He reached into his pocket and pulled out a strand of pearls – lovely expensive-looking pearls. I thought he was going to fasten them around my nec..., but then I saw they didn’t have the traditional clasp, but instead at each end was a clamp. His assistant then said, ‘Shall I do that for you?’ ‘Of course, you know I don’t do any dirty work’ The assistant smirked as though it was a private joke between the two of them. Well, the joke was on me – the assistant reached over and started pulling. "I cooked some rations, drew more ammunition, looked to my gear and was on my way, proud to be trusted after being on the list of deserters for some time. The first night I was in the city, with my good horse carefully stabled, I ran into a very odd sort of business. As I left a tavern near the wharves, a woman's shrill screams cut the night."Please, please," she cried, "help me," and then her screech was cut short.I ran around the corner in time to see two men in dark coats loading a woman,. "Painful sometimes, but never pathetic." Luke looked like he wasn't done, but didn't know what else to say. "Can I ask you something?"He nodded, seeming almost grateful."Were you using in Texas?"He looked at me, then back at the ground. "Yeah." Here?"His head hung even lower. "Yeah." Have you stopped?" I... I guess." Don't guess. Have you stopped." I have." Okay." I turned my back on him and walked to my locker. I opened it and dug my cell phone out of my jeans pocket. I looked back at Luke,. Maybe asleep.’ Michael paused, in his brushing, almost as if losing count. ‘He scares me.’ He looked into her eyes, in the mirror, something that was completely out of character since the crash, enough that she worried Michael was yet again gone. Somehow, however, she still recognized him and it sent a surge of hope through her…he was talking to her, directly, not absently, as if from a distance. But his words frightened her. ‘He is dangerous, Angela. To me…to you. He doesn’t like either of.