Vengeance [antikvár]

AcknowledgementsI should like to express my thanks to all those who helped me in New Orleans, especially Carrie Jo Martina at the Richelieu Hotel, Little Joe Catalanotto of Independent Studios, Danny, whose guidance and friendship was greatly appreciated, Sargeant Wayne H. Cooper of the New Orleans Police Department and Dr Paul Wagner of Honey Island. On a personal as well as professional level I thank my editor, Helen Fraser, for her invaluable support. My love and thanks go also to my cousin Karen Shields and to my friends Lesley Morgan, Bridget Anderson, Barbara Thorn, Pat Cockram and, of course, Denise Hastie who were with me throughout the writing of this book and so much more. Most especially of all though, I should like to thank Carl and Brenda Clump, they know why.Vengeance is mine, said the Lord; but why wait for the Almighty when He had given her the power to seek it for herself. So vengeance would be hers. She would use the mightiest of her weapons, she would expose the temptress and watch her squirm in the spotlight of degradation and contempt until she was spurned by those she loved, ridiculed and scorned by those she knew, and damned by all. She would pay for taking that which was not hers, she would learn, slowly and painfully, that she would never have that which she wanted: love, friendship, trust, For her there would be nothing, not even death. There would be only a living hell, an interminable journey of suffering and a timeless reaping of her own iniquity.