"They robbed their customers and fired you unjustly. I have a friend who handles those kinds of cases. He can get your lost pay and clear your record."
"So I wouldn't have to admit I got fired on a resume?"
"Not if you win, and you will win. Which company is it?"
"GSTS."
"Never heard of them."
"Not many have. It's a small company."
He finished his drink and this time when he looked at her, she was watching him. "What?"
"Can I have that cellphone before I leave the ball? I am short of communication just now and I have no way to call Jim."
"Of course. It is yours to keep."
"No matter what?"
"No matter what."
*
With her husband chauffeuring the Connellys for the evening, the cook decided to meet a friend for a movie. At a quarter to nine, Teresa wished the cook well and happily watched her drive away too. That left the house completely empty. Even so, she waited a full ten minutes more to make absolutely certain none of them were coming back.
It was time.
Teresa ran to her room, got her gun and put it in her uniform pocket. It was all working out perfectly - more perfectly than she could ever have imagined.
She went to the safe in Mathew's bedroom. She moved the painting, turned the dial, pulled the handle down, and then pulled the door open. To her relief, he had not changed the combination. Next, she took the cash and the birth certificate out, and laid them on a nearby table. She opened the checkbook, tore two checks out of the back of the book, and laid them on top of the birth certificate. Teresa put the checkbook back; pulled a photo and a note out of her other uniform pocket, placed them on top of the checkbook, and closed the safe.
She grabbed the checks, the cash, and the birth certificate, remembered to turn off the light in his bedroom, and then hurried down the stairs to the office. She sat down, spread the checks on the desk and carefully made them out. On both, she boldly entered her real name on the payable to line and dated them with the current date. The only difference between the two checks was the amount - the first was for five hundred thousand and the second, a cool million.
Her nerves were becoming a little frayed when she opened the bottom drawer of the desk, removed the three-on-a-page checkbook she found a few days earlier, and then recovered Mathew Connelly's signature stamp. Teresa made sure the inkpad had enough fresh ink, and practiced on plain paper a couple of times. It worked perfectly. She held her breath, pressed the stamp on the inkpad, and then printed his signature on the first check. She repeated the process for the second check, and then lightly blew on the wet ink.