The Cain Casey Series

by Ali Vali

  “You know...” Cain did something she’d never done to Ross. She walked over and hugged him. “You asked me once if you were anything like my father.” She’d never been this close to him, and while he wasn’t a large man, he felt strong and solid. “If he’d been here, that’s exactly what he would’ve said.” The kitchen door opened and Lou walked in, his shirt still stained with Rick’s blood. “You look like a man who could use a drink,” she told him.

  “Later on I’d love one, but right now I want to talk to you.”

  Lou followed her out to the yard and stood in the center, well away from the trees. “Any idea who did this?” she asked.

  “I dropped him off and went to pick up our stuff.” He coughed and had to stop, and Cain suspected it had nothing to do with the weather.

  “We can do this later,” Cain offered when he pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes.

  “It was a fucking bag,” he yelled. “We could’ve sent anyone in there…I could’ve gone.”

  “You know what-ifs don’t accomplish anything. What we need now is to honor Rick’s life by taking care of his family and finding the bastards who did this before the cops do.”

  “While I was sitting in that fucking room with my hands on my ass, I tried to remember anything that would get us closer to the shooter. I saw this group of guys leaving when I went in to check on Rick. I could swear one of them was wearing Rick’s clothes, and when I found him he was in his underwear. His shoes and cell phone were shoved in the can.”

  “Did you get a look at their faces?”

  “They were staring at those ads the airport puts up so I didn’t think anything of it then, but later I thought that was weird.”

  “No faces, okay, anything else?”

  “It was their hair that gives me an idea where we need to start looking.”

  Cain glanced at Lou’s face and saw that his eyes had watered. “What about it?”

  “Black, thick, slicked back, and one of them had a ponytail.”

  “Tall or short?” Cain asked the questions the police were probably trying to squeeze out of whoever was within a ninety-mile radius of the airport.

  “Short sticks in my head. They remind me of those guys we saw always hanging close to Juan and his uncle.”

  “Rick was with us the night we went to the Steak Knife, wasn’t he?” Cain felt like someone had given her a shot of adrenaline.

  “I had him tag along so he’d get used to being around you guys. If we eventually put him with Hannah, I wanted him to get used to the family’s routine.”

  “Good work, Lou. You’re right. We know where to look first.” She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed briefly. “If I’m right, Rick was at the wrong place at the wrong time for all the right reasons. It sounds like these guys panicked, so I’m sure Rick never saw it coming when they got him in the bathroom.”

  “What about his family?”

  “I’ll take care of that myself. Rick was loyal and needs to be repaid, if not to him then to his mother.”

  “Take Mook with you,” Lou said. “He’s another good kid, and she’s his great-aunt. I’m sure it’ll make her feel better to have some family around.”

  Cain nodded and led him back inside. “Clean up and I’ll call you if we’re going out, but don’t worry. That won’t be for awhile yet.”

  “Don’t start without me.”

  “More importantly, I don’t plan to finish without you.”

  *

  From the sunroom, Emma watched Cain and Lou talk, and she could tell Lou’s face was wet with tears. She was trying not to give in to her own grief again, since it wouldn’t help Cain take care of things. When Cain had told her about Rick, she’d cried for the loss but had selfishly given thanks it hadn’t been Cain or one of her children. If she burned in hell for that, then so be it.

  “This doesn’t happen often, does it?” Dallas asked her.

  “Not really, but it doesn’t make it any easier when it does. Could you excuse me for a minute?” She stood next to the window until Cain noticed her. She knew that once Cain started to strike back, they wouldn’t have much time alone.

  When Cain’s eyes finally found her, she smiled and waved her out. As Emma hurried to where Cain was standing, she stopped and put her arms around Lou and kissed his forehead when he bent down to return the kindness. “I know you’re not going to listen to me, but you need to lie down for a while. This wasn’t your fault, Lou.”

  “It might take a bit for that to sink in, and I couldn’t sleep now unless someone cold-cocked me.”

  “I’m in no position to tell you what to do, but can I ask you for a favor?” When he straightened up and she dropped her head back to still see his face, she had to shield her eyes from the brightness.

  “You know you can.”

  “Lie down for at least an hour. When Cain decides to move, she’ll want you with her, and I want you at your best. You won’t be protecting only her, but my heart as well. That’s a really corny thing to say, but it’s true.”

  “You’re a tough opponent, Emma.” Lou hugged her again and headed to the pool house. After Katlin had moved out, the guys used it as a sort of bunkhouse when they kept long hours and needed to get some sleep.

  “Undermining my authority, lass?” Cain asked, but from the relaxed set of her eyes Emma could tell she was kidding. “I’m glad he listens to one of us.”

  “I just told him the truth. He does go out everyday with my heart in his care.” She leaned against Cain and put her arms around her hips. “One thing I’ve learned about you big ruthless types is that most of you are closet romantics who can’t fight it no matter how hard you try.” Cain laughed and scratched Emma’s back. “Did Lou give you any clues?”

  “I needed a point to start from, and I think he provided that. Sounds like three or four guys waiting for something else jumped Rick and killed him. From Lou’s sketchy descriptions they sounded Hispanic.”

  “Rodolfo’s guys?”

  “I can’t answer that right now, but give me some time and maybe I can narrow it down.”

  “Before I lose you to the people waiting inside, remember that I love you, and I’m here to take care of you.”

  “I love you too, and even though I’m working, I want to see you.”

  Emma pressed her cheek to Cain’s chest and laughed. “See what I mean about you big ruthless types.”

  They walked back to the house hand-in-hand, and Emma saw Dallas standing at the French doors of the sunroom watching them. Aside from when they arrived, Emma hadn’t seen Remi and Dallas together. She was looking forward to it, if only to see if there was anything worth celebrating.

  “Ramon and Mano arrived while you were out there with Lou. I put them all in the kitchen since there aren’t enough chairs in the study, but don’t worry. I’ll keep the kids out of the way.”

  “Thanks, lass.” Cain kissed her and nodded to Dallas as they entered the house. “Why don’t the two of you join the kids upstairs and watch some television?”

  Emma rubbed the small of Cain’s back to let her know she’d understood the request. No one minded Dallas being there, but she was still a wild card in Cain’s opinion as well as Remi’s. While they wouldn’t send her home, Cain didn’t want her too close to the upcoming meetings.

  “Call up if you need anything.”

  Cain waited until she heard the door to the den upstairs open and close before she entered the kitchen. She spotted Muriel first and noticed the anger twisting her face. “I need you to contact T-Boy and get with him, Muriel. Tell him it’s worth a lot to me to have today’s list of all the passengers who flew in and had to go through Customs.”

  “There’s something else you should know,” Muriel said hesitantly.

  “This isn’t the time to withhold any information, no matter how trivial it is.”

  “One of Vincent’s men came to see me last night after he talked to you. Somebody’s bringing in a shooter, but we don’t know the target
.”

  “Or who hired this guy?” Remi asked.

  “That’s probably easier, since we can narrow it down to two people we’re dealing with right now. It’s the why that’ll take more time,” Cain said as she cracked open a soft drink from the refrigerator. “What do you think, Ramon?”

  “I think like you that it’s Nunzio Luca, but what does Rick have to do with that?”

  “The shooter isn’t due until Friday,” Muriel said.

  “That’s why today didn’t have anything to do with Luca,” Cain said after she’d sat between Remi and Ramon.

  “Then with whom?” Mano asked. “If we’re going to be targets I’d like to have some idea why before one of us gets killed.”

  “We have to work together to answer that question, before anyone else gets hurt. I’m guessing, so you can’t take what I say for fact.”

  Remi nodded and butted shoulders with Cain. “When you guess, you’re usually in the ballpark, so let’s hear it.”

  “Today was like I just told Lou. Our guy Rick was in the wrong place and someone recognized him. To hide the fact that Rick knew who they were, they killed him.” Cain stopped and glanced at Muriel. She didn’t appear as upset now, but no way could Cain let her leave now if she was so angry she couldn’t think straight. “I’m not discounting the shooter and whatever reason someone has for bringing him here, but it had nothing to do with today.”

  “I think we can all agree that today, while tragic, is over. Our new problem is Friday and why this guy’s coming,” Mano said.

  “Today isn’t over. No one walks up and kills one of my people for no reason, and he’ll pay. Friday has to do with Nunzio Luca and how he plans to break us.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Mano persisted.

  “Then we sit and wait to find out which one of us Nunzio’s planning to knock off and afterward come up with a plan. I don’t know about you, but that’s not one choice I’m going with.”

  “Cain,” Ramon said with his hands spread out on the table in front of him.

  Cain raised her finger for Ramon’s patience and studied Mano and his posture. “I want to hear what you have in mind. I’ve been doing all the talking, and I haven’t given you a chance.”

  Mano glanced up and Remi nodded her head, brought her hand up, and curled her fingers over so he’d start talking. “If this is Nunzio Luca, he’s going after the weakest link as a scare tactic to get us to deal. He’s tried being nice, so now he’s going to try the other plan available to him.”

  “You should speak up more often, Mano. I agree,” Cain said, lifting her can in his direction.

  “So you think I should just sit around and wait for someone to put a bullet in my head?” Mano asked.

  Muriel covered his hand with hers and patted it before sitting back. “It’ll be a shot through the heart. That’s Jorge’s signature. He likes the chest shot so whoever’s lucky enough to have him as an assassin can have an open casket. That way your family can look at you before you’re buried and realize it’s their fault they put you in the ground.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Mano asked, laughing finally.

  “I don’t think Nunzio hired this guy to kill you, so you should feel better,” Cain said.

  “Forgive me if I’m still a little on edge,” Mano said.

  “You’re assuming you’re the weakest link in the chain, and in this case you’re not.” Cain peered first at Ramon then at Remi.

  Mano didn’t take his eyes off Cain. “What are you talking about?”

  “Mano, you’re Remi’s right hand, or you will be eventually, but unless she gives over the reins, you won’t be the head of your family.” She spoke softly and with as much compassion as she could muster, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “I’m not telling you this to hurt you, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to you.”

  “You’re right, but that’s not something I’m worried about. Remi will take over for my father one day, and I’m fine with that.”

  “Then you have to consider that this chain has three links.” She put her right hand on the table and slid it in front of Remi. “There’s Remi,” she put her left hand toward Ramon and repeated the motion, “there’s your father, and there’s me. Out of those three, if you were some clueless idiot who let somebody they’ve never met before take care of their business, who would you hit?”

  “Remi?”

  “Remi,” Cain confirmed. “I don’t agree with the assessment, but Nunzio’s thinking like a man chasing something he had, and because he again let that idiot Richard handle his business he lost it, and now he’s desperate. If he takes Remi out, he sends the message that none of us are untouchable if he wants to strike.”

  “Then why not you or my father?”

  “I told you before, I’m only guessing. I’d kill me, followed by your father, then Remi. You and Emma would be left, and the grief would make you easier to control.”

  Mano leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. “I can see why my father thinks you’re fascinating. You have an interesting way of thinking.”

  “Your father’s a smart man, but so was mine. Dalton never thought of anything as having only two sides, but layers. If Nunzio tries to hit me or Ramon and misses, let’s just say he’s an idiot, but he’s not totally stupid. If he misses the two people who are the most insulated, then the fallout would be a tad more stepped up, and he knows that.”

  “I still don’t understand why he wouldn’t think that anyway?” Mano said.

  “Because your sister’s death would send a message to me more than to Cain,” Ramon said. “If he goes after Cain, she’s in a more powerful position to strike back. We’re partners, though, not family. If he hits Remi, then it could break us, since he considers us the weaker opponent.”

  “You’d stand by and allow that to happen?” Mano said, sounding as if he were loath to ask the question.

  “You aren’t my family, Mano,” Cain said, and saw his head lower. “Not by blood, but remember this. What we agreed to isn’t just for today. Our deal is for the future of both our families. Because of that, you’ll one day sit at a table where my son is sitting with me. I would never put Hayden in a situation that would leave him vulnerable in any way.” She waited until he looked her in the eye again. “That means you’re not my blood but I welcome you into my family, and I’ll watch over you like you were my own.”

  “We have a couple of days then. What do we do?” Mano asked.

  The sun was starting to set and Cain stood up from the table and threw her can away. “I have to deal with Rick and his family, Muriel has some information to gather, and it’s getting late. How about if we call it a night and meet again tomorrow afternoon?”

  “There’s nothing you want us to do?” Remi asked.

  “I need you to do a couple of things in case I’m way off on this.” Cain came up behind Mano and spoke in a low voice, making him nod a lot as she went down the list. “Before you go, Remi, I need to tell you something as well.” She led Remi to the study.

  “Are you going to share what you told Mano?”

  “Your brother’s got that under control, and I’m sure by morning he’ll be at your place with my shopping list of stuff, but this has to do with Dallas.”

  “You can’t have found something already.” Remi sat in the chair across from the desk, and Cain sat beside her.

  “Mano and your father followed the money. Not a bad plan but it would eventually lead back to Bob, thus a dead end.”

  “And you? What trail did you follow?”

  “I’m a criminal, my friend. Not a common criminal, mind you, but still a criminal, so I decided to think like the dark side does.”

  Remi laughed as she twirled her cigar lighter between her fingers. “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Running isn’t in my nature and it isn’t in yours, but Emma said something interesting when it came to your girlfriend. She keeps feeling that Dallas is running from some
thing or someone.” She took a slip of paper out of her shirt pocket and read the name she’d written down. “The thing about running is you have to start somewhere, and it’s a little easier to do when you find someone to help you create a new identity that lets you hide in plain sight.”

  “You found her already?”

  “More like I found her possible track coach.” She handed over the paper, then took it back and put it in her pocket again. “If I’m right, he gave her all the necessary paperwork to create Dallas Montgomery and the life that went along with her.”

  “How long before you know?”

  “I invited him to New Orleans for a couple of days. Like I told you, I’ll take care of it, and in a few days I might have the answers you’re looking for. If it helps any, I exhausted my leads into the cop angle. I wouldn’t swear on my mum’s grave yet, but I don’t believe she’s undercover in an official way. It’s more a survival kind of way.”

  It was suddenly noisy on the other side of the door, meaning that Emma, Dallas, and the kids had come down, probably searching for food. “And Bob? Did you find anything on him?”

  “I think Bob’s an opportunist who found her secret and used it to his advantage.” Cain reached out when Remi started to stand up. “We’ll deal with him soon enough, but Bob has a lot in common with Nunzio Luca. I want nothing more than to take care of Nunzio, but first we have to strip away his own secrets so that when he’s dead—he’s dead. Once he is, we don’t have to worry about anything coming back from the grave to haunt us.”

  “Bob’s not that smart.”

  “Does Dallas buck him in any way?” Remi shook her head. “Does she act like a woman who thinks her troubles are over now that you’re in her life?” Remi shook her head again. “Then stop and think about what he has over her that’s kept her as compliant as a puppy for years. When someone like Bob sinks his claws into someone, it takes a special meeting to dig them out. Be patient, and once we have most of the answers, we’ll deal with him.”

  “And that’s everything?”

  Cain hesitated, then nodded. “Everything I know so far.”