by Ali Vali
“You want me to go?” Boone asked when he came in from the bedroom closest to the kitchen. “I’ll kill them all and send their heads to that big bitch. I don’t know why everyone shits their pants when it comes to her.”
“I need you with me today. We have to meet up with the boss in a few hours. He’s got something in his head that he wants us to do, and if we fucking manage it, he’ll give us whatever part of the city we want.”
“He’s going to let us run our own stuff? You sure about that?” Boone asked, scratching his naked chest.
It was as if at birth each of them had been given equal but opposite physical traits. Boone was a mountain of a guy with sandy blond hair, square jaw, and a deep voice that seemed to resonate to the middle of your skull when he spoke. She was a smallish brunette with a more round face that resembled their mother’s, a fact that pissed her off more than anything. Boone liked to joke that their slut of a mother had probably gotten pregnant by two different guys on the same night.
“He owes us, so it’s going to happen with or without his help. The debt he’s already got with us is big enough that he can’t say no.” She tilted her head and pointed Harold out of the room. “You can’t wimp out on me now, Boone. We’re going to make it work because we got surprise on our side. Not one of these motherfuckers knows who we are, so we’re going to take what we want. You don’t want to go back to hustling tourists in the Quarter, do you?”
“You’re smarter than me, Cal, but these people you think are chumps didn’t get this powerful by being stupid. You move wrong or fast, and we ain’t going to be around to hustle nobody.” He spoke softly as he scratched his chest again. “Think about the long play and not just about what you want right now.”
“I got it all under control. No matter what our play is, we aren’t ever going to be out pounding our chest to get noticed. That’s how we’re going to get everything we ever wanted.”
“All I want is to not go back to the streets. That’s it.”
“You’re getting that and so much more. All you have to do is believe me.”
“That ain’t a problem, Cal, but believing something and having someone cut your nuts off because you’re fucking with them ain’t always too far apart.”
* * *
“She asked for the night off to study,” Josh said. “One of the other girls wanted to pick up a shift, so I didn’t think it was a big deal to tell her it was okay.”
Cain sat in her study at home and glanced out the window. She’d spent a majority of the afternoon reviewing inventory, but Emma was never far from her thoughts. Her walking away with a case of hurt feelings seemed genuine. Emma didn’t seem the type to play her. “It’s not a problem. I was just checking. Keep on your toes, though. I think we’re in for some kind of shit, but I haven’t narrowed down the source yet.”
“I’ll call if I spot anything out of the ordinary.”
She hung up and called Merrick. “Take off if you want some time to yourself, but I’ll be ready to go in a couple of hours.”
“Any place special I should plan on?”
“Maybe dinner or an early night. Depends on the girl, I guess.”
“I’m sure she won’t be hard to convince, but isn’t this one like hunting a caged animal? She seems like an easy target.”
“I have a feeling that easy might be a stretch on this one, so get going if you need to get anything done before then.”
Cain took a shower and went a bit more casual, with a dress shirt and slacks, but figured it’d put Emma more at ease. If she was successful in getting a dinner date, she wouldn’t be home again to put Marie to bed, so she went looking for her. Marie was in her room coloring a picture she’d drawn of Therese’s rose garden.
“That’s beautiful,” she said, sitting on the chair close to the small desk. “You want to finish it or read something before I have to go?”
“You have to go out again? You work too hard, sister.” Marie put her crayon down and held her hand.
“I’m not working tonight.” She smiled as she tapped the end of Marie’s nose. “I met this girl and wanted to ask her if she’d go out with me.”
“Is she nice?”
“She’s nice and pretty like you. I had lunch with her, but she left because she wasn’t too happy with me. Tonight I thought I’d make it up to her.” Marie tugged her along to the window seat so they could be closer.
Marie bumped shoulders with her and laughed. “Do you like her?”
“She’s someone I think I could like a lot.”
“Then you should do something nice for her. Come on.” Marie clapped her hands together before she jumped up and called out for Therese.
The three of them went down to the garden, where Marie, with their mum’s help, cut a bouquet of roses for Emma. If it was true that every color of the flowers held a meaning, the variety Marie had put together had a lot to say.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen you leave here with flowers,” Therese said. “Must be quite a girl.”
“She’s an interesting girl, and she’s managed to make herself unforgettable. Tonight I wanted to see where that might lead me.”
“Try romancing this time instead of charming, my love. Romance got me plenty of happy years.”
“Thanks, Mum, and you too, Marie. The flowers are a good idea.”
“Will you tell her about me? Maybe we can be friends if she’s your friend.”
She kissed Marie’s cheeks and hugged her. “I bet she’d love to be your friend no matter what.”
Cain drove herself this time, but Merrick and a few others followed close behind. She had privacy, but this wasn’t the time to get crazy by being out completely alone. To give Emma what she thought she wanted would take plenty of time, but maybe a taste of what she was in for was the cure-all for what was best for her.
She parked a few houses down from Emma’s building and motioned for Merrick and the others to stay put. It was dusk, so hopefully Emma was home. The stairwell to the second floor was dark and drab, making her wonder if this was a safe place for someone like Emma.
The music playing inside stopped abruptly when she knocked, but Emma didn’t immediately answer. A full three minutes later she heard the chain and the deadbolt come undone before Emma opened the dark-gray door. Like that in the stairwell, the paint was drab and peeling in more than one spot.
“Hey,” Emma said, standing so that she was blocking the entrance.
“I’m sorry for earlier,” she said as she held up the flowers and waited.
“What exactly are you sorry for?” Emma asked, not taking her gift yet.
“Two things, actually. I upset you by thinking for you, and I didn’t do anything to keep you from walking away.” She dropped the hand she held the flowers in and sighed. Maybe she’d get her wish of making Emma not interested in her, just not how she wanted to do it.
“You’re used to getting your own way, aren’t you?” Emma asked but didn’t sound upset.
“I’m not usually disappointed, but it happens.” She shrugged, amazed at her own patience.
“Thanks for the flowers,” Emma ran her hand down Cain’s arm until she reached her gift. “And for saying all that.”
“How about you put those in water, change, and meet me downstairs, and we’ll go to dinner? I promise this meal will end much differently than lunch.”
“You can come in.”
“I don’t mind waiting. Eventually you’ll start believing some of my reputation, and I want you to know that part of me will never touch you.”
She went back down and sat on the rickety-appearing bench in the yard. The building might’ve been old and poorly maintained, but it was in a quiet neighborhood. During the thirty minutes Emma took to get ready, she noticed the strange-looking cable van that wasn’t there when she arrived.
The sight was almost humorous, but it was also a change in procedure. The feds checked often but not constantly. They didn’t have any reason to be here unless
something had happened to make them hypervigilant.
“You ready?” Emma asked, breaking her attention on the van.
“I am, and you look beautiful. Are you sure I’m not keeping you from anything, like your big test?”
“I’m ready for that and so much more,” Emma said, taking the hand she held out.
* * *
Oliver O’Malley sat in the corner of Mendel Saint’s store watching the old man bag groceries for an elderly African American woman. Judging by their conversation, they were old friends. The liquor section was full again, courtesy of Cain, and each bottle on the shelves hadn’t cost Mendel a thing.
The hours hadn’t exactly been riveting, but since Billy had asked him to sit and watch, that’s what he intended to do. Billy’s grandfather had hired his old man, who then went on to work for Dalton. Every Sunday he’d get a lecture on loyalty and following orders so he’d move up like he had. Billy wasn’t Cain, but he made a good living making sure he was loyal and followed orders.
“Oliver, you want a soda or something?” Ethel asked like she did every hour.
“No, ma’am. I’m okay.” He made sure the magazine on his lap covered the gun in his hand. He saw no reason to scare customers while he was keeping the Saints safe. “If you or Mr. Mendel need to bring any more heavy boxes from the back, let me know. We can lock up for a minute, and I’ll carry them out for you.”
“You’re a good boy, Oliver,” Ethel said, and he smiled as he heard a car door slam really hard right outside. Another slam brought him to his feet.
“Miss Ethel, hurry to the storeroom,” he said, motioning her back. “Mr. Mendel, get down,” he said in a normal voice. The two guys heading inside didn’t look like neighborhood types, and if they were, they had to be stupid to mess with a Casey-protected property.
“Can I help you?” he asked when they came in and stopped by the door.
“I need some cigarettes,” the smaller guy said, glancing around. “Where’s the old man?”
“He’s taking a break, so try down the street if you need a smoke that bad.” Oliver kept his gun behind his back but was ready to fire.
“Old man ain’t going to like you turning away business, and I don’t like motherfuckers like you telling me what to do,” the guy said and reached in his jacket.
Oliver waited until he had his hand on his gun before firing. He hit the guy in the chest and in the head, splattering blood on his friend. “Get on your belly if you don’t want to add some decoration to the walls and floor,” he said to the bigger guy when he spread his hands out in front of him. “Now, dumbass.”
“Okay, relax,” the guy said.
“Mr. Mendel, you got twine back there?” Oliver asked, putting his foot on the guy’s neck. “Good,” he said when Mendel held some up. “Tie this guy’s hands and go make sure Miss Ethel’s okay.”
He called Billy once the guy was bound and told him what had happened. The Saints locked the doors at his instruction and turned out the lights. Billy had made it clear the police wouldn’t investigate this situation, so the guy who was still breathing wouldn’t like what came next.
Billy arrived less than twenty minutes later, and the guys with him had the place clean and the body gone an hour later. They gagged and took the guy with him away as well, so the place appeared normal again when the lights came back on.
“You okay with all this, Mr. Mendel?” Billy asked as they sat in the back having a small shot of whiskey. “Normally I’d let the police handle the body and the knowledge that it was self-defense, but this time isn’t normal. I need to figure out who these guys are more than the police do.”
“You do what you have to. That animal got what he deserved, so thank you for having Oliver here.” Mendel poured them a little more and finished his in one gulp.
“Oliver’s not going anywhere, and he’ll have company until we find whoever’s doing this. If you need something before then, you call me.”
“Thank God for your family, Billy,” Ethel said.
“Thank you, and tomorrow, it’s business as usual. Having the store open might draw more of these guys out.”
“Whatever you want,” Mendel said.
“I just want you two to be okay and really go back to business as usual with no threat hanging over you.” Billy hugged them both before leaving out the back after his guys made sure the area was clear.
“Come on. I’ll drive you home,” Oliver said, since it was their regular closing time.
“You think that other guy will come back because of what happened to his friend?” Ethel asked while Mendel set the alarm.
“That guy will never bother you again, and I’ll keep you both safe from any of their friends. Cain wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Don’t think we don’t appreciate Cain and her family, but we appreciate you as well. Like I said, you’re a good boy,” Ethel said.
“I’m a good friend too, so I’ll take extra good care of you. You have my word.”
Chapter Nine
“What made you change your mind?” Emma asked. “I’m also liking that it’s just the two of us.”
“Despite my reputation as a monster, I don’t like to hurt someone like you intentionally.” She turned toward the Quarter and opened her hand when Emma reached over for it. “I also really wanted an answer to my question.”
“Which one?” Emma rested her head back and lightly ran her fingernails along her palm.
“The most important one.” She pulled over and got out, moving around to open Emma’s door. “Let’s take a short walk. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Audubon Park was full of joggers and cyclists, but the golf course was empty at dusk, so she headed to one of the benches close to the last hole. She found one under a stand of large oaks and brushed the seat off for Emma.
“What do you want?” Emma opened her mouth, but Cain placed her finger against her lips. “I know what you said before, but there’s no such thing as a stupid answer. Tell me.”
Her demand made Emma stare at their hands and shake her head slightly. “I grew up in a very small town with very small-town views and beliefs. I didn’t feel like I fit or belonged there very often.”
“Some people crave the known and the familiar, but I totally get what you mean,” she said, leaning back against the tree and putting her arm around Emma.
“I was starting to think something was wrong with me since I didn’t feel much differently here. This city is diverse and so different, but I knew something was missing in me.”
“What?” She had an idea of the answer, but she wanted to hear it.
“You,” Emma said simply, as if it would explain everything.
“Do you—” She wasn’t sure what to ask, or if she wanted to ask anything at all.
“I told you you’d think it was stupid. Before you, no one has ever made me feel anything, and it’s childish probably to think you’d be interested, but I want to be honest.” Emma couldn’t look at her, and an overwhelming sense of protectiveness came over her, so strong she almost shivered.
“Emma,” she said to get her to lift her head. When Emma didn’t, she placed two fingers under her chin and helped her. “I don’t think you’re childish, and I think this might be new to both of us.”
She slowly moved forward and pressed her lips to Emma’s. The inexperienced sweetness of their kiss made her want to skip dinner and go back to Emma’s small apartment, but they had plenty of time for that. They’d jumped their first hurdle, but Emma’s head would have no choice but to catch up to her heart. That fork in the road would either lead to a relationship or make Emma run so far away from her, she’d never see her again.
Emma pressed her forehead to hers and hummed. “That was better than I imagined.”
“It was, so from now on, tell me whatever’s on your mind. You never know where that might lead you.”
They continued to Vincent Carlotti’s restaurant and skipped the menus, choosing to let the staff feed the
m. Emma glanced around the place, then to her, appearing self-conscious.
“You look beautiful, so relax.” She kissed Emma’s knuckles. “Will you excuse me for a moment?”
“Sure, but stay.” Emma stood with her. “Can you point me toward the ladies’ room?”
“The waiter will escort you,” Vincent said as he folded her napkin and placed it on the table.
He took Emma’s seat and shook hands with Cain again. “You doing okay, old friend?” she asked.
“Better now that I see you out with a beautiful woman on your arm. I’ve missed you, Cain, but you’re a good kid. Your papa would be proud of how you’ve honored his memory.”
“Thanks.” She took a sip of her Chianti and placed the glass right in front of her. “Did Jarvis stop by?”
“He did, and my answer is yes. Your father was my oldest friend, and what happened to him was in no way honorable.” He jabbed his finger into the table to make his point. “What you have in mind is like seeing my old friend at work again. You, like your father, have the patience to lead. I love Billy, but war only for the sake of war is good for no one.”
“Revenge isn’t rendered any less sweet with time. Right now we’ve all got other problems that, if left to fester, will infect our ability to operate. That comes first, so I’m glad you and Ramon understand the importance of getting it right.”
“You tell me what you need from us, and it’s yours.”
“I’ll be in touch about that. I’m still thinking of the best approach.” She saw Emma hesitate before coming closer. “For now though, dinner is all that’s on my mind.” She stood and held her hand out to Emma.
“I don’t blame you for that,” Vincent said before he signaled the waiters to start.
“I’m sorry if I interrupted,” Emma said.
