Once the opposition legal team had introduced themselves, I made myself comfortable and let the proceedings begin. Lane had hardly asked his first question when ‘they’ objected to the presence of Amy.

"The FBI Special Agent is here because there has been at least one creditable attempt on Tiffany's life," said Lane defiantly.
“There is even precedent that went as far as the Supreme Court that allows her presence as long as she does not interfere with the questioning process.”

On the other side of the table, the opposition lawyers went into a huddle that would not have been out of place on a Football Field for almost two minutes.
When they broke up, the other side’s legal team withdrew their objection.

At first, the question/answer process was very civil and polite, but a pattern soon emerged in that the opposition would question every answer and almost every word that I gave. It was as if they had been instructed to think that every word that I said was a lie. We got nowhere fast. At this rate, the deposition was going to take days and days.

It was tough going at times, and because of the extra questioning things were going very slowly. Before I knew it, we agreed to break for lunch. I sensed that Lane Webster was getting as frustrated as I was.

We let the opposition leave the room before saying anything. Amy came and stood by my side.

“You are doing great,” said Lane Webster.
“Your brief answers are forcing them to question everything. That makes your testimony all the more solid.”

“Fuck you!” I blurted out.
“You aren’t the one being given the 3rd degree.”

Amy came to my rescue.
“Tiffany needs a break. Lane, why don’t you go and get us some sandwiches?”

He looked down his nose at all of us as if to say, ‘I am not your lackey’.

Amy saw his reticence and decided to act.
“Ok, then we are going to the bathroom. While we are there, I suggest that you get someone to provide Tiffany with some refreshment, or your boss will hear about how you didn't look after a key witness! I see that you have a jug of water but the person being deposed does not? Is that fair? I think not."

With that, she marched me off towards the bathroom.

Once the door had closed behind us, I relaxed.

“Ok Tiff, what is the problem you have with that lawyer, Sean Leech?”

“What… what do you mean?”

"It is clear to me that you are having trouble answering his questions. So, what gives?"

“He and four others raped me when I was about twelve.”

I stopped when I felt myself shaking but I forced myself to carry on.
“Mom was away in Miami with the Governor for the weekend so they… It was horrible, but I have a record them gloating about what they were going to do to me on tape. One day, I'm going to stick it to him and the others.”

Amy came to me and gave me a big hug.
“We will have to deal with him then.”

“How? It is just my word against his?”

“I’ll get Lane to order his deposition. Then he can answer for it under oath.”

I shook my head.
“He’ll not say a word. You know as well as I do, that he’ll plead the 5th. If he doesn’t then it is the end for him, and I don’t mean just losing his job. We will just have to leave it to the legal people to work on, but Lane needs to know before we go back in. I need some support in there. I feel like I am facing a pack of wolves without even a twig for defense.”

"Yeah, some of those questions he gave you are deeply personal, and I know from our conversations up north, that we haven’t got onto the good stuff yet… By that, I mean the murder of your mother.”

Before we went back into the room to continue the deposition, Amy went off into a discussion with Lane. I guessed that she was telling him about the lawyer and what he did to me. I could see that she was getting quite agitated with him until finally, he nodded his head. Amy came returned and gave me a thumbs-up as the opposition filed in. They were looking very smug with themselves. That didn’t bode well for me. I had to hope that Lane had a plan.

---

As my ordeal continued, Lane seemed to have ignored Amy’s plea for help. Once again, I cursed him for not helping his client.

The deposition carried on much as before for more than an hour when Lane asked,
“Tiffany, you have already told us that you witnessed the Governor having sex with your mother regularly. Has that inhibited you from having sex?"

“Not really.”

“Are you a virgin?”

"No, and I have not been since I was about twelve."

“Isn’t that a bit early in life?”

Suddenly, I twigged as to where he was going with this.

"No, and especially when you are forced into having sex against your will. Isn’t that true Mr. Leech? After all, you and three others raped me when I was well underage. If I recall correctly, it was during Presidents Day weekend when my mother was down in Florida with the Governor.”

The proceedings disintegrated into chaos. The video recorder was stopped, and Mr. Leech made a hasty exit. After another huddle, the rest of them followed.

When they’d all gone, Lane said to me,
“That went well, didn’t it?”

"You really are a bastard, aren't you!"

Amy backed me up.
“You could have warned Tiffany!”

"Why? Wasn't it better and had more impact this way?"

“What did it achieve?” I asked.

“It is highly unlikely that they will return tomorrow. That means I can finish the deposition without their interference. You can tell your whole story and while they will get the video and a transcript, it will not have them trying to deflect your storytelling and accusing you of lying at every step. Mentioning him by name and what he did to you is on the record. Now that his name is on the record, I can depose him, and there is nothing that they can do about it.”

Slowly I began to understand this jerk of a Lawyer. He was right about the impact of my words but none of the other people associated with the deposition could stand being in the same room as him. He truly was a scumbag but at least he was trying to be on my side.

---

We returned to the deposition the next day and found that Lane had been right with hir prophecy. My father's team of sycophantic lawyers had decided not to attend. Even so, I hadn’t expected it to be so tiring, but without the other side present, it was easy to signal when I needed a break.

One part of my story interested Lane a lot. That was how I had determined that he was my father. He questioned me on this before continuing the deposition to be able to frame his questions in the right way. Unopposed depositions are the one place in the judicial system where lawyers can legitimately lead a witness to get all the facts out.
“The Governor had come to our home for one of his regular sessions with my mother and she had made him an iced tea drink for after their session. He paid her for those sessions, half of which, she put aside for me. After this particular session, Mom said, ‘I’m getting a feeling that he’s getting a bit tired of me. You should prepare to get away’.

“That is a hard thing to say. What happened next?” asked Lane.

“Ok, it went down like this…”

I swallowed hard and began to tell how it was confirmed that the Governor to be was my father.
“Once Mom had mentioned the ‘get away’ words I felt as if my world was coming to an end. Once I had calmed down, I had a huge row with Mom mostly because I didn’t want to leave her alone but we came to some form of agreement. She knew the Governor and how he operated. Both of us were an embarrassment to his future prospects not only as Governor but for a possible run for POTUS. Mom was certain that we could not get away together. I didn’t want to go anywhere without her but after several rows, we came to an agreement. . Together, Mom and I began to prepare a backpack for when it was time for me to leave town.”

I took a drink from the water that had mysteriously appeared for the second day of my deposition before continuing.
“She took my DNA and sent it off with a glass that he’d drank from and waited for the results in the hope that they came back before he finally called it a day with Mom. The results came back ten days later and they showed that he was my father. We sent this report and my birth certificate to our safe location.”

“That can’t have been it all?”

I shook my head.
“Mom gave me the money that she’d saved from his visits. That amounted to several thousand dollars. I hid the money and my pack in the basement of our building and carried on life as best we could.”

“That must have been hard on both of you?”

“It was. We were both living a lie. We knew what was coming but... Anyway, one month later, he announced that he was running for Governor. That was hardly a secret but once it was formal, Mom said to me, ‘it is time for you to leave’. We both had a good cry as I said my goodbyes.”

“Did you leave town right away?”

I shook my head.

“I told her that I was going to leave town and go to a relatives’ place. She saw me board a bus that would take me out of the state in a few hours. I waited until the bus was about to hit the freeway and stopped it. I told the driver that I’d changed my mind so he let me off the bus. I walked back to town, and hid in the property opposite that had been damaged by fire a few months before. It had been boarded up even before the fire, but unknown to Mom, I’d found a way in. I hid out there after spending thirty bucks on an old film camera and a telephoto lens from a very dodgy shop three blocks away. I also bought a video camera from a Pawn Shop on the understanding that if I returned it undamaged then he’d only take fifty bucks off the price. The next day, when Mom was at work, I went home and put the camera up in a hole in the ceiling of our family room and waited. The camera came with a remote control which worked from across the street. I watched out for Mom for three days before it happened. He came to visit Mom as he usually did on a Monday. He even bought her flowers as usual but he appeared reluctant to even embrace mom. I sensed that this was it. I got it all on both film and video. He strangled Mom right before my eyes with his chief security goon watching on.”

I swallowed hard.
“After he'd left, I headed for the local Drug Store and called the Police. I went there because I didn't have a cell phone and the payphone was the only one in the area that worked. I didn't give my name before hanging up. I went back to my hiding place and watched. The Police came and did their thing… It took them all of twenty minutes before mom’s body was taken away. I guessed that they’d been tipped off because it was clear that they didn’t bother to investigate her death. I waited a few hours before going back and retrieving the videocassette and the camera."

“Why didn’t you go to the Police and complain?”

I laughed.
“When my father held a press conference to announce his run for Governor, he was flanked by the Chief of Police and the Head of the State Troopers. Do you honestly think that my complaint would get any attention at all with those two very deep in his pocket? Besides, the moment I set foot in the Police Department and identified myself, I’d probably find myself up on a murder charge. As it was, no one had seen me at my usual haunts for three days, and mom had made it known that I’d left town.”

“I think that you might be correct there. Do those photos and videos still exist?”

“As far as I know they do.”

“Where are they now?” asked Lane.

“Do you think that I’m an idiot? The records that I have stashed away are the ace up my sleeve. I will reveal them at the appropriate time which I think might just be on the eve of the trial or to a Grand Jury. There is no way that I’m letting them get into discovery and not being able to validate them in court.”

Those words shut up Lane for a minute. The frowns on his face told us that he was deep in thought.
Eventually, he said,
“We should carry on with the deposition. I will gloss over the existence of the film and video records for the time being. I’ll frame the question in such a way as not to lead you open to charges of lying under oath.”

I just nodded my head.

The deposition continued and Lane was true to his word about the questioning. Then he turned to my time on the road and the major events that happened in the first few months.

He carried on about the experiences I’d had while on the road and how I’d cut the penis off the man who wanted to give me huge boobs and then sell me to punters.

Just before we finished for the day, he went on about my time with the Judge and how my half-brother had given orders to his henchmen to take me alive and finally how I’d heard his voice at the State Trooper’s HQ.

When Lane had finally run out of questions, he called a halt to the proceedings.

I felt totally exhausted and positively unclean by the whole thing and wanted to take a long hot bath.

My plans for the evening ahead were interrupted by the arrival of Sylvie. She looked worried.

“Lane, I think you should get the video from today back to HQ right away. There is an escort waiting downstairs.”

“What? Why?”

“Our hotel room has been ransacked and I mean wrecked. The management are not too happy but as we can prove that we were not there, they are not going to charge my FBI credit card for the damage. I have just received a report that the other side is none too happy at one of their lead attorneys being accused on record of the rape of a minor. They are out for revenge. At the last count, there are at least six of their foot soldiers covering the exits from this building. All of them are carrying concealed weapons. Which is a big no-no inside DC for civilians. For security reasons, I don’t want to involve the FBI at large at this stage. As we all know there are leaks everywhere. We need to Tiffany get out of the city as quietly as possible.”

The severity of the situation hit me hard.

“If that is the case then I’ll deposit the recordings with my people as soon as possible. I’ll make my own way back to the DOJ. Thanks for the heads up,” said Lane.

With another of his fake plastic smiles, he said his goodbyes and left us alone.
Once he’d gone, the room remained silent so I broke it.

"Ok, my guardians, what is the plan to get us all out of here in one piece?"

Amy looked at Sylvie and nodded her head.

“We get you dolled up as we agreed if something like this should happen,” said Amy.

That was the plan but as far as I knew, the clothes that I was supposed to wear were in the Hotel.

“Don’t worry, I have been shopping downtown, said Sylvie, who had read my mind.
“When I found our room had been trashed, I put ‘Plan B’ into operation.”
I managed a small smile.

“I have an outfit for you to wear. It is all in a room down the hall. I didn’t want Lane to see it. He has something of a reputation when it comes to witness expenses. Lane is going to have a bit of a fit when he sees the bill, but given the circumstances, I think he'll approve it.”

“I think it might be time to get some of my stash of cash. Credit cards are so easy to track these days, aren’t they?” I replied with a little smile.

There was no disagreement from my two FBI guardians.

“I think that we should get going? We can work out the rest of the plan while we get you ready to face the public!” said Sylvie clearly anxious to move things along.

---

One hour later I was ready to face the world once more. With the right amount of makeup and a wig, I looked very different from the person who had given the deposition. I was also a good bit taller thanks to a nice set of heels, but I had my flats in my bag. I had not wanted to wear the heels but when Amy showed me how I looked, it was clear that I needed the heels to complete the look of an aspiring office worker in DC. The downside was that my feet were already telling me that the heels would need breaking in should we get out of town in one piece. I stopped myself and gave myself a mental beating for thinking that I was going to get out of this in one piece. That was very much on the table given the warning that Sylvie had given to us earlier.

“Are you clear on what to do?” asked Sylvie.
The plan that she'd devised was very much a spur-of-the-moment thing. It relied upon the same sort of idea as we'd used when flying to DC in that we'd leave the building separately and meet up at a relatively safe place in a few hours.

‘Yes. I’m to go out with the flow of others going home for the day, then head for the metro and take the red line to Bethesda Medical Center. Then, I am to wait in the cafeteria for you to arrive. If you don't get there in two hours, then I'm to get the hell out of DC in any way possible. I have two emergency phone numbers written down in my purse. And yes, I have a metro card in my purse, so I won't need to buy a ticket.”

“Good. Amy, will, I hope lead at least one of the watchers on a wild goose chase all over town, with the aid of a co-worker who was in her class at Quantico,” said Sylvie.

I picked up my shoulder purse and hesitated.

“Anything wrong?”

"Not really. This is my first time out in a crowd in full war paint so to speak and on my own. I have to keep telling myself not to leg it as I have been doing for years.”

She took hold of my hand and squeezed it.
“We both know that you will be fine. You managed the crowds at the airports when we travelled here, didn’t you? If you aren't then, Amy and I will have failed in our mission, and we don't want that to happen.”

“When we came here, there weren’t a dozen armed thugs wanting to top me waiting on every street corner.”

“If they get past us, then we will have failed you in our mission,” said Amy.

“Oh, you haven’t failed. It is just the ten little demons that sit on my shoulder that I have to keep quiet for at least the next few hours.”

“Good. Time to go then?” said Sylvie who was clearly keen to get going.

“Yeah. See you soon.”

I didn't add the 'I hope' but walked out the door, took the stairs down one flight and caught the elevator. To my relief, the car was almost full of people going home for the day. I just mixed with them and went with the flow, and before I knew it, I was on the Metro train. I hadn't been exposed as a fake, and to the best of my knowledge, I hadn't been tailed.

Just six other people besides myself and all of them women got off at the ‘Medical Center’ stop. I let them all head for the escalators ahead of me by walking slowly along the platform. Their body language told me that they knew where they were going, so I just tagged along behind them at a suitable distance. Amy had instilled in me several techniques about how to detect a tail when on foot. I didn't let on that I'd read that part of the FBI manual a few years before, and had used it to good effect more than once. The manual was hardly a secret as it had been leaked and posted online a few years before that. I did listen to her as it was a useful reminder of the techniques.
There wasn’t a tail or at least one that was directly following me.

Once I’d exited the station and entered the huge hospital, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d made it… for the time being at least.

---

Sylvie joined me less than an hour later.

“Time to get out of town, I think. I’ve never liked this place and the events of the past few days have done nothing to alter that opinion,” she remarked.

“I agree. Let’s go. Where is your car?”

"I have an FBI pool car, but I think that we will need to get rid of that at the earliest opportunity. It is common knowledge that all the DC pool cars have at least one tracker in them. The downside is that the DC FBI is not known to be that tight a ship if you know what I mean? There is just far too much money sloshing around on ‘The Hill’ to keep people away from temptation. How else can an ordinary ‘Special Agent’ afford a house in Georgetown? One of the Agents in the DC Field office paid cash for one last year. He was investigated and found to have been taking bribes. We all were given a stern warning about taking bribes. Even ‘quid quo pro’ deals were frowned upon unless given prior authorization.”

She was referring to a recent case where an FBI agent had been caught red-handed accepting bribes from a former staffer for a congressman who had been defeated at the last election. The criminality had gone back almost twenty years. That particular congressman was well known for digging up dirt on his political opponents.

I smiled. I knew that people like my father had links to other criminal enterprises and for them to have informants or moles inside law enforcement was not a surprise. That was how he’d always been one step ahead of the law for years, until recently.

“Then we will need a load of cash for some new wheels, won’t we? After all, I did drop a big hint earlier that I did have access to some, didn’t I?”

She nodded.
“Knowing you as I have come to do, I get the feeling that you may have some access to the sort of money we’d need to buy one or do you know of someone with a car we could use?”

I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. I wasn’t letting on which option it was just yet.
“Lets’ go then. We have a good drive ahead of us.”

We’d been going for a few minutes when Sylvie pulled over and looked at me. There was a major intersection ahead.
“Which direction?”

Her question surprised me for a moment. Then I smiled.
"Sorry. We should take I-95 south."

“Thanks.”

As she moved to put the car into drive, I touched her wrist.

“Are you ok with being here with me?”

“Now she asks!” said Sylvie with a huge grin on her face.
“I’m here to keep you safe. I’ll check in with the Bureau when I know that you are safe. Amy will have briefed Lane and our boss on the situation by now.

“That’s good to know.”

---

We headed south from DC. Every mile we travelled brought us closer to my father's part of the world, but I was confident that we could get in, do our business and then get out unscathed.

There was no sense in trying to hide our movements for the time being. It wasn’t until sometime after we’d crossed the Virginia/North Carolina state line that I gave Sylvie some further directions.

“At the next exit, there should be a Gas Station. I’d like you to stop and fill the car up and pay with your FBI credit card to be certain that we are leaving a trail. While you are doing that, I will make a phone call and if I’m not sitting right here once you have paid for the gas, then carry on down I-95 for about 15 miles until you reach the Smithfield exit. Go into town and park near the Police HQ. The bus terminal is just across the street from the old courthouse that is on the next block. From memory, there is an all-night diner two blocks beyond that. I'll meet you there around midnight. Don't leave anything in the car apart from the receipt for the gas."

“Are you sure that you aren’t a crime thriller writer in your spare time?”

I chuckled.
“I have read a lot of them these past few years. I get a lot of them from flea markets and yard sales. It is amazing what you can get for twenty-five cents a pop. Reading them has allowed me to escape from reality for a few hours, as well as to dream about the revenge that wanted to take on my father. The more painful it was, the better. Please believe me, if I thought that I could do it, and not be killed by his security goons then I would have done it in a flash. Seeing your father kill your mom in cold blood does crazy things to you, especially when you are still a child.”

“You don’t like him at all do you?”

I shook my head.
"In a few days, you will get to see the reason why I hate him so much."

“Are we going to get the evidence then?”

“Some of it is not that far away. I didn’t put all my eggs in one basket so another chunk is in another safe place several hundred miles away. When we have it all, then we can deliver it to the Justice Department in person. We have to go and see a few people before we get back to DC.”

I could see Sylvie's knuckles turn white as she gripped the wheel even tighter. For the moment, she was not in control. I resolved to try my hardest to be more open with her but it was not going to be easy.

“I didn’t put all my eggs in one basket. I’m not that stupid even though there are some people in the pay of my father who still think that I’m an idiot who needs seeing to... as in to vanish without a trace.”

I watched as she relaxed.
“It will be ok. In a week or so, you can go back to your normal assignment and forget all about me.”

She laughed.
“That will be hard to do. When I was given this assignment, I was pretty skeptical but getting to know you has… Well, it has changed my outlook on so many things. Dealing with the normal run of the mill crooks is a different thing entirely to this assignment.”

I smiled.
“I’m glad to be of service even if it is only temporary.”

For the first time, I hoped that it wasn’t going to be that.

---

While Sylvie was putting gas into the car, I headed for the payphone hoping that it was working. I breathed out when I heard the dial tone as picked up the receiver. I put some coins in the slot and dialled a number hoping that I’d remembered it right.

“Hello Queenie,” I said when it was answered.

“Yeah, it is me, Tiffany.”

“Can you pick me up? I’m at the truck stop on I-95 some 15 miles north of Smithfield.”

“I need a favor, a big one.”

“No, I don’t do things by halves so Queenie? Can I borrow that truck of yours?”

“Yes, I do mean the F-100. It is a runner? If not then I’m up shit creek and will have to buy some wheels for cash if you know what I mean? I’m sure that you can help out on that front with all your contacts.”

“It is? That’s cool. I’ll see you soon, take care.”

I hung up and stood by the phone for almost a minute feeling relieved. Queenie was my great-aunt by marriage and had raised my mother when her mother died from an overdose. I'd stayed with her a few times while I had been on the road but her son-in-law worked for the local PD and had taken an immediate dislike to me so I’d not stayed long. It was only because of his wife and her mother that I hadn’t been hauled off to jail and then into the hands of CPS.

I watched Sylvie drive off into the darkness and grabbed a coffee while I waited for Queenie to arrive. While I waited, I knew deep down that the next few days would forge the direction that the rest of my life took. The thought of seeing my father begin to pay for his dirty deeds was what was driving me on. Thanks to the Judge and what had happened since I had a chance to make that happen. When that was done, Mom could rest easy.

---

I gave Queenie a great big hug when she drew up in her daily runabout, a ’69 Chevelle that needed a good clean and polish but that hid the 600bhp monster of an engine that was purring away under the hood. The two years since we’d seen each other had been far too long a time.

“You are looking good girl,” she said commenting on my outfit.

“I’m a bit overdressed for this place but thanks.”

She laughed and smiled. I had her approval which meant an awful lot to me.

“Lets’ hit the road then we can talk. The F-100 is at my brother’s place. That’s where your messages are kept if you want them. Your father up to his neck in Dismal Swamp if the news reports are anything to go by.”

Her reference to ‘Dismal Swamp’ was a family joke. It was where the bootleggers disappeared to when the revenuers came calling. If you didn’t know the place, you would probably end up in one of the many quicksands that gave the place its name. If you ventured into the swamp alone then your prospects were ‘dismal’… That’s what the local folklore said.

“So, I heard and I hope he stays there.”

“Good for you,” said Queenie as we climbed into her Chevelle.

---

“There she is,” said Queenie as the lights from Chevelle lit up the front of the newly restored F-100 as we pulled into the drive.

"You did a good job with her restoration. From those photos, you showed me the last time I was here she was little more than a heap of rust."

“It all changed when I picked up a new frame at a NASCAR event last year. That made it a whole lot easier as the old one was just about beyond fixing. I paid for it to be blasted and then zinc plated before painting it myself. It will see me out.”

I just stood there in the headlights admiring her handiwork.

“Your messages are in the lean-to just like I told you. I didn’t open them.”

"Thanks, Queenie," I said as I got walked towards the building. My heart was pounding with expectation. I could feel the hour of retribution getting ever closer.

I soon found the light inside the lean-to. A large trunk sat on the floor under a bench. Inside it was all of the packets of ‘stuff’ that my mother and I had sent to Queenie over the years before her murder. The one on top was from a month after she had been murdered. That was one of two packages that were going to send my father away for life and I mean until he died. The other one was a long way away. Mom had lectured me for a long time about the dangers of putting all my eggs in one basket. Queenie didn't know it but I'd come back and retrieved a few key packets almost three years ago. They were with another person for safekeeping.

I shoved that one inside my purse and opened the one at the bottom of the pile. My heart was pounding as I saw the contents. It was as my mother had said what it would contain. She’d made me promise to leave them alone until it was time to take down my father. I loved my mother and she had instilled a lot of her wisdom in me. I knew that her spirit was with me everywhere I went. It was time and the contents could come in useful in evading my pursuers.

I took another two of the dozen or so packages and went outside. Queenie had the F-100 running.

“There is half a tank of gas and there is a spare tire in the back. You are good to go.”

"Thanks, Queenie. This is for you," I said as I handed over one of the packages that I’d not opened. I knew what it contained and I expected some resistance from Queenie.

She looked inside.
“I can’t take this. You are family.”

“You can and this is payment for looking after these. If I don’t come back or you hear that I’m dead then the other packages that are marked with a cross should be delivered to the FBI or the DOJ. Not locally but in DC itself at the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Trust no one. The others are for you. Don’t argue, that was mom’s wish.”

“Don’t say things like that it brings bad luck.”

“He’d like me dead and buried deep in some swamp so why not have some insurance eh?”

Reluctantly, Queenie put the package that I’d given her into her purse.

“The registration and insurance documents are in the glove box,” said Queenie.

I gave Queenie another big hug.

“Where are you going now? You could always stay the night?”

“I have someone to meet. Then? I don’t know.”

“Or rather, you aren’t telling me. What Queenie, don’t know, Queenie can’t blab on!”

“Something like that. If I get through all this then be sure to come and visit me. I’ll let you know where I settle, but it might be a good way away.”

“I will do just that. You look after yourself you hear!”

“I will try Queenie, I will try.”

“There are some things that you need to know about the old girl you are going to drive. She’s got a few little secrets… if you know what I mean?”

I looked at Queenie and smiled.

“You didn’t, did you? You talked about making her something a bit special?”

She grinned.
“I did and more. The new motor made her front heavy so I put in a new bed. It is made from one and a half-inch-thick steel plate. The suspension and brakes are even better than the ones on my brother's F-350 Lariat. With an almost supercharged 650hp under the hood, she can pull that weight as if it didn’t exist. About town, she just purrs like a sleeping kitten but put your foot down and you’d better be hanging on for dear life and she stops on a dime. The brakes have anti-lock and the power steering is from a newish F350. Externally, she looks like the day she came out of the factory but… Be careful when you unleash her. She is a beast.”

I laughed and gave her a big hug.
“When it gets light, take a look at the bed in the back. It might come in useful if someone gets a bit close to your rear end if you get my meaning?”

"Thanks, Queenie. She looks like any other classic restoration
I drove off into the darkness. That darkness hid the tears that rolled down my cheeks. Queenie had come up trumps yet again. She was a definite one-of-a-kind person.

[to be continued]