Houston Goes to Washington Pt. 02

The following is a spin-off of my three-part series, "Houston." To understand the full context of this story, I suggest you read that series as well. This story is set a few months before the events of "Revenge in Advance: The Briefing," and includes an appearance by Oscar Warren, the main character in that series.

If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you read the first part of this story to fully understand what is taking place.

As always, constructive comments are always welcome and appreciated. Please refer to my profile for more on my personal policy regarding comments, feedback, follows, etc. (Yes, I do moderate comments. Please remember, this is a work of fiction, meaning that it is not real in any way, shape, matter or form.

...

Ending of "Houston Goes To Washington, Part 01":

"So, you think Legstrom has targeted Houston?" John asked. "And all of this is just a ... ruse to get Houston here?"

"I'm pretty certain of it," Regis said. "He's had his eye on her ever since she joined the company. But she's not tonight's target. Ogilvie is. Still, I want you to be extra careful, Houston," he told her.

"I will, boss," she said.

"Good," Regis said. "I'm sending an encrypted copy of Legstrom's profile to you, John. I'm also sending a video of a conversation between Ogilvie and Legstrom. I think the two of you will find it... interesting. Oscar's team will be close by if you need backup tonight. Good luck to the both of you."

"Thanks, boss," John said as the video ended.

...

And now, "Houston Goes To Washington, Part 2":

John looked at his wife and saw her expression. She was clearly frightened and tears were forming in her eyes.

"Houston?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm scared, John," she said. "I keep thinking back to when I worked at Omega, and what I almost did to you with Greg. What if something goes wrong? What if the pills don't work and don't protect me from their drugs? What if that Legstrom guy takes advantage of me? I couldn't live with myself if anything happened." John took her in his arms and held her close. She had come so far since that episode and it hurt him to see her like this.

"It'll be alright, dear," he said as he held her. "Don't worry." He remembered the night he came home and learned that she was planning to cuckold him with her boss, Greg Smith. It never happened, thanks to a quick intervention that put Greg in the hospital. Houston recommitted herself to the marriage and joined Alpha Sector after helping to take down Omega, the company she worked for.

"But I do worry, John," she said. "I know I came close to losing you before, and I don't want to go through that again."

"This is a totally different situation, dear," he said, looking her in the eye. "I'll be right there with you. Nothing is going to happen. Remember your training. Take the pills like Regis said." She finally collected herself and nodded her head.

"Okay," she finally said. "I'm sorry. I just love you so much and I don't want to hurt you."

"I love you too, sweetheart," he said. "And if anything does happen, I'll just kick your ass. Alright?" he added with a smile. She smiled back and slapped his arm.

"Yeah, you and what army?" she joked back. They heard a ping from his tablet indicating a file had come in.

"Let's see what Regis sent us," he said, picking up his tablet. He opened the encrypted file using the password of the day and read the profile which, he noted, had been augmented with information collected by the HomeFront Security Task Force, the agency Oscar worked for. As he read that, Houston looked through the folder of photos Regis had sent. To make things easier for them, John sent the folder to Houston's cell phone.

"Get this," he said to Houston. "The profile says that Sen. Legstrom's wife comes from a very wealthy family in New York. She rarely accompanies him to Wyoming and only shows up during campaign season where she attends fundraisers and appears in campaign commercials.

"His staff in Wyoming says they don't even sleep in the same room together. And from what this says, they're not too thrilled with her. They refer to her as the 'Ice Queen From Hell.' Apparently she thinks they're all beneath her and treats them like crap," he said.

"And according to this, she's had a number of affairs during their marriage. Moreover, he knows about them and doesn't seem to care."

"So why does he stay with her, then?" she asked.

"Money, I guess," John said. "Her family is loaded and they have a lot of connections. I guess he figures the best way to stay on the gravy train is to not rock the boat. Either that or they have something on him he doesn't want to get out into the public."

"I can see that," Houston said. "Take a look at these pictures. There's a bunch of him with his wife. There's certainly no love in this marriage."

"What makes you say that?" John asked.

"Well, look at them," she said. "They never touch each other. There's not a single picture where they even look at each other. This one, for example, you can see they're dancing, and they seem to be happy, but they're looking over each other's backs. Not at each other's faces. But look at this one."

John looked at the photo Houston referred to. It showed Legstrom dancing with Liz Skaggs, the former First Lady. The couple were smiling as they gazed into each others eyes.

"Maybe he told her a joke or something," John said. "And you have to admit, she does look rather good in that dress."

"Maybe," Houston said. "But if I ever caught you looking at another woman like that, I'd be clawing someone's eyes out."

"I don't doubt that one bit," he told her with a smile. "Besides, I only have eyes for you." She smiled back.

"You'd better," she told him with a nudge.

"Look at this," he said. "According to this, Legstrom's PAC has donated to Judy Chastain's campaign."

"The Speaker of the House?" Houston asked. "Isn't she the one with that staffer who tweeted 'kill all men' or something like that here a while back?"

"Yeah," John said. "That's the one."

"What's so off about him donating to her?" she asked him.

"They're not even in the same political party," he said.

"Maybe he expects something from her," she said.

"Could be," John told her. "Or it could have something to do with Legstrom's wife. Says here she's quite close to Chastain, as well as the former First Lady and Barbara Pierce."

"That's the Vice President's wife, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Of course all of these people practically drink from the same toilet bowl anyway."

"Ewww, that's gross," Houston said.

"Maybe, but it's true," he said. "It's not called a 'swamp' for nothing, you know."

"Yeah, but it's still gross," she said.

"So, let's review, shall we?" John asked. Houston sat down and listened to her husband intently. This was something they did on every operation to make sure they were both working on the same page, as he liked to put it.

"On one hand, we have a whistle-blower, a low-level staffer who believes he's come across something that could potentially impact national security and violate the law. He comes to us with this information, risking the wrath of his boss, who happens to be not just any old sitting senator, but the most powerful one in the whole damn institution.

"As it turns out, much of what he supposedly uncovered is fake -- perhaps something planted by the senator himself to catch a possible inside operative. This same senator, as it turns out, lives a double life. To the public, he's somewhat larger than life, a good-ol' country boy who values Mom, apple pie and country music. In reality, though, he's a paranoid control freak who gets his kicks out of humiliating others.

"On top of that, he's in a loveless marriage to a very wealthy and well-connected woman who publicly flaunts her affairs and treats her staff like chattel property. She, by the way, happens to have ties to a number of people involved with MMAS, the same group that tried to take down a sitting U.S. President," he said.

"Tried but failed," Houston said.

"Correct," John said, nodding his head. "Tried but failed. And, one of his biggest bundlers once ran a company that also had ties to MMAS -- the same company you once worked for and tried to cuckold me and sell you into slavery."

"Damn," Houston said quietly. "You almost need a program to follow all this." John looked at her for a moment as he thought. Then he sprung into action.

"You're a genius, sweetheart," he said, pulling a pack of blank index cards from his briefcase.

"I am?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "We don't have a whiteboard, but we can still visualize what's going on." He grabbed a pen from his briefcase and a pack of pencils. He wrote names on the cards and placed them on the bed. Then he used pencils to illustrate the ties between them. When he finished, he stepped back and looked over his work. "Damn," he said quietly as he looked at the cards on the bed.

"What?" Houston asked.

"Take a look," he said. "Unless I'm missing something, it seems that Leghorn -- I mean, Legstrom -- is trying to tie up all his loose ends at once. I'd better get Alpha One online right now." He grabbed his tablet and connected as Houston looked at the cards on the bed and followed the links. Soon, Regis' craggy, one-eyed face filled his screen.

"What now?" Regis asked.

"Sorry to disturb you boss," John said. "Houston and I were reviewing the case before tonight's soiree and we decided to lay it out to try to make some sense out of all this."

"And what did you conclude?" Regis asked.

"Take a look for yourself," John said as he positioned the tablet so Regis could see the cards on the bed. Regis squinted his one good eye as he looked over the display.

"Hmmm," Regis said as he looked at the cards.

"Boss, did we ever figure out why Omega targeted Houston?" John asked.

"No, I don't think we ever did," Regis said. "Once the company was brought down, no one thought to dig any deeper. The consensus was that it wasn't necessary to look deeper. Why do you ask?"

"Think about it, boss," John said. "Legstrom's wife had connections to the former First Lady, the twin sister of the woman who started MMAS. One of MMAS' top operatives is known to have had ties to Omega. Legstrom himself received a ton of campaign cash from Omega's PAC and the Chairman of Omega's board was one of Legstrom's biggest bundlers. When we took Omega down, Legstrom lost a significant revenue stream."

"And you think this whole thing is an elaborate ruse for what, revenge?" Regis asked.

"Partly," John said. "Look at all the connections. Follow the money. That's what you once told me, remember? It looks to me like Legstrom is deliberately trying to undermine Alpha as well as Oscar's task force. At the same time, he also smokes out the person he thinks is trying to undermine him."

"You mean Ogilvie?" Regis asked.

"Yes, exactly," John said. Regis shook his head.

"Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just for that," Regis said. "And remember, Houston wasn't part of Alpha at the time."

"No, but I was," John said. "By targeting her, they were effectively going after me."

"And by extension, the whole company," Regis said. He thought for a bit before speaking again. "That sorry-assed, no good, calculating son of a bitch," he said quietly, anger on his face.

"What do you mean, boss?" John asked.

"Legstrom was the one who suggested I send the two of you to London," Regis said. "He's the one who tipped us off about the possibility of taxpayer funds being diverted to an extremist group over there."

"And?" John asked.

"We're still sorting through everything you provided," Regis said. "We haven't seen anything definitive yet, but it could take months for us to get through it all."

"So, he knew we would probably be coming here afterward," John said.

"Yes," Regis said, nodding his head.

"This is smelling like a set-up to me, boss," John said.

"I tend to agree, John," Regis told him. He looked at Houston before speaking again. "Houston, I'm not going to order you to go to Legstrom's place tonight. If you want to stay behind, I'll support your decision."

"No, boss," she said. "I'm a trained agent. I can take care of myself. Besides, John will be with me. I appreciate your concern, though." Regis smiled when she said that.

"Good girl," he said. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Still, I want to make sure you're gonna be safe."

"If anyone other than John gets too fresh with me, I know exactly where to kick him. Or her," she said, smiling. Regis let loose with a hearty laugh.

"I don't doubt that one bit," he said. "Alright. Remember, your primary job is to get information. Press him a bit, maybe rattle his cage, but don't push it too far and don't provoke him. Remember, he still holds the purse strings to Alpha. If things start to go too bad, give the 911 and Oscar's team will move in. Any questions?"

"None from me, boss," John said.

"One last thing," Regis said. "There'll be a package waiting for the two of you at the front desk of the hotel. Make sure you collect it before you leave. Let's git 'er done, guys," Regis said before ending the call. After taking a picture of the cards laid out on the bed, John put the cards and pencils away, then showered and dressed. Houston got herself ready as John dressed and went back through Legstrom's profile.

He looked up as she came out of the bathroom and smiled. She had wisely chosen a knee-length dress that did not show much skin, although it still highlighted her curves. He smiled as she turned, modeling it for him.

"You approve?" she asked.

"Most definitely," he told her, taking her in his arms.

"I'll show you what's under it later tonight if you're real good to me," she teased.

"I look forward to that," he said, giving her a kiss. "You just about ready?"

"Yeah, just about," she said. "One last thing, though." She pulled out the container of pills Regis provided for her and put one under her tongue. After it dissolved, she nodded her head. "Now I'm ready," she said, putting the container in her purse.

"Then let's go," he said, opening the door. On the way out, they stopped at the front desk and picked up a heavy box that had been left for them by a courier. Once in the rented car, John opened the box. Inside were their service pistols already in their holsters.

They were left behind when John and Houston traveled to London. Regis didn't want to chance the two of them running afoul of English gun laws when they left. John handed Houston her pistol then pulled his out. They checked their weapons carefully before putting them away. Houston's went into her purse, while John's went on his belt.

John put Legstrom's address into his GPS and followed its directions. Soon, they pulled up to a large two-story brick house surrounded by large trees. They saw several other cars parked in the driveway that ran in front of the house, so John pulled behind the last one in line.

"Damn," John said. "Is this a house or a castle?"

"It's huge," Houston said. "All this just for two people?"

"Yeah," John said, parking the car. "Well, here we are. Showtime." He looked at Houston and noticed the apprehension on her face. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Sorry, I'm still a bit scared," she said. He took her face in his hands.

"You'll do just fine," he told her. "Remember, I'm here with you. I love you and I trust you." She smiled at that.

"You have no idea what it means to hear you say that," she said, giving him a kiss. He smiled and returned her kiss.

"Let's roll," he said. They got out of the car, went to the front door and knocked. A large man with close-cropped hair opened. John gave him the card as Legstrom instructed. The man frowned as he looked at the back of the card, then back at the two of them.

"You'll need to surrender your sidearm, sir," he told John. John shook his head as he pulled out his credentials.

"Not gonna happen," he said. "We're federal agents." Houston opened her purse and pulled out her credentials as well, making sure the man saw the holstered pistol in her purse.

"I don't care if you're J. Edgar fucking Hoover," the man said. "You'll surrender your sidearms or you're not coming inside." Just then, Franklin Legstrom walked up to them, a drink in his hand.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked the man at the door.

"These guests refuse to surrender their firearms," the man said.

"They'd better not surrender them," Legstrom said. "Not unless they want to get fired. Did they show you their credentials?"

"They did, sir," the man said. "Said they were both federal agents."

"They are," Legstrom said. "I'll take them downstairs myself." He waved an arm at John and Houston. "Come with me," he told them. "I thought I said this was casual," he told John when they were out of earshot of the guard.

"You did, Senator," John said. "And we are casual."

"There's really no need for your service weapons here," Legstrom said.

"Perhaps not," John said. "But it's always best to be prepared, wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose," Legstrom finally said. "Here, have something to drink," he added, pointing to a woman carrying a tray of drinks. John noticed the woman's name tag read, "Yolanda." Franklin took a glass of champagne and handed it to Houston. "Don't worry, it's quite safe, I assure you," he told her.

"Thank you Senator," she said, taking the glass. Franklin handed another glass to John, who examined it before taking a tentative sip.

"I take it old habits die hard," Franklin said as he watched John examine his drink.

"They do, Senator," John said. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Franklin said. "You get paid to be cautious. I understand all that. Believe me, if I wanted to trap you and your lovely wife, I wouldn't have so many witnesses here. Relax. Come, meet some of my guests." John and Houston followed Franklin as he introduced them to his guests. They met a dignitary from Russia, another from France and two other senators.

"And this is Ian McWhorter, from the British Home Secretary's office," Franklin said. "Ian, this is one of our best men, John Smith, and his wife, Houston." They shook hands as they sized each other up.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Smith," Ian said in his refined British accent. "Mrs. Smith," he added when he shook Houston's hand.

"They just returned from London," Franklin said.

"Is that right?" Ian asked. "I hope you had a good trip."

"We did," Houston said. "I especially enjoyed going on the London Eye." Standing at just over 400 feet in height, the London Eye is one of the largest Ferris wheels in the world, giving visitors a breathtaking view of London's skyline.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Ian said before moving on. John and Houston followed Franklin as he escorted them to a table on a raised platform in the back of the room. They sat down and looked at the activity below them before John spoke.

"Where's your wife, Senator?" he asked. "I thought we would've met her by now."

"She's in back getting tonight's entertainment ready," Franklin said.

"I see," John said. "By the way, I didn't know you dealt with the British Home Secretary's office."

"Well," Franklin said after taking a sip. "I like to do my part to maintain good relations with our allies."

"I wasn't aware that you had connections with the Home Secretary's office," John said. "Isn't that the job of the State Department?"

"And who do you think oversees the State Department?" Franklin asked with a crooked smile. Before John could say anything else, Franklin turned to Houston.

"And now it's my turn to ask a question or two," he said. "Tell me, young lady, where did your parents get the idea to call you Houston? That's not exactly a very common name for a girl."