`` i need to get back to my place , get a few things , and go before the cops start watching it . he nibbled on the narrow edge of her wrist , gently bit the full pad of her palm at the base of her thumb . the pep talk failed to comfort her . she sang , picking up her shiny black purse and turning it upside down over the counter . someone with an ax to grind is likely to tell me the dirt that went on before the company collapsed . he would have followed him through fire . '' 