The Master Plan (2009) (12 page)

"He must have gone to jail as a juvenile," Dana said.

"That's right. He was sixteen, but they tried him as an
adult."

Dana forced herself to ask the next question although she
was already pretty sure she didn't want to hear the answer.
"What did he do?"

"He and his older brother held up a bank. They got a bundle of money and took a woman hostage to ensure their getaway. The woman was found dead a few hours later.
Eventually, the Hunter boys were arrested but the money
was never recovered. They claimed the woman's death was
an accident, but they both got twenty-five years to life. His
brother is still in prison, but Tony was a model prisoner and
got out early for good behavior."

Bruno stopped talking and let Dana digest the information he was giving her. Her hazel eyes turned to brown as
the thoughts she was having darkened them.

"Where did this happen?"

"In Chicago."

"He seemed a little concerned last night when he found
out you were a cop. Do you think that's why he rushed Casey
off to Vegas to get married?"

"That's exactly what I think," Bruno said solemnly.

Dana leaned back in her chair. "Do you think that Casey
could be in danger?"

"I don't know. I do know that he's probably not really a
rich guy. There's no record of him working the last two years
so his money may be running out by now. Three hundred
thousand dollars doesn't go as far as it would have twenty
years ago"

"Wasn't the Chicago police watching him when he got
out of jail to see if he went to get the missing money?"

Bruno laughed softly. "In a big city like Chicago, guys like
Hunter just fall through the cracks. No one would even remember the case or the fact that the money was never recovered"

"Right," Dana agreed. "Oh God, Bruno. What am I going to do? Casey sounded so happy on the phone. This will
destroy her."

"No one says you have to tell her."

Dana jumped to her feet. "And let her be married to a criminal? A murderer?"

Bruno got up and walked over to Dana. He put his arms
around her and held her close. "Listen, sweets, Hunter was a
kid when the crime happened. As far as we know, he's stayed
out of trouble since being released from prison."

"Except for using stolen money to live on," Dana said.

"Except for that. But after spending all those years in jail,
the guy probably felt he'd paid his debt to society and the
money was his to keep"

Another thought struck Dana and she pulled away from
Bruno. "What if his money is running out and that's why he
married Casey? He could be after her money"

"How much does she have?"

"I don't know, but when she gets back to town, I'm going
to find out"

"Are you going to tell her about Hunter's past?"

Dana's eyes filled with tears and she let Bruno pull her
close again. "I'm hoping she already knows."

"You think that Casey would have married him if she
knew?"

"Maybe. It's like Bob said just before Flannery came
bursting in here. He said that Casey has never been in love
before and women in love do all kinds of crazy things."

"Except for you," Bruno said. "I keep hoping but ..."

Dana smiled in spite of her concern for Casey. "Don't
lose hope, big guy," she replied.

The very next day, Del decided that he had better push
up the date for Judy Porter's showing just in case Bruno
was able to break her alibi.

"I still don't think Judy is guilty," Del told Dana when he
called to tell her that the show was scheduled for the next
Saturday. "But just to be on the safe side I've switched Judy's
showing with another artist."

"I'm sorry, Del. With Casey still off on her honeymoon,
we're shorthanded and I haven't had time to look into any
more leads on the Porter case."

"It's okay, darling. To be honest, the continued publicity
the case is getting has stirred more than the usual interest in
Judy's showing."

"And if I were to be honest, I'd have to admit that I really
don't have any leads to look into at the moment"

"Will you be bringing Bruno to the showing?"

"Not if it will make Judy uncomfortable."

"It would make Judy uncomfortable"

"He'll probably have to work anyway. With his mother
coming for a visit soon, he's trying to clear his desk so he can
spend more time with her."

"All right, darling. I'll see you Saturday."

Dana hung up hoping that Bruno would indeed have to
work on Saturday night so she wouldn't have to tell him he
couldn't come to the gallery with her.

A few minutes later, Marianne came in to tell Dana that
she was wanted in Sam McGowan's office.

Dana had been looking at a file on a new case involving an
apartment complex in Pine Grove City. One of the tenants
had called the paper and reported that her landlady was hiding aliens in an empty apartment in the basement. Bob had
gone over to speak to the woman thinking that she was referring to illegal aliens from another country. Instead the woman
claimed the aliens were from another planet. Bob's report
was quite amusing as he described his trek into the basement
to look for the aliens, but Dana would have to finish reading
it later.

A man Dana had never seen before was already seated in
Sam's office when Dana came through the door. Both men
rose and Sam introduced Dana to Benjamin Hughes, who
turned out to be Floyd Flannery's lawyer.

"I'm sorry to meet you under these adverse circumstances,"
Hughes said as he shook Dana's hand. "I understand my client
caused a scene in your office yesterday."

"To put it mildly," Dana replied.

Hughes waited until Dana was seated before he sat down
again. Sam hadn't budged from his chair and Dana knew he
was probably getting impatient for the meeting to begin.

"Mr. Hughes has a deal he wants to make with us," Sam
said.

"Yes. My client is very sorry for yesterday's incident and
sends his sincere apologies."

"Did he spend the night in jail?"

"Yes. By the time all the paperwork was processed, it was
too late for a bail hearing."

"So he sobered up and sent you here to get us to drop the
charges against him," Sam said impatiently.

"Mr. Flannery still feels that your paper slandered him and
caused irreparable harm to his business. However, in light
of his lack of good judgment yesterday, he has decided not
to proceed with the lawsuit providing that your newspaper
and staff members will drop the charges against him."

"We received several complaints about Mr. Flannery's
business practices," Dana said firmly. "Our investigation
proved that the complaints were valid and that's what we reported. Your client doesn't have a case"

Benjamin Hughes smiled at Dana. "You have a very good
reputation, Miss Sloan. I'm actually a big fan of yours, but
please consider the time, energy, and money that will be expended on a lawsuit."

Dana turned to her editor. "It's Sam's call."

"I'll talk to our lawyer and get back to you," Sam said
curtly. "Thanks for stopping by."

Sam's obvious attempt at dismissal didn't seem to affect
Hughes, who remained seated. "I really hope we can come to
an agreement on this. Mr. Flannery is a decent, hardworking
man and-"

Sam stood up. "Mr. Hughes, I don't take kindly to peo pie who threaten my staff and if you want my answer to
your proposition, it's no. However, I will present it to the
Globe's legal advisors. You'll hear from them directly."

The lawyer reluctantly got to his feet, nodded to Dana
and left the office. After he was gone, Sam sat down again
and waited for Dana to voice her opinion.

"It seems rather odd for Hughes to come to us directly,"
Dana said. "Why didn't he just speak to our lawyers?"

"He probably has already and didn't get anywhere so he
came to me hoping I'd go along with his plan."

"Maybe we'd better do a background check on Flannery
and see if he could be truly dangerous," Dana suggested.

"I've already got that in the works," Sam told her. "Did
Del call you about Judy Porter's art show?"

"Yes. I assume you and Emily are going?"

"I'm afraid so. I hope Bruno is going to be there."

"Sorry," Dana said. "He doesn't like the shows any more
than you do, and Del would prefer he not be there to make
his artist uncomfortable."

"I can understand that. Did you learn anything new on
the case?"

"I haven't had time to work on it with Casey on her honeymoon. Fortunately for Judy Porter, Bruno hasn't uncovered any new incriminating evidence, either."

"When is Casey coming back?"

"Friday night, I think. I'm hoping to have a chance to talk
to her Saturday before the art show."

"Did Bruno check out the new husband for you?"

Dana nodded. "He did, and that's what I need to speak to
Casey about"

Sam cocked his head to one side. "Sounds serious."

"Maybe not," Dana said brightly. She stood up. "I'd better get back to the office."

Sam stood up and walked her to the door. "I guess you
don't want to tell me what Bruno found out."

"No, I don't," Dana answered honestly. "Not before I talk
to Casey about it."

Sam accepted her answer and watched Dana hurry out of
his office and across the newsroom like she couldn't wait to
put distance between them.

A few blocks away, Floyd Flannery and Ben Hughes
were leaving the courthouse.

"My wife didn't even show up for the hearing," Floyd
complained to his lawyer. "She's probably had the locks on
the house changed already."

"Janine is upset," Ben told him. "This isn't the first time
she's had to bail you out. She had to go to her brother for
the money she needed for the bondsman."

"She could have put the house up for collateral. That's
what she did the last time."

"I advised her not to do that," Ben told him calmly.

Floyd's face flushed with anger. "Why the hell would you
do that?"

Ben stopped walking and faced his irate client. "Because
you're in big trouble this time, Floyd. I talked to the lawyers
for the Globe and they're not going to make a deal. There's
going to be a trial and you may go to prison. Janine is going
to need the equity in your house for your legal bills and her
living expenses"

"It's all that reporter's fault. So what if I told people they needed extra work on their cars? The stuff I replaced needed
replacing. Since that story came out in the paper, my business
has gone right in the toilet."

Ben looked at his watch. "Don't blame anyone else for
your problems, Floyd. The reporter was just following up
on the complaints they got about you."

"If I ever catch up with that broad . .

"Shut up, Floyd. You're not going to do anything but go
home and stay there"

"And if I don't?" Flannery asked belligerently.

"You'll be back in jail and using a public defender."

Hughes turned and walked away, leaving his client standing on the street corner shaking with rage.

Casey woke up early and ventured into Tony's kitchen.
Their flight from Las Vegas had gotten in at 8 p.m. the night
before. From the airport they had gone to Casey's mom's
house. Nina Jordan had greeted them rather coolly. She was
obviously upset that her only daughter had chosen to elope
rather than let Nina have the pleasure of planning a nice wedding.

Casey smiled as she remembered how Tony had refused
to be put off by Nina's attitude and outdid himself in the
charm department. They took Nina to dinner and by dessert
she was beaming at her new son-in-law, her disappointment
about the way they had gotten married forgotten. Nina had
quickly convinced herself that the most important thing was
that Casey had found herself a wealthy husband and would
never again have to struggle financially the way Nina had.

Strangely enough, Nina Jordan had never questioned her
daughter's sudden progression into the elite world of the country club set. She was elated to see Casey shed her old
image and take an active interest in fashionable clothes, modem hairstyles, and beauty products. When Casey brought
Tony home to meet her for the first time, Nina thought all the
dreams she had secretly harbored for Casey were going to
come true.