Right? Plus I had agreed to have sex with them.Now you know why teenaged boys don’t want to enter into serious conversation with girls. It’s too m...ch like taking a stroll in a mine field.I came up with something brilliant. “I think I never seriously considered asking any of you out because it might cause problems. I didn’t want Claire to be mad at me, and I didn’t want any of you to be mad at me, so it was easier just to keep things ... you know ... on a simpler level. I guess I like all of you. And a little more money than he had now would be nice. He thought about someday being able to support Lucia without worries, and smiled. Maybe he would have enough money to send her to a private, all-girls school. Yet another bonus to working hard. ***** The next morning, Sophia woke with a start. She lifted her face up and realized that her cheek was stuck to the pages of the book she’d spent the night on. As she carefully peeled the page off her right cheek, she sighed. More annoyed that. ”“Damn, who would have thought?” breathed Brad.“More importantly, who would have done this?” responded Linda.“What else can you tell us, Doc?”“The torture wounds are primarily burns, looks like from a cigarette, bruises of the face from slaps and punches, the nipples on her breasts are distended, probably some type of sadistic nipple clamps, slashes, a box cutter Iʼd say. You can see what he did to her face. Her fingers and toes have been crushed, heavy electricianʼs pliers would be my guess. Look, just stay here and I'll run back for them -- it'll only be five minutes."She honestly didn't care, but obviously it meant something to him. "Oh, okay. Just don't get lost; you hear me?"Adam grinned. "I promise." He handed over the towels, gave Lily a kiss, and jogged back up the path.Lily looked around. The beach was deserted; even the seagulls had found somewhere else to be. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the blue above fading into grey haze far in the distance beyond the gentle waves..