The Plan

Chapter 11

December 1996 (3:00am)

Their eyes met when she got out of the house, a big policeman carrying her in his arms. He wanted to talk to her but he couldn’t move his legs. They stared at eachother until she disappeared inside the policeman’s car.

That was the last he saw of her.

Everything went fast after that. Jacob, his father’s best friend and partner, arrived with his wife and took him home with them.

It was that same night that he was told his mom and dad were gone.

They went somewhere nice, they said.

They tried to tell him it was not his fault, that the robber—the bad man who killed his mom and dad—would be caught.

He asked them about the girl. They said she’s with the police.

He tried to sleep that night but dawn was already breaking.

Another day.

But it’s not like any other day. He’s all alone now.

 

March 27, 2011 (12:00pm)

“It’s time to find out more about the Peter Thomas case,” Lawson announced.

Tanaka looked up from the papers she's reading and asked, “What did you find?”

“I found Ken Cooper’s fucking connection,” he strode to the white board, snatched a marker and wrote: bodyguard.

Tanaka frowned. “Bodyguard to whom?”

“Are you a moron or something? Who else on that case needs a bloody bodyguard?”

Realization washed over her face, “Stuart.”

“Correct.”

“So why are these men dead? What did they do?”

“That’s why I said we need to find out more about the case. Every person in that courtroom will have to be dug—including the defendant’s side. Start off with his lawyer. Ask someone to look into every jury. I’ll go visit Peter Thomas.”

“Wait, what?”

“Whatever happened back then, it’s because of him,” he explained. “I’ll go talk to him now. Look up his lawyer—we might want to talk to him.”

“Which one?”

“What do you mean which one?”

“Jackson Howard and his wife were killed in their home before the final trial began. It was a robbery case. Leonard Carlson replaced him to defend Peter Thomas.”

“Wait, are you sure it was just a robbery case?”

“That’s what the records say. Actually, that same night, another house was broken into and the same thing happened. The owners woke up and got killed. Their jewelries were gone along with some valuable items.”

“Did the second robbery have any connection to the case?” he asked hopefully.

“No. Didn’t see any connection to the case. The Lightmans were just another victim like the Howards.”

He nodded. “I think you should dig into it too.”

“You can’t be serious. The case was closed a long time ago. It was a solid robbery case.”