Another Man's Son

by Glenys O'Connell

  “Bertie Hanover’s been an itch under my skin since he blew into this town on an ill wind. Bullied the workers, harassed the women employees to the point where they tried never to be alone with him. Of course, a little light flirtation’s not against the law, according to Hanover. None of the women wanted to go ahead and complain publicly because that would put their jobs at risk. Many of them are the breadwinner of the family since The Cannery’s been laying men off.” Lawton finished his beer and put the bottle on the floor beneath his chair.

  “Then there’s the union busting. A couple years ago, some guys got together and tried to form a union chapter at the factory. Self-protection, really. The concept of workers’ rights was a bit beyond the Morgans. Anyway, they had fire in their bellies and they were going to fight for a better deal, a better life. The American Way.” Lawton paused, scowling at a memory that soured his stomach.

  “Let me guess…the Morgans weren’t too sympathetic?” Ben prompted.

  Lawton snorted. “The leader, Brent Sampson, disappeared—blew town and hasn’t been seen since. I doubt we’ll ever know what happened. A couple of them had ‘accidents,’ one of them, Jason Miller, was left permanently crippled. Peter Levingston’s brakes failed on his ancient pickup truck. It was only by the grace of God he wasn’t killed. A couple of others turned up with broken arms or smashed fingers. All apparently ‘accidents.’ Like a whole boatload of clumsy just pelted down on the town out of a clear blue sky.”

  “So what happened? What did you do?”

  “What could I do? The guys insisted they’d had accidents, and no-one has bothered with unionizing since. I had a quiet word with old man Morgan, who insisted he had no idea what was going on. I had a slightly louder word with Bertie Hanover, who laughed in my face. The mean bastard had an alibi for every incident.”

  “You think he was behind all this?”

  “Things began to happen when he arrived in town. The Morgans have always been tough employers. Not what you’d call enlightened, by any means. But when the old man handed a lot of the power over to that nasty piece of work he calls his son, things really got bad. That’s when Hanover was given the foreman’s job and hired a bunch of his disreputable buddies. Though how he qualified for management, I don’t know. By my inquiry, he’s never done an honest day’s work in his life.”

  “So why are charges still being dropped against Hanover?” Ben’s voice was hard, and Lawton met his words with a dark glare.

  “Just what are you suggesting, son?”

  “I’m just wondering why, when the sheriff is so sure these men were involved in criminal activity, sure enough to charge them, that the same sheriff then drops the charges. “

  He thought for a moment that Lawton was going to haul off and hit him. The man’s face went redder than the blooms on his prize geraniums. That was all the answer Ben needed, even before the sheriff spoke.

  ‘‘I hope you’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, Asher, because you’d be more wrong than you could imagine. I did charge Hanover. I was sure of my ground. I collected evidence. But evidence sometimes has a way of disappearing when it goes over to the county seat, and county prosecutors looking for their continued health and livelihood are nervous about prosecuting someone as connected as Hanover without pretty solid evidence.”

  “So the evidence went missing? And someone leaned on the DA’s office?”

  “That’s all I can figure, not that I ever had any proof of it. It’s not something you’d shout from the rooftops, that you were smudging evidence because someone rich and powerful wanted you to?” Lawton stood and walked over to the edge of the patio. He rubbed his hands over his face as if he was trying to wash the bitterness away. Turning back to Ben, he said, “Couldn’t blame the prosecutor for not wanting to turn up in court without a shred of evidence and looking a durned fool.”

  That little fizz of excitement that had lodged in Ben’s belly when he’d made the Hanover connection flared up as he considered what he’d just heard. This jumble of criminal allegations and cover-ups could well be the magic key that would take him all the way to the core of the rottenness his instincts told him lurked in the heart of the Morgan business empire. The small town sheriff might not have the clout to uncover what was rotten, but the FBI was an animal of a different stripe.

  If Ket Morgan hired vicious petty criminals like Hanover to protect his business, it stood to reason he had more to protect than the usual marketplace activities. Ben was so lost in these thoughts that he jumped when Lawton spoke.

  “I hear Ket Morgan’s son is missing. Town gossip has it he’s been kidnapped.”

  Ben’s head snapped up. “That’s not supposed to be public knowledge.”

  “I’m not public, son. But I did give Tess a tongue-lashing for chatting. Kept meaning to replace the girl, but she’s decorative and makes really good coffee. Seems my daughter, the new Sheriff Lynn Lawton, is keeping her on.”

  Knowing the disappearance of Kathryn’s son was now known outside law enforcement and the immediate family made Ben grind his teeth. Ket Morgan said the kidnapper had warned him the boy would be killed if the police were informed, and he’d promised his investigation would be discreet. Kathryn’s dark eyes, filled with love and worry about her son, pricked his memory.

  He had no time to consider the possible consequences before the ex-sheriff moved on to another shocker. “I’ve often wondered about Kathryn Fitzgerald and Ket Morgan getting married. Ket was never much of a ladies’ man. Someone with his looks and money could have had the ladies for miles around slathering after him, but he goes and chooses the daughter of a drunk, an employee in his family bank.

  “People kinda thought it was a fairy-tale thing but me, I’ve always thought he picked Kathryn ’cause he knew he could bully her. I guess he played away, not wanting his old tyrant of a father to know what he got up to. Rumor has it he still goes to the city to get his jollies. Never figured him for one who’d play with the hired help, for sure. Set a lot of tongues wagging at the time.”

  “And what were those wagging tongues saying?” Ben couldn’t help himself, even though he was squirming like a boy under the other man’s scrutiny.

  “Well, some said Ket Junior was a dark horse. Some said Kathryn’d thrown herself at him and trapped herself a real good meal ticket. “

  “And what did you say?”

  Lawton laughed without humor. “Me? I don’t indulge in gossip, son. But if I’d been pressed, I’d have said the kid wasn’t Ket’s at all. I’d have said Ket Morgan married Kathryn for reasons of his own.”

  “What might they have been?”

  “I’m not a mind reader. I wouldn’t know,” the older man said, offering Ben another beer and shrugging when he refused. “Course, old man Morgan was riding the boy hard about getting an heir to the family fortunes.”

  Ben would have bet his last dollar the older man knew plenty. A thought that was confirmed when he next spoke.

  “Didn’t you go out with Kathryn for a while, way back when?”

  To his shame, Ben felt his face growing red. He blushed, something he hadn’t done since he’d been a kid in high school and got caught out on some school misdemeanor.

  Lawton continued watching him, a knowing smile playing on his lips. “If I’d been asked, and I stress I wasn’t, I’d have said the girl would have been better off with someone like you instead of throwing her lot in with the Morgans. She’s got everything a woman could want, but my bet is she pays a high price every day of her life.”

  Ben, who’d witnessed the high price Kathryn paid, couldn’t help but agree. But to his mind, Kathryn had made her bed and had chosen another man to sleep with her in it. He desperately wanted to change the subject before Lawton got to asking him outright the question that danced in his eyes.

  “Have you any thoughts on the weak spots in the Morgan set up? You know what we’re looking for…something that links them to money laundering, organised crime—”


  “Oh I know what you Feebies are looking for,” Lawton said, but not before he’d grinned at Ben’s diversion. “I’ve always wanted to get myself a good look at the Morgan accounts. Tried once, pushing their chief accountant. He’s a little weasely guy, name of Alfred Morris. He’s worked for the Morgans since he got out of college, about a hundred years ago. Loyal employee to the bone. Kind of guy who does as he’s told, but not one you could readily see getting up to his neck in something illegal. He’d not have the guts.” Lawton snorted with contempt.

  “Unless he was being backed up by the Morgans. Who’d he be the most afraid of? The law or his employer?”

  The sheriff didn’t hesitate. “The Morgans, especially since Hanover came into the picture. Any punishment we could threaten would be nothing to having his brake lines cut, or his fingers smashed…” He chewed on his inside cheek for a moment. “I’d say he’d be able to convince himself that a little bit of fiddling the books was just employee loyalty.”

  “There’s probably a second set of books, one they use to filter everything through so that Alfred Morris gets invoices, receipts, and so on that look valid, and one for the organised crime bosses.”

  “Yes, I think Alfie would go along with that, so he could pretend everything was above board,” Lawton said thoughtfully. “Especially if they put a little extra in his pay packet. He’s never married, but looked after his ailing mother for years. Old Mrs. Morris died about six months ago, but I’d bet Alfie hasn’t got his head over the top of the medical bills even yet.”

  “It’d be interesting to find out if he managed to keep up with the medical payments. I don’t suppose Morgans pay much by way of health insurance?” Ben said. “Maybe we could see if he’s paid out more than he could reasonably expect to earn. That would give us something to squeeze him with.”

  “Might just work. I can have a quiet—by that I mean unofficial—word with his doctor, if you like, and ask around to see if he’s been a bit short of cash, needed a loan, or been spending more than he should. “

  “That would be a great help, Sheriff. I’ve got a gut feeling Alfie Morris might just be the way into all this mess. But now I’m going to pay a call on Bertie Hanover, lean on him a little.”

  Lawton frowned. “Be careful, Asher. Hanover’s a poisonous snake and I don’t want to be the one to tell the FBI their boy has been bitten.”

  Chapter Ten

  Cynthia had put fresh clean sheets on the bed in the ground floor master bedroom of the cottage, but Fitz refused to even consider taking a nap.

  “I’m a reformed drunk, not an invalid,” he insisted, his eyes sparkling with pleasure at being in his own home after so long in the nursing home. “Now tell me all about this trouble of yours, and about my grandson going missing.”

  Kathryn cast a nervous glance at Cynthia, who gave her a reassuring look and discreetly left. Once she heard the front door firmly close behind the housekeeper, Kathryn began to tell her story.

  She started with the real reason why she married Ket Morgan, prompting her father to blurt: “I knew there was something more. I never figured you for a fool or a gold-digger, and you’d have had to be one or the other to get in with the Morgan family.”

  “But you encouraged me, Daddy, you said Ket would give me and the baby a good home.”

  The old man flushed. “I can’t even remember that. I was drunk all the time after your mother died, you know that. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I guess I was thinking there was no way I could take care of you and a child…you’d have lost your job at the bank and I’m ashamed to say, I was afraid of what would happen to us without your income.” Tears stood out on Fitz’s cheeks.

  Kathryn patted his shoulder, handed him a tissue, and went on to tell him about Alex’s disappearance and her husband’s confirmation that the boy had been kidnapped. She wept as she described Ket’s cold indifference, and her fears that Ben Asher would stick by his refusal to help them.

  At one point during the telling, her father reached across and gently traced the line of the cut on her upper lip, his eyebrows raised questioningly. She couldn’t meet his eyes. She could tell by his expression that he guessed at the truth, but shame prevented her from voicing the words. Her throat constricted at the memory of her husband’s terrible rage and the threats that had accompanied the blows, but this was one less burden she wanted on her father’s shoulders.

  Ket’s angry and frightened now. He thinks maybe I’ve hidden Alex away, trying to get the ransom and clear out with my son. He knows the only reason his father keeps patience with him is that he believes Ket has provided him with an heir. If I were to ever tell the truth, Ket’s world would come crashing down.

  “Daddy, I’m afraid. Not just for me, but for Alex. I believe Ket when he says he doesn’t have him, but it’s almost worse, wondering who has taken him and what…what Alex is going through. He must be so frightened…”

  ****

  “Why the hell didn’t you call me?” Ket Morgan yelled into the telephone. “I’ll see to it that you’re looking for a new job before the end of the day.” He slammed the receiver down on the high-pitched squawking from the other end.

  “What’s the matter, Ket?” His secretary, Andrew’s raised eyebrows telegraphed his shock at Ket’s furious outburst.

  “The stupid effing matron at the nursing home just let Kathryn walk right out of there with that old drunk of a father of hers!” Ket’s face was red and his fists clenched.

  Andrew rose from the leather seat he occupied and crossed the room to lay a hand on Ket’s shoulder. “Don’t get yourself all worked up—what can old man Fitzgerald do to you? Everybody knows he’s a drunk, and he’s not likely to know anything about this business with Alex, anyway.”

  Ket shrugged his lover’s hand away. “It’s not what he knows, it’s that Kathryn dared to go against my expressed wishes, and the Matron disobeyed my orders. That bitch of a wife of mine knows I don’t love her, but she’s done as she’s been told up ’til now for the sake of her bastard kid. The Lord alone knows what she’ll do now that she’s desperate to get him back. I’ll be damned if I’ll have that slut and her father embarrassing my family name one minute longer!”

  He strode from the room, leaving Andrew standing by the desk, pale-faced and anxious.

  ****

  Cynthia had returned with take-out food from the local Thai restaurant, a special request from Fitz. “All the time in that nursing home, I’ve been fed on muck, stuff you wouldn’t feed a baby let alone a grown man. And I’ve been daydreaming about a big plate of spicy food,” he declared.

  They all sat down to eat in the tiny dining area just off the cottage kitchen, and with tacit agreement began brainstorming what to do next.

  “If Alex has been kidnapped, then it’s by someone who has a grudge,” Kathryn declared, pushing Tai Green Curry around on her plate. “It’s like someone has thought about this for a long time, brooding, and then suddenly saw the opportunity when Ket stopped for gas and left Alex alone in the car.”

  Fitz wiped his mouth on a paper napkin. “I think you’re reaching for reasons, Kathryn.” His hand trembled as he raised the coffee cup to his mouth. Some of the dark liquid spilled over the rim, and he carefully placed the mug back down on the table. “You know, even in backwater places like Lobster Cove, there are people who… men who…” He didn’t finish the sentence, couldn’t look at his daughter’s stricken face.

  Kathryn spoke around the fear that lodged in her throat, threatening to choke her. “We…I…have to consider that possibility, though God knows, I don’t want to. I want to believe Ket has Alex somewhere safe. He’d never hurt the boy, because Alex is his ticket to power and a big fat inheritance from his father.

  “But if we were to consider that some…some pervert is involved,” her breath hitched on a sob, and she pushed away her scarcely touched meal. “If we have to consider that, let’s think that through. How reasonable is it that a predator would just happen to be h
anging around a service station out in the middle of nowhere at some unearthly hour of the morning when Ket stopped for gas? Remember, it was barely dawn, so why would someone be hanging around on the off chance a child would fall into his grasp? Maybe if we were talking about a big city mall, or even a busy street when the schools were letting out…but on a country road on a wet, cool spring morning? I think it’s just too far-fetched. No, I think we should consider the grudge angle.”

  The three of them sat at the table, their meals going cold while they digested the logic of Kathryn’s statement.

  “If you don’t mind my saying so, I think the Morgan family has more than a few enemies in town. It’s said the old man runs with a nasty Mob from out of the state, and rumours are that your husband has taken things a step further. The joke in town is the old man does the laundering and the son is into pharmaceuticals,” Cynthia said, glancing apologetically at Kathryn.

  At some level, she had known that not all Morgan business dealings were on the right side of the law. But she’d never imagined organized crime. Suddenly, all those late night visits by well-dressed businessmen who had that hard-boiled look about them made sense.

  “What do you know about the factory, Dad?”

  Fitz made a great show of wiping naan bread over the curry sauce that remained on his plate, taking his time to answer. When he replied, the words came slowly, reluctantly. “I’ve heard rumours, just like Cynthia. But I couldn’t say for sure about what when I was into the drink, things tended to pass me by.

  “But one thing I do remember, the thing that stuck in my craw the most was when Ket Junior brought in all those thugs to break the union. It turned our town into something from the Wild West. Guys had some real complaints, safety, pay, all sorts of legitimate reasons for unionizing. The Morgans have some dangerous friends, Katie girl—you need to be very, very careful. These people are lacking in ethics or morals or any human attributes.”