Thank you for reviewing my story, I hope to see more stories on the O'Malleys, even if I have to write most of them myself..lol..
Thank you goblz for sending me your review. I loved your O'Malley story and hope to see more from you. I would never ever kill Jack, though I am sure by the time this book is over he might be a bit bruised up.
Thank you also potostfbeyeluvr for reviewing, I will continue my chapters so keep reading and reviewing plz.
CHAPTER 2
Cassie woke up the next morning wrapped in Jack's arms; she smiled and moved his arms gently so she could move without waking him. Just as she got up Jack pulled her back down. She laughed as she landed on his chest. "Excuse me, where do you think you are going." Cassie looked down at him with mock annoyance. "I was going to go get something to eat." Jack laughed and let go of her. "Sounds good to me, what are you cooking?" Cassie scoffed. "Who says I was cooking?" Jack sat up and stretched while looking at her. "You don't want me near any food, I like burning things." Cassie giggled and stood up. "I am sure you do."
She walked over to the window and smiled at the simple beauty of the newly fallen snow over the streets. A snowman stood in front of her apartment, she and Jack had made it just two days ago, there was snow on the baseball cap they put on the snowman. Cassie sighed remembering the man who had come last night, she was terrified but she had to act strong. Jack had saved her life yet again and she owed him so much. She walked into her room and shut the door to get changed into clothes; she was off duty today and fortunately so was Jack. She heard Jack through the door. "Can I use the phone to call Marcus, Cass?" So he was calling Marcus, he must be worried. "Yeah, go ahead and call. I am gonna take a quick shower."
Jack dialed his older brother's cell number hoping he wasn't interrupting anything at his work. Marcus answered the phone. "Hello?" Jack was relieved. "Hey Marcus, its Jack. Something happened last night." Marcus's voice immediately changed to concern. "Are you alright?" Jack couldn't help but smile. "Yeah I am fine, it's not me." Marcus stopped for a minute to breathe a sigh of relief before asking. "Is Cassie alright?" Jack bit his lip. "Someone came into Cassie's apartment last night, he had a gun." That caught Marcus's attention; he was most likely expecting something about a fire, not something like this. "Well is Cassie alright, did he hurt her…?" A million questions came at Jack. "Easy Marcus, she is alright, he got scared off by the gun you gave Cassie. " Yet again Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. Jack continued. "I am really worried about Cassie, what do you think I should do?" Marcus thought for a moment. "Do you want me and Kate to come over to Cassie's today?" Jack smiled; his family was always there for him. "Yeah that would be great."
Jack said good-bye and hung up the phone just as Cassie came out of her room after her shower. She wore a long sleeved black sweater and casual jeans. Jack smiled at her; no matter what she wore, she always amazed him. She wore long sleeved shirts not just because of the cold but also because of the scars that lined her arms. She only trusted a select few to see them; it had taken awhile for her to trust people to see her scars without getting self-conscious about them. "What did Marcus say about the situation?" Jack grinned, trying to keep a good mood in the air. "He and Kate are coming later today, if that's ok." Cassie nodded, relieved that his family were going to help her; she liked his family a lot. "Is Lisa coming as well?" Cassie had taken a liking to Lisa especially. Jack shrugged. "I could call her for you and ask if that's what you want?"
Cassie nodded and sat on the couch, picking Bj up and petting her. She was deep in thought, who was this man that had come last night. It was too dark to see his face and her hearing problem had kept her from waking up. She felt stupid for forgetting to lock her window as she usually did; she would have to thank Marcus for the gun he had given her because if that man had had a gun he might have hurt Jack. Then she thought of something, maybe he did have a gun. She turned to Jack who was staring at her. She blushed slightly. "Why are you staring at me?" He smiled and sat beside her. "Why wouldn't I stare at you?" He acted as though he won; she giggled and pushed him off the couch. He fell of the couch, he laughed as he sat on the floor. "Note to self, never stare at a woman." She kicked his shoulder laughing. "Didn't anyone ever tell you staring isn't polite?" Jack thought for a moment smiling. "Nope." Cassie stroked the kitten's head, the kitten purring contently. Cassie began to think and then asked. "Jack, did the man who came last night have any weapons?" Jack nodded his head somberly, the tension in the room growing steadily. Jack didn't want that so he smiled again. "Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you were?" Cassie smiled and thought for a moment before shaking her head and laughing. "No, thanks for reminding me." Jack laughed, enjoying her sense of humor. He looked down at his clothes and sighed. "I have to go home and change into some clothes; want to do something today before Marcus and Kate come?" Cassie nodded. "Definitely, call me when you are ready and you can pick me up." Jack nodded and walked over to the door, Cassie stood to her feet and gave him a hug, and he kissed her on the forehead and opened the door. Jack turned and looked at her seriously. "If anything happens, don't hesitate; call me or any other O'Malley." Cassie nodded and waved as he walked out. She closed the door and locked it behind him.
Jack stopped at his house, showered, and changed into clothes before heading over to talk to Cole and Ash. He pulled into the station and walked in, he spotted Ash talking with some of the other firefighters, so Jack went in search of Cole. He found Cole's office and heard talking from within, he heard a familiar name. "I know Rae, I will, talk to you later, ok bye." Cole sighed as he hung up with Rachel O'Malley. Jack came into the office and startled Cole. Jack laughed. "Issues with my sister?" Cole eyed Jack up before laughing. "Not really issues, just a lot of questions." Cole stood up. "What can I do for ya Jack?" Jack sat down and waited for Cole to sit as well. "Someone came to Cassie's apartment last night, through her window." Cole growled softly but said nothing, allowing Jack to continue. "Cassie allowed me to sleep on her couch last night, she had gone to bed and I had just fallen asleep when I heard her door being closed. I felt something in my gut telling me something was wrong so I opened the door enough to see a man standing over Cassie getting a gun out of his pocket. I tackled him away from Cassie and we fought a bit, Cassie retrieved the gun Marcus gave her and cocked it. It scared him off, but before he disappeared out the window and down the fire escape he blew Cassie a kiss." Jack took a breath, keeping his anger down.
He hadn't shown his anger around Cassie because it would have scared her. "So Cole, what do you think we should do?" Cole thought for a moment, keeping Cassie safe was important to Jack and him, and the thought of someone coming into her apartment with a gun made his blood boil. "We have to make sure Cassie isn't alone, was he in the apartment after you arrived or before." Jack racked his brain. Neither Cassie nor he had thought of checking the house and they hadn't heard anything when they arrived, both too tired to pay attention to much. Then he remembered something. "I think it was after, because Cassie's window wasn't open when we came back, when I tackled the guy the window was wide open." Cole shook his head. "He may have been in the apartment and opened the window in case he planned taking Cassie with him." That comment made Jack's heart freeze in panic. What if he hadn't been there? He shook his head ridding himself of those kinds of thoughts, he was there and he thanked God Almighty for her making the suggestion of staying. Cole continued. "If he hadn't been in the apartment when you two arrived means he was watching the apartment until she came. I don't want her to be alone, who is staying with her now?" Jack froze and Cole got the picture. "Get out of here and get over to her place, I will be over there in an hour to help figure this out." Jack nodded before sprinting to the door. "Oh and Jack," Jack stopped and looked at Cole. "Did you see what the guy looked like?" Jack shook his head. "Too dark." Cole sighed and Jack was gone. He rubbed his temples, so this is why everyone says Monday begins with headaches.
He had escaped easily, but without what he had come for. He hadn't expected the man to wake up but he had and spoiled his work. He didn't want to kill anyone but it was becoming obvious that he might have to rid himself of Cassie's boyfriend. He wasn't going back just yet though, he saw the boyfriend leave but he would be back soon and it wouldn't be enough time to get to Cassie and escape with her. He watched her apartment from his blue Chevy Tahoe. He watched as she stood looking out the window, she was beautiful, tall, chocolate brown eyes that would melt anyone's heart, and long soft brown hair. She wore thin-rimmed glasses that brought attention to her eyes. She hadn't seen his face last night, which was good. She wouldn't figure out who he was and he was smart to leave no traces of him. He turned the engine on and left awaiting another opportune time to act.
Cassie sat on the couch eating a bowl of Ramans when she heard a knock on the door, she set the noodles on her coffee table and looked through the peephole to see who it was. Jack stood there smiling holding two cups of coffee; Cassie laughed and put the chain on her door opening it slightly. "What's the password?" Jack chuckled and looked at her. "If you don't let me in you can't have this steaming cup of caffeine." Cassie pretended to consider it then closed the door; she unlocked the chain and opened the door. Jack walked in and set the coffee on the table. "Is bringing coffee the only reason you let me in." Cassie took her cup of coffee and took a sip of it so not to burn her tongue. "Nope, you were too cute to leave standing out there in the cold hallway." Jack laughed and took a drink of his coffee. Cassie walked over to her couch and sat down, she moved the book she had been reading aside and made room for Jack to sit beside her. Jack sat beside her and they began talking about random things, neither wanting to discuss what happened last night but knowing they would have to.
Cassie and Jack were watching a few old cartoons when they heard a knock at the door; Cassie started to get up to answer it but was pulled down by Jack. She looked a bit puzzled until she saw the look on his face, if anything were to happen he didn't want her there to get hurt. She was sure the man wouldn't come up and ring the bell, but since neither of them had seen him, they didn't know what he looked like. Therefore, Cassie stayed on the couch as Jack went to answer the door. She heard Marcus and stood up; she walked over to where Jack stood with his brother and sister. Kate saw Cassie coming over, went, and gave her a hug. Cassie smiled and hugged her back. Jack and Marcus were in deep conversation, most likely about last night so Cassie pulled Kate into the living room where they could talk.
The nice thing about Kate being a hostage negotiator was she could talk about anything. Cassie and Kate talked about Kate and Dave's upcoming wedding, Lisa and Quinn, and Jennifer. Talking about Jennifer was always sad because she was dying from cancer; everyone prayed she would be healed. However, she didn't seem to be getting better. Finally Kate asked her what had happened last night, Cassie had to lean forward a bit because of her hearing problem but proceeded to tell Kate everything. Kate listened carefully trying to understand just what had happened. It seemed like Cassie had a stalker after her, if it had been a robbery, he wouldn't have just shut the door on Jack. He obviously was after Cassie for something, but what. She would have to talk to Dave about this; Dave was an FBI agent and had dealt with a stalker, his sister Sara Adams had been stalked, so Dave might have some suggestions on how to get this guy. Since Jack was normally finicky when it came to women, so when Jack finally found the woman he loved, all the O'Malley's loved her.
Jack smiled as he watched how easily Kate and Cassie chatted, it had taken a lot to get Cassie back into life outside her apartment and her bookstore and now his family loved her almost as much as he did…almost. Marcus was in deep thought about what to do. "Does she have any family around here she can stay with?" Jack shook his head. "She doesn't have any living relatives." Jack looked into the living room again. "Maybe one of the girls could stay with her; they would keep her company and be able to protect her as well." Marcus smiled at Kate. "Kate would be perfect for the job; do you think Cassie would agree to stay with Kate for awhile?" Jack nodded his head. "Cassie is stubborn, but not stupid. She knows what would be best and I am sure she wouldn't want another trip to the hospital." Marcus laughed. "I just hope Bj and Marvel get along." Marcus shrugged and both he and Jack walked into the living room, Kate and Cassie stopped talking and Jack was surprised that Cassie seemed to be blushing. Kate was smiling up at Jack and Jack had a funny feeling he had been mentioned quite a few times in their recent conversation. Marcus smiled and playfully punched Jack in the arm. "You dog." Jack laughed.
Cassie listened to Jack and Marcus's plan but had to admit, she didn't like it too much. She didn't want to be chased from her home. She wanted to fight the threat head on, as you do with a fire but everyone acted as though she couldn't stay safe on her own. She liked having them watch out for her, and she knew they only wished for her to be safe. Kate liked the idea and turned to Cassie. "Cassie, this would help your problem, Dave has been through something like this before and so have I, plus I need someone I can talk about my certain brother with." Both Jack and Cassie blushed. Marcus let out a laugh and sat down on a stool in front of Cassie and Kate. "We want to protect you Cassie; this won't be permanent, just until we can find this guy." Cassie was still unsure. "I don't want to endanger any of your family though." Jack smiled at her consideration. "If this guy is fool enough to mess with any O'Malley woman, he is as good as finished." Marcus and Kate nodded in agreement. Cassie nodded. "Alright, I will stay with Kate for a little while. Someone had better tell Cole and Ash so they don't worry." Jack nodded. "I will do that; just remember not to stay up all night talking about that certain brother, because you have early shifts tomorrow Cassie." Cassie nodded and Kate laughed.
Kate and Marcus stayed for a few hours and they all talked about different things, they were laughing and joking around and it felt good to Cassie. Kate and Marcus sat on the couch across from where Jack and Cassie were sitting. Marcus was discussing the plans his fiancée Shari's made for their wedding, but neither Marcus nor Shari had set a date for the wedding. Kate talked about her plans for her wedding as well; she was most likely going to get married after Marcus and Shari. Jack listened with interest and kept his attention on Cassie, Cassie's hearing problems always discouraged her, so if she didn't hear something they said she would ask Jack what had been said. A pager went off and Cassie smiled as She, Jack, Marcus, and Kate all went for their pagers. Kate's had gone off. Kate sighed, "Robbery at the National Bank, sorry but I got to go." Cassie stood and hugged Kate. "When do you want me to come over to your place Kate?" Kate hugged her back. "Come tonight and we can get you situated." With that Kate ran out the door, they all three heard an engine turnover and Kate's car leave. Marcus looked at his watch and decided that he should go as well. "If anything happens, call me, no matter what time it is." Cassie nodded her head and gave Marcus a hug. Jack and Marcus hugged and then Marcus walked out the door.
He watched as the man and woman exited Cassie's apartment, first a young woman he had seen on TV before, her name Kate O'Malley, the other a man. He didn't know the man though. He didn't think the boyfriend would be dumb enough to leave Cassie alone tonight so he would have to settle for following Cassie around until she was alone. He would make her pay for what had happened four years ago.