The Devil's Orchard

by Ali Vali

  Lou nodded as if he understood this sudden break in composure. She seldom called the watchers out, especially the way she’d done with Ronald. It’d been a knee-jerk reaction, but she realized she could work it in her favor if she could convince Emma of a few things once they got back to the house.

  “Let’s finish up with Hayden. Tell everyone not to make like a clay disk while we’re out here.”

  They were out for another hour and were laughing by the time they walked home. She never glanced back, secure that Ronald hadn’t ordered his people to leave. When the prey was hostile and coming apart because you had them backed to a wall, they seemed easier to catch. Right now she needed Ronald to relax because she’d be cakewalk prey, in his opinion.

  *

  When Ronald turned around he shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to calm his gut. He was so close to throwing everything he’d planned into the toilet for the chance to strangle the life out of the bitch who’d dared treat him like a punk with no balls.

  “Agent Chapman,” Lionel said, but shut up when he shot him a look.

  “Leave, and I’ll transfer you somewhere you’re guaranteed to be miserable.”

  “She’s not kidding about the sheriff.” Shelby moved Lionel behind her. “It’s happened before, and he’ll rush over here given the chance because he loves her.”

  “We still have ten mics pointed at the house, with double that in cameras,” Joe said, obviously much more comfortable than him in his jeans and hiking boots. “We can monitor from the hotel room.”

  “If you have a hearing problem, then you’re worthless to me as a field agent.” Ronald kept going until he reached the car and came close to hitting Brent as he tried to get in the passenger side.

  The game was harder than he imagined, but nothing in Casey’s file mentioned a reaction like today’s. Maybe confronting her from the beginning had thrown her and he was getting to her. If that was true, any humiliation she wanted to give him would be worth it. His priority would have to be keeping the respect of the team and prohibiting them from reporting back to Annabel.

  “Fuck,” he screamed, and slammed his hand on the seat next to him. Of all the places in the world for this to happen. He needed something to get himself together, but it’d have to wait.

  The car fishtailed down the dirt road and Shelby stared at the receding taillights. “What exactly happened?” she asked the others. “And who’s volunteering to walk to town and pick up the other car?”

  “I vote for Brent,” Claire said. “You’re team leader. Lionel and I have to stay with what’s left of our equipment, and Joe’s the best shot of all of us.”

  “Kiss my ass,” Brent said, but did start the walk toward the highway where they’d left their car.

  “In all our years together, have you ever seen Cain do something like that?” Joe asked, and Shelby nodded. “This feels like the first time we were here. She totally did a one eighty of how she did things, and she played us.”

  “This time, though, she’s not planning anything out of the ordinary that we know of. You all had to notice the split second she saw that dish. The short-fuse reaction felt real to me,” she said, because she understood that point where you snapped.

  “How do we play this?” Joe asked.

  “Not like we did last time.” She thought about all she could get out of Cain with a little leverage. That’s what she’d been missing before. Something on Cain was better than her great idea of giving her their complete playbook in exchange for help in finding the men she was searching for. “We need to be ready for anything.”

  “It’s good to have you back,” Joe said as they sat back on their camping folding chairs. “Anything you need to help you get past the rest of what you’re going through, just ask.”

  “Thank you, but this is better than moping around my house. Like I told Annabel, Cain might not be responsible for ordering the hit on my parents, but it’ll tie back to her somehow.” Again she went with a little of the truth. “Someone wanted us to zero in on Cain, and when that happens, you take your eyes off something else.”

  “Or you use the cops to get rid of your competition,” Joe said.

  “Her competition’s a possibility, but they’re nowhere around here, so let’s hope ape man brings coffee. It’s going to be a long week.”

  *

  Muriel studied the notes she’d made on her conversation with Colin and the research she did afterward. There was a lot that didn’t make sense and even more she couldn’t find, which to her was as troubling as finding too much on someone. She took off the reading glasses she’d recently had to get and pinched her nose.

  Alone in the cabin of Remi’s plane, she stared out the window and wondered if her parents had been reunited again and if she’d ever find someone she’d cherish as much as her father had her mother. Even after she’d encouraged him to search for someone to share his life, he’d smiled and declined.

  “We’re a hundred miles out. It shouldn’t be long now.” One of the attendants had come out and was clearing away the remnants of the sandwich and soda she’d served.

  “Thank you.” Muriel went back to staring at clouds.

  The plane stopped, and when the door opened only one person was waiting by a big SUV. She laughed at the shorts and plain T-shirt. Cain never looked this undone, but it was a good thing. “Are those your cow-milking clothes?”

  “It’s my fishing outfit, smart-ass, and I bought you some, so don’t make too much fun of me.” Cain accepted her bags and tossed them in the backseat. “Come on. Let’s go have lunch in town. I’m sure the waitress needs new shoes by now.”

  “I guess I don’t have to ask if you’re having fun. We should’ve talked you into a vacation home years ago.” The last time Muriel was here she’d seen only this small part of the airport. It felt like a million years ago, when her life had been as uncomplicated as a ten-year-old’s.

  “I’m already planning to add on.” Cain put her hand on the back of Muriel’s neck. “Something occurred to me as I was in a rowboat baiting Hannah’s hook. I want them to grow up the way we did. When we were kids I had Billy and Marie, and you and Katlin were always there. Think about how much harder this would be without that foundation we had from the beginning.”

  “You sure about that?”

  Cain had come alone with a plan to spend a day trying to get Muriel to open up. It might turn out to be easier than she’d thought. “Why don’t you want to believe me?”

  “About what? I haven’t accused you of lying, that I know of.”

  She parked a block from the café, glanced in the rearview mirror, and saw the blue sedan about fifty feet behind them. “Will you promise me something?”

  “Sure. If you need something I’ll be happy to help out. All you have to do is ask.”

  “You see that?” She pointed at the mirror. “We can’t talk now, but tonight, once everyone’s asleep, I want you to have a drink with me.” She shook her head to keep Muriel quiet. “Only accept if you’re ready to talk to me.”

  It took a long pause for Muriel to get out and join her on the sidewalk, but she did after peering back at the sedan. She recognized Joe Simmons and Claire, but that was all. Shelby would come back eventually, and Cain needed to have Muriel in a better place to deal with seeing her as an adversary every day.

  “Did Emma like the house?”

  Their conversation at lunch started there and ended with what had happened with Ronald the day before. Muriel smiled as Cain whined about the pressure of not ever being out of the Feds’ spotlight. I think they got it, Muriel wrote on a napkin she pushed toward her.

  “You’d think so.” Cain winked.

  At the house she pushed Muriel into the pool fully clothed, and Katlin went in right after, an easy target because she was laughing so hard. The roughhousing was a good reminder of what they were like as children, back when they didn’t have to worry about anything and their only real responsibility was school.

  “
Give us a bit, then I’ll call y’all in,” she said to Katlin and Lou once dinner and fun were over.

  Muriel had changed and watched her as she moved around the room. “You don’t have to do this, you know. If you’re worried I’m cracking up on you, I’m not.”

  “Stop bullshitting me,” Cain said sharply. The approach was harsh, but her father had used it plenty of times when he wanted something stubborn to shake loose, as he’d put it. “I’m not going to judge you, and it’s time you hear some truths from me.”

  “I’ve heard everything I need to hear from you, and I know how you feel, so let’s get back to work.”

  “Sure, once you answer my question from today. Why don’t you believe me?” She grabbed Muriel by the jaw and made her look her in the eye. “What did I do to make you lose faith in me? Better yet, what do I do to change that?”

  “Goddamn it, this is something I have to work out for myself, so don’t let it eat at you. If one of us fucked up here it was me, not you. Hell, if it wasn’t for you, we’d be in real trouble because of what I did.”

  “The problem is, it does eat at me because I promised your father I’d let you know word for word what was in his heart before he had to go. I’ve repeated them to you over and over, but you haven’t heard a single thing I’ve said.”

  “The words that play in my head in a loop are the last ones Da and I exchanged, and that we fought over that bitch I allowed in my bed makes me want to crawl into a ball and stay that way. Jesus, what an idiot he must’ve thought I was.” Muriel’s voice rose to a scream and she slammed her hands into the arms of the chair.

  “We all make mistakes, Muriel, but if we don’t learn from them, life loses every bit of happiness. You made a mistake in trusting that Shelby cared more for you than her job, but it wasn’t fatal.”

  “No, not fatal, but don’t lie and say it wasn’t damaging.”

  “A few years ago I trusted a man because technically we shared blood, and he took something precious from me. That mistake was fatal for my sister, and if I hadn’t been able to get past it, Emma would still be up the road and Hannah would still be under the same roof as that witch who’s her grandmother. For a long time it felt so good to let the anger build—it was all I had. It made it easy to dump all that pain on Emma’s head. My love for her won out, and it’s caused that gash Danny made to heal.” She moved up so their knees were touching. “Danny was never Emma’s fault, but it was so convenient to blame her, to hate her even, but losing her made me bleed more than losing Marie.”

  “You’re not suggesting I take Shelby back?”

  “I’m suggesting you let it go and move on. If you don’t, the right woman will fall on you and you’ll be too bitter to allow her in.” Cain tapped over Muriel’s heart. “You’re my family, and I love you. Nothing in this life or the next will ever change that. If what happened had made me lose faith in what you mean to me, you wouldn’t be here, you’d know nothing of my business, and I would’ve been honest about letting you know that.”

  “That I believe hands down.” Muriel laughed. “You left out that you would’ve kicked my ass.”

  “I did kick your ass in the pool today to soften you up for this.” She framed Muriel’s face with her hands and smiled. “You forget I know you, cousin, and I know the pain you’re in.” She choked up when Muriel’s eyes watered and a few tears dropped down her cheeks. “Uncle Jarvis is gone and I know you miss him, but don’t forget you’re a part of me. You’re my family, and I’ll be here for you however you need me.”

  “Thanks.” Muriel wiped her face and blinked furiously, as if to dry up her emotions. “If I’d lost your trust and Katlin’s, I’d be a goner, so I appreciate that you didn’t turn your back on me. And I’m sorry I’ve been such a weakling lately. I’m sure you’re ready for me to drop the maudlin act.”

  “You move at your own pace, and if anyone gives you shit about it, punch them in the face. That always makes me feel better.”

  “That might land me in jail. Assaulting a federal agent isn’t a wise move.”

  “Haven’t you heard?” Cain laughed. “We’re criminals, cousin, but we’re damned good ones. We’ve got a lot of ill-gotten gains to bail you out of anything.”

  Muriel laughed and stood so Cain could put her arms around her. She hugged her as hard as Jerry had at their arrival and didn’t let go right away. Muriel had coasted since Jarvis’s death, but Cain felt they’d finally made headway in knocking the boulder of guilt she carried off her shoulders.

  *

  “What do you think they’re talking about?” Claire asked as she watched Cain and Muriel with their heads together. Cain had finally relented from playing the theme from Bonanza after months, only to replace it with Disney’s “It’s a Small World” again. “She should become a contract worker at Guantanamo. You’d tell her whatever she wanted to know after a day of listening to this on a loop. How do you think she does it without going crazy herself?”

  “The same way she’s convincing Muriel what an evil bitch I am,” Shelby said with a pain in her chest as she watched Muriel cry.

  “Do you mind if I ask you something? Believe me, I won’t be insulted if you don’t answer.”

  “Sure.” She glanced away from the monitor and rubbed her eyes from fatigue.

  “If you could do it over again, would you change anything? That night when we all had dinner at your place and Cain showed up, I was convinced you really cared for Muriel. I never thought it was all about the assignment.”

  “I still care. You don’t suddenly stop what you feel because they toss you to the curb.” She went back to the monitor and remembered what it was like to be in Muriel’s arms. “My mistake was thinking I could crack through that.” She tapped her nail against the image of Cain and Muriel. “They take family commitment to heart, and I wasn’t ever going to be enough to break that engrained sense of Caseyness. I might change my tactics if I got another shot, but I would take another shot, if that’s what you’re really asking.”

  “We thought we’d lost you, so that’s good to hear.”

  “Grief makes you do crazy shit.” She stared at Muriel’s profile as she laughed at something Cain had said. “Look at what she almost sacrificed because of it.”

  *

  “Get Colin on the phone tomorrow and ask him if he’s up for a visit,” Cain said to Muriel as a wrap-up on their business for the night.

  After Muriel’s call to Colin, she’d researched Fiona and Judice O’Brannigan and found something disturbing to Cain—nothing. Judice had no past, no history except for giving birth to a daughter, Fiona. If not for that, there’d be no trace of the woman at all, and as with Dallas Montgomery, there had to be a reason. People hid from all sorts of situations and enemies, and finding them sometimes proved to be a dangerous proposition, even with the assurance of someone like Colin Mead.

  “You want him to come to us, or do you want to go there?”

  “Whichever’s convenient for him. I want him happy and at ease so he’ll be willing to tell his tales.”

  “You obviously haven’t spoken to him recently.” Muriel closed her files. “Give him a chance and he’ll talk your ears off.”

  “Go to bed, and we’ll hear it soon enough.”

  Cain went up and gently eased in next to Emma, to not wake her. Muriel’s information had perked her up, but even though she wasn’t sleepy, she didn’t want Emma to wake up alone. Finding that Fiona and her only known family were ghosts was enough to almost make her forget about Juan—almost.

  She’d seen enough movies to know that eventually someone would be smart enough to infiltrate the one arena that could tip the scales one way or the other. A family with someone loyal to them in the police department would be huge. Big Gino had almost pulled it off with Barney, but Barney wasn’t really loyal to him. He’d only played a part for Gino to get what he wanted. Masquerading as a federal agent had been Barney’s true acting job, not what he’d been willing to do for Gino to break t
he law. Only he’d done it for personal gain, not for the betterment of the Bracato family.

  Her mind wandered from subject to subject, and the man in her parents’ house that she’d seen later on watching them from his car finally pinged her memory. It was that brief glimpse of him at the shooting range with Hayden that afternoon. It was the same guy, and she remembered how she’d felt compelled to stop and look. The guy with the big shiny gun, the blond hair that clashed with those jet eyebrows, and how he stood almost arrogantly at the top of the steps in her old house.

  There was something she realized now that she didn’t then—when he’d descended the steps to leave and glanced back, his eyes weren’t on her. They were on Emma. The way he stood at the top of the steps should’ve tipped her off. His hands were behind his back, and he rocked on his feet as if he were blessing you with the gift of his company. Only two other people she’d ever met made a habit of doing that, and one of them was dead.

  Juan Luis, though, was not.

  That habit had driven her nuts when she’d had to deal with his uncle Rodolfo, and after watching him as a boy, Juan must’ve picked it up. The fucker had been smart enough to change his face, but not those little things that identified him as completely as a goddamn fingerprint would.

  “Shit,” she said softly, and Emma stirred in her arms but didn’t wake. When Cain went to leave the bed, she did.

  “Where are you going?” Emma asked, without opening her eyes.

  “I’ll be right back, I promise.” She put a robe on and went down the hall to where Merrick and Katlin were staying and knocked.

  “You’d be in trouble if we’d been busy,” Katlin said, blinking at the light in the hallway. “What’s wrong?”

  “Who’d you put on the guy outside the Columns Hotel?”

  “What guy?”

  “Wake the hell up and tell me you put somebody on him,” she said, grabbing Katlin by the collar of her robe.

  “I wasn’t with you that day, remember? You and Merrick went alone and met Sept and that chick Fiona. What guy are you talking about?”