The line went dead and Cassie let Shane take her phone and lead her into the alcove outside his office. His secretary took one look and helped her sit down, pressing a glass of water into her hand. Shane grabbed the phone and went to work.

An hour later, the office had filled with Chases and Penny as well. Polly held one of Cassie’s hands and Edward was on the phone with Brian. Shane came back and shook his head when she looked up.

“Disposable again. Your cell phone company told us who his cell phone company was. I’ve forwarded the info to your California guy and he’s working on the warrant now. Because we don’t know how long these companies keep records on what cell towers were accessed when a call is made, I’m hoping the warrant will go through quickly. I hate this waiting, Damn it!” He pounded the wall with his fist and Cassie jumped.

Seeing it he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, darlin’. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me. It startled me. I’m not worried you’d do that to me. But here’s the deal, we know we’re not going to find him with the phone tracing thing. So even if you get a warrant tonight and they get it to the cell phone company and they give the records quickly and trace it to Topanga Canyon or Boston or wherever, he’ll be gone. He’s been on the run for over a year, he’s not a stupid man. So why not get rid of the damned phone? I don’t want to take calls from him again and if he can’t find me and can’t call me, I don’t have to hear it.”

“She’s right, son. Why put her through it?” Edward shrugged.

“You need a phone. It’s a basic safety issue.”

“Fine, but Cassie can get a phone. I don’t need this one in Brian’s name.” Cassie’s voice was tired but steady.

They agreed that she’d get a new cell phone but also keep the other phone. Shane felt it was a way to keep track of Terry and in the end, Cassie agreed.

The warrant took a day and a half to go through and they locked the call location to Daytona Beach, Florida. He wasn’t in Petal and that was at least one happy thing.

They sent out police to the area but found nothing. Terry was on the run again.

In July, another call came as they celebrated at the Chase’s house. Celebrated the one year anniversary of her arrival in Petal and at the same time, the one year anniversary of her crush on Shane Chase which was now a full out jones.

She danced with him under the stars in the backyard, surrounded by the people who’d become fixtures in her life. Happiness soared through her until she heard the ring of the phone, the old one.

“That’s him.”

Shane stood next to her as she flipped it open and answered it. “Hello, Terry. Don’t you have anything better to do than ruin my Saturday evening?”

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you? I hear music in the background. You’re whoring it up with some man? You’re mine, Carly. I made you! Don’t ever forget that. You’d be nothing without me.”

“I was nothing with you, Terry. Move on. You have your freedom, why don’t you get the hell out of my life and make your own better?”

“You and I have unfinished business, Carly.”

The talking and laughing in the background began to die down bit by bit as people began to realize what was going on.

“We have nothing, Terry. You’re nothing to me but a horrible period in my life. You tried to kill me and you sucked in bed so you had to rape me. Fuck off.” She clicked the phone shut and Shane looked at her, surprise on his face.

“Bet that felt good.”

She appreciated his simple response. “Yeah.”

He pulled her into his arms.

This time the warrant came more quickly because he bought the disposable cell phone from the same company. He was in St. Louis. Again police went out to the general location, the area around Washington University. They found nothing.

Chapter Eighteen

The anniversary of Cassie and Shane’s first date came and went without any further calls from Terry. Homecoming arrived and Cassie cheered on Petal at the game like she was a lifelong fan.

She’d looked into medical school again, she’d found out she had to go back and get more training to change specialties and there was still worry about her hand. And she would have to deal with her name change no matter what. Laws that allowed patients to know who their doctors were and to be able to file complaints were important, she realized that, but they also held her back. But she’d been discussing some possible avenues with her therapist and was really excited about one of them in particular.

In the mean time, Penny came to her with an offer.

Waltzing into the shop on a Monday morning, she put a cup of coffee in front of Cassie and said without preamble, “Ryan’s asked me to marry him and I’ve accepted.”

Cassie looked up from the inventory screen and laughed. “Oh my lands. What wonderful news. I’m so happy for you!” Moving around the desk she hugged Penny tight. “Congratulations. When’s the date?”

“He’d like to do it as soon as possible. I’d be fine with living together but his family wouldn’t be pleased and he loves me and wants to start a family soon. We’re thinking November fifteenth.”

“Wow, honey, that’s a month away. Okay, it’s doable. Let’s get to work. What can I do? Obviously I can be here at the shop for you so you can take more time off. But I can help with other things, call around, make reservations, that kind of thing.”