The Cassidy Chronicles

Cassidy sat on the staircase clutching her pink phone. She was scared. She had no idea who was at her front door, but she figured it was the man from the banquet hall this morning. Why was he at her front door again? Why did he want to see her? She had a chill run down her back when Sonya had informed her that indeed he was not a security guard.

Just then, her phone rang. She whimpered quietly and had a million thoughts running through her head. She looked down and saw the call display – R. Gates. She gasped and answered her phone.

"Hello?" Her voice was shaking, but she didn't care.

"I saw you walk into your house a few minutes ago. Are you going to let me in?" Ryan's voice was strong and forceful. It was almost like he was hinting at how silly she was being. He didn't know how scared she was.

Cassidy didn't answer. She ran back down the stairs and flung open the door. Standing in the doorway was Ryan. He was wearing jeans and a wool sweater. He had on such a cute smile and his glasses made him look even cuter. Cassidy barely had time to open her mouth to speak when Ryan rushed in and shut the door.

"He was here wasn't he?"

Cassidy nodded and then jumped into his arms. If she were thinking straight, she would have scolded herself for being so impulsive and reactive. She wrapped her legs around his hips and buried her head in his strong chest. Ryan just held on and walked down the hallway and up the few steps into her living room. He held her tight under her thighs with one hand while the other smoothed her hair.

"What the hell did I get into?" Cassidy was biting her lip hard, trying to hold back tears. Ryan wasn't hiding anything. His forceful words when she answered the phone were to hide the fact that he was scared. He was scared for himself and for her as well. This was not a good feeling.

"He's not a security guard at the banquet hall. The banquet hall burnt down yesterday morning after we were there. He was here. I would have answered the door if I had not been across the street at the park. What would he have done to me?" Cassidy's voice was quivering and she was crying as she tried to finish her sentence.

Ryan sat down on the flower-patterned couch and held Cassidy against his chest. He didn't want to answer her questions. He didn't want her to know what was going on, but he had to. He hated that something like this had happened and it was involving her.

"I know Cassidy. After dinner last night, I went back home and checked up on a few things. I came over here to tell you, but obviously I was too late."

Cassidy didn't respond. She cuddled closer to Ryan and felt very safe. She needed to feel this way. She looked up at him and kissed him. Ryan didn't pull back. He leaned forward and pressed his lips harder against hers. Cassidy moved her hands from around his chest to his face, caressing his face and hair. It was an intense kiss that was powerful and over taking both of them. Cassidy was frantically kissing him, trying to forget how scared she was. She used to react like this with Jason all the time. Whenever she was stressed, or angry, or she was scared about something, that was when the sex was the most intense. Of course with Jason, the rest of the time the sex was boring and short and the moment he came it was over. It was like from the first time she had sex, she was conditioned to be sexually aroused when her emotions were over the top.

Ryan had enjoyed their first kiss and was happy that she had made the first move to kiss him again. He knew that part of her was responding to her emotions of being scared. He felt her grind against him and was enjoying every second of the passionate kiss. He should stop her and tell her the important news, but right now, he wasn't thinking straight either. The blood was flowing quickly from between his ears to between his legs and this was making any reasonable thought impossible.

"Cassidy I have to tell you something." Ryan was running his large hands up and down her back while she wiggled her hips back and forth. He wondered if she could feel his cock. It was throbbing hard and pushing against the zipper of his jeans. He imagined that in one motion he could push her back a bit and unzip his jeans, releasing his cock. She was wearing jeans as well, so he could stand her up and remove them along with her panties. He moaned as she began to nibble his neck. How did she know how much that turned him on?

"I don't care." Cassidy was breathing very hard. She was out of control and would continue until he stopped her. Her mind was still racing with thoughts, but instead of thinking about the scary man at the door and the possibility of what she was involved with, she was more concerned with the fact that he wasn't stopping her. He was pushing her to go further. This was what had happened with Jason. Instead of him thinking reasonably and stopping her, he was rubbing her breasts under her shirt. She needed to stop. She needed him to stop otherwise, she was going to make the same mistake with him.

"You feel so good." Ryan could feel both lace and satin against his fingers and tried to imagine what her bra looked like. Her breasts were large and he had his thumbs in the bra, lightly strumming her nipples. Ryan wondered what color her bra was and tried to imagine if she wore only white bras or whether she had fancy patterned bras. His head was thrown back, resting lightly on the wall as Cassidy nibbled around his Adam's apple.

Cassidy finally came to her senses. She was unsure of whether it was knowing that she was behaving the same way she had with Jason or whether the memory of her horrific dream caused her to stop. Something made her stop and she was glad that she had been the strong one. She was finally acting responsible and level headed.

"We can't." Cassidy pushed off him and stood up. Her eyes were pleading with him to forgive although her body language was telling him something different. Ryan had taken enough psychology courses to understand that once again she was trying to be the strong and brave woman that she was supposed to be. Her eyes were telling the true story though, the story that if one of them had not stopped, they would have made love on the couch in her living room. It was not something that either of them wanted at the time and moment. Cassidy turned and rushed to the kitchen. Ryan was left on the couch alone. He looked completely stunned, but at the same time felt guilty that he hadn't been able to control himself. He had always been able to be in control of his emotions; he had to for his job. Now a blonde and purple haired woman was slowly causing him to be vulnerable and emotional. Ryan heard her banging something in the kitchen so went around the corner to the kitchen. It was a small kitchen that opened up into the eat in kitchen part of the house. There were patio doors that overlooked a very tiny backyard. Ryan was immediately put on guard. The living room windows were covered with Venetian blinds, but there were no curtains or blinds for these windows. Stewart could be spying on them right now. He pushed past Cassidy and looked out the window. Her backyard was fenced on three sides with a gate on the left hand side. He squinted and saw a lock on the gate, which was still intact.

"How do you unlock your gate?"

Cassidy looked up. She was standing by the fridge trying to open a container of juice. She was trying to calm herself and was frustrated at his weird question.

"What?"

"The lock on the gate in your backyard. Does it have a key or is it a combination?" Ryan was speaking slowly and carefully. He didn't want to scare her, but at the same time, he needed her to understand the seriousness of the situation.

Cassidy looked at Ryan and clued in to what he was asking. Of course. The creepy guy could try to get into her backyard. He might be spying on them right this minute.

Cassidy rushed back into the living room where she was no longer visible from the kitchen. "It's a key. It's always locked because my stupid neighbors' kids used to think my backyard was free to play in. When my neighbors got a fence, I was happy and decided to get a fence for the left side. I didn't have a lock for the first little while and found the gate open and kids playing in my backyard. Now I have a lock. The neighbors next door also fenced in their property and at night lock the gate." Cassidy realized that she had probably told him more then he needed to know, but in different circumstances, it had been a funny story. Had she continued she would have told him how many of the children's toys were left in her yard and once the fence was put up she moved the toys to the curb where they were picked up as garbage. Cassidy wasn't normally malicious, but certain things drove her crazy and her neighbors were always driving her crazy.

"You know why I'm asking that don't you?" Ryan had walked over and gently took the juice container from her hands and in one twist had it open. They were standing close to each other.

"Yeah but I don't want to hear it." Cassidy was telling the truth. He was supposed to be the one in danger, not her. This was so confusing that she figured it was best not to think about it at all.

"Want to share with me why you pushed away so quickly in the living room? I'm just curious you know." Ryan had a grin on his face and was happy when she smiled back.

"One of us has to be thinking straight. According to you, I'm in danger and according to me you're in danger. "

Ryan and Cassidy stood barely touching in the living room for almost a full minute before Ryan spoke.

"We're going for a drive." It was an announcement as opposed to a question. Cassidy's body tensed up. She hated being told what to do. She glared at Ryan, but he just glared back.

"Trust me." Ryan's voice was soft and forceful all at the same time. Cassidy could sense that he didn't mean her to react the way she did. He smiled slightly and was relieved when she nodded.

"Just let me get my purse and cell phone." Cassidy walked up the stairs to her home office and grabbed her purse and then on the way back down grabbed her cell phone, which she had left on the top step. By the time she got back downstairs, Ryan was standing in front of the dining room table looking at a picture.

"Who's that in the picture?"

"My brother."

Ryan took a deep breath. He knew from reading her file last night that her brother had committed suicide while on a personal vacation. He didn't want to bring up bad memories, but there was no turning back now.

"The two of you look very happy together. Where was the picture taken?"

Ryan was intrigued that this was the only personal photo she had displayed in her house, or at least on the first floor. She didn't seem the type to have millions of pictures of friends and family, but most people had at least two or three pictures. He wanted to know why a picture of her brother was the only one visible to guests.

Cassidy took a deep breath. "That was taken two years ago in Norway. My brother used to work at the same company that I do. We were over there with our best friends, Molly and Jeremy. It was a fun trip until the end. That picture was taken after they had a huge snowfall. You can see how much snow there is in the background."

"Molly was the woman working the cloakroom with you on Friday right?"

"Yeah. We've known each other since high school. Jeremy and she have been dating since high school. My brother's three years older than us, but outside of school we'd all hang out." "I thought that you worked as a high school teacher." Ryan was trying to figure out how he didn't know about this company. Her file was clear-cut and complete.

"I was, but I quit two years ago after coming back from England. I've been doing some work with Molly and Jeremy, but that's all."

Ryan knew that this was a good time to leave. He started walking down the hall to the front door and Cassidy followed. They got out of the house and into his car. Cassidy wondered why someone who looked so geeky and nerdy had a black sports car with tinted windows. When she got into the car, she saw that not much had changed since last time she was in the car. Had it only been yesterday? Time was at a standstill it seemed. Ryan pulled out of her laneway and weaved his way through the side streets until he got onto the main road. He turned and got onto the highway to drive towards the city.

Fort Erie is a small town located near the border between Canada and the United States. Many years ago, it was used as a real fort during the war of 1812. Now a small quiet suburb had many people traveling to the city of St. Catharine's every morning. It was only a twenty-minute drive, which made it the perfect location. You got the best of both worlds. You could have the small town feel with the ability to have big city amenities.

St. Catharine's was an average size city with government offices and a university. Some high school graduates chose to go to Toronto for university or college, but if you wanted a specific program that was offered at Brock, or couldn't afford to go away, this was the perfect place. Cassidy looked out the window and saw the cars pass by quickly. She hadn't been into the city in almost six months. She felt depressed at that moment realizing how much she had missed.

"So now that we're stuck in a moving vehicle for the next twenty minutes, I need to tell you a few things." Ryan stopped and saw that Cassidy was listening intently. He continued. "The man that was at your house this morning is called Stewart Jones. At least he has been using that name for at least ten years. He used to work with me when I was a member of the Ontario Provincial Police. He was always getting into trouble and was reprimanded many times. We have a silly system that unless someone dies we can investigate each other. Well, the first few years, he was always investigated by one of his friends. That friend passed away and I was asked to do the next investigation. You'd think the second time you were caught dealing drugs you'd learn. Anyway, the first time I looked into a complaint it was false. Some crazy woman who had been charged with being a prostitute was angry that he had refused her. I closed the case, but reminded him that I wasn't going to be as nice if the next time I found out he was guilty."

"So that really happens? Cops dealing drugs and hiring hookers?"

"Yes it's true. He was careful for almost six months. During that time, I moved up the ranks and was then placed into an elite force that dealt with customs fraud."

"That's cause we're so close to Buffalo right." Buffalo was just across the bridge, which was convenient for many reasons. You could purchase things that were only available in the U.S. and if you were willing to drive across the river, you could get cheap flights to winter destinations. Cassidy was enjoying this story and was happy that it wasn't all over her head. "Yes. Actually, the government office in St. Catharine's deals mainly with customs issues. They do other things, but the number of people who don't pay tax on their purchases or who smuggle items back and forth is skyrocketing. I was one of the police officers who investigated those criminals."

"Stewart ended up being involved in another drug deal, but it was even worse than the first. He told the drug dealers ahead of time of the bust and set up innocent bystanders to be arrested instead. Then he stole the drugs that were evidence and resold them."

"Are you fucking serious?" Cassidy gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. She wasn't normally this crude, but it sounded like a television show, not real life. Ryan laughed. He had pulled into the fast lane and had hit the cruise control. This way he didn't have to pay attention to his driving so much and could figure out how Cassidy was reacting to all of this.

"Things like that do happen although for them to happen in a small town like Fort Erie is a little insane. So yeah, I got him fired and he took off to Toronto. I didn't think it was him yesterday because he has changed his looks a bit and I didn't want him to think I recognized him."

"So let me get this straight Ryan. This bad cop that you used to work with pretended to be a security guard at the banquet hall that burnt down yesterday. He found out where I live and conveniently shows up this morning."

"Yep."

Cassidy stared at Ryan wide-eyed. He was holding something back and she needed to know. She remembered that there was something very important that she had failed to mention to him so she decided that for the moment they were even.

The rest of the drive into the city was quiet. The road wasn't very busy, but then again it was a Sunday morning. Ryan pulled off at the exit to downtown and then weaved his way through the one-way streets until he pulled up to a tall building that took up one whole block. The building was about forty stories high and was a perfect rectangle. Each face of the building was a wall of windows that showed your reflection. The main entrance was angled on a corner and had a glassed in foyer. Cassidy and Ryan were in front of a large garage door that seemed big enough to fit a sixteen wheeler.

"This is my office building." Ryan hit a button on the dashboard of his car and the large garage door opened, leading to a dark cavernous area. He drove down and soon Cassidy was getting dizzy as the road curved to the left and they went down five floors. Finally, he pulled off and drove into a parking spot right next to the elevators. The car stopped and Ryan got out. Cassidy followed and soon, they were standing in front of the shiny silver doors of the parking elevator.

"Are you going to tell me why you're bringing me to your office?"

Ryan didn't answer because at that exact moment the elevator doors opened and they stepped in. He hit the button for the twentieth floor and soon the elevator was pulling them up from the underground dungeon to his office.

"This is the safest place to be at the moment and I wanted Stewart to see me taking you in my car. He probably thinks that I'm taking you back to my place. He's not skilled enough to follow us without me seeing so he'll just wait. I also figured this was the best place for you to tell me why we can't be together."

Cassidy looked over at Ryan and watched as he leaned against the wall of the elevator. He looked so cute and so protective of her. Inside, she really enjoyed that feeling, but for now she had to pretend she hated it. She was worried that he didn't really believe the show she was giving to him. She wondered if he could read her mind.

The elevator stopped on the twentieth floor and they got out. The hallway was narrow and they walked quickly to the end to a door labeled R. Gates. Ryan swiped a magnetic card and the door was unlocked. He entered and pulled Cassidy inside. When he did so, she fell against him and for a moment the two of them were in an embrace. Her head was tilted up to look into his gray eyes and he was looking down, trying not to stare at her cleavage. He still remembered the feel of her nipples and the sensual sensation of her bra.

He wrapped his arms around her waist so she couldn't pull away. "I wish we had met under different circumstances." Ryan leaned forward and kissed her softly. This time, she calmly kissed him back as her hands wrapped tightly around his neck. She whimpered softly as he flicked his tongue gently against her lips and then pushed more urgently, wanting to feel the wetness of her mouth. Cassidy pressed herself harder against him and felt him stumble backwards past his desk onto the small leather couch. Each step he took away from her, she followed. He barely had time to feel the cool leather of the couch before she was on top of him.

"We're dangerous together Cassidy. Seriously."