AUTHOR ' S NOTES : Thanks to the person who was so helpful with my research concerning stalkers . You know who you are . No worries , darlin ' , the ship sails on ! : ) This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands . No copyright infringement is intended . Anybody that you don 't recognize is probably mine , so if you borrow them please send me an email to let me know where they are and have them home by midnight . : ) ~ I watch you close the garage door and walk around the front of your house . You 're wearing a pair of jeans and an Air Force T - shirt , and your blonde hair is all fly - away . Did you have your car window rolled down on the way home today ? I watch you unlock your door and step inside . You don 't notice me . But then you never did , not really . It was always him . ~ Sam Carter wearily climbed the stairs from the basement where the washing machine was merrily sloshing away . She had cleaned out the fridge , taken the trash out , and started a load of laundry . Schroedinger meowed and snagged her pants leg as she almost went past him without petting him . After all , he was the only cat who had visited another planet . That merited special treatment as far as he was concerned . She bent to pick him up . There seemed to be no one on the other end . She jiggled the hang - up button a couple of times , still nothing . " Telemarketers ! " She growled , turning the word into an oath as she dropped the phone back to its cradle and sat down . " Chinese , " she grinned , mostly because she knew Sirikat and Jamie liked it better . " I 'll be there in fifteen minutes or so . " On a whim , she got the cat carrier and started to put Schroedinger inside . She happened to notice something , though , he was missing a patch of fur . On further examination , his right front paw was bloody . She washed it off and looked for an injury , but the blood wasn 't his . " Weird . Have you been fighting , huh ? " It wasn 't unheard of for Schroedinger to get into a fight . Even though he 'd been fixed , he still defended his territory with no quarter asked and none given . When he 'd been in a fight , though , he usually ended up with clumps of the other cat 's fur caught on his claws . " Kelly Franklin ! " Mitzi yelled , loud enough for Sam to hear her without the telephone . " Jeez , Sam , I 'm sorry . I won 't let him out in the back yard again unless I 'm standing right there to watch him . " " Yeah , now we know , I won 't let him out alone either . He 's always so good about staying in one of our back yards that I never worried about it before . Whoever it was may have just learned a lesson about trying to steal cats , " Sam said , scowling . Sam had been wondering about that herself . It wasn 't like the Franklins had any enemies . And Sam could see her own enemies coming after her , but not her cat . " I don 't know , Mitzi , but if I catch him I 'll have him up in front of a judge so fast his head will spin . " " Listen , Mitzi , I 'm on my way out . If you see any strange cars around or anything like that , call me on my cell , OK ? I mean , even if it isn 't enough to call 911 ? " Sam hung up then looked at the phone for a moment . Then she dialed a Washington number . It rang four times , then a man answered . " Barrett . " " Hi , Malcolm , it 's Sam Carter . Listen , I don 't want to sound like a neurotic female here , but someone tried to take off with my cat today . I 'm probably paranoid , but after what happened a couple of years ago - - " Barrett 's voice turned serious . " You aren 't paranoid , Sam , you can 't afford to take the chance . Isn 't your cat the one who went - - uh - - visiting a friend for a while ? " " Thanks . " Sam got her sidearm and checked it before putting it in her purse , as she always did on her way out . She resolved to check her burglar alarm thoroughly when she got home . ~ You 're headed for his house again . Big truck , big house , big yard , this guy must be loaded . Is that what you see in a gray - haired old man ? He 'll never love you like I do . You 'll realize that one of these days , after you learn that your place is with me . ~ Jack 's log - cabin style house was on a secluded cul - de - sac , set back from the street on a large lot . Parked out back , someone would have to be actively looking for her car to spot it back there . The delivery boy had just been and gone . Sam let Schroedinger out of the carrier , much to Jamie 's delight . Jamie , the cat , and Jamie 's dog Brownie kept each other occupied in the living room while the adults set out plates and silverware . The two rooms connected by a large pass - through window , so Jack could keep an eye on him while he worked . Sirikat joined them in the dining room . " Something smells good ! " She saw the anger in Sam 's eyes . " Am I interrupting something ? " Sam said , " No , of course not . We haven 't been arguing . I 'm going to kick someone 's - - rear end . Somebody tried to catnap Schroedinger ! " " Kid you not , my catsitter 's daughter heard them squeal out . He 's missing some fur , see ? And there was blood all over his paw and it wasn 't his . " Jack said , " Good for him . I hope he clawed something important . " He was a dog person himself , but that didn 't mean anything . Anybody he caught abusing any animal was in for trouble . " Any idea who ? " " Better safe than sorry . " He would never forget arriving just in time to prevent a rogue NID doctor from murdering her in order to study her brain . That had been one of their closest calls , and he would be forever ashamed that she 'd been missing all weekend before anyone even noticed . " Yes , but . . . . " She caught his warning glance and looked over to where Jamie was playing with the dog and the cat , and acquiesced . Whatever was going on , if necessary they would deal with the would - be cat - stealer , without scaring the boy while they were at it . Jack didn 't say anything over dinner , they never brought work home to Jamie . Even if a three - year - old 's lack of security clearance hadn 't been a factor , the boy was very insecure about the safety of the people he cared for . There was no need to tell him about the hair - raising situations that regularly happened at work , even if they weren 't classified . But Sam could tell Jack was upset about something , and it wasn 't about the attempt on Schroedinger . It didn 't take much to figure out what was bothering him . SG - 1 's last mission had been more or less routine , if you counted getting trapped in an Ancient lab for three days and then getting into a firefight with a rather large mob of Ba ' al 's Jaffa at the Stargate as routine . It wasn 't until they 'd got home that she had found out Ba ' al had convinced Jack that he was holding them prisoner . It had all ended well , but she could only begin to imagine what Jack must have been thinking . He had never told her the whole story about what he had gone through as Ba ' al 's prisoner two years ago , and she doubted that he ever would . She decided to pull a Scarlett and think about that tomorrow - - otherwise she would get upset , and Jamie , sharp little tack that he was , would pick up on it immediately . After supper , things quieted down . Jamie went to bed , after his usual nightly game of catch - me - if - you - can , then Sirikat went to her room to watch TV and write letters home . Sam and Jack started a chess game and quickly got absorbed in it . Their playing styles were different enough that every game was always a challenge . Sam 's ability to memorize the board and play several moves ahead made her a good player , but Jack could play several strategies at once and still do the unexpected at end - game . By the time they finished a close third game , Sirikat had already gone to bed . They disposed of the empty bottles and put away the chess set , then Sam snuggled next to Jack on the couch and he reached for the remote to put Leno on . Drowsily Sam said , " I should go home sometime . " " I am so proud of you . It can 't have been easy to double - cross Ba ' al . I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he found out you suckered him with that worn - out ZPM ! " Sam touched his face . " Jack , I know I don 't have to tell you this , but you did the right thing ! You know if you 'd given him what he wanted , it would have only made things worse even if we had been his prisoners . He wouldn 't have been satisfied with the ZPM . As it is , he knows now it wouldn 't do him any good to try using us against you , so we 're that much safer . He doesn 't have any incentive to take hostages for blackmail . " He nodded . " I know , Sam . " At the end of the day , they were here and safe and together . There was never any use worrying about what might happen tomorrow . She had worries enough of her own , he didn 't want her to have to carry his as well . " Sam , we got a perfectly good couch and a couple of sleeping kids . I can think of lots better things to do than worry about Ba ' al . " After that they got down to some serious making out . Sirikat or Jamie could come walking through any time , and they had already agreed to take it slow . But it had been a long time for both of them . Their bodies had other ideas . Sam became dimly aware of a noise that didn 't belong . She opened her eyes . Schroedinger was crouched beside the sofa , staring at the back door and growling . " Jeez , Cat , I should 've named you Daniel ! " Jack turned out the kitchen light and checked out the yard . Whatever was stirring up the animals , he didn 't see anything . After a moment he turned the yard lights on . Still nothing . By then Sirikat was there , with a pair of sweat pants skinned on under the long T - shirt that she had been wearing as a nightgown . Her hair was hastily pulled back into a ponytail with a rubber band . Her night vision was better than theirs , so when she said there was no one in the yard now , they were sure she was right . Even so , she had a deceptively innocent looking walking stick , and Jack and Sam both armed themselves before they ventured outside to try to find out what was going on . Jack found a pot of geraniums overturned near the deck steps . " You know , it could have been a mountain lion . Everyone says they 're in the woods back there . " Sirikat joined him , looking around at the bottom of the steps . " No tracks , if it was . Just people . But wait - - someone was here after I came inside ! " Jack took a closer look . Over the moccasin print that Sirikat had left when she returned from her prayers , there was the imprint of a man 's shoe . " Sirikat , go back inside and clear the house , then stay with Jamie . " She nodded once and her eyes flashed as she turned , silent and moving faster than any human . He and Sam searched the grounds thoroughly , but no one was there now . Sirikat reported from the stargazing deck that the house was clear and Jamie hadn 't seen anything . " That 's silly . Stalkers are , what , ex - boyfriends and groupies . I don 't have anybody like that . This is going to cost a fortune ! " She slammed her fist into her hand , releasing some of her anger at the price of a stinging palm . " Jack , can we call the cops ? I mean , if it 's on a police report that I was here this time of night - - " There wasn 't much to it when the police arrived . They took pictures of the damaged car and the footprint that Sirikat had found . There wasn 't much they could do about the attempted catnapping , since Sam had only heard about it second - hand and Schroedinger was fine . Sam replied , " You bet it is . " Her tone reminded the cop that he was talking to an extremely pissed - off Air Force lieutenant colonel . Even if he didn 't know that getting into firefights with aliens was a regular part of her job , he could see right away that this wasn 't someone you wanted to mess with . Unfortunately , whoever had keyed her car didn 't seem to have sense enough to figure that out . " There 's nothing wrong with a little backup , is there ? Whoever this is , he knows where you live , and he knows you hang out here . He would have had plenty of time to get into your house while you were here , " Jack reasoned . Sirikat said , " I will go home with you , Sam . Whoever this is , would likely underestimate the two of us , to his misfortune . " She looked at Jack . " There will be less confusion for Jamie that way . And someone who had designs on a helpless animal - - " She made a gesture to avert evil , rather than finish the sentence , that such a person might also harm a helpless child . " Let us say that I would rather meet him away from Jamie . " Jack wanted to object - - but these two could take care of themselves very well , thank you . Also , he knew what a temper Carter could have when she really got riled up , and this jerk had done a good job of riling her up . She would be much less likely to take risks if she were looking out for Sirikat . " OK . Just - - if you catch the guy , don 't do anything that will make the six o ' clock news ! " ~ Damn ! Who 's the kid staying with you tonight ? Not the brunette , Cassie , who visits now and then . This one is a blonde like you . I wonder if she 's your niece from California . ~ Sam and Sirikat carefully cleared her house from basement to attic , as well as checking the yard . Last they checked the garage . There was nothing out of place , and to the best of her knowledge no one had been inside who didn 't belong there . The burglar alarm was working fine . Both of them slept as lightly as if they had been offworld in hostile territory , but it was an unnecessary precaution . Nothing disturbed them all night . They had just started breakfast when Jack called to report that everything was all right there too . Once Schroedinger was safely in Mitzi 's house , they had to hurry to drop the car at the body shop . Sam just about went ballistic when she heard the estimate . The real kicker was that she could have done the work herself if she had the time . As it was , she could either pay for it herself , or let the insurance pick it up and raise her premiums . She signed off on it and they caught a cab up to the mountain . Sam set a new world 's record for changing into BDUs and made it to her desk a good thirty seconds before colors . Sirikat stood respectfully as the Star Spangled Banner played over the PA system , then the lab erupted as the techs started asking Sam about the stalker . The young queen shook her head and grinned . Gossip traveled through the SGC just as fast as it did through a longhouse back home . Apparently one of the SFs had mentioned it to Chloe and now the whole science department knew about it . She doubted Sam liked being the center of attention , but it was no bad thing to have more people on watch for more of this person 's nasty surprises . They didn 't waste much time on it , though . SG - 13 had brought a blaster rifle back with them from their last mission and the scientists were very excited about it , both for the weapon itself and for the very efficient battery that powered it . Sirikat excused herself and detoured past the commissary for a cup of tea on her way to the archaeology department , where she spent much of her time helping out . Jack took the time to call Jonathan to let him know what was going on . Jack didn 't really expect trouble at the daycare center , but he knew Jonathan would make sure there wasn 't any . The day went by routinely . Jack drove Sam home , and they checked her house inside and out . There was no sign that her " secret admirer " had been back . When she went next door to collect Schroedinger , Mitzi told her that nothing eventful had happened . Back in Sam 's living room , Jack asked , " Are you sure you 'll be OK here by yourself ? These whackos escalate . It might not be just keying your car the next time . " " I 'm not going to let this guy run my life , but I don 't know what to do about him until he surfaces again . Whoever he is , he 's smart , and he 's good if you and Sirikat couldn 't track him . I 'm hoping that if I don 't appear to be taking him seriously , he 'll get overconfident and tip his hand before someone gets hurt . I just wish I knew when anyone had time to get this fixated on me . " Jack nodded . " I wonder if it could be someone from the mountain . That 's hard to believe , but Lord knows none of us has time to collect a lot of enemies from town . " She didn 't want to think that of anyone from the mountain either , but he had a point . " Well , if it is someone from the SGC , we could eliminate anyone who was on duty when the incidents occurred . That ought to whittle down the list of possible suspects quite a bit . " " I 'll have security look into it . Do you have any admirers from NORAD or Homeland Security ? Anyone who 's shown any special interest in you when you come in and out ? " " What about Felger ? He has a thing for you , " Jack suggested . He had always thought Felger was a pain in the mik ' ta , well before he found out the scientist had a crush on Carter . She shook her head . " Had , past tense . He and Chloe have been an item for a couple of months now . I know because he asked me to shuffle things so that he wouldn 't be writing her performance reviews . They 've been seeing each other ever since , and I think it 's getting pretty serious . Besides , he isn 't the world 's greatest liar , and he seemed pretty surprised when he heard about it this morning . " " Sam , for cryin ' out loud , it isn 't the elephant in the living room . It wasn 't like I was suffering or anything . All I remember are a few weird dreams before I woke up on Thor 's ship . You guys were the ones who just about got yourselves killed trying to get me thawed out . " He put his arms around her and held her close . Words were not enough . He had gone into cryo knowing with all his heart and soul that if it were in any way humanly possible , they would bring him home . " Seriously , though , did you notice anybody acting , I don 't know , obsessed or anything while I was down there ? " She shook her head , but didn 't break their embrace . " Umm - - you 're asking if anyone was fanatical about not leaving anyone behind ? The whole SGC was doing everything and then some to get you back , but - - no one made me jealous , so I guess no . " He knew how focused she got when something like that went down . At the SGC , where her lab was more or less considered safe territory , he wondered if she would have noticed if someone had been acting strangely . Offworld - - she would have caught it right away . " I don 't like it , but pretending to be careless may be the best way to draw him out , " O ' Neill admitted . " I 'll leave my cell phone on . If anything looks fishy , call me . " That was when she discovered her inbox had been mail - bombed with porn spam . It wasn 't just people without clothes doing things that shouldn 't be done with a camera in the room , either . Sam considered herself a fairly open - minded person but this was some really hard - core non - consensual stuff that she found completely revolting . Not only was it disgusting , it had flooded her mailbox and probably bounced stuff that might have been important . Nothing but coincidence logically connected this to the other incidents , but Sam was sure it was the same person . Coincidence only went so far . She had a freemail address that she used as a spam trap . Consequently her home address usually stayed fairly free of spam , and even the spam trap didn 't get this kind of sewage . She logged on to check her work email . It was still spam - free . So this was someone who knew her home email but not the cheyenne . mil . gov address . Whoever this pest was , he or she had sense enough not to email her anything directly . It would be child 's play for a hacker like her - to find out where that came from . But there was no way she 'd ever be able to find out how the porn spammers got her email address , even if the stalker himself didn 't know much of anything about computers . Even so , there was the disquieting sense that no part of her life was safe from this unknown presence . She closed the computer and took a stroll down to her basement work room , pulling a handful of cheap miniature wireless cameras from a box . She 'd bought them when they were the fad and never really had occasion to do more than play with them . Now , it was a few moments ' work to put new batteries in them and check to make sure they were working properly and communicating with the desktop that was the center of her house 's wireless network system . She drew the curtains and turned out the lights as if to go to bed , but then she went to work and put the cameras in strategic positions to have good views of her front , back and garage door areas . She placed the two remaining cameras to cover the street in front of her house and the back yard . Schroedinger observed all these preparations with great interest and followed her back down to the basement , where he hopped up on the corner of the work bench to supervise . She turned on the monitor and pulled up the control panel for the security system , and popped up the cameras . She set it to save an image from the continuous feed once every five seconds , and installed another hard drive to make enough room to save a week 's worth of images when she was on a mission . " All right , let 's see if we can 't catch you red - handed . " ~ I wonder if you checked your email yet . Don 't you see what happens to women who sleep around ? You should have kept yourself pure . One day you 're going to realize that we 're destined to be together , but now you 'll come to me with him all over you . ~ The next day her bot reported that it had deleted over 2000 spam emails from her account overnight . She called her ISP and let them know what was going on , so they would know she wasn 't responsible for the waste of bandwidth , and left it up to them to do something about the hit on their resources . She hoped they would black hole the sources of the spam and get it out of a lot of other people 's mail boxes as well , but that wasn 't really her concern any more . She took the cat to Mitzi 's . As soon as they got up on the porch , Schroedinger smelled something he didn 't like and started to wriggle and growl . She investigated . Had the stalker seen her putting the cameras up ? Or had he just decided to demonstrate that no one around her was safe ? Either way , this was too serious to ignore . Whoever did this had to be nuts . He had just graduated from an annoying vandal to a potential homicidal maniac . The city cops took it seriously , but there was only so much they could do aside from stepping up patrols in the neighborhood . Once again , no one had seen anything . The park across the street was always in use , so unfamiliar cars were always around . Sam said , " The only one I can think of who was this crazy would be Jonas Hansen , but he 's been dead for years . " She looked up at Sha 're . " Could a ghost do this ? " " No , " she said categorically . " Ghosts are energy . Whoever did this had to be able to type on a computer and dial a telephone and hold a key in his hand - - and kill that poor cat . You have a living enemy , of this I am certain . " " The police didn 't take it seriously because we were all just kids . He raped her and beat her half to death . Then he told her he was leaving her alive on purpose so he could do it again after she got out of the hospital . " The room went silent . It was obvious from the look in Daniel 's ice blue eyes that the police never would find that rapist . Most likely nobody else ever would either . They all knew that Daniel had lived a very rough life from the time his parents had been killed until he landed at the SGC , but they had never realized he had anything like that in his past . Jack got his tongue first . " Jeez , Daniel - - " With a sudden , crystal clear understanding , Sam told him with all the assurance and confidence that she could muster , " Daniel , I 'm not a high - school girl . Nothing like that is going to happen to me . I won 't let it . I want him to think I 'm being careless so that he 'll make a mistake and give himself away . But it 's just an act and I have my eyes wide open . " Jack said , " You and Daniel take a road trip up to Denver and see what he 's been up to . Sergeant , do a check on him . He knows about the program . He could be a hell of a security risk if he 's gone whacko . " The briefing room cleared out as they all went in different directions . It was just as well because Jack had all of fifteen minutes to prepare for SG - 16 's mission briefing . They really didn 't need this stalker distracting them . Crap like this got people killed . That was routine . Dr . Borgstrom put a UAV image of a crumbled wall on the wall monitor , indicating a section where the beginning of an inscription was still partially visible . It was very likely Ancient , probably either " water " or " eagle " but there was no way to tell because the end of the word was missing . Borgstrom said , " SG - 2 visited the planet four years ago , and found nothing of particular interest . It is uninhabited , and judging from the weeds and saplings that were chopped off by its activation , no one has used the stargate in quite some time . The possibility of ancient ruins on the planet merits a second look . " O ' Neill grinned . The MRV was a new development , a hovercraft designed for travel through the stargate . Ever since it had been approved for field testing a week ago , every departing team had made a pitch to be the next ones to take it out . " The geeks agree with you this time , Major . " Jack tossed the keys . Bowen and Reed both grabbed for them but Bowen was quicker . He pocketed them with a smug grin on his face . Reed scowled , Borgstrom chuckled and even Ren ' auc laughed quietly . " Thanks . " Jack sent an airman for a pot of coffee and realized he had almost an hour before SG - 2 arrived . He made a wry face at the stack of file folders waiting in his inbox , and got to work . " Nope , just packed up and left , " he said . " The super was bangin ' around in there yesterday , made a hell of a racket . You could ask him . His office is in the basement . " The building super , a tall skinny guy with a big gray handlebar moustache , was in his office working on an air conditioner . He looked up from his work and favored them with a grin when they knocked on the door frame . " Help you boys with somethin ' ? " Daniel showed his credentials . " It isn 't about her . We just want to ask her a few questions about someone else . I can 't go into specifics , I 'm afraid . " " Air Force employee , huh ? Well , okay . I think she moved to Denver with her boyfriend . I don 't know his name , but he was pretty good sized fellow with short brown hair , and he was wearing a Denver PD T - shirt the day he helped her move . She was always a real good tenant , but I can 't say I 'm gonna miss that big ol ' dog of hers ! " It took some doing , but the two of them finally discovered that Pete had resigned from the police force . Beyond that , citing privacy concerns , the police department wouldn 't give them any other information . They went to the library and checked the city directory , where they found Pete 's address . No one was home , and they saw a neighbor lady picking up his mail . Daniel stopped outside chain link fence around Shanahan 's property . " Ma ' am , we 're trying to find Officer Shanahan . Do you know how to get in touch with him ? " " She 's briefing SG - 13 on one of Apophis ' planets , " Daniel replied . " From what I 've read about stalkers , they seem to fixate on one target at a time . This doesn 't make sense . " Daniel scowled and opened his cell phone . A moment later he rang through to Sgt . Davis , who put him through to O ' Neill . " Jack , it 's Daniel . We 're in Denver . Pete 's ex - wife moved out of her apartment , apparently she 's gotten back together with him but we haven 't been able to locate either of them . Pete quit his job and has a neighbor picking up his mail . " " OK , give me that and I 'll see what I can find out from the phone company . You guys might as well head back here . Where ever he is , it doesn 't sound like he 's still in Denver . " O ' Neill cursed quietly for a few moments after he hung up the phone . Carter 's and his personal problems had just mushroomed into a potential security land mine for the whole SGC . Wonderful . Just freakin ' wonderful . " Damn . He and his ex - wife have both disappeared . With what he knows about the program , and the unstable way he was acting around the time his marriage broke up , this could be a train wreck waiting to happen . " They both realized how much of that kind of thing Hammond had just quietly taken care of . Jack said , " Let me see if I can get hold of the Admiral , then I have Pete 's cell phone number . Maybe we can find out from that where he 's been the past few days . " That shut Daniel up in a hurry . Teal ' c only raised an eyebrow , but Daniel just knew the Jaffa was snickering at him . He paid no attention . Teal ' c was just as wary of the wrath of Sha 're as he was . Jack finished up the last of the day 's paperwork , reading SG - 9 's mission reports from the trade talks with Medrona . It had taken a lot of convincing , but after five years the Medronans had finally agreed to allow study of the Touchstone - - under careful guard . The hope was that they could discover how to make more of them . He secured the files that he had been working on and locked up his office . The briefing room and his secretary 's office were both dark . It was 1900 hours . He called good - night to the control room crew and headed to Carter 's lab . " I swear , when I get my hands on that jerk - - ! What a pain in the mik ' ta . Give me a minute to square things away . " She checked on a couple of computer simulations and made sure there was plenty of paper in the printers . Bill Lee had an experiment going , she checked on it for him and entered her observations in the lab journal . After that , all she had to do was log off her computer and get her purse . " She and Cassie were going shopping . " Things changed . Not too long ago she hadn 't been allowed off the base without an escort . Now she fit right in . He wondered if she would stay on Daltregon after she brooded . Vanira kept close track of her little ones . Sirikat had come and gone over the past couple of years , but until now her absences had always been temporary . Now she was a grown woman by her culture 's standards and she was about to start a home and a family of her own . It was the right thing , the natural thing . . . but he wasn 't ready to let her go . Just in case something had happened at Sam 's house while she was gone , Jack decided to wait until after he dropped Sam off to get Jamie from day care . They cleared the house and checked all the doors and windows , but everything seemed to be as she 'd left it . There were no messages on her answering machine , and when she checked her email , the spam had dropped off dramatically . She figured her ISP must have done something . They went next door to collect Schroedinger . Mitzi brought him to the door . " I found out who the cat you found belonged to . His name was Leo and he lived two houses on down the street , the old lady who lives in the upstairs apartment . Sally Murtagh . I 'm starting to wonder if this isn 't someone who has it in for the whole neighborhood . " " No , ma ' am , there could be some classified things involved so I wouldn 't be able to tell them much more than I told you . But we are checking it out , and if he 's our guy , we 'll take care of it . That doesn 't mean stop keeping an eye on the neighborhood though . If you see anyone up to no good , don 't fool around , just call 911 . Let us worry about the classified information later . It 's entirely possible that we 're chasing the wrong guy . " It was hard for Jack to say anything to her , because he 'd gladly beat the crap out of the guy if he got his hands on him . " I know how you feel , ma ' am . Just don 't get yourselves in trouble with the police over this guy . " Mitzi nodded . " No one 's going to lynch him , General , but tarring and feathering might not be out of the question . My husband was fit to be tied when he found out about Mrs . Murtagh 's poor cat . " She nodded . " Well , the word 's got around anyhow . The whole neighborhood 's on the lookout . And Sam , I hate to say this to someone in the Air Force because I 'm afraid you 'll take it the wrong way - - but if you get scared over there by yourself , come on over and stay with us , I don 't care what time of the night it is . " In Gloria 's driveway , after he put Jamie in the car seat , he dialed Sirikat 's cell phone . She answered with a cheerful " hello . " He could hear mall music and a crowd in the background . " It 's called Pacific Rim ! " She said loudly , talking over the crowd . " Good ! But everyone wants to try it ! We had to stand in line forever ! Cassie 's going to bring me home in an hour or so . " Jack was confident in Sirikat 's ability to take care of herself and Cassie - - not that Cassie was at all helpless , having grown up rough - housing with Jack and Teal ' c . Under the guise of horseplay , they had taught her a lot of self - defense moves while she was little , and by the time she was eleven or twelve she 'd been taking serious martial arts lessons . The two of them were sensible and wouldn 't take any dumb chances . Since Jack didn 't have to worry about feeding two hungry teenagers , he and Jamie ate in MacDonald 's instead of going through the drive - through . Jamie 's all time favorite food was fries with lots of ketchup . Jack thought the kid would live on french fries if he got the chance . He tried not to indulge him too often , but once a week or so they ate there . Jamie ate a couple of bites of his hamburger , but cleaned up his fries and scarfed quite a few of Jack 's besides . Sure enough , by the time they got in , the lights were on and Cassie 's car was there . Jack unfastened the car seat straps and let Jamie out . Halfway up the walk , though , Jamie remembered that he had left his finger painting in the truck . They went back after it , and Jack bent over to pull up a weed beside the driveway . When he looked up , Jamie was reaching into the back seat , and there was a spot of red light on his back . Jack had his sidearm , but he also had his hands full . When Jamie realized something was really wrong , he started crying and trying to get loose . Jack knew if he let go of him the boy would make a beeline for the house . If they tried that , there was plenty of starlight for the gunman to see them . Even if he were carrying Jamie , Jack knew all too well he couldn 't protect him . A bullet could easily pass through both of them . At the same time , it was all too possible that the guy might put a round into the gas tank . While explosions and fires weren 't as common in real life as on TV , it was still a definite possibility . Using the bulk of the truck as cover , he went out the other side and dived into the ditch between his property and the next house over . " Jamie ! Stay in the ditch until I tell you to move ! " Only now did Jack have the chance to get his sidearm . The ditch was deep enough that Jamie had full cover down there . " Now 's our chance , son . " Jack lifted Jamie and darted to the house with him . Cassie took him . He hadn 't known she owned a gun , but knowing Janet he really wasn 't surprised to see the little snub - nosed . 38 in her hand or the steely look in her eyes . He was perfectly confident about Jamie 's safety as he took off to back Sirikat up . " Don 't do that ! " She scolded , bringing the bo staff back to a ready position and visibly calming herself . The weapon was deceptively innocuous in appearance , merely a straight hardwood walking stick her own height and a little more than an inch in diameter . But in the hands of a blended pair who had been trained by masters of the staff such as Bra ' tac and Teal ' c , it was a deadly weapon , and Jack had no doubt but that he would have been badly hurt if she had followed through . He apologized , if he had sneaked up on her and gotten hit he would have had no one but himself to blame . " Where is he ? " Sirikat grinned in the darkness . " One who screamed like a child and wet himself when I whacked the seat of his pants . He dropped the laser pointer , as he ran . " By now the cops were getting more than a little fed up . This was twice now the guy had caused trouble on their beat , and this was the kind of so - called practical joke that got people killed . Sirikat went with the police to show them where the car had been parked , while Jack went home to check on Jamie . By the time he got there , his knee was burning . He thought he must have twisted it going up and down the creek bank , although he really hadn 't paid any attention to it at the time . He was really annoyed that they hadn 't got a look at the car or even a glimpse of the license plate . " There was nothing to see , Officer . He was about five ten , light build , wearing black clothing . I just got a glimpse of the guy , but Sirikat got close enough to whack him on the ass with her bo staff . She 's probably given the other two officers a better description than that by now . " Jack knelt to check on Jamie , and his knees went weak with relief when he realized his son was OK except for a few bumps and scratches . Jamie hadn 't really understood what was going on , so from his point of view he had been safe in his father 's arms the whole time . He was way too excited to get to bed anytime soon , though ! After the police and Cassie had gone , Jamie was calming down in front of the TV watching the Little Mermaid for the 500th time , and Sirikat was safely inside , the reaction hit Jack . He sat down with his phone and called Sam . She was furious that Jamie had been drawn into this , and almost came charging over there , until Jack told her Cassie was on her way . " The world ended , I am sure , " Sirikat replied , in complete sympathy . " But it didn 't , not really . We are all safe . " " You probably would have killed him . I wouldn 't have cried if you had - - but that isn 't you . You don 't use deadly force unless it 's called for , and after you saw the laser pointer - - well , it wasn 't called for . " " I know , I thought that myself . Jack , are you sure you 're all right ? Do you want some beer ? My mother always said , ale is good to cure a scare . " Sirikat nodded . By the time Jamie 's video ended , he was sleepy enough not to put up a fight about bedtime . He was going to be the only one in the house really sleeping that night . ~ That little kung - fu bitch ! The hell with this ! One way or another , Samantha and I are going to be together forever tonight . ~ Cottonwood Gulch was a small town quartered by the highway running east - west and Cottonwood Creek north - south . There was a little business district along the highway just past the Wal - Mart store , consisting of a gas station with a garage attached , a truck - stop diner , and a mom and pop grocery store . Surrounding that were a handful of residential streets , two churches , and a grade school . Daniel and Teal ' c had driven past everything in town twice . They had just about given up when Daniel noticed a sign outside the Bethel Baptist Church announcing a couple 's retreat . " Didn 't the neighbor lady say Pete had started going to church ? Well , I wonder . . . . Pull in here , would you ? " Gravel crunched under the SUV 's tires as the Jaffa found a spot in the crowded the church lot . There was nothing going on in the church building , but a huge tent had been set up out back and the last verse of " Amazing Grace " resounded from inside , to the accompaniment of several guitars , a keyboard and a set of trap drums . Apparently this had been the last hymn of the service , because the minister stood in front of a huge bank of amplifiers to offer the closing prayer and the benediction . Beyond the tent , someone lit a bonfire and people lined up for hot dogs and marshmallows . " Oh , sure , they 've been at the couples ' retreat out at the campground for a couple of weeks . I don 't believe they came to the songfest tonight . There was going to be a workshop this evening and I believe they were attending . " " You 've got quite a crowd here ! Listen , we don 't know the area around here too well . Could you give us directions to the campground ? " " Sure , get back on the highway and head east about a mile . Turn left at the hardware store and keep going till you see a sign for Bethel Retreat . It 's about another half - a - mile after you make the turn . " The sign wasn 't that easy to find in the dark , they had to turn around in someone 's driveway . The sign directed them onto a dirt road which was really nothing more than a couple of wheel ruts . They were glad they had used one of the base 's SUVs instead of driving Daniel 's car . But when they reached the retreat 's parking lot , they found Shanahan 's car there . Rather than interrupt the workshop , they wandered to the cook house , just across from the chapel , and sat down on the steps . A short film on preventing domestic violence was shown , and then there was a half - hour discussion before the workshop broke up with a prayer . The couples stood around talking for some time afterwards . Some of them wanted the guy who had presented the workshop to autograph copies of his book , while others stood around talking to friends and enjoying the pleasant evening . Shanahan was too experienced a cop not to know an interrogation when he heard one . " We 've been here at the retreat since Sunday before last . Mind telling me what all this is about ? " " Nettie , don 't worry about it . I don 't blame them for suspecting me . If I hadn 't found the Lord I might still be the kind of person who 'd do that kind of thing . Is she all right ? " She smiled and put her arm around Pete 's waist . " It 's Shanahan again , and yes , thank you for being concerned , but it really isn 't necessary . Pete got saved a couple of months ago and we 've reconciled . We 're living in my great - grandfather 's cabin on my parents ' property , and Pete 's taken a job with the sheriff 's department . He starts next Monday , after we get home from the retreat . We believe that the Lord has given us a miracle . " Pete said , " Listen , I 've worked a few of these cases , and I - - well , I guess I 've got an insight into how these folks tick . If you 'll tell me what 's been going on , I might be able to help . At least I hope I can . I 'd really like to make it up to Sam for all the trouble I caused her . " Daniel gave him a long measuring look . Pete was genuinely contrite , and anxious to help . He told Shanahan what had been happening . Shanahan was able to prove he had been at a revival meeting that had lasted until almost midnight the night that Sam 's car had been scratched , and the workshop had started an hour before this evening 's incident at Jack 's house . Teal ' c wrote his address and two telephone numbers on a scrap of paper . " AnnetteShanahan , that is my telephone number . If you ever have reason to call me , do so at any time of the day or night . If I should be unavailable , the second number is that of my friend O ' Neill . " " Thanks , Murray . . . Teal ' c . . . whatever your name is , " she said in a gently bemused tone of voice , and smiled up at her husband . " I appreciate this , I can 't tell you how much , but Pete has changed , and we 're working hard on making our relationship work this time . We 're both in counseling , and we 've both learned a lot . He isn 't the same person who hit me , and I 'm not the same person who let him . " " No , I understand . I would have thought the same thing in your place , and you had to check out a lead . The Bible says you reap what you sow . But listen , I hope you get this guy quick . He sounds like a real sick pup . This thing tonight with the laser pointer , and the cat - - you 've got someone who isn 't thinking the same way the rest of us do . Whoever he is , he thinks he 's perfectly justified in his claim on Sam , and in his mind , all these insane things are reasonable ways for him to convince her of his feelings for her . I 'm pretty sure that eventually he 's going to snap , and turn violent towards human beings . He 'll probably try to kidnap her . I don 't doubt that Sam can handle him - - she sure didn 't have any trouble knocking me on my a - uh , keister . If anyone gets in his way , or if Sam tries to fight back and loses , he probably could kill someone . You 're probably looking at a loner , someone who works part time or not at all , who has nothing to do all day but worship her . It 's probably somebody who lives near her , too , someone who watches her in the park and in neighborhood shops . " " No problem . Listen , give me a call and let me know when you get the guy , and if you need any help , let me give you the camp caretaker 's phone number . He 'll know where to get hold of me . " After Daniel took the number down on his handheld computer , they said their good - byes and got on the road . Daniel checked the time and decided to call Sam even though it was getting late . He couldn 't get a signal at first , but when they got to the highway he got a connection . He wasn 't surprised that she and Cassie were both awake , after the evening 's excitement . He was able to confirm that it wasn 't Pete , and passed on the detective 's profile of the stalker . Daniel said , " Yeah , we know he was in the workshop for at least half an hour , and there were all kinds of witnesses that he 's been there all evening . His wife vouches for him , and she 's back with him because she believes he 's changed . I don 't think she 'd lie for him if she thought he was up to his old tricks again . Besides , he wasn 't limping , and if Sirikat had hit him on the butt with that staff of hers , he would have been . " Jack had to agree with that . " Somebody local , huh ? I don 't know how well Sam knows her neighbors , but I 'll bet if there 's anyone like that who lives close to them , the lady next door would know . I get the feeling nobody around there could scratch their ass without Mitzi hearing about it . " Glass shattered and there was a loud thud . She dropped the phone and Jack heard Cassie yell , " What in the blue hell ! " Then there was gunfire , a lot of it , Cassie 's . 38 , what sounded to him like a Desert Eagle or some other huge handgun like that , and then finally Carter 's 9 mil . Everyone was yelling and swearing at once , and Cassie shrieked . And then he heard a scuffle , the phone clattered , then the line went dead . Jack kicked the afghan off and dived out of bed , rushing to the safe to get his sidearm . He yelled , " Sirikat ! Call 911 , tell them there were shots fired at Sam 's house ! Then call Jonathan and tell him to get over here until I find out what 's going on . " The tone of Jack 's voice scared Jamie to death , and he started wailing at the top of his lungs . Sirikat scooped him up before he could run after Jack . " Go ! I will call them ! No harm will come to Jamie , I swear it ! " Jack broke every speed limit in town , but there were already patrol cars in front of Sam 's house when he got there . Apparently the shooting was over , because the neighbors were all out in their yards trying to find out what was happening . Jack jumped out of his truck and ran to the house . " I 'm OK ! I just got scratched , but you 've got to get Sam ! He busted through the window and we shot each other and I dropped my gun and Sam shot him and he shot the gun out of her hand and he hit her on the head with the phone and he dragged her out the back door and I couldn 't stop him and YOU ' VE ALL GOT TO QUIT STANDING HERE AND DO SOMETHING ! " That was all Jack needed to know . He and several cops went out the back door , following the blood trail . It wasn 't long until Daniel and Teal ' c got there , and so did Major Griff , who lived nearby , and a couple carloads of SFs from the mountain . Daniel stayed to ride to the ER with Cassie , while Teal ' c and the SFs went after the first crowd . They didn 't have far to go . The cops had surrounded a small wooden shed at the end of the alley at a respectful distance . One cop was keeping a hysterical old lady out of the line of fire . " He 's wounded , Carter and Cassie both tagged him good . He dragged Carter into that building . I don 't know how the hell he 's still moving . We haven 't figured out yet how to get close enough to find out what 's going on in there . If he sees us he 'll probably shoot , and I don 't wanna take the chance he 'll shoot Carter . " Jack said , " Bingo ! Everybody , keep out of sight and keep quiet ! Give me a minute to get in position . " There was still some whiskey in the bottle , he splashed it on himself and went the long way around a house . Singing loud , off - key country music , he very convincingly staggered down the alley , waving the bottle . He stumbled into the back of the shed , knocking over a bunch of trash cans and making a hell of a racket . A shot shattered a board over his head and he hit the dirt , crawling rapidly to the front of the shed as a fight started up inside . He yanked his sidearm out of the back of his belt . Immediately before he got to the door , there was a male scream , then some scuffling . Sam yelled , " Get on the ground and put your hands on the back of your head NOW ! Don 't make me blow your brains out , you little shit ! " They swarmed the building . Sam 's right hand was bleeding , but she held the Desert Eagle firmly in her left . Jack said a Hail Mary for the CO he 'd had who insisted that everyone at least try to qualify with their off hand , a custom that he had continued with every outfit he 'd ever commanded . The cops got Sam out of there and into Jack 's arms . He got the Desert Eagle away from her - - which took some doing , her adrenaline was still going and her knee - jerk reaction was , of course , to hold onto her weapon . When he made it an order , she let go , and he handed it to a cop . A paramedic wanted to look at Sam 's hand . There were plenty more paramedics to deal with the kid . At least the paramedic distracted her from yelling at him . He knew what that was all about - - relief turned terror into anger . He watched over her shoulder as the rest of the paramedics worked on the kid . O ' Neill stepped closer to the shed to see what he was talking about . The walls were covered with snapshots of Sam , taken through her windows , at Jack 's house and around the neighborhood . From her differing hair styles in the photos , they had been taken over a period of three or four years . " Jesus Christ ! " Sam gawped . " How do I attract all the nutballs ! Oh , God ! He could 've shot you or Jamie ! He did shoot Cassie ! Let me go , I 've got to see if she 's OK ! " " CALM myself ! When there 's a - - OW ! GOD DAMN IT ! " She yelled in her best command voice , scaring the poor paramedic half to death . A squad pulled up and the kid was rushed inside . It took off , sirens screaming , followed by a cop car . Momentarily , another ambulance arrived for Sam , but she refused to go . " I 'd rather have my own doctor look at it . Jack , check on Cassie , please ! There was a lot of blood . I 've got to know for sure that she 's all right . Teal ' c 's here , he can take me up to the mountain . " Teal ' c said , " You may follow us to Cheyenne Mountain and wait outside . When Colonel Carter 's wound has been treated , she will give you your statement . I do not believe that young man is going anywhere within the near future . " Jack knew Sam wouldn 't relax until she knew beyond all doubt that Cassie was out of danger , and he wasn 't much better . The Desert Eagle was a powerful weapon with a hell of a lot of stopping power . Cassie and Sam both were really fortunate that the kid hadn 't been big enough to handle a gun like that . Jack told her , " Cassie 's getting more stitches than grandma 's knitting , but she was feeling good enough to flirt with the doctor . She 's gonna be fine . He said she 'd probably get to go home once he 's done embroidering , and she 'll need PT for a while to keep from losing any range of motion in her shoulder . Daniel 's going to keep her company and take her back to his place when they release her . " " Oh , thank God . Jack , I swear , it was the shoot out at the OK Corral in there ! I 've never been so scared in my life as when Cassie got shot protecting me ! " " Minor concussion , and the hand . I 'm fine . I 've got to go back to the infirmary and let Doctor Brightman work on my hand a little longer . What about the kid , is he going to live ? " The police officer told her , " I just got an update on his condition a little while ago , ma ' am . He 's lost a lot of blood and they 're operating on him , but neither bullet hit anything vital . They said he 's stable and doing well . " Jack could understand that . Some of the so - called soldiers he 'd had to kill had been just teenagers . He 'd had absolutely no choice , but it was still something that he would have to live with for the rest of his life . " It 's just a precaution , Colonel . The bullet itself didn 't hit you . It was the hilt of your own weapon that cut the palm of your hand and broke two of the bones . It 's a relatively clean fracture and I 'm pretty sure we 'll be able to immobilize it without surgery . Even if it looks OK , though , I 'll still want Dr . Morganstern to look at your x - rays tomorrow and give us a second opinion just to be sure . " Carter winced and grabbed at the back of her head . Brightman gently restrained her before she could forget and use her injured hand . " Are you in a lot of pain ? " By the next day things had settled down . The kid had come through surgery fine and was now in the psych ward , so he wasn 't going to be a weight on Sam 's conscience . The front of Sam 's house was a disaster area , with bullet holes in the walls , a blood - soaked carpet , and a broken picture window . Jack brought her and Schroedinger home with him until the damage could be repaired . Sirikat worked on healing both Sam and Cassie 's injuries . " No , I didn 't , but he lived three houses up the alley from me . I don 't even know his name . I should have known my neighbors that well , at least . " Jack held her to him and eased her aching head to rest on his shoulder . " When ? There are only so many hours in the day , Sam . " Sam allowed herself to be persuaded . She got dressed for bed and lay down . Jack brought her a glass of water and the pills that Dr . Brightman had sent home with her , only to find Jamie snuggled up to her , sound asleep . She swallowed the pills quietly and set the glass on the night stand . Cassie had gone to sleep on the couch , so Sirikat called Daniel to let him know he didn 't have to pick her up . She put down a quilt folded in half lengthwise to make a pallet on the floor , just like home to her . She ducked in just for a moment to grab some pajamas , then went down the hall to the bathroom to change . O ' Neill shook his head . It had been in no way her fault . " You didn 't . I don 't know what we can do about people like that . Henry was living with his grandmother and apparently she 's an Alzheimers patient . She isn 't in any shape to keep an eye on him . They were living off her social security and he had plenty of time for his , uh , hobby . " " The cops think it belonged to his dad . He ended up with his grandma when the parents split up , and they haven 't been able to find either of them yet . I feel sorry for the old lady , but at least she isn 't sleeping under the same roof with a whack job any more . " Carter had to agree with that . " It 's so creepy that he 's been following me around for so long and none of us knew . Orlin , Fifth , Henry - - I wonder if there are any more of them sneaking around in the bushes . " She 'd tried to make the remark sound flippant , but she shuddered violently in spite of herself . He made a non - committal noise . He might or might not doze off during the night , he didn 't care , but he was going to stay right where he was . Now that they had weathered this storm , he was going to enjoy riding at anchor for a while . Now he could just watch over the two of them while they slept , and love Sam without guilt or censure . The peace of mind he had only found in Minnesota the last few years was right here in Colorado Springs now .