The Master Plan (2009) (14 page)

"What's wrong, Casey?" Dana said firmly. "Has something happened between you and Tony?"

Casey nodded and began wiping her face and nose with
a tissue. Dana reached behind her and handed Casey the
box she kept on the end table next to the sofa.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart like this," Casey
muttered.

"Just tell me what happened," Dana said. "Did he hurt
you?"

"Tony wants a divorce."

"A divorce? You haven't even been married a week."

"I know, but I've been deceiving him from the beginning
and now that he knows the truth he doesn't want me anymore.
I thought he loved me. I thought he would understand"

Dana was struggling to make sense of what Casey was
saying. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Casey.
You'd better start at the beginning and tell me everything."

Casey nodded and took a deep breath. "We got back last
night and went to see my mom. Then we went to my place
and I packed up most of my clothes and we moved everything over to Tony's apartment. Everything was wonderful.
I was so happy."

"Okay," Dana said slowly. "Then what happened?"

"This morning, I discovered that Tony had nothing in the
house to eat, so I suggested that we go to the grocery store.
We got in his car and drove over to Sunflower Market. It's
close to Tony's place. That's where we saw Carmen."

"Who's Carmen?"

"My girlfriend. We went to high school together and were
roommates at college. Anyway, she was very excited when I
told her Tony and I had just gotten married. We were at the checkout counter and the girl was ringing up our groceries.
Then, Tony discovered he hadn't brought his wallet with him
to pay for all the groceries we bought. I had my checkbook
with me, so I wrote a check for the groceries and we went
home. I was upset because I knew there wasn't enough
money in my account to cover the check I wrote."

"Your paycheck is at the office," Dana told her. "If it will
help we can go over and pick it up so you can put it in the
bank right away."

"I know, but Tony saw that I was upset and we started
talking about our finances and I broke down and told him
about the master plan."

Now Dana was really confused. "The master plan," she
repeated. "What on earth is that?"

"It's a crazy, stupid thing Carmen and I and Cathy thought
up one night."

"Tell me about it," Dana said.

"It's really embarrassing."

"I don't care, Casey," Dana told her. "I can't help you if
I don't know the whole story."

Casey nodded and told Dana about the scheme she and her
two friends had devised to meet and marry rich husbands.
When she was finished, Dana got up and began to pace.

"That's a pretty dramatic twist," Dana said, trying not to
sound too judgmental. "All this time you've been trying to
check Tony out to make sure he was who he appeared to be,
while you were pretending to be somebody you're not."

"I told you it was embarrassing," Casey said. "But as crazy
as it sounds, it actually worked. I met Tony and Carmen is
dating his golfing buddy, Fred, and Cathy is hot and heavy
with the club's tennis pro"

"All three of you are nuts," Dana exclaimed. "Do the guys
Carmen and Cathy are dating know about the plan?"

"No, but it doesn't matter. Fred and what's his name know
the girls came to the club as my guests and have accepted the
fact that they aren't rich, like I'm supposed to be"

"It seems to me that you took all the risks, Casey."

"I knew that up front. I guess I should have told Tony the
truth from the beginning. I'm sure it's the fact that I've been
lying to him since we met that really made him angry."

"What if you found out that Tony had been lying to you
too?"

"I love him, Dana. I would forgive him and I thought he
felt the same about me. I guess it's just as well he found out
now. I couldn't keep up the pretense much longer. He's been
telling me I should quit my job so we could have children.
That and the way he spends money convinced me he had
enough money for us to live on without me ever having to
work again."

"All right," Dana said. "So you told Tony that you're actually a poor working girl and he reacted badly."

"He literally threw me out of his apartment. He said I was
nothing but a gold digger and he never wanted to see me
again" Dana thought Casey might start crying again, but she
squared her shoulders and tossed her head defiantly. "Well,
you know what? He is going to see me again. I have to go
back there and get my things." Casey stood up and grabbed
at her coat. "Will you come with me?"

"Hold on, Casey," Dana said. "You confessed your scheme
to Tony, but I take it you still don't know anything about his
background ""

"No, I don't, and at this point, I don't care. I think he married me for the money he thought I had, which means he's not
what he seems to be, either. Boy, that would be the real twist"

"Yes, it will be," Dana said softly. "Put your coat down,
Casey. I'm going to make a pot of coffee. You and I have a
lot more to talk about"

Dana had invited Marianne to come to the gallery showing that evening. Marianne's boyfriend, Greg, was at a seminar in Chicago. Greg was a policeman turned social worker
who worked with teenagers trying to keep them out of trouble and harm's way.

Marianne had offered to drive to the gallery because she
had a vehicle with four-wheel drive and they were predicting more snow for that evening. She picked Dana up at 7:30.
The first thing Marianne asked when Dana got into the Jeep
was whether she had heard from Casey.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she came by earlier today,"
Dana said carefully.

"So, how's she doing?"

"She's okay," Dana lied. "I'm sure she'll want to tell you
everything herself when she comes back to the office on
Monday."

Marianne stopped at a traffic light and turned to look at
Dana, who was casually gazing out her window. "I'll bet
Casey is just glowing, isn't she?"

"Not exactly," Dana replied, not wanting to give Marianne the details, but not wanting to mislead her either.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing earth-shattering," Dana replied. "She and Tony had a squabble, but I'm sure they've worked things out by
now."

"Oh, I see," Marianne said smugly. "It's probably just a
lover's quarrel. All couples go through that."

Dana laughed. "Bruno and I have one almost every day."

"Greg and I had one on our third date, but we kissed and
made up and things have been great ever since."

"What kind of seminar is he attending in Chicago?" Dana
asked. She was grateful to have been able to maneuver the
subject away from Casey. Dana could still see the stunned
expression and the hurt in Casey's eyes when Dana told her
what Bruno had uncovered about Tony Hunter.

"No wonder we could only trace him back a few years,"
Casey had finally said. "That's when he got out of prison."

Casey's shock had quickly turned to anger as she realized
the secrets that Tony had been keeping from her were a lot
more serious than the one she had been keeping from him.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Casey said, jumping
off the stool she had been sitting on at Dana's kitchen
counter. "I've been an investigator for almost five years; I
know better."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Casey," Dana had told
her. "You fell in love and love makes us want to believe the
best about our partner."

"And he had the nerve to call me a gold digger," Casey
said softly. "He's a thief and a murderer. I'll bet that money
he's been throwing around is from the bank he robbed."

It took Dana more than an hour to get Casey calmed down.
Finally, she got Casey to agree that she should not confront
Tony until she took some time to think everything through. Casey left Dana's apartment, promising to go to her own
apartment to think things through.

"I'm going to the show at Pitman Gallery," Dana told her
friend. "Call me on my cell phone if you need me."

As Marianne chattered on about Greg and the work he
was doing with teenagers, Dana's cell phone rang.

"Excuse me," Dana said as she pulled the phone out of
her purse and answered it.

"Hi, sweets. Where are you?" Bruno said cheerfully.

"I'm with Marianne. We're on the way to Judy Porter's
show at the gallery."

"Oh, yeah. The one I'm not invited to attend"

"That's right," Dana replied. "You're working, remember?"

"Yes, I am, and I'm making some real progress tonight."

"Really? On what case?"

"Can't tell you, honey. I'll be done about nine. I thought
I'd drop by the gallery and pick you up ""

"Okay, but promise me you'll wait for me in the parking
lot. I don't want you coming inside and upsetting Judy.
This is a big night for her and for Del too."

"It may turn out to be bigger than she expected."

"What does that mean?"

"I've got another call. I'll see you later."

Bruno hung up and Dana stared at her phone. "He's
going to cause trouble," she said instinctively.

"For Judy Porter?" Marianne asked.

"I think so"

"Uh-oh. Do you think he's found some new evidence?"

"Probably. He was much too cheerful."

"Are you going to warn Del?"

"No. It would just upset him"

Marianne drove into the parking lot of the gallery. It was
already filled with cars. "There's Sam's car," she said.

"Good. He and Emily can help us with Del if Bruno comes
in and spoils the party."

The gallery was filled with people that Dana and Marianne often read about in the Globe's social pages. Del Pitman had a golden reputation and the elite of Crescent Hills
always turned up for his parties.

Dana looked around, wondering how many people in the
crowd were members of Crescent Hills Country Club and
knew Tony and Casey. Dana was worried about Casey and
what was going to happen between her investigator and her
new husband. Then, Dana spotted Judy Porter standing in
the middle of the exhibit room, meeting and greeting the
people who had come to view her paintings. The artist looked
like she had just stepped out of a Swiss village with blond
braids piled on top of her head and a long white dress embroidered with colorful flowers. Her friend Teddy was hovering close behind her. Dressed in a tuxedo, Teddy looked
taller and more confident than he had when Dana had first
met him.

"What a mess," Dana muttered.

"What?" Marianne asked.

"Nothing. Let's find Sam and Emily," Dana suggested.

"I want to look at the paintings first," Marianne said. "I'll
catch up with you at the buffet table. I'm sure that's where
Sam is hanging out"

"I'd better say hello to Judy first," Dana decided. "Come
on, I'll introduce you"

Judy Porter greeted Dana with a hug. "I'm so glad you're
here," she whispered in Dana's ear. "I'm a nervous wreck"
Dana introduced the artist to Marianne, who said hello and
then quickly moved off to look at the art display.

Teddy came up to Judy and Dana. "Hi, Teddy," Dana said,
offering her hand.

"Hi, Miss Sloan. It's nice to see you again."

"Is your mother here?" Dana asked.

"No. She said she didn't have the proper clothes to mingle with the rich folks. My suit is rented"

Dana smiled at his boyish honesty. "You look very nice."

Another couple came up to talk to Judy, so Dana excused
herself and went to find Sam. As Marianne had predicted,
he was standing next to the buffet table with a plate of
canapes in each hand.

"Are you extra hungry?" Dana asked, taking a place next
to him.

"Here," he offered one of the plates to Dana. "Emily took
off again and I can't eat my food while I'm holding hers. She
can get her own when she comes back."

Dana shrugged and popped one of the canapes in her
mouth. It was a cracker with some kind of gooey cheese on
top of it. "Thanks. I'm starving," she said as she followed
the cracker with a mushroom she dipped in ranch dressing.
"How's it going?"

"You know how I feel about these things. Where's Bruno?"
In the past, Sam and Bruno had found a corner where they
could talk sports while Emily and Dana enjoyed the artwork.

"He's working, but he hinted that he might show up here
and I think it may have something to do with the Porter case"

"New evidence?"

"That's what he hinted at on the phone. I was thinking
that maybe you could watch for him and talk him into waiting until the show is over before he makes a scene"

Sam laughed softly. "Dana, you're the only one who has
any influence over Detective Al Bruno."

"Then I guess there's going to be a scene" Dana's cell
phone rang again. "I hope this isn't him," she said as she
clicked the phone on. It wasn't Bruno. It was Casey and she
was hysterical. "Casey, slow down. I can't understand you"

"He's dead," Casey sobbed. "Tony is dead"