He bellowed in pain and rage and she ran past him, hoping the call had gone through, hoping the security guard would drive past and see something amiss, hoping Shane would come home. For that moment though, she was on her own and she needed to get to the table next to the couch to get her gun.

A hand, slick with blood but with a sure grip, closed around her upper arm and the weight of him rode her body to the ground. She tasted blood as her lip split open when he punched her in the face.

“You bitch! You won’t make it this time. I’ll make sure you’re not breathing when I walk away.” His fingers moved her to her throat and began to squeeze.

The world began to narrow as she lost oxygen. Desperately, she reached with both hands, trying to find something, anything to hit him with. Shane’s coffee mug! Grabbing it with the tip of her fingers she put all her remaining strength into it and hit Terry up side the head as hard as she could.

Air rushed into her lungs as she coughed when he fell to the side, losing his grip on her.

She began to scream over and over as she scrambled around the coffee table and got to the drawer where her gun was. Fumbling, she heard him right behind her as her fingers touched the cool metal and pulled it toward her.

Her head yanked back as she continued to scream. She couldn’t get to the safety to turn it off! Pain seared her as he bent one arm back so hard she felt the shoulder dislocate which probably numbed her enough not to feel the full impact when he broke her wrist. All she could think was thank goodness she knew enough to learn to shoot with her left hand. He hadn’t seen the gun she’d been holding in it just yet.

“You can’t have my life you bastard. You got enough from me!” she screamed.

“I’m going to f**k you one last time, you whore, and then I’m going to kill you. Leave you for your loverboy to find.” His voice was in her ear, right behind her and she pulled her head forward and threw it back as hard as she could, hearing the crunch of his nose.

His pain-filled scream gurgled as she realized she’d broken his nose. Time slowed as she rolled, flicking off the safety and pointing the gun, steadying herself as best she could one handed.

She came to peace with the fact that she was ready to take his life, breathing out as her finger squeezed. Just before her arm took the brunt of the shot, a red bloom covered his chest.

Confused, she watched as he hit the floor, her ears ringing as the shot deafened her. Blinking back the sweat, she saw Shane running toward her and one of his officers going to Terry’s slumped over body, checking for a pulse.

“Honey? Oh God, are you all right?” Cassie watched his lips more than heard him ask. Her hearing was still gone as Shane gently took the gun from her hand, wincing as he saw her other arm hanging at an odd angle.

“He’s dead?”

“He can’t hurt you ever again, Cassie. He’s dead,” the other officer told her as he stood up.

“Good. God damn it, good. My arm hurts now, Shane, I need to go to the hospital.”

Cassie related it in a matter-of-fact voice right before she passed out in his arms.

Hours later, at the hospital, he paced back and forth through the waiting room. Another officer came in and took over the investigation. Obviously Shane did not have the ability to judge the situation without bias. Looking at her history and Terry’s past and that they’d come in as he was attacking Cassie, Shane was sure his shooting would be justified. Still, he was placed on administrative leave while the shooting was investigated and that was all right with him.

Cassie’s weapon was discharged but had missed. They found the bullet in the wall behind where Terry had been standing. She would have hit him in the chest if he hadn’t begun to fall after Shane shot him. There wasn’t any reason to do anything but see her as a victim in the situation. Another officer was questioning her as they patched up her arm. Shane wanted to be there but as he was the person who shot the suspect he couldn’t. So one of his father’s law partners was in with her and her therapist was on the way.

Chapter Nineteen

The months passed. Shane was cleared and came back to work right before Penny and Ryan’s wedding. Cassie bought a three quarters share in Paperbacks and More and began to take classes to pursue becoming a victim’s advocate.

Penny announced a week before Christmas that she was pregnant.

“Wow, you said you wanted to start on a family right away, you weren’t kidding.” Cassie laughed as she hugged her friend.

“We started a while before the wedding, don’t tell his mother. Anyway, it’s still new so don’t tell anyone just yet, okay? I had to tell someone and I couldn’t tell you over the phone.”

“I can’t wait to shop for baby clothes with you. Ryan must be over the moon.”

“He is. He’s already looking for a crib and I swear has a college fund started. I’m so happy, Cassie.”

“Oh, honey, you deserve it. I’m happy for you too.”

They agreed that Penny would tell everyone in Petal after New Years when the first trimester had safely passed. It was a delicious little gift for Cassie though, knowing that life continued even in the shadow of such ugliness.

Her cast came off three days before Christmas. “Thank goodness. I can only deal with so much. It’s stressful enough spending the night at the Chases. I don’t want to think about doing it with a cast on too.”

Shane chuckled. “Honey, my mother loves you. My father loves you and my single brothers would steal you in a minute if I didn’t keep an eye on them every second. It’s no big deal. We live together, they know we sleep in the same bed.”