The phone on the other end of the bar starts to ring. RJ turns and looks at it, wondering who the heck is calling at this hour. Sighing, he goes to answer it.

"Friggin' Max..." he mutters, picking it up. "Indigo," he says, irked.

"RJ? Is that you?" a woman's voice asks. RJ is suddenly interested, putting on his velvety voice.

"Why yes...who might THIS be?"

"Oh, puhleeze, RJ...it's Tea."

Back at Llanfair, Tea stands in the kitchen, talking to him as Viki looks on.

Over at the club, RJ does a take. "Tea? Hey, girl...the hell you doin' calling at THIS hour?"

"I need to see you...as soon as possible."

RJ takes note of her tone. "Sounds serious...what's up?"

On the other end, Tea shakes her head. "I'm not gonna get into it on the phone, but...suffice to say... you were right."

There's a pause, as RJ tries to figure out what he was right about. He blinks a couple of times, gradually remembering...he puts his coffee down, grasping the phone.

"Are you alright? Did he do something to you?"

"No, I'm fine, really...but, yeah, he certainly did do SOMETHING. I'm just glad I figured it out now. Anyway, I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, yeah, sure...why don't you come by here...we're gonna close soon anyway. Then we can talk privately."

Tea nods. "Okay, yeah...that sounds good. So, what...like, an hour?"

RJ looks around at the remaining patrons. "Yeah, that's fine. See you then. Be CAREFUL."

Tea smiles. "You know it." She hangs up, taking a deep breath and offering Viki a smile.

Viki gets curious. "So what's all this with RJ?"

Tea walks back to the table, and sits down. "RJ...is probably the best friend I ever had. He told me this would happen."

Viki comes over and sits down too, nodding, but still curious. "Mmmm. But...I see those wheels turning...got a plan?"

Tea grins. "You could say that, yeah. But I need RJ's help tying up loose ends."

Tea pulls up to the back of Club Indigo around 2AM. She looks around before getting out of the car. Just then, the door opens and RJ appears. He sees her and waves. Tea waves back, grabbing her purse and quickly getting out of the car. They both look around, suddenly suspicious now, with their new found knowledge. Tea sprints to the door and RJ pulls her inside, slamming the door.

They walk back to the dimly lit bar area, going to one of the tables. Tea sighs heavily as she takes her coat off and throws it on a chair. She sits down and looks at RJ, who leans in, resting his elbows on the table.

"So..."

Tea bites her lip, shaking her head. "RJ, when you're right, you're RIGHT."

"What happened? He say something to you to tip you off?"

She shakes her head again. "No...no, it's a lot worse than that," she says, taking out the plane ticket and laying it on the table. He picks it up.

"A ticket to...Great Falls...Montana...for Viki? What the hell is THIS?"

Tea leans on the table, resting her head in her hand. "Remember that key?" He nods.

"Well...John found out that it opened a locker at the bus station. He had his OWN copy made so he could do the legwork himself...at least, that's what he told ME."

RJ starts to do a slow take, realizing what she's going to say.

"It would seem that Todd left a plane ticket for ME in that locker...but when I got to it, it wasn't there."

"...and the good detective said nothing of it I bet," he says, shaking his head slowly.

Tea runs a hand through her hair. "He denied even looking inside, but...he took it, RJ...I just know it. God, I can't BELIEVE I didn't catch on to that."

"Not that I don't agree, but...how do you KNOW Todd left you anything?"

"There was a note with Viki's ticket that said so."

RJ pushes back from the table. "Man...I KNEW that sonofabitch was no good. Have you run into him yet?"

"No...I haven't seen him since I left work. I shoulda known something was wrong THEN, too...it was like I was being interrogated or something."

He folds his arms. "What are you going to do?"

Tea chews on her lip some. "THAT'S what I'm trying to figure out. But I HAVE to go...that's for sure."

"Go where? Montana with Viki?" "Not with Viki...by myself. She gave me her ticket to go in her place."

"Is THAT where Todd's been holding up?"

She nods. RJ grins.

"Hmmm. Well...Todd DOES kinda seem like the militia type. I can see him living off the land and sending letter bombs to college professors...wearing one of those coonskin hats with the tail hangin' off the back..."

In spite of the seriousness of the conversation, Tea busts out laughing, falling down on the table. RJ cracks up too. She finally sits back up again, holding her gut.

"Oh...oh, man...now THAT'S an image...oh, wow."

As she calms down, she looks deeply into RJ's eyes.

"I am REALLY gonna miss you, Gannon."

He smiles a sad smile back, then gets up, pulling his chair over next to her and sitting back down. He folds his arms and leans against her.

"Are you...sure about this?"

"About what?"

"Leaving town in a big ol' hurry to be with the guy who dissed you in front of the ENTIRE TOWN on your WEDDING DAY."

Tea tips her head to one side to look at him. She smiles again, with a knowing look.

"RJ...are you just trying to get me to stay?"

He cocks his head to the side to look at HER, pausing a moment.

"Well...yeah. I don't want you to go, Tea...but...if this IS what you want..."

She leans back in, closer to him so their heads are touching now, resting a hand on his arm and whispering.

"It's not what I WANT. I have NO idea what this says about me, but it's what I NEED. I love him, RJ...even after all that."

He looks down a second, a little hurt.

"But you can't SAVE him, Tea...I thought you learned that the hard way already."

"I did...and I know better than to try that again. He has to do it himself...but he WON'T...unless he has support."

"Of course it has to be YOU." He rolls his eyes. Tea nods, bumping him. He sighs.

"So...I guess the question is...how can we get you outta here without waking up the police dog?"

Tea nods. "Yeah, there's that...but there's something ELSE I need to do first...something I need YOUR help with."

He looks at her questioningly. "Shoot."

She bites her lip again, turning her body toward him. "I need to see Starr."

He does a take. "Starr? Well...I don't know how *I* could possibly..."

"You're friends with Dorian, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Here's what I was thinking on the way over..." she interrupts. "YOU go and 'visit' Dorian...and keep her busy while I sneak in and find Starr."

RJ nods slowly. "Could work...but what about Blair?"

"Well, Blair's hardly ever home, if I know her. But I'm sure Viki could keep her VERY busy if we needed her to."

He takes a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah...okay. I don't see why it wouldn't work...AS LONG AS you're careful. If she catches us, there'll be hell to pay."

Tea checks out the ticket. "Ooooh. I don't have much time."

"When do you leave?"

"Day after tomorrow...or would that BE tomorrow now? Damn. Okay, I guess we'd better plan on Dorian's tomorrow evening...I mean, THIS evening."

He nods. "Yeah, okay...I'll meet you at the house...YOU stay outta sight until you see me go inside. I'll make sure the door's left open, and..."

Then he pauses, thinking a moment. "Okay...after you're done with Starr, call Dorian's phone. When she answers, hang up. That way I'll know you're done. And DON'T take forever with the kid, okay?"

Tea smiles, then suddenly, frowns. "Ohhhh, man...Hank's not gonna like me very much."

RJ puts his hands up. "Hey...that's YOUR deal, girl."

Tea goes for her cell phone, then hesitates. "Oh, God, it's so late...he'd kill me."

"He'd probably wanna kill you even MORE if you left without saying anything."

"Do you think I should tell him about John?"

RJ raises an eyebrow. "Well...if you don't want the jerk finding out you're gone, you'd BETTER."

Tea sighs, then nods. "Right. What's his number at home?"

At 7AM, Carlotta Vega goes to the entrance of her diner and unlocks the door. She barely gets two steps back to the counter when Tea comes busting in, hyper from nervous energy and three hours' sleep. Carlotta whirls around in surprise.

"Oh my God, you scared me!"

Tea runs up and hugs her. Her hair is still a little wet from the shower. "Hi, sorry."

"What are you doing here this early?"

Before Tea can answer, Hank Gannon strolls in, his raincoat flowing in behind him. He sees the two women, nods at Carlotta and looks at Tea.

"This better be GOOD, Tea. It took me an hour to get back to sleep."

Tea half-smiles, motioning for Hank to take a seat at the booth by them. She turns to Carlotta, not quite knowing how to start. Carlotta frowns.

"Oh, God, what is it...what's going on?"

Tea sits down across from Hank. She looks up at Carlotta. "Have a seat."

Carlotta rolls her head to one side, bracing, as she sits down next to her. There's a silence as they look at Tea, who takes a deep breath, as she prepares to go through the whole thing again.

About half an hour later, Sykes walks by the big window on his way in to the diner. He stops short when he sees the three of them inside. He watches them talking for a moment, wondering what's going on. He makes a face, suspicious...then walks in.

Tea cuts herself off, mid-sentence. All three heads turn and look at him. Then Tea glances at the other two, and quickly smiles to cover things up.

"Hey, John..."

"Counselor...Hank...Ms. Vega. Did I interrupt something?"

Instinctively, Carlotta gets up and walks to the counter. "Na, not at all...just catching up. Can I get you something?"

"Uh...yeah, some of that great coffee of yours...to go."

"Sure..." She gives Tea a nervous look, then goes through the swinging door to the kitchen.

Tea shoots a look at Hank as Sykes strolls over to them. Quickly concealing, she smiles up at Sykes, who stands over her, leaning on the booth.

"You guys get going early."

Tea opens her mouth, but Hank decides to jump in, looking over Sykes coolly.

"Yeah, well...sometimes the most productive meetings are BEFORE 9AM."

Tea pats the seat next to her. "Wanna sit?"

Sykes smiles back at her, still a little wary, but caught off guard by their casual response.

"Oh, I'd love to, but I gotta get over to the station. Maybe later?"

She makes sure her voice sounds super-sweet. "Well, I'm in and out all day...but stop by."

He nods, as Carlotta comes back out with the coffee. "Here you go."

Sykes turns, handing her a buck. "Thanks. I'll see you both later, then?"

Hank and Tea nod, and she waves as he heads back out. Tea slowly turns back to Hank, who's casually watching out the window after him. Finally...

"He's gone."

Tea lets out a breath, as does Carlotta, who sits down next to Tea and wraps an arm around her.

"Tea...are you SURE about him? He seems so..."

"Nice?"

Carlotta shrugs. Tea pats her hand.

"Yeah, well...that's what *I* thought too."

Hank leans in. "So when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning...early."

He shakes his head. "Thanks for the sufficient notice."

"Hank, I'm so sorry...but I just found out about all this last night. You KNOW I wouldn't go unless it was important. Don't worry, I'll go through all my pending stuff today and tonight, and make sure it's all in order."

Carlotta turns Tea's head to face her. "Tea..."

"I KNOW, Carlotta, I know. But no one is FORCING me to go. This is MY decision...not Todd's."

The three share a moment, out of things to say. Then Hank checks his watch and gets up, putting his coat back on.

"Well, I'd better get crackin' if I'm gonna find a replacement for you."

Carlotta and Tea get up. Tea steps up to Hank, exchanging glances...then Tea stands on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him into a big hug. Hank smiles, patting her back before pulling away. He speaks softly.

"Be CAREFUL, Tea...Sykes won't hear anything from me, but...he's not stupid. He'll figure things out pretty fast."

Tea nods as he walks past her toward the door. "Thank you, Hank...for everything."

He turns and gives her a last smile. "Don't stay away forever."

Then he waves to Carlotta and walks out. The two women turn and look at each other. At a loss, Carlotta grabs Tea and hugs her tightly, rocking her back and forth.

"Oh, mija...are you sure?"

Resting on her shoulder, Tea's eyes mist up. She rubs Carlotta's back affectionately, then holds her away. They look into each other deeply, and Carlotta gets her answer. She nods back at Tea, tearing up.

Without a word, Tea puts her coat on and heads for the door. She turns and looks back at the closest thing to a mom she's ever had. Biting her lip, she waves. Carlotta smiles sadly and waves back, just as a few new customers walk in.

Tea turns and leaves quickly, before she loses her nerve, and before Carlotta can see her cry.

To be continued....