"This may come as a shock to you, but you telling me what to do means nothing to me," John replied. There was no anger in his voice, not yet, but some of the softness had gone out of it. He was tired of this game, tired of her obsession that was bordering on madness. John couldn't deny that a small part of him recognized that killing her would be a rather immediately effective way to end her annoyance. But he was better than that, stronger than those impulses, and refused to go that route.

"I have no idea where she is, but I intend to look for her and the longer you waste your time with me, the less time you can do the same."