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me, won't you, Miss Patterson?" "Yes, of course." Ashley watched him leave, and she thought. Did he come here as a warn-
ing? Does he know more than he's telling me?
Toni was more absorbed than ever in the Internet. She enjoyed her chats with Jean Claude the most, but that did not stop her from having other chat-room correspondents. At every chance, she sat in front of her computer, and the typed messages flew back and forth, spilling onto the computer screen. "Toni? Where have you been? I've been in the chat room waiting for you." "I'm worth waiting for, luv. Tell me about yourself. What do you do?" "I work at a pharmacy. I can be good to you. Do you do drugs?" "Sod off." "Is that you, Toni?" "The answer to your dreams. Is it Mark?" "Yes." "You haven't been on the Internet lately." "I've been busy. I'd like to meet you, Toni." "Tell me. Mark, what do you do?" "I'm a librarian." "Isn't that exciting! All those books and everything...." "When can we meet?" "Why don't you ask Nostradamus?" "Hello, Toni. My name is Wendy." "Hello, Wendy." "You sound like fun." "I enjoy life." "Maybe I can help you enjoy it more." "What did you have in mind?" "Well, I hope you're not one of those narrow-minded people who are afraid to experiment and try exciting new things. I'd like to show you a good time." "Thanks, Wendy. You don't have the equipment I need". And then, Jean Claude Parent came back on. "Bonne nuit. Comment ca va? How are you?" "I'm great. How about you?" "I have missed you. I wish very much to meet you in person." "I want to meet you, too. Thanks for sending me your photograph. You're a good-looking bloke." 41