Another update, thanks for reading and the feedback!

Matt had to smile a little bit when he heard from Hoyt how C.J. had read the riot act to one of the detectives on the case. It saved him the trouble of having to set him straight on a few things.

"Hoyt…I'm with her on this one," he said, "He had no right to treat her like that…like she did something wrong instead of those lowlifes."

The lieutenant sighed.

"Houston…he's just doing his job," he said, "C.J. should know that some of the questions women in her situation are asked are going to be uncomfortable."

"Put another one on her case," Matt said, "that is if you can find one who understands who the criminal here is and who's not."

"Don't tell me how to conduct an investigation," Hoyt said, "My investigators are professionals."

"Well my secretary Chris was about to deck him over some of those questions he asked C.J."

"What did C.J. have to say about it?"

Matt sighed.

"Nothing…she's not going to complain, she'll just not cooperate…she'll shut down eve more and then what will you get?"

There was a pause on the other line for a moment, then another sigh.

"I'll have a talk with Det. Perkins," he said, "but we're never going to be able to get this guy and put him away without her help."

"Then earn it Hoyt," he said, "Show her that you and your investigators are worth putting that kind of faith and trust in."

Matt clicked off his phone after that conversation had ended and hoped that Hoyt would have a talk with Perkins so that he wouldn't have to do it.

He sat in his car looking at the apartment where Tony had set up his shop but there hadn't been any real activity involving it. Matt had hoped that he would spot Dallas returning but realized that maybe the convict had simply gotten his new identity elsewhere.

Matt knew as soon as he did that, he'd be as good as gone perhaps from the country which went back to the theory that he had been working for someone else. But if so, who and why?

The street remained fairly quiet with some cars driving through it but none stopping because it wasn't a place you wanted to stop at for long. He had called the office and Chris said that everything was fine there and Roy had been handling a couple of business meetings. C.J. of course hadn't come back but had been spending her time at the stables, with the mare.

They were trying a longer walking routine and some aqua therapy and C.J. had a couple stable workers there helping her with that. Matt had planned to drop by to check on the mare and to make sure that C.J. was doing okay without her knowing that was what he was doing, not easy in her case.

She had been doing okay at Roy's helping him eating breakfast with Roy there before heading off to the stables, which were located against some foothills on plenty of open acreage. At night, she returned to help Roy cook for themselves or for Will and Matt and they would all eat their dinner on the deck.

C.J. had been healing from her injuries with her bruises fading and the ribs mending so they didn't hurt as much. She still attended therapy twice weekly which she didn't talk much about. Matt had run into Julie once and had asked him how things were going and she hadn't said much to him but said that C.J. appeared to be really working at her therapy with Miranda.

"She has to come to terms and deal with what happened to her," Julie said, "and then face the ordeal of going through the criminal justice system if this guy's caught and charged."

Dallas still hadn't popped up anywhere in the past two weeks, obviously lying low and in some money. Matt had hit the internet trying to find any connections between Dallas and Clyde and anyone who could be pulling both of their strings. But not much had turned out, so it would be time to look through C.J.'s background to see if any of her old enemies had reemerged.

The trail of internet harassment hadn't left them much to go on. They still couldn't find the Web sites where information on C.J. including photos had been posted and that could provide major clues to whether or not another unseen player had engineered the attack.

Roy had talked to several of his old contacts but hadn't retrieved much information out of them…it seemed like Dallas had just vanished into thin air but Matt knew that not to be the case.

Because he would turn up and Matt would be there waiting.

C.J. had been combing out the mare's mane when she got the phone call from the police department to come over and meet with them. She said no, until Hoyt got on the line and told her that Det. Perkins would behave more professionally and so she agreed to get in her car and get on down there.

She parked her car next to the square shaped building and walked inside to check in and wait until the detectives called her back.

It didn't take long when Julie came and met her and they went back to a conference room with no windows and sat down across Perkins and another detective, with Hoyt standing in the background. C.J. knew that as long as he and Julie were in there, then the detectives likely wouldn't behave as if she had done something wrong.

Det. Perkins glanced at her as she walked into the conference room and sat down. Someone asked her if she'd like some water and she said no.

"What's going on here," she asked.

They looked at each other and then one of them cleared his throat.

"Have you found Dallas?"

Perkins shook his head.

"We found something else," he said, "Something maybe you could tell us about."

When she heard that, C.J. felt her body tense.

"What are you talking about?"

Perkins and the other detective looked at each other.

"We found a Web site," he said, "One about you…"

She narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean about me?"

"Like I said, it's all about you, information, photos…some very private photos I assume and it was put up about six months ago…"

C.J. felt disbelief rush through her and didn't know what to say.

"It has to be someone you know who started it if it wasn't you."

She shook her head.

"I have nothing to do with it," she said, "I didn't know anything about it."

"Well someone close to you then," Perkins said, "because of the nature of some of these photos."

"Where are they," she said, "Someone posted them?"

Perkins just looked at her.

"Did you ever anyone take photos of you," he said, "any boyfriends, lovers?"

She just looked stunned.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, "Nothing ever happened like that…at least as far as I know."

Perkins looked at the other detective.

"How do you know it's even me," C.J. said, "Maybe someone created it using some software?"

"The woman who looks like you had a tattoo on her hip," Perkins said, "of a frog."

C.J. sighed, as a whirl of emotions hit her at once. She had a tattoo like that which he had gotten after Matt had returned from being a fugitive framed for murder. She had gone through a period of wanting change in her life after her declaration of love for him had gone unanswered.

But not very many people had seen it. A couple of boyfriends maybe but as far as she had known, no photographs had been taken. And if so, why would anyone create such an online site?

"Do you know anyone who would do this, take photographs with you assuming you really didn't know…"

She gave him a steely gaze.

"I didn't know…"

Perkins nodded.

"Okay then they were taken without your knowledge or permission," he said, "Who would then post them on a web site like the one that was created about you?"

C.J.'s mind locked while trying to consider the possibilities…she was still trying to process the news about the web site.

"I don't know…I have no idea…"

God she just wanted to get out of there…what the hell was going on and why would anyone do such a thing? And what did it have to do with Dallas and Clyde?

"We're keeping an eye on it but there's not been any recent activity on it."

She just sat there, her mind spinning and she felt faint, her arms starting to tingle. She fought to control her breathing before she started hyperventilating. Julie placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Come on…let's go out in the hallway…"

C.J. got up out of her chair and the two women walked out. As soon as they had left, C.J. turned to Julie.

"I had no idea what they were talking about," she said, "or about this web site…and those pictures…"

"It's okay," Julie said, "We'll find out what's going on and whether there's a connection between that site and what happened to you."

"How could there be…Clyde and Dallas…they might have been angry at losing their cases in Houston and blaming me…but the harassment and the web site, how could that be connected? They were both in prison in the last six months…they couldn't do a web site."

Julie went to the vending machine to get them both a soda and they went to sit in the lobby while the detectives continued their discussion in the conference room.

"It's just sickening though...the thought that someone took pictures…intimate ones and I didn't know…How could they do such a thing?"

Julie sighed.

"I know it's very hard when the people we trust turn out to be something different than we thought," she said, "but whoever took those pictures and posted them, it might be important if they were connected to those two convicts."

C.J. pondered that as much as her mind would allow. She didn't feel like dwelling on the convicts and the harassment…it had seemed to have been just that…though it had been very unnerving.

"It would have to be someone I was with after I got that tattoo," she said, "and the only one who would have motive to do anything like that was Robert and like those men, he was in prison during that time."

"What about the others?"

C.J. took a deep breath trying to think through the tangle of emotions that she felt.

"I don't think…I don't think so…they were shorter relationships, not all that serious."

Julie nodded.

"I know you're frustrated and more than a little bit frightened by this," she said, "but if the police can use any of that information to find out if there's a connection."

"They don't seem interested in doing anything but finding a way to blame me for what happened," C.J. said, "I don't trust them…"

"What about your friend, the investigator?"

"Oh Houston…god, he's so busy trying to track down Dallas I'm so worried he's going to get hurt or worse."

"He seemed to care about you a lot," Julie noted.

C.J. brushed her hair out of her face.

"I know he does…but it's so hard to be around him sometimes…because for a split second when he comes into a room…or says something, he's someone else."

"I know for a while you're going to be seeing a lot of the man who raped you," Julie said, "That's just natural."

"But I don't want to hurt him in the process…he's not like that at all…and he blames himself I think just like he did when Elizabeth was killed in that crash."

Julie nodded.

"Some men think they can stop tragic things from happening if only they try hard enough and if they don't they feel responsible."

"Yeah well…I can't deal with that right now," she said, "I can't worry about him."

Matt walked up to Tucker the bookie who had hired him to find the guy that tried to kill him and the older man smiled when he saw him.

"What's up Houston," he said, "I know you're not here to bet."

Matt smiled.

"How's business been?"

Tucker sighed.

"Not as good since the economic downturn," he said, "but I guess most my customers figure that living day to day is enough of a gamble."

"Yeah well people are still hiring investigators apparently," Matt said, "but I'm trying to track down someone…he's been known to throw some money around on a bet…"

Tucker leaned against the building.

"Okay maybe I came across this guy."

"That's what I'm hoping," Matt said, "He goes by Dallas and he escaped from a prison up north about a month ago."

Tucker frowned.

"You run with some crowd," he said, "I assume you're not friends with this guy."

Matt shook his head.

"He and another man broke into the house of a friend of mine and attacked her," he said, "she killed a man named Clyde."

Tucker nodded.

"Oh yeah I heard about that," he said, "That's how I knew it was him when I saw him."

Matt's brows lifted.

"You saw Dallas?"

Tucker pulled out a cigarette and lit it up.

"Yeah…not for very long…he placed a bet at a bar the other night and fortunately he won."

"Where?"

"The Glass Tiger," he said, "It was on a pool shot and he won about $1000…I remember thinking I hoped he landed the shot because he looked like he was as mean as a snake."

"Did he leave after that?"

Tucker searched his memory.

"He had a couple ladies hit on him…but he left alone," he said, "And he never came back as far as I know. He looked like he could have done some time but I never suspected he skipped out early."

"Anyone else who might have seen him," Matt asked.

"I don't know...I imagine other people there…or at other places he dropped his hat in."

Matt nodded and thanked Tucker and knew that he had other places he had to check out before he called it a day.

C.J. had gone back to the stable, after leaving Julie to check on the mare. She fed and watered her and then sat by her while she ate happily. She thought if she returned then she could forget what she had heard at the police station but she just couldn't imagine which one of her boyfriends was responsible for harassing her online but still…how could this person be connected to the two thugs who showed up at her house?

Then she remembered Dallas had said to her while he had her on the bed grabbing her wrists in one hand to stop her fighting. She had known at that moment that she couldn't stop what would happen next.

And that's when he said the words that had slipped her mind from the sheer volume of images she carried from that night, but now she remembered them and then she knew.