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again when I'm here, isn't it?”
    Jane was horrified. She immediately thought he knew everything. That she had been here in this spot for weeks on end, waiting for him. That she was irrationally obsessed with him, and thought that he might be interested in her. She felt stupid and humiliated and clearly rejected. Suddenly, leaving sounded like a very good idea, so she gathered her things quickly. Well, fairy tale officially over. Jane couldn't calm herself down, she snarled at him, “Look, I'm sorry if I'm intruding on your personal bench. I'll leave you to it. My ass is numb anyways.”
    She kept her eyes forward and walked quickly to the parking garage and felt her anger starting to turn to self-pity. “I will not cry. At least until I'm in the car.” In terms of failure, she was sure this incident would be one of the highlights of her young life. She was angry that she was stupid enough to believe a guy with the face of a model and the body of a professional swimmer would feel that she was special and see something in her that obviously wasn't there. Different leagues? They were not even playing in the same bowling alley. She flew through the doors and into the humidity and echoes of the garage and headed straight for her car. Jane was also trying to figure out how she could face Sadie's questions about how the stakeout went without seeming hopelessly pathetic when she saw her path blocked by a big dark arm.
    â€œExcuse me, I need you to come with me now.” Jane was still distracted, but managed to draw away from grasping hands.
    â€œWhat?” She looked at the man attached to the big arm and deep voice. He was huge and dressed in black from head to toe. His hair was too short and his eyes completely devoid of emotion. For an instant she thought he was museum security come to chastise her for speaking louder than a whisper in the gallery. Jane knew all the guards on shift at this time, and he definitely wasn't one of them. He was also a persistent bugger, and refused to move out of her way when she leaned away from him.
    â€œI need you to come with me, now.” Jane suddenly realized that he wasn't alone, and a tall skinny man was approaching her from her left side. He was similarly attired, and they were both starting to crowd her in a very unfriendly way. Jane realized they wore a modified military uniform not like anything she'd ever seen before. Religious zealots? Drug lords? Who knew? Her stomach dropped and she knew she had to run as fast and as far as she could.
    â€œNo, thanks.” Jane spun around and tried to run back towards the museum, but she could hear them running after her. She made it about 20 feet when she saw The Guy coming towards her from just outside the museum doors and for a moment she thought he was with them.
    At first he had the same angry look on his face from earlier, but when he saw her running and looked behind her at the big guy chasing her, his face was surprised. She thought she would make it to the museum entrance until she felt a pair of strong hands lock around her hair and yank her back. She tried to scream, but lost her breath when she landed with a thud on the ground. Her head snapped onto the concrete, and she lay stunned on the ground. One of the men straddled her and shoved a rag over her face, and that was the last thing she remembered.

4
    LUCIEN RAN TOWARD THE STRUGGLING GIRL, but still didn't know what he was getting into. Every instinct was telling him to run in the other direction. He was convinced, up until a few moments ago, that she was up to something. Nobody could be that combination of naive and confident without having a motive. She was clumsy and inept if she was trying to surveil him. She was downright bungling if she was trying to gain his confidence by engaging him in conversation at an art museum, of all places. This was the last place he'd be careless. It now appeared that she was the victim of abduction. The attack in front