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A sense of nostalgia filled her and a longing she could hardly explain She felt a dull ache as she remembered the love they’d somehow let slip away The love of their early years…She never allowed herself to acknowledge the isolation they’d forced upon each other She did now, and the sadness settled over her like a heavy rain-drenched coat

It was hard to figure out precisely when it’d happened to theht mistress was a sympto apart when she’d entered the scene Slowly, through the years, Jacqueline and Reese had lost that closeness They were both at fault; Reese was stubborn--but so was she

Their e had eroded to the point that they were roommates more than partners, friends more than lovers It happened to ht confessions from other wos of acute loss Putting aside her thoughts, she reached for the briefcase and hurried to the garage

Jacqueline phoned the nail salon from her car as she headed directly to Blosso was still impossible Jacqueline suddenly realized Reese hadn’t told her where she should leave her car

She tried calling him, but apparently he’d turned off his cell Twice around the block turned up nothing The street wasn’t wide enough for her to double park, either After wasting a precious tenspace, she pulled into the alley behind A Good Yarn It wasn’t the best area of town in which to leave an expensive car, and Lydia had warned the it, but Jacqueline didn’t have any choice The alley was narrow and dark and she shuddered involuntarily as she quickly locked the car

When she got to the construction site, Reese was nowhere to be seen However, as soon as she arrived at the trailer, his project reeted her Jacqueline couldn’t recall his nah she was fairly certain Reese hadtime since she’d kept track of his ethis"

"It wasn’t any proble over a pile of rebar on her way out

Gru under her breath, she walked across the street and down the block to the alley entrance Unfortunately the yarn store wouldn’t be open for another twenty h there As she entered the darkened alley, Jacqueline’s anger increased steadily No wonder herher personally, Reese had sent his assistant--as if he took for granted that she’d interrupt her entire day on his behalf Next tiruntled, Jacqueline was halfway into the alley before an eerie warning sensation crawled up her spine She stopped and looked suspiciously around Nothing She relaxed andfoolish The sun had yet to clear the tops of the buildings and the area remained cool and shady She ain as the sensation grew stronger,aith her, Jacqueline decided She’d watched one tooet to her car What alternative did she have? It was either that or stand here all

She was no more than twenty feet from her Mercedes when two men stepped out from the shadows They loo She couldn’t see their faces clearly but she saw their sneers They were street people, she thought, unkempt and filthy

"What do we have here?" one called to the other, who moved quickly to block her exit

Jacqueline broke into a cold sweat Instinct told her to run, but she feared her legs were about to collapse And in her heels, she had little chance of escaping if they decided to chase her

"Kindly get out of my way," she demanded and was rather pleased with her bravado

"Kindly," the second man, the taller of the two, echoed in a falsetto voice, raising his right arenuine lady here"

"High society"

"Lots of ive it up, bitch"

Jacqueline clutched her purse tighter against her side "You wouldn’t dare"

"Never could refuse a dare, could we, Larry?"

"Shut up," the other ry that his friend had said his name He pulled out a switchblade and brandished it in front of Jacqueline

Despite her deterleah the alley

He held out his arm as if he expected her to meekly hand over her purse, and Jacqueline realized this wasn’t a request but a command Any resistance would surely be h she wasn’t aware she’d released it, her designer bag fell to the asphalt

"I wouldn’t touch that if I were you," a brusque female voice shouted from behind Jacqueline "Aren’t you on probation, Ralph? Be a real shame to see your sorry ass back in jail so soon"

It took Jacqueline a irl she considered a felon and a crude punk rocker, had risked her own life and co his teeth at the to forward, "but this lady happens to be a good friend ofEven her breathing had gone shallow

Larry looked at the purse "You want her for yourself," he hter and raised it

A clicking sound followed but the noise didn’t iister in Jacqueline’s mind Then she understood Alix carried a switchblade of her own

"They can have the money" Jacqueline didn’t care; she just wanted both of the hurt

"No, they can’t," Alix yelled as the two men started toward them "Get over to the yarn store"