Within arm's reach….
Arriving only a few minutes late to the general's house, Jack knocked on the door. The general opened the door and invited them in. "Sorry we're late, Sir," Jack said. "Carter insisted upon fixing her hair."
"Sorry to disturb you on your weekend, Sir," Sam said, shooting Jack a dirty look, "But I thought this was a matter of some importance."
"That's quite all right, Major," the general said. "If you think it is important, then I am sure that it is."
Following the general into his study, Jack closed the door and flopped into one of the leather wing chairs next to the desk. Sam sat down on the opposite chair and pulled the file out of her bag. Holding the file in her hand for a moment, she looked at the general before speaking.
"Sir," she said finally, handing the file over to him. "This matter concerns someone that I have been involved with…. in a romantic relationship. You know him…Pete Shanahan. He came upon us during our "sting" operation to capture Osiris, was injured and brought to the SGC infirmary. Well, it may be that it wasn't by accident that he found us that day."
The general gestured at her to continue as he opened the file. "Pete was over at my house last night and inadvertently left this file behind. He knows I have it and definitely wants it back. He gave me his FedEx number so that I could send it to him. He does not know, however, that I have seen the contents. I am sure that he thinks that I have already sent it back to him without looking at it." Sam sat back in her chair while the general perused the contents of the file.
Hammond looked up from the file and leveled a glance at Jack. "Have you seen this file, Colonel?" he enquired.
"No, Sir. Carter thought that we should get here as soon as possible, so I have not seen it." Jack replied, tapping his fingers together. The general pushed the file across the desk towards Jack. Jack picked up the file and began to flip through the photos, while the general turned his attention back to Sam.
"Major, what do you make of this?" He said, indicating the file.
"Sir, at first I wasn't sure what to think. I've been gone a lot recently, so I thought maybe just a jealousy thing, even though he knows about the Stargate and the SGC. However, the background checks are from supposedly secure FBI files and you need a pretty high clearance level to retrieve that type of information. The credit checks are pretty standard - you can get those anywhere, just need a Social Security number basically, but the surveillance information is extremely detailed. Someone did a lot of work to gather this much information in such a short amount of time." She paused and took a deep breath. "I'm thinking…NID. Maybe we are dealing with another rouge group. I have scanned my house for "bugs" and phone taps, but have come up empty."
Jack sighed loudly and the general looked at him. "Well, Colonel, what are your thoughts on this?
"Well, Sir," Jack said, tossing the file back on the general's desk, "Although, Carter's reasoning is conceivable, I have to disagree. I think that this guy was - is - besotted with her. The surveillance dates began about two months ago and ended within the time period that he learned about the SGC. Prior to that with her disappearing for days with no reason, or "work" related excuses, etc. - he may have just wanted to see if she was serious about him before committing further. And that she did not have another guy on the side or husband or whatever." Jack finished and looked at Sam. "Even though she's been under NID scrutiny before, this doesn't bear any of their normal calling cards. Sorry, Carter. I think we may just be jumping at shadows here."
The general sat back in his chair for a moment. "Colonel, I am going to have to agree with you. There is not enough evidence here to indicate any NID involvement. However," he said, as Sam made to interrupt, "I think that this does require looking into. I don't like the idea of one of my officers being spied upon. When is he expecting the file to be returned, Major?"
"I was supposed to send it out today – Overnight Express – I can make a copy and send the original back to him, unless you have any better ideas," Sam said, looking first to the general and then to Jack. Jack shook his head.
"Very well, then. Return the file and investigate further, perhaps starting with the FBI file. You should be able to access the database and see who's been looking at these files." General Hammond stood up from his desk.
"Thank you, sir. I am sorry we disturbed you on your day off." Sam stood and grabbed the file from the general's desk as Jack stood up.
"No trouble at all," the general said, escorting them to the door. "If your research does indicate a NID presence, please advise me at once and we can re-evaluate the situation."
"General." Jack shook his hand and they walked out the front door to Jack's truck.
Sam said nothing as they got into the truck and pulled away from the general's house.
"Ok, Carter," Jack said before she could say anything. "I know you're mad because I didn't back you up in there, but I think we may be jumping to conclusions here."
"Jumping to conclusions?" Sam almost yelled, waving the file around. "How is this jumping to conclusions? This is my life we are talking about! Someone or some group have been watching me and you tell me that it is nothing?" Fuming, she looked out the window. "Please take me home. I'll figure this out on my own."
Jack jerked the steering wheel to one side and veered off onto a side street, ignoring the angry honks of the other cars. Pulling over, he unfastened his seatbelt, slid over to her side and grabbed her by the arm as she started to get out.
"Now just one damn minute here," he said, pulling her back inside the truck. "Sam! Just because I don't think this is NID doesn't mean that I don't think it's important! If you think that I'm going to stand here and let this guy watch you or do anything else for that matter, you've got to be crazy." He released her arm and moved back across the cab to his side. "I'm sorry I grabbed you," he said, noticing that she was rubbing her arm, but was still looking out the window. "I don't want you to think that I don't consider this important. It is. It's just…" he paused and sighed. "Oh Sam, I…don't know. Where do we go from here? What's the next step for us?" He looked out his side window and rested his head against the glass. A small sigh was his answer as he felt her hand touch his and their fingers intertwined.
"I don't know either, Jack. I just know that this is scaring me. If it's not the NID, then why is he doing this? Is Pete just some freak that I've invited into my home? My life?" Her voice began to rise. "He has invaded my privacy! He knows what I eat for breakfast! He knows how I like my coffee! He knows where my spare key is!" She pulled her hand from his and swiped at the tears that she didn't even notice that she had shed. "I need to know what is going on. For my own peace of mind and Cassie's safety."
Jack reached across the cab and pulled her against him. Burying her face in his shoulder, she sniffed and put her arms around him. "Sam, it's going to be ok. We are going to find out what this guy is up to and stop it from ever happening again." He hugged her hard against him.
Sam sniffed and pulled away. "Ok, Jack. So what's next?"
Jack thought for a moment. His mind was furiously trying to process both personal and logistical information. "Let's go back to your house, but first we'll stop at the hardware store and get you some new locks. Then, you can do your computer hacking thingie and find out where the FBI report was generated, while I replace your old locks. After that, we'll play it by ear. How's that for a plan?" Jack smiled at her and started the engine again.
Sam nodded and gave him a little smile. "Ok – let's go."
The drive to the hardware store took hardly any time. They made an extra key for Cassie and one to replace the spare that Daniel kept. "Maybe I should make one for you too," Sam said blushing slightly. "After all, I have one for your house."
"Good idea," Jack said, smiling at her. "Just don't let Dad know. He might get Selmak to hurt me."
Sam laughed at the mention of her dad's symbiote. "I don't know. I think Selmak has a stake in the SGC pool on us. Daniel told me that if anything ever happened between us, he wanted a weeks notice so he could change his dates." She snickered at the look on Jack's face. "Don't worry, he has promised to give us some of his winnings, since we'd be giving him inside information."
"Well," Jack said, "If we get something out of it, then ok, but I'd prefer to keep this under wraps for…well, I really don't want to share this with anybody. I just want to be with you without any outside interruptions or interpretations." Jack shook his head. "It's nobody's business but ours."
Sam smiled at Jack. "I agree." She held out her hand for the bag of locks and said, "Let's go home."
Later….
Jack sat on the floor, straddling Sam's front door. Screwing in the last of the pins that held Sam's new lock in place, he leaned back and admired his handiwork. A beer bottle magically appeared next to his leg and he looked up to see her standing nearby drinking from her own bottle.
"Ahhh…just what I needed. Thanks, Sam. So, how does it look?" He asked standing up and picking up the bottle. He took a sip while he waited for her to inspect his work.
"Pretty good, Jack. Much better since it isn't on backwards, like the first time you installed it." Sam smiled at him as he made a face at her. "When you're done there, come in here and I'll show you what I've found out," she said going into the living room.
Jack picked up the screwdriver and various bits of trash and closed the door, locking it. He tossed the trash into the garbage and put the tool chest back under the sink. Walking into the living room, he put his beer down on the coffee table and walked over to where Sam sat at the computer. He leaned over her shoulder and looked at the screen.
"Have I ever told you that you smell really good?" Jack leaned against her, making Sam shy away.
"Jack! Behave! Besides, I recall at least one time that you told me I didn't smell so good – remember the green mud on PS4-32X? That smell lingered for days! Anyway, look at this. Our FBI files were accessed in the past six months on two occasions – this one is when I updated my information with Cassie's stuff," she said, pointing to the date referenced. "This one…" she tapped her finder on the entry in question, "was accessed by a D. Ferretty at a bureau office in Denver. What do you think?"
Jack leaned closer to Sam, his lips just skimming the side of her neck. "I think that looks like our guy. Can you see if there is a connection with Pete?"
"Yeah, just give me a sec…what are you doing?" she asked, as he nuzzled against her neck.
"Just keep on with what you're doing. Don't pay any attention to me," he said beginning to rub her shoulders.
"Jaacckk…I can't concentrate when you do that. It's almost as bad as…oh, that feels good." Sam sat back in her chair and groaned theatrically. "I give you eternity to stop."
Just then the phone rang. Sam checked the Caller ID – it was Pete. She and Jack looked at each other for a second. Sam picked up the receiver and tried to make her voice sound as calm as possible.
"Hello?"
"Hey babe!" Sam grimaced; she hated it when he called her that. "How's your day?"
"Oh, it's going ok." Sam motioned for Jack to pick up the other receiver in the kitchen.
"How's yours?" She heard a faint click as he picked it up.
"Good…Good. Listen, did you have a chance to send that thing for me? I…uh...need it for a meeting tomorrow."
"No, actually, FedEx doesn't pick up on Saturday – can you come and get it? If not, I can have it couriered or something." Sam saw Jack stick one hand through the kitchen door and give her the ok signal. She smiled.
"No, hon, that's ok. I can come and pick it up tonight if you are available. Can you wear that sexy little black number…"
"Uh, yeah, that would be great!" Sam hurriedly said, trying to forestall any additional intimate sounding things that Pete was going to say. "I really want to talk to you about something anyway. Tonight is fine. Can you be here around seven?" Jack's hand started to wave frantically. "I mean, eight?" He gave her the ok signal again.
"Yeah, that would be great!" Pete's voice lowered to a more husky level. "I'm really looking forward to picking up where we left off last night, Sam. Keep the champagne chilled, ok? I'll see you at eight, then. Bye"
"Bye," Sam exhaled as she hung up the phone. She stood uncertainly next to her desk for a minute, waiting for Jack to come out of the kitchen. When he didn't, she slowly walked over to see him standing next to the refrigerator with the receiver still in his hand. Setting it down, he turned to look at her.
"I've been so caught up in revealing my feelings for you, that I forgot that someone else cares about you too," he said, bracing his hands on the counter. "What about Pete, Sam? We haven't talked about this."
Sam came to stand next to him. She leaned against the counter and looked into his face. "I don't want to be with him. I want to be with you. I was going to break up with him this morning, but he cut me off before I had the chance to and then I found the file…" her voice trailed off. "Jack, he is coming over here tonight and one way or another it's going to end. File or no, I don't want to continue this relationship with him."
Jack sighed and gathered her into his arms. "That's what I needed to hear." He kissed the top of her head. "Now, here is my plan to find out what he is up to…"
TBC…