Bannon Brothers Read Online Free PDF

“Especially this.” She waved it in emphasis. “I’d bet anything Montgomery set up this trust as a tax shelter. It’s like he had a feeling that Ann was never coming back.”
    â€œHow much does anyone really know about Montgomery?” RJ asked.
    â€œNot enough. But I doubt he’s the pillar of the community he pretends to be,” Doris said.
    â€œMaybe so. But he hasn’t broken any laws, right? Anyway, what happened to Mrs. Montgomery?”
    â€œNo one knows, RJ. I doubt that she uses the name anymore.”
    RJ shot a sideways look at his older colleague. “Did you ever see Luanne after she married him? You know, go out for coffee, have a chat, something like that?”
    â€œI ran into her in town once in a while,” Doris answered after a beat. “It wasn’t anything we planned, but we would catch up and laugh about old times. That kid was cute as a button.”
    â€œSo you met Ann.”
    Doris took a deep breath. “Yes, I did.”
    â€œWhat do you remember about them?” He watched her with close attention.
    â€œAnn and her mother? They were both sweet. Even though she was getting written up in the society pages, Luanne was shy and kind of naïve. I know she didn’t tell me everything, but I didn’t like what I heard about her and Hugh Montgomery. All he cared about was his money.”
    â€œAnd after Ann was abducted,” Bannon said bluntly, “what happened between the two of them? If you know,” he added.
    â€œNobody really knew much, but everyone had an opinion. Montgomery was devastated. He coped by throwing himself into his work. He was cold to Luanne, so cold that her heart got broken twice. He shut her out completely.” She heaved a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest as if she was protecting her own heart from some unknown danger. “That’s what men do.”
    Bannon thought about his dad, who had sometimes shut all of them out. That was part of being a cop. He himself wasn’t as good at it, though. His mom had done some sensitivity training on him and his brothers.
    â€œLet’s get back to the money,” he said. Seemed safer. “He put up plenty of it to get his daughter back,” Bannon reminded her. “Interest or no interest, that reward had to be a record.”
    â€œBelieve me, he could afford it,” Doris said. “By the way, I found the records of a few attempts made to claim it.”
    Bannon nodded. “Bound to be.” He hadn’t noticed those records himself, but with a reward like that, it was a given that there would be a large number of claimants.
    â€œMontgomery had his people check out every one, I’ll grant him that,” Doris added grudgingly. “You wouldn’t believe who comes out of the woodwork for a million.”
    â€œYes, I would, so what else don’t I know?”
    â€œA lot.” She looked down at the heaps of manila folders and the papers spilling out of them. “What’s the use? I shouldn’t get caught up in it again.”
    â€œNo, you shouldn’t,” Bannon agreed. He spoke bluntly, but with a gentle tone. “At this point, about all anyone might learn is what happened to Ann, maybe locate her remains. We have the technology to read disturbed soil decades later, you know that—hell.” He broke off when he noticed her stricken expression. “Never mind.”
    Doris didn’t seem to be listening. “There wouldn’t be much to bury after all this time,” she whispered.
    â€œBut with DNA testing—” He realized a little too late that there were tears in her eyes she was valiantly holding back.
    â€œWhat are they going to test if they don’t find anything, RJ? The air?” she asked quietly.
    â€œI’m sorry.” Bannon held up his hands in a silent gesture of surrender.
    In all his time with the Wainsville police, he had never seen Doris