Immediatly following Hail and Farewell Part 2
Clay stood on the back deck of his beach house on Virgina’s Eastern Shore watching the waves and Harm and Mac’s discussion on his beach. He didn’t know what they were talking about, and he didn’t particularly care. She always went to Harm when she had a problem. Webb realized she should have been coming to him and never had. All she did was fight with him. No matter how much he loved her, she didn’t want to be with him, she wanted to be with Harm. It was over with no going back.
All that was left was his job at the Agency, and Kershaw just offered him the opportunity to come in from the cold, to be welcomed back into Langley, back behind his desk. The question remained, was he ready for the end of his career to amount to nothing more than movement within the Agency Hierarchy?
Usually in situations like this, he needed a sounding board. Sometimes it was another Agency employee, but thankfully, his mother was sitting in the kitchen. Clay waited until Kershaw walked out of the front door before he entered the living room through the French doors that led out onto the deck. Agency personnel were going to be on their way to dispose of Tanveer’s body and clean his carpet. Clay ran his hand over the bullet hole left in his sofa, he was going to have to replace that on his own.
Porter knew he was in the kitchen almost immediately after he crossed the doorway from the living room, “I poured you another cup of tea, Clayton.”
“Thank you, Mother.” And like she had for as long as he could remember, Porter sat across from her son and waited for him to start the conversation. Clay sipped his tea and put his thoughts about everything in order before speaking.
“Sarah and I are over,” may as well get the painful part out of the way before he got to the difficult part.
“I thought as much since she is still on your beach speaking to Commander Rabb.”
Clay went back to his tea.
Porter waited a beat before bringing up why she figured her son was really sitting across from her, “Director Kershaw told me about his offer.”
“Of course he did,” Clay said only somewhat pouty. Kershaw was almost sure he couldn’t make an appropriate decision on his own.
Porter fixed her son with a look reserved only to keep him from getting too pouty, “Clayton, he could have asked you to retire.”
She was right, “I don’t know which of the two options I should take.”
“You were happy behind a desk before. You can be again.”
Clay nodded, “Thank you, Mother.”
Porter was right, the pressures of dealing with a post 9/11 world in the field was what got to him. All of the interrogations, the murder, and everything else had finally gotten to him. He couldn’t be the Agency’s go to man any more, not like he had been. He realized he no longer needed the field, but he’d be there when the field needed him.
All that was left was his job at the Agency, and Kershaw just offered him the opportunity to come in from the cold, to be welcomed back into Langley, back behind his desk. The question remained, was he ready for the end of his career to amount to nothing more than movement within the Agency Hierarchy?
Usually in situations like this, he needed a sounding board. Sometimes it was another Agency employee, but thankfully, his mother was sitting in the kitchen. Clay waited until Kershaw walked out of the front door before he entered the living room through the French doors that led out onto the deck. Agency personnel were going to be on their way to dispose of Tanveer’s body and clean his carpet. Clay ran his hand over the bullet hole left in his sofa, he was going to have to replace that on his own.
Porter knew he was in the kitchen almost immediately after he crossed the doorway from the living room, “I poured you another cup of tea, Clayton.”
“Thank you, Mother.” And like she had for as long as he could remember, Porter sat across from her son and waited for him to start the conversation. Clay sipped his tea and put his thoughts about everything in order before speaking.
“Sarah and I are over,” may as well get the painful part out of the way before he got to the difficult part.
“I thought as much since she is still on your beach speaking to Commander Rabb.”
Clay went back to his tea.
Porter waited a beat before bringing up why she figured her son was really sitting across from her, “Director Kershaw told me about his offer.”
“Of course he did,” Clay said only somewhat pouty. Kershaw was almost sure he couldn’t make an appropriate decision on his own.
Porter fixed her son with a look reserved only to keep him from getting too pouty, “Clayton, he could have asked you to retire.”
She was right, “I don’t know which of the two options I should take.”
“You were happy behind a desk before. You can be again.”
Clay nodded, “Thank you, Mother.”
Porter was right, the pressures of dealing with a post 9/11 world in the field was what got to him. All of the interrogations, the murder, and everything else had finally gotten to him. He couldn’t be the Agency’s go to man any more, not like he had been. He realized he no longer needed the field, but he’d be there when the field needed him.