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"Where is he?" Maxie asked petulantly as she looked at her Bulgari designer watch embossed with heart patterns. "You said he would be here by now!"

Logan sighed. "Maxie, please! He'll be here all right?" He leaned against a concrete column and gazed out over the stairs below, his face stern and resigned.

The small group had a good view of the northeast entrance of the park. They were standing on a flat concrete feature adorned with tall columns and archways. In front of them a wide, sweeping series of concrete steps sloped down to merge with the main walking path through the public park. Every where around them crowded majestic trees and well trimmed shrubs and vegetation. LuLu thought it was an ironically serene setting for a violent confrontation. She stood a little behind Maxie, watching anxiously and resisting the temptation to wring her hands in worry.

"I hope he doesn't show," she said.

Maxie turned on her. "LuLu! Why are you so stupid?"

LuLu spread her hands defensively and tossed her long blond hair in exasperation. "Why are you so vindictive? I don't want to see someone get hurt. Is that wrong for some reason?"

Maxie's cheeks were white and her drawn lips were blood red. "Logan is just defending my honor! This loser can't be allowed to get away with what he did. You were there Lulu, he practically attacked both of us, and we were just doing our jobs. He should pay! And more people should be here to see it," she added with a tinge of bitterness.

Lulu couldn't believe her ears. "Maxie, we provoked him on purpose. We tried to make him feel like crap, because we thought it was fun for some reason. This isn't fun! Please stop this before something worse happens!"

Instead of losing her temper or berating her companion, Maxie turned and stared off into the park, lines of worry creased her normally perfectly smooth features. "It'll be fine, you'll see," Maxie said quietly, but her voice quivered with uncertainty now, and Lulu wondered who she was trying to convince.

"I can't believe this!" LuLu pressed both of her hands over her mouth, her wide eyes glimmered wetly. "This is wrong."

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Only one remaining street separated Damian from the entrance to the park. He had walked this far slowly, unexpected remorse dragging at his heels. He glanced up at the arched park entrance and froze. The girl in black was standing there, under the archway; the breeze catching and pulling at her long black skirt and tousling her flowing jet-black hair. It was the same girl he had glimpsed during the basketball game on his first day at the Shop 'n' Save. He felt the jolt of the same almost electric shock that slammed through his nerves that day. He was rooted to the spot, watching her with his mouth hanging open stupidly.

"Hey Shaggy."

Damian turned his head and saw Cassius and Dillon approaching him. Dillon smiled sheepishly as the breeze whipped his long, tangled blond hair. "Hi Damian."

Damian looked back across the street, but the girl in black had vanished like an inky mirage.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Cassius seemed about to answer, but he paused and it was Dillon who spoke. "Someone's got to have your back, right?"

Cassius kicked at a stone on the sidewalk. "Hell, Shaggy... looks like you have some friends after all. Who woulda thought?"

Damian felt an unexpected warmth in his cheeks and a lump caught in his throat. He coughed to clear it. "Cassius, about earlier..."

"Let's not talk about it right now, okay?" Cassius implored. "Let's just say we're cool for now. That work for you?"

Damian nodded gratefully. "How did you know about this?"

Cassius laughed. "Shit! At the Shop 'n' Save you could bring the Statue of Liberty through the warehouse doors, and if it had to do with work then nobody would notice. But if some kind of drama goes down... suddenly everyone's interested."

"Damian, I don't think violence solves anything," Dillon piped in, "and I personally don't think you should go over there, but if you do, we're coming with you."

Damian turned his attention back to the arched entrance. "Well if you're coming, then come on."