Roses Are Red (Alex Cross 6)

She laughed, and the look on her face was irresistibly coy. She whistled into the neck of her iced-tea bottle. “I think it’s time, Alex. We both need some good old-fashioned F-U-N. What do you say I pick you up — around noon on Saturday?”

I shook my head some, but I was laughing.

“Does that mean yes?” she asked.

“It means yes. I think I need a little old-fashioned F-U-N. I’m sure I do.”

Chapter 105

I ALMOST COULDN’T WAIT for Saturday afternoon to c

ome. I kept busy with the kids — grocery shopping, a stop at the new petting zoo in Southeast. I kept the Mastermind out of my thoughts. Also Agents Walsh and Doud, Hazelwood Veterans Hospital, murder and mayhem.

Betsey finally picked me up at exactly twelve in her blue Saab. The car was washed, maybe even polished with Turtle Wax, and it looked shiny and new, and the day seemed full of promise.

I knew that Jannie was watching from her bedroom window so I turned, made a funny face, and waved. Jannie waved back, and smiled from ear to ear. She and Rosie the Cat were up there; both of them tuned in to my ongoing soap opera.

I leaned down into the side window of Betsey’s Saab. She was wearing a light leather jacket over a white silk blouse. She could really look great when she wanted to, and I guess she wanted to today.

“You’re always right on time. Precise. Just like the Mastermind,” I kidded her.

“Masterprick,” she corrected. “Wouldn’t that be a great ending to this, Alex? I’m him! You catch me because I’ve made one fatal mistake. It’s that I’ve become infatuated with you.”

“You’re infatuated?” I asked as I slid into the front seat. “Senior Agent Cavalierre?”

She laughed, and showed a beautiful smile. She was pulling out all the stops. “Giving up my prized weekend, aren’t I?”

“So where are we going?” I asked.

“You’ll see soon enough. I have a master plan.”

“I’m not surprised.”

Ten minutes later, she turned the Saab into the circular entrance to the Four Seasons Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Overhanging flags gently rustled in the wind. The courtyard had a lot of brick covered with Boston ivy. Very pretty.

“Is this okay?” She turned and looked at me. Her eyes were a little nervous, a little unsure.

“I think it is,” I said. “Convenient, too. Perfect planning.”

“Why waste quality time on the road?” Betsey said, and smiled irresistibly. She was pretty outrageous for an FBI agent, especially a smart one with lofty ambitions. I liked her style a lot: She went for what she wanted. I wondered if she usually got it.

She had preregistered, and we were taken directly to a room on the hotel’s top floor. I walked behind her all the way; I watched her walk.

“You folks need any help from me?” the youthful but officious hotel bellman asked once we were inside the suite.

I handed him a tip. “Thanks for showing us to the room. If you would just shut the door on your way out. Gently.”

He nodded. “The room service here is great, by the way. The best in D.C.”

“Thank you. The door,” Betsey said, and waved and smiled. “Softly. Bye-bye.”

Chapter 106

BETSEY WAS ALREADY SLIPPING off her leather jacket. Then she was in my arms by the time the door clicked shut. We were kissing and moving against each other, and it seemed like a slow, graceful, irresistible dance to me. We were both infatuated, and that’s not so bad, I was thinking. Good old-fashioned fun. Isn’t that what she had promised?

Betsey felt electric but also very comfortable in my arms. She was a study in contrasts. She was small and light, but also athletic and strong; she was very smart and serious but she was funny, ironic, irreverent. Oh yeah, and she was sexy as hell.

We moved toward the bed and let ourselves fall onto it. I don’t know who was leading or who was following. It didn’t make any difference. I buried my face in her silk blouse.