Epilogue #3
“You say that as if it should mean something to me.”
Kapralov smiled. “The major was Major Brackett’s grandfather.”
Alex sat back with a soft thud. “Marjorie Brackett’s father.”
“Yes.”
Alex looked at him. “There’s more.”
“There is always more.”
“I’m listening.”
“Major Randolph and Admiral Lawrence Brackett led the commission group.”
“The commission group?”
“Bringing those trained by the OSS back home,” Kapralov said.
“Like my grandfather.”
“Among others.”
“You’re not telling me something. Is this about Cassidy or Dylan?”
“Jim entered this world without full understanding. He was recruited for his scientific knowledge and innovation. His family had no connection to the alliance’s founders. That, in many ways, made him a greater threat to men like Bill Brackett.”
“And that’s why Brackett wanted to use Cassidy and Claire as leverage.”
Kapralov nodded.
“And?”
“Alexis, some things are better?—”
“They are not better left unknown,” she said. “Not now. Information is the most powerful resource I have.”
“Very well. Others were brought home.”
“What is it you don’t want to tell me?”
He took a breath and exhaled slowly. “Among those reluctantly called back to service was a popular governor.”
“And?”
“Governor Joseph Stratton.”
Alex blinked. “Candace’s grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“She doesn’t know.”
“No. He sheltered his family as best he could. Still, she followed the expected path. Perhaps surpassed it.”
“No one uses President Reid.”
“I’m aware.”
“Is this why she’s such a threat?”
“The governor had access to a great deal of information, Alexis. Whether he preserved or destroyed that information is unknown.”
“And you think Candace might what? Happen across it?”
“What I think is not the issue. Your president is tied to the alliance.”
“How do I know this isn’t some?—”
“I have no reason to lie to you, Alexis. President Reid often speaks of her grandfather. It raises questions for some and alarms for others, just as they have noticed Claire finding her way home. You must be cautious now.”
Alex shook her head. “I think we’ve been cautious for too long.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. If what you say is true, caution has only made the president a larger target. She needs to know.”
“And what might that accomplish?”
“She has a right to know.”
“Perhaps.”
“Why tell me all this now?”
“You asked.”
Alex shook her head.
“We both know warfare has changed,” Kapralov said. “It is not the nuclear weapons you need to fear most, though in the wrong hands?—”
“Yes. I’m aware.”
“Go back to the beginning, Alexis. If you want to know how to defeat your enemies, you must go back to the beginning. Think as they do. Move as they do. There is no price they are unwilling to pay. That is both their advantage and their weakness.”
Alex groaned.
“I will help you as much as I am able,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because, like you, I am not willing to sacrifice that which means the most to me to this madness.”
“Pyotr.”
He smiled.
“Did my father have a heart attack?” she asked.
“Your father chose his death,” Kapralov said, “hoping to protect you.”
Alex held his gaze. “I have one more question.”
“Ask it.”
“O’Brien.”
Kapralov nodded. “Christopher O’Brien was assigned to make inroads with Lynx’s daughter. Many suspected Jim was still alive.”
“I know. He was the admiral’s ghost.”
“Mm. He is feared, Alexis. He is still feared.”
“Why? You said yourself that Jim didn’t understand what he’d signed up for.”
“No. Not at first. When he learned, it became his mission to learn all he could. James McCollum would go to any lengths to protect his family, beyond what most would imagine.”
Kapralov’s voice softened.
“You worry that your son will inherit this legacy. We all do. We do not all choose to carry it.”
Alex groaned.
“He wants to be like you,” Kapralov said, “and like his father and his aunt.”
“I thought he’d become a pilot.”
Kapralov smiled. “Did you?”
Alex opened her mouth to speak, then closed it.
“I told you; some of what we inherit is not our choosing. What it becomes remains in our hands.”
He reached over and touched Alex’s hand.
She looked down at his fingers, then back at him.
“I do not expect your trust,” he said. “I will give you mine.”
“Why?”
“Because it is time for something new, Alexis. A changing of the guard. And you and your president are the captains of that guard.”
Alex stared at him for a long time.
Outside, a plow scraped along the street, the low metal groan carrying through the apartment walls. An ordinary sound. Ordinary weather. An ordinary city.
Nothing about this was ordinary.
Alex stood.
Kapralov did not.
“Enjoy your first Christmas in America, Mr. President.”
“Nika,” he said.
She paused.
“Not yet.”
He smiled and offered her a nod.
Alex walked to the door.
“Alexis.”
She looked back.
“All things are revealed with time,” he said. “No matter how we try to bury them. Do not forget that the past is forgettable to most, and regrettable to few in this business.” He smiled. “Schastlivogo Rozhdestva.”
“Naslazhdaytes’ kofe, gospodin prezident.”
Kapralov listened to the lock turn behind her.
“Vsemu svoyo vremya, Alexis.”
All in good time, Alexis.
To be continued in INHERITANCE