Her teeth began to chatter as the shakes came. Her breath exploded in sobs and she curled into a ball and closed her eyes, letting it wash over her. She knew it was useless to fight it once it got that far so she rode it out.

After a time, she sat up, her muscles still rubbery and slightly sore from the shaking and sobbing. Ordering herself to buck up, she stood up, bracing her weight on the door until she could stand on her own, and went to splash some water on her face.

Moving tentatively, she put her groceries away as her body and spirit regained control over itself. It was then that she remembered she hadn’t gotten in contact with Brian and she knew he’d be climbing the walls with worry by then.

She didn’t want to leave the house. She wanted to stay inside and hide. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Instead, she grabbed her keys and her wallet, and headed out to the payphone she’d noticed earlier that day outside the grocery store.

But Shane Chase was waiting at the bottom of her stairs and she recoiled for a moment. Damn! He noticed that.

“Oh, Sheriff Chase. You surprised me.” She tried to be nonchalant and force herself to go down the stairs but she froze three quarters of the way down because he remained standing at the bottom of the landing, effectively blocking her way. Making her feel trapped.

“Shane. Please. And you want to tell me why the very sight of me scared you?” His voice had an edge she couldn’t quite place. “Matt said you had a panic attack earlier when he was at your place. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? I can help you.”

Anger replaced the fear and she pushed her way past him and down the walk. “I’m on my way out, Shane.”

He moved his body to halt her progress and the fear was back at the edges of her anger. “What are you hiding?”

“Sheriff, you’re blocking my way. And anyway, what’s it to you? I haven’t done anything wrong unless panic attacks are illegal in Georgia.” Her voice shook a bit, mortifying her even more but thank goodness he stepped out of the way.

“I’m sorry I scared you. I don’t know why you’re afraid but I can’t help you if you won’t let me.” Hands held loosely at his side, he kept his voice calm and low and she felt like an animal all the sudden. A cat spooked in a treetop. When had her life become so out of her control?

Oh how she wanted to tell him. To give it all to someone else and let them fix it for her. But that wasn’t possible. No one could protect her but herself. And the last thing she needed was another big, dominant man who thought he could run her life far more efficiently than she could.

“I’m fine. Now if you’ll excuse me.” She walked around him, got into the car and pulled away, leaving him standing there, watching her go.

Matt waited on his landing as Shane came up the stairs. “Something has spooked that woman big time.” Matt waved his brother inside and handed him a soda.

“I’d wager it was a man. Some ass**le who beat her up a time or two. Maybe a daddy.” Shane took a sip and sat down on the couch. “Either that or she’s running from the law. I checked her out and she’s clean but it’s not like fake identification is a foreign concept to criminals.”

“I don’t think so, Shane. She doesn’t come off as the kind of woman who’s hiding something from others because of what she’s done.”

Shane nodded at his brother. His stomach clenched as he remembered the look on her face when she’d looked down the steps at him. No, that wasn’t the face of a woman hiding from a drug charge. That was the face of a woman who’d been hurt by someone and was afraid it would happen again. No woman had ever looked at him like that and it bothered him deeply that she would be afraid of him.

That nagging protective feeling was back. “I think you’re right. I think it’s an ex. She didn’t seem to have a problem being alone with Maggie or when she was with us all in her apartment. But men alone? You should have seen her reaction when she walked out and saw me on my way up the stairs to her place. She flinched. There’s something bad there and I aim to find out what it is.”

“I told you, she started shaking when I was at her apartment. I could hear her sobbing for breath after I left. I’m worried about her.”

“Are you now?” Shane’s eyes narrowed at his brother. “Leave that to me. It’s my job and she’s not going to tell us anything at this point. I just need to show her we’re the good guys and hopefully she’ll come to trust me…us, in time.”

Matt raised a brow. “Oh, so that’s how it is? You staking a claim?”

“I just want to help. I’m a cop, it’s what I do.” Shane paused and Matt made a rude noise.

“Puhleeze. Shane, I’ve known you my whole life. That look on your face says there’s a lot more than your cop-type duty on the line here.”

Shane started to argue but groaned instead, shaking his head. “Damn it, there’s something about her. You should have seen how pissed off she got out there. First she’s totally freaked and then I say something that makes her mad and she’s spitting and hissing. She’s…” Shane shrugged his shoulders. “But if you had your eye on her…oh hell, even if, unless you want to have some serious competition, you’d best back up and let me at her. That juxtaposition of timid ferocity gets to me. I can’t say I’ve ever been this intrigued before.”

Matt threw back his head and laughed. “Well, she’s a looker. And those big blue eyes are haunted. But I’m still stinging over my break up with Liv. I don’t think I’m ready right now. But I do want to help Cassie. So I’ll keep an eye on her.”