Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners) (5 page)

He’s after me again, gotta
get away this time! I try to get to the bedroom door but he’s too fast for me. 
He grabs my arm and spins me around to face him.  I look down so I don’t have
to look in his crazy eyes, I swear they’re a different color.  He has brown
eyes like mine, but his eyes look green when he’s like this.  God help me, he’s
really going to hurt me this time!  I start to scream and he puts his hand over
my mouth to muffle it.  I see the tattoo and think, “When did he get that tattoo?
I don’t remember seeing it before.”

“You have to die, it’s the
only way!” he cries as he stabs me with the butcher knife.  I can feel the
knife slide into me.  “Someone please help me,” I whimper.  Taking a deeper
breath, I begin to scream.

I scream and scream, and
suddenly, I’m awake.  God, another nightmare!  I scan the room, convinced he’s
here to get me again.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing; it’s a
beautiful morning. Too bad it doesn’t feel beautiful to me right now.  I’m
covered in a cold sweat and the sheets are soaked with it.  Might as well get
up and get moving.  There’s no way I’m going to go back to sleep on wet sheets.
 Ewww!  Funny how the nightmare keeps ending with Matt stabbing me.  That never
happened.  And where did that tattoo come from?  Wonder where my mind gets
these things…

After showering and
stripping the bed, I put the sheets in the washer.  Toast will do for breakfast
today, I don’t think I could stomach much else after the nightmare.  After
eating, I putter around the kitchen cleaning up toast crumbs and rinsing the
coffee pot.

“Anybody home?” I hear.  Good,
sounds like Dan is here to fix the front door.  Sure enough, I find Dan
standing on the front porch.  “Hi Dan, come on in,” I say.  “The front door is
the one that keeps opening by itself.  I think it needs the hinges adjusted or
something.”

“I’ll get you fixed up in
jiffy Cassie.”

“Can you look at the water
heater, also?”  I am opening all the drawers in the kitchen, searching for my
keys.  “The water isn’t very hot.  I turned up the temp on it but it didn’t do
any good.  It looks like it’s at least 30 years old.  Let me know if you think
it needs replaced.”

“Sure thing, Cassie.  I
also brought the wood to fix the porch today, if that’s OK with you.”

“Sounds good.”  I finally
find my keys in the freezer.  “I will leave you to it.  I have to get to the
store early today since I gave Mel the day off.  She has been such a godsend
since Gram died, keeping everything running smoothly.  She deserves a vacation,
but I can’t swing another full-time employee right now with estate taxes and
everything.  Call me on my cell if you need anything.”

“Will do.  I’ll lock up
when I’m done.”  He starts pulling tools out of his toolbox.  “I’ll keep a running
total for you.  We can settle up later.”  Dan stops me as I start to walk out
the door.  “Thanks for giving Mel the day off today.  She’s starting to look a
little frazzled.”

I turn back and face Dan,
grateful that I have a friend who can tackle the repairs that the house needs. 
“You’re a great friend Dan.  I’m glad Mel has you.  Too bad you don’t have a
brother,” I laugh.  “Thanks again for all your help.”

I head to the bookstore hopeful
it’ll be a good day.

I can’t believe my eyes
when I get to the bookstore.  Someone broke in and painted satanic symbols all
over the counter.  Who would do this?  I haven’t been back long enough to
alienate anyone.  I get out my cell phone and call James.

Five minutes later, James rushes
in looking worried.  “What happened?  Are you OK?” he asks as he looks me in
the eye. “You sounded shaky on the phone.”

“I’m fine” I reply, turning
to look at the damage.  “It just shocked me that someone would do this to
Gram’s, I mean, my store.  Nothing like this ever happened when Gram was
alive.  Who would do this?”  I point to the counter as another thought crosses
my mind, “Do you think this has anything to do with that Reverend that killed
my parents?”  My parent’s murder has been on my mind ever since I found the
journal.  God, I hope not! 

“I doubt it. That was a
long time ago.”  James grabs my hand and pulls me over to the nearest chair,
motioning for me to sit.  “Reverend Jake was killed a couple of years ago in
prison, so it couldn’t be him.  It was probably just kids causing trouble.  We’ve
never had this problem in Fairfield Corners before, but there’s a first time
for everything, I guess.”  James is taking pictures of the damage when his cell
phone rings, “Sheriff Marsten here” he says, “OK Maureen, I’ll be right there.”

“There’s been a car
accident out on County Road 68 near the quarry, I’ve gotta run.  It’s Logan’s
day off so I have to take this.  Come over to my office this afternoon and
we’ll get a report filed so you can turn it in to your insurance.  Go ahead and
call Dan and have him put a new lock on the back door.”

“Ok.”  I give him a quick
hug.  “Be safe James. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

I head back to the storeroom
for cleaning supplies.  I hope I can get some of this paint off the counter.  I
think I saw some paint thinner left over from the last time Gram painted the
office.

I hear the bell over the
door announcing that someone just walked in.  “What the hell happened in here?
Are you here Cassie?”

Great, it’s the Deputy.  Just
what I don’t need this morning.  “Hi Logan.  What can I help you with this
morning?”

“I stopped by to get the
morning paper.  I usually don’t have time to read it, but since I have the day
off, I thought it would go good with my morning coffee over at the diner.”  He looks
behind me and sees the symbols painted on the counter.  “Were you here when
this happened?  Were you hurt?”

“No, it happened last
night.  Someone broke in through the back door.  That’s the only other damage
besides the paint.  Please excuse me for a moment, I need to call Dan to get
the back door fixed.”

“No need to call him.  I
can fix that for you.”  I see just a hint of that lopsided smile.

I stand there for what
feels like an hour, not believing what I just heard.  Logan offered to fix the
door for me?  “Thanks for your help,” I say, realizing that there may be more
to him than I thought.

“No problem.  Did you call
the chief and get a report filled out?  If not, I can take care of that too.”

“James was already here. 
He’s got pictures of the damage and is going to fill out a report later today.
He got a call about a car accident and had to leave.”

“Let me see what I can do
with the back door.” He heads back to the storeroom to look at the door.  “Looks
like you need a whole new door.  I’ll go down to the hardware store and see if
they have one in stock. Your Gram probably had an account there.  If not, I’ll
go ahead and get it and you can pay me back.”

“Thanks so much for your
help Logan.”  I don’t want Logan to see the disbelief in my eyes so I stare at my
feet.

“Anytime Miss Cassie,” he
says in that sexy southern drawl.

Logan measured the door
and headed down to the hardware store.  I guess I have to revise my opinion of
the deputy, he seems to be a nice guy under that gruff exterior.

I start to work on getting
some of the paint off the counter with the paint thinner. Of course, I am
interrupted every ten minutes by someone dropping in to see the damage.  I
forgot how fast news travels in a small town. The hardware store must be
buzzing this morning; my store is broken into and it’s the new deputy buying a
new door.  That should start some really good rumors.  Too bad I’ve sworn off
men.  Otherwise, it might be fun seeing if I can get the Deputy all hot and
bothered!

Logan finishes getting the
new door installed and comes out front, watching me usher the latest curiosity
seekers out the door.  “Why don’t you put up the closed sign?” he asks.

“It is up, they all just
ignore it and pound on the door.  Oh, the joys of living in a small town.  That’s
why I moved to New York City in the first place.  Everyone knows everyone
else’s business here.  Guess I’ll have to learn to live with it again…”

“It’s not so bad, living
in a small town.  I moved here from Atlanta and no one would even notice if
something like this happened there.  I like how everyone pulls together.”

James walks in, “Hi
Cassie, I see you roped Logan into helping you.”

“Nope, no roping here.  He
came in for the paper and offered to fix the back door for me.”  I slightly
change the subject, I don’t want James getting any ideas.  “Do you have time to
fill out the report now?”

“Yes, let’s sit over here
and get it done now.  One less thing to worry about today.”

After writing down all the
needed information, James snaps his notebook closed.  “There, that’s done.”  He
looks over at the counter, “Looks like you got some of the paint off.  Do you
want some help with the rest?”

“Sure, I’ve got some more
rags right here.”  I hand him a rag and the paint thinner and let him get to
work.

Suddenly, my phone rings –
the theme from “NY Cops On the Streets.”  Both James and Logan look at me
quizzically. “Cop friend from New York,” I say.

“Hey, what’s up!” I say.  “How
are things in the big apple?”

As I listen all the blood
rushes out of my head.  I can’t believe this is happening.  Why would they let
him out?  What if he comes after me?

“Shit,” I whisper as I
drop my phone, swaying slightly.

Logan reaches me first,
picks me up and plops me on a chair.  He gently shoves my head between my knees,
telling me to breathe as James picks up my phone.  “Who is this? What did you
just say?”

My friend, Don Carleno, a detective
on the NYPD, is on the other end.  “What happened, Cassie? Cassie, answer me!”

“This is Sherriff James
Marsten, who is this?”  He looks over at me.  I am hyperventilating.  My head
feels like it is going to explode, and I feel like a ticking time bomb.

“James, it’s Don Carleno. 
We met when you were here last year.”

Relieved to be talking to
a fellow police officer and not some kind of villain, he composed himself,
cleared his throat and began talking like a professional instead of a worried
friend.  “What did you tell Cassie?  She just about passed out right in front
of me…”

Don replies uneasily, “I
just told her that Matt is out of jail.”

James looks over at me, “Jail?
Why was he in jail?”

“Dammit, she obviously
didn’t tell you what happened the night she broke up with him,” he mutters.  “You’re
going have to ask her about that.  I thought she told you.”

I am sitting there
completely mortified, not only did I just about pass out; I now will have to
explain to James why I’d never told him about what happened when I broke up
with Matt.  Crap.

“Don’t worry, she is going
to explain everything to me in detail.  I will call you back in a few.”  He
turns and looks at me; I can see the anger building in his eyes.  “OK Cassie,
spill it.  Why was Matt in jail?”  He is looking into my eyes, as if he can
find the answer there.  “Why did his getting out scare you so bad you almost
passed out?”

“James, sit down and quit
scowling at me. I’ll tell you everything.”  I look down at my hands, willing
them to stop shaking.  “Logan, would you please sit down?  You’re making me
nervous hovering over me like that.”

They both sit near me and
wait for me to explain.  “Long story short, it started when Matt began working
undercover. He started to become more and more like his undercover character
and it got to where I couldn’t take it anymore so I told him I changed my mind
and wouldn’t marry him.”

I take a deep breath,
trying to find the courage to continue, “When I gave him back the ring he went
nuts and beat me up.  He pushed me down the stairs when I tried to get away.” 
I can’t tell James the whole truth, that the abuse had started months before
that night, he would go totally ballistic.

James jumps up and starts
pacing, looking like he’s going to explode.  I continue, “It was weird, he was
never a violent person before that undercover assignment.  When he was
undercover he was different.  I swear his eyes even changed color.

I start wringing my hands,
I really don’t want to tell James what happened.  He’s not going to be happy
about this next part.  “When he pushed me down the stairs I broke three of my
ribs and ended up with a concussion.  Luckily, Don was on duty and he made sure
Matt was arrested to keep me safe.”

James stops pacing and
squats down in front of me.  His eyes are searching mine for answers.  I swipe
at a tear, not wanting him to see how vulnerable I am.  He reaches for me as I
say, “Don’t touch me James.  If you do I’ll lose it and I won’t be able to
finish telling you what happened.”

James pulls his hand back
and goes back to his pacing as I continue, “Don had noticed Matt’s out of
character behavior too.  Matt went completely off the deep end and ended up in
Bellevue on the psychiatric floor. He was insisting that I needed to die.  According
to what Don just told me, the court just overturned his conviction.”  I just
sit there staring at my feet.

James grabs my hands as if
I’m going to try and get away, “My God Cassie.  Why didn’t you tell me?” he
asks.  “I would have dropped everything to be there.”  I can see the hurt in
his eyes that I would keep something like this from him.

“I know, and that’s why I
didn’t tell you.  I don’t need you riding in on a white horse to save poor
little me.  I am not a damsel in distress.  I can handle things on my own.”

“Yeah, you handled this
real well.  I’m going to call Don back and get the details.  If Matt is headed
this way we need to be ready.  Logan and I should be able to protect you if he
shows up.  One of us should be with you at all times.”