BALTIMORE

It had been quiet for some time now as we were approaching the Harbor Tunnel in Baltimore. I was thinking about Linda in a new light, thanks to Daniel's story. Momentarily distracted by the Events that happened with Linda, I instinctively checked the mirror, but the truck was no longer there. Was it all my fault or was it just my destiny? For weeks now I had kept blaming myself for the loss of Selma. But on the other hand, if Selma's destiny was to meet Linda, then it wasn't entirely my fault. It was my destiny to bring her home. Selma had plenty of opportunities to throw Linda out. I even believed that there was no chance that Selma would let her stay, but soon after she met Linda, Selma's attitude changed. I still couldn't come to terms with what happened. It seemed as though Linda had used a completely different strategy on Selma; bloody female solidarity. But she found it in her heart to let her stay for a day, which prolonged to a couple more nights, especially once Selma saw that photo.

***

I checked the mirror again, but still no unusual activities.

"I would rather like to know what you are thinking right now." Daniel obviously didn't like the silence, but I didn't respond to this.

"You are a rather cautious driver... Are you afraid of something? I noticed you are constantly checking that mirror. Is something bothering you?"

"I'm all right."

"Did you lose your family in a traffic accident?"

"No, it was much more painful than that." I didn't want to think about it, but the pictures were already flashing in front of my eyes.

"You can tell me your story. You'll feel better."

"No it won't help," I said abruptly.

"Trust me," Daniel said, which wasn't very reassuring coming from someone who was successfully making his way through that bottle. "You have three hours to tell me your story."

I contemplated for a moment. What if I sounded like a fool? But I guess Daniel was just another random customer that I would never see again - a customer that could possibly shed some light on everything that had happened. After losing everything dear to me, I really didn't have much left to lose, so I began my story.

"Well, it's quite amazing story, but I don't know where to start." I didn't know whether I should tell the whole story, or just what happened at the end, or the whole thing but briefly.

"It is best to start from the beginning," Daniel slurred his bad, drunken humor.

Reassured that Daniel would probably remember none of this, I built up enough courage to tell the story as it happened to see if Daniel would have done anything differently. If Daniel didn't find any stupidity in my behavior, then the whole ordeal related to Linda probably wasn't my fault. It was just unfortunate. Even if Daniel found better ways of doing things, he was still an old fox, which wouldn't mean that I should blame myself more than I was already doing. Therefore, I had nothing to lose.

"Well?" Daniel persisted, tired of the wait.

"It all started two months ago. I was working a day shift back then..."

I quickly glanced at the mirror one more time to check for any suspicious looking cars and also to see if I had Daniel's full attention. Although he was still sipping away at his scotch, his curiosity was obvious.

"A beautiful lady stopped my cab. She was in late thirties, maybe early forties. But despite her age, she was gorgeous."

"Hey, forties are still spring chicken age for me," Daniel protested. "I wish I was forty again, or even fifty for that matter."

I smiled and continued. "Anyway, she really looked great even in her corporate suit. First, she told me to drive her to Union station, but then she asked me for help. Actually, she said she was chased and she got out of my car at train station and told me to go around corner and she will meet me there."

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"To get rid of her pursuers, I guess. At first I thought she didn't want to pay me. You know those rich people that always want bargain or even go without paying." I looked at Daniel and bit my lip.

"Really?" Daniel said sarcastically.

"Don't get me wrong. But I had more problems with rich customers." I was rewinding everything back in my head. "She had Cartier watch, expensive jewelry, shoes and everything else as far as I could tell."

"And I guess she came back."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Well, it would be a pretty dumb story." Daniel laughed and I smiled too.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, she came back and called me to go for drink with her. I used to have drinks with some of my female customers, rarely though, but never any of them called me. So, we went to a bar, but not long after we had to leave."

"Why?"

"There was this guy that was after Linda. She told me he was from US Secret Service."

"US Secret Service?"

"Yes, I know! I was surprised too. But she managed to escape without this guy seeing her. So, she made me drive her to my home." I omitted the slap in the face bit to give me back some dignity.

"You took her home?" Daniel was still in disbelief. "After you had known her for fifteen minutes?"

"Yes, I know how that could sound. Trust me, I was telling this whole story in official interrogation and to my therapist. They were all astonished by my willingness to help people."

"What? Wait, wait. Your story is getting better and better. Interrogation? A therapist? Who interrogated you?"

"Officially, NYPD and FBI, but I think there were some other security services involved. I don't know."

"This is fantastic." Daniel was like a kid in a candy store. "I've done so many things against my conscience and yet I don't even feel I need my shrink anymore. And here you are telling me you have one? I'm speechless. What the hell did you do?

"Way too many things, Daniel. Way too many... Trust me, this is one sad story."