Operation: Endgame

by Christi Snow

  When they got into her office, Cassie was surprised to find her door closed and locked. “That’s odd. Derek should’ve been here by now. He always beats me here by a couple of hours and I know he planned on being in early this morning.”

  As she dug into her purse to find her office key, Jake got that itchy feeling on the back of his neck that told him something was wrong. He glanced up and down the hall quickly, but couldn’t see anything out of place which would account for the feeling. Just as Cassie reached up to unlock the door, Jake took the keys from her hand. “Let me.” Cassie gave him an odd look, but relinquished the keys to him and went to stand behind him as he opened the door.

  Jake slowly opened the door and after his first glance, pulled out the Glock he’d bought the day before. Cassie gasped when she saw him draw out the gun, but her eyes opened even wider when she caught the first glimpse of her office. It had been completely and utterly trashed. There were papers shredded and scattered everywhere. Both desks were overturned. Her books were mutilated and destroyed. Absolutely everything in the room seemed to have been touched by the mass destruction.

  As Cassie, came into the room and started to reach to pick up one of her antique military texts, Jake grabbed her arm and said, “Don’t touch anything. There may be fingerprints.”

  Cassie turned in a slow tight circle and felt her anger growing. Then her eyes fell on the picture of the three of them, Jake Chris and Cassie, which had always sat on her desk. Someone had taken a knife to the photo and shredded it. This was not a random attack. This was personal. She had kept her head in the sand about this stalker, hoping he would simply stop, but that was obviously not going to happen. It was time for her to get mad and take care of this guy. She needed to start living her life again. The helpless feeling that had plagued Cassie for the last six months suddenly disappeared and, in its place, Cassie felt a deep burning anger. She may not have been able to control what happened to Chris, but she absolutely could control everything else going on with her life. This was going to end. She yanked her cell phone out of her purse.

  “Detective, this is Cassie Robertson. Someone vandalized my office at Tech.” She listened for a bit then continued, “It’s pretty trashed and I have no doubt my friend is responsible. You need to catch this guy before me. If I catch him, I’m going to rip his balls from his body with my bare hands.”

  Jake had turned towards her when she started talking, and visibly winced when she finished her tirade with the Detective. He gave a light chuckle as she slammed her phone shut, so then she turned on him. “You think this is funny?” She swept an arm arcing across the mess before them, looking even angrier than when she talked to Brian.

  “No ma’am. I don’t think this is funny at all.” He glanced around the destroyed room and had his own angry look. “I was thinking about poor Brian at the other end of the phone call and feeling sorry for his shriveling ‘nads. I like it when your feisty side comes out to play. Just don’t alienate the good guys.” He gave her a little smile. It was good to see some of the Cassie he grew up with was still in there and ready to come out fighting.

  Cassie nodded her acquiescence, but then she caught another glimpse of the gun that was still in Jake’s hand, “I’m thinking maybe I need to get one of those for myself.”

  Jake glanced down at his gun and then tucked it back into the back of his waistband. He cocked his head at Cassie, taking in her right arm which was still in a sling to protect her broken clavicle. “Unfortunately, I don’t think you can do anything to shoot right now with your bum shoulder.”

  “You don’t remember much from our childhood do you? I’m almost as efficient with my left arm as I am with my right. I bet with some practice, I could shoot just as well with my left arm, but I need a pistol.”

  Jake gave a nod. “Okay, after we finish up here today, I can take you by the gun shop and we can get you a gun.”

  They were both standing there surveying the damage while they waited for Brian to arrive, when War walked by the door and glanced in at them, but instead saw the destruction behind them. “What the hell? Cassandra, what happened here?”

  Cassie sighed and looked at her watch. “Nothing to worry about War. It’s just my friendly little admirer leaving me a gift. Listen, have you seen Derek this morning? He’s usually here by now and with this mess, I’m starting to get worried that he’s not here.”

  War gave her a sharp look, but shook his head, looking concerned at the mess in Cassie’s office. “I stayed late last night and he was still here when I left, but I haven’t seen him this morning.”

  Cassie looked confused. “Late? I thought he left when we did last night.” She looked questioningly at Jake.

  Jake shrugged, “That’s what I thought too. He definitely acted like he was leaving. When we left, he was gathering up his papers and putting them in his briefcase.” Jake looked at War. “What time were you here last night? We left around 4:30- 5:00. Are you sure it was Derek in here, or is it possible the guy you saw was the guy who did this?”

  War looked at the room. “No, I talked to him so I know it was Derek and it was late, like around 10:30. I was working on grading my 3rd year students’ term papers.”

  Jake asked, “What were you two talking about?”

  War ducked his head and wouldn’t look at Cassie. “We were discussing the situation with Cassandra and the fact she was hurt over the weekend. We’re both worried about her and her safety.”

  “Is that all you talked about?”

  War clenched his jaw, but simply said, “Yes.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Are you calling me a liar?”

  “No, it just seems like maybe you have more to tell.” Jake watched War closely.

  “Well, there isn’t.” War looked down at his watch. “I have to get to class. Cassandra, I’m sorry about all of this. Call me if there’s anything I can do to help, okay?” War took off down the hall and Jake watched his retreating back and wondered what he was hiding.

  Jake looked over at Cassie who was dialing on her cell phone again, “Come on Derek, answer.” She slammed the cell phone shut again. “Dammit. He isn’t answering. What if he was here when this guy came to do this?” She looked worriedly at Jake hoping for his reassurance.

  “We’ll find him after we talk to Brian. He should be here soon.” Jake looked at his watch. “What time is your class today?”

  “Oh damn.” Cassie looked at her watch. “It’s in forty-five minutes and the finals are somewhere in that mess.” Cassie looked down the hall where War had headed. “Can you wait here for the detective? I need to go print 150 new copies or there are going to be a whole bunch of students without credit for this class because I can’t give them their final exam.”

  “No, you aren’t going anywhere alone right now.”

  “Jake, don’t be ridiculous. It’s broad daylight and there are people all over the place. Nothing’s going to happen to me here.”

  “I don’t care. War isn’t telling us everything and just the fact this guy got in here sometime last night means you aren’t safe, regardless of what you may think. Do you have any post-it notes in your briefcase so I can leave a note for Brian?”

  “Leave me a note about what?” The detective asked as he walked up behind them, and then gave a low whistle when he saw the destruction in her office. “Our boy’s been busy hasn’t he? Can you tell if anything’s missing?”

  Cassie shook her head. “There’s no way to tell. We haven’t touched anything and without digging through the piles, I have no idea what’s in there and what isn’t.”

  “Okay, I have a forensics team on their way over to check for evidence, so it’ll be a few hours before I can let you in there and we can check for missing items.”

  At the sound of running footsteps coming down the hall, they all turned and saw Derek coming at them looking much more disheveled than normal. He was gasping to catch his breath as he drew up to a stop in front of them. “Cassie, I’m so
sorry I’m late. I overslept.”

  Cassie nodded, simply relieved he was okay. “No problem. There’s a lot of that going around this morning, so don’t worry about it. Besides,” She waved to the mess in her office, “there are other issues to worry about this morning.”

  “Oh my God. What happened to the office?”

  “We don’t know. We’re thinking it’s just a little visit from my admirer.” She gestured towards his briefcase, “I don’t suppose you have the finals in there do you?”

  Derek appeared confused at the briefcase in his hand. “The finals? Um, actually yes, I do have them.”

  “Oh, thank God. Hey, War mentioned you were here late last night.”

  Derek’s cheeks flushed with color and his eyes shifted back to the destroyed office.

  “What were you doing? I thought we pretty much had the semester all wrapped up, or did I hit my head harder than I thought and forget something?”

  “No,” Derek stammered, “you didn’t forget anything. I was just working on some of my graduate work.”

  “Really? I thought you were all finished for the semester. I’m not working you too hard, am I?”

  Cassie looked confused and Derek looked guilty. Jake didn’t like any of it. The whole situation between Derek and War both being there late the night before just felt off somehow.

  “No, Cassie, everything’s fine,” He looked down at his watch, “but we need to get to class so we can administer this test.”

  “Yes, you’re right.” Cassie looked at Jake and the detective. “Jake can you stay here with Brian and then I’ll see both of you in a couple of hours after my class is done?”

  Jake looked at Derek, trying to quell the niggling in his gut that something was off, but it wasn’t enough for him to think Cassie was in any danger. He looked directly at Derek and said, “I don’t want you to leave her side for even a minute. Stick close or you’ll answer to me, do you understand?”

  Derek ran a hand through his tousled hair, “Yeah, I understand. She’ll be fine, I promise.”

  ***

  As Cassie sat at the desk at the front of the large lecture hall, she looked around at her students watching for any cheating and thought about the destruction that was left in her office. She glanced over at Derek. He looked really wrung out and that wasn’t normally like him. She’d been lucky when she got him as her TA. He was conscientious and efficient. They got along really well. Her specialty was military history while he was focusing on a more political history degree, but their different viewpoints had led to some wonderful debates that energized her passion for the subject and reflected well on her classes. He was someone she appreciated as a professional because he challenged her beliefs and her ideology. She loved that. He was only 23, but if he had been a bit older, Cassie may have been interested in dating him. As it was, he had the whole sexy nerd look going for him which kept the coeds drooling over him, both male and female, wherever he went.

  Now, she was worried about what was going on with him, because he seemed really distracted today. He was watching the class for cheating the same as her and she caught his eye and mouthed, “Are you okay?”

  He gave a quick nod and then quickly shifted his gaze away from hers. Yes, something was definitely not right there.

  By the end of class, there was a pile of finals deep enough to make both Derek and Cassie groan with the thoughts of the hours it would take to grade them all. As Derek piled them all together, he put a band around them, so none of them would get separated. But that led to another issue… they didn’t have an office to work in any longer. She looked at Derek’s haggard, exhausted face and made a decision. “Derek, they aren’t going to let us in the office today and we need to get to work on these. I’ll go deal with the Detective. You can go through your side of the office later to see what’s missing. Right now, go home, take a nap, pull yourself together, and then you can come over to my place and we can work on grading the finals tonight. Sound good?”

  “Yes, that sounds great, but I’m walking you back to the office. I don’t want your boyfriend in my face for letting you walk the hall alone.”

  “Jake isn’t my boyfriend.”

  “Does he realize that?” Derek looked at her seriously.

  “He’s just a bit over protective, like a big brother.”

  “Cassie, you’re deluding yourself if you think any brother looks at his sister the way that man looks at you. Regardless, I don’t think I want to rile him any more than needed. Come on. I’ll carry the finals over there for you.”

  It took about another hour before Cassie was through at the office with Brian. The forensics team had gone over the whole room so there was a layer of fingerprint dust over everything, but there didn’t appear to be any more clues or anything missing. Honestly, it was simply a huge mess she was going to have to clean up. At this point, Cassie didn’t even want to think about it. She could report her grades through her laptop. They had copies of the final exams and classes were done for her for the semester. She and Derek would deal with the mess in their office in a few days. Today she simply didn’t care.

  ***

  Derek arrived at Cassie’s house at 5:30 with Whataburger take-out sacks in hand. Cassie groaned, “Between you and Jake and the fact I can’t run right now, I’m going to be 20 lbs. heavier by the end of December.”

  Derek looked at her and laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. With your metabolism, you could live on Whataburger burgers and still never gain an ounce. Besides, you know you’re just as addicted to them as the rest of us, right?”

  Cassie gave a hefty sigh but agreed, “Unfortunately, it’s sad but true. My poor arteries. Come on, let’s eat first, then we can work.” She waved him into the kitchen table where Jake joined them.

  “Hmmm, do I smell Whataburger? I haven’t had one of their burgers in years. Derek, I think I may just love you.”

  “Thanks, man, but you’re not my type.” Derek pushed the second bag over to Jake. “Help yourself.”

  Cassie grabbed three beers out of the fridge. As she joined them at the table, Derek looked up at her and asked, “Did they find anything at the office today?”

  Cassie shook her head, “No, they dusted for prints. It’ll take a few days to run them all since it’s so public, but they didn’t think they were going to get any hits from that. They think the guy picked the lock, but that’s pretty much the only thing they got out of the office. I need to go in there to clean up. You do too, especially to see if there’s anything missing. I just didn’t want to deal with it today. Maybe we could plan for Friday?”

  “I could do Friday. Want to plan around 10:00?”

  “That’ll work for me.”

  Cassie started cleaning up all the trash off the table. “We probably should get started on grading if we want to finish this tonight. Derek, do you want another beer?”

  “That depends, am I grading the essays or are you?” It was a running joke between the two of them about how bad the essays could be, especially for this first year class.

  “Since you’re the TA, I’m thinking you should.” At Derek’s grimace, Cassie added, “You can look at it as a learning experience.”

  “What exactly am I supposed to be learning from bad papers?”

  “What not to do to impress your professor. It could come in handy as you get ready to start on your PhD.” Cassie smirked at him.

  Derek just rolled his eyes. “In that case, I definitely need a second beer. It may help me keep my sense of humor.”

  They worked for a while with only the classic Christmas music playing softly in the background. Cassie was working on grading the question and answer parts of the exams while Derek took on the essays. Jake was lounged out on the couch reading his new Patterson novel he’d picked up at Raider Readers.

  Cassie stood to stretch and went over to the sink to take some ibuprofen. Jake looked up at her concerned, “Are you feeling okay?”

  Cassie nodded. “Yes, my shoulder
is just getting achy from sitting looking at papers, but I’m fine. It’s nothing some ibuprofen won’t fix.”

  “Um…Cassie?” Derek looked up at her with a funny look on his face. He was holding an essay he’d just pulled off the pile and under where it had been sitting was a folded piece of yellow legal pad paper. It was exactly like the paper the stalker used on all of his notes to her. Derek had seen enough of the notes over the last couple of months to know what it might mean. He looked at her now with worry in his eyes. “Did you put that there?” He looked back down at the folded paper like it was a snake.

  Jake got up and started moving towards the kitchen where Cassie was taking her medicine, but now he looked sharply at Derek. “What is it?”

  Cassie looked at the note and then looked at Jake. “Well, if it’s like every other piece of yellow paper I’ve received over the last couple of months, that’s a note from my stalker.”

  “What the hell? In the middle of your exams? How the hell would he have gotten it in there?” Jake looked accusingly at Derek.

  Derek and Cassie exchanged looks. The exams had been in Cassie’s possession, or in her briefcase, ever since they had been collected in the classroom that morning.

  “Could he have paid one of the students to put it in the pile?” Derek mused.

  “Or could it be this guy IS one of your students?” Jake growled, but he was still looking suspiciously at Derek who’d been acting odd that morning.

  Derek studiously ignored the pointed look Jake was giving him, but was looking thoughtful. “What about Trevor Bennett? Have you had any more issues with him?”

  Cassie started to shake her head no, but Jake interrupted, “Who’s Trevor Bennett?”

  “He’s one of my students in my first year class. He had a crush on me at the beginning of the semester, but honestly, he’s harmless. He’s just a bit socially awkward. I can’t imagine he could be the one behind this.”