Sweet Revenge

“You are saying what now? You are claiming to be Leia Daniels? The Leia Daniels?” Detective Fisk asked me.

“Yes. That is me. My husband set me on fire. He tried to kill me.”

“How can we prove this is really you? Where have you been all this time?”

I went over the story in explicit detail.

“Ok. Look, for what it’s worth, I believe you. But right now you are just a voice on the phone. And you say your appearance is radically different? What can you do to prove you are who you say? I see nothing in your records about prints or DNA, and even if there was you would have been so burnt that your fingerprints would have been gone. What about dental? Dental records?”

I agreed with him that was probably the only way to prove I was Leia Daniels.

“Alright, well when you come in to the station we will have our forensic people take care of those comparisons. But even then, how can we prove that your husband set that fire or that he tried to kill you?”

“I have an idea,” I said. “I’m going to get him to admit the whole thing.”

The detective chuckled. “Well, lady, you’ve got some guts. I like what I’m hearing.”

I smiled at Taylor who rubbed my shoulder reassuringly.

Finally, after all this time. I was going to have real peace and real justice.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Ted

I swerved my dirt bike hard to the left and then quickly applied the brake as the bike’s tires skidded along the rocky trail and eventually came to a stop right along the edge of a steep drop off. Glancing over the side I felt just a little bit queasy. That was quite a long way down. I’d almost come face to face with my death. It was a bit of a thrill.

By the time my friends Marty and Clyde pulled up next to me I was laughing my head off. My own clumsiness had almost gotten me killed for what was probably the fifth time this year. One day I knew I would run out of luck, but today was not that day. Therefore, it was all fun and games.

“Dude, that was messed up!” Marty said. “I thought for sure you were a goner.”

“That makes two of us,” I said. “But not this time.”

“I don’t get why you have to take so many risks,” Clyde said.

“Because that is what makes this sport so awesome. What is the point of having an amazing dirt bike if I don’t use it to ride in the dirt?”

“Yeah, but riding in the dirt is one thing. Flirting with falling off the side of a mountain is another thing entirely. You have to be the craziest guy I know.”

“You’d better believe it, baby,” I said slapping him on the arm.

We rode our bikes back to a flat spot where we’d decided to camp for the night. It was pretty serene out in the desert. I’d been coming out there riding for years and every single time I came out I thought about how much fun it would be to just live out there and become one with nature. There were no people, not many animals, and really nothing close to resembling civilization to disturb you. But then again, I was use to the amenities of home and by about three days in I would probably go nuts.

“So, how come we didn’t invite any ladies with us out here?” Marty asked when we got back to our camp.

I shrugged. “It’s good to have a guys’ night out every now and then. Besides not that many of the women we know are into racing. Unless you got some new friends I don’t know about.”

“We should change that,” Clyde said. “Hell, that new girl I’m seeing gets really turned on by riding.”

“Guys, this is our little sanctuary. Actually, it’s mine. You should feel lucky that I even invite you out here. I’m not going to muck it up by turning it into some kind of a romantic getaway.”

“Are you sure you aren’t upset because that foxy nanny of yours won’t give you the time of day?” Marty asked.

I shot him a look that could have taken his head off. The fear in his eyes showed that he’d had a momentary slip of the tongue. Clyde was yucking it up though, laughing his head off.

I played it off.

“She will come around,” I said. “But if she doesn’t then that’s fine. Some women are just not worth the effort.”

“Oh, that one is. Damn, she is fine as hell.”

I nodded. “I agree. And she has a great mind. That is an amazing combo.”

Clyde’s eyes flew wide just then. “Oh, shit! You love this girl!”

Marty joined in on it.

“I don’t love anybody,” I said and as I uttered those words I realized it was true. I’d never really loved anybody and I was perfectly ok with it. I did however want Jane in every possible way I could have her. If I found out she was shacking up with some other guy, I was going to be furious. No one could satisfy her the way I could. I knew it. And soon so would she. I was working on a few things to get her sexy ass to come around. They would work come hell or high water.