"Fire & Ice" by Gratiana Lovelace (Revised for Wattpad, 2015) (Completed)

Ch. 10: Suspicion

"Fire & Ice" (Revised for Wattpad), Ch. 10:  Suspicion, August 18, 2015 Gratiana Lovelace

(An original story copyrighted by Gratiana Lovelace, 2015; all rights reserved)

[From time to time, I will illustrate my story with images of actors representing my dream cast--including Richard Armitage as Thomas Kane and Anne Hathaway as Caroline Walters, Doris Roberts as Mrs. Burns, Tim Gamble as Peter Wendt, Brian Protheroe as Martin, Mary McDonnell as Mary, Seth Green as Todd, Raven Symone as Fiona, and Logan Lerman as Allen, Andrew May as Paul Foster, and others as noted in the image credits.] [(1) "Fire & Ice" story logo]

Author's Mature Content Note:  "Fire & Ice" is romantic thriller story with mature themes (D for drama, S for sensuality, and V for violence) of love and relationships. Most chapters will be PG or PG-13. However, if you are unable or unwilling to attend a movie with the ratings that I provide, then please do not read that chapter. This is my disclaimer.

Author's Recap from the previous chapter:  Caroline's introduction to the Division on Monday went smoothly. And the revelation of she and Thomas having a prior relationship that is now rekindled was handled with finesse. However, the specter of their nemesis in one of the other Division Chiefs, Paul Foster, looms large in their future.

"Fire & Ice", Ch. 10: Suspicion

At precisely the same moment that Director Peter Wendt is discussing Caroline Walters new hire with Thomas Kane's team in their 9:00am Monday morning meeting, other Division Chief Paul Foster [(2)] leaves his Division office suite on the floor above and he takes the elevator to the basement vault encased in concrete 6 feet thick where top secret documents and encrypted electronic backups of current project analyses are kept. Access to this area requires top clearance--only the technicians, the Director, and the Division Chiefs have access to it via retinal scans and saliva swabs.

This latest biometric method of mouth swabbing was employed after The Company's Home Office in D.C. decided that only billion string DNA samples could not be replicated nor counterfeited as a means of security clearance identification. But of course, once a person receives such high level security clearance, who is to say what they will do with it?

A tall man at six foot 2, Paul Foster is also powerfully built--his forty plus years having been kind to him. there is only a sampling of gray dusting his full head of hair to betray his age. His estranged ex wife used to say that Foster had a portrait stored away somewhere that was aging when he was not. The inevitable frictions that arise when one spouse--in this case Foster--has such a secretive career and must be away for long periods without explanation took its toll on his marriage.

But for the sake of his wife's daughter whom he had adopted, he and his ex-wife try to remain civil around the child. But just barely. Theirs was an acrimonious split--which Foster exacerbated by his seemingly blasé attitude toward the divorce. And it cost him. His ex-wife received their house, half of his future pension, a large settlement, and generous living and child support allowances. It is only because Foster's salary as a Division Chief approaches a quarter of a million dollars, does he have some money to live on. But he has a plan to set himself up financially.

Foster looks wary and agitated by something--or someone--but he still manages to smile imperiously at the security guard after having his mouth swabbed. After gaining admittance to the bunker as the Director and Chiefs euphemistically refer to it, Foster enters a secure room with an encrypted computer terminal and he accesses some documents that he learned were of interest to Thomas. Foster thinks that Thomas' stubborn meddling will get him killed one day.

Foster's cell phone vibrates and he swipes the phone into active mode. A text flashes across the screen of his secure cell phone: Bambi and Thumper not in the forest this morning. Foster texts back for his surveillance team to follow and report back to him.