Operation: Endgame

by Christi Snow

  He looked at her, his eyes dark with emotion. “Do you remember the day we got these?”

  She smiled softly. “Of course, I do.” She reached over and flipped over his palm to show his matching scar.

  17 Years Ago

  It had been Jake’s knife, but it had been Chris’ idea. Jake had been thirteen years old, and the twins had been eleven. They’d all been friends for about three years by that time. Jake was so excited about the new buck knife his dad brought home as a gift for him. It had caused a huge fight between Jake’s parents because his mother had not been happy about the gift, but the three musketeers thought it was the coolest thing ever.

  Chris and Cassie had always maintained Jake was just like their lost triplet because they spent so much time together. All they lacked was the shared blood. So when Chris saw the knife, inspiration struck. He thought they should make Jake their true blood brother, by having all of them cut their palms and mingle their blood. Cassie hadn’t been as gung-ho about the idea as the boys, but she didn’t want them to think she was a wimp, so she went along with the idea.

  Jake was in charge of the knife since it was his and his loyalty to the twins didn’t go so far as wanting to share it. Since she was the girl, the guys decided she should go first. That was probably the one and only time chivalry came into play in their friendship.

  Jake peered at her with serious eyes. “Are you ready?” She didn’t trust her voice to stay steady so she just gave a quick nod. He grasped her left hand in his. Even then, his hands had evoked strength and warmth when they held hers.

  They’d decided to do the blood bond with their left hands so they’d still be able to do their school work and normal things and maybe no one would realize what they had done. Jake rested the blade against her palm and quickly sliced across it. She gasped in shock. Never before had she felt that kind of burning pain, but she sucked in her breath and didn’t let the boys see how much it hurt. Immediately the blood started to well across her palm, so she gritted her teeth and said, “Hurry.”

  Jake turned to Chris and quickly drew the blade across his palm. Chris wasn’t quite as stoic with his response. “Ow,” he squealed.

  Cassie smirked at him as only a sister could and said, “Don’t be a baby. Come on Jake. We’re bleeding everywhere. Hurry up.”

  Jake had turned pale when he noticed all the blood running down both Chris and Cassie’s hands. His hand was visibly shaking when he drew the blade to his palm, but he managed to score it all the same. Then all three shook hands so their blood co-mingled before quickly wrapping their palms with an old t-shirt Cassie had stolen from the house and torn into strips.

  It had been a grand adventure and when all three of them had to suffer their individual punishments, it just bonded them more closely together. As adults, they’d all carried the matching scars with fondness.

  As Cassie looked down at their matching scars sitting side by side, she felt a wave of grief for Chris. She looked up at Jake and gave a weak smile. “It was a very good day.”

  He nodded his head. “That it was.” He kissed her softly on top of her head and turned her towards the door. “Let’s go home, okay?”

  Chapter 31

  Cassie finally convinced Jake she would be safe enough to go alone with Derek to clean up their office. His mother had gotten back into town the night before and Cassie felt like he needed to go spend some time with her before she left town again. Cassie called Derek to let him know it would just be the two of them and to ask if he could give her a ride to the office. He picked her up at 9:50. There was no sign of the distress from whatever had been wrong with him on Wednesday. In fact, he was in really good spirits considering they were going to spend the day cleaning.

  As he grinned at her for the fifth time within ten minutes, she finally broke down and asked, “What’s up with you today? You should not be this happy to be cleaning up this mess.” She looked at him suspiciously and when he quirked an eyebrow at her, the explanation finally occurred to her. “Oh my God, you got laid didn’t you?”

  “Hey, a guy never kisses and tells,” but he was blushing all the way down to his roots. Cassie had never seen him react so vehemently to the mention of a significant other which was extremely intriguing, because Derek had more than his fair share of interested parties hanging around.

  “Maybe not, but he usually doesn’t have such a reaction either. So, what’s the story?”

  “Her name is Melissa. I met her a couple of weeks ago at The Mocha Mermaid. She’s just incredible. She’s so smart and funny and sexy. We have so much in common. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

  “She sounds great.” Cassie thought for a moment. “Are you bringing her to the party tomorrow night?”

  Derek grimaced, “I’m not sure. I don’t think we’re doing anything else, but it’s still a new relationship. I don’t want to overwhelm her with everyone.”

  “Hey, it’ll be great. Just a fun holiday party with some of my very friendly friends. Just bring a snack and alcohol so the rest of us can scope this girl out.”

  Derek gave a warning, “Cassie…” but he was grinning so Cassie just gave him a look of innocence. He gave a deep sigh and said, “Just make sure everyone’s nice to her. I don’t want to scare her off yet.”

  “No problem. I’ll make sure War is under control for the evening.” Derek flushed. Derek and War had never gotten along, but as the head of the department and one of her close friends at the University, she had to invite him. “I’ll make sure there are plenty of people there who can run interference between you and War. Come on, let’s get this done so I can get home and start planning a party.”

  An hour later, Derek got an emergency call from Melissa. As he listened to Melissa talk, he glanced worriedly over at Cassie. “Mel, I’m sorry. I can’t leave yet.” He glanced around the office. “Isn’t there anyone else you can call?” He nodded absently while he listened to Melissa.

  Cassie waved her hand in front of him to get his attention and mouthed, “What’s going on?”

  “Hang on Melissa. Let me talk to Cassie for a minute.” He covered the mouth of the phone while he explained to Cassie. “Her car’s broken down and she’s stranded. Anyone else she could call has already gone home for the holidays.”

  “Well, go rescue her. She needs a White Knight and you’re just the guy for the job. We’re almost done here. I can finish up.”

  “No way. I promised Jake I wouldn’t leave you here alone.”

  “He’s ten minutes away. I’ll call him to come pick me up. In the meantime, I’m armed, so I’ll be just fine.”

  Derek looked between her and his cell phone, obviously torn, so Cassie pushed.

  “You like this girl, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, I can promise, the fastest way to lose her is to leave her stranded on the side of the highway in December. That’s not something a new relationship can recover from.”

  He looked at her seriously for a moment and looked out into the quiet hall. “Okay, okay, you convinced me. Thanks Cass.” He yanked up his jacket and started to jog down the hall, telling Melissa he was on his way.

  Cassie shook her head and grinned as she locked the door behind him. Young love.

  Cassie continued to work, until the bulk of the office was clean. She looked down at the two bags of trash which needed to go to the dumpster, but called Jake first to come pick her up. He was really unhappy about the fact she was there alone, but she’d convince him not to kill Derek. She convinced him that he could understand the needs of young love.

  She picked up the two bags with her one good hand, but then thought better of it as she thought about Jake’s tirade she had just listened to over the phone. She set them back down and reached into her purse. She grabbed her new handgun, made sure it was loaded and the safety was on. She then stuck it into the waistband of her pants on the left side so she could reach it easily if needed.

  The dumpster was down the hall from her
office, then out the other end of the building past the English department, and across the parking lot. There weren’t many people around. Mainly professors cleaning up last minute grades and offices in preparation for a month off for the holidays. She nodded her hello to several of them as she took the bags out to the overflowing dumpsters.

  As Cassie started across the parking lot, she didn’t see anyone else around besides the building’s stray cat that was curled up asleep in the sunshine on the pathway. The cat lived behind the building and all the professors and TA’s took turns scratching her neck and bringing her treats. Someone had nicknamed her Coed midway through the year and the name had stuck. Now, as Cassie walked, she clicked her tongue and greeted Coed, but the tabby didn’t acknowledge her presence. Not too surprising, Coed was a cat. She would only acknowledge someone when she felt like it.

  Cassie started to skirt around the cat which still hadn’t moved, when she felt her blood run cold. Coed wasn’t lounging in the sun. What Cassie thought was a shadow, was actually a puddle of blood draining from the cat’s slit throat. Cassie was sure Coed was dead, but she had to be sure so she dropped the trash and started to reach down towards her. She saw the cat’s eyes flicker, but then heard a small pop which occurred a split-second before the cat’s head was completely blown off.

  Cassie stood there in shock for a second before her reflexes kicked in and she dropped to the ground. Someone killed Coed with a silenced gun and now she was standing out here in the open like a sitting duck. She pulled out her pistol and flipped off the safety. There were too many people around for her to take a shot, unless it was at close range. She simply didn’t have enough accuracy with her left hand yet, but it made her feel better to have the gun in her hand. She looked back down at Coed’s body and tried to figure out which direction the shot had come from. She glanced around, but couldn’t see any movement. Looking at the splatter from the cat’s body, it looked like the shot had come from somewhere around the neighboring math building.

  All of these buildings were built with covered pathways along the perimeter with bricked columns at regular intervals. It was behind one of those columns that the shooter was probably standing, but those columns offered cover for Cassie too. As she skirted behind one, she felt a bullet pass close by and saw the shrapnel fly as the bullet embedded in the column next to her. Cassie tucked herself in closer behind the column.

  Once Cassie felt like she was somewhat in a secure position, she debated the wisdom of what to do next. She’d left her cell phone in her office so she had no way of calling for help. She still didn’t see anyone around, but was afraid an innocent student or University employee was going to wander through and end up like poor Coed. In the end, Cassie decided the best plan of action was to shoot her gun into the air and hope someone heard the shots and called the police.

  Cassie fired the gun quickly into the air in three distinct shots and cringed at the noise and the effect this may have on her job. For some reason University officials didn’t like it when they had to tell student parents there had been an occurrence of violence on campus. Having a professor shooting and being shot at on campus definitely fell into that realm.

  Chapter 32

  Jake stormed into the history building, ready to take off some of Derek’s body parts for leaving Cassie in the office alone. Cassie had been in the hospital less than a week ago. What was it going to take to convince her she was in real danger?

  Just as he had that thought, Jake heard gunshots coming from the back of the building and he took off running. When he got to the door which led out behind the building, Jake flattened up against the wall so he could slowly peer out around the edge of the door. He could see two trash bags and an animal of some sort lying on the path, but he couldn’t see anyone out there. He quickly crossed to the other side of the door frame so he could look out the other direction and that’s when he spotted Cassie crouched behind a column with her pistol clutched in her left hand.

  He looked around trying to see where the danger was coming from, but he couldn’t see any movement. He flipped open his cell phone and dialed 911, while keeping an eye on Cassie.

  “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “I’m on Texas Tech University campus, behind the English building, by the math building, and shots are being fired from an unknown assailant.”

  “Is anyone hurt?”

  “Not that I can see. I need you to dispatch Detective Brian Barnes also. I think this may be part of one of his ongoing cases.”

  “What is your name sir?”

  “Jake Madsen. He’ll know me.” With that, Jake flipped off the phone call. He needed to get Cassie to a more secure position. He didn’t like having her out there in the open. He looked around once again, trying to spot where the guy could be hiding, but he just couldn’t see anything besides the blood pouring out of the animal’s body.

  Jake slowly opened the door, making sure to stay under the cover of the walls as much as possible. Cassie gasped and turned when she heard the door. The relief in her eyes when she saw him swamped him with emotion. He needed to get her out of this courtyard. He mouthed at her, “Where?”

  She motioned over towards the other side of the courtyard, but he couldn’t see anything out of place over there. He waved a hand at her, using the hand signals they developed during childhood, so she would know to stay where she was at, while he moved out the door going in the direction of where she said the shooter was positioned. He looked back at her as he moved and cringed at the alarm in her eyes as she realized what he was doing.

  She started to rise, but he shook his head vehemently at her, so she wouldn’t endanger herself. Damn, he cursed internally as he spotted that look in her eyes which said she was going to out-stubborn him. She was going to move with him if he went any closer to where the shooter was positioned. Thank goodness, he could hear sirens in the distance, but that brought up another issue. Cassie and he both were armed and hiding behind columns. They didn’t exactly look like good guys, so he quickly turned back around and skirted his way around the columns to make it to her side, then called 911 again.

  “911, state your emergency.”

  “This is Jake Madsen. I just called in a shooting over at Texas Tech. I hear the police coming and just wanted to make sure they were aware that myself and a female professor are on the south side of that courtyard. We’re both armed, so please tell them not to shoot us.”

  “Are you both okay?”

  “Yes, we’re secure behind a brick column and believe the shooter is on the other side of the courtyard.”

  Cassie nudged him and whispered. “He’s using a high-powered rifle, probably a sniper special, with a silencer.”

  Jake relayed that information to the 911 operator.

  “I need you both to stay secured where you’re at. I have the officers who are arriving on the scene and they know where you are. Let them do their job and stay out of their way.”

  “Yes, ma’am, roger that.”

  At that, three police cars screeched into the parking lot and the car doors were flung open. One stopped right in front of the column where Cassie and Jake were still under cover. Officer Pete Larson, the officer who had been working security at Cassie’s house, jumped out of the car and joined Jake and Cassie behind the next column over. “What’s the situation?”

  “I don’t know if he’s still here, but someone was on the north side of the courtyard taking shots with a silenced rifle. He shot the cat’s head,” they all glanced over at the dead cat, as Cassie continued, “and when I ran behind the column, he took another shot.” She gestured where the bullet was lodged in the wall. “That was about ten minutes ago, and I haven’t seen or heard anything since. I’m not even sure if he’s still here or not.”

  Officer Larson spoke quietly into his radio and then turned to speak again to Cassie and Jake. “A SWAT team is on the way. You said he’s using a silencer, but we had reports of people hearing shots fired.” He glanced down at their h
andguns. “Were those one of yours?”

  Cassie nodded. “Yes, it was me. I shot directly into the air hoping someone would call the police. I hoped the gunfire would keep someone from wandering back here and getting shot.”

  The officer gave a quick nod.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were given the all-clear and Police Officer Larson ushered them back to Cassie’s office where Detective Barnes was looking at the yellow piece of paper lying front and center on Cassie’s desk.

  At the sight, Cassie’s stomach sank, but she rushed over to see what the note said:

  You disappoint me, Cassie.

  You so easily could have been the cat today.

  Maybe I will put your boyfriend

  in my sights next time.

  It’s time to think like the military

  strategist that you are.

  -BK

  Cassie felt the shudders start rolling through her body. Jake noticed and enveloped her within his arms. He gave her a soft kiss at her temple and murmured, “Relax, it’s just an after-effect of the adrenaline. You’re okay.”

  Honestly, Jake was feeling some after-effects of the adrenaline overload too and he pulled her even tighter into the circle of his arms. She could have died today…again. The thought of losing her made his blood run cold, but the feel of her breathing and standing alive in his arms sent a different kind of blood flowing. He felt Cassie’s breath hitch at the feel of his erection pressing into her back. Jake knew he should move away from her, but he physically couldn’t put a separation between their bodies. She was alive and right now he just needed to savor that feeling. He felt his own shudder run through his body.

  He felt Cassie stiffen and then pull away. Damn, he needed to get his act together. She looked at Brian who kept talking in the radio. “May I go to the restroom? It’s just a few doors down the hall.”