"Are you sure about this? Okay, no I won't pursue any charges against you. Right. Uh huh...okay."

Dean looked at his partner Shelby who was putting her phone back on its receiver.

"What was that about?" he asked.

She looked at him in disbelief. "You're never going to guess."

"I don't want to guess. That's why I asked you." Dean smirked.

Shelby rolled her eyes. "That was Dr. Alexis Reyna. She said she wanted to drop her complaint about someone following her."

Dean, who had been leaning back against his chair, suddenly sat up. "What?"

"Surprising, right? She was so adamant the other day." Shelby began tapping her desk with her fingersnails as she tried to figure out the reasoning behind it.

"We should charg her for wasting our time," Dean muttered.

"It makes no sense."

"What makes no sense?"

"Dr. Reyna. She was so shook up the other day. Even now she sounded frightened so why would she drop her complaint?"

"C'mon, Shelby. We were going to tell her about the phone number being in her name. She probably wanted to back out of this attention seeking problem before she realized we were on to her sick games."

"And what about the ring? Deandra Ward's brother confirmed that was his sister's ring," Shelby reminded Dean.

"There were no prints on it. It's possible that Deandra had lent it to Dr. Reyna before she died."

"Women don't lend out precious family heirlooms, Dean. At least I wouldn't. No, something isn't right here."

Dean leaned forward. "Are you thinking Dr. Reyna killed Deandra?"

Shelby scowled at her partner. "Would you mind being a professional and stopping your 'I hate Alexis Reyna game' for a minute? I'm serious. It had crossed my mind for a minute but she wouldn't have the strength to do that to her friend. I spoke with the ME and based on the wounds, it had to have been someone taller and stronger than Deandra. Deandra was taller than Alexis."

Dean shrugged. "Anything's possible when you're upset enough."

"People don't grow a foot and then shrink. No, something isn't adding up here."

Dean nodded. "Just admit it Diaz. You're thinking Dr. Reyna is suspicious too."

"No. Unlike you, I don't hate her. I'm thinking maybe she really is being harassed."

"Shelby, the phone was in her name!"

"Yeah, but it was a pay-as-you-go account. Anyone could go to their local Wal Mart and buy a phone card that most networks sell and set it up with a used phone and a Visa gift card online. I could even set up an account in your name if I wanted to."

"That's a bit of a stretch. It's easier to go with the theory that she's doing all of this herself and only wants attention."

"Since when did we just follow the easy route?"

"Since it's usually the right route," Dean retorted.

Shelby sighed. "I'm not going to drop this just yet. I could've sworn she still sounded scared over the phone."

"Well, I wish I had all the time in the world to choose which cases I wanted to work on," Dean said sarcastically. "Oh wait...I don't and neither do you so forget about Dr. Reyna and focus on this instead." Dean tossed a case file onto Shelby's desk.

Dean was right. The initial complaint by Dr. Reyna was weak but coupled with everything else that had happened, it seemed as though someone really was stalking and harassing her. She hoped she was wrong in thinking there was more to the story than Dr. Reyna was letting on. If not, the psychologist everyone but Dean seemed to like, was in some serious danger.

Nicholas was playing some random game on his Xbox while Alexis was sitting up in her room. She stared at her phone.

"If you go to the cops again...I won't just be watching anymore."

It was a text message from her stalker. She didn't know what he wanted exactly, other than to torture her. She was worried he would begin hurting her friends and brother. She had already called Officer Diaz to ask that her stalking complaint be dropped. She explained it as a misunderstanding. She was afraid Officer Diaz would threaten to charge her with something for wasting police resources and time, but she didn't. The female officer seemed understanding and maybe even a bit concerned.

Alexis was tempted to come clean and show her the newest text message. Instead, she kept the text to herself.

As an educated woman, she knew what she was doing was dumb. Unfortunately, the fear her stalker instilled in her wasn't allowing her to make wise decisions.

It had been almost twenty-four hours since Alexis had talked to Officer Diaz. In that time, Alexis had not received any new threats.

"Alexis!" Chace called out to her.

Alexis turned around to see Dr. Chace Ryder coming towards her. She gave him a thin smile and he stopped in front of her. "Hey what's wrong? You look like you didn't sleep last night."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Hey thanks again for covering for me the other night. You really helped me out."

"No problem. A lot of them were young women who wanted my number afterward but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

Alexis gave a half-hearted grin.

"Chalexis! I've been looking for you two!" Mack, their radio producer, had his arms up in the air and he was smiling."

Alexis and Chace looked at one another and laughed.

"Have you seen the ratings for the show? Listeners love you two together. I mean they really love you two."

Chace chuckled. "Well that's good to know Mack."

Mack stared at them and sighed. "I can only imagine what would happen if you two started dating. The ratings would skyrocket."

"Mack, will you stop trying to act like a matchmaker? It's weird." Alexis laughed and was joined by the two men next to her. She was happy to be around them.

Mack winked at her and said, "I'll see you two in twenty for prep, okay?"

As he walked off, Chace stared at Alexis. "What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked as she began to make swipes at her face.

"So, are you okay now?"

His question took her off guard. "What do you mean?"

"I'm good at what I do so don't try to play it off. What was wrong the other day?" He put his hands on her shoulders. "Alexis, is everything okay?"

She shrugged his hands off of her and gave him a bleak smile. "Don't worry. Everything is fine. Thanks again for covering for me. I'll see you in a bit."

She walked to the lady's restroom to clear her mind. She turned on the faucet to splash some cold water on her face when her phone dinged.

"Ugh, I should've put this on vibrate," she whispered to herself. She picked up her phone and cringed when she saw it was from her stalker.

"You're a love doctor so it's time you played the game of love."

"What the hell?" Alexis didn't understand what her stalker meant by game of love.

Her phone dinged again.

"When you're on air you have to do something for me."

Alexis could hear herself breathing as she texted him back. "Please leave me alone."

"Not a chance. Will you do what I ask?"

Alexis didn't respond right away and her phone dinged again. "Or should I go find your friend Ivy?"

"What do I need to do?"

"That's better. Pick up the phone when I call."

When her phone began to ring, Alexis quickly picked up. She could hear him laughing on the other end. Just like the first time he called her, his voice sounded muffled as if he was trying to disguise it.

"I want you to ask Dr. Ryder out on a date when you're on air."

Alexis was angry and confused. "That's it? You're threatening to kill one of my friends just to make me ask some guy out?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing. It's sad how little control you have over your life right now, isn't it?"

She wanted to scream. Instead, she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can."

"Please, maybe if you explain to me why you're doing this I can help you move past whatever is making you act this way."

His laugh this time was sinister. "Don't play the psychologist for me, Alexis. Just do as I say. Don't forget...I'll be listening."

He disconnected the call before she could speak.

The show was progressing as usual. The topic for the day was convenient for Alexis. It was about dating your co-worker.

"Okay, so we have a caller on the line," Chace said as he smiled at Alexis.

"Hello and welcome to Heartbreakers," Alexis welcomed the caller as she looked down at her phone which was on silent. No new messages had come in. She wasn't sure how she was going to ask Chace out. He had been giving her worried glances during the show as if he knew something was wrong.

"Hi, y'all. You can call me single Sally. I just wanted to say that dating a co-worker is a bad idea. It never works! I tried dating a co-worker once and it ended horribly!"

"Really? What happened Sally?" Chace asked.

"We got married!"

Alexis couldn't help but laugh. "How is that a horrible thing, Sally?"

"Well didn't you hear me? We're married! I should've held out for someone cuter like your Dr. Ryder."

Alexis smiled. "He's not my Dr. Ryder."

"But he could be," Sally responded.

"Helloooo ladies...I'm still in the room and can hear this conversation," Chace interjected.

They could hear Sally laughing as she said, "Dr. Reyna, you need to ask this man out."

Alexis could feel her cheeks getting hot. She was starting to feel nauseous from the whirlwind of emotions her body was going through.

"I don't think Dr. Reyna will be asking me out, Sally," Chace said as he looked at Alexis. "She has a lot on her plate right now and probably already has a boyfriend."

Alexis looked at Chace who was giving her another one of his 'are you okay' looks?

She had to ask him out. Sally had given her the perfect opening.

"That's not true!" she blurted, surprising herself.

Chace cocked his head to one side. "What's not true?"

"I'm not single. I mean I am single...I mean I don't have a boyfriend."

Chace smiled at her. "Thanks for clearing that up."

Alexis continued, "And I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing to date your co-worker if you feel you can handle the consequences of you two not working out." If she wasn't being threatened to ask Chace out, this was something that she would never have said because she strongly believed that you should never date a coworker.

"Is that so?" Chace asked with a look of devilment on his face.

"Yes. I think all relationships have a chance regardless of where two people met. It's just very important to understand your professional life and your personal life be kept separate."

"That would be impossible though," Chace argued. "The two would have to meld at some point...even if it wasn't intentional."

"Still, it's important to have boundaries if you decide to date a coworker so the relationship works."

Chace smiled. "So if a coworker asked you out and agreed to your boundaries, then you would date him?"

"Yes." Alexis nodded. She wasn't even sure what she was saying, her mind was so preoccupied with asking Chace out to protect her friend Ivy.

"In that case, Alexis, will you accept my invitation to go out on a date with me?"

Alexis looked up, startled. Did Chace just ask her out? The expectant look on his face was telling her that she hadn't misheard.

"No!"

Chace looked disappointed. "I'm sorry. I just thought that-"

Alexis interrupted him, "No, I don't accept...because...because I wanted to ask you out first. Chace will you go out on a date with me?"

The look Chace gave her was priceless. If she hadn't been feeling like she was suffering from emotional whiplash, she would've laughed. He looked surprised, happy, and awestruck all at once. Alexis could see Mack going crazy with excitement in his booth. He was giving them the thumbs up signal and nodding his head.

"Dr. Ryder, I would love to go out on a date with you."

After the show was over, Alexis felt as though her legs were made of jelly. She looked at her phone and waited to hear from her stalker. Was he going to congratulate her or give her another ridiculous task to do?

"Alexis," Chace called out to her. He was smiling which made her feel like pond scum. She knew she shouldn't be involving him in this sordid situation.

"Hi Chace. Listen, I think we need to talk--"

They were interrupted by Mack who came running down the hall. "Brilliant! You two were amazing out there! I couldn't have planned it better myself. I bet the listeners are ecstatic right now!"

"Well, we know you are," Chace muttered.

"I knew you two liked each other." Mack waved a finger between the two of them.

"Mack, I think you're blowing this up out of proportion," Alexis tried to interrupt.

"Stop, right there! I just had a brilliant idea. I'm going to have PR make signs that say Chalexis!" He didn't bother to listen to either Chace or Alexis as he went down the hall shouting, "Chalexis lives!"

Alexis and Chace watched him in dismay.

"Does he take medications for anything?" Chace asked.

"No, but he probably needs to."

Chace smiled. "Alexis, I just wanted to say that there's no pressure if you don't want to go out with me. I can tell something's wrong. I shouldn't have asked you in the first place. I mean...I wanted to ask you out but I shouldn't have done it on air. It wasn't fair to you."

Alexis looked at Chace. He was handsome, smart, probably well off, and he was sweet. Under normal circumstances, she would jump at the chance to date him. It was a shame she was being threatened to date him and her stalker was the only one who knew the reason why.

"It's okay, Chace. I think you're great and we should go out."

Chace smiled. "Great. I'll pick you up Friday at seven. Is that okay?"

Friday was at the end of the week. She nodded as he walked away, whistling.

Alexis groaned. She wanted this to be over. She felt as though she were trapped and didn't have anyone to turn to. Her phone rang. It was from another unknown number. She pressed the button and answered the call, "Hello?"

"We need to talk. Can you meet me in five minutes?"

Alexis wasn't sure who was calling her. "I'm sorry who is--"

"I'm outside your work building. Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes or I'm going to be pissed."

The caller hung up the phone before she could answer. She went to her office and grabbed her purse. Inside was the pepper spray that Nicholas had given her. If her stalker wanted to meet, she was going to be ready.