Twenty Years Later

by Charlie Donlea

From invention is born progress From reinvention is born freedom —Anonymous

It’s the science behind the proverbial “deer-in-the-headlights” phenomenon.

Her strategy had already gone to hell. What was the point of staying sober?

Because if there was one thing that spurred the public’s interest even more than watching the birth of a young starlet rising to fame, it was watching them fall from grace. Schadenfreude

had become the new American pastime.

Love or the law, man’s only two problems in this world.

Walt Jenkins, the federal agent who had survived two bullets to the torso—one that tore his neck to pieces, the other that pierced his heart. Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, his trauma surgeon told him, such gunshot wounds were fatal.

Rum was his cure-all antidote to anything life threw at him.

Meghan Cobb remained on his mind. Despite the fact that he still loved her, Walt knew he couldn’t be around her for the simple fact that some part of him hated her, too.

He wished he had found the courage to confront her about her lies. He wished he had found the strength to express his anger about being placed in such a precarious position.

You know, when a loved one dies young your perception of them is placed in a time capsule. You’re only able to remember them as they were then, not as they would be today.

“Everything happens for a reason. I believe fate brought you to my doorstep.

Victoria Ford might be guilty as sin, but something tells me there’s more to the story.

“Think of your best friend. If she were convicted of murder, would you believe she was guilty?” “Absolutely. She can be a vindictive bitch.”

In the end, evidence doesn’t care about your feelings.”

“Love or the law. They’re man’s only two problems in this world.”

“Up through the rabbit hole, round the big tree; down through the rabbit hole and off goes he.”

Find a way, Em. Find a way to prove it. Please? Just find a way to prove to the world that I’m not the monster they’ve painted me to be.

Without drunkenness, there was nothing to blame their behavior on other than mutual attraction and an open willingness to share intimacy.

“That the urine was badly preserved before being placed in the toilet, and that the blood had been harvested from a tampon and planted at the scene.”