“Claybourne grabbed his arm, stopping his forward movement. “Do we have a plan?”“Get Emma out alive and I don’t care who the hell dies in the bloody process.” Breaking free of the hold, Swindler began running toward the gate.“I do hope he’s not including us in the ‘who the hell dies’ arena,” he heard Greystone mutter.“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you,” Dodger responded. “I do believe the man’s in love.”

“What the hell do I have to do to get your attention? Do I need to get up there?” I throw an arm toward the stage. His eyes swell for just a second, in shock. He reaches forward to hold my hands, but he catches himself in time and instead folds them across his chest. “Believe me, you have my full attention.”

“I don’t know how I stay alive. What I do know is that there is a light, far above us, that goes out when we die,and that in Hell there is a gray tulip that grows without any sun. It reminds me of everything I failed at,and I water it carefully. It is all I have to remind me of you.”

“Plan B?' Ivy said. 'What is plan B?'Jenks reddened. 'Grab the fish and run like hell,' he muttered, and I almost giggled.”

“So what’s the use of repentance, and what do you care for goodness, and what if you should die in a quake, so who the hell cares? So I walked downtown, so these were the high buildings, so let the earthquake come, let it bury me and my sins, so who the hell cares? No good to God or man, die one way or another, a quake or a hanging, it didn’t matter why or when or how.”

“But there are things I want to do before I die, a whole list that I know I probably won't get to, but I'm sure as hell going to try.”