Page 55 of Degrees of Control
“Dammit! No, just get more people on it. Until then we’ll be working from home. Didn’t I tell you to take some time off?” he asks, his brows furrowing, pausing to listen to the caller on the other end.
“Thanks Jay, but I want you to get some rest now. Sheldon has everything under control and when you come back we’ll move him full–time to Katarina’s detail. If he’s interested that is. You know she can be pretty hard to handle,” he says, smirking at me.
I lower my eyes at him and give Sheldon, who has come into the cabin and is seated in one of the reclining chairs by the window, a smile. He disconnects just as the pilot begins making his way down the runway.
“Alfreita has gone into hiding again. Every indication would lead you to believe that he is being aided by his family members in the Middle East and Interpol,” Chase says.
“It scares me that he’s still out there,” I say.
“We have a team investigating his relationships with Interpol, but we haven’t learned anything of use, yet. Jay just wanted to let us know security has been ramped up at home and what we should expect when we get to the airport,” Chase explains.
“That’s why you said we would be working from home this week?” I say.
“Just precautionary, and it’s a short week with Thanksgiving on Thursday,” he says.
“Remember Mom and Dad will fly in for Thanksgiving. I told them we would have the Boys and Girls Club over for the day and they seemed happy to spend it with the teenagers.”
“Good, I’m sure the kids will enjoy it, as well.”
“Mom asked me about traveling to New York the week between Christmas and New Years to celebrate the holidays,” I say.
“It sounds like a good plan, Dad and Emily would be pleased, but let’s not finalize anything until we learn a little bit more about Alfreita’s plans. I don’t want a repeat of last time,” he says, kissing my lips gently.
“Sheldon, can you get ahold of the team for a conference call once we get home? I’d like to discuss short and long term plans with them,” he says.
“Already done, Chase. Jay thought you would want to pull everyone together. He plans to sign on even though I told him we had it covered,” Sheldon says.
“Jay’s a good man. I told him not to come back for a month, but we’ll see how that plays out. Thanks for the update and taking care of things in his absence. I’ll leave you to the logistics then,” Chase says.
“There’s frenzy on the tarmac,” I say to Chase as we touch down at O’Hare.
“The paparazzi were alerted to our arrival so we’ve got security and police officers onsite,” Chase says, as we make our way from the plane to the limo. Sheldon climbs into the front seat after making sure we are safely in the back, and I notice that vehicles have been positioned both in the front and back of us. I am reminded of another time when this would have scared me. Right now, I feel blessed they are keeping us safeguarded from this maniac who would like nothing better than to profit from poisoning thousands of people, do us harm, and is being protected by Interpol.
Once we get on the highway, it is not a long trip to the country house since Sunday evening traffic is relatively light. We find Gaby bent over at the counter going through recipes as we walk into the kitchen. She looks up with a start as we enter the room.
“I didn’t hear you two sneak in,” she admonishes, coming round the table to give us a quick hug. “I bet you’re absolutely famished,” she says, bustling over to the crock pot. As she lifts the lid the delicious aroma of thyme and slow roasted chicken fill the air.
“You bet I am, absolutely starving,” Chase says, winking at me.
“What do you have in that pot, Gaby?” he says, pulling out a chair for me at the small oval kitchen table.
“Chicken dumpling soup,” she says, ladling two soup bowls full.
“It smells delicious,” I say, as we sit down to eat.
“Gaby, Katarina’s parents will be spending Thanksgiving with us,” he says.
“Wonderful, the more the merrier,” she says and the twinkle in her eyes is unmistakable. The soup is wonderful and as we near the bottom of our bowls she brings us each a piece of freshly baked bread adorned with Irish cream butter and honey. I spend a few minutes chatting with Gaby about the holiday menu and as she’s talking look down at an incoming message on my phone.
Message:I’ve been waiting all day to get you upstairs.
I chat with Gaby for a few moments before excusing myself for the evening and slowly walk past Chase while responding to his message.
Reply:Inquiring minds want to know what you have planned?
Message:A punishment, fit for all the worry and anguish you’ve caused me.
My heart skips a beat. We have not experimented like that since before we went to Aruba and he proposed.
