On the flight from Denver, she wrote a letter to Laura and as soon as she landed, she mailed it in New York City. It read:
Lovely Laura,
I shall always consider us friends and I wish I could have stayed with you. I pray you have found your daughter by now and shall be forever happy.
Love always, Teresa
P.S. if you ever need me, run an ad for a gray, short-haired, shaggy dog in the London Times. I threw your clothes in a Denver trashcan. Sorry.
Even in LaGuardia Airport's waiting room, she kept an eye out for Mathew. At last, it was time to board her international flight. As soon as her plane was off the ground, she accepted a drink from the stewardess and raised it in salute. "Here's to you, Mummy, may you rest in peace - finally." She took a big swallow, felt it warm her stomach, set it on the tray, and promptly fell asleep.
*
In Denver the next morning, Jim went to his job at GSTS just as he did every other workday. Only this time, he had a much better reason to be there. He did his job as usual and waited until precisely 10:00 - the time he and Austin agreed upon. It was also the time Nicole always went outside for a smoke break and when she passed his cubicle, he followed her out the door.
He wandered around aimlessly for a couple of minutes as though he had something weighing heavily on his mind, and then approached her. "Nicole, I shouldn't tell you this, but I think you should know. Maggie hired a high-priced, very distinguished lawyer."
"What?" Nicole asked. "What lawyer?"
"Austin Steel."
"Austin Steel? I have seen him, he is yummy."
Jim ignored her stupid remark and continued, "Seems Maggie has some dirt on the company, and she's willing to share it with the authorities."
"What dirt?"
"Something about some spreadsheets and a cash shortage?"
Nicole's eyes grew large. "She has copies of the spreadsheets?"
"That's what she says. Of course, we cut off her phone service and I couldn't call her back for more details. She called me from a pay phone."
"Where does she live? Never mind, I know how to find out."
"She's not there, she left town for a while." Jim watched the worried look on his boss's face. Nicole tossed her half-smoked cigarette into the street, and abruptly hurried back inside the building. With a wide grin on his face, Jim walked around to the picnic table, took a cellphone out of his pocket and called Austin.
"She fell for it?" Austin asked.