Smart young lady.
The inspiration for that part came from something that happened to my sister.
She had gone to eat her lunch and exercise by the Eel River in Humboldt county, where she lived. That part of the country was mostly crime free at the time, and she left her purse in her locked car. The area was surrounded by trees and completely deserted. When she returned, however, there was a car parked beside hers with two women in it, and her purse was gone. Across the picnic area, there was another car with a group of young men -- late teens, early twenties.
My sister at once suspected what had happened to her purse, and she asked the women if they had seen it. Naturally, they denied it, so my sister walked around behind the car to get a look at the license plate.
She heard the younger woman say something like, "Ma, she's getting our license!"
Both women got out, and the men from the other car, who apparently knew the women, came over, acting in a threatening manner to my sister. She got back into her car and locked the doors, then started up the engine, intending to back up and leave.
Instead of letting her do so, the men spread out behind her car, evidently intending to prevent her leaving.
She had a pretty good idea what would happen to her if they got hold of her at this point, so instead of stopping, she put the car in reverse and floored the accelerator. She told me, "You should have seen them jump!"
She peeled out of the lot as fast as she could, and went straight to the police, but by the time the police got there, they were, naturally, gone. She didn't get her purse back, but she came out alive and uninjured. I have never had more respect for my sister when I heard that story, so the part in Vendetta that you quoted above was my small tribute to her, and the guts she displayed that day.
Nan
