Daddy's Gone a Hunting

69

Justin Kramer did not hesitate to admit to himself that he was enormously drawn to Hannah Connelly.

From the minute she opened the door of her sister Kate’s apartment and stood in its door frame, something had happened to him.

She had been wearing a running suit that outlined her slender body and tiny waistline. Her eyes were a deeper shade of blue than her sister’s and were shaded with long dark lashes. Justin didn’t know what kind of person he had expected to meet. Probably a look-alike for Kate, who was tall and blond, he had thought.

But even in his brief encounter with Douglas Connelly, Justin had seen that Hannah resembled her father, who was a very good-looking guy.

He certainly gave me a quick brush-off, Justin thought, and there’s no question that he looked upset about something. Then when I phoned Hannah, she didn’t sound happy to know that her father was in her sister’s apartment.

I wonder why.

On Wednesday evening when Justin got home from work, he decided to satisfy his curiosity about the Connelly family.

An expert at seeking and locating information, he began his computer search with the most recent material, which consisted primarily of the articles about the explosion.

The fact that Kate and a former workman who was known to be disgruntled were under suspicion for setting off the explosion was old news. From the beginning, Justin hadn’t believed that Kate was involved in any wrongdoing and he still didn’t believe it. Having met Kate Connelly that one time at the closing, he was totally convinced of that fact.

The newspaper articles referred to the tragedy twenty-eight years ago when Kate and Hannah’s mother and uncle and four other people were drowned in a boating accident. Their father had been the only survivor.

Justin continued to search until he found pictures of the funeral of Susan Connelly and her brother-in-law, Connor. Even though it was so many years ago, he felt emotionally stirred when he saw pictures of three-year-old Kate, holding her father’s hand, going in and out of St. Ignatius Loyola Church, and then at the family grave in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County.

Under the name CONNELLY on the large, ornate headstone, he could make out the names of the people already buried in the plot at that time, DENNIS FRANCIS CONNELLY and BRIDGET O’CONNOR CONNELLY. Probably the grandparents, he thought.

He took a final look at the picture of Kate and her father placing a long-stemmed rose on each of the coffins and then looked up Dennis Francis Connelly. What he learned about the founder of the Connelly complex was both surprising and unsettling.

“That guy was weird,” he said aloud. “I wouldn’t have wanted him as a father.”

Shaking his head, Justin turned off the computer. It was seven o’clock. Would Hannah be at the hospital with her sister? Or maybe out to dinner with someone?

Justin felt a twinge of pure jealousy at that possibility. I hope not, he thought. It can’t hurt to phone her. He was already reaching for his cell phone. Hannah answered on the first ring.

“I’m just getting out of a cab at my apartment,” she told him. “Kate had a good day except she seemed restless. The doctor says that’s a good sign. She may be trying to wake up.”

“That’s great,” Justin replied, hesitated, and then asked, “Have you had dinner yet?”

“No, but I honestly couldn’t face sitting in a restaurant.”

“Do you like Chinese?”

“Yes.”

“Shun Lee West is a few blocks away. The best Chinese restaurant in the city. Let me pick up whatever you’d like and bring it down. I’ll set the table, heat it up, serve it, and clean up. You don’t have to do anything.”

He held his breath.

Hannah began to laugh. “It’s the best offer I’ve had all night. I like wonton soup and sesame chicken. Do you have my address?”