“I have a free couple of hours," I told him, walking toward my car, which was parked on the next block. "There's a very private, very secluded barn in Lookout Hill Park behind the carousel. I could be there in fifteen minutes." I heard the smile in his voice. "You want me bad.”

“I dug the untraceable phone Patch had given me out of my handbag and dialled his number."I have a free couple of hours," I told him, walking toward my car, which was parked on the next block. "There's a very dark, very secluded barn in Lookout Hill Park behind the carousel. I could be there in fifteen minutes."I heard the smile in his voice."You want me bad.""I need and an endorphin boost.""And making out in an abandoned barn with me will give you one?""No, it will probably put me in an endorphin coma, and I'm more than happy to test the theory.”

“Plenty of patrons had asked me strange things, but this was the first who asked me where my car was parked. It was almost comical to look at the man, because he actually thought I was going to tell him. I struggled to come up with a reply, but the best I could muster was, "That's personal." What I meant to say was, "Sir, the fact that I work in a public library doesn't make me stupid, it just makes me poor. There's no way I'm going to tell you—a psychotic person who could very well have a knife in his pocket—where I have parked my car.”

“We need to talk," he insisted, opening the door to his jeep that was parked next to my car. I was still holding out hope this would end and I would see his smile soon. "What's wrong?" I retaliated before I go in. "There's something you need to know, something I haven't told you," he said, taking my backpack from me.”

“I heard my friend’s car wouldn’t start, so I mailed him a parking lot. I should be a politician.”

“I heard someone's playing hooky,' Zach told me. He smiled. Standing there, it felt almost like nothing bad had ever happened- or would ever happen again'There's a boy in my life,' I told him. 'He's a very bad influence.'Then Zach nodded. 'Bad boys have a way of doing that. But they're worth it.”