Cass's Capture

**Sorry that this installment has taken this long, life seems to interfere all to often. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it is not as steamy as the rest... but hey, sometimes the climax is worth the wait (no pun intended!). So enjoy, and please vote!!**

Ch. 4

Colin ran to the front door, unable to believe that he had let her get away that easily. He felt his side, and groaned when he realized that the key ring was missing from his belt. He had let himself fall so deeply under a spell of desire that she had taken the keys without his notice. He flung open the front door in time to see the dust from the back tires as Cass took off in the Jeep.

He started to run down the rocky road behind her, wondering how she was going to find her way out, as there were so many different off road trails to take. He tried to follow her and the dust created by the tires, but she was driving way too fast for him to keep up. Unfortunately in no time the exertion from running caused Colin to run out of breath sooner in high altitude, as he was not used to the mountain air. He bent over, and placed his palms on his thighs, gasping to catch his breath. Colin was not so much worried about her getting away as he was getting to her and finally telling her the truth. He knew that if Cass made it down the mountain before her father paid the ransom, that it was just a matter of time before Rich found her. Colin shuddered as he imagined what she would endure at Rich's hands.

The sound of the Jeep crashing into something caused him to start running again.

****

Jack was still pacing his office hours later, while the police still could not give him any leads on the whereabouts of his daughter, and he seemed to be getting frantic. Not even Lorraine's comforting was keeping him calm. He raked his hand thru his graying hair and continued to pace.

At that moment Chief Matthews burst into the room, slightly out of breath from running up the stairs. Jack stopped pacing and ran over to the Chief with an expectant look in his eye, and Lorraine stood up from the couch.

"We haven't found her yet, Jack," the chief said gently as Jack's shoulders slumped. "We have found some interesting clues, however. We found the limo and your daughter's purse. Her cell phone was inside. There were no fingerprints, besides Cassandra's and Mr. Malone's, and there is no sign of a struggle."

Jack's head snapped up at the hope that his daughter was alive, and Lorraine came forward and put her arms around him. He leaned into the smaller woman unconsciously as the wheels in his mind began to turn.

"Has there been any sign of William?" Jack demanded.

"At this time we have been unable to locate Mr. Malone, we have contacted his sister, but she has not heard from her either," Chief Matthews replied.

"Where was the limo found?" Lorraine inquired softly.

"It was found in an empty lot off the highway, not too far from Kings Mountain," the Chief replied, "We will start combing the area tomorrow, but there are a lot of off road trails and forest."

Jack sighed and stepped away from Lorraine. He then started pacing the office.

"I feel so helpless... my little girl is out there, and I can't do anything to help find her," Jack said angrily, as he collapsed on the couch.

"We are going everything we possibly can, Jack," Chief Matthews said calmly, "You need to stay calm. I will let you know what happens tomorrow."

Lorraine walked over to the Chief and shook his hand, and Chief Matthews left. She then went over and sat next to Jack. She put her hand on his arm, and then he pulled her to his chest.

"Oh, Lori," he moaned, "What if something bad happened to her? What if I failed her as a father? This never should've happened."

"Don't talk like that, Jack" she said to him firmly. "You have to believe she is okay, put a little faith in our girl." She grasped his chin so that they were face to face. "She is a strong, smart woman, partly because of you. If anyone could survive this it would be her."

Jack reached his hand to Lori's cheek and brushed a lock of curly brown hair off of her face, and caressed her cheek. He stared into her wide green eyes, basking in the warmth that he saw in their depths. So caught up in the moment of needing comfort, he let his lips lightly brush over hers. She quickly sat back against the couch, not expecting his kiss.

"I'm sorry, Lori, I didn't mean to take advantage of your comfort," Jack said quickly, turning away to hide his embarrassment. He to was shocked by the kiss, and was confused as to why he had done it in the first place.

Though Jack had had some long term relationships after the death of his wife, he had never found someone that he wanted to get married to. His last girlfriend had moved to Europe over six months ago and he had not seen anyone since, as he had an extremely large workload most of the time. Lorraine dated too, and had been married for a few years while in her late twenties, but had been divorced and single since then. They were both lonely, and they had the common bond of Cass in their lives.

Lori turned to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, its ok," she said gently, "I know that you are going through a lot of emotions right now. I don't know what that kiss meant between us, but things are too much to even think about it. I am here for you, Jack. I'm not going to just leave over that."

Jack sighed with relief. "Thank you for understanding, Lori. I know this might seem a little odd, especially after that, but can I talk you into staying tonight? If not just to comfort each other, but so you can be here if there's any news."

"Of course," Lori replied, with a smile, "I'll sleep in the guest room."

Hours later they were both still wide awake, both thinking of Cass, yet also trying to forget the intimate moment that they had shared that night.

****

After Cass got into the Jeep she felt a sense of freedom that overwhelmed her. Though Colin had done nothing to seriously injure her, she was unsure of what his intentions were overall. She slammed the Jeep into drive and took off, seeing the dust and gravel spit out under the tires as she pealed out. She had almost no idea where she was going, and couldn't remember all of the turns that Colin had made earlier, but she figured that down was the best direction that she could go.

Cass looked into the rearview mirror, and noticed Colin running after her close enough that if she had to back track while getting lost, he would surely catch up to her. She glanced at the rearview mirror again and noticed that he had stopped, obviously out of breath. She gave a triumphant shout, and stepped harder on the gas.

The additional force of the gas caused the vehicle to lose traction and spin out as she made a turn, and instead of 4 tires on the road, there were only 2. She quickly grabbed the steering wheel, and tried to correct the out of control vehicle. The Jeep had almost straightened out, when she saw that there was a sharp turn ahead. Unable to turn fast enough, the Jeep crashed head on into a large pine tree.

After the Jeep came to a complete stop, Cass sat dazed in the front seat. She looked over the dash and saw that the front of the Jeep was totally crushed in. All the sudden she heard heavy footsteps running towards her, and Colin's voice yelling at her, before she passed out.

****

When Colin first arrived and the Jeep, he thought the worst. The front was totally smashed in, and there was no sound coming from Cass. He yelled out her name a few times, but got no response. He reached the drivers side door and tried to pull it open, unsuccessfully. He ran to the passenger side and found it also stuck, and the rear doors locked. Colin the picked up a large rock, and started to smash in the rear window enough that he could reach the door lock. He climbed in and over to the passenger seat.

"Damn it, Cass," he yelled, "I brought you here to protect you."

Colin felt her neck for a pulse and found it, though it was slightly weak. He tried to undo her seat belt, and found that it was also stuck. He had no choice but to use his hunting knife to slash the belt. He gently lifted her and put her onto the back seat, then crawled back there, preparing to carry her to the cabin.

****

A few hours later, Cass found herself lying on the couch in a place that she couldn't remember. There was a warm fire next to her, and she felt a few blankets on top of her. She snuggled deeper into them, as she wondered how she got there. After a few moments her eyes snapped open wide as she remembered how she had got there. She glanced around the room, her gaze finally falling on the dark haired man that had brought her there and that was starting at her just as intently.

He sighed as if he were anxiously waiting for her to wake up. Colin was, in fact, waiting just for that. After he had carried her back to the cabin and laid her on the couch, he had anxiously waiting for her to wake up. He wanted to make sure that she was okay, and he knew he finally had to tell the truth about why he was doing what he was doing, and why she was safer where she was.

Cass stared at him with widened eyes. She was unsure of what to do. She knew that he must have saved her from the car and brought her back to the cabin. On the other hand, he did kidnap her. Then again he hadn't done any damage to her, except maybe to her pride. The events of the last 2 days filled her head, and the intimate moments that they had together made her breath catch. Here was this man that she should be afraid of, but there was such a sexual undercurrent of sexual desire between them that it was impossible to deny.

Colin watch as the expression of her feeling crossed her face. He knew that she must be going through some turmoil, and she had every right to run out of the cabin screaming. He had to get her to trust him.

He cleared his throat, breaking thru the thoughts running in her mind. She jumped slightly as he said her name.

"Cass? How do you feel?" he asked her. "Your ankle was swollen, so I put an ice pack on it. It didn't look like you broke anything."

She just stared at him for a moment longer. Here he was hovering over her acting all concerned, when yesterday he had held a knife at her side. She closed her eyes again, wanting to block out the conflicting emotions she had towards the entire situation. She sat up, and then slowly tried to stand. She had barely put a slight amount of weight onto her ankle, and her leg buckled under her as she gasped from the pain.

Colin jumped up and rushed to her side, his eyes filled with concern. Cass groaned in frustration, and her face turned bright pink in her obvious embarrassment.

"I need to use the restroom," she mumbled quietly.

Colin came over and picked her up in his muscular arms. At first Cass seemed to struggle, but her hurry to get to the restroom over road any arguments that she would have had. He strode over to the bathroom, carrying her as if she weighed nothing. He set her down in the bathroom where there was luckily a towel rack that she could use to keep herself steady. He started to walk out of the bathroom, and turned back around to face her, remembering what happened the last time that she was left in the restroom

"Can I even trust you not to try another stunt like you did before?" he asked.

"Are you serious?" she growled impatiently. "I can't walk, let alone crawl back out the window, and it isn't exactly an easy stroll down the hill. You have me here, I can't get away. Now get the hell out!"

Her voice started to get shrill as she ended her little speech, and he knew he needed to get out of there before she started screaming at him in a panic. Not that he couldn't blame her... he stood outside the bathroom door and waited for her.

****

After Cass did her business, she held onto the towel rack in the small bathroom, and stared at herself in the mirror. She was appalled with the reflection that looked back at her. Her golden blonde hair was mussed and matted; her carefully applied makeup streaked her cheeks, and seemed to be mixed with dirt. There were twigs and leaves stuck in her hair.

She knew that the last thing that she should be caring about right now was her looks, but she couldn't help not wanting to let him see her looking like that. She started running the water and made an attempt to clean herself up.

Colin heard the water running in the sink for a few minutes, and wondered what was talking so long. He was about to knock on the door when he heard her softly call out to him. He opened the door, and smiled slightly at her attempts to clean herself up. With the make up almost all the way off, her clean face made her look young and vulnerable. Her blue eyes were wide beneath long, sooty lashes. Her cheeks were rosy from the scrubbing they had received. She noticed him staring at her and looked down towards the floor. He quickly picked her up in his arms again and returned her back to the couch.

"We need to talk, but first I am going to make us something to eat," he told her gently. "Then afterwards you can take a shower."

Colin left her there, in her own thoughts, and went into the kitchen and started opening cupboards. Cass tried to close her eyes to rest, as the excursion to the restroom had left her exhausted, not to mention what she had already been through the past few days. His caring attitude was making her even more confused. He went from an employee that his very presence made her uncomfortable- yet attracted to him- to someone that had kidnapped her at knifepoint. He was now acting like he was a concerned friend. Then he threw the "We need to talk" at her. That made the situation even further to comprehend.

As she started to smell the meat grilling, she tried to sort out the situation. If he was really a villain, then why would he care if she lived or died? Why would he go to that much trouble? She supposed because he wanted to get ransom money, but it seemed as if some part of him was almost guilty for what he had done.

The smell of their food started to get stronger, and her stomach growled. A few minutes later he came over with a plate with steak and a baked potato. As soon as he gave it to her, she dug in. He sat across from her in the recliner and waited for her to fill her stomach. She barely noticed that he was quietly waiting for her to finish. When she could eat no more, he silently took the plate and walked to the kitchen, he muscular ass was accented by the tautness of his jeans. She quickly looked away, and waited for him to return. She was suddenly extremely interested in what he had to say, now that her mind could focus on something besides her hunger.

He came back to the living room and sat down in the recliner. He sighed, and then put his head in his hands. Then he sat back up and raked his fingers through his think dark hair. It seemed he was unsure what to tell her. It was her silent thank you that she said next that convinced him to tell her everything.

Colin then proceeded to tell her about the whole thing, from where her parents died, up until what it was that finally made him go through with the plan. When it was all over, his throat was dry from all the talking that he did, so he want to get a drink, and returned with two bottles of water.

Of course she had plenty of questions, and after about an hour the cross examination was over. He stared at her expectantly. Hoping that it would make sense, hoping that some part of her would understand that he wasn't the monster that she had thought she was. He wasn't sure why he wanted this understanding from her, but it was suddenly very important.

The silence lasted for a few minutes, and then she broke it by asking if he could take her back to the bathroom so that she could take a shower. He carried her again to the bathroom, and made sure that she was okay before he left the room. Cass managed to maneuver herself by using the shower curtain rack, and again the towel rack. Since she only had a sprain, it hurt to walk on her foot, but it was not totally unmanageable. While she was in the shower she thought about what Colin had told her. The situation explained his actions, and his reluctance to follow through with the plan. She knew that what he had done was not really justifiable any way that you looked at it, but she also understood that desperate times called for desperate measures. She also felt relief at knowing that he the only reason that he did go through it was because he wanted to keep her safe. She knew that if she would've returned when she stole the Jeep, there was no telling what Rich would do to Lily, not to mention herself.

There were still a lot of things that needed to be fixed and figured out, but she was not totally above not wanting to help Colin's sister. Cass was horrified and what he told her of what Rich had done. By the time that the hot water in the shower turned cool, Cass had felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. She was determined to do what it took to help Colin's sister, though she didn't totally forgive Colin, and was still slightly weary of the whole situation.

She felt that her strength was drained from the exertion of taking a shower, and everything that was on her mind, and she was ready to sleep as soon as she got dressed in the clean sweat suit that Colin had left for her.

****

Outside the restroom Colin was pacing in the hallway, overwrought with anxiety of what her reaction would be. He knew that if she demanded him to, he would take her home that instant. He only hoped that she would realize that it was safer for them to be up here for the time being, until he could think of a way out of this mess before anyone got hurt, and Rich found out what was going on.

He heard her call out to him, and he went into the bathroom, and then asked her for her thoughts.

"I am really sleepy right now," she replied with a yawn. "Perhaps I can sleep on it, and talk in the morning." She leaned her head against his chest, barely able to hold her head up in her exhaustion.

He took her into the bedroom, and lad her onto the bed, and covered her with the soft quilts. He was about to walk away from the bed when her voice caught him off guard.

"In a way you have saved my life," she whispered, closing her eyes and snuggling further into the blankets.

He leaned over and brushed a lock of golden hair covered her forehead. He placed a light kiss on the top of her head.

"I will never let anything happen to you," Colin promised to the sleeping beauty.

**Thank you all again to those that have sent your feedback, please continue, it is greatly appreciated!! Also, please vote!!** (ps- I promise that the wait will be less for Ch. 5)