The Fugitive Grandma

Chapter 46 - Public Exposure

Lowry was resting in his room at a business hotel. He was chewing on a room service hamburger when he caught the latest round of coverage flashed on the eleven-o’clock news.

It was another retread of clips from the afternoon: the lovely and vivacious Brenda Sugarland stood in high heels clutching a microphone on the sidewalk outside the battered supermarket entrance. In the footage, the powerful midday sun reflected off the broken glass strewn across the parking lot.

“Stella Valentine was identified by many witnesses as a former worker at the site of the armed robbery. She has been described as a respected, loyal employee of the old Caruso’s grocery chain. Members of the community expressed shock at her alleged involvement in today’s robbery.”

Next, the television camera closed in on Silvia, frightened and disheveled, with tears streaming through her makeup.

“Stella and I worked side by side for years. She was like a mentor to me. I don’t know what drove her to do something like this, but I know she is not a bad person.”

“Damn it!” Lowry shouted at the television screen, realizing he could have prevented the media from talking to any of these folks if only the police hadn’t hauled him away from the store.

The segment continued with images of Marco and other staff in the parking lot as the reporter summarized: “Other Great American workers also described past acquaintance with Stella Valentine as a friend and colleague, a hardworking, kindhearted woman who offered motherly support and advice to fellow supermarket clerks. Now, in a strange and unexplained turn of events, she and her grandson are the most wanted criminals in Santa Ramona. This is Brenda Sugarland, Channel Nine News.”

At the end of the segment, Lowry wheezed so hard that he started to choke on a mouthful of hamburger. The blood rushed to his head, and several loud guttural sounds came up as he struggled to clear his throat. Once he’d recovered, he dialed McCullers on his cell phone.

“Captain, what the hell is this! The news is all over this Valentine woman, painting her out to be a hero. I specifically told you I wanted this kept quiet.”

“We didn’t have anything to do with that, Mr. Lowry. We can’t control who Brenda Sugarland talks to. This must have happened right after the robbery as I was just getting involved. She must have picked it up on the scanner.”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses. Is that standard procedure here in Santa Ramona, let the media on the crime scene right away so they can interview whomever they want? She’s got her camera there in the goddamn parking lot right after the robbery.”

“I am sorry about that,” McCullers managed. “We had our technicians on the scene after we finished interviewing the witnesses, but they were gathering evidence inside the store.”

“This better be the last time this gets any play in the news. I don’t want your public information officer giving the media an inch, OK? I know your detective wanted to go that route this afternoon. Don’t let her get any ideas. That’s totally off-limits. I want a total press blackout on this case. Whatever Brenda Sugarland reports, she does it without any help from the police and Great American. Do we understand each other, or am I going to have to call the mayor’s office and ask them to get me a new guy to work with?”

“No, no. You don’t have to do that. Let me make this up to you.”

“What updates do you have on the case? Does your detective have any more information on this lady?”

“She’s still out in the field tonight, Mr. Lowry,” McCullers continued. His voice was full of the dread of a middle-aged man pondering the loss of all the security he’d worked to amass during a lifetime. Lowry knew there were many ways to compel someone to do what he wanted, but fear was always the most effective. “I’ll tell you what. As soon as I talk to my detective, I’ll give you an update.”

“I don’t care how late it is, Captain McCullers, I expect to hear from you.”

Lowry was barely off the phone with the policeman when he received a call from Jenkins at corporate headquarters. Dallas was two hours ahead, which meant for Jenkins it was after midnight.

“What’s going on out there, Nick? First, I hear about the robbery and have to run interference with the mayor’s office to get you out of jail. Now one of our PR firms tells me it’s splashed all over the news out there. Is it really that lady, Stella Valentine, behind this?”

“It was her. I was at the store when it happened. She stuck a gun in my face.”

“I told the mayor’s office to bury this.”

“I know. I just got off the phone with the police. They had promised us that the media would get nothing from them. It seems like this Brenda Sugarland just showed up on the scene before anyone knew what was happening.”

Jenkins sighed. “Christ, what a mess. You better fix this fast, Nick. Get more guards in the stores, whatever you have to do to make people feel safe. I don’t trust those local cops to track down this pair. We can’t trust anyone else to take care of business for us.”

“I’m already on it.”

“One more thing: when we get this woman, it has to happen quietly. I don’t want any cute, cuddly photos of a kid and grandma on the news. And I sure as hell don’t want the press to hone in on what happened to her pension. Remember, Great American is strong enough that there’s very little that can hurt us. It’s like I told you before. Governments can’t hurt us. Competitors can’t hurt us. Criminals can’t hurt us. There’s only one thing that has the power to hurt us, and that’s public opinion. So you’ve got to do everything in your power to make sure this thing doesn’t push us on the wrong side of public opinion.”

“Yes, sir, I’ve already taken that into consideration.”