A smile crept across her face as she hung the picture. It was a childish drawing of two people hugging, with a photograph between them. Jessie saw her own face smiling back at her, next to the pretty blond child who had created the picture. For what must have been the thousandth time, Jessie read the caption; "You helped me when I needed it. I hope this will help you. Love, Heather." It had, more than a twelve-year-old could possibly know. Now, here she was, in her office at the university, preparing to teach again.

The feeling of hands sliding gently but firmly around her waist from behind interrupted her thoughts. She sunk into his strong embrace.

"You sure you’re up to this?" he asked gently, turning her to face him.

"No, but yes," she replied, looking into those crystal blue eyes. Trent. He had been there for her, had been her anchor for what seemed like forever. She took a deep breath, smelling his subtle cologne, reaching a hand up to run her fingers through his sandy blond hair. "I’m as ready as I’ll ever be," she said with a smile. Gently pushing him away, she picked up her purse. "Let’s go."

Picking up her books, Trent motioned for her to lead the way.

The lecture theater seated about 100 and was about half full. Students were milling around, talking, finding seats. As he put the books on a desk beside the lectern, Trent’s protective nature kicked in. "Do you want me to stay?"

Inside Jessie was screaming ‘YES!’ but instead responded, "That’s okay. You better get to work. Kim will be waiting for you."

Kim was the office manager for Trent’s investigation company he ran with this partner and best friend, Carlos Sandoval. In truth, Trent knew Kim was well aware of where he was and she approved completely. "Maybe, I’ll just wait it the hall for a bit."

"Okay," she said, following him into the hall. Turning towards her, Trent wrapped his arms around her and kissed her tenderly. It felt good to have her back. She had been through so much and come so far. He just hoped she wasn’t rushing things.

"Gotta go, Trent," she whispered, wanting to stay in the protective embrace, but pushing him away again. Smiling, she headed back into the lecture hall.

Behind the lectern, Jessie cleared her throat. Almost immediately, the noise level dropped. "Good morning, class. I’m Dr. Jessie McNamara and this is Psychology 2A3, the Psychology of Victims."

In the hall, Trent waited, watching Jessie and listening to her talk. It was hard for him to comprehend that less than 6 months ago she had been in a psychiatric hospital. She had worked so hard to overcome the series of traumatic event that had landed her there, finally coming back to Dallas and those who loved her. He felt and immense sense of pride, along with an incredible need to protect her. He had failed to protect her and another before her, but not this time. As he was bout to leave, he heard a voice raising in the lecture hall.

"What do you know about being a victim?" The voice was heavily accented. "In my country, there is always war. People are starving, being beaten, murder almost daily. What do you know about being a victim?" she repeated.

Jessie stopped, a slight tremble in her hand the only indication of the fear she felt. As she took a breath to respond, she heard another voice from the back of the hall, this one with a definite Texan drawl.

"I think she knows a lot about being a victim. Maybe y’all should read a newspaper once in awhile."

As the majority of the class turned to see Jessie’s response, she felt her face flush. She glanced to the hall, seeing Trent ready to rescue her. Motioning slightly for him to stay where he was, she took a deep breath. She knew this might happen as her name had been all over the newspapers about 6 months ago. She had to take control.

"Okay," she said. "This leads us to our first major point of this class. What is a victim? How do you each as individuals define that word?" She motioned tot he first speaker, asking her name. "Anna," she continued, "has very definite ideas about who is or isn’t a victim. What about the rest of you?" With that, a dialogue slowly began to take shape.

In the hall, Trent smiled. How did he ever doubt if Jessie had been ready? As he turned to leave he heard the gentle ring of his cell phone. "Malloy," he answered.

**

Dr. Sarah Baker was trying very hard to concentrate on her work and not he dark-haired Hispanic man who was nuzzling her neck. It wasn’t working.

"Ever done it in front of the animals?" he whispered in her ear, a smile playing across his handsome features. They were sitting alone in the office of the animal sanctuary where Sarah worked.

"Carlos," she admonished, pretending to shuffle papers. Truthfully, his breath in her ear was sending incredible shivers done her spine. It was all she could do not to give into him. If she had seen the twinkle in his mocha coloured eyes, she would have realized that Carlos knew it too. Just as she closed her eyes and submitted her neck to his kisses, the phone rang.

"Saved by the bell," she murmured. Tossing her chestnut hair back over here shoulder, she reached for it.

"Don’t answer it," Carlos whispered, moving her hair further off her neck. His plea was ignored.

"Hello, Animal Sanctuary, Dr. Baker speaking…" She smiled at the pout on her boyfriend’s face. "Carlos?" He started shaking his head, but she just smiled. "He’s right here, Trent."

Grudgingly, Carlos took the phone. "WHAT?"

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes."

Trent laughed. "Too bad, buddy. We’ve gotta case." Quickly, Trent gave the particulars to Carlos who had borrowed pen and paper from Sarah. After agreeing to meet, Carlos hung up the phone and looked over at Sarah. She was wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and rubber boots, yet she could still make his blood boil. "Did I ever tell you how sexy you look in rubber boots," he told her.

"Get outta here," she laughed, blushing.

"Gotta go, he told her, embracing her and giving her a long lingering kiss. "We’ll finish this later."

Laughing even harder, she pushed him away playfully. "Go to work!" As he headed for the door she called, "Be careful."

**

Driving down the highway, Carlos glanced at this watch. Plenty of time until he had to meet Trent. He found himself thinking about the case. Things had been slow and they had been working on way too many divorce cases. From what Trent had told him, this sounded promising. Maybe things were picking up.

Again, he glanced at his watch. 11:13 am. But Carlos wouldn’t remember. It was at that moment the bullet shattered the side window of his Durango and lodged itself in his shoulder. Fighting control, the Durango careened across the highway and down a steep embankment. The gentle rippling of the nearby river was shattered by the sickening sound of twisting metal and breaking glass.

**

Trent was mad. Carlos had agreed to meet him before heading to the client’s house but he hadn’t shown up. He had tried the Sanctuary, Carlos’ cell phone even his apartment to no avail. "He better be lying in a ditch somewhere," he told Kim. "Because if I find out he stayed with Sarah there will be hell to pay!" Trent had no idea how right he was.