Work Text:
The Untold Story
Cassie and Jake enjoyed a late supper together then spent an hour talking and sharing passionate kisses in her sitting room. Jake paused to catch his breath and said "shall we take this to the bedroom" Cassie giggled "mmm lets..." she held out her hand to pull him from the couch. Jake grinned hardly able to keep his hands off her, it’d been so many years since they met and he still can't believe his luck. She was the second chance at love he didn't know he needed, he feels like the luckiest guy in the world.
Later, lying in bed wrapped in each others arms they are almost asleep when a crackling sound breaks the silence. Jake groans, rolls over picks up his police radio and says sleepily "Chief Russell” Dereks voice booms out into the room "Sorry Jake but the perimeter alarm at the bank just got tripped again, I was going to turn it off and do a drive by but now the silent alarm on the back door has been tripped too." Jake sighs "Ok Derek, I will meet you there in 10."
Jake starts pulling on his uniform he glances at Cassie she is sitting up in bed looking pained. "Cass" he says "Cass are you okey?" She looks up at him her big brown eyes swirling with emotion and says "I've got a bad feeling Jake, please be careful." He grins at her, "don't worry it's an old alarm system always playing up but protocol dictates 2 alarms tripped two of us have to go. I will be back soon, so get some sleep and keep the bed warm for me." He leans forward and kisses her gently she savours the feel of him then he is heading out the door "love you!" he calls "love you too" she calls back but he is gone.
Cassie sits in bed, knees hugged to her chest the dark feeling she has slowly gets stronger, it sits in her stomach like a lead weight. Suddenly, she knows she has to go.
Jake's smile falters as he leaves the house, Cassie's feelings often end up being spot on, he hopes she is wrong and he'll soon be sliding back into bed with her again. He crosses the street and gets into the squad car, he isn't going far but it's cold and he wants to be back quickly. He pulls away and moments later he is outside the bank there is no sign of Derek and everything looks quiet. He gets out his flashlight and walks round the side of the building the back door bangs in the breeze, he sighs this place needs an overhaul, a dodgy alarm system and aged doors, this is the 3rd false alarm this month. He hears Derek pull up at the front and trudge down the side of the building he turns and says "Hey, think it’s just another false alarm, the back door has come loose again. Grab a hammer 'n' nails from the back of my car while I check inside then we can secure the door and all get back to bed!"
Derek nods to Jake and makes his way back towards the street. He crosses over to Jakes car and opens the trunk. He is just rummaging through the tool box for the hammer and nails when a shot rings out breaking the silence. Derek freezes for a second then drops the tools and runs back towards the bank.
Jake sees Derek nod, he turns, shines the flashlight over the vine tangled yard and sees nothing out of place. He walks over to the door he pulls it open there is a flash of light and a loud bang he stumbles back falling to the floor as someone rushes out of the building and scrambles over the fence. Shocked Jake tries to stand wanting to give chase but he can't move, confused he looks down and realises he has been shot. His stomach is burst open like a watermelon and hot red blood is pouring out over his lap. He feels so tired his eyes begin to close, he thinks of Cassie she was right he tries to call for her "Cassie..." but the words die on his lips.
As Derek rounds the corner he sees a man dressed in black with a balaclava over his face scrambling awkwardly over the fence. He is about to give chase when he sees Jake slumped on the ground he rushes towards him taking in the horrific wound in his stomach and the blood pooling on his lap. He hears Jake call "Cassie" before he loses consciousness. Derek grabs his radio he yells "officer down, I need an ambulance and back up now. I repeat officer down, we need an ambulance right now" the dispatcher replies "ambulance is on the way" Derek takes off his jacket and presses it into the wound on Jakes stomach he knows if Jake has any chance he has to stop the bleeding.
Cassie pulls on leggings, sweater and trainers. She grabs her cell phone and keys then quickly leaves the house and starts to run. Every instinct she has is telling her she needs to get to Jake right now. She rounds the corner panting and looks down the street towards the bank. Jakes car is next to Dereks and an ambulance all with blue lights flashing. She pelts down the street where Derek catches her. He is ashen and upset he stutters "No no Cassie, don't!" but she pushes past him and rushes to the back of the building. Her breath catches in her throat and she struggles to breath as she sees Jake lying in a pool of blood he isn't breathing and 2 medics are trying to restart his heart. One says "I think we have to call it. Do you agree?" "Yes" says the other and they stop work. She stumbles forward, eyes blurred with tears she drops to her knees cradling his head yelling " No, Jake ... please.. come back... help him." Then it's like she is in a dream, time slows down and people move in slow motion, all the while she clings to Jake begging him to wake up. Some time later Derek appears next to her he says " Cassie, I'm sorry, he's gone you need to let them take his body now." She kisses Jakes lips for the last time and lets Derek lead her away. Everything feels unreal to her like she is underwater her body is shaking and shivering. Derek sits her in the back of an ambulance and a medic wraps her in a foil sheet someone hands her a cup of tea in a paper cup it is sweet and vile. She is aware of a noise making her ears ring but she doesn't know where it's coming from, she feels a sharp pain in her arm then nothing.
Derek can hardly watch as Cassie kisses Jake goodbye he has never seen her look so vulnerable she is white, shivering and shaking with a haunted look on her face. He guides her to a ambulance a medic wraps her in a foil sheet and says "she's in shock, we need to get her warm then to the hospital" Someone gives them both a cup of tea, Derek sips his while keeping an eye on Cassie, she starts making a wailing noise it gets louder and louder and she is rocking forward and back. The medic takes her tea and says to Derek "I will have to sedate her." Derek nods and watches as the medic injects Cassie in the arm then lays her on the gurney she becomes quiet and still.
With a heavy heart Derek gets out of the ambulance. He watches it drive off and another carrying Jakes body follows. Crime scene techs have started work and one tells him "the shooter has been caught he broke his ankle going over the fence, names Parry. Blairsvillle police have him under guard for us at Hillcrest hospital."
With a heavy heart Derek goes back to the station knowing he has some very difficult phone calls to make.
………….
It was early morning, Cassie stood looking in the bathroom mirror at a face she barely recognised anymore, she let her mind wander back over the last month still trying to process. Waking up in the hospital, realising that her nightmare was true and Jake her solid dependable husband, the love of her life who had given her everything she had ever wanted, a home, love, and a family, was really gone. Then back at their house having to tell Grace that the world she had fallen asleep in the night before was now just a memory as her beloved dad had been killed, watching her face crumple as her heart broke. Brandon, Tara, Lori and George had all come over shocked and distraught after Derek had broken the news to them. She had looked around the lost tear stained faces of her family - Grace was so young, George had already lost both his wives and only daughter, Brandon & Lori now orphans- and had concluded she could not allow herself to fall apart she needed to shut her grief inside for now, to be strong for her family and get things done. There had been so much to do:
First she had had to relive the whole experience giving a detailed formal statement to Derek to help with the homicide charge of the would be robber, Bill Parry. It had been very traumatic with tears shed by them both.
Next she and George had cancelled all future Grey House bookings knowing they couldn't give guests what they needed at present.
Then she had started to arrange Jakes funeral before realising the whole town wanted to be involved so she had let Martha take over organising it and Stephanie do the food. It had been a wonderful send off, contrary to their feelings the sun had been bright all day. Derek, Brandon, George, Ryan and Tom Tinsdale had helped carry the coffin and while the service and speeches had been short, as Jake would have wanted, the love for him shone through as the whole town came out to pay their respects. After, family and close friends had gone to the graveside where she had unveiled the tombstone she had had engraved. Although she knew Jake was very popular in town and meant many things to many people she had just wanted it to recognise what she considered to be his greatest accomplishments in life so it simply stated:
JAKE RUSSELL
LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER.
George had looked at her with glossy eyes and said, "It's perfect Cassie." Which had meant a lot.
Later they’d assembled back at Grey House for a buffet laid on by Stephanie. They had sat round sharing memories comforting each other through the tears.
In the days that followed Brandon had gone back to the band he was managing, Tara her studies, Lori had been sent on assignment to the middle east by the newspaper she was writing for. She knew Grace especially was worried for her safety but they had all supported her in her decision to go. Grace had gone back to school where her friend Anthony and her studies are a good distraction. She had come to the conclusion that they couldn't manage the house without Jakes wage, she had agreed with George that she would move back into grey house with Grace. Ryan had listed the house for her kindly waiving his realtor fee, then managed to sell it within a couple of days. She had worked hard over the last week, physically and emotionally, to pack up their belongings and this afternoon they would say goodbye, to the home they had shared as a family, forever. She knew Grace was upset to leave and so was she but grey house was her home too and they needed the money while they regrouped. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Grace knocking on her door, "Mom, are you nearly done? I need a shower!" She called, "yes honey, coming." She splashed cold water on her face, dried it and went out to face another long day.
……………….
Derek was desperately wishing he could wind the clock back a month and somehow prevent this whole nightmare from happening. Despite the fact that she didn't think he was up to it and reminded him daily of her opinion, somehow Martha had allowed him to be given the job of chief. It is now his responsibility to update Cassie on the case, he acknowledges to himself that he isn’t looking forward to that conversation. Damn that selfish man Parry, he had gone out in the dead of night to rob a bank armed with a loaded gun, killed Jake in a bid to get away and now thinks he can blame Jake when he isn’t around to defend himself. Not for the first time he wishes Jake was with him, he doesn’t have to be psychic to know that despite her usually calm nature Cassie is not going to be happy at all!
George was very concerned about Cassie. In the first few weeks after Jakes death he had seen her plough on, get things done and care for the family while seemingly bottling up her own grief. Three days after they moved into Grey House, he was contemplating this when Derek came round with some news. He gathered them together in the kitchen and said "Sorry George, Cassie but Bill Parry, the man who killed Jake, is trying to get the homicide charge downgraded. He's saying it was Jake's fault because he frightened him, making him fire the gun. Don't worry, the DA is going to push for a conviction it is the least Jake deserves." He could see how upset Derek was to tell them the bad news and said, "Thanks Derek we know you have done your best it's up to the court now." He could also see the effect the news had on Cassie, her eyes darkened and he could feel the room pulse with her anger.
Cassie was listening to Derek explain that the man who had killed Jake, who had stolen his life, their life together, Grace's father and shattered her heart was trying to pin the blame on Jake himself, to wiggle out of responsibility for his actions and she could feel her resentment building. A burning rage coursed through her body like a fire consuming her thoughts and allowing hate to take root inside her.
Over the next week, George watched Cassie struggle with her anger, she was in her own world uncharacteristically short tempered with everyone and baking up a storm. She made pie after pie, muffins, cookies, cinnamon rolls barely pausing to eat any of it or sleep. Grace, only 11 and yet so wise to her mothers needs had surprised him by saying “leave her, she bakes when she needs to work things out in her head.” So he had watched and waited until she had slumped into a chair exhausted by her efforts and emotionally drained. He made them a pot of tea and sat down with her taking her hand. He took a deep breath hoping he had timed this intervention well and said “Cassie, you have been so strong for us all, Jake would be so proud but you need to let the people who love you, take care of you too and you need to allow yourself to grieve else your anger will consume you.”
Cassie sat listening to George, when he’d finished she squeezed his hand, got up wordlessly from her chair and walked up the stairs to her bedroom at the top of the house. Exhausted by pretence and allowing herself to really feel her sorrow for the first time she slipped into one of jakes t shirts, crawled into bed hugging Jakes pillow to her as her tears began to flow. She barely moved for almost a week pinned to the bed by the crushing weight of her grief then one morning she saw a ray of light bursting through a crack in the curtain. As she studied the light her mind came to the understanding George was right if she continued to hate the darkness would consume her, for her own sake she needed to forgive then move on. She got up out of bed showered and dressed, still sad but feeling lighter in spirit and more like herself.
Bill Parry lay in his cell thinking about how badly he had messed up this time, all he had wanted was some easy cash and now he was stuck in prison with a broken ankle. He had initially hoped to try and wiggle his way out of a serious charge by blaming the cop for startling him into firing the gun, it sounded lame even to his ears. Then today he had found out via his lawyer that not only had he killed a cop but Middletons chief of police no less, who had left behind a heartbroken wife and 3 kids. The news had pierced him with guilt so much so he was now contemplating the unthinkable, publicly admitting his crime and accepting the long sentence that would come with it.
Two months after Jakes death Derek had called to say that Bill Parry had dropped his defence and pled guilty to everything. Cassie and George had both sighed with relief that they would be spared a lengthy trial and Cassie wouldn’t need to give any witness testimony.
At sunrise the next day Cassie woke up from the best nights sleep she’d had in a long time. Just like most mornings she turned over to say good morning to Jake, then pain hit her like a punch in the stomach when she remembered he wasn’t there and never would be again. As she lay there catching her breath and allowing her new reality to sink in again, she recalled she had dreamed of a happy smiling Jake dancing with her in her store and knew it was time to return to Bell, Book and Candle.
Later that morning she unlocked the door, stepped inside ignoring the avalanche of mail and took a moment to let the memories flow through her mind as tears trickled down her cheeks. Then she felt his presence, Jake, it was like he was right there with her and she knew as long as she had her Grace and her store he would never truly be gone.
She still had a long way to go on her journey but she accepted it was time to forge a new path for herself. She took a deep breath, dried her tears and turned the sign on the door to open ready to see what this new day would bring.
The End