Worth More Dead

was of the ultimate importance to Teresa. She had continued to stay in touch with Bob Costello. He knew about Teresa’s life since they’d parted and was devoted to his daughter. Now Teresa called him to tell him that Lori would have to live with him and his wife. He agreed.
    And so Teresa had moved into a lovely apartment on Louisiana Street. Her stay there may have been the longest she had ever lived in a home of her own. Despite her hardscrabble life, she had good taste, and she wanted expensive furniture and paintings.
    It was ironic that for the moment having a home meant more than having her daughter. Teresa herself had been abandoned; now, as much as she loved Lori, she abandoned her, choosing to be with Justyn no matter what the cost. She may have reasoned that once she married her wealthy benefactor she would be in a financial position to take better care of Lori.
    Or maybe Teresa didn’t reason at all. Her mind flitted from one thing to another. She was no longer working as a car saleswoman. In some IQ tests she took over the years of child custody suits, she hadn’t scored very high, but there was too much cleverness in her to downplay her native intelligence.
    Now she no longer had to work if she agreed to Justyn Rosen’s terms for his support. She told herself that this was just an interim thing. Teresa wanted to live in a big house the way he and his wife did. She wanted to be taken care of for the rest of her life.
    At 14, Lori detested J.R. If it weren’t for him, she would still be living with her mother, and it was natural that she resented him.
    Being his mistress worked for a while, and Teresa was placated by the easy life she was living. It wasn’t as if she were with Justyn just for the money, either. She really believed that she loved him with all her heart. As long as she had hope for their future, she could be sweet and accommodating. She still wanted to marry him. But as the century turned and nothing changed, and she saw Justyn grow older and older, she began to doubt him.
    It was as if her daddy was leaving her again, abandoning her no matter how much she loved and needed him. The tighter Teresa clung to Justyn, the more uncomfortable he became. He had seen her temper now and how venomous she could be in an argument. Her beauty wasn’t enough to make up for the ugliness she exhibited when she was angry.
     
    As the seasons changed and coolness crept into Colorado in September 2003, there was a sense of finality in Teresa Perez and Justyn Rosen’s relationship. He was 79 and quite probably suffering from cancer. No longer the virile, vigorous man he was seven years before when he was entranced with Teresa’s beauty and facade of charm, he wanted only to be free of her. She would not let him go. She threatened to commit suicide or expose their relationship to his wife and family.
    Teresa was just as frightened as Justyn was. What would she do without him? She was forty. She had a lot of things; her apartment was lavish and furnished impeccably. She had always kept it clean; she’d seen enough clutter and dirty houses when she was a foster child. And she wanted it to be perfect when her lover dropped by. But he didn’t come over anymore, and she realized that she really had nothing. On her own she couldn’t pay the $800 a month rent, and she had no particular skills.
    She had already played one of her top cards: she sent a letter to Justyn’s wife, thinking that would end his marriage. But it didn’t. After sixty years, his wife was not going to let him go.
    In the summer of 2003, Teresa warned him that she was prepared to do more. She had pictures and places and dates that she intended to send to his daughters and to other members of his family and his friends. If he tried to leave her, she would send them and reveal his secrets to the community where he was used to being revered and respected.
    Her threats were those of a woman who lived in her own world, who was delusional and desperate. At his wits’end, Rosen contacted a lawyer to see if he could obtain a restraining order that would shut Teresa out of his life. He said that she was stalking him. She left terrible messages on his answering machine, and wherever he drove, he felt that she was following him.
    Craig Silverman, the lawyer retained by Justyn Rosen, sent Teresa a registered letter on September 15. It contained a stern warning. He told her that she had to stop calling or writing Justyn or his family. Having