by Ali Vali
“That’s good to hear.” The strangest sensation came over her, and she came close to driving to that small apartment so she could kiss Emma to start her day. “Be careful, and I’ll see you soon.”
“You swear?”
“I do, and I won’t be late.”
“Have a good day and don’t forget what you said.”
“I won’t. Until then,” she said before hanging up. It was nice to not feel like her heart weighed a thousand pounds. She didn’t put a lot of faith in relationships outside her family, but Emma had awoken something inside her. Until now, she hadn’t had the sense to realize a piece of her old self had withered when her da died, and she’d never thought it would come back.
Any more thoughts on the subject died when she reached Merrick, Billy, Muriel, and her mother lined up and waiting. “I don’t sense a big welcoming committee to an awesome day.”
“They’ll get ahold of you soon enough, so spare me a moment so you can see your sister off to school,” Therese said, taking her hand. “She’s been waiting to hear how the flowers went over.”
Marie was finishing a bowl of cereal and talking with the cook, but came over and hugged her the moment they entered. “Good morning, beautiful girl.”
“Did your friend like the flowers?” Marie held both her hands, waiting for an answer.
“Her name is Emma, and she loved your flowers. She liked them so much she had dinner with me.”
Marie’s face was truly beautiful when she smiled, and her words had lit her up with joy. “She did? That’s great. Do you think I can meet her?”
“I’ll ask her when I see her tonight, but right now school’s waiting for you. Emma’s in school too. She wants to be a teacher.” Cain walked Marie and her mother outside to the waiting car. On most mornings Therese volunteered at Marie’s school until her sister was ready to be on her own.
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Marie said before kissing her cheek.
“A girl you’re seeing more than once is someone I’d like to meet myself,” Therese said, laughing. “You know I cook every Sunday.”
“Let’s not give the girl the wrong impression right off,” she said softly to her mother. “Another date and a Sunday lunch to meet my family are too different animals.”
“Uh-huh,” Therese said, kissing her other cheek. “May the Lord watch over you, my darling girl.”
“Thanks, Mum, and I’ll see you two later.”
She watched the car drive away before going in to see what all the glum faces were about. The cook handed her a large mug of coffee, and she wondered if it was too early to spike it with something much stronger than cream.
“Go on,” she said as they trailed her to the office. “One of you spit it out.”
“Mendel’s place got hit again last night,” Billy said as he sat next to her on the couch. “Someone shot the hell out of it, tearing everything in there to shreds.”
“Muriel, you have anything yet?” She’d given up the desk so Muriel could spread her paperwork out.
“Harold and his dead friend, JJ, are some street rats from Baton Rouge, so we sent a few guys to ask some questions. Both these idiots have rap sheets long enough to impress their mothers, but it was all petty stuff.” The police report Muriel handed Cain was thick, and the last thing they’d been picked up for was a street-hustle game. “Somewhere along the line they upped their game into extortion and moved into our territory to try to improve that new skill.”
“I’d think that has a lot to do with his friend Boone Richard and his sister Callie. Sounds like they’re the complete opposite of the lovable twins we know.” She handed Billy the paperwork and finished her coffee. “Share that information with Remi, Mano, and Ramon. If they’re interested in us, eventually they’ll be next on the list, so cut Vinnie and Vincent into the loop.”
“Will do,” Muriel said.
“Harold knew more than he was saying, so we need another one of their crew to get a better idea of where to head next,” Billy said, not bothering to read what Muriel had compiled.
“I don’t think we’ll have to look too far,” she said as she stood. “We’ve got a date with Jake Kelly and his trained monkey today, but we need to make time for our old friend Big Chief.”
“What’s that fat bastard got to do with anything?” Billy asked.
“In every battle, there’s always a winner and a loser, but the trick is picking a side before the war begins,” she said, buttoning her jacket. “Big Chief saw an impending war and got an invitation to join the invading horde. He agreed because, whoever these assholes are, they’re not us.”
“I’m going to fucking cut his guts out,” Billy said, and she put her hand on his shoulder.
“Eventually, but right now all I want to do is talk to him. Big Chief thinks, no matter why, that he’s the smartest guy in the room.” She checked the time and didn’t want Jake Kelly in her office alone. “Smart guys like that love showing everyone their big brains, so why deprive him of the opportunity?”
“If he double-crosses us he needs to pay,” Billy said.
“Everyone pays, brother, but some costs are steeper than others. Right now, though, we need to get going so we can make it to the office. Big Chief can wait, but not for long.” He put his jacket on to cover his guns and nodded. “Muriel, keep after the Baton Rouge angle and let me know.”
The drive to the office gave her time to think about Emma, but she needed to clear her head. Of all the times in her life for romance to take root, this wasn’t the most convenient, but her mother would probably hit her in the back of the head for even thinking like that.
Their gates were locked, and Jake and his man were waiting, leaning against their car. “You get the impression this guy is a little anxious to get this done?” Billy asked as Merrick got out and dealt with the lock.
“Let’s get through this, and I’ll clue you in on who I think this guy is. We’ll only listen, like we did last time, and see how worked up he gets.” She laughed when Jake rushed to the driver’s side and revved his engine. “I should be flattered he’s so excited to see me.”
Billy laughed as he hurried around to get her door. “It’ll break his heart when he finds out you’re already in love.”
“Who told you that?”
“Who else?” He slapped her back. “Mum loves to gossip more than she likes to hover. And we both know how much she loves to do that.”
“I guess my thoughts on the subject don’t really matter.” She shook her head, then elbowed Billy in the side when Jake entered. “This’ll be a half an hour of our lives we’ll never get back.”
“You finally ready to deal?” Jake asked, shaking her hand with a grip so tight she thought he was trying to bring her to her knees.
“Come inside and let’s talk about it.”
“Talk?” Jake said loudly. “We’ve talked this to death. It’s time to deal.”
“Maybe I’m just slow, Jake, and I need to hear it again,” she said, not walking to her office. “If I’m wasting your time, then you’re free to go.”
“Come on, Cain.” He smiled and shrugged. “I’m excited about the money we can make together. With the amount of liquor I hear you move, our partnership can benefit everyone involved.”
“Who’s feeding you all this bullshit about us?” Billy asked, and she made no move to stop him. “We’re going to iron that out first before we talk about anything else.”
“Hey. Who’s in charge here?” Jake said, staring right at her.
“Deflecting the question doesn’t make me any less curious about the answer,” she said, standing in the open space of the warehouse. Out here, Jake couldn’t leave anything behind like the bug still in her office. Whatever he said now would stay between them.
“Let’s go sit down then. We’ve got to reach a place where we trust each other, if this is going to work.”
“What’s the matter? You tired? Answer the question or walk,” Billy said. “If someone is feeding yo
u all this information about my family, we want to know who and what they said.”
The guy with Jake took his phone out and made the motion of answering it. “Jake,” he said after listening for a minute. “We’ve got issues in Atlanta that sound serious.”
“Sounds serious,” she said, widening her smile. “Does Jake need to reschedule?” The man with him nodded and put his phone away. “Call when you’re ready to talk, Jake, and what I mean by that is answering my brother’s questions before we go forward. And I mean all of them.”
“Look. I’m just ready to go, so I’m sorry for losing my cool,” Jake said, staying put when Billy took a step forward.
“Take care of your serious problems, and call me when you’re ready for a very frank conversation.”
She left Merrick and Billy to see them out and headed to the conference room across from her office. Lou nodded when she glanced his way, meaning she was free to talk.
“Good morning, Bryce.”
The young, geeky guy had passed Muriel’s extensive background check, starting with their informants in the prison system. Bryce’s brother Charlie had served every bit of the time Bryce had said he had and hadn’t had a pleasant time behind bars. Charlie, from his first day, hadn’t taken up one of the gang leaders’ advances, and the pretty boy didn’t take rejection well.
“Good morning, ma’am.” Bryce jumped to his feet when she walked in and hesitated before stepping forward and shaking her hand.
“It’s simply Cain. If you want to work for me, it’s just Cain.” She took a seat and waited for him to calm down so they could talk.
“Thank you for what you did for my brother. He called and said since he was out he hasn’t slept as well as he has the last couple of nights.” Bryce folded his hands in front of him and appeared ready to cry. “Thank you.”
“Charlie needs help, so it was the least I could do. He’ll be okay until we get him out. I’ve got someone working on that, so don’t think you’re alone in the world any longer.”
“I promise I’ll do good work for you even if you don’t do another thing for Charlie.”
“Good, but Charlie will be fine,” she said softly, finally getting him to smile. “Did you get my gift?”
“The equipment is state-of-the-art. These guys are really interested in hearing every word you say and taking glossy pictures and film of it all.”
“Should I explain how much I value my privacy?”
Bryce laughed and nodded. “From what’s inside, there’s only so many frequencies they can work with. Granted, it’s more than the average mass-produced equipment, but it’s manageable.”
He’d brought information on what he was talking about so she looked it over, curious as to where the taxes she did pay were going. The van that had been towed was fully equipped to determine every aspect of her life, only to rip it apart once they’d heard enough.
“What’s your plan?” she asked, handing his report back.
“I don’t think I can break theirs, but I can put a bubble around you. You can let them in only when you want, if you want. I can do it so they either hear nothing at all or whatever you want them to.” He returned to pressing his hands together. “It’ll be pricey though.”
“You can’t go cheap when it comes to this, so don’t worry about it. Get whatever you need and spend what you have to.” She slid over the contract Muriel had drawn up for her and handed him a pen. “Just one thing left to do.”
He saw the salary on the front page and didn’t bother with anything else except signing. “Good.” He handed the papers to Lou and gave him an envelope. “Inside is enough cash to get you started. Whatever you’ve got planned will have to go into one of our locations, and I think Emerald’s has a perfect spot for you.”
“I turned the transponder back on, so they should find their vehicle today, and turned off the one they put on your car. Actually I put it on the closest car to the one I took it off. Some tourists might be driving around with an escort.”
“I’d love to be in that staff meeting when those idiots have to explain they lost their ride,” she said and laughed. That the ruse had actually worked was still hilarious. “Are you sure you got everything you needed?”
“Yes, and in a couple of weeks I’ll have something in place that’ll make your life easier—at least when it comes to the feds. I’ll try to give you an upper hand with the rest, but I’ll have to figure out how to do that.”
“Sounds interesting, but if you can do that—what happened when your brother got popped?” He stared at his lap, but her question made sense as they reached the last part of his interview.
“I tried to take every obstacle out of our way by hacking the Baton Rouge police system for their undercover operations,” he said in barely a whisper. “Stuff like that only works when someone listens and uses the information.”
“So your brother didn’t?”
“He thought the reward was greater than the risks I’d laid out for him. I understand his thinking, but I’ve never agreed with it.” He finally glanced up at her and combed his hair out of his eyes. “All I can do is clear the way for you to do whatever you have to, but I’ll also tell you when I can’t do that. The risk-slash-reward risks are up to you to assess.”
“If you’re worried that I’m reckless, don’t be. You give me all the facts and variables, and we’ll get along fine.”
“Great,” he said, putting all his papers into the backpack he’d brought. “Do you want anyone to go with me to get all this stuff?”
“Are you planning to rip me off?” she asked, and Bryce appeared mortified.
“No, ma’am,” he said, forgetting or too scared to use her name. “I just thought you’d want to make sure about me until you’re certain you can trust me. What I’m doing for you, and you not really knowing anything about me, is making you wonder if I’m the right guy. Trust and loyalty take time to prove, but every day I’ll do my best to show you I belong here.”
“Thank you for saying that, and I’m sure we’ll get along fine.” She looked at Lou and motioned him forward. “Have one of the guys go with Bryce on his shopping trip. Tell Doug to get in touch with him.”
“He’s at the house, so I’ll have him meet you wherever you want to start,” Lou said.
“How will I know him?”
“He’s hard to miss, so he’ll find you wherever you’re going,” Cain said of the only other computer-savvy guy on her payroll.
“I’ll wait for his call before I start.”
“Keep me updated, so don’t let Lou here or Merrick put you off if you need to talk to me.” She tapped the table with her palm and stood. “You need anything else?”
“Do you want me to wear a suit every day?”
“Do you own a suit?” She smiled when he shook his head as if he were stuck in slow motion. “Then forget about that, and stick to the T-shirt and jeans look you seem to like. If you get the urge to dance at the club, then you’re not getting in dressed like that.”
“I’m not at all a dancer,” Bryce said, waving his hands.
“Lighten up, kid, and get to work.”
She went outside and climbed into the vehicle with Billy. The day was barely under way, and she was already thinking how much time what she had to do would take. Callie and her brother were at the top of her priority list, but she also wanted to know who was watching from across the street. The empty room directly across from her office had been leased and paid for in advance for the next twelve months. She didn’t know who, but the landlord had given her a call about his good luck, as if not wanting to discuss more than that on the phone.
“Where to next?” Billy asked.
“The Liam brothers are in town, so we’re going to listen to what they have to say and get on with what we do.”
“So why are you messing with Jake?”
Merrick drove out of the warehouse, and she pointed to the place across the street. “Jake might be the key to our new neighbors.”
“Our new shadows, and judging by the second car on the left, they’re a new fact of life. Remember that the next time you’re out either having a good time or doing something for me.” They both turned around and watched the dark sedan pull into traffic after they turned out.
“They’re going around the clock now? What’s changed?” Billy kept looking until she turned his head.
“Annabel’s probably brought in a new sheriff to lay down the law. We’ll be okay as long as we remember how badly they want us to screw up.” She glanced back again. “Hope they’re patient. Screw-ups aren’t in my plans.”
* * *
“Where’s the report, Agent North?” Barney asked in front of the board where they’d started to put together their case on the Casey family. So far most of the pictures posted were highlighted by educated guesses. They still didn’t even have an idea about hard evidence.
“It’s not done, sir,” Logan said, and Ray nodded as if backing him up.
“What part isn’t finished, gentlemen? The one where you left your vehicle and the dumbass you were following had it towed?” Barney’s question made the other agents in the room start laughing, then just as quickly stop when he put his hand up. “Or is it the part where you don’t have a fucking clue where it is despite all the government has invested in your training?”
“Sir, we’re working on getting it back now. The transponder came back online today,” Ray said.
“You can thank the newbie, Agent Joe Simmons, for finding it for you. It’s in the garage, so you’re on desk duty until I say otherwise.”
“Yes, sir,” Logan said, looking at Ray.
“Get back to work and see if these two nimrods got anything useful last night,” Barney said to everyone in the room. “At least the transponder on Casey’s car is still on, so see where she went last night and where she is now.”
“Actually, sir, we checked that out last night and followed an older couple from Florida through the Quarter this morning. Casey’s people found it too and moved it to someone else.”
