The Master Plan (2009)

by Carol Costa

  Casey nodded. "So, we'd need to come up with twentyfive thousand dollars for one of us to join the club."

  Carmen and Cathy both stared at Casey. Finally Carmen spoke. "What is going on in that devious mind of yours, Casey?"

  Casey laughed. "Forget it. It probably wouldn't work."

  "Let us be the judge of that," Cathy told her.

  "Okay. We pool our money and one of us joins the country club. Once she's a member she starts socializing with the rich guys and snags herself a wealthy mate. She can also bring her two friends to the club for some of the activities and introduce them to her husband's rich friends"

  "That's absolutely brilliant," Carmen exclaimed. "Let's do it."

  "Wait a minute," Cathy said. "Where are we going to get $ 25,000?"

  "From your bank," Carmen answered. "We'll take out a loan and after we marry the rich guys they can pay it off for us. Only I'm not the one who is going to join the club. Casey has to do it "

  "Why me?" Casey asked. "You're both more attractive than I am"

  "If you'd wear some makeup and ditch the frumpy clothes, you'd be gorgeous," Cathy said. "Besides, the one who joins has to have a flexible job so she can go there during the week."

  "And," Carmen added with a triumphant smile, "the one who joins should know how to play golf. Cathy and I don't know which end of the stick is which."

  "They're clubs, not sticks," Casey informed her.

  "My point exactly," Carmen said.

  Although the girls were just kidding around at first, by the time the evening ended, they had talked it through and decided to apply for a loan, send Casey for a makeover, and have her join the Crescent Hills Country Club.

  "What if I don't meet anyone?" Casey asked.

  Carmen answered the question. "Then next year at this time, we'll be sitting here deeper in debt than we are now, admitting that our master plan was a failure, but at least we'll have tried."

  As the memory of that fateful night faded, Casey looked up and saw Cathy approaching.

  "What are you doing here, staring off into space?" Cathy said, sitting down next to Casey.

  Casey was still wearing her gloves so Cathy had not spied the ring. That was good because Casey wanted to tell both of her friends at the same time.

  "I was early so I sat down to wait. Let's go meet Carmen," Casey said smoothly, once again pushing the doubts she had about Tony out of her mind.

  While Casey went off to have dinner with her friends, Dana carefully juggled a pie and a long loaf of French bread in one hand, while she opened the door to her apartment with the other. It was after 5 and on this cold February evening, it was already dark outside.

  The apartment was on the second floor of a fourplex just a few miles from the downtown area and the newspaper office. Dana stepped into a living room with a round alcove of windows where her easel and painting supplies were set up ready to use at a moment's notice.

  She hurried through the small dining room and past the tiny powder room into the kitchen. Dana deposited the bakery goods on the new granite countertop the landlord had installed a few weeks ago, put her keys back into her purse, and carried it back to the living room.

  As she walked, Dana pulled off the wool scarf that was covering her bouncy curls and removed her gloves, stuffing them into her coat pocket. She hung the scarf and her coat in the closet next to the front door. Then she carried her purse into the bedroom and prepared to change into her cooking clothes.

  Her work clothes had been a pair of black slacks with a long-sleeved white and black blouse and sensible low-heeled pumps. The matching outfit was new and Dana wasn't the neatest person in the kitchen, so she quickly exchanged it for a pair of jeans, a Chicago Bears sweatshirt, socks and tennis shoes. She left on the delicate gold earrings that Bruno had given her for Christmas, but removed her watch and her blue sapphire ring and put them on her dresser.

  Dana's maple bedroom set with the four-poster bed, a matching chest of drawers, and a small dresser with a mirror framed in maple filled up the room. It was the same set she'd had when she lived at home with her parents on their farm in southern Illinois. Being the youngest of four children and the only girl meant that Dana always had her own room while her brothers had to share.

  Her dad and her oldest brother, Paul, had moved the bedroom set from the farm when Dana's job at the newspaper began to pay enough to allow her to move from the small apartment she'd rented when she first came to Crescent Hills to work at The Globe. That first apartment hadn't even had a bedroom, only a sleeper sofa with springs that made a good night's sleep difficult. This bedroom had a walk-in closet and its own bathroom.

  Linda and Warren Sloan still lived in the old farmhouse that had been modernized some since their children had moved out. Dana's three brothers still lived near her parents and helped them run the farm in addition to the other jobs they held in the community. Paul was a first-rate mechanic, Kevin an architect, and Patrick a graphic designer. All three were married and all three had children under the age of ten that spent many happy hours at the farm with Grandma and Grandpa. Paul had three sons, Kevin had twin girls, and Patrick and his wife had a boy and a girl. Like Bruno, Dana's parents and her siblings were all waiting for Dana to settle down and raise a family.

  Dana went back to the kitchen and turned on the oven. Then she opened the refrigerator and removed the foil-lined pan of chicken that had been marinating in olive oil, lemon, and a variety of spices since early that morning and put it in the oven to bake for an hour.

  She filled the coffeemaker with water and French roast coffee and pushed the Brew button.

  Thinking how her mom would be horrified, Dana took the box of instant mashed potatoes from a cabinet and set it next to the stove. Next she set the dining room table with her good china and put long blue candles into the candlesticks. Nothing like a candlelight dinner to set the right mood.

  Dana returned to the kitchen and went to work on the salad. By the time the doorbell rang, it was mixed in a pretty glass bowl waiting to be adorned with dressing.

  "Hi," Dana said casually as Bruno came in, slapping his gloved hands together to warm them up.

  "It's freezing out there," he replied, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

  "You should wear a hat," she told him. "My mom says that when your head is cold, your whole body shivers."

  "I hate hats," Bruno replied. "They make me look like a roaring twenties gangster."

  "You look like one anyway," Dana said with a grin. "Come on into the kitchen and talk to me while I work on the vegetables. I've got coffee brewing."

  Dana went back to the kitchen, allowing Bruno to remove his gloves and coat and hang them in the closet. She was smiling to herself over her last comment to Bruno.

  He was tall and broad with a linebacker's physique. His eyes were so dark they sometimes looked black, especially if he was angry. His hair was thick, black, and curly, inviting one to lose her fingers in it.

  Although his features were very attractive, like his eyes, they could become dark and menacing when he was angry. Dana always thought Bruno's looks were perfect for a cop, the kind that would scare the truth out of suspects.

  Bruno came in and swung his well-toned body onto a stool at the kitchen counter. "Coffee please, miss," he said as if he were at a restaurant.

  "Coming right up, sir," Dana replied, setting a mug of steaming coffee down in front of him.

  "What's the special tonight?"

  "Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and French bread."

  "And what's this?" Bruno asked, nodding toward the bakery box.

  "Apple pie."

  Bruno shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. "Uhoh. Apple pie and candles on the table. You must want a big favor."

  Dana dumped the frozen green beans into the vegetable steamer and turned it on. "I do not," she protested.

  "Yes, you do. Ask me now and I'll think about it over dinner."

  "It's not a favor," Da
na said stubbornly. "I just need a little information."

  "About a who or a what?"

  "A who," she said, smiling sweetly. "Actually two who's."

  "Go on."

  "I'm not going to ask you now when you're in such a negative frame of mind."

  Bruno nodded and slipped off the stool. He approached Dana with the brilliant smile that erased the darkness from his eyes and face. "Maybe I just need a hug."

  "And that's all you're going to get," she replied, letting him pull her into his strong arms. "I'm cooking dinner here"

  Bruno held her close for several minutes, resting his chin on the top of her curls. "Your hair smells like lemons," he said.

  I think that's the chicken," she replied. "My shampoo is supposed to make it smell like violets. Now let go of me so I can slice the bread"

  Bruno laughed and released her. He returned to his stool and watched as she got out the breadboard and started slicing the long loaf of bread and placing it in a wicker basket lined with a linen napkin.

  Dana poured herself a cup of coffee and drank it while she finished preparing dinner. Bruno asked about her family and she filled him in on the phone conversation she'd had with her brother Paul the night before.

  "I wish I could have made the last trip with you," Bruno said a little wistfully as Dana whipped milk into the instant potato buds. "Your mom would have made me real potatoes."

  "These are real potatoes," Dana said. "They're just in a more convenient form."

  Bruno helped her carry the serving dishes to the table and filled the water glasses. Dana turned down the lights and lit the candles.

  Since their last dispute, they had made a pact not to talk about murder and investigations during dinner. Actually they were always making that pact and breaking it, but tonight Dana made sure the conversation centered around other things.

  Once the dinner dishes were cleared and Bruno had finished his second piece of pie, Dana read the look of contentment on his face and broached the subject of Casey.

  "Casey is engaged," she said quickly. "Surprised us at the staff meeting today with the announcement."

  "Who is she marrying?"

  "A guy named Tony Hunter."

  "Don't know him."

  "No, and I'm afraid Casey doesn't know him either."

  "Come on, sweets. Casey is a big girl and a trained investigator. I'm sure she probably checked him out"

  "She did, but couldn't come up with anything farther back than two years ago when he moved to Crescent Hills."

  "Is this one of the `who's' you want me to give you a little information on?"

  19"Yes.

  "No.

  "That's not an acceptable answer."

  Bruno laughed and shrugged. "That's what you always say the first time I tell you no. Then comes the arguing, then the pleading, and finally a suitable bribe. Let's fast-forward to the last item."

  "You've already had the last item," Dana responded. "A home-cooked dinner and two pieces of pie. That's it, buster."

  "Okay, Dana, but I'm going to need more than the guy's name. Tony Hunter sounds like a name a movie studio makes up for one of their actors. Get me his fingerprints and I'll run him through the department's database and find out if he's a criminal. I assume you and Casey have already tried tracking him by his date of birth and Social Security number."

  Dana nodded. "We came up with zilch, but he seems to have plenty of money. She met him at the Crescent Hills Country Club on the golf course"

  "Whoa! Wait a minute here," Bruno said. "How did Casey get to play golf there?"

  "Bob asked her the same thing today. She said she had an unexpected windfall and used it to join the country club."

  "So Casey is rich now?"

  "I don't think so. She's still working for me"

  "Honey, you have to have big bucks to get into that club."

  "Look, Bruno, I'm not sure how Casey got in and I don't care. I'm just worried that this Hunter guy isn't what he appears to be. He could be one of those mob guys in the Witness Protection Program, which would explain why his background begins and ends two years ago"

  "Which would make it impossible for me to find out anything, either. The feds would have wiped him out of the computer database when he got his new identity."

  "You went to school with that FBI guy in the Chicago office. I was thinking you could bypass the usual channels and ask him for help."

  "I've seen Barry once in ten years. We're not exactly buddies anymore. I think you'd better start from the beginning and tell me why you and Casey were suspicious of this guy to begin with."

  Dana sighed and sat back in her chair. "It all started about three months ago. I knew that something was up with Casey because she suddenly decided to let Marianne arrange a makeover for her. Bob got all excited and thought she was ready to get fixed up with one of his single friends, but she turned him down flat. She looks great with the new hairdo and clothes."

  "Really. I haven't seen her or maybe I have and didn't recognize her."

  "Anyway, a few weeks later, she told me about joining the country club, but she didn't give me any real details about how or why she did it. She really just wanted to talk about meeting Tony Hunter."

  Bruno nodded and refilled his coffee cup with the insulated decanter still on the table. "So, she joined the country club, met this guy on the golf course, and fell in love with him. Sounds like every young girl's dream, except for you, of course"

  Dana ignored the remark and continued with her story. "Casey said that a few weeks into their relationship she started picking up little things about Tony that seemed odd. He paid for everything with cash and said he didn't believe in credit cards or checking accounts. Tony claimed to have an engineering degree and said he did freelance work for a firm in Chicago, but when Casey tried to check on the company, she learned they had been out of business for years"

  "How did she get his Social Security number?"

  "She went to the bank with him one day to get something out of his safety deposit box. He had to show two forms of ID to the clerk and Casey got the number while the girl was writing it down. She can read upside down, you know, and she also has a terrific memory, almost photographic."

  "Okay. What else?"

  "Well, once she had the Social Security number, she ran a check on him and when she discovered the information only went back two years, she began to worry. That's when we had lunch and she asked for my help, but I couldn't find out any more than she did."

  "If he claims to have an engineering degree, he must have gone to college. What has he said about that?"

  "Casey asked him about school, and he said he was educated by the army when he was in the service and went to school overseas"

  "Clever. Harder to check"

  "Then you think there is something wrong here?"

  "I do. I think it's very wrong that Casey has only known this guy two months and is going to marry him, when you and I have been together for more than two years and you won't even discuss the possibility of marriage with me"

  Dana stood up quickly and brought the lights up in the dining room, then blew out the candles that had already burned halfway down. She took her chair again and stared at Bruno. "Maybe the reason I don't talk about marriage with you is because when I turn to you for help and advice you give me a hard time."

  Bruno reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'd never give you a hard time if you were my wife."

  "That's a lie and you know it."

  Bruno nodded. "It's more like a promise I'd try to keep"

  "What about Tony Hunter? Are you going to help me or not?"

  "I don't think you need to worry about him. Casey must have decided he's okay if she agreed to marry him."

  "Maybe she just decided to ignore the problem. Women in love do that, you know."

  "Okay, you win. Invite Casey and her boyfriend out for dinner this week at Marsella's. I'll arrange for my pal, Vince, to wait on us and he can nab a glass with Hunter's fing
erprints."

  "That's brilliant," Dana told him, breaking into a smile. "I'll ask Casey tomorrow."

  "Are you happy now?"

  "Yes, but I have another favor to ask"

  Bruno groaned. "Okay, let's hear it"

  "Who do you know in missing persons?"

  "Glenn Harrison"

  "If this woman I'm going to meet tomorrow has filed a report on her husband, can you get Glenn to talk to me about it? Her name is Judy Porter."

  "I'll do my best," Bruno promised.

  "That was too easy," Dana said suspiciously. "You didn't even ask any questions."

  Bruno's cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and got up and went into the kitchen to answer it. That meant it was the station calling with police business.

  Dana stood up and stacked up the cups and saucers and carried them into the kitchen. She could only hear Bruno's side of the conversation, but it sounded like he was being called to a crime scene. She set the dishes down on the counter over the dishwasher and waited for Bruno to finish his call.

  "Have to run, honey," Bruno said when he hung up.

  "What's up?"

  "A corpse just floated to the surface in Crescent Lake."

  "I'll walk you to the door."

  Bruno and Dana walked to the front door and she watched while Bruno donned his coat. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  "I'll call you tomorrow. Thanks for dinner."

  "Thank you for agreeing to help me with my two who's," Dana said.

  "You're welcome." He kissed her once more and then opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

  Dana stood in the doorway as he headed for the stairs. "Be careful out there," she said.

  "Iwill.,,