Operation: Endgame (6 page)

Today she seemed to be in a good mood, since she only scowled at him once as he hobbled up to her desk. Maybe the crutches mellowed her acidic attitude towards him. “What can I do for you today, Capt. Madsen?”

Jake looked towards the commander’s closed door. “I need to speak with Lt. Colonel Humphrey for a few minutes?”

She gave him the evil eye like he was there for nefarious reasons, but she nodded at him. “Sure. Let me see if he has time to talk to you right now.” She picked up the phone and spoke into it. “Colonel, Capt. Madsen is here to see you.” She nodded. “Okay, I’ll send him right in.” She looked at Jake. “He says you can come in.”

At that moment, the commander opened the door for him. He waved Jake into his office. “Hi, Jake. Have a seat. How’s the leg doing?” He glanced down at Jake’s cast.

“Fine, sir. The doc says the cast can probably come off late next week and then I can get out from behind a desk.”

The Colonel frowned at that and simply said, “Hmmm. So what can I do for you today?”

“I was actually wondering if I could use some of my leave for a long weekend, sir. I have a lot of it stored up and there’s a situation at home with a friend I need to check on. I was hoping I could take four days and be back by Tuesday.”

“Honestly, Jake, I think some leave would do you some good right now. You haven’t been the same since the Columbia incident and it’s affecting your work.”

Jake got a sinking feeling in his gut.

The Colonel continued, “That cast right there is indicative of the problem you’re facing. That accident wouldn’t have happened if you were here 100%.” The Colonel tapped his finger to the temple of his head. “I worry the next time you lose your concentration, it will end up being much worse for you or one of your teammates than simply a busted up leg. That’s not something I can accept. Instead of giving you four days, I’m giving you until the New Year. I know you have plenty of leave saved up. Take this month off, get away from here, get your leg healed and strengthened back up. You need to get your head screwed back on straight. You need to decide if the PJ’s are really where you want to be, because right now I think that’s a no. You know as well as I do, that’s not something we can live with on the teams.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Jake, you’re a good officer and you’ve always been one of our best. I know Columbia was a huge blow with Capt. Robertson being one of your friends, but you have to decide. Is this where you want to be anymore? You have to have a passion to make this lifestyle work for you and right now I’m not seeing it.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Colonel looked at him with a kindness which shredded the lining of Jake’s stomach. “Take some time to heal, Jake. If you decide you want to stay a PJ, then we can talk, but if you decide this isn’t the life for you anymore, that’s okay too. There’s no shame in that.”

Jake felt the blood leave his extremities at his shock. Leave the PJ’s? The military was his life. He didn’t want to give that up. Not yet, but he simply said, “Thank you, sir.”

The Colonel stuck his hand out to shake Jake’s hand. “Sally will have your leave paperwork at her desk by the end of the day.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Jake limped out of the Colonel’s office and headed towards his truck. As he slumped down into the seat, he let his head lay back on the headrest. Now what was he going to do? Did he want to stay a PJ? The Colonel was right…everything had changed after Columbia. If he couldn’t save his best friend, then what good was he to anyone? But if he wasn’t a PJ, then what was he going to do? He couldn’t go into another career field within the Air Force. That felt like giving up, but he’d never considered doing anything else besides the military. He’d served eight years so he’d served his commitment, but was he ready to leave? There were too many questions swirling around in his head he didn’t know the answers to. The only thing he did know was it was time to head home and confront his other issues; the ones he had with Cassie.

Jake pounded down the hall to Cassie’s office in the History Department. Butterflies rolled through his stomach and he felt like he could puke. Wasn’t that a bitch? He didn’t get this nervous and nauseous when he was out on a mission and his life was on the line. He was just going to see Cassie. It’s not like this was dangerous, but the rolling feeling continued through his gut.

He hadn’t seen Cassie since May. Their friendship had deteriorated since that fateful night when he’d taken advantage of her. They’d never talked about it or even mentioned what happened. Both tried to maintain the status quo of their friendship after he went back to Arizona, but after a few stilted phone conversations, their communication had dwindled to the occasional text or email. He hadn’t even called to tell her he was coming today. He wasn’t sure how she was going to react to him being here.

When he reached the door to her office, he was surprised to find it open and a man sitting behind her desk rifling through some papers. He looked up when Jake started through the doorway and immediately scowled at him. Jake guessed him to be in his mid-twenties. He had shaggy dark hair which was about a month past needing a haircut. He looked like a traditional college academic, his lean frame in a hoodie and jeans, except the notably aggressive expression behind his wire-framed glasses on his face. “Can I help you with something?” The man eyed him suspiciously.

Wow, talk about unfriendly. “I’m looking for Professor Robertson. This is still her office, isn’t it?” He glanced pointedly towards Cassie’s desk and the papers the man was holding.

The man was openly hostile now. “What’s your name and what do you need with the Professor?” He was practically growling.

Jake walked further into the room. Even on crutches he was a big guy and knew how to use that to his advantage to intimidate. He leaned over the front of the desk and picked up the framed picture he knew was sitting there of Chris, Cassie, and him. “I’m Jake Madsen. I’ve been a friend of Cassie’s for a long fucking time.” He shoved the photo into the guys face. “Now who the hell are you?”

At that, the man deflated and rubbed a hand over his face. “Aw, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you. Things have been crazy around here and I’m just feeling a bit protective of her.” He stood up and offered Jake his hand. “I’m sorry for the lousy welcome. I’m Derek, Cassie’s TA. She didn’t mention you were coming into town.”

Jake shook his hand, wondering what the hell was going on here. Why was this guy feeling protective about Cassie? Were they involved? That thought sent another rolling wave of nausea through Jake’s gut. “She didn’t know I was coming into town. I decided to surprise her. What do you mean by things have been crazy?”

Derek shook his head. “That’s not my tale to tell, but I have to admit I’m glad you’re here. You’re military aren’t you?” He looked at Jake speculatively.

Jake gave a terse nod. Why would it matter if he was military? Jake was starting to get a prickling sensation on the back of his neck and this time it had nothing to do with his eminent confrontation with Cassie. Something definitely wasn’t right here. Jake had a feeling Colton had been right to send him for a visit. “It sounds like I need to talk to Cassie. Where is she?”

Derek looked at the clock on the wall. “Right now she’s reviewing the Principles of War with a bunch of freshman. I just came back over here to grab some paperwork she forgot. They’re over in Holden Hall, room 134. The lecture should be over in about an hour. You could head over and slide into the back. It’s one of the big lecture halls, so you could slip in unnoticed.”

***

Jake slid into one of the chairs in the back of the lecture hall. Thankfully, part of his training in the Air Force taught him how to move quietly, even with the inconvenience of crutches. The room was darkened except down on the platform where Cassie stood lecturing. Damn she looked good. If he’d been lucky enough to have professors that looked like her when he was in college, he definitely wouldn’t have skipped so many classes. Looking around the room at the boys’ enraptured attention he had a feeling that she didn’t have too many openings in her classes.

She was dressed in a fitted grey skirt which cupped her ass like a glove. Her top was a flaming orange, button down with French cuffs. The color highlighted her auburn hair which was hanging loose in waves down her back so it looked like flames. The entire look was finished off with fuck-me heels which were the same color as her skirt, with little orange bows on the back of them. She even had a little pair of reading glasses perched onto the tip of her pert nose. The entire look sent his naughty professor fantasies flying and he felt a tightening at the front of his jeans.

She had a laptop computer feeding into the lecture hall’s projection system as she talked about Sun Tzu’s
The Art of War
, specifically… the five types of intelligence sources and how to use them. She moved and spoke with a self-assurance earned by her expertise on the subject and her voice carried out over the lecture hall.

As Jake watched her lecture, he realized there were details he’d missed during his initial physical perusal of her. She’d lost weight since May. Not too surprising with the stress Chris’ death would have caused her, but she didn’t have any extra to lose in the first place. Also, behind the rims of her glasses, he could see dark circles under her eyes. She obviously tried to cover them up with make-up, but there was no disguising the fact she wasn’t sleeping as much as she needed.

He continued to watch her, simply enjoying the view of her while she was in her element. Regardless of what brought him home, he savored this moment. There were times over the past few months when he’d wondered if he’d ever see her again. Surprisingly, with everything else on his mind, he found himself interested in the lecture too. She was passionate about military strategy and it showed when she talked about it.

Suddenly, there was a huge bang over on the right side of the room as someone dropped a book. Cassie screamed and swung around, obviously startled and frightened. Quickly, realizing what the sound was, Cassie covered with a joke about her students shooting at her, but Jake wasn’t fooled. She was deathly pale and her composure was visibly shaken. While her voice remained strong and sure, her hands were shaking and her eyes were wary and shifting as she watched the room.

There was definitely something going on and whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Jake needed to do some investigating before he let Cassie know of his presence. He had a feeling, as stubborn as Cassie was, she was going to start stonewalling him. He needed to find out what was happening before she had a chance to do that.

Jake pulled himself into his truck, shoving the crutches into the passenger seat. He had a feeling he knew someone who might give him more information than Derek had been willing to impart. At least that would be the case, if she knew what was happening. He knew Cassie and she didn’t allow other people to help her very often, but if Derek knew what was going on, then Penelope might too.

All of them, the girls and the guys in Cassie’s life, had spent their college years hanging out together as a huge group. They were all friends, so he didn’t think twice about heading to Penelope’s store. Cassie hadn’t trusted Colton or him with this information, but maybe she’d trusted the girls. He pointed his truck down University and turned onto 19
^th
Street.

There was a whole row of glorious mansions which flanked the edge of the campus on the South side. A few of them were still residences, but most had been converted to hold commercial businesses. Penelope owned a bookstore which she ran out of one of the old Colonial-style mansions, called Raider Readers.

As he opened the door, the bell tinkled above it. The front room looked empty, but he heard Penelope call out from deeper in the house, “Come on in! I’ll be out in a moment.”

Jake chuckled as he glanced around. The house was gorgeous. When Penelope started the bookstore, she didn’t change the layout of the house at all. The rooms were all still in their original configuration. They were now simply overflowing with books and bookshelves. Each room held a different genre of books. It was a bibliophile’s dream.

Jake browsed through the shelf showcasing the fiction new releases while he waited on Penelope. He didn’t realize the new James Patterson novel was already out. He was thumbing through it when Penelope walked into the room.

“Jake?” Penelope rushed up to him and enveloped him in a huge hug, but then frowned down at his crutches and cast. “What did you do? Does Cassie know you’re here?”

“Hi, Penelope.” He grinned at her and looked down at his cast. “It was simply a bad jump. No big deal. The cast should come off next week, and no, Cassie doesn’t know I’m here yet.”

She looked at him quizzically. “I didn’t think so since I just talked to her a couple of hours ago and she didn’t say anything about you. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when a good-looking guy comes to visit me, but…” She gave him a flirty smile, but she had a definite confused look about her. “Why are you in town and more specifically why are you here before you’ve even said hello to Cassie? Are you book shopping or do you have something on your mind?”

Jake lifted the Patterson book. “A little bit of both. I want to buy this, but really I need to talk to you.”