Seeing the fear in her eyes, Quinn wondered if he had done the right thing in telling her. He had always promised himself that if he ever had kids, he would always tell them the truth. Maybe it wasn't that easy. It didn't take a genius to know what Sierra was thinking. Her stepdad had tried to abuse her. She would be petrified at the thought of living with a different grown man she didn't even know.
"I'm not going to let that happen," Quinn said. He reached out and put his hand on her forearm. "I've got a plan."
Sierra stared down at the table and tried to hold back the tears welling in her eyes.
"You've got to trust me," Quinn said. "Together, we'll get through this. This time, we'll win the case. It's all going to work out."
Later that night, as Quinn slept on the couch, the loud and insistent ringing of the phone jerked him awake. Pain shot through his right shoulder, and he grimaced, trying to collect his thoughts.
He found the phone. "Hello."
"This is Jimmy from the front desk," said a familiar voice.
Quinn's groggy brain pieced it together. Jimmy, the night security guard.
"I've got somebody here who belongs to you," Jimmy said.
Quinn tensed and glanced around the apartment. His niece's bedroom door was closed. "Sierra?" he asked.
"Yes, sir."
Suddenly Quinn was fully awake. "Don't let her go anywhere," he said. "I'll be right down."
Quinn had fallen asleep in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He put on his sandals and headed toward the door. The note on the kitchen table stopped him midstride.
Dear Uncle Quinn,
Thanks for everything you've done. Don't worry about me cause I'll be fine. I just think I might need to take off for a little while. It will be better for both of us. I'll come back after the trial when all this stuff is over. Pleeeeease, take care of yourself! I love you and miss you!!!
Sierra
Quinn felt a lump in his throat as he headed down to collect Sierra. What was she thinking?
When he arrived in the lobby, Sierra had a worried look on her face, like a kid waiting in the principal's office for her parents to arrive. Quinn thanked Jimmy and led his niece back to the elevator.
Quinn used the elevator ride to tell Sierra that this was no way to handle their problems. "You can't just run away," he scolded. "Where would you even go?"
When she started to cry, Quinn backed off. He told her that he loved her and that they needed to stick together. She walked down the hallway to the condo without looking at him.
"I just didn't want to cause you any trouble," she said, waiting for Quinn to unlock the door.
Sierra kept things under control until she and Quinn sat down together on the couch. Without warning, she came unraveled. She sobbed uncontrollably and apologized over and over.
Quinn didn't know what else to do, so he just held her with his good arm, let her cry, and tried to reassure her. "We can get through this together," he said. "But not if you try running away every time I turn my head."
She cried for a few minutes, then pulled back and seemed to regain her composure. "You were snoring in that movie theater," she said.
"I was not."
"You were, Uncle Quinn; I swear. More like a snort. Kinda like this…" Sierra made a sound through her nose that made them both laugh.
"I don't snore," said Quinn.
"That is so untrue. I could barely hear the movie."
They argued good-naturedly for a few minutes, and then Quinn suggested they talk in the morning. He had a plan and would tell her all about it then. Running away was not part of it.
She forced another smile and promised to be there when he woke up. Just to be sure, after Sierra closed the door to the bedroom, Quinn pulled a few couch cushions, blankets, and pillows over to the front door and made his bed at the threshold.
Life with a thirteen-year-old was turning out to be very interesting.
70
On Friday morning, Quinn's investigator called with a missing piece of the puzzle.
"Who put the list of assets together for Richard Hofstetter's estate?" Billy Long asked.
"Annie did. She was appointed as the executrix."
"That's what I thought," growled Billy. "Did you know the list contains a slight oversight?"
"I'm listening," said Quinn.
"Your sister might not have known about this, but Hofstetter Jr. had a 15 percent limited partnership interest in the Oasis, a ratty casino about a mile south of the strip. He held the interest under the name of a Delaware corporation-Oasis Holdings-and Hofstetter Jr. was the only stockholder. Guess who recently made an offer for the Oasis?"
"You're the investigator."
"Yeah," complained Billy, "but you're the big-shot Vegas lawyer. You should know these things." He paused so that Quinn could appreciate Billy's brilliance. "Some of Daddy Hofstetter's business partners, that's who. The word on the street is that this property is the final piece of an assemblage of land that would allow for the next big Vegas casino, the granddaddy of them all."
Quinn was taking notes. So far, it still didn't add up. Hofstetter Jr.'s interest in the Oasis would pass to either Annie, if she was found innocent, or Sierra, if Annie was disqualified from inheriting her husband's estate by virtue of a guilty verdict. How could Hofstetter Sr. benefit from this?
"So here's what makes it interesting," said Billy, anticipating Quinn's next question. "Some of the other partners in the Oasis are tied in with nearby casino owners on the south side of the city who don't want the competition. Hofstetter Jr.'s shares might be the deciding votes."
Quinn put down his pen. No more diagrams were necessary. Sierra was only thirteen. If her stepfather's limited partnership interest fell to her rather than Annie, voting rights would be determined by Sierra's guardian. And if Claude Tanner gained custody of Sierra, he would also obtain those voting rights.
"You think Daddy Hofstetter found Claude Tanner and cut a deal with him?" Quinn asked.
"Nah," Billy said. "I think Claude Tanner just had a sudden and irresistible urge to spend time with a daughter he hadn't bothered to see in thirteen years."
Quinn had finally found his match in the sarcasm department. "Can we prove any of this?" he asked.
"The limited partnership interest and Delaware Corporation are matters of record. The rest is just street talk. When somebody does an assemblage deal like this, they use a lot of shell corporations and offshore holding companies that hide the ownership."
"I'll pay whatever it takes," Quinn said. "Just get me proof."
"Legally?" Billy asked.
"This is my family, Billy. Whatever it takes."
"I'll do my best, Mr. Newberg. But these guys don't like outsiders poking around in their business."
Quinn's own rotator cuff could have told him that.
"One last question," Quinn said. "Is there a time frame when this vote might occur?"
"It's probably not a short-term thing," Billy responded. "My guess is that Tanner wants to get permanent legal custody and then wait a few months before he exercises his right as custodian of the limited partnership interest."
So he doesn't need custody of Sierra right away, thought Quinn. When he hung up with Billy, he started making a few adjustments to his plan.
Five minutes later, Melanie barged into his office, her face reflecting the bad news. "You might want to turn on the TV," she said. Quinn kept one on his credenza but rarely used it. "They're saying the DNA for Sierra's father is a match."
Though Quinn had suspected this would be the case, he still felt the blow. "Set up a meeting with Mr. Tanner and his lawyer," Quinn said. "This afternoon, if possible."