Then she started to receive the letters. Threatening letters from the rapist. Whoever it was, was very careful. They left no prints on the envelope or letter. They carefully cut out each letter to spell the words. There were three of them so far, but, according to the police, she could probably expect more. They were toying with her, and the police. He promised that he would have her again, and she would scream just as loudly. He even sent letter to Bo, taunting him, bragging of her sexual prowess. The only clue that they had from the letters was a matching DNA sample, taken from the glue of the envelope. The general consensus was that he left it there on purpose, just to let the cops know that it was him.

She was absolutely terrified. Viki was with her as much as she could, but it was the hours that she was alone that were the hardest. She paced the penthouse, holding her gun. Sometimes, she would look at it and wonder if she should just end it. Those thoughts wouldn't last for very long; Tea Delgado-Manning was not a quitter. She would be damned if this man would ruin her life. After one too many thoughts of ending it, she decided to call the therapist that Larry had recommended.

Carol, the therapist, had an immediate opening. She carefully selected a pair of dress slacks, without a zipper, blouse an oversized sweater. Once dressed, she waited for Viki to pick her up. She put her gun in the desk drawer, just as Viki knocked on the door.

Tea looks through the peephole, unlocks the door and deadbolt, and undoes the chain. "How are you sweetheart?" She hugs her sister in law.

"Okay."

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

*****

Penthouse 1

Todd was asleep, having the same nightmare that had been plaguing him for the past several days. He never went to sleep voluntarily, sometimes exhaustion would overtake him and there was nothing he could do about it. It was happening more and more often.

It was always the same. It was the night of the spring fling; the night of Marty's rape. He was on top, or so he thought, only it wasn't Marty's face, it was Tea's. It was Tea begging him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. When the face of the perpetrator was revealed, it was not him. He never got a clear view of who it was, but it wasn't him. He would awaken in a panic, drenched in sweat, short of breath.

He was asleep when he heard the beeping of the motion detector. He sat up, and ran over to the monitor. The cameras outside of the penthouse, caught Vicki and Tea as they left. Todd watched on the television monitor, as Viki and Tea stepped onto the elevator. Her body was so much smaller, she was so frail. Yet she was still the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. She had not bounce in her step; the stride of a defeated woman. His heart broke all over again, thinking of the pain that she had endured.

*****

Carol's Office

"Ms. Delgado, I can see you now," said Carol, Tea's therapist. She was a tall, African-American woman around Vicki's age. She had a warm, inviting face. Tea became somewhat relaxed in her presence.

Tea followed her to her office. It wasn't very large, with only a few books lining the walls. She had a small mahogany desk, with a file in the middle. Tea saw her name typed at the top.

"Have a seat." Tea sits in a chair facing Carol.

"Thanks." She looks around the room, searching for something to concentrate on.

"I know you're nervous, but we're going to become good friends."

Tea fiddles with her watch. Her arms and legs are crossed tightly. A defensive posture.

Carol retrieves a pad of paper and a pen. "I like to take notes for our first couple of sessions. What do you hope to accomplish by coming here?"

"I'm not sure. Dr. Wolek recommended you, so I'm here."

" Let's try a different approach, how do you see yourself now?"

"I'm a weak, failure." She looks Carol in the eyes for the first time.

"How so?"

"Well, let's see. Every relationship I have ever had, has failed. My husband left me. My mother left me when I was a kid. My father drank himself to death, among other things. Oh, yeah, and I let a man rape me. Shall I go on?"

"You didn't let him rape you. If you let him, then it wouldn't be rape."

"I may not have said yes, but I could not stop him." Tea finds a black spot on the wall and stares at it.

"That's right, you could not stop him. People, who rape, cannot and will not be stopped from accomplishing their mission. How are you feeling right now?"

"Hollow."

"Hollow?"

"Yes," she answers, still staring at the spot. "I feel like my soul has been ripped from my body, and there's nothing left. I will never again be the person that I was." She starts twisting her wedding ring, the one she could not bear taking off. This gesture does not go unnoticed, and Carol makes a note of it.

"Who were you?"

"An very focused attorney. I was strong, ambitious, driven."

"And you're not anymore?"

"No."

"How do you see yourself?"

Tea fidgets, the spot blurring. She take a long pause before answering. "Irreparably broken. What is it about me that made him choose me? Why is it always me?"

Carol takes a mental note of that last sentence, to revisit it at a later time. "There is nothing about you. True rapists don't care who their victim is, as long as their needs are met."

Tea gets a faraway look on her face. She thinks back to her wedding day when she called Todd a rapist. Is that all he wanted from Marty? If not her, would it have been somebody else?

"Tea?"

"Yes," snapping back to the present.

"Where were you just now?"

"I was just thinking. I'm really not up for this today. Do you think that maybe we can talk another day?"

"Is that what you really want?"

"It's too soon. I just can't do it right now."

"Okay. Do you want to reschedule?"

"I'll call you." Tea shakes her hand, and quickly leaves the office. She blows past Viki into the hospital corridor. She leans against the wall, closes her eyes, taking deep breaths.

Ben whistled as he strolled down the hall. Clipboard in hand and stethoscope around his neck, he was doing rounds. His shoes squeaked with every step. With every step, her breathing quickened. It's him, she thought.

His pace slowed as he recognized her. She no longer hears his steps, but she feels his presence in front of her.

"Tea," he says, touching her shoulder, "are you okay?"

She pulls away from him abruptly and opens her eyes. "Oh, Ben," she says with relief.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He takes a couple of steps back, giving her breathing room. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I was just in thinking, that's all."

"What brings you here?"

"Personal business."

"Oh," he says, looking at the nameplate of the office next to them. She had obviously come from a therapy session. "Have you been avoiding me?"

"No, why?"

"We were supposed to go out sometime, and you still haven't called me."

"I've been very busy."

"Well, are you busy tonight?" He asks hopefully.

She takes a long moment, thinking trying to talk herself into going out with him. I will not let him ruin me. I will not let him ruin me. She repeats to herself over and over. Ben waits patiently, as she struggles to give him an answer.

"Tea, we'll go out as friends, nothing more. You just look really sad right now."

"I am sad right now. I'm just not up for going out tonight."

"Maybe going out is exactly what you need. But look, I'm not going to pressure you. I have to get back to rounds, but if you change your mind, give me a call at the office." He turns and walks away, with a wave in Tea's direction, not daring to touch her again. He had read the articles written about her, revealing the details of her rape, and he knew how sensitive rape victims were to touch.

Not wanting to interrupt her conversation, Viki waits at the end of the hall. She had seen Ben around the hospital before; he was fairly new. If memory served her correctly, Larry had sang his praises and predicted that he would soon be head cardiologist.

"Tea, was that Ben Michaels?"

"Yes." She rubs her temples repeatedly, feeling a headache coming on.

"I didn't realize that you knew him. How did the two of you meet?"

"We ran into each other one night," Tea says, avoiding going into depth.

"I see," Viki says, wondering what Tea was hiding. "From what I understand, he is a very nice young man."

"Mmm." The pounding in her head gets harder, making her a little queasy. "Do you mind taking me home now, I'm not feeling very well."

"Sure, let's go."

*****

An Apartment Across Town

He walks into his apartment in his arrogant stride, laying his identification on the table. He hangs his jacket in the closet, and grabs beer from the fridge. For a man, his apartment was immaculate. His closet, arranged lightest too darkest. His cabinets alphabetized. Not the typical bachelor pad.

He had a hidden room, located in the back of his closet. Fully equipped with the latest listening devices, it rivaled Todd's setup. While Tea was out, and once he saw Todd following her, he sneaked up to the penthouse to plant his surveillance devices. Small cameras and listening devices were hidden throughout. He had cased the penthouse several times, and knew exactly where to put them.

Todd thought that he was so smart, little did he know what he was going against. He was able to disable Todd's cameras by using a jamming device to jam the feed signal. Todd would never know it, but he could jam the signal whenever he wanted.

There was nothing more enjoyable than toying with the mind's of those who thought they knew it all. It thrilled him that he had Tea before Todd had. It thrilled him even more that he would have her again.