And, there was one other thing that nagged at her mind and her conscience, something that threatened her happiness even more than that incidence of Lobo's rape and that was the little party of drugs and sex she had been seduced into by her new "friend" Priscilla Devereaux. It had come at the wrong time for her, missing Mark while he was away in the capital and needing a friend after losing her feelings for Liz, who had owned the murdering, raping devil beast that had now twice violated her innocent body. Priscilla had drugged her somehow and led her into that orgy with the execrable Clete Anderson, the chief of police. What was worse, she had filmed the encounter while Clete had wildly shafted her from behind. A copy of the video tape had come through the door just two days later and now, somehow, Priscilla was planning to blackmail her.

Since Priss was wonderfully wealthy herself, DesirЋe was sure that the blackmail entailed some other thing besides money, though what she could not surmise yet. But Priscilla's phone call just yesterday had left her in no doubt as to the seriousness of the threat. Friend! Priscilla was nothing but a treacherous bitch whose friendship had lasted only long enough for her to get DesirЋe to compromise herself in the most serious way.

Shaking herself, the young bride offered her sweet lips to Mark for a goodbye kiss but was rewarded only with the usual cold peck on the cheek. As he walked out the door, DesirЋe dabbed at the tears on her cheeks and turned to the phone. She felt awful this morning. It seemed that she always had this splitting headache on Monday mornings, and though it seemed to pass by the evening, it worried her. If these headaches did not soon cease, she knew she would have to make an appointment with Pastor Hemmings, who was also the town physician. Picking up the phone, she dialed Dr. Hemmings' office and made an appointment for Wednesday at ten o'clock.