The driver rolled down the window and she recognized the man from the party that she had talked to.

"Do you have far to walk?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"No, just a few blocks, I'll be fine," she replied, knowing that she wouldn't get in a car with a stranger, yet he seemed so nice and he did know Susan's parents.

"It's okay, I know you don't really know me and you really shouldn't get in a car with someone you don't know, but I just live two blocks over and I am friends with the Jenkins. Look, come in out of the rain and I'll drop you at your house, You don't have to worry, I'm really harmless."

"No, I think I'd better just walk, but thanks anyway," she said with a slight smile.

"Oh come on, I'll probably become friends with your parents and if I already was, you wouldn't refuse a ride in the rain, would you?"

Laura looked at him as the storm got worse. Suddenly, there was a loud crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning lit up the area quite close to them. It scared her, disrupting her judgment.

"Well...okay, it's only a few blocks."

She ran around the car and opened the passenger door. The car was warm and dry and for a few seconds she forgot her hesitation in getting in. As he pulled away from the curb he began what seemed like casual conversation.

"This is a nice area, but I don't know it very well. Is it all just houses or is there a park you could go to on a nice day?"

His voice sounded sincere and Laura relaxed a bit.

"Mostly houses, but there is a park only a few blocks from my house. I can tell you how to get there when we get to my house," she said.

"I'm terrible at following directions, why don't we just swing past it and I'll know how to get there for the future? Then we go directly to your house."

He sounded sincere and the car was warm and dry and she remembered the timidity in his voice. For some reason, she didn't feel threatened by him and she wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere anyway.

"Well, it's a few blocks out of the way, but I guess we can drive passed it, turn right here."

CHAPTER THREE