The Aftermath

45

Once on the road, Teri plugged her phone into the hands-free system and dialed Julia. Teri talked excitedly to her wife about the contract, and the salary, and the story all the way back to the Trib. She asked if there was anyway that Julia could take the day off. "Gawd I want to, but there's no way that Jerry could get someone to cover with this short of notice."

Julia really loved her job down in Little Italy. She worked as the bartender for a small family restaurant. Jerry was the owner of the place and she loved him and his wife. They invited her and Teri to family get-togethers several times over the years. "Alright, but don't make plans for tonight, we are going out baby!"

"Dancing?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Nice! Congratulations Teri, this is wonderful."

Teri pulled into the parking lot still chatting excitedly with her wife, but said good-bye as soon as she parked.

Getting out of her car, she hurriedly walked across the lot to the employee back entrance. She suddenly remembered her press badge and started digging for it in her bag, when a tan mini-van pulled up in front of her. The side door slid open with a bang and a young man stepped out and fired a taser.

The darts of the taser hit her laptop bag and bounced off. In the mini-seconds that followed, Teri saw the darts, the wires, the expression on the young man's face and the look of the driver of the van. These parts of the puzzle slammed together in her already racing mind; two men, van, taser, violent rage on the young man's face, excitement on the older man's face. She dropped the laptop bag and ran for her life.

Teri was an avid runner. She ran three miles four days a week. She didn't jog them, she ran them as hard as she could. She gave up wearing heels to work a decade ago, preferring her running shoes. When she took off around the van she was yards away before the young man could think to follow her.

Teri didn't look behind her when the horn of the van blared, she just ran as fast as her thighs could pump for the back door. She hit the door with thud and then swung it open shouting for Derick, the back door security guard.

Derick Woltz was a fifty year old man who retired from L.A.P.D. after twenty-years on the streets. He knew panic when he saw it, and drew his gun, pushing Teri behind him as he burst out of the back door. He was in time to see a man jumping into the back of a tan van and slamming the door shut as the van took off out of the parking lot. The mini-van didn't move fast enough, and Derick got the license off the back plate before it could make the turn toward the access road.

Derick watched the van go, and then saw Teri's laptop bag. Before he could start for it, Teri burst out of the back door, "Tell me you got the plates Derick! Please tell me you got the plates!"

Derick recited the plate with a smile.

"Oh, gawd I love you!" She hugged him and then kissed him on the lips. "You wouldn't happen to want to be a father would you?" she laughed and ran for her laptop. Snatching it up she ran for the back door again, passing a stunned Derick. She flew through the back door, ignored the elevator, and took the flights of stairs two at a time. Her thighs were joyfully burning when she burst into the news room searching for Henry.

"Henry! I need a composite artist right now, and where the fuck is my office!"