Operation: Endgame

by Christi Snow

She gave him a weak smile.

  Jake managed to procure her some painkillers before he left and then he sped back to her house to try to find her some clothes to wear home.

  When he pulled up to the house, he spotted a bouquet of black roses sitting on the porch. “Goddamn it. Son of a Bitch!” He cursed loudly as he started dialing Brian on his cell phone. “Brian, this is Jake Madsen. Did you hear about Cassie’s accident tonight?”

  “Yes, I’m on my way to the hospital now.”

  “She’s actually coming home and there’s a gift on her porch. I just came home to get her some clothes. Think you can come over here first and process these before she gets here? Then you can interview her when she gets home.”

  “Okay, Jake, I can do that.”

  “Brian, this isn’t a game anymore. You need to catch this bastard.”

  “I know. We’ll talk when I get there.”

  Jake glanced back down at the bouquet and looked around to see if anything seemed out of place in Cassie’s quiet neighborhood. Jake could feel the hair on the back of his nape prickle like the bastard was still out there watching, but he couldn’t do anything about it right now. He needed to get back to Cassie, but this had to end…soon!

  Chapter 23

  By the time they got her checked out of the hospital, it was 10:00 at night. Cassie was exhausted. The stresses of the day and the soreness of her body were pulling at her and she just wanted to crawl into her bed.

  She was surprised when they pulled up to her house to see Detective Barnes there waiting in his car. She looked at Jake. “How did he know to look for me here?”

  Jake got a hard look in his eyes. This was the warrior and how she imagined he looked when he was out on a mission. “When I came home to get your clothes, your admirer had left some more flowers so I called him. He was on the way to the hospital so I told him to adjust course and come here instead.”

  “There were more flowers tonight?”

  Jake clenched his jaw. “Yes, but I didn’t touch them, so we’ll have to find out from Brian if there was a note or anything else to them. Come on; let’s get you into the house. Stay there while I come around to your side of the truck to help you out.”

  “Jake, I don’t…” But he was already moving around to her door. Cassie had thought to protest his help, but as she shifted her body to crawl out, Cassie’s muscles screamed and spasmed in pain from the trauma of the wreck. As she leaned into Jake, it occurred to Cassie they made quite a pair and gave a quiet giggle.

  Jake pressed his mouth to her ear as they made their extremely slow sojourn from the driveway to the front door. “What’s so funny?” He whispered.

  “It just occurred to me we are quite a matched pair of the walking wounded right now.”

  As Brian rushed up to take Cassie off his hands, Jake gently brushed his knuckles across her bruised cheek. “We may be wounded, but that just means we aren’t defeated. We’re strong as long as we stick together.”

  They hustled Cassie into the house and got her settled onto her couch. Jake could see the fatigue that was pulling her down, but they needed to talk to Brian. He turned to him now and said, “I’m assuming you bagged the flowers.” At Brian’s nod, Jake continued, “Was there a note?”

  “Yes, and Cassie, I need you to look at it.” He pulled the baggie holding the note and passed it to her.

  Cassie had been close to sleep, but when she caught sight of the yellow legal pad paper, her eyes widened in shock as she whispered, “So it was him in the van, wasn’t it?”

  Brian nodded as Cassie handed the note to Jake. Jake looked at the note. It simply said, “oops!” and Jake felt every muscle in his body clench in anger.

  Cassie looked at Brian, “So Detective, what does this mean for my case now?”

  “It means you’re in imminent danger and we can do something more to protect you. I already have a police officer on his way over who will maintain surveillance on your house. Someone will always be here until we catch this guy. Obviously something happened to push him over the edge and this definitely breaks his pattern. Hopefully, he got careless and left us further clues like DNA on either the note or the flowers. We also hope to locate the van since we have Cassie’s description of it.” He looked at Cassie. “Have you remembered anything else from the accident that you didn’t tell the police officer at the hospital?”

  Cassie thought back, “I don’t think so, but honestly my head is hurting so much, I don’t feel like I’m thinking very straight any longer.”

  “Okay, I know you’re hurting and it’s been a long evening, so I’ll get out of your hair. I do want to go over everything with you again tomorrow, just to make sure we have all the facts straight.”

  “I promised when I checked myself out of the hospital I would stay home all day tomorrow, so I’ll be here.”

  “Okay I’ll check in with you tomorrow. Get some rest tonight Cassie, and I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Thanks Detective Barnes and I appreciate the extra protection.”

  Jake moved to walk out with the Detective. When they got to the front door, he turned to him and said, “You’re going to catch this guy, right Brian?”

  “We’re going to do everything we can Jake. You’re sticking close, right?”

  “Yes, she’s not going to get out of my sight again, I can promise you that. I never want to go through the stress of this afternoon ever again. She could’ve died today, Brian.” Jake shook his head when he considered the possibility of what could have happened and strengthened his resolve. “This guy’s never going to get close enough to hurt her again, I promise you that.”

  As Jake shut and locked the door, he looked over at Cassie. The bruise on her face was standing in stark contrast to the paleness of her complexion. She was already asleep, but she looked less than comfortable and his heart ached at the thoughts of what-if.

  He gently shook her shoulder. “Come on Sleeping Beauty. It’s time to go to bed.”

  Cassie mumbled, “No, I’m fine. Just sleep here.” Her voice was thick with sleep.

  “Come on, Cass. You’ll feel much better for it in the morning if you sleep in your comfortable bed, rather than the lumpy couch. You’re going to have enough aches and pains as it is.” He gently pulled her up and pushed her down the hall towards her bedroom.

  She crawled under her covers without getting undressed, but he knew she was past the point of exhaustion, so he let her go, but he did give her a warning. “Cass, I’ll be waking you up every couple of hours to check your pupils and to make sure everything is still okay inside that gorgeous head of yours.”

  She mumbled a quiet, “Okay. G’night Jake. Thanks.”

  “Goodnight Cass,” and he gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head. Then he slowly moved over to the corner of her bedroom to settle into her club chair and watch over as she slept. Today had been too close of a call for him. He wasn’t ready to let her out of his sight quite yet.

  Chapter 24

  Cassie woke to a pounding in her head and stifled a deep groan as the strain of the accident settled into every muscle in her body. She turned her head as something in the corner of her room caught her eye. It was Jake sound asleep in her chair. His head was at an awkward angle which had to hurt. He had dark circles under his eyes and even asleep, he looked exhausted. She remembered him waking her several times throughout the night, but she hadn’t realized he was sleeping in the chair in her room... Her own gorgeous guardian angel.

  Suddenly she heard a pounding that had nothing to do with her head and realized someone was at the front door. She glanced at the clock which read 6:00 AM…oh no, she’d forgotten to call him. Moving as quietly as possible so not to disturb Jake’s sleep, Cassie slid out of bed and moved down the hall.

  She opened the front door just as the police officer came up behind War, and using a very stern voice said, “Sir, I need you to raise your hands where I can see them and state your purpose here.” War’s eyes had widened in shock as h
e had taken in Cassie’s damaged appearance, but they widened even further when he heard the officer behind him.

  Cassie quickly worked at diffusing the situation. “Officer, it’s okay. He’s a friend. I just forgot to tell him not to come over this morning.”

  The officer nodded and stated, “My apologies.”

  “No problem. You’re just doing your job and I appreciate it. By the way, I’m Cassie. Are you going to be here all day?”

  “Yes, I’m Officer Pete Larson. I’ll be here until early evening.”

  “Thank you. There will probably be another man coming over sometime this morning, my TA, Derek Haines.”

  War watched their exchange with interest and now he was standing there glaring at Cassie with his massive arms folded across his incredibly wide chest. Warren, aka War, was a massive guy and he could be as intimidating as hell when he chose to be. He was about 6’3” tall and easily 250 lbs. of pure muscle. He was in his early 40’s, but was proud of the fact he kept himself in prime physical shape. They dated for ten months the year before, but War was too competitive to handle the attention Cassie received from the video game. War also was in charge of the History department at Tech. He didn’t handle it well when Cassie started getting the calls for her expertise versus calling on him for his when he was tenured and she wasn’t.

  The reasons for their mutually agreed upon breakup didn’t change the fact he considered her under his protection. He’d acted as a friend and mentor a long time before they’d become romantically involved and that friendship had continued even after they stopped sleeping together. Now, Cassie could see every protective instinct he had raring up in the face of the fact she’d obviously been attacked. He wasn’t afraid to intimidate her to get the answers he needed. She hadn’t even had a chance to step back to allow him into the house when he started leaning into her face, literally growling, “Cassandra, what the hell happened to you and why the hell didn’t you call me?”

  Unfortunately that just happened to be the point when Jake came limping into the room, with his sleep rumpled face looking confused, searching out to find Cassie. He quickly took in War’s aggressive stance with Cassie and didn’t like what he saw. He quickly pushed his way in between them and shoved at War. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you need to back off. Right now!”

  “Oh, God. Jake, stop it. War’s not hurting me, but I can’t deal with anything more this morning without coffee and some ibuprofen. Everyone, inside the house right now.” Cassie pushed both men who were almost visibly snarling at each other into the house. God save her from two posturing alpha males. Her head and body hurt too much this morning to deal with this.

  She headed into the kitchen, but Jake pushed her into one of her barstools with an order, “Sit. I’ll make the coffee. You relax and introduce me to your friend.”

  Cassie sat down wearily, resting her pounding head in her left hand, “Jake, this is War. He’s my boss in the History department and he’s a friend. He’s here because he’s been running with me in the mornings ever since the stalker stuff started. War, this is Jake. You’ve heard me talk about him before.”

  War settled into one of the barstools next to Cassie and gently lifted her chin so he could look at the bruising on her face. “What happened Cassandra? Who did this to you?”

  “My stalker friend doesn’t like me riding my motorcycle. He ran me off the road yesterday. I’m okay. Just really sore.”

  Jake pushed some ibuprofen and a glass of water across the counter to her. “Take these, darling. They’ll help take the edge off.”

  War looked once again at Jake, taking in his sleep-rumpled appearance and the way he moved easily through her kitchen. “So are you living with Cassandra?” His voice had taken a menacing edge.

  “Yes, I’m here to protect Cass,” He put a hard emphasis on his nickname for her, “and fulfill whatever other needs she might have.”

  The insinuation in that statement was hard to ignore and Cassie rolled her eyes. “Cut it out Jake.”

  War gave Jake a hard look. “So, if you’re here protecting her, what the hell happened yesterday?”

  Cassie didn’t give Jake a chance to answer War’s challenge. “That was my fault. I took off without telling him and that was stupid on my part. I shouldn’t have underestimated this guy. Don’t worry, I won’t do it again. I have plenty of protection now with Jake and the nice police officer you met as you tried to come in.” War still looked concerned. “I’m sorry I forgot to call you, War. I don’t think I’m going to be running for at least a couple of weeks, until my collarbone starts to heal. I’m also not going to be in today. I checked myself out of the hospital with the promise I’d stay home today. I need to call Derek, because he’s going to have to handle my classes. Do you mind offering him a hand if he needs it?” She knew Derek would be fine, but it always helped to smooth War’s ruffled feathers if she catered to his ego.

  Jake pushed a cup of coffee towards Cassie. Then he lifted a cup towards War, “Would you like some?”

  War shook his head, “No, I don’t drink caffeine.”

  “Seriously? I thought all professors lived with a coffee cup in their hand.”

  “Not me. I don’t put anything into my body that isn’t good for it and caffeine is definitely not good for your body.” He looked disapprovingly as Cassie lifted her coffee cup to her lips.

  “War considers his body to be a temple. He doesn’t understand the allure of caffeine and alcohol by us mere mortals, but as long as I get to enjoy the eye candy while I drink my coffee, I can live with that.” Cassie lifted her cup in a toast as she took another sip, and gave War a teasing full-body perusal. He was dressed for running, so while his body was fully clothed in his cold weather gear, the layers of spandex and lightweight running materials did nothing to hide his many muscles. War had an ego and they were good enough friends still that she could give him a hard time about it.

  War smirked at her and said, “Whatever I can do to make your day easier,” He halted when Jake snorted, but War just gave him a superior look and continued, “but some of us do still have to get to work today. Are you going to be okay?” He looked her over again looking for hidden injuries, not trying to hide the worry in his eyes.

  “I’ll be fine and back in the office tomorrow. Thanks War. Again, I’m sorry about the scene on the porch this morning.”

  “No problem, Cassandra.” He gave her a gentle hug. “You take care of yourself.” He gave a nod to Jake and headed towards the front door.

  After War left, Jake gave Cassie an appraising eye. “How’s the pain?”

  “The ibuprofen is starting to take effect so it’s getting better.”

  Jake nodded and then looked back at the door. “So how long did you and War date?”

  “Almost a year.”

  “You realize he’s still in love with you, right?”

  “Love? No. Honestly, War only loves himself. He’s fond of me and we’re still friends. He’s in love with the fantasy of us, but that fantasy was never a reality. I could never be what War needs. I’m too independent and we have different goals.” She shook her head remembering how things had been with War. War needed someone who could stand behind him and prop him up and feed his ego and that person couldn’t be Cassie. She was too much of her own person to stand behind someone else. Besides, she wanted a family and War never made it any secret he didn’t have any desire for children in his life.

  She looked at Jake, again taking in the exhaustion that lined his face. “Thanks Jake for taking care of me last night. I need to call Derek and I can tell you’re exhausted. Why don’t you go back to bed for a few more hours?”

  Jake shook his head, “No, but I do think I’m going to go take a shower. Are you going to be okay for a few minutes?”

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

  Cassie called Derek to let him know what was going on and that she wouldn’t be in for the day. He was worried about her just like everyone else, but assured her h
e could handle things in her absence with no problems. She then texted both Julie and Penelope so they wouldn’t hear stories from anyone else, assuring both of them she was fine. She debated getting hold of Colton, but she knew he was out on a mission so she didn’t want to do anything to distract him. He would be furious when he found out what was happening and that she didn’t tell him about it, but she’d rather apologize to him after the fact then distract him with it all now.

  With her head and body throbbing, that was the end of Cassie’s energy, so she drug herself back to her bed figuring she’d earned the extra sleep.

  The day passed in a drowsy haze for Cassie. Jake awoke her at lunchtime with grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. While she’d been sleeping, he’d built a fire in the fireplace, so she relocated to the couch, cuddled under a quilt. She tried to read a bit, but her head continued to ache which made concentration difficult. Detective Barnes came by in the afternoon and took another statement from her about the accident. There hadn’t been any DNA or other clues on the flowers and now they were examining her motorcycle and the accident site to see if there were any clues to be found there. The girls came by at dinnertime with a wonderful Mexican casserole made by Julie, the only cook among the three of them. They showered her with care and love, but they could tell Cassie was about at her limit so they didn’t stay long.

  Jake pushed Cassie into her bed by 7:30 that night. He’d been watching her carefully all day and knew she was still dealing with a lot of pain. The stress on her body was taking its toll and he wasn’t so sure that she would be ready to go to work the next day, regardless of what she thought. Jake was restless and couldn’t get his mind to settle enough to even think about going to bed himself, so he was still awake when the whimpers from Cassie’s room began. He rushed to the side of her bed. She was thrashing around in the bed, still asleep, and whimpering. He wasn’t sure if she was having a bad dream or simply in pain. He settled in behind her and pulled her close to him. “Shh, it’s okay, Cass.”