The Devil Be Damned

by Ali Vali

  “Apurate,” someone said to a group of people holding crude luggage over their heads to keep it out of the chest-deep water. Someone harshly whispered “hurry up” numerous times until the fourteen illegals made it to American soil.

  “Juan,” the man said next.

  “Let’s go.” Juan headed for the water. “It’s time to rejoin the land of the living.”

  For a few more days, anyway, Anthony thought. He lost his shoes halfway across, which made him think about his parents since they’d given him the loafers for his last birthday. Would they even know what happened to him? If Cain found him before Annabel, no. One of his last duties at work was to find Big Gino Bracato and his sons, but wherever Cain had buried them, the graves still held their secrets.

  *

  “The script for the next Lady Killer movie is in the final stages, but before we sign, Dallas wants to be considered for the new project the studio is planning on the Ruger book,” Angus Christian said to Remi Jatibon. Both Remi and Dallas had chosen the new agent, but they hadn’t shared that fact with him because Remi wanted Dallas to completely control every aspect of her career.

  Angus was able to negotiate on Dallas’s behalf but Dwayne and Steve, Remi’s partners, monitored the contracts before anything was signed. With the new system, Dallas’s bank account had quickly become a lot healthier.

  “I think the director has a few people in mind for that project, but give him a call. The planning meetings I’m involved with are more management driven than anything to do with talent these days,” Remi said as she twirled her wineglass by the stem. The restaurant Angus had picked was full, and even with the low lights they could see people discreetly looking at them.

  “The role might finally get her to the top of the marquee,” Angus said, almost spilling the wine in the glass he held. “She’s paid her dues long enough.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir, Angus.” Dallas’s hand landed on Remi’s thigh. “If you’re trying to bribe me to just give her the job, Dallas won’t stand for that.”

  “Don’t worry. She already gave me the lecture. What she wants is a chance.”

  “Have you finished talking about me like I’m in the restroom?” Dallas asked.

  “I think I have everything I need,” Angus said as he and Remi shook hands. “I’ll make those calls and get back to you,” he told Dallas.

  “Thanks,” Dallas said. The man was always on edge, but when he dealt with Remi directly his fidgety habits shifted into overdrive. He was still shaking Remi’s hand as if he’d forgotten to let go.

  “You should smile more, baby,” she said to Remi once Angus was far enough away. “I think you make him a little nervous.”

  “A little? Then I need to bring it up a notch because he needs to stay that way.” The waiter cleared away Angus’s empty glass and refilled theirs with the wine Remi had ordered. “It’s good for him to be afraid of me. I want to keep him from taking advantage of you.”

  “My protector, huh?” Dallas kissed the side of Remi’s neck.

  It was hard to let go of the fear that had plagued Dallas’s life for years, but Remi had been the model of patience as Dallas dealt with things at her pace. She still hadn’t shared a lot of things with Remi yet, not because she thought Remi would judge those choices, but because they belonged more to Katie Lynn Moores than to who she was now.

  “For as long as you want.”

  “Then you’d better cut down on the cigar smoking, because you’re in for a long haul.”

  The waiter approached slowly with pad in hand and hesitated until Remi nodded. Small things like that still surprised Dallas about her lover. For some who knew Remi or knew of her, she was someone to fear, or at least give a wide berth, but the concept was foreign to Dallas.

  Remi had set her free. The only worry she had left was losing Remi to the life she chose or to someone else. Remi’s loyalty made Dallas believe someone’s bullet rather than someone else’s heart would be the culprit.

  “Did you decide what to do with Kristen yet?” Remi asked after she placed their order.

  “I thought for now she can stay with me.” She took a sip of wine.

  After Remi had dealt with Dallas’s old manager Bob Bennett in her unique way, she’d felt comfortable bringing her sister Kristen to live in New Orleans. With Remi and Cain’s help, Kristen’s identity was as solid as hers and she was now enrolled in Tulane for the summer session. She was due to arrive that weekend.

  Dallas wasn’t comfortable enough to say yes to Remi’s invitation to live together. They spent every night with each other, but having her own place in the French Quarter, she thought, wouldn’t make Remi feel hemmed in by a relationship she wasn’t ready for, considering Dallas’s baggage.

  “That way you two will have a chance to get to know each other without us getting in your way.” When Remi sighed she rushed on. “I’m not putting you off, baby,” she said, and squeezed Remi’s fingers. “It hasn’t been that long and I want us both to be sure about everything.”

  “Don’t you mean you need to be sure?” Remi asked gently. “I know what I want, Dallas, and being apart isn’t it. So tell me what I have to do to convince you and I’ll do it.”

  “Remington Jatibon, don’t you dare make it sound like you’ve got to prove yourself to me,” she said as her heart sped up. “You need to know everything about me before you commit to anything else. After that you might want to move on, and you should be free to do so without thinking you’ve got two people to take care of. Believe me, you’ve done more than anyone else in my life and haven’t asked anything in return.”

  “Querida, you’re crazy if you think your sins compare to mine,” Remi said directly into her ear. No matter how dark the restaurant or how private the space, Dallas had learned someone was always listening in. Like shrimpers with their trawl nets out, they were seeing what they could harvest from every conversation no matter how intimate or mundane. “I hope you choose to trust me with who you are.”

  “You don’t think I do?”

  “I didn’t say that to hurt you, so don’t look at me that way.” Remi rubbed her thumb along the skin between her eyebrows as if smoothing down a worry line. “I want you to understand you can move at whatever pace you like and I’ll be here waiting no matter how long.

  “You can keep whatever secrets you choose not to share because it would be painful to relive them, but I hope you don’t. I don’t need to hear them because of any trust issues, but because I’ll be able to carry some of your load.

  “I know that I love you, and time will only strengthen that, not make me lose interest.” Remi kissed her lips as she slipped her fingers behind her neck. “The timing is up to you, and I’m sure Kristen will appreciate having you all to herself for a while. Just remember that Emil’s still part of the package. I don’t want you unprotected.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of trying to argue with you.” Dallas initiated their next kiss. She hadn’t tried to hide who she was seeing, but so far the tabloids hadn’t focused on them. She was sure there were plenty of pictures, but Remi’s reputation had a long reach. Enough that the tabloids had left them relatively alone. “I can’t wait for you to meet Kristen.”

  “Just a few more days,” Remi said, then moved out of the way as the waiter brought out a dozen raw oysters on the half shell.

  “After being away from her for so long, it’ll be like a dream, having her in the same house.” She accepted the oyster Remi held out to her on a small fork. “You, on the other hand, will be lucky to make it through these before I drag you home to live out a few more of my dreams.”

  “Check,” Remi told the waiter as he brought out the next dish, making Dallas laugh as well as blush.

  *

  Breaks in the trees gave a few brief glimpses of the night sky, but Johnny Moores didn’t need a flashlight as he made his way along the leaf-littered path. With no moonlight, he used the distant fire as his guide, and even though these trips weren’t nec
essary anymore, he liked to oversee the entire process that was his only livelihood.

  His granddad had built this still in the early 1900s and it continued to supply a lot of people in Sparta, Tennessee—including the sheriff of White County—with moonshine so strong it could shave the hair from your chest without a razor. It was time to make a fresh batch to replace the stuff aging in his barn, but that wasn’t what was on his mind.

  Before he joined the guys helping him, he took the cell phone Bob Bennett had sent him from his pocket and checked it again. Deep in the woods he couldn’t pick up a signal, but he glanced at it anyway.

  The damn thing still didn’t have any messages, and when he punched in the only number in the memory, the prepaid cell it called went straight to voicemail, which in turn said the caller’s box was full. The little weasel hadn’t checked the phone and had forgotten about their agreement. The only income he had left depended on what was dripping out of the end of the copper pipe here in the backwoods of Sparta.

  “You don’t know who you fucking with, boy,” he said, and snapped the phone closed. “Two more days is all you got before I come looking for you and take what you owe me out your hide.” The plastic of the phone felt oily as he squeezed it so hard it creaked.

  When Johnny stopped to warm his hands at the fire under the large kettle, Timothy Pritchard said, “Johnny, we got the mash going so you’re in time for our first tasting.” Timothy and his brother Boone were his partners in the business and the only two men in the county he trusted because he totally controlled them.

  He accepted the tin cup from Timothy and sipped the potent brew. His lips went almost numb. “You boys got that shit right,” he said, and passed them the cup. “Think you two can handle the rest?”

  “What’s wrong?” Boone asked. “Something has to be if you’re letting us do this on our own. You wouldn’t even trust your mama with this still.”

  “My pa said that bitch died the day after she had me to get out of doing all the work,” he said. He spit a mouthful of tobacco juice into the fire, making it hiss. “Can you do it or not?”

  “We want a bigger cut if you make us do the whole batch,” Timothy said quickly. “What’s so freaking important anyway that you’d leave for?”

  “Nothing for you to worry about, so drop it.” Johnny ran his hand through his thinning blond hair and smiled. Would little Katie Lynn recognize him now that his thick locks were a memory and a lot of white was mixed in along his temples? Her hair was the only thing she’d inherited from him, her eyes and face a perfect copy of her mother’s.

  He cut his eyes near the still to the overgrown patch that held his late wife’s remains. He had killed her during a drunken rage not long after Sue Lee was born, and planting her here was his way of repaying her for her bitching behind his back about how he made his living. He smiled wider as he thought of the useless country girl watching him from hell as he started another season of shine.

  “Must be good if it’s got you smiling like a hog in knee-deep slop,” Timothy said, and laughed. He looked freakish because of the deep scar that started at his hairline and stopped at his top lip. The shocking pink, paper-thin-appearing skin had never faded, and the way he constantly tapped it with his fingers showed that it’d never stopped hurting. Or at least that’s what Johnny guessed.

  “Don’t fret about what’s none of your business and concentrate on filling those jars. We got orders and people waiting,” he screamed at both men before sitting on the old iron chair someone had dragged out there years before.

  He jammed his hand back in his coat pocket where the phone still rested quietly, but he stroked the glossy magazine picture he’d cut out. One of the only pictures of Dallas and Remi together with only their names written at the bottom, it said they were attending a movie opening in a city named Metairie.

  The edges of the page were dirty because he’d handled it so much, like all the others he’d found of Dallas Montgomery. The resemblance to the skinny, grubby little fool he’d fed for years was mostly gone, but no new name could fool him or take away what was owed him. Dallas was somebody his Katie Lynn had made up, but it was time to remind her where she came from and who she belonged to.

  He got excited thinking about their reunion and what they’d do afterward. Would Katie Lynn be worth more to him as Dallas or in the back room of his cabin? Guys like Timothy and Boone would sell their left nut to bed the rising star once he’d gotten tired of taking his turn.

  Chapter Two

  “Our numbers are a little off,” Katlin said after she glanced at the page in front of her. “But around Lent they usually are. People need to start giving up something else besides liquor and cigarettes for a change.”

  “Mama would have your ass for saying that about all those good Catholics,” Cain said. So far no one had good news during their regular weekly meeting. “Keep an eye on that,” she told Katlin. “Sometimes yearly religious sacrifice is to blame, and sometimes someone else is trying to muscle in on us.”

  “No worries. I’ve got some guys checking it out. Somebody might be able to undercut us, but they can’t provide our level of protection.”

  “Some people don’t care about that. They’re only loyal to the dollar, and some of those old shop keeps Da started dealing with are selling out in droves.” Cain sat back and put her feet on her desk. “When that happens make sure you check the new guys out before you approach them. The Feds are always trying new tricks to get inside our operations, and we don’t need to make their job easy by selling directly to the bastards.”

  “Muriel’s got that part covered,” Katlin said.

  “Cute,” Muriel said. “So far we’ve been lucky. They’ve passed the businesses to a family member and they’ve all checked out.”

  “Go home,” Cain said to Katlin. “You’ve got physical therapy with Merrick in an hour.” The wounds Emma’s guard had gotten trying to protect her had healed enough for her to leave the hospital, but she had a lot of hard work ahead of her to get back to where she was, if that was even possible.

  “Thanks, boss.” Katlin stood and handed her report to Muriel for shredding. “And thanks again for rearranging the pool house for us. Merrick’s apartment wouldn’t have worked.”

  “She’s family, and I can’t pay the debt I owe her in this lifetime, so stop thanking me.”

  Katlin hadn’t lost her place in the organization, but Cain had put her on a lighter schedule until Merrick was able to care for herself. If it had been Emma, that’s where she’d want to be, and Katlin and Merrick’s relationship deserved the same consideration as hers and Emma’s.

  “Anything else?” Cain asked.

  “Sabana Greco called again,” Lou said with a laugh. “She and her mother are ready to come home and she still wants to talk to you.” Juan’s men had killed Sabana’s brother Rick, and while they’d all taken it hard, no one shouldered more guilt than Lou. However, that wouldn’t make Cain change her mind about hiring Sabana, even though the young woman had seemed determined not to be held to her promise to finish school.

  Lou had been training Rick to look after the Casey family or perhaps guard their daughter Hannah when she started school. Unfortunately Lou had sent Rick to run the most mundane of errands, which had led to his death. Cain knew Lou was still blaming himself and doubted that he remembered she had first asked Rick to drive to the airport to pick up her father-in-law Ross’s luggage—nothing to get killed over.

  “If everything’s working as we planned, our next long conversation shouldn’t take place for another two years,” Cain said. “Is there a problem?”

  “It’s your plan she wants to talk about,” Lou said, holding his hands out like he was a messenger who didn’t want to be shot. “She seems to have been studying revenge more than the business classes she’s in. Sending her and her mother away gave her the time to ratchet up her anger.”

  “I sent them away for their own good, but have her come back this weekend and I’ll give her th
e meeting she wants. Only warn her that she might not like my side of the conversation.”

  “She’s angry about Rick, and while she might not like what you’re gonna say, you’re the right person for her to talk to. Not everyone has walked the walk like you have.”

  Cain nodded as she looked at the picture her father, Dalton, had first put on the desk when he’d opened the office. It was their family photo and Marie was an infant in their mother’s arms, while Billy and she were toddlers. She was the only one of her family not taken out on Big Gino Bracato’s order, so Lou was right that she understood Sabana’s pain.

  “You getting soft on me, Lou?”

  “This girl—I think she’s going to try something no matter what we say, and if she does, I don’t want her to be standing alone.” Lou got up and put his hands in his pockets. “I owe that to Rick.”

  “I still plan to put her off because I can’t afford someone with a grudge that’ll blind her to everything else.”

  “Who’s the softie, then?” Lou asked with a smile before he left for his chair outside her door.

  “You have something on your mind?” Cain asked Muriel when just the two of them were left.

  “I talked to Remi and Mano yesterday about our situation. Still nothing.”

  “The reward goes to the patient hunter, cousin. Wherever our little weasels have hidden, it won’t be forever. My memory, unfortunately for them, won’t fade with time.” She knew she sounded calm, though they were discussing Juan and Anthony, but it was because the new Casey family portrait on her desk held her attention. “If you’re concerned I’ll let this go, don’t be.”

  “That’s a given, but I’ll still be concerned about you. After all this you haven’t been the same, and that’s not a criticism. I love working with you because of how you approach life, and now you seem to do things differently.” Muriel pressed her hands on her knees and kept her eyes on the floor as she spoke. “If it’s like that here, then it must be like that at home.”