by Ali Vali
Cain laughed, knowing it was true. Maybe that explained how Barney Kyle had been able to completely snow her years before. Emma had been pregnant with Hannah when she’d left, and while pregnancy made her more beautiful, it put her in a bit of a fog. She’d found it adorable during Hayden’s pregnancy and through this one.
“I’ll ask Muriel to check. Nothing extensive unless she finds something on the first go-round.”
“I’d say we’re being paranoid, but I’d rather you checked. If it’s something to do with those idiots outside and they’re trying to find a way in through Hannah, I want to know.”
“You know I wouldn’t keep it from you.”
Emma placed her hand over hers. The baby finally seemed to calm down now that they were back in the bed. “I know you wouldn’t, my love, but if I don’t know, then I can’t ask you for anything.”
“Sleep easy, lass. Anyone who tries to clear a path through our children deserves no mercy. I think we’ve taught that lesson enough times to prove we’ll never back down from that special kind of stupidity. It’s not our fault that we’re dealing with slow learners.”
“Hannah and Lucy are just children.”
She held Emma tighter and kissed her temple. If she was totally honest she’d admit her fear, but she didn’t want to worry Emma. Only people with nothing to lose, though, had nothing to fear. Her greatest gifts were in this house, but they were also the key to her downfall if she couldn’t keep them safe.
“They are, so I’ll do whatever I need to make sure we’re okay.” She kissed Emma again and let her get more comfortable. “And I mean anything.”
*
Marisol Delarosa looked down at Nicolette, who was asleep. She was surprised at how aggressive Nicolette was in bed, but perhaps it came from all the talk about Cain Casey. It was interesting to watch Nicolette stroke the long scar on her face as she spoke about her hatred of the mob boss. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she was sure Nicolette blamed Cain.
She was also positive that Nicolette was, in Nicolette’s opinion, the smartest person in any room at any time. Her father often spoke about people like that and their obsession to show the world how brilliant they were. Intelligence was important, but brains couldn’t stop a bullet from an idiot, no matter how hard you thought about it. She and Nicolette both disliked Cain, but if Nicolette thought for a minute that she’d ever control Marisol or her father, she’d have to learn a hard lesson in humility.
She needed to wait for her father to return. He hadn’t shared what he knew about the Blanc family with her yet, because rumors of an uprising among some of their top lieutenants had kept them from talking before he left. So for now, she’d enjoy Nicolette like this while making no commitments or promises.
Her phone made Nicolette stir and stretch her hand out for her. Marisol answered quickly to silence the ring. “Sí,” she said, irritated at the disturbance.
“Mari.” She could hear the stress in the voice of Julio Rollas, her main guard. “You need to get down to the office.”
“What is it?” She pushed Nicolette’s hand away and got up to dress. She really needed a shower, but Julio’s demeanor was a warning that she didn’t have time for that triviality.
“Someone’s making a move, and it’s bad.”
“Fuck,” she said, not bothering with underwear. “Get everyone up and send someone to get Miss Blanc home.” She communicated with him in Spanish but was sure Nicolette understood her. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
“What’s wrong?” Nicolette said, standing naked before her. The woman was beautiful and hard to ignore, but she needed her out of the house.
“It’s a family matter, so please get dressed and I’ll have someone take you home.”
“Marisol, let me help you. Not because our fathers want to work together, but because we’re friends.”
“I’ll call you when my father gets back, but until then, get ready to leave.”
She took the stairs two at a time and tried to show no emotion when she entered the office. Her father’s new plaything, Tracy Stegal, and a few others were there with Julio. Unlike her father, she didn’t trust Tracy with anything.
“Tell me what’s happening,” she said as she sat behind the desk. Julio glanced at Tracy, and she slammed her fist down. “One of you, just spit it out.”
“With the storm, we took advantage of some new real-estate deals,” Tracy said.
Marisol put her hand up. “I know our business better than you, Tracy, so stop disrespecting me. I’ll fucking shoot you in the head, and it’ll take my father less than a day to replace you in his bed. Remember that the next time you want to act like a bitch or treat me like I have no sense.”
“Three of the five houses the family now owns to prepare our stuff for street sale have been cleaned out. The people in them are dead, and the product is gone.”
“Which places?” The thought of facing her father with this news made her feel like she was standing in a cold draft. Hector had trusted her, and it didn’t matter that she was his blood. He’d punish not only the people who’d stolen from him, but anyone who’d allowed it.
“Two in Metairie and one in New Orleans East. The two in Metairie were full, but the east wasn’t going to be loaded until we could put more personnel in place,” Tracy said. Her calm meant Marisol’s threat hadn’t rocked her that much. “Overall, it’s about five hundred kilos. All of them already accounted for, and all that was left was delivery.”
That meant they’d either have to give whoever had bought it their money back, or find enough to replace it. “Who the fuck was stupid enough to do this?”
“It had to be someone with enough muscle to hit all three at once so no alarm could be raised. If we look at it like that, the list isn’t that long,” Tracy said, crossing her shapely legs. Marisol could see what attracted her father. This woman was young, beautiful, but incredibly in control. She appeared to be a goldfish fearlessly swimming in a tank of sharks.
“Any ideas, since you’re the only one brave enough to speak?”
Tracy combed her hair back and shook her head. “I’ve got people on the street, but no one’s talking. I can’t see any of the players in the area doing this. None of them seem to want to start a war, and they know Hector will destroy anyone this stupid.”
“Find out something before we have to call my father.” The men in the room all nodded. They understood exactly what would happen to them if Hector blamed them for this. “That goes for you too, Tracy. My father isn’t the most understanding man when someone steals from him.”
Tracy stared at her, then nodded. “I’d never tell you how to run your business, but I believe we need allies on this one.” The suggestion made Marisol lift her fist again, but Tracy didn’t flinch. “If you want to get mad at me, I can’t help that. But your father left me here to assist you. As far as replacing me in his bed…I don’t need to spread my legs to be heard, Ms. Delarosa. Next time you have a need to put me in my place, pick a different topic.”
The woman had cojones, but being spoken to like that in front of her men was unacceptable. It was the quickest way to go from boss to pendejo in an instant. Marisol was no asshole, and it was time to prove it. She moved faster than Tracy could stand and punched her square in the face, sending a shower of blood from her nose all over Tracy’s silk blouse.
She cocked back again and almost laughed when Tracy uncovered her face as if daring her to hit her again. Maybe the bitch got off on that kind of thing, so she obliged by hitting her in the mouth. “Get yourself cleaned up,” she said, dropping her hand.
Tracy accepted Julio’s handkerchief and walked with an almost dignified stride out of the room.
“You don’t want to hear it, Mari, but she’s right,” Julio said. “We need to reach out, and we need to call your father.”
“I’ll take care of that, but put some people on that bitch. There’s something about her I don’t trust.”
“Your father gave
orders against that.”
She cocked her fist again, smiling when he flinched. “You work for me, remember?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Good. Now get the fuck out.” She collapsed into her father’s chair after they left and closed her eyes until her heartbeat slowed. “Think,” she said to herself as she picked up the phone. “Play this right and I can eliminate everyone keeping me out of this seat.”
She took a few deep breaths as she punched in the number. “Put my father on. Tell him it’s important.”
Chapter Eight
Levi Lakye was waiting the next morning when Cain came downstairs, but so were Lou and Katlin. All three appeared distressed, but Levi she understood, so she had Carmen put him in the living room. She’d deal with Lou and Kaitlin first. It took plenty to make them look like they’d been sucking lemons all morning.
“I know I’m not going to like this, but let’s hear it,” she said, following Lou into the dining room. “Only give me a minute to have coffee.” She poured a cup for each of them before sitting at the head of the long table. “Lou, call upstairs and let Emma know Levi’s here. We’ll deal with him together after this.”
“A couple of my people on the street called and let me know Hector got hit hard last night. Whoever was stupid enough to do it is sitting on millions in street value,” Katlin said as Lou nodded. “My contacts figured this would ignite a shit storm and wanted us to prepare if there’s fallout.”
“Did they have any idea who did it?” This wasn’t what she fucking needed. She wanted and had planned for months of calm.
“The streets are quiet for the most part, so I guess someone decided to reshuffle the deck when it came to the major players,” Lou said.
“And the answer to that is no,” Katlin added. “But this is Hector we’re talking about. You and I both know he’ll blow up the entire city, then ask questions.”
“Where’s Jasper? Still in Houston?” She loved Jasper—the big African-American man who controlled the inner-city drug trade and was Vinny Carlotti’s new partner—and his aunt Maude. Jasper and Maude had been lifelong friends, but Jasper was like any other businessman. If the opportunity was there, he’d take it. However, the consequences were a lot to chew this time if he had.
“Surprisingly, no,” Lou said. “Vincent put him up while he rebuilt the compound Katrina washed away. After Jasper’s arrangement with Vinny paid off big, Vincent let all the bad blood between their families run out. The main house is almost finished, from what I hear.”
“Money—world’s greatest healer, huh?” Katlin said with a smile as she shook her head.
“That’s part of it, but I think Jasper and Vinny together are good, and it helped prove that Vinny has grown up enough to prove himself to his father. In Vincent’s eyes and heart, that’s way more important than a big payday.” She wanted to celebrate what potentially could be the thing that drove Hector out of the city, but none of them were that lucky. “I’ve known Vinny a long time, so I totally got Vincent’s worry.”
“You don’t think that hothead did this, right?” Katlin asked.
“Jasper will have his balls if he did, but I really don’t see that. This isn’t something Jasper or Vinny would’ve done without coming to us first, which either means somebody’s gone nuts or we’ve got a new bully on the playground.”
“Any clues, Boss?” Lou asked.
Cain didn’t want to guess. That could be suicidal in a situation like this.
“Not a one, but this isn’t our business. We do need to protect Jasper and Vinny from Hector’s guaranteed blowup over this.” She rose and picked up a new cup since her coffee was cold. “Be ready to go in about an hour, Lou.”
“I’ll take care of it, if you want,” Katlin said.
“I’m not cutting you out, just giving Sept a heads-up. Try to see if you find anything else before I talk to her,” she said, meaning Detective Sept Savoie, her old friend on the police department. “Have one of the guys get with Vinny and Jasper and ask if they can spare a few minutes.”
“We might have a few days before it all goes to shit,” Lou said. “I had Shaun check it out, and he can’t be sure, but he’s almost positive Hector’s out of town.”
The door opened, and Emma walked in with an uncomfortable-looking gait. “Good morning, lass.” She smiled at Carmen, their head housekeeper, hovering close by like a hen with her pregnant chick. The sight made her wonder if Emma ever missed having a mother like Carmen. “We’ve got a nervous guest out there.”
“Carmen and Lou mentioned him. How do you want to handle that?” Emma asked, giving Cain a quick kiss.
Carmen pulled out a chair before Cain could get to it and poured Emma a glass of juice.
“Sometimes it’s better to hear the other guy out first. This conversation will be different here than at school, so let’s give him a chance to rectify the situation.”
“It’s Saturday, mobster. Just try not to make him mess up my upholstery.”
She laughed, but the little dweeb probably would piss his pants if she pushed too hard. “Carmen, could you please bring Mr. Layke in?”
Katlin and Lou left them alone, and Emma reached for her hand. “Cain…Emma.” Levi looked like his legs had turned to stone as he stood close to the table. “Thanks for seeing me.”
“Have a seat, Levi, before you fall over,” Emma said.
“Do you have a check for me?” Cain said, holding up her free hand.
“Can we have a conversation before I hand it over?” Levi held up an envelope as if to prove he had it. “Bottom line, what do you want?”
“I want that bitch gone, and it has nothing to do with Hannah.” She cocked her head slightly toward him, knowing that was a given even before he agreed. “I haven’t been able to wrap my head around you having someone so intolerant in the classroom.”
“The board brought her in at the end of last year at the recommendation of someone considered a friend. She was dismissed last night once the same board understood the ramifications of keeping her.”
Levi stared at the envelope as if he’d written the speech on the back. Something was missing from his confession, though, and that’s what he needed to spit out. She didn’t care if he’d memorized it carefully or not.
Cain glanced at Emma, and she must’ve understood her expression because she let go of Cain’s hand. Levi didn’t move when Cain stood up and walked around behind him. He did take a deep breath when she gently placed her hands on his shoulders. “I’m guessing you’ve never had the kind of conversation we’re about to have, so let’s go through some ground rules.”
“What about, Emma?” he asked, and she felt him tremble.
“Now, you care about my family?” She clicked her tongue and tensed her hands, squeezing his shoulders hard. “I’m going to ask you a question, and if you respond with something like ‘I don’t know,’ it’s not going to end well. At all times, remember who you’re dealing with.”
“The friend who recommended her is a lieutenant with NOPD,” Levi said, not waiting for her question. “From what I understand he’s interested in making the collar no one else had been able to, and he’s been here already.”
“Here?” Emma said. “As in, he’s been in our house?”
“I don’t have all the facts, but it was after the house got shot up.”
“There were a lot of cops and FBI here until Muriel arrived and cleared everyone out, so you’ll have to narrow it down,” Emma said, her expression changing as if reliving that nightmarish time.
“We’ll get to a name, but why now and why Hannah?” Jesus Christ, how in the hell had she missed this?
“I wasn’t there for the vote, and they just now filled me in since it came back to bite them. It didn’t occur to them then, I guess, that you wouldn’t accept someone like this in your child’s life, so they let this guy have his way. They should’ve asked where his way would lead them. The timing of her hire put her on a collision course
with Hannah.” Levi turned to face her and held out the envelope. “The woman’s gone, but I made them give you the money back anyway.”
“The money was the last thing on my mind, Levi, and she isn’t the only one I want gone.”
“Cain, you know I appreciate all you’ve done for me, but you can’t break that much ice for Hannah. And yes, I do know who I’m talking to.” He stood up and gripped the back of his chair, facing Cain. “You probably could take care of everything for her, but it doesn’t mean you should. She’ll never learn to fend for herself.”
“Levi, don’t make me hit you and don’t preach to me about what’s good for my kid.” She pointed to the seat, and he dropped into it again. “I’ll break ice, as you say, until Hannah learns from both of us to do it herself, and she will. Remember that she’s in kindergarten, so I’m not going to leave her to fend for herself just yet to make you feel better about all this. It wasn’t about that, so pay attention. This was about someone who doesn’t know me or Emma telling Hannah that our family isn’t in God’s plan. She didn’t exactly express those views the day we attended teacher-parent day, but I’m smart enough to get the implication.”
“What’s his name?” Emma asked.
“Elton Newsome,” Levi said. “He’s a detective, but I’m not sure which precinct.”
“Take your check and go back to school,” Cain said, sitting again so she could take Emma’s hand.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids, Cain, and I do owe you for this job, but be careful. The board member I talked to said this Newsome guy is an asshole, but an asshole with a niece in our school and with some sway.” Levi left the money and got up. “I don’t want you to get messed up over this.”
She stared at him for a long silent minute, and he squirmed under the scrutiny like he had when they were kids on the playground. Levi had always been small for his age, and he survived elementary school because of her and high school because of her brother, Billy. He was one of those people who’d needed propping up his entire life and seemed to have finally found his niche. The school was a perfect place for him to flourish, but he could never forget that her influence had paved and furnished his current position.
