by Ali Vali
“I’ll send a couple of the guys to pay a discreet visit to the suppliers our shopkeeps are being forced to use. I don’t mind a little friendly competition, but I’m not going to tolerate anyone trying to squeeze blood from these folks just because they choose to do business with me. The guys can pick one supplier and make enough of an impression that the rest of them should back down.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Muriel finished taking notes. “This did bring more heat than I thought.”
“I expected it, but Annabel has to either produce something or ease off eventually. We’re going to win when it comes to this waiting game. All that matters is that our debts are paid,” Cain said, meaning the Bracatos.
Muriel nodded. “Uncle Dalton would be proud.”
“Hopefully, but I still have some atoning to do.” Cain stood and escorted Muriel to the door. “Remember to do what’s best for you, and I’ll accept your decision. If it’s Shelby, I love you enough to dance at your wedding.”
*
Merrick was waiting outside the door. She had been guarding Emma, whose day usually wasn’t as exciting as Cain’s and didn’t require much “muscle.” However, Cain knew Merrick hadn’t forgotten her dark side, and Cain planned to indulge it soon.
“Give me some good news, Merrick,” she said, dropping back into her chair.
“Your pal Barney Kyle’s attorney managed to schedule a court date to get most of the charges against him dropped. But his row got harder to hoe after a recent FBI investigation. They discovered evidence of his fat bank accounts and haven’t allowed him bail.”
“Is he going to attend this procedure in person?”
Merrick took the seat Muriel had vacated and crossed her legs. “The federal prosecutor’s office wants to use a video link, but Barney wants to go. That’s the story they’re putting out.”
Cain cocked her head back and laughed. “When you say it like that I have to guess there’s an unofficial story.”
“You remember Shakes Curole?”
“Don’t you mean bad-luck Curole? He’s the only guy I know who has worse luck at the track and the tables than our old friend Blue. What about him?”
“His son works at the Federal Building in the jail ward as a guard. Since they don’t hold a lot of people down there, the kid’s got plenty of time to keep an eye on Kyle.” Merrick took a roll of mints out of her pocket, peeled the foil off the end, and laughed when Cain knocked on the desk to get her talking again. “More importantly, he’s been able to keep an eye on Kyle’s visitors.”
“Who are?” Cain asked, trying to get Merrick to step up the pace.
“Agents who have offices in the Hoover Building, along with the federal prosecuting team assigned to the case.”
Cain slammed her hand down and everything sitting on the desk rattled. “The guys trying to put him away are on his visitors’ log? The bastards are going to cut a deal with this scumbag?”
“Shakes’s kid said, from the size of Kyle’s smile these days, they’re willing to not just cut a deal. They’re going to cut him loose.”
“How reliable is this guy?”
Merrick shrugged. “Hard to say, but he is Shakes’s kid, and he didn’t cough all this up for free.”
“What’d he want?”
The deep breath Merrick had to take made Cain figure she wasn’t going to like the answer. “Shakes is into Ramon for ten grand.”
“Tell me you didn’t give that idiot ten large of my money?” Cain pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well?” she asked when Merrick didn’t answer quick enough again.
“I paid the debt,” she said succinctly, then stopped. When Cain only stared at her, she finished. “He came to me and volunteered it in exchange for Shakes’s debt. I believed him because I figure he knows not only Kyle’s upcoming schedule, but what’ll happen to him if he lied.”
“Anything else?”
“Kyle might not have a court date with the feds, but there’s still the matter of the state charges against him. He’ll have to keep that court date until the feds talk the DA’s office into playing along.”
“When is this happening?”
“Tomorrow morning at nine.”
Cain locked eyes with her and it had nothing to do with a power play. “Then I expect you there before nine. Is that good for you?”
The question made Merrick exhale as if she was exasperated. “You asked me that why?”
“Because I just finished talking about how my business is shit, and because you’re getting used to making big decisions without me. This has to get done, but it has to be done without a glitch.”
“It will be, no matter what time it is, and I’m up for it. You might want Katlin for this, but I’m just as good.”
Cain walked around the desk, stood behind Merrick, and rested her hands on her shoulders. “Actually, I want you for this. It’s the reason I sent Katlin to Biloxi. I love Katlin, but between us, she isn’t at your level yet. I might not have explained this to you before, but that’s why you’re with Emma.”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong, but I want you to reconsider visiting Barney later today.” Merrick put both feet on the ground and turned around. “Why turn up the heat if you don’t have to?”
“My father always said that sometimes the safest place is in the middle of the fire. It burns off all the shit that would otherwise drown you.” Cain returned to her office chair and laughed. “And I’m going to visit Barney today so I can start the flames that will change the landscape the FBI has drawn up for us. It’s time to give the bloodhounds a new scent.”
“I don’t doubt you, but considering how relentless they’ve been lately, I don’t know how you can pull that off.”
“Merrick,” Cain came forward and rested her elbows on her desk, “I didn’t need somebody’s kid to tell me that the FBI would be willing to cut Kyle loose. Barney wasn’t going away, because he did something very few of them have been able to achieve.”
“Infiltrate?”
“Giovanni gave Kyle a free pass because he knew Kyle didn’t represent his badge when he showed up. Kyle wanted to bring me down, and he wanted more than a ribbon and a gold watch as pay. Now the feds are going to give him a free pass if he teaches them how to do it.”
“If you know all that, then why risk going to see him?”
“To make sure. I’m not questioning myself, at least I try not to very often, but I’m willing to be proven wrong when it comes to something like this. I realize my actions may cause some fallout, but I can’t take a chance on being wrong one way or the other.”
“I’ll get back to work, then, and leave you and Lou to it.”
Once Cain was alone, she fit her steepled fingers under her chin. The planning that it took to make her life work was tiring at times, but it was as necessary as what had happened to Giovanni. She took a deep breath and felt like life always put her in situations where she had to climb out of ruts that others dug.
“Da, I hope Emma’s right and you’re looking out for us. Every so often it’s hard to gauge how the bear will react when you shove the stick up its ass.”
Chapter Twelve
“Nunzio.” Rodolfo purposely made the simple name sound more exotic. “I hope you’re doing well.” He glanced out the window to the pool. Juan was once again indulging in his sun worshipping.
“Rodolfo, I’m glad you called. I assume you’ve heard about our plans for the casino.”
“My man gave me the news.” That Nunzio was so matter-of-fact about it made Rodolfo hit his thigh with his fist. “Because of our alliance, I would’ve expected to hear it from you.”
“My father and I decided that to turn the kind of profit we’d like to see from our product, we’d need the capital from this sale. Nothing we worked out between us has changed, so don’t worry.”
Rodolfo fanned his fingers out and took a deep breath with the receiver away from his mouth. He needed to relax so his voice wouldn’t reveal his aggravation. “Are you pl
anning to bring in our product some other way?”
“I don’t see any changes, no matter whose name is on the deed, Rodolfo. We have enough muscle between the two of us to ensure that. Like I said, I’m handling things.”
“Who’s taking over?”
“We aren’t partners in everything. Who we’re doing business with has nothing to do with our arrangement with you. Just know that we picked someone we can easily control and had the ready cash. I’ll be in touch once everything’s been finalized.”
When Rodolfo heard the dial tone he felt free to curse. Perhaps for once he should listen to Juan’s ranting and investigate what was going on. He wasn’t about to hand over most of his inventory to a man who couldn’t be up-front with him. And now he knew that Nunzio didn’t even have the capital for the deal he’d made. If Nunzio had withheld that piece of information, Rodolfo wouldn’t be able to trust him and his father about anything.
*
Nunzio muttered a few expletives as he gently put the phone down. The call from Rodolfo had interrupted Richard Bowen’s explanation of why he wasn’t handing over a check. “So you just walked out?” Nunzio asked, making Richard fidget more. “Are you a fucking moron?”
“Remi and Cain ran the meeting and they wouldn’t sign the contract that let us provide security so I pushed, thinking they’d cave.” Richard pulled at his collar as if he were having trouble breathing. “I thought you’d appreciate me taking the chance, since I thought it would go our way. I was just looking out for you.”
“I don’t pay you to fucking think. I pay you to go over there and pick up a fucking check. How difficult is that?” Nunzio had stood up, but he was using his lower, more menacing voice.
“Cain and Remi were running the meeting and you expected them to cave? My dog could’ve told you that wasn’t going to happen. All you had to do was kiss their ass for five minutes and we’d have worked around it. I don’t need those bitches’ permission to do business.” He looked at his nails while he delivered the threat.
Nunzio glanced back up and laughed at the total fear on Richard’s face. “Now the only question is what happens to you, since you haven’t exactly proven your value to this organization.”
“If you give me another chance, I’ll get them back to the table.”
“One more chance means one more. I don’t have to explain the price of failure, do I?” Richard nodded quickly at Nunzio’s question. “Make it your priority to get them to close this deal, and, Richard, start praying they do. We might have to shave off a couple mil, that’s not important, but we do need the bulk. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, sir, we do.”
“Good, get on it.” He walked out of the room and headed to the office he kept in the house.
Nunzio Luca III, like Cain and Remi, had gone into the family business and had recently taken over most of the operations that his grandfather had started. The old man, Nunzio Sr., was now living in a gated community in southern Florida and leaving the business to his son in New York and his grandson in Biloxi. He had put in his time after a life of work that began after entering the United States as an immigrant from Naples.
Junior, Nunzio’s father, had moved him to Biloxi to establish the family in that market. He had set his son up by buying property in other people’s names so there wouldn’t be a problem with the Biloxi Gaming Commission, which cringed at the mention of organized crime. That’s why Richard was the “owner” of the Capri Casino.
The Luca family wasn’t interested in gaming, though. It fronted the cocaine, heroin, and crack they sold across the country. The casino had been a good way to launder money without tipping off the authorities to the real source of the cash. With Nunzio’s work in Biloxi, the family had enough police and politicians on their payroll that the family no longer needed the casino. Now they planned to use the capital from its sale to expand the drug pipeline they’d established from Florida to California.
But Cain and Remi had walked away, taking all their money with them. They weren’t his favorite people, but cutting a deal with them was his best option since they had the money up front, and it would have been the quickest sale, considering Ramon’s connections with the commission.
Richard’s stupidity had set things back, but Nunzio figured he could fix the situation once he made his buyers see reason. If not, he would eliminate the weakest link in the chain and deal with what was left.
Putting away his opinions he picked up the phone and called his father. “Pop, how are you?”
“Tell me how heavy that check feels in your hand, son. Now that you have it, don’t make any plans for next week. We’re taking a trip south of the border. I set up a meet with some of Rodolfo’s competitors. They want to break the stronghold he has, and that’s good for us. Any war between the big suppliers will make the price drop there, but go up on the street here.”
“I’m not holding a check, but let me explain before you get all crazy. Richard pushed them on the security issue, and Cain and Remi pulled the plug.”
“If I didn’t feel like looking for a new front man to hold the paper on that place, I swear I’d cut that idiot into little pieces myself. And as for that fucking Cain and Remi, they’re just like Dalton and Ramon, which means nothing but headaches for us.”
“I was thinking what our next move should be, but I wanted to run it by you first.” Nunzio laid out his plan, his father grunting his approval every so often.
“That sounds good, but remember that we need this,” Junior said.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”
*
“Is this part of the Caseys’ legitimate business too?” Agent Joe Simmons asked Shelby. The team, now led jointly by Shelby and Joe, sat in a room they’d managed to lease in the building across the street from Cain’s offices.
“Even though Anthony’s on leave, I could close my eyes and imagine him asking me the same thing.” After watching Remi and Mano disappear into the warehouse, she let her binoculars down. “If you have a problem with my personal life, then be up-front about it. The snide remarks are getting old.”
“First off, don’t compare me to that asshole, and assume from now on that if I ask you a question, that’s all it is. I don’t expect your answer comes from some inside track because of who you have dinner with every so often.” Joe bumped shoulders with her and smiled. “If anyone gives you shit about anything, let me know.”
“Thanks. After this morning I wasn’t in the mood for any more ragging.”
“Then let’s take a walk and set some stuff straight.”
There were only a few people walking along the sidewalk in front of Cain’s place, but Joe noticed the guards posted on the roof stop pacing and follow Shelby and his movements as they headed for the café Cain frequented on occasion.
“To answer your question, we’ll probably be seeing more of the Jatibons, which means we should have a meeting with the agents assigned to them.”
Joe held up two fingers when the waitress picked up the coffee pot. “Cain’s going into business with Ramon?”
“I think so,” she told him about the party the night before, “but I’ve tried to stop speculating when it comes to Cain. It can give you whiplash when she takes a turn you’re not expecting.”
“There is one thing I’m expecting, but I’m not sure how she’s going to pull it off.”
“You’re talking about Kyle?” Shelby poured some sugar into her cup and stirred it in slowly. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“In this case we’re working to put away a guy who shot her. I’d think she’d get some satisfaction knowing he’s serving time and we’re the ones who’ll be taking him down.”
Joe nodded, then just as quickly shook his head. “You have to consider that Barney talked Emma onto that plane to the frozen North while she was pregnant with that cutie we’ve been seeing. If he’d done that to me
I’d be tempted to put a bullet between his eyes, and I have more self-control than Cain seems to.” He put his hand over Shelby’s on the table and whispered, “If she does try, that might be the way we finally pin something on her.”
Both their phones rang simultaneously, so Joe threw a five on the table and followed Shelby outside when he got the message Cain was on the move. “Speak of the devil. Let the fun begin,” he said to Shelby as they climbed into the back of the surveillance van. He had barely closed the door when the driver floored it to catch up to Cain’s vehicle.
“Looks like a trip downtown,” Lionel Jones said. He was fooling with a piece of equipment with one hand and holding a headset to his ear with the other. “If she doesn’t turn that damn song off I’m going to put in for a transfer.”
“I’m working on it,” Claire Lansing said.
They all had to hang on as they came to an abrupt stop in front of the Federal Building.
“Get the feeling we won’t have any trouble hearing her next conversation?” Shelby asked as Cain, flanked by three guards, made her way up the stairs. “Claire, you might want to call the boss and give her a heads-up.”
“You got it. The guys inside said she just requested a visit with Kyle.”
“Good,” Joe said. “Maybe he’ll talk to her since he hasn’t done much of that since we locked him up.”
As their driver pulled into the parking lot so they could get inside and in front of a monitor, Shelby asked, “What were you saying about fun?”
Chapter Thirteen
Remi dismissed the car and took the same walk through the French Quarter but couldn’t get rid of Simon, who strode silently beside her. She rang the bell and waited while she looked at the throngs of tourists making their way down Bourbon Street and taking pictures every other foot of the decadence that made New Orleans such a fascinating city.
The gate opened and Dallas stood there, still in her casual outfit from the morning, though she’d let her shoulder-length hair down. “What, you couldn’t stay away?” Dallas asked.