by Ali Vali
“Lawn-service truck?” Shelby asked, her pulse picking up.
“I know where you’re going. We interviewed every one of the guys who work around here, and all of them checked out with backups from their clients. The only two people we couldn’t talk to were the ones who obviously couldn’t tell us anything,” she said, putting her hand on her shoulder. “I’m still looking to see who your dad used so we can talk to them and check if they saw anything.”
“My dad told you about Cain but didn’t tell you how obsessive he is about his lawn?” she asked, not believing no one was following up on this line.
“Fuck,” Fiona said, pulling out her phone and calling for backup to come and canvass again.
“Did the neighbor say if she saw the lawn guy?”
“She saw one man by the truck and another come around the back with trash bags and a rake. She didn’t think anything of it because they both looked the part and it’s something most people around here see on a daily basis.”
“You mean they were Hispanic and carrying lawn equipment around the shotgun they used to kill my parents?” she asked, and Fiona nodded. “They used what everyone considers negative profiling to fit right in.”
“And it worked,” Fiona said, the house coming to life around her as the agents started filing out to talk to the neighbors. “What’s your first impression of that?”
“That the government trained the mastermind behind this and he told our grass cutters what to do,” she said, walking to her father’s study. “What I don’t know is why,” she said, opening the drawer where her father’s gun lay. “Thanks, Fiona, you were right. I was blinded by my first impressions but now I’m on the right path, and I need you to do me a favor.”
“Name it.”
“I need you to mail me this here,” she said, writing her home address.
“Can I ask why?”
“Sure. I need it because when I catch who did this I intend to use it to explain why I emptied the clip in his head. There won’t be a trial on this one.”
“If that’s the case, you’ll need help,” Fiona said, reaching for the gun and the address. Both items dropped into her jacket pocket. “I’m sure your boss can arrange that.”
“I’ll have all the help I need after I talk to the master of hitting back when something like this happens,” she said, hoping Cain would be willing to see her when she got home.
“That’s true, but it helps to have someone other than Cain Casey backing you up.”
“Get packed and meet me at the airport. If we’re lucky we won’t find a better teacher in the art of revenge.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Just when I think I understand you, you manage to shock the shit out of me,” Sept said. “No offense, Emma.”
“You think cursing offends me?” Emma asked and laughed, accepting Sept’s hug as she came into the room. The call Cain had her make the night before had sent Sept out looking for something unusual, and she’d called that morning to tell them she might have found it. “Cain doesn’t do it often, but every once in a while this one can curl your hair with some of the stuff she comes up with,” Emma said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder in Cain’s direction.
“Come over here by me, funny girl, and let the decorated officer sit down.”
“Wow,” Sept said, placing her hand on her forehead. “Those guys did a number on you, huh?”
“It’s their new system of upholding the law,” she said, smiling even though she still felt bad. “Instead of protect and defend, it’s more like assault and beat down.”
“Sorry I wasn’t around,” Sept said, sitting in the chair Emma had moved closer to the bed. “Stuff like that gives us all a bad name.”
“It had to happen sooner or later, and I’m not putting you in the same category as the people responsible for this.” She sat up straighter in the bed, trying to motivate herself to feel better. “Did you find anything like I asked last night?”
“I convinced the sheriff’s office over in Plaquemines Parish to send me the crime-scene photos early this morning, and I walked the scene myself last night. New Orleans has its share of bizarre murders, but so far from what I’ve seen, this one takes the prize. Those guys over in Chalmette don’t know what the hell to make of it.”
Sept handed Cain the pictures, and she kept them at an angle so Emma wouldn’t be able to see them unless she asked.
“I don’t have to tell you that I’m not supposed to be sharing these with you, but I figure it’s part of your religion homework, and now I need help with my English,” Sept said, giving her time to look at what she’d brought.
“By the time the son of the man who owned the land came home from his date, the victim had been dead, by the coroner’s estimate, an hour or two. In that time the kid almost missed the dead guy strapped to a tree at the edge of their estate because he was completely covered in ants. Forensically it was a nightmare because they couldn’t remove them without wiping away potential evidence.”
Lying on the gurney in a body bag, Rodolfo appeared swollen and disfigured, but it was definitely him. “You know the guy?” Sept asked, taking the pictures back and putting them away.
“About as well as you do,” she answered, already making a list of what had to be done. “Rodolfo Luis was retired last night, by the looks of that, and you’re right, it’s bizarre, but I can tell you exactly why he was killed by insects.”
Sept nodded and scratched the side of her neck. “And what’ll it cost me to hear that story?”
“Your credit is good with me, so I’ll throw it in for free. Should you feel the need to toss me a bone in the future, though, I won’t turn you down.”
“You get older but you never change,” Sept said, laughing and tapping the mattress without touching her. “I’ll tell my mother to say a prayer for you, Emma. Your partner is always perfecting the art of the deal.”
“I can use all the ones I can get,” Emma said.
“You want to hear this or not?” Cain asked, cocking her head and slightly thrilled that it didn’t make her nauseous. She told her the story she’d heard from Hector months before and why the prime suspect in this case had to be Gracelia Luis. She didn’t leave out any aspect, figuring it was better to have a little help from an organization that had even more employees than she did. Sept would put the word out, and between the two of them someone would find Gracelia. And when that happened, Cain would find Juan.
“So you’re sure the sister killed him?” Sept asked, shivering. “That’s cold.”
“Not cold, Sept, revenge. This crazy bitch has held a torch for some scumbag, from what I’ve heard, for too many years, so it makes sense she took out Rodolfo the same way he took out her lover.” She grasped Emma’s hand and lifted her knees to support Emma’s back when she rested on her. “That means Rodolfo is gone but now you have the worst-case scenario. I’m sure she killed him so she could take over and put her son in charge.”
“You’re talking about Juan Luis?” Sept asked.
“Yes, and if that comes to pass, you’ll long for the days the old man was running things.” She looked up at Emma. It wasn’t time to be totally honest about Carlos. She’d never willingly help anyone, aside from Vinny Carlotti, get established in drugs, but this was an important opportunity.
With Carlos as the new boss of Rodolfo’s crew, she’d have less trouble than she would if Gracelia won this battle. Carlos owed her, and she intended to point him in the right direction.
“You really think she’s got a chance?” Sept said, taking notes as they talked. “Most of the idiots I pop for drug-related murders aren’t exactly up on taking orders from a woman.”
“Depends on the woman,” she said, making Sept laugh. “If she was gunning for him, some of the issues you’ve been seeing on the street make sense, don’t they?”
“The higher-ups have been reporting that this is the beginning of a drug war, and they’ve got double shifts trying to turn it around.”
> That was true, but they were up against people who killed with no thought as to who they directed their hail of bullets at. “If you want my opinion,” she said, making Sept put her notepad down, “you can tell your bosses that last night one of the sides won a battle, but the war is coming.”
“So far we have Delarosa on one side and this Gracelia on the other. You think that’s it?”
“No.” She wanted to warn Sept about Carlos without actually giving him up. “You have to take Rodolfo’s crew into account. Some of them, I believe, have already picked sides against him, but others will be loyal to him until it kills them.”
“Thanks, Cain, you almost sound like a CI,” Sept said, clearly joking as she put her notepad away. “But don’t worry. I won’t ruin your reputation by letting anyone downtown know that you’re not all bad.”
“Okay, smart-ass, but remember how much help I gave you today and share the wealth if you find something.”
“I promise you’ll be hearing from me.”
“You want me to call Carlos?” Emma asked when the door closed.
Nodding, she said, “Tell him to come alone, dress casual, and take the stairs. When we’re done, we need to meet with the doctor and ask if I can go home.”
“No,” Emma said adamantly. “You’ve got two more days to go, and you don’t have a good enough excuse to convince me you don’t need to be here.”
“I need to go back to work, lass, and that’s not really easy from here.”
“You tell me what you need, who you need to talk to, and I’ll do it. Even if it takes me killing someone to make whatever you have planned work, but you’re not leaving until he gives you a clean bill of health.”
“It won’t come to that,” she said, encouraging Emma to come closer. “If it makes you feel better, we’ll get it done from here.” The last thing she wanted was to upset Emma, but she didn’t want to give the FBI a head start. They could keep track of her visitors too easily when she was in here. “We begin with Carlos.”
“And who do we end with?”
“Whoever stands between us and restoring order.”
*
“I’m almost home, but I’ll turn around and be there as soon as I check in on Dallas,” Remi said to Cain after answering her phone. She’d followed Carlos back to the Piquant and gone up with him for something Cain had asked for. It was hard to track someone when you had no idea what they looked like.
After a few hours, a couple of pictures came up from the front desk after Carlos’s mother faxed the most current pictures she could find of Gracelia. Remi had groaned when she glanced down at her watch, so she’d stopped by the French Market and bought a dozen roses for Dallas. It didn’t hurt to try and make her feel better for not only leaving but for having to turn around and go out again after she changed clothes.
“He’s dead?”
“A big ant buffet, from what I could tell,” Cain said, making her laugh. Leave it to her friend to be funny in this situation.
“Did Emma get Carlos?”
“He’s on his way, and I need you here to let him know what happened to Rodolfo.”
She took the elevator up after Simon parked and checked the area, making sure that whatever was going on hadn’t followed them home. “Give me about forty minutes. If you want I’ll bring Dallas and she can take Emma out for breakfast.”
“I’m sure she’ll be grateful for a break.”
She put her keys on the small table next to the elevator and walked to the bedroom with the flowers, dropping them on the bed when she found it empty. No water was running in the bathroom and the kitchen had been dark, but that’s where she headed because Dallas couldn’t have gotten out without the extra key.
The phone at Dallas’s rang five times before Emil answered. “Did you come by here and pick Dallas up?”
“I was waiting for her call, why?” Emil said, sounding groggy.
“Could you get Kristen up and ask if she’s heard from her?” she said, heading back to the bedroom. Juno hadn’t said anything and Simon hadn’t let Remi know that Dallas was down there visiting them, so Dallas hadn’t told Juno that she was leaving.
In the bedroom she opened the closet and found the clothes Dallas had worn the day before hanging neatly and her running shoes missing. While she was waiting for Kristen to come to the phone she picked up her land line to call Dallas’s cell phone. The note was sitting there, and something Remi had harped on when it came to security had finally sank in with Dallas. She’d put the time in the upper right-hand corner.
Two hours! Remi’s stomach hurt. Dallas had been gone two hours, and unless she’d run through the next town over to get home she should’ve arrived an hour ago. Even if she wasn’t in love with Dallas, she wished she’d learn not to make herself such an easy target. It was clear that’s what she’d done by going out alone, probably thinking the early hour would protect her.
“Remi.” Emil’s voice made her jump slightly since she was expecting Kristen’s. “She’s not here, but she left a note.” Remi sat in relief, thinking maybe the sisters had met at the gym. “Oh Christ.”
“What? God damn it, tell me.”
“She put the time and wrote Johnny Moores has Dallas.”
Hadn’t Remi promised Dallas the night before that no one would ever hurt her again? It wasn’t right that the very next day Dallas would end up with the one person she had tried the hardest to get away from. “Get dressed and get over here,” she told Emil, and hung up.
If what Kristen had written was true, then Johnny had an hour on her. Should she look for them in town or start toward Tennessee? “Think,” she said to herself as she tapped her fingers against her head.
While she considered her options she called her father and brother. Ramon would be here in less than twenty minutes, but Mano would take a little longer to make the thirty-minute flight from Biloxi. She picked up the bouquet and threw it against the glass.
“Did you call Cain?” Simon asked, walking in from downstairs. She picked up the flowers and handed them to Juno—her partner and Remi’s assistant.
“I’m not worried about that right now,” Remi said, louder than she usually talked to Simon. “The last thing that concerns me is the crap going on with Rodolfo’s family. If he’d taken care of his business when he had the chance, we wouldn’t have to clean up after him.” She could give herself the same lecture. If she’d gone on what she assumed wasn’t a long flight or taken Cain’s offer to visit Johnny after they’d dealt with Bob, she could have spent the rest of her day reminding Dallas how dangerous it was to go out alone. But she hadn’t. Johnny Moores was buried so deep in Dallas’s past that she’d ignored the threat like a kid on her first day on the job.
Simon sat next to her. “Unless you need me here, I’m sending Juno with one of the guys to help Cain translate her business with Carlos. You need to stop blaming yourself long enough to put your brain to work. Once we get them back and they’re fine, we need to give Kristen a lesson on what to do when someone like Emil’s on the sofa and this happens. It’ll involve not walking out the door into a trap.”
“You’re a good friend, Simon, but if I go after him and miss, I won’t get her back, because he’ll take her somewhere I can’t find her.”
“Think like that and he’s already won,” Simon said, pulling her to her feet. “You need to concentrate on how you’ll kill this asshole so Dallas and Kristen can stop looking over their shoulder.”
“He had to have been watching her because how would he have guessed she was out alone today,” she said, dialing Dallas’s cell phone. She didn’t think she’d get an answer but wanted to see if it was still on. It rang ten times before going to voicemail. As she hung up Emil walked in and stood in front of her, looking like he was waiting for his dressing down.
“I’m sorry, Remi, and if you don’t want me here, I’ll go.”
She peered up at him and could see the pain in his face. “This isn’t anyone’s fault but Johnny Moores’
s, and that’s who we’ll make answer for this.” She moved them to the den when her father arrived and started the meeting, not waiting for Mano.
They all had their eyes on her as she dropped the file Cain had gathered about Dallas’s past. Up to now it had been locked in her safe. She’d planned to destroy the bundle of information after she showed it to Dallas, but Johnny had beat her by a day.
“He lives in Sparta and, from what Dallas told me yesterday, runs a still to make money. I looked before cleaning out Bob Bennett’s house but never found any connection to Johnny. There had to have been one since he’s laid low all these years and only shows up now,” she told them, flipping through the pages until she found the address she was looking for. Johnny’s mailing address was a post-office box. Nothing in what Cain and Muriel found in that initial investigation gave a physical address.
“What do you want us to do?” Ramon asked. The elevator opened and Remi’s mother came in and hugged her. “You’re in charge.”
“Call everyone you know and find him if he’s still in the city,” she told Ramon. “I’m not sure what he looks like, but you know all I do when it comes to this guy.” Ramon was the only person she’d confided everything to.
Ramon stood and started making calls, and by the time Mano showed up an hour later Ramon had discovered where Johnny had been staying and that he’d checked out. The phone rang and the doorman announced a guest. When the elevator came up, Merrick rolled in with a young woman.
Merrick said, “I can’t come with you and neither can Cain, but she wants you to have your share of people watching your back so you can do what needs to be done.” The young woman with the intense expression who stood beside Merrick resembled a younger version of her. “Sabana’s young but I believe she’ll be an asset.”
“Would you send someone on a training mission if this was Katlin?” she asked, not needing the baggage Cain wanted to saddle her with. “I’m leaving for Tennessee with Mano and Simon, but thank her anyway.”