Mary, too, for that matter."James, do you have a recommendation?" Nope," he said."That's it?" Deanna asked him, sounding surprised."Yes."She laughed. ...Sometimes, baby, you can be maddening."He smiled and shrugged. "I don't know the girl. We live in the fifth largest metro area in the country, so her story isn't unique, not in this city. There are tens of thousands of similar cases, and as Grace said, we don't even know if she told the truth or was lying through her perfect teeth. We saw the man. Ismelled alcohol. A second later, I heard a snap and felt a pain in my ear."Ouch. That hurt." Hold still. I want to get them even. Uneven earrings look so silly."I felt the alcohol wipe again and then another snap. The pain wasn't as badthis time. Maybe because I knew what to expect."Here, take a look."She held a mirror up to my face. I turned my head and saw a little pearl, anda little drop of blood, on each ear lobe. The girl cleaned off the blood with alittle piece of gauze, and more. Other than that he knew little about the man. Karen took a sip of the coffee as she read her emails and texts. "Oh, that's good," she said. "Thanks." She headed over to the door to the garage and set her coffee down as she struggled into her heels. David enjoyed the view from behind. Her skirt rode high up her legs as she bent over, the top seam of her thigh-high stockings just barely visible from the 'V' cut at the skirt's hem. She always took good care of herself, but lately had been working. "How do you stand up to someone like that?" Blake asked with a mixture of fear and awe in her voice as she pressed against Jim and her mom."He's a bully honey and, being a general, no one has stood up to him in a long time. Standing up to a bully is the only way to deal with them," Jim said with shakiness still in his voice. He freed one arm from around JJ to put it around Blake. After a deep breath and holding it for a moment before letting it out Jim continued in a little more steady voice..