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The first sign came from the original source – he looked at the comedy sites. Schaden was still posting. Days after the attack. His heart sank. He swallowed the bitter pill of knowledge. She wasn’t in some hospital. Even if she’d faired better than him from an attack – even if Andrew’s lust for her had somehow restrained his fury (and who would have believed that) she wouldn’t have been fit to post, and so viciously and jovially, so soon.

And she wouldn’t still be anywhere near the comedy world, let alone on the boards. He wanted to call the police and say – there, that’s Lisa – see, she does exist. But he knew if they took him seriously – which was doubtful on the basis of a nickname without proof of its connection – and they went searching, they’d reach the same black hole of nothingness Norman had reached. And David knew he’d gotten no further, because he checked, and Norman still said she remained ‘the biggest mystery of this board.’

So, how to find her, and wring the truth out of her? The net was a start, but she needed to be beguiled out from the shadows, because there – only there – was he more than a match for her. If on no other basis than brute strength – and did she deserve any less than that anyway – he could outclass her. He could have his revenge.

He started to research hacking on the internet. He pursued this with the one-pointedness of a fanatic. While his body ached from sitting so long in one position at the computer screen, and he had to come up with endless explanations to placate a physiotherapist who was dismayed at the slowness of his recovery, he still tried.

But eventually, near the end of his month off work, he found he didn’t need to search any more. Schaden came to him.

(c) Helen M Valentina 2016, All Rights Reserved