“Wordlessly, she slipped off her shoes. Gently, she placed a palm on the floor, shifted to stand, but that was when Macey felt another hand pressing down on hers.Hard. Too Hard."Just what do you think you're doing ?" Hale hissed in her ear. His fingers burned into her skin. And Macey knew if she was going to take out the gunman, she was first going to have to neutralize the boy beside her."Why don't you let me go and I'll show you," she said with only a modicum of flirt in her voice."Why don't you put your fancy shoes back on and sit there like a good little girl?""First of all, I'm good at a lot of things. Taking orders from bored billionaires isn't one of them. Second of all, he's alone, and I can take him," Macey said."No!" Hale said. "You don't know anything about this guy.""I know he's left handed and has an old injury to his right knee---probably a torn ACL at some point but the details don't matter. And the way he keeps his finger purposefully away from the safety of that gun means he's never fired it. And he doesn't want to.""You're kinda scary.”

“What is it?" When Kat's voice finally came into Hale's ear, it was cold and steady and even. All tease was gone. If she was angry at him for standing her up, she didn't show it. she just said, "Tell me what's going on.""Party crashers," Hale whispered. He watched Macey watching him. "Five, and they brought toys.""Guns?" Kat guessed."Big ones," Hale said. "You know this is what you get for doing a favor for your mother.""I know," Hale admitted."What are they after?" Kat asked."Hard to say," Hale said; again, he eyed the room."Who is that?" Macey asked."The reason I wasn't flirting with you,"Hale told her.”

“How nice for you. Now I want you to promise me that if I move, you won't do something stupid." Macey was just starting to protest when Hale stopped and brought his hand to his ear. "Besides, there's someone who wants to talk to you." He held out the extra earbud, whispering softly in the too quiet room. "It goes in your ear and---"But before he could finish, Macey rolled her eyes and placed the bud in her ear. "This is peacock," she whispered.She watched Hale's eyes go wide as she heard a very familiar voice say, "You're not getting extra credit for this. Now"---Macey's teacher took a long, easy breath---"whats going on in there?”

“What are they after?” Kat asked. “Hard to say,” Hale said; again, he eyed the room. “Who is that?” Macey asked. “The reason I wasn’t flirting with you,” Hale told her.”

“Seriously", Macey snapped. "go. Kiss. A baby""can you believe her?" Preston asked, coking his head towards macey." everytime she sees me, all she does is call me baby and talk about kissing."Macey looked like she wanted to kill him. But I kind of wanted to laugh.”

“You're late." Kat said as soon as Hale put the phone to his ear. She wasn't the kind of girl to wait for hello."What can I say? Macey McHenry has been throwing herself at me...""See, that's the kind of thing that would make me jealous if she weren't way out of your league.""You know, if I had feelings, that might have hurt them.”

“As soon as she was close, she whispered, "you've got to get out of here." "No, you've got to get out of here," he told her. "Go downstairs. Go now.""No," she countered. "You go.""Why?" he asked."You tell me first."But before they could say another word, the last elevator slid slowly open and two men in masks rushed out. From the opposite side of the of the ballroom, shots rang out, rapid fire, piercing the ceiling, plaster falling onto the dance floor like snow.And then Hale and Macey whispered in unison, "Because of that.”