Cody couldn’t bring himself to release Cassie. But he looked over his shoulder at the man on the lawn, who was just getting to his feet, and with a shock of recognition and not-quite-surprise, he saw it was Douglas from the bar, the man he’d talked to earlier.

My lady and I are just passing through.

“Cassie,” he said “What’s going on? Who is that guy?”

She was trembling in his arms.

At that moment, he saw several police cars turn onto the street, pulling up behind Engine One.

“Cassie?”

Then he noticed the can of bear spray that had dropped to the ground. He put it together then, in flashes: He set the fire. Attacked her. She used the bear spray on him. Also, What the fuck is going on? What hasn’t she told me?

Cody found the motivation to let go of Cassie. He spun and marched toward “Douglas,” or whatever his real name was, and curled his hands into fists. He was about to kick the living shit out of this guy.

“Bradford!” The Engine One captain, from a different shift but still an acquaintance, emerged from the truck and shouted at him. “Let PD do their thing.”

Cody’s red haze of anger cleared just enough for him to notice the four officers who’d drawn their guns and were approaching Douglas.

He backed off reluctantly, but noted with satisfaction that the officers weren’t gentle as they handcuffed Douglas.

Seeing the man restrained brought Cody’s attention back to Cassie. He guided her to the sidewalk, away from the house, which was pouring a decent amount of black smoke, although there were no visible flames.

“No one else in the house, right?” he asked her.

“No,” she said. “Although I wish he was.” She nodded at where Douglas was handcuffed. “Can we put him back in there?”

The scene became busy and chaotic around them. Cody was vaguely aware that the ladder truck had pulled up, that Engine Three was on scene and pulling hose through the front door, and that two ambulances had arrived. For him, Cassie was the only thing that existed. Her face was covered in soot, and teary tracks streaked down her cheeks.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you taken care of.”

He helped her to an open ambulance, where she sat down. The paramedics helped her put on an oxygen rebreather. He took her hand and felt a return squeeze.

“I’ll go with you to the hospital,” Cody said.

She nodded. Her eyes didn’t leave his face.

He was desperate to know what was going on, but he didn’t want to push her. For one thing, it probably hurt to talk after inhaling smoke. But she pulled the mask off her face enough to speak.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” she said, her voice quiet and hoarse.

He waited for her to continue.

“That man was stalking me, and has been for almost two years.”

* * *

Cassie told Cody the whole story, starting with the short email exchange with Doug back when she was an intern. Saying out loud all the things she’d been subjected to was difficult, especially to see the disbelief, the anger, the sympathy in Cody’s eyes. That was exactly what she hadn’t wanted: to become an object of pity, of victimhood.

“So that’s it,” she said. “The real reason why I came here. It was the farthest away I could get from him and still keep my career alive, at least barely.” She shook her head. “Holt isn’t even my last name.”

“What?” He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. As if she was a stranger. “You changed your name?”

“Holt is my grandmother’s maiden name. My legal name is Caldwell. Cassandra Caldwell.”

“And getting an Alaska phone number … what about your townhouse?”

“I leased it under Abby’s name.”

“Geez. Cassie. Did you go to the police in New York?”

“Yes. But I don’t even know his full name. Up until the day he picked me up in the fake rideshare car, I didn’t even know what he looked like.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this? You should have. I could have helped you. Looked out for you.” He frowned at her. “You could have died tonight, or—Cassie, don’t you know what that would have done to me? To lose you to—? I mean, I’m already losing you, but to lose you to violence? It would have killed me.”

Her eyes filled with tears, making a blurry smear of the flashing lights, black smoke, and Cody’s worried face.

“I didn’t want you to see me as a victim,” she said. “And I guess I wanted you and me—us—insulated from everything to do with him. I didn’t want him tainting that, too. I wanted to pretend he didn’t exist.”

“You should have told me,” he said again, shaking his head. “So the only reason you were here at all was because you were hiding from that nutjob.”

“It’s why I came to Golden Falls in the first place,” she admitted. She took a break from talking and let the oxygen rebreather do its job, watching the rush of emotions cross Cody’s face. She saw anger, relief, and disappointment—but most of all, she saw love.

I ran away from home, she thought. But I should never run away from love.

She pulled off the rebreather again.

“I haven’t been able to think straight for so long because of him, Cody. I haven’t been able to feel safe—except with you.” She watched as Doug was bundled into the back of a police car. “Maybe I can make my own decisions again, not based on fear anymore. I don’t even remember what that’s like.”

“Was your decision to leave Golden Falls based on fear?” She couldn’t read the emotion in his eyes. “Because you implied it was because of ambition.”

“Maybe it was both,” she said.

He didn’t reply, but his gaze was now fixed on the pavement in front of them.

“Maybe I’ll stay,” she said, floating a trial balloon she hoped he’d latch onto, but he shook his head. “Maybe if you asked me to, I’d stay.”

“I’d never do that,” Cody said. “I won’t stand in the way of your happiness.”

“It’s okay to ask a woman to stay,” she said. “Sometimes those are the words she needs to hear most.”

“I won’t do it,” he said resolutely. “Real love isn’t asking someone to stick around if they’re miserable. It’s wanting them to be happy, even if it means they’ll leave. Your time here’s done, Cassie.” He gestured toward the police car. “You’re safe now. You can go anywhere and chase your career.” He gave her a sad smile. “Just always bring your bear spray.”