by Ali Vali
“Hello, Dallas,” Steve said, then turned his attention across the room. “Dick, I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
“We just arrived, thanks,” Dallas said, returning Dwayne’s wave.
“Can we get you anything?”
“No, thanks. How about you, Bob?” she added, to be nice and avoid an argument on the way home.
“Actually we need to borrow Dickey for some preliminary stuff that we don’t need to bore you with,” Steve said.
“Then I shouldn’t keep you. Should I wait here?” she asked, earning a glare from Bob when she didn’t correct his name.
“Enjoy the view. Let’s go, Dickey, we’re set up in the conference room,” Steve said, and slapped him on the back so hard the much-shorter Bob stumbled.
“If you need anything, Dallas, just ask,” Dwayne said, and winked on his way out.
Dallas walked to the windows overlooking the river and watched the steamboat make its way downstream. After a few months off she was anxious to return to work. Getting swept up in a new project would help clear her mind of everything wrong with her life, like it always did. She was a good actress because she could pretend to be something she wasn’t. Before she got too lost in thought, she felt the heat of a taller body behind her and knew instantly who it was.
“Do you have an appointment to see someone?”
“I’m here to see the boss, as a matter of fact.” She placed her hands over the ones that had pulled her into a hug from behind.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you asking if Bob hates that you’ve hired Emil to keep an eye on me? I’m okay with it and he’s not, but we’ll all have to deal with it, won’t we?”
“Would it make you feel better if most of the time I’ll be the one keeping an eye on you? Unless you go home because you’re sick of my company. Now that Emil’s with you, you can do that if you want.” Remi turned her around, not letting go of her hand, and walked Dallas to her office. Once the door closed, she pressed Dallas to her and kissed her.
Dallas could immediately tell Remi had let go of whatever was holding her back and kissed her like she wanted her in her life. “You’re safe for now, since I’m not quite ready to go home. Not that I’m afraid of anything, but I don’t want to give up the time with you. The one thing we have to talk about, though, is this cigar-smoking thing,” she said, looking at the smoldering cigar in an ashtray on Remi’s desk.
“I’ll try to keep that in mind, but bad habits are the worst to break.” Remi led her to the sofa in the office and offered her a seat while she put the cigar out. “The fact you’re here is a good sign you’ll renew your contract.”
“You had doubts about that?”
“After dealing with people in this business, I’m learning anything’s possible.”
“I want this part, so no worries from this talent. Bob might not be so easy on you, but I’m going to enjoy having you as one of my bosses.”
“It’s good to know someone likes me. I’ve made more enemies in the last week than I have since I started working for my father, and that’s going some. Let me walk you to the conference room and get you squared away on the paperwork, and we can take off early.” Remi kissed her forehead, then ran her thumb over Dallas’s lips. “Can I interest you in a quiet evening at home with me?”
“Best offer I’ve had all day.”
When Remi led Dallas into the conference room, all the occupants looked up. Dallas had never known Bob to appear so full of hatred, but it oozed off him as he watched Remi pull out a chair for her.
“Since you’re talking about her, I thought I’d let her come listen in.”
Bob forced a smile and held his hand out. “Hi, Remi, nice to see you again. I’m looking forward to working with you on the upcoming project.”
“We’re looking forward to having Dallas on this project,” Remi said.
He let his hand fall since Remi never accepted it. “I also wanted to apologize for any misunderstandings between us. This is a generous offer you’ve proposed for Dallas, and I don’t want any of my attempts at humor to stand in our way.”
“If you’ve been trying to be funny, your act needs work. Guys, take care of the paperwork and call me if you need anything. Once you’ve gone through all the fine points, we’ll arrange to have the contract delivered to Dallas for her signature, but unless you need us we’re taking the rest of the day off.” Remi held her hand out for Dallas, who readily accepted it.
“Self-righteous bitch,” Bob hissed under his breath, though loud enough for Dwayne and Steve to hear him.
“If you’d like any contract signed with this studio in the near future, you’ll keep your opinions to yourself. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Bennett?” Steve asked from his side of the table.
“Crystal.” Bob enunciated the word clearly, making it obvious how he felt about Remi. “As long as Remi understands that anything to do with Dallas comes through me.”
“I’m sure she has Dallas’s best interests at heart,” Steve said. “Maybe that’s something you can learn from her.”
“Is advice part of the contract?”
Steve shook his head and twirled his pen through his fingers.
“Then drop it. It’s not like you and your boss are lily white.”
“That might be true, but we’re worlds apart from you, Dickey.” Dwayne pushed the contract back in front of Bob and pointed to where they’d left off. “Do you have any questions so far?”
“How do we lose the big ape following Dallas around? She said she doesn’t like it, and I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“The studio hired him and he’s a reality, so learn to live with it,” Dwayne said. “Think of it this way. Dallas will have to get rid of you before she gets rid of Emil.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“There’s your answer then,” Steve said. “Everyone’s staying put for now.”
Chapter Forty
Muriel had been watching the monitors they had trained on the building where the feds were housed. She wasn’t surprised that Shelby came out right after Cain, but she was surprised that she still missed Shelby. “Learn anything at the café?”
“So much I could take the rest of the day off and still feel like I accomplished something,” Cain said in a joking tone. “But right now we need to get to the bat cave and go over a few things.”
“What, no hints?”
“Better yet, I’ll give you the whole story, but first, Lou.” She glanced back at him.
“Name it, boss.”
“I need Katlin in here.” They stepped into Cain’s office and she pointed Muriel into a chair. “Before she gets here, are you sure you want to be included? I won’t stop you from doing something you need to, but once you cross the line you can’t turn back.”
“I want to help, and I know what that means.”
“When we’re done, we can go back to the way things were, but in here,” she tapped over her heart, “and up here,” she tapped the side of her head, “you won’t be able to undo it.”
“I can handle it.”
“I’ve got to worry—you’re my family.”
“Boss,” Katlin said from the door.
“We’re done, come in,” Muriel said.
Cain nodded and told them what she’d just learned from Shelby. “I need a few things from you all. Katlin, I want one of Rodolfo’s guys that was outside the day we went to the Steak Knife, the one with a ponytail.”
“You want to talk to this clown?”
“I’m interested in a long, private conversation.”
“We’ll go tonight and take a look. If you’re in for the night, I’ll take Lou with me and maybe he’ll recognize him.” Katlin leaned her hip against the side of Cain’s desk, and Muriel saw how she didn’t hesitate to follow Cain’s orders.
“Muriel,” Cain said next. “I’m going to have some of the guys work with you.”
“I can handle it myself.”
“In law
school did they teach you how to break into someone’s house and not have them notice you’ve been there?”
“Breaking and entering? Since when are we involved in petty crime?”
“Think of it this way,” Cain said, not sounding upset with Muriel’s question. “If we get caught, it’ll be much easier to defend me against that than tax evasion and bootlegging.”
“Who are we robbing and how do I fit in?”
“Anthony Curtis—”
“Agent Anthony Curtis.” Muriel was shocked that Cain would even consider such a move.
“Is it time for you to go up to your office?” Cain asked, not quite slamming her hand down, but getting Muriel’s attention.
“I’m not trying to piss you off, just keep you out of trouble. Don’t you think they’re waiting for you to go after Curtis?”
“I’m always thinking, and if something goes wrong, don’t worry. It’ll be my ass in the vise, not yours.”
The set of Cain’s mouth was proof that Muriel had pushed too far and shouldn’t have initiated this conversation with Katlin and Lou in the room, but she didn’t let up. “Don’t you think I know that? That night in the warehouse you were supposed to be the only one in the line of fire—Emma was a surprise. And look at what that almost cost us. If you want this family to survive intact, get used to the idea of me taking care of you.”
“I appreciate that, but if you want to get involved in all the business, remember there’s only one person in charge. And you have to trust I know what I’m doing.” Cain glanced up at Katlin. “Since what I’m asking is new to you, I’ll put Katlin with you. I want someone in Curtis’s house, but don’t go near him. I need information, not the satisfaction of driving his nose into his brain.”
Muriel locked eyes with Cain but realized she couldn’t win. “What do you need?” she asked as her way of conceding.
After Cain started her list, Muriel realized she would have to go because it was the only way she could be sure they’d get what Cain needed. She knew without any explanation why Cain was asking and what she planned to do with the information.
“Cain.” Cain’s assistant came over the intercom. “I hate to bother you, but Remi Jatibon’s on the phone.”
“Any questions?” Cain asked the group in her office. She didn’t pick up until she was alone. “Remi, where are you?”
“I’m helping Dallas gather a few things from her place. She’s staying with me for several days since she’s got a lot going on, including starting her contract negotiations today. It reminded me why I asked you for help with Bob.”
Cain laughed at the frustration in Remi’s voice. “I think it reminded you that you want Dallas all to yourself. I’ve been there, my friend, and it can make you crazy.”
“I’m beginning to realize that.”
“Can you talk? I’ve got something that might help you,” Cain said as she opened the file she’d made on Dallas.
“Not right now, but I can swing by later.”
“Come for dinner tonight and bring Dallas. We can talk about your problem and recap everything else we’re facing.”
Remi laughed. “What, you’re not going to give me a hint? Did you find anything?”
“I had an idea and it panned out. Stop worrying. You’ll have to learn to live with some things and forget others, but you can have faith in what she feels for you.”
“Thanks, Cain. If you’ve got most of what I was looking for, I can call off my father.”
Cain hung up and closed her eyes, trying to order her thoughts. The casino deal, Juan Luis, Anthony Curtis, and Dallas Montgomery were all on her mind, and with enough time she would have some solutions. She already had an idea about Dallas and Anthony, which would only take some finishing inquiries. Nunzio Luca deserved her attention more than all the rest, and she wrote his name at the top of a fresh sheet on the pad on her desk.
To most, Rick was a small cog, and she was almost certain what had happened to him at the airport hadn’t been directed at her. That left two possible motives. Someone had managed to catch him unawares and mug him, or someone wanted him not to report something he’d seen. She circled “something he’d seen,” then picked up the passenger manifest.
She grabbed the phone again. “Are you still in the building?”
“I’m in the parking lot.”
“I need one more thing before you go.” Cain sat and waited for Muriel to come back in. “Hector Delarosa gave us the assassin, Jorge, didn’t he?”
“He went through Vincent, but yeah.”
“Call Vincent and find out how I can talk to this Delarosa guy. It has to be a clean line, since we know DEA isn’t limited to this country. If he’s big in Columbia, he’s being watched.”
Muriel rested her briefcase on the visitor chair. “What do I tell Vincent if he asks?”
“Vincent isn’t going to ask. He’s either going to set it up or not.”
“To satisfy my own curiosity, why do you want to talk to him?”
Cain wrote something down on the sheet and circled that as well. “A strange little man named Nathan gave me an idea. Now I need to talk to someone who can identify the shit that falls out of the Luis family tree when I shake it.”
Muriel stared at her like she was waiting for her to say something else. “Is that supposed to make sense?”
“Hiding in plain sight—that’s what I should’ve thought about when you handed me this, but what happened to Rick threw me off.” Cain stood up and waved her away. “Don’t worry about it yet. Scroll through that Blackberry of yours and see if you know anyone in Tennessee.”
“Because…”
“I promise I’ll be more informative after I talk to Remi about the Tennessee part. After that’s done I’ll have one less thing to worry about and we can concentrate on getting rid of the people out to harm us.”
“I’ll check and see if any of my classmates ended up in the Smokey Mountain State. See you at home later.”
Before Muriel could move, Cain joined her on the other side of the desk and hugged her. “I might bark a lot but you’re doing a good job. Remember to keep your head down and take time to think about what you want in the long run. Letting Shelby go sounds easy enough, but sometimes the hole it leaves is hard to deal with.”
“Are you buying a couch for in here?” Muriel asked in jest.
“If I do, you’re the last person I’d want on it.” Cain laughed as she put on her jacket. It felt good to laugh before she headed to St. Patrick’s Church to pay Rick her respects.
Chapter Forty-One
“She didn’t fire you?” Dallas asked, wiping the sides of her eyes after laughing so hard she’d teared up.
“Are you kidding? If I’d known how well spilling beer on her would turn out for me, I’d have dumped a pitcher on her head the minute she walked through the door,” Emma said, kissing the pout off Cain’s mouth. Remi took out the leather carrier she kept her cigars in and offered one to Cain. “If you must, then head outside, you two.” Emma pointed to the back door.
They had finished dinner over an hour ago, but Cain hadn’t had the heart to break up Emma’s plans for after-dinner drinks in an effort to get to know both Remi and Dallas better. Emma had made acquaintances in New Orleans, but they weren’t trusted friends. Aside from Cain, Emma didn’t confide in anyone but Mattie, but she was in Wisconsin.
Cain thought that’s why she was trying so hard to bring Dallas and Remi together. Though Mattie was Emma’s best friend, she would never know what it was like to be married to someone like Cain. Their world was totally foreign to the wife of a dairy farmer, but Dallas, if it worked out, would be a true confidante.
“Before you tell me what, tell me how,” Remi said. They stopped at the pool, but Cain took her into the empty pool house. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”
Cain glanced around the place her inner circle of guards had made their own. “I want to make sure if you react to what I’m going to tell you, you don’t embarrass Dalla
s. If you do, that’ll stay between me and you.”
“How do you know what you found out is right?”
Cain put her hand on Remi’s shoulders. “Listen to me. Ramon followed the money, but that’s not what drives this girl. We needed the key to unlock her past, and I found it.”
The cigar in Remi’s hand hung loosely in her fingers as she fell into a chair. “What was it?”
“Her name,” Cain said. She pulled another seat closer and patted Remi’s knee. “Katie Moores of Sparta, Tennessee, and she hasn’t had an easy life.”
“Katie?”
“I don’t have the why yet, but Katie ran away with her little sister, Sue Lee, and ended up in Los Angeles. After she got there, she was too young and didn’t have any experience to make a living that would support two people.”
“She has a sister?”
“Kristen Montgomery, who’s a college student up North. Dallas has done a good job of keeping her away from her job and out of the limelight.”
“How did you find all this?”
Cain told her about Nathan and how he’d helped Dallas with the identity she’d used to build her new life. “If you couldn’t find her, then I figured there were only a few ways she could’ve managed an identity that’s stood up this long. I started with the best and lucked out.”
“How’d she afford that?” Remi asked, sounding as if the answer was something she needed to hear but dreaded at the same time. “Something like that isn’t cheap.”
“You have to meet Nathan Mosley. He made a deal with her, and she kept her end of the bargain. Otherwise he would have sold her out. The new identity holds up only if Nathan keeps a client’s secret.”
“What’s going to stop him now?”
Cain laughed as she headed to the bar. “My reputation is good for something, and Nathan seems to genuinely like her.”
“After you get to know Dallas you’ll understand why,” Remi said. She accepted the glass Cain handed her. “And I imagine what you’ve told me so far is just the fluff of this story.”
