Forkner pursed his lips and examined the passbook again. He handed it back to the clerk, gave a slight nod of his head, then slithered back to his office.

Colleen placed the train case on the counter, popped the lock and gave Christopher a naughty little wink. “Big bills, please.”

As he was stacking the paper-banded stacks of bills in the case, she remembered the business envelope she’d stuck in her pocketbook just before leaving the office. She took it out, removed her last paycheck and endorsed the back. “This too, please,” she said sweetly.

Vera Rennick was ridiculously pleased when Colleen asked her to go shopping that afternoon. Her coworker was the closest thing she had to a real girlfriend, and Colleen felt almost guilty about making her an unwitting accomplice to her escape plan.

“I’d love to,” Vera said, her face flushed with happiness. “But I promised to stay late for one of my regular patients. Can you wait ’til after two?”

“Okay,” Colleen said. She had plenty of time until her bus left.

When the office closed, Colleen suggested they drive her car over to Maas Brothers. “It’s too hot to walk,” Colleen explained. “And anyway, I’ve had my eye on a new outfit, and I don’t want to have to haul it all the way back here.”

“Good idea,” Vera agreed.

She parked the Camaro on the second level of the parking deck, feeling only slightly anxious about the train case she’d locked in the trunk.

Shopping always relaxed Colleen, especially now that she felt no compunction about actually buying whatever the hell she wanted.

The yellow sundress was on end-of-season clearance sale, and Vera agreed it was a steal. “It fits like a dream,” she said, watching enviously as Colleen handed over the pale blue Maas Brothers charge card. They took the escalator down to the first-floor shoe department, where Colleen found a pair of yellow patent leather platform sandals that looked like they’d been designed to go with the sundress, and then, back upstairs to juniors’ sportswear, for a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans and a slinky print top.

“I’d kill for a pair of those jeans,” Vera commented, when Colleen emerged from the dressing room to model her purchases. “Won’t Allen blow a gasket when he sees how much you spent today?”

Colleen shrugged. “He’ll get over it. Come on, let’s go get an early dinner.”

Vera grimaced. “I promised my sister I’d babysit tonight.”

“It’s just now five,” Colleen said. “And the store closes at six. Come on, it’ll be fun. My treat!”

She hardly had to twist the girl’s arm. Vera ordered the club sandwich and Colleen had the chicken salad plate, and at Colleen’s insistence, they each had a glass of Chablis.