Severed Ties

Meanwhile, as Valerie was about to get in her car and leave, she ran into a few of her old high school classmates.

"Valerie!" one of them called out.

Among them was Brenda Faulkner, the niece of the owner of the yacht involved in that incident.

They'd been rivals since high school, and now, meeting again, the hostility in their eyes was sharper than before.

"Valerie, it's been three years, and my