by Ali Vali
Emma stood back as Cain finished reading Hannah a story. It was an hour past her regular bedtime, but Hannah had stubbornly kept her eyes open until Cain came upstairs. They made it through three-fourths of the book before Hannah was out for the night. The way Cain tucked the covers around Hannah and kissed her forehead made Emma sigh. Hannah was losing the haunted expression she often wore up North because she was afraid of doing something to make her grandmother unhappy.
“I love you,” Emma said when Cain was close enough for her to put her arms around her waist.
“And I love you, lass.” Cain placed her palms against her cheeks and kissed her. “Think we’ll have another baby like that?”
“I’ll tell you in a week or so.” Cain closed the door and they strolled down the hall to their room. “Daddy started fixing the holes in our walls today.”
“Did the guys finish sweeping?”
“We’re bug-free at the moment, and they’re going through again tomorrow with the new equipment Lou ordered.” She turned around so Cain could unzip her dress. “On another subject, Remi looked pale when they left. What did you two talk about?”
“Dallas,” Cain said, pulling the covers back since they were both naked. “I found what Remi asked me about.”
“Which was?”
“Are you sure you want to know? I promised I wouldn’t even tell her father.”
When Cain clicked off the lamp the room went dark, the only light coming from under the bathroom door. “Is it something Remi can live with?”
“She’ll have to.” Cain pressed up against Emma’s back. “She might not realize it, but she’s in love with her.”
Emma let the subject drop, knowing how Cain felt about breaking her word. She relaxed, listening to Cain breathing and the house settling, and hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep until the phone rang two hours later.
The receiver dropped from Cain’s hand as she groped for it, and she cursed softly as she had to sit up to find it. She finally pressed it to her ear and said nothing as whoever was on the other line said something brief.
“Sorry for waking you, lass.” Cain stood and went to into the bathroom.
“Who was that?” Emma rolled over with her eyes shut to keep from squinting.
“Katlin.” Cain walked out still naked and headed for the closet. “I’ve got to go meet her, but I shouldn’t be long.”
“Just be careful, okay.”
“You got it.” Cain kissed her and pulled the blankets back up. “Go back to sleep.”
The damp chill in the air made Cain glad she’d put on a sweater. Lou was already waiting for her outside the pool house. “Nice night for a chat, don’t you think, Lou?”
“I was coming up to get you.”
“Katlin called and woke me. What’s going on outside?”
“The guys at the gate said the night crew’s on. They changed when Remi pulled out.”
They left a trail in the wet grass as they headed to the back of the yard. Jarvis had dug an exit, but with the light surveillance they didn’t need to use it.
They scaled the wall and dropped to the neighbor’s yard, virtually invisible in their dark clothing. Once they made it though the front gate, they walked two blocks to the car Lou kept parked on the street. He paid his nephew to move it a couple of times a week so no one would notice it.
“Where’s Katlin?” Cain asked as she got into the passenger side.
“She didn’t want to travel too much, so she’s waiting for us at the Esplanade warehouse.”
They drove aimlessly through the downtown area for twenty minutes before heading through the Quarter and into the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood. With no tail, Lou made no more detours on the way to the storage warehouse Cain had owned for years. Only the deed was in Orlindo Adam’s name. Considering he’d been dead since the 1980’s, Cain figured he wouldn’t mind as long as she paid his taxes on the property.
“It would be so much more convenient if we had these meetings in my office at home,” Cain said as Lou drove to the back of the property and parked in the one covered spot. “Then I could throw on a robe and skip these late-night forays.”
“Emma spent a month looking for the rug in there. She’d probably kneecap you if you messed it up,” Lou said.
When Cain was upright she laughed and stretched, trying to wipe away the last of her grogginess. “Let’s get going. I promised I wouldn’t be long.”
Katlin was sitting on the desk in the back office that at one time was probably the receiving manager’s spot. The furniture had been left like it was, since Cain only wanted the place to store cases of wine. As shitty as the place appeared from the outside, including weeds growing in the cracks in the asphalt, the main space was totally climate-controlled.
The invoice Cain picked up read Brown’s Dairy at the top, but the rest was too faded to read. “Where’d you find him?” she asked about the guy sitting in the chair staring down the barrel of Katlin’s gun.
“Just have to know who to ask if you want to find somebody.” When Lou stood behind the guy, Katlin put her gun away. “I asked the bellman at the Piquant.”
“They gave him up? I thought they prided themselves on guests’ privacy.”
“I didn’t ask about this clown. I asked where I could get the most authentic enchilada in town. Seems Pepe here likes the Taqueria Grill too.”
“My name no is Pepe, bitch,” Jesus said, then spit close to Katlin’s shoe.
“What was he carrying?” Cain asked, ignoring Jesus for now and flipping through the wallet on the desk.
“Big man like Pepe needs a big gun.” She pulled a forty-caliber pistol from her waistband.
“I say my name no is Pepe.”
“What about it, Lou?” Cain asked. Jesus’s ponytail swung back and forth as he swiveled his head, like he was trying to keep them all in sight. “Is it him?”
“Same hair, small build, same suit—I’m positive it’s this guy.”
Katlin handed Jesus’s gun to Cain and stood next to Lou. “If he had friends with him when you saw him, Lou, they ditched him tonight. Pepe was enjoying his enchilada all alone.”
“Bitch, you deaf or something? My name no is—” Jesus screamed so loud the veins at the side of his neck bulged. When Cain shot him he squirmed like a trout on a line.
“What’s your name?”
“Pepe.” He rocked in his seat but didn’t lift his bleeding foot. “You call me Pepe if you want.”
“I’m not interested in calling you anything, but I do want to know why you killed my man in the airport.”
Jesus continued to rock and had started to sweat and pull at his hair, messing up his neat ponytail. “I know nothing what you talking about. Por favor, you believe me, I no there.”
“Okay, calm down, I believe you. I’m sure Lou—” As Cain spoke, Lou stepped forward where Jesus could see him. “I’m sure Lou was wrong when he told me you were there, so let’s try something else. Let’s say you were there but you didn’t have anything to do with what happened. You understand?” Cain asked, and Jesus nodded so fast he resembled one of those fake dogs with the bobbing head that people put in their cars. “Just tell me who did.”
“I no there,” he screamed, sounding beyond frustrated. When Cain pulled the trigger again, the gun sounded like a cannon, but Jesus’s screams drowned out the echo. He wriggled in his chair like someone had hooked him to an electric current.
“Is your memory getting any better?” Cain asked him, raising her voice to be heard over his crying. “If it isn’t, then maybe one here,” she put the gun to his shin, “will improve it.”
“It no was me, I swear…it…it was Oscar…Oscar Cardone. He kill that guy.”
“See, you need the right persuasion,” Cain told Lou. “I just have a few more questions so try and focus. What were you doing at the airport?”
“Senor Rodolfo, he send us, but Oscar go crazy and we have to go.” Jesus’s speech was becoming more rapid and he had to
stop to throw up. “It hurt so bad.”
“One more thing. Was Anthony Curtis there?”
“Who?” Jesus’s eyes widened then shut as if he realized his mistake. When he opened his eyes again Cain’s finger was moving back to press the trigger. “Esperate.”
The word “wait” was one of the few Cain recognized and she let the gun fall to her side. “It’s late, Mr. Vega, and I’m tired. Not a good combination for you, so cut the crap.”
“You know me?”
“Your mother might have named you Jesus,” she did her best to pronounce it correctly, beginning the name with an h, “but she wasted it on you.” She waved the wallet Katlin had taken from him in his face.
“Anthony, he was there.”
“Were you all waiting for Juan Luis?” The gun was starting to feel heavy in Cain’s hand as she bounced it against her thigh.
“Senor Rodolfo, he send us. I go where the patron say, and then Señor Anthony say kill that man, he see me.”
The explanation was rough but understandable enough to Cain. She kept her eyes on Jesus as she handed Lou the gun. “You need me to stay?”
“I won’t be long, but I want to finish and clean up. It’s the least I owe Rick.”
Cain picked up Jesus’s wallet before leaving with Katlin. To get back to the house quicker, Katlin took the interstate, keeping two miles under the limit. The windows on the Tahoe SUV she’d taken out were tinted dark enough in the back that Cain made no attempt to get down as they drove past the van parked across the street from the gate. In the garage Cain waved to Katlin as she headed to the pool house for the rest of the night.
“Give Merrick my apologies for keeping you out so late.”
“Sure thing,” Katlin said, her voice sounding muffled as she walked away.
“Were you right or wrong?” Emma asked a short time later when Cain got back in bed.
“A little of both, I guess.”
“Then more right than wrong, I hope.”
Emma felt like warm silk against her skin. “Do you know why Napoleon lost his last war?”
“Honey, it’s past three,” Emma said with a trace of a whine.
“Supply chain. He stretched his troops too far for his supplies to reach the advanced divisions. No matter what the other theories are about the subject, that’s my opinion.”
“That’s nice, and that has to do with tonight because?”
“I need to start figuring some of this out, or we’re going to stretch ourselves too thin. There’s no way to keep the feds on the other side of that fence and take down Nunzio Luca and the Luis family all at the same time, without falling short in one or more areas.” Cain rolled onto her back and Emma went with her, covering half of Cain’s body with hers.
“There’s a way. You just haven’t thought of it yet.”
“Thanks, lass. It’s nice to have someone who believes I know what I’m doing.”
The room was still dark, but Emma obviously didn’t have trouble finding Cain’s lips. “I happen to think you’re brilliant, but if you don’t know what you’re doing,” she teased, “then leave me in the dark.”
“That’s a deal,” Cain said, and laughed. Despite the hour she wasn’t tired.
“Since we’re both up, how about we have coffee and talk?”
“How’d you know I wasn’t sleepy?”
Emma rubbed her stomach before she sat up. “I’m your wife, so I can tell the difference between alert and sleepy. Besides, if we get up now we can fit in a nap later today.”
After Emma turned the coffee pot on, they sat together in the kitchen. Their hands were joined as they sat at the small table set in the bay window overlooking the gardens out back, and every so often they’d see one of the guards patrolling, leading a large German shepherd.
“Tell me what you know, mobster,” Emma said.
“Which part?”
“Whichever part you think has the potential to do the most harm.”
The coffee pot sputtered, signaling it was done, and Cain got up to fill the two cups Emma had set out with the added ingredients they liked. She picked them up and cocked her head in the direction of the sunroom. It was still three hours till sunrise, but they’d be more comfortable on the sofa.
“I had a talk with one of Rodolfo’s men tonight, and he admitted to being at the airport with Anthony Curtis. According to him, Anthony ordered the group they were with to kill Rick because he’d seen them waiting for someone,” Cain said. She was filling in the blanks for Emma, but by talking out loud she was seeing the information from a new viewpoint.
“Anthony ordered Rick killed?”
“If that was the case, my plan of action would be easy. No, Anthony’s an ass but he’s not dumb. He’s playing some kind of twisted game of chicken, and at the airport the truck heading toward him creamed him.” She put her cup down, then Emma’s, so they could stretch out. “But Anthony’s not out of this. He’s hurt himself and is going to be more dangerous now.”
Emma put her hand in Cain’s robe and ran her fingers along her stomach again. “Why?”
“Because I don’t believe he ordered anything, but he was there. He watched Rodolfo’s dogs take Rick away and kill him. In Anthony’s world that makes him culpable, and he knows that. But I don’t think he’s aware his employer knows he was there.”
“That’s the other thing I don’t understand. Why was he there?”
“Jesus said Rodolfo sent them, but he didn’t know for what.”
Emma lifted her head and laughed. “Jesus told you? If you got to talk to him you should’ve asked better questions.”
“Funny girl,” Cain said, pinching one of her cheeks. “I don’t buy that, but that’s the story he stuck with no matter how many different ways I asked.”
“How do you find out the truth? Ask the Virgin Mary?”
Cain had to laugh at that one. “You need more sleep if you’re this punchy, but to answer your question, I see only one way. I’m going to ask Rodolfo as soon as I get a meeting with him.”
“He’d just tell you?”
“Probably not, but I want to send him a message that he has a mutiny brewing in his house.” Cain helped Emma up and put her arm around her shoulders.
“It’s me, baby. Could you not be so cryptic?”
“The rabid dog he’s been feeding and training all these years has finally decided to break his leash and bite his master. Anthony wasn’t at the airport on Rodolfo’s orders—he was there at Juan’s. I think he’s back and Anthony is with him.” Cain smoothed the blankets over them and opened her arms to Emma once they were settled in the bed. “You wanted to know what could harm us the most. If I’m right, it’d be that.”
“And if it really was Rodolfo?”
“If it was him I’m going to feed him that shit he sells until he chokes on it, then ship him back to Mexico in a crate of bananas to give his nephew a hint of what’ll happen to him if he comes back here.”
Emma rested her head in the bend of Cain’s shoulder and kissed the side of her neck. “See, and you said you didn’t have a plan.”
Chapter Forty-Four
“Where are you going?” Dallas asked from under the covers. She watched Remi walk out of the bathroom toward the bed, her hair wet from a shower. “After last night you’re supposed to be in here with me.”
“Can I tell you how good you look in sheets?” Remi joined her when Dallas held up the blanket.
“You smell nice.” Dallas went willingly when Remi took her in her arms. “If you’d woken me up, I could’ve helped you get that way.”
“What’s wrong?” Remi combed Dallas’s hair behind her ear and kissed her. “I’m sorry I got up without you.”
“That usually means you didn’t—”
Remi stopped her from saying anything else by kissing her again, only this time longer and more passionately. “I wake up early every day no matter what’s going on, and since I’m a little ADD, I get restless. You looked so peaceful I didn�
��t want to disturb you, but last night was wonderful.”
“You’re not sorry?”
“So sorry that I want us to repeat it tonight.” Remi ran her thumb along Dallas’s lips. “It doesn’t have anything to do with sex, but everything with having you here with me.”
“Can we have that talk today?” The night before, Dallas had lain in Remi’s arms, and it had felt so good she came close to crying again. But like Remi said, it had nothing to do with sex. For once she felt safe enough to simply put her head down and rest. With Remi, the last thing she wanted to do was leave.
“Cain called and I’ve got to head out for a meeting, but I had Juno clear the rest of my day so we can talk.” Remi ran her hands down Dallas’s back to her butt, then lifted her closer. “While I’m gone I want you to do me a favor.”
“What?” When Remi lay flat on her back Dallas was happy to spread her legs and straddle Remi’s waist. The new position let her lick Remi’s nipple, getting it wet. She blew on it and it puckered. “What can I do for you?” Her question had more to do with other kinds of favors, if Remi was interested.
“Make your Christmas list early.” Remi’s voice cracked on the last word as Dallas repeated her action on the other breast. “When I come back, I want you to tell me what you want changed in your life that would make you happy.”
Dallas sat up and smiled. In the daylight she could see Remi’s face and how much desire it held for her, but she saw more. Not only lust shone in the uniquely different colors of blue and green, that kind of caring was the biggest turn-on Dallas had experienced in her short life. And it evidently drove Remi’s need to free her from whatever haunted her.
“When you come back?” Dallas asked as she rocked against Remi’s lower abdomen, guaranteeing she’d need another shower. “I’ll do whatever you like.” She eased down and kneeled between Remi’s legs. “But you need to come right now.” She thought her play on words was lost as Remi moaned instead of laughed.
They touched, but their union was different in the light of day. It was still hungry, yet it felt like nothing Dallas had shared with anyone. For the first time she experienced what it was like for someone to make love to her. Remi touched her like someone who cared about her pleasure because she cared about her. Remi didn’t want to possess her, but to express how much she wanted her in and out of bed.