by Ali Vali
“Don’t worry about it.”
They gazed at each other a moment longer before Cain walked them to the bed, knelt between Emma’s legs, and started whispering in her ear. With the radio Cain had switched on before that, even the most sophisticated listening devices couldn’t have deciphered what she was saying. “Never apologize for doing something I asked you to do. Our little ruse this morning flushed out the watchers quite nicely, but I really need you to be more careful about leaving the house alone. Agent Daniels and whoever she was with were easy to spot, but where there’s one fed, there’s always more. They’re like cockroaches that way, and the other ones were in the square.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have hit you so hard.”
“Put that aside for now, because I have more important things to talk to you about.”
They stayed in that position for twenty minutes, Emma never breaking the silence, only nodding every so often when Cain asked if she understood something.
When Cain finished, Emma examined the contents of the envelope Anya had given Cain, then stood and dropped all of it into the fireplace. She burned its secrets until nothing was left but ashes.
“How would you like to take a ride downtown?” Cain asked her as she stood at the floor- to-ceiling window and pulled the heavy drapes aside. The van parked across the street looked empty, but it was hard to tell with the tinted windows.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Agent Curtis seemed so sure of himself.”
Someone took a series of photos as Cain laughed at what Emma had said. The moving company Emma had hired had acquired a slew of new employees that morning who’d left more than they’d carted out. The fruits of their labors while taking inventory were helping the guys stuck in the van outside looking in. When the music had come on and the two women had lapsed into silence, the men assigned to the surveillance chuckled, figuring Cain and Emma were busy making up for the earlier fight.
“And just how do you know that?” The curtain fell back into place as Cain stepped closer to Emma. “Not working the other side already, are you?”
“Get real.” Emma picked up the frame on the nightstand and handed it to Cain, then looked on as Cain removed their photo and pointed to the inside corner. The thought of someone listening in on their most intimate moments infuriated her.
“By the way, after you left this morning Muriel and I had a talk. She really wants you to call her once you decide on anything.”
“Why take Muriel when I can take you?” Cain put her arm around Emma.
“True. I’ll do my best to protect you, honey, but I really want you to call her. On the way to pick her up I can tell you about the visitor I had this morning.”
“And here you’ve just gotten back to town, lass. You’re such a popular girl.”
“You have no idea.” Emma straightened her clothes and started for the door. “You should keep a close eye, Cain. The competition is getting fierce.”
Emma looked over her shoulder and winked, knowing that nothing in the world could compete with what she found in Cain’s eyes.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Did anyone find them yet?” Shelby asked the dispatcher on the way back to the office.
“The group you lost this morning outside the cathedral just walked in and asked to speak to Agent Hicks,” the man answered with a laugh.
“Cain Casey is in the building?”
“Along with Emma and Muriel Casey. That’s what I’m telling you.”
More than one agent gathered around the monitor with Annabel Hicks and stared in amazement at the feed from the waiting room. Cain sat in one of the beige plastic chairs with her legs casually crossed, like she had just checked in for a massage appointment. Next to her, Emma ran her index finger along Cain’s hand, which lay open in her lap. Muriel was reading a file and ignoring the camera in the corner of the room. All of the watchers noticed one thing—the Caseys acted like they visited the enemy camp every day.
A young agent wearing a conservative gray suit walked into the area and verified, “Ms. Casey?”
“Yes?” Cain and Muriel answered together, looking at each other as if they were going to enjoy the upcoming meeting.
“My apologies. I meant Cain Casey.”
“What can I do for you?” Cain didn’t stand up, and she didn’t pull her hand away from Emma’s.
“If you’d come with me.” The agent pointed to the hallway behind her. “Agent Hicks will be with you as soon as possible. Your friends can wait for you here.”
“Cain—” Emma began, stopping when Cain squeezed her fingers.
Cain stared at the camera, ignoring the young agent who obviously still expected her to stand and do as she was asked. “Agent Hicks? I came here today voluntarily. If you don’t want to talk to me, fine, but I don’t have time to play games. The thirty minutes I’ve been sitting here is the extent of psychological bullshit I’m willing to put up with.”
After the tough talk, Cain got to her feet and offered Emma a hand up, and to the consternation of the observers, all three Caseys headed toward the exit. Before Cain touched the doorknob, Annabel Hicks took the agent’s place.
“Ms. Casey, I’d like it if we talked before you left.”
Cain knew it was as much of an apology as she was going to get.
“Mrs. Casey and Ms. Casey are more than welcome to join us.”
They followed her into one of the interrogation rooms, and Cain smiled when she glanced at the wall of mirrors. She wondered if just the sight of them intimidated people into confessing before they knew what they were doing.
“What can I do for you?” Agent Hicks asked.
“I thought I’d save you the trouble of having to find me.”
Annabel didn’t know what Cain was talking about, but she had no intention of revealing that. “Considering our situation and what we both do for a living, Ms. Casey, let’s not pretend the Bureau would have any trouble finding you if we needed to. The city has eyes and ears in the most unlikely places, wouldn’t you agree?”
“If you’re referring to the multitude of listening devices your people planted in my house this morning, then I’d have to agree. You really should inform your men that most moving guys don’t spit and polish their shoes, and I sincerely hope you had a warrant for all of those, especially the ones in the bedroom.”
Cain looked from Hicks to the mirror beyond her and the collection of people undoubtedly standing behind it watching like an audience at a high-stakes chess game. “While what my partner and I do behind closed doors isn’t to everyone’s taste, I’m positive it’s legal. What are you hoping to gather from anything you hear in there? Your agents hoping to learn some new moves to spice up their pathetic little lives?”
“I’m sure the agents have followed the letter of the law. You and I both know I can’t stop the surveillance unless you decide to take up another kind of business.”
“Then go ahead and arrest me, since according to Agent Curtis you have enough evidence in your possession to lock me away.”
“Agent Curtis?” It was too late. Annabel’s surprise not only showed, but it seeped into her voice. “What’s he got to do with this?”
Muriel took over the meeting and explained the visit earlier that morning and why Anthony had been there. The observers all wanted to bang their heads into the glass when they heard what the idiot had done and what it would mean to their team. Agent Hicks would never believe he was acting on his own.
“Ms. Casey runs a reputable business and is an active and contributing member of this city, Agent Hicks. If she wasn’t, I’m sure your digging would have uncovered something by now, so it’s rather insulting to her and to our family to have a member of the FBI come to our home and threaten her into becoming an informant.
“I’m sure my client would love to serve the government as an informant if you decide to open a pub. She could regale you with tons of information on how to pour beer, but otherwise, I want this constant harassment to sto
p.”
Muriel pulled out a file from her bag and slid it over. “This is our complaint citing that you’ve lost control of some of your agents, resulting in my client being shot. With Mr. Curtis’s actions this morning, we now see the kettle has been put on the fire to again build up steam. I don’t want to take a second chance with my client’s life, so don’t view this as something against you, Agent Hicks.”
Annabel never took her eyes off Muriel’s face, and she carefully formulated her answer before opening her mouth. The last thing she needed was another fiasco like Kyle, but Anthony Curtis had been up to that point an exemplary field agent. Even if he had gone to see Cain with no one’s knowledge, she was going to trust his reasoning since he hadn’t given her a reason not to.
“I know it’s your job to represent your client in the best possible way, Ms. Casey, but I’m going to fight any complaints brought against Agent Curtis.”
“Because you’ve seen his evidence and find it incriminating enough to allow him to constantly meddle in my family’s affairs?” Cain asked. She signaled Muriel not to interrupt. Cain was confident that Muriel would keep her from saying too much, but she needed to buy some time and space, and Curtis was her ticket. It would be much harder to finish her business with the Bracatos if the stepped-up surveillance continued.
“I’ll do it because Agent Curtis is an important part of our team, a man above reproach when it comes to his job.”
“What Agent Hicks is trying to tell you, sweetheart, is she hasn’t seen Anthony’s little envelope either,” Emma added. “Makes you wonder. If you had become an informant, would he have shared that information with Agent Hicks?” Emma looked first at Hicks, then at the wall of mirrors. “Ambitious people awe some people and terrify others. I think Cain awes those who associate with her. Can you say the same about Kyle and Curtis?”
The same agent who’d originally come for the Caseys sidled in and whispered something in Hicks’s ear, and overhearing a snatch of the conversation, Cain figured they’d now found Agent Curtis.
“This conversation isn’t about Barney Kyle, so let’s stay on point.” The calm exterior was still in place, but Hicks’s façade was starting to show fractures around the edges. “I know I’ve taken more than enough of your time, but I’d like your indulgence a bit longer.”
“Take all the time you need, Agent Hicks, but I’d like it if you’d resolve this today.”
Unlike Annabel’s, Cain’s hands as well as the skin around her eyes were relaxed, even though for her the stakes were much higher.
“Did you two really need me to be here for this?” Muriel asked after Annabel left the room.
“Hot date you aren’t telling us about?” Cain countered.
“Maybe. Women do find me somewhat attractive, you know.”
“Because you lie on all those Internet dating questionnaires.”
Shelby snorted on the other side of the glass at Cain’s teasing. Muriel didn’t need to use a dating service any more than her cousin did. She felt a small pang. After Joe and Lionel had showed up at the Piquant the night she and Muriel had met for drinks, Shelby had never heard from Muriel again.
“If you want my advice,” Cain continued, “you should go for the girl behind curtain number two.” Both Casey cousins had noticed the number of the interrogation room on the way in. “Just make sure you don’t talk in your sleep.”
Before Shelby could give another thought to what Cain had just said, the door to the room opened and Annabel asked, “Where is he?”
“He’s just going through security now, ma’am,” one of the agents responded. “I left word that he was to report here before attending to anything else.”
As Anthony went through the security measures set up in the building, he never took his eyes off the envelope he’d shown Cain that morning. It was going to be the center point of his defense if the direct order he’d gotten to report to Agent Hicks meant trouble.
Anthony walked through the door, aware that the conversations had stopped, and he could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He glanced at the collection of agents first before he noticed who they were monitoring. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Cain Casey sitting in the room joking around with her cousin and her partner and obviously calling his bluff.
“Hand it over,” Annabel demanded. “And before you think of asking ‘what,’ let me inform you of the surveillance report sitting on my desk. The report I read before meeting with the charming Cain Casey and her entourage.”
“I was on my way in to show it to you.” The envelope came out of his pocket. “After they left the restaurant last night, and the rest of the team lost them, an informant called and told me they were at Jatibon’s place.” Pictures of Cain and Emma sitting with Ramon were passed along to the rest of the group.
“Did you lose your phone on the way to Jatibon’s Club?” Shelby asked.
“There was no time to waste, and I was afraid if too many agents showed up, Cain would notice us.”
“Well, these prove Casey and Jatibon are friends,” Joe said, holding up the best in the series of shots. “Wait a minute…didn’t we know that already?”
“It’s the next shots that show what your friend is up to.” He tapped the pictures Annabel was looking at. “From the customs report, we knew Rodolfo Luis and his nephew Juan were in town looking to expand their business in Louisiana and Mississippi. But we didn’t know who they were going into business with. From the amount of product these guys move, it had to be someone well connected, with an established distribution system already in place.”
“And from these shots taken this morning,” Shelby opened the folder in her hand, “it’s more likely that Cain is telling the old man to call off his nephew.” The images of Juan and his goons surrounding Emma were clear, and the man’s intent was just as crystal. “If Juan Luis saw Emma Casey last night and behaved the way he did this morning, then her partner’s conversation with Rodolfo probably had nothing to do with smack.”
“Is that true?” Annabel posed the question to Anthony. “How long did the meeting last?”
“Long enough.” Anthony collected all his pictures and shoved them back into the folder. “If none of you want to do your job, fine, but don’t expect me to just sit back and let that tall bitch get away with one more thing.”
“Your job is to follow my orders, Agent Curtis.” Annabel walked up and took the evidence away from him. “At this moment I’m inclined to agree with Ms. Casey’s attorney that these photos show little more than a personal vendetta on your part. Wait for me in my office. I’ll be there as soon as I finish with our guests.”
Annabel muted the sound on the monitor before she walked out, unwilling to share her apology with more people than those who had to hear it. Perhaps if it was sufficiently heartfelt, Cain would let her guard down enough so the agents assigned to her case would find something that would actually stick.
Chapter Forty
For the first time she could remember, Cain looked behind them as they pulled away and saw no tail. The freedom wouldn’t last long, but their visit had accomplished what she needed. Doubt—in some cases it was almost like a virus in someone’s brain. Cain had managed to plant the seed of doubt in Annabel Hicks’s mind about her office’s motives.
“Now what?” Muriel asked.
“We drop you off at your office, then wait.” The leather of the seat creaked a bit as Cain relaxed into a more comfortable position. The clouds forming to the west were increasing the humidity as well as the ache from her still-healing gunshot wound.
“Wait for what?” Muriel persisted.
“For the thing I spend my life waiting for, cousin. The right time.”
Their talk on the subject was over. Cain had always gone out of her way, as had her father and her uncle Jarvis, to keep Muriel above the fray that was their lives. She was the one Casey who worked exclusively for the family but was beyond reproach as far as the law was concerned, and nothing would make Cain do a
nything to change that.
“Are the other papers I asked for ready?”
“They’re in the office whenever you and Emma want to pass by and sign.”
The buildings of the warehouse district distracted Cain for a minute as she gazed out the window. Her head was starting to hurt from all the thoughts running through it.
Just like a master strategist, she had planned how to win the dangerous game they were playing, but unlike any game, this situation was starting to gain unexpected players and scenarios. She would have to be careful to maneuver without mistake.
“What papers?” Emma asked.
“I asked Muriel to draw up a new will, as well as the paperwork that would make us officially a family. They’re no different than what we have for Hayden.” Cain turned from the window to Emma. “If something happens to me, I want you and our children taken care of.”
“Fine, but just make sure nothing happens to you.”
Ahead of them Lou jumped out and opened the large door that would allow them to drive into the new club. The offices upstairs were starting to take shape as well, and Muriel’s staff had been moving in and re-creating all the files lost in the explosion.
A team of carpenters was busy putting the finishing pieces on the bar. Eventually the top floors would be separated from the club area and also have their own side entrance. Unlike the last time Cain had been in the building talking with Blue, a cadre of craftsmen was working to meet Cain’s opening-day deadline. They had one week left to finish, and the foreman was pushing everyone to the limit.
“Make sure they sweep every day, starting today.”
“Cain, even the feds wouldn’t bug your attorney’s office,” Muriel said.
“And one of their agents would never let a known mob boss in the city hire him to kill me, but what do I know.”
“We’ll begin today.”
By the time they finished their business with Muriel, the sun was starting to set, and Katlin came in and asked to speak to Cain. Emma and Muriel were talking as Katlin and Cain sat with their heads together. Emma was listening to Muriel but also keeping an eye on Cain. From the time Katlin arrived Cain hadn’t opened her mouth to interrupt. Whatever the guard was reporting, it had Cain’s undivided attention.