Mail call

Bringgg....bringgggg....

"Coming.." Cassie yelled from the laundry room. "Jeez, who is it now?"

Running to the door, Cassie nimbly avoids Lobo who also comes rushing to the door.

Woof! Woof! Arrooo.

"Lobo, stop that!" Cassie pushes the dog behind her and opens the door only a crack. "Yes."

On the porch stands Mike, the mailman. "Hi, Mrs. Salvatore, I've got a letter for you. You're going to have to sign for it. Hi Lobo," Mike says to the dog who has pushed her head around Cassie's legs to get a look at the mailman through the screen door. Her tail starts thwaping, hitting Cassie in the legs.

"Oh, Lobo, you're impossible. Sit!" The dog plants her rear end firmly on the floor, but her tail continues to wiggle, seeing Mike. Cassie opens the screen and Mike hands her a clipboard.

"Sign here and initial here," he says and then bends down to pet Lobo on the head. Cassie signs the form and hands it back to Mike. "Thanks, here's your letter and the rest of the mail."

"Thanks, Mike. Have a good day."

"You too, Mrs. Salvatore," he says, whistling as he goes down the steps and back out to the street, continuing his route.

The letter looks like something to do with one of Tony's contracts. Cassie puts it on the kitchen table for him. She quickly sifts through the mail. Ads, solicitations, an American Family Publishers Sweepstakes announcing that Odyssey is a finalist for $11 million and a postcard.

"Great, Lobo, now Odyssey is getting junk mail. Like I don't get enough on my own." Lobo looks at Cassie then goes over to a sunny spot in the kitchen and lies down.

I wonder who the postcard is from, Cassie thinks. The front of the card shows a few palm trees lining a beach with white sand. An expanse of clear, blue ocean stretches out from the beach. "Pretty," Cassie says, flipping over the card.

She is stunned by what she reads on the back of the card.

Hi, Odyssey, just a note to let you know that American Weapon and I are having a wonderful time here. The beach is beautiful. I think she's really the one! I may pop the question tonight if the mood is right. Cheers, Protector

I'm going to kill him, Cassie fumes. Here I am worried about him and he's off cavorting with that, that, that psi bimbo!

Calming down, Cassie tries to look at the situation more clearly. Well, there's no guarantee he actually wrote this. The handwriting looks like his, but I'm no expert.

The card is internationally postmarked - Tahiti being under the government of France. There's no return address, no hotel name.

What if he's under her thrall? What's if he's mind controlled? Hell, what if he's just making the biggest mistake of his life? And WHAT am I going to do about this?

Sighing, Cassie picks up the postcard and stuffs it in an envelope and puts it in her purse. "Men," she mutters.

I'll stop by Maria's office. she thinks. Maybe she'll have an idea of what to do. I just can't let Protector make this mistake. That woman is evil and she'd probably kill Protector once she was tired of him.