by Ali Vali
“Maybe you should be the one who needs a lesson in good manners, Mrs. Casey. Stealing my grandson is just not done in this business. We are, after all, men of honor. Cain should have taught you that.”
“Does that mean my son will be waiting for me at home when I get there?”
“What makes you think I have your son? He could’ve run off, for all I know, since he’s the bastard son of that bitch Cain. Maybe he couldn’t live with the shame of it all?”
Emma closed her eyes and tilted her head upward to take a deep breath. After her short encounter with the idiot sitting across from her, she realized why Cain took so many cleansing breaths throughout the day. “Merrick, please tell the driver to stop the car.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After another short tap to the window from Mook, Emma’s order was obeyed.
“Get out.”
“What about my—” Gino swallowed his smug smile when the man next to him pulled out his gun and just pointed it at the floor of the car. He didn’t doubt that one word from Emma would change its position to the vicinity of his head.
“I had come today with every intention of giving you back your grandson as a token of my goodwill, but your behavior tells me that what Cain has said all along about you is true. Get out of the car, Mr. Bracato, and be careful how you treat my son. Take a walk back to your office and call your sons, all of them, and ask what move you should make next. Once they give you an answer, call me back and we’ll talk again. Don’t take too long, though. My patience is running thin, and I miss Hayden.” Emma tightened her grip on the boy she held on her shoulder and motioned her head to the side to get the fat man moving.
Mook took the opportunity to press his gun at the base of Bracato’s head. “I believe the lady asked you to leave.”
“You’re going to pay for this, starting with your kid, lady. My son Giovanni isn’t quite as forgiving as his old man, and when he finds out you have his boy, he’ll rip that little son of a bitch of yours to shreds.”
“I’ll look forward to your call, Mr. Bracato. Mook, I did promise our guest something if he cursed again, I believe.”
Emma didn’t even wince when she heard the blow to Bracato’s head outside the car.
“You ucking astard, you knocked out my two n teeth,” the man yelled.
“It was a good way to get rid of the spinach, anyway,” she said with a straight face. “Let’s go home, guys, and introduce this little one to Carmen.”
The kind old woman took charge of the baby from the minute they arrived. When Emma handed him over, he reached for her one last time, but went quietly with Carmen into the kitchen for a bottle.
After they disappeared, Emma asked Merrick to step into Cain’s office. “I’m going to tell you something, and I want you to let me finish before you go off on me.” She sat in one of the guest chairs, not feeling as comfortable in this office as the one in the warehouse.
“How can you be so sure what you say is what it’s going to take to send me off the deep end?”
Merrick’s arched dark brow reminded her so much of Cain she had to take a deep breath before she responded. “Because it’s the same thing I shared with Hayden last night, and it sent him running into the waiting arms of Giovanni Bracato, so call it a hunch on my part.”
Merrick pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded. “Okay, I wasn’t going to ask, but since you brought it up, what was it?”
With no detail left out, she told the guard about Hannah, the secret she had kept for so long.
Merrick kept her word and didn’t say anything until Emma finished. “Does Cain know?”
“It’s why she threw up that day you went running with her. I made a mistake, Merrick, but I called my friends who are keeping Hannah, and they agreed to bring her to meet Cain and Hayden. I intend to stay in the city, even if Cain doesn’t want us.”
Merrick leaned forward and did something totally out of character. She put her hand on Emma’s knee and looked up at her with a touch of sadness. “You don’t know her at all, even after all this time, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Emma, she’s never stopped wanting the things you took away. The closest I’ve seen a woman get to her since you left was, surprisingly, that FBI agent Shelby. You had a baby and kept it from her, though, and I’m not sure where she begins to forgive you for that. Turning you away, I’m fairly sure, isn’t her style. Cain will always put her family first, but I don’t know if she’ll let you back in the way she did before. I have a feeling, though, little Hannah might just be your ticket.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear,” Emma said softly, as she gazed out the windows behind Cain’s desk. She and Cain had spent an afternoon in heated debate about the placement of the old family heirloom. She thought it left Cain vulnerable if someone wanted to take a shot at her, but living in fear wasn’t Cain’s style either.
“Come on, Emma. We have some idiots to move, and I have to figure out to where. Why don’t you go up and take a nap? After this afternoon’s meeting with Bracato, I’m thinking we should wait until at least tomorrow to make any moves.”
Emma laughed, and some of Cain’s expressions made sense to her now. “Make them sweat, right?”
“It’s good to see you weren’t just paying attention to her ass in those leather pants you liked so much. You’re right. We make Bracato sweat and wait for him to panic.” Merrick stopped at the door and turned around to look at her with a serious expression. “You aren’t going to panic on me, are you, Emma?”
She shook her head and fought against her alarm. She had come too far to let nerves get in the way of getting her son back. “What about Hayden?”
“The boy got himself into this, so now he knows there’s no quick fixes without Cain being here. He’ll know to sit and wait, but he also knows we won’t leave him behind.”
“What would Cain do if she were here?”
The green eyes Cain had fallen in love with pinned Merrick with their open expression. It was easy now to see why Cain had such a hard time in the past telling this woman no. “Depends.”
“On what?” asked Emma.
“If there’s one scratch on her son. He comes back without a scratch on him, maybe Bracato gets lucky. That stupid fat ass hurts him, though, and she’ll kill him even if she has to do it in the mayor’s office in front of a million witnesses.”
Emma steepled her fingers in front of her lips and thought about what Merrick had just said, knowing it was true. Finally she made her request. “Wherever you put them, Merrick, make sure it’s private.”
The answer gave Merrick another surprise for the day. In her wildest dreams she wouldn’t have guessed Emma would last this long. “You got it, boss.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The beep of the machines next to the bed was lulling Shelby to sleep. She had been at Cain’s side since she saw Emma leave earlier, wanting to sit with the mobster a while to convince herself that Cain would eventually recover. The guard Merrick had posted had searched Shelby before she entered, with her cooperation. She knew if that he was sure she wasn’t carrying in anything she planned to leave behind, he was more likely to grant access.
She had been sitting for over three hours, trying to get some response out of the still woman on the bed. Cain looked different in this totally relaxed state, more like the son she had watched for so long when he was out with his mother. For the thousandth time she wished Cain had been an accountant so they could have something more between them.
“Come on, Cain. I know you’re in there.”
Muriel filled up the door opening, much like her cousin would have. “She’ll come around, Agent Daniels. Don’t worry. The doctor just told me they were cutting down on her pain medication and moving her soon. Is this some sort of new surveillance technique I’m not familiar with?” She indicated Cain’s hand that Shelby was holding.
“I’m not here to make trouble for her, ma’am. Cain’s my friend.”
> Muriel laughed, and the sound was so similar to Cain’s, Shelby felt sad.
“But she’s also been under your microscope for how long now?” Muriel lifted her big hands like a stop sign. “I’m just kidding with you, Agent Daniels. How’s my cousin doing today?”
“All this quiet and stillness doesn’t seem natural.” Shelby touched Cain’s cheek. “You’re right, though. I did watch her for months, but it didn’t prepare me for the day I met her.”
“Well, ma’am, we Caseys like to leave an impression when we can. How about you wait for me down in the cafeteria, and I’ll buy you a cup of coffee?”
“Please call me Shelby.”
Muriel’s phone started ringing, and she put one finger up. She listened and smiled at Shelby as whoever was on the other end finished talking. “Give me a minute, then bring her on up.”
Muriel held her hand out. “Please pardon the interruption, Shelby, and I insist you call me Muriel. I hate to hurry you, but we have to be going.”
“You’re evicting me?”
“You’re welcome to visit Cain whenever you wish, but Emma’s on her way up and needs some time alone. I hope you understand.”
Shelby kissed Cain’s hand and accepted Muriel’s escort downstairs. When the two passed a couple sitting in the waiting room holding a beautiful child, she stopped abruptly, stunned by the sight. The kid looked like a miniature version of Hayden. “Tell me she didn’t do that to Cain?”
“Shelby, I’m going to ask you as a favor to forget you saw that little girl for now. I have no right to ask, but I don’t want anyone to know just yet. My family’s still reeling from what happened to Cain because of Kyle, and I want to make sure there’s no one else on Bracato’s payroll. I don’t think even you know who to trust yet.”
Running her hand through her hair to get it out of her eyes, Shelby nodded. Muriel was right. They couldn’t know if Kyle had help. “If the secret comes out it won’t be from me, Muriel. I promise.”
They kept walking down the hall. “Does Cain know about her?”
“She knows about her.”
“How could Emma do that to her?”
“How indeed?”
*
The subject of their talk stood at the entrance to Cain’s room. Emma had tried to follow Merrick’s advice and take a nap, but sleep wasn’t coming. With Hayden still missing, she sought comfort the only place she could find it. She inched toward the bed and sat on the edge. The tube coming out of Cain’s mouth had left her lips chapped and dry, so she went for a wet towel.
“I wish you would wake up. There’s so much wrong, Cain, and I’m not sure if I know how to fix it. At least not without messing anything else up. Please come back to me.” She wiped until Cain’s lips looked moist.
“Ms. Casey,” said the large guard, who hadn’t left the hospital since Cain had been admitted.
“Lou, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a couple waiting to see you. I wanted to give you a few minutes before I came in, though. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No problem.” She nodded at the big guy before turning back to Cain. “Don’t go anywhere, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Lou laughed as Emma headed out to the waiting room. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Casey. I’ll keep an eye on her and make sure she behaves until you get back.”
“Thanks, Lou.” The walk seemed longer as she left the intensive care unit and headed out to its waiting room. If it was either reporters or more legal authorities, she was going to have a meltdown. Both groups had been tying up the phone lines at the house to the point Carmen had taken the phones with listed numbers off the hook.
When she turned the corner she felt as if someone had thrown her a life preserver before she drowned in a sea of turmoil. The small figure sitting on her friend Maddie’s lap looked tense in the unfamiliar surroundings, but her face brightened overwhelmingly when Emma winked at her from the other side of the glass. For once the large number of men sitting in close proximity to her daughter didn’t bother Emma. It was a comfort to see Jarvis taking such good care of Hannah.
“Mama!”
“Hey, how’s Mama’s big girl?” She knelt on the hard tile floor so she could accept Hannah’s embrace.
The almost four-year-old held on to her as if she was afraid Emma would disappear again. “We gots to ride a big plane here, Mama, and Aunt Maddie said I could meet Haygen and Mom too.”
Hearing Hannah’s excitement about the big day she had waited for made Emma cry. She felt like a failure for not giving the little girl the simplest of wishes before now.
Maddie put her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Emma, why’d we have to come here? Has something happened to Hayden? None of these guys would tell us anything.”
“There’ll be time later for me to explain, Maddie. Thank you and Jerry for coming and bringing Hannah, but I just can’t talk about it yet.” Emma stroked the child’s black hair, coming to a decision. “Do you mind waiting while I introduce Hannah to someone?”
“Go on, honey, and take your time. Jerry and I don’t have any place to be.”
Hannah glanced back and forth from her mother to Maddie, wearing a small frown. “I’m sorry, Mama.”
“What for, my love?”
“I didn’t mean to touch nothing.”
Emma smiled and kissed Hannah’s forehead. “Oh, baby girl, you aren’t in trouble, I just wanted to talk to you before I took you to see someone. Do you remember me telling you about your mom Cain?”
The little head nodded.
“Well, she wants to meet you, but she got hurt and has a big boo-boo.”
“We make it better, Mama?”
“We’ll try, angel. Do you want to go and see your mom?”
When Emma walked back into the unit holding Hannah’s hand, the nurses didn’t dare tell her children weren’t allowed. All of the men outside Cain’s door stared at the little girl in the pink dress. Emma could imagine what they were thinking—that maybe it was a good thing the boss was out for the count at the moment.
She picked Hannah up as they entered the room and sat close to Cain’s head. “Honey, I know you can hear me, so I want you to open your eyes and meet your daughter. Cain, she’s waited so long for this. Please don’t disappoint her.”
Before Emma could stop her, Hannah reached out and put her hand over Cain’s mouth. “Mom, it’s me, Hannah. Mama said it was okay to come see you now.”
The fog was thick where Cain was stuck, but she could hear voices. A panicked shock stalled her emotions because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t open her eyes. Something had happened. She felt paralyzed. But no amount of concentration could make her remember. It was a soft slap to the mouth that made her eyes flutter.
“That’s it, baby, come back to us. I need you,” said Emma. It wasn’t important that Hannah had crawled out of her lap and was pulling on Cain’s top lip. She focused on the struggle Cain was going through to open her eyes. The hand she was holding had come back to life, as did the monitor next to the bed as Cain’s heartbeat increased.
Mother and daughter jumped a little when blue eyes opened without warning. Cain inhaled sharply, struggling to figure out what had a death-grip on her lip. The pain stopped her from moving around too much and from taking too deep a breath. Not having full control was making Cain panic.
“Don’t try to move, baby. You’ve been hurt.”
Really. I wouldn’t have guessed that on my own. Cain blinked a few times and noticed Emma hadn’t heard her comment. She could have sworn she had been actually talking. She managed to turn her head a little and found a beautiful sight—the little girl from the farm next to Ross’s. This was her little girl, hers and Emma’s.
“Hannah, this is your Mom Cain, and she’s been looking forward to meeting you. Only she might feel better if you stop pulling on her like that.” Emma heard her own voice quiver and wished the introductions could have been like she had dreamed so many ti
mes, with Cain scooping the little girl into her arms and giving her a big kiss. The blue eyes looking up at her told her that was exactly what Cain would have done if she’d been able. “Baby, this is your daughter, Hannah Marie Casey.”
“Love you.” It came out in a whisper, but it was just as effective as if Cain had screamed it.
“Ma’am, could we get in there for a minute?” The nurse had an entourage with her, and someone was calling the doctor. Cain wasn’t supposed to be awake with the massive amount of medication running through her.
When Emma grabbed Hannah and started to move out of the way, Cain’s voice rose a little. “No.”
“We’ll be right over here, Cain. Don’t worry. I’m not taking her anywhere.” Emma stood back and watched as some of the medical team pulled the sheet back and checked Cain’s injuries, while others attended to her vital signs.
When the head nurse took out a penlight and pointed it into Cain’s eyes to check for pupil reaction, Cain rasped, “Take this out.”
“Take what out, Ms. Casey?”
Uncoordinated, Cain was able finally to move her hand close to her mouth. “This, take it out.” She put her fingers on the tube in her throat.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not authorized to do so.”
“Take it out, or I’ll do it myself.” The voice was low, but it made Emma laugh because it carried Cain’s usual amount of venom.
“Ma’am, please calm down, or we’ll be forced to sedate you.”
“Go anywhere near her again with a needle, and you’ll have to deal with me,” Emma threatened from where she was standing. She had just gotten Cain back, and she wasn’t going to let go so easily. “Is she all right for the moment?”
“Yes, but—” said the middle-aged woman.
“Then get out and we’ll wait for the doctor.”
“We just want to understand why this happened, Mrs. Casey. We’re just trying to do our jobs. If you can’t understand that, I’ll have to remove you.” The stout middle-aged nurse obviously wasn’t used to being talked down to.
