Earlier that day, Heather Finch awoke to find herself unclothed in a bathtub full of icy cold water. She tried to sit up but felt disoriented. She wasn't sure how she ended up in an ice bath. One moment she was at a bar and the next she was in a dark room. Was this her bathroom? Panic filled her as she wondered if she was a victim of one of those urban legends where a kidney would be stolen to sell on the black market.

"I see you've finally woken up," a deep voice called out from the darkness.

Heather gasped. "Who's there?"

"I go by a few names. I know who you are. You're Ms. Finch who attends alcoholic meetings and lies about her sobriety."

Heather was surprised but instead asked, "Can you help me out of here? It's really cold."

She heard her companion making a disapproving clucking sound. "No can do, Heather. I have to teach you a lesson about lying."

"Lesson about lying?" Heather was freezing and she tried to get out of the tub, but her body felt like it weighed a million tons.

"You're probably feeling lethargic right now. That's because of the drug I slipped into your martini. It's not good to lie, Heather. It makes the beast angry."

"The beast?" Heather wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. She felt so woozy. She made a few meager attempts to scream but all that did was cause the male to laugh.

"Don't do this," she pleaded.

The lights suddenly turned on and her stomach turned as she looked at the man wearing black clothing and surgical gloves. "I'm not going to lie. This will sting a bit."

She cringed as he came forward with a small knife in his hand. She tried to scream as he carved a perfect circle into her cuffed palm, but no sound escaped her throat. After he was done, he held her head under the icy cold water until she stopped moving.

That evening at a local bar, Detective Holden Lahr was using his finger to draw circles on the oak bar he sat at as an untouched beer waited in front of him. He was still trying to understand exactly what had happened at Lucy's house. How did she fall into her pool and why didn't she try to save herself? He had gone home to shower and change but he wasn't able to stay home and going back to the hospital wasn't an option.

"Hi there." A blonde woman in a tight denim dress and cowboy boots sat on the barstool next to him.

Holden gave her a cursory glance and nodded a hello back to her.

"I've been watching you from across the bar. You look a little lonely."

Holden looked back at the blonde. She was attractive and normally he would've already made a move on her but not tonight. Tonight, he felt like a ball of anxious energy. He wanted to know how Lucy was doing. Was she released from the hospital yet?

"If you want, I can keep you company." The blonde smiled, flashing an overly bleached set of teeth at him.

Holden sighed. "Not tonight."

He heard the blonde tap her manicured nails against the bar. "No? Don't tell me you're gay? Such a waste for me that would be."

Her thick southern accent annoyed him. "Just because a man turns you down doesn't mean he's gay."

"You're right. He could be blind," she said cajolingly as she leaned towards him, her chest rubbing against his arm.

Holden shook his head. "There's a third option of course."

"A third option? What would that be? He's married?" The blonde laughed as though being married was never a deterrent in stopping men from pursuing her.

"Nah. The third option," Holden said slowly as he turned to face her. "Is that the man doesn't want someone who's been used more times than the barstool he's sitting on."

It took a while for the insult to kick in, but he knew the moment it did. She raised her hand in an attempt to slap him, but Holden grabbed it before she could strike him.

"Sorry, if you're mad but I'm doing you a favor. I'm not interested so get lost while you can."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening me?"

Holden smirked, "Now why would I waste my time with threats?"

The blonde pulled her arm away from Holden and stood up. "Your loss."

"Doubt it," Holden muttered as he turned back to his untouched beer. He probably could've been nicer to the woman but that wasn't a normal habit of his. Growing up, he watched his father cheat on his mother numerous times.

Holden remembered he had ridden his bike to a local ice cream shop to get a banana split when he was ten. As he sat in one of the shop's red booths, he looked out the window to see the waiting cars in the drive-thru. He spotted the familiar black Monte Carlo that his father loved to drive. Inside was his dad and the woman who helped clean their house. At first, Holden thought his father was just giving the cleaning woman a ride. He knew better when he saw his father lean over and kiss the woman. The kiss was nothing short of passionate and it was the first time he caught his father cheating.

Holden had felt nauseous after seeing his father cheating on his mother. He left his banana split behind and pedaled as fast as he could until he got home. He ran upstairs to where his mother was and panted, "Mom I saw something bad!"

Seeing her son in a breathless panic, Holden's mom asked, "What's wrong? What did you see?"

Holden then told his mother about the cleaning woman and the kiss. Holden's mother sat silently on her bed, her fists clenched, and her eyes closed.

"What are we going to do, Mom? Why was Dad kissing her? Are you two going to get a divorce?"

"He wasn't kissing her, Holden," his mother's voice was low and stern.

"Yes, he was! I saw him," Holden argued. "Is Dad going to leave us?"

"You saw wrong, Holden. Dad didn't even go to the ice cream shop."

Holden shook his head. Why was she lying?

"Holden, I don't want you to mention this to your father, understand? He'll just get angry."

It was strange to Holden. The fact that his mother didn't want to confront his father about him having an affair. Holden wasn't dumb. Even at the age of ten, he'd always been a smart kid. He'd heard some of his friends talk about their parents getting divorced because of affairs. After that day, nothing changed except the cleaning lady. Even then, Holden noticed that his father didn't seem to care. One woman was just as good as any other. It was also the reason Holden started spending more time at his cousin's home. He resented both his mother and father for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint.

Holden took a swig of his warm beer and wondered if things would've turned out differently if he had never gone to the ice cream shop that day. Maybe if he'd never known about his father's affairs, he would treat women differently. As far as he could tell, there was no reason to treat any woman with more respect unless they deserved it.

He thought of Lucy and pushed his beer away. Maybe he should visit his cousin and if Lucy happened to be there, that would be a happy coincidence.

After leaving the hospital, Donna took Lucy to her home.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Donna asked Lucy for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

Lucy smiled. "I'm fine Donna. You're a saint for taking me in tonight."

"Are you kidding? Someone broke into your home and your boyfriend is still out of town. You can stay as long as you like," Donna said as she placed a cup of hot cocoa in front of Lucy.

"I'm not sure what happened tonight. That pool, almost drowning, don't know."

Donna nodded. "Well, you just relax. I'm here for you. Did you want me to try calling Jake again?"

Jake.

Lucy felt a new wave of tears coming on. "No thanks. He's at work and I'm fine now. I don't want to bother him."

"Bother him? You live with him! How can it be a bother? He needs to know."

Lucy didn't want to argue. She felt tired,."Donna, I'm just going to close my eyes for a moment."

"The guest room is ready if you're tired, Lucy."

"No, I just want to sit here for a bit," Lucy said patting the sofa she was sitting on.

"Okay, well I'll make you some soup."

Lucy closed her eyes, wanting to ignore the thoughts of Jake possibly cheating on her.

Salutations Lucy.

"Salutations?" Was O around? Lucy sat silently on the sofa; her eyes still closed.

I hope you aren't trying to escape Lucy. Now that you know my secrets, I find it hard to let you out of my sight. Oh, Lucy, how wonderful this is! You who know all about the beast still feel pulled towards me. You can feel it, can't you? That feeling that makes you want to read my entries. That makes you feel giddy when you visit a place that I've been. Don't you see? That feeling is attraction. You are attracted to me. I cannot help smiling at the thought.

I hold you in my clutches, my dear Lucy. That sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

My dear Lucy.

How does it make you feel to hear me address you as such? Do you feel warm? Blissful? Aroused? I confess I feel all three at this very moment, my Lucy. Although life is filled with uncertainty there is one thing that I am very sure of.

You. Are. Mine.

A hand grabbed her arm and Lucy's eyes opened as she gasped for breath, looking around her.

"Lucy, are you okay?"

Lucy remembered where she was and looked up to see Holden, standing above her.

"What are you doing here?" she croaked.

"Are you okay? Were you having a nightmare?" Holden asked, ignoring her question.

"I'm...I'm fine," she murmured. "I just closed my eyes for a moment." At least she thought it was a moment. She must've been dreaming of O. Lucy rubbed her arms and took a deep breath.

"Hey, what's going on with you? You look spooked. Do you want to talk about it?" Holden had his hands in his back pockets. He reminded Lucy of a nervous little boy for some reason and that made her give a small smile.

"Not really. Just a bad dream. This has been a crazy couple of days."

"Did you talk to your boyfriend?" Holden asked.

"Why do you ask?"

Holden held his hands up at Lucy's tone. "No need to get defensive. I just thought you'd feel better after talking to him."

"I didn't realize you knew him."

"I don't."

"Then how would you know if I'd feel better after talking to him?" Lucy asked.

"Wow. I didn't know a side effect of nearly drowning was becoming completely cranky."

Lucy stood up. "I'm sorry but I don't feel like talking about my boyfriend or me almost drowning." She began walking to the guest room, but Holden wasn't one to be dismissed so easily.

He followed her. "Hey, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to butt into your business, but a lot has happened. You need someone to talk to about it."

"Do I? I didn't know you were also a therapist," Lucy said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I have my degree in common sense. Luckily for you, I'm free of charge."

"Well, you know what they say...you get what you pay for."

Holden held back a laugh, "I'm serious Lucy. You need to talk to someone. Especially if you think O is after you."

"What?"

"Why else would you be so worried?"

"Unbelievable," Lucy muttered as she turned away from him and stepped into the guest bedroom.

"What's unbelievable?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"Listen Lucy. I told you they're checking on the journal you gave us. Meanwhile, someone is vandalizing your home. Most women-"Holden stopped himself, "No, most men too. They would be scared spitless right about now. Are you honestly going to tell me you're okay?"

"I don't know you well enough to open up to you if that's what you're expecting. And before you mention us making cupcakes together...no that doesn't make us friends," Lucy crossed her arms and tilted her head towards the door in an attempt to get Holden to leave. It didn't work.

He stepped closer to her, "I'm only bugging you right now because I'm worried. Is that so bad?"

"You don't need to be worried about me."

"Then who else will be? Besides my aunt who else do you have to turn to?"

Lucy gave a feeble answer, "Jake."

Holden scoffed, "Yeah? Then where is he? I don't see him around. If you were my girlfriend, I'd be by your side. You said he knew about the brick through your window. Why did he leave?"

"Not that it's any of your business but there was a work emergency."

"A work emergency? What is more of an emergency or more important than the woman you love being threatened? Maybe it's just me but it doesn't make sense, Lucy."

"It doesn't have to make sense to you, Detective Lahr. This relationship is just between Jake and me."

"So, no one else is allowed to be worried about you?" Holden took a step forward to Lucy who was still standing in the middle of the room, her arms wrapped around herself.

"No one is allowed to care?" Holden asked, taking another step forward until he and Lucy were almost touching.

Lucy felt numb as she thought of Jake. Why wasn't he answering his phone? Where was he? Was he really at work because of an emergency? She couldn't take it if Jake was cheating on her. It took months for her to finally trust him after what she had been through in the past. Being a victim of sexual assault had almost turned her against men. Jake had been patient with her and waited until she was ready before they slept together.

"I'm not sure why, but I do," Holden said, his voice finally penetrating her thoughts. She looked to see that he was incredibly close to her. She could smell his cologne along with the faint smell of alcohol. He leaned forward and before she could push him away, his lips were on hers.

She didn't know if it was because she was still in turmoil because of everything that had just happened or because the kiss tasted a little like beer, but Lucy didn't struggle or push him away as she should have. There was something comforting about being embraced by Holden and that surprised her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he whispered as his forehead leaned against hers.

"No, you shouldn't have," she whispered back, still trying to catch her breath.

Holden smiled. "Lucy, I have something I want to tell you. I-"

"Lucy!" a male voice that Lucy recognized instantly shouted from the living room. She jumped in surprise and automatically put a hand to her lips.

Holden sighed and looked away. "Go."

Lucy ran from the room to see her boyfriend Jake standing by a smiling Donna.

"He got one of my messages and rushed over, Lucy!" Donna explained.

Jake enveloped Lucy in his arms, but she felt cold and angry. Where had he been?

"What?" Jake asked.

Lucy didn't realize she had asked the question aloud. She cleared her throat, "Where have you been? I know you were lying about going to work. I called one of your friends. He didn't seem to know anything about an emergency on one of the rigs. So tell me the truth, Jake. Where were you?"

Lucy watched her boyfriend struggle for an answer as Donna watched on, clearly uncomfortable.

"Forget it," Lucy muttered.

"No. Lucy, there's something I have to tell you-"Jake was about to continue when Donna's doorbell rang.

Donna opened the door, thankful for someone else breaking the awkward tension that was in her living room between Jake and Lucy.

"Hi, Donna. Is Holden here?" Detective Vicki Cruz asked. "I see his car out front."

Donna nodded and Vicki shouted, "Lahr!"

Holden came out of the guestroom and ignored Lucy and Jake as he strolled past them. "What's up, Cruz?"

"I've been calling you nonstop. Why did you turn off your phone?" Vicki asked.

"Did I? I didn't know," Holden pulled out his phone.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. I found you. We have another body."

"Let's go," Holden said as he and his partner left Donna's home. O had killed again. Lucy watched them leave and fear filled her as she wondered if she would be next.