Free Fires of Autumn by Kathryn Le Veque

He grinned at
her as he offered her his elbow once more.
    “Come on,”
he said. “If you’re determined to go, let’s get you out of here.”
    She took
his elbow.  “So we’re doing the prom escort thing again?”
    “Pretty
much.”
    She
giggled as she followed him out from underneath the portico and up the steps,
feeling the warm and glow from the rooms into the cold night. They’d taken a
side entrance back into the White House, avoiding the rooms with the cocktail
party, and Colt handed her over to a young, dark-haired agent in the big
hallway that ran the length of the White House. With nothing more than a brief
smile, he went back to his post as Casey followed the young secret service
agent out into the night.
    Thoughts
of Colt Sheridan kept popping in to her mind all weekend.
    Oh sweet darlin' you get the best of my love….
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Casey was
in the office bright and early Monday morning.  She arrived at least an hour
before she was scheduled to work, mostly because Russ had a meeting in the city
with a company called GreenTopia, all part of the environmental bill that was
heading for a vote in the next few weeks.  Senator Dane was to be part of the
meeting so Casey wanted to make sure the President was prepared for what would
undoubtedly be discussed.
    She had
his black leather folio on her desk, neatly piling papers into it that he could
study on his way over to the meeting.  Ever since she had come in to the
office, she had been making copies and putting things in chronological order
for Russ’s review.  Casey was a master at organization, which over the past six
months as the President’s personal assistant, had served her well. Russ hadn’t
known her to make a bad decision yet. He’d quickly come to trust her.
    Dressed in
a grayish-lavender dress with a matching sweater and spiky black pumps, her
luscious hair was pulled back in a stylish ponytail, giving her a very high-end
and sexy look without going overboard.  Unfortunately, she’d been up with Brody
most of the night, as the boy had a stomach bug, and Aunt Riley was taking him
to the doctor that morning to have him checked out. There was lots of concealer
covering up the dark circles beneath the violet eyes and, more than once, she
had to stop herself from yawning.  It was going to be a long day.
    She
finished the folio and moved on to the electronic wizardry she would bring with
her as she followed Russ around – three cell phones, two IPads and one laptop
would be part of her arsenal.  As she fussed with one of the IPads, two of
Russ’ aides entered her office to wait for the President. Barbara Biel, a woman
with a deep background in environmental and political science, and Jason
Travis, a young man with connections who had a great political future, made
small talk with Casey as she packed up for the day.  
    Her
officemate Chris eventually wandered in to the office and began to set up for
the day, booting up computers and pulling out his Planner.  He would be
accompanying them on the outing as well, as the President’s travel coordinator,
so it was already shaping up to be a well-tended trip.   More people came into
the office area, which was too small to hold them all, as Russ eventually appeared.
    Dressed in
a blue suit, he greeted everyone amiably.  Russ was fairly loud spoken, with a
wicked sense of humor when he got going, and the way he greeted people made
each and every one of them feel as if the President was paying special
attention to them. It was a gift he had, one that had helped get him elected,
and by the time he reached Casey’s desk, he smiled warmly at her.
    “Well,
General,” he said amiably. “Are we all set for the day?”
    Casey
nodded, hand folded casually on her desk top. “All set, sir,” she said. “We’ll
leave here in about an hour and it should take us about twenty minutes to get
to GreenTopia.  I’m bringing the agenda with me so