was almost foreign to him.

Rhea's eyes brimmed over as she recalled the events.

"The big day came…September eleventh, two-thousand one. Costa was adamant that I work from home that day. He claimed there'd be too many distractions for the project he wanted me to do…it was a perfect set-up. Chris and I had a sweet loft in DUMBO, with an ideal view of the skyline."

Rhea threw back her head with a despaired laugh.

"Who comes to my door at eight-forty in the morning, but Agent Costa carrying a box of useless research papers he just had to deliver himself and go over with me personally."

Rhea's knuckles turned white and she she punched the leather seating. The memories tore her up, but whatever Casey's motives, she had to tell the truth. She trembled with soft sobs. Casey reached out and gripped her arm to hold her secure.

"That bastard! He'd sent Chris to the transmission tower to check a 'Satellite malfunction.' Chris knew about this Tracker! He helped Costa design this damn satellite system and he…he never had a chance, John! Just like your family, your friends…Chuck…he never had a chance!"

Rhea lurched and cried on his chest. She tightened her arms around his waist, nearly clawing at his back. Casey rocked her.

"It's okay, Rhea. Please keep talking."

"Costa played the big shot, he played the hero, comforting me, paying for the funeral expenses, letting me continue working for…damn him! Damn him! He killed Chris! He killed them all! I know it!" She shouted, and dropped her head back onto his shoulder, gasping.

Casey rubbed his chin in her hair, the sweet aroma played on his senses. He swallowed his intense anger. It was his turn to finish the story and he did so with a peculiar gentleness that helped calm her fragile nerves.

"Costa knew…He knew what was going to happen that day just like a lot of other Feds. I did, but there was nothing any of us could've done. The secret your husband kept was the Tracker's unique functions. All those calls you made…you don't whip up a trillion dollars overnight. Costa needed funding, resources, and permission from persons of interest with financial and political clout. He needed the cooperation of whole tiny nations that had a lot to lose and everything to gain from this invention. It would've taken over ten years to get this business off the ground. And now here we are…testing phase 1."

The truth became clearer and he spouted his theories. "Costa had a soft spot and didn't want you to die. He needed you as back up. You knew too much and he couldn't be sure what Chris may have shared with you about the Tracker. He gave you Agent status."

Casey gently pushed her away and held her arms. "Let me guess, he let you pick the first project?"

Rhea tilted her head. "Yes…the Buy More explosion…oh my God…John!"

"Did you really think Costa would let Chuck live? It was only a matter of time before the Intersect picked up his secrets. He couldn't have any obstacles standing in his way."

"But he didn't kill Chuck."

"Of course not!" Casey grunted. "A man like that would never get literal blood on his manicured hands. The bomber's still out there, and I bet if we trace the pallbearer at the funeral, we got our guy. Costa doesn't care about him, he'll be happy when he's caught. The explosion at the Buy More didn't mean anything, that was just a cover for the real murder…Chuck's!"

Rhea grabbed her steering wheel disillusioned. There was still a very big part of the puzzle Casey hadn't figured out. It was something she didn't think Costa knew about. She'd made a silent pact with Simon, Wang and Althea when they discovered it two years ago. Rhea recalled how Chris used to amuse her with wild theories, not realizing there was an element of truth in them, and his life's work. She started the mini-van and backed onto the road, her tears had dried up and her eyes blazed for revenge.

"Then let's go back, Casey, let's go back and catch this killer before…" Rhea stopped herself.

"Before what?"

"Never mind…before Costa kills again. Keep this in mind. Agent Costa went down days ago." She whispered. "He just doesn't know it yet."