The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Twelve

“Nunzio.” Rodolfo purposely made the simple name sound more exotic. “I hope you’re doing well.” He glanced out the window to the pool. Juan was once again indulging in his sun worshipping.

“Rodolfo, I’m glad you called. I assume you’ve heard about our plans for the casino.”

“My man gave me the news.” That Nunzio was so matter-of-fact about it made Rodolfo hit his thigh with his fist. “Because of our alliance, I would’ve expected to hear it from you.”

“My father and I decided that to turn the kind of profit we’d like to see from our product, we’d need the capital from this sale. Nothing we worked out between us has changed, so don’t worry.”

Rodolfo fanned his fingers out and took a deep breath with the receiver away from his mouth. He needed to relax so his voice wouldn’t reveal his aggravation. “Are you planning to bring in our product some other way?”

“I don’t see any changes, no matter whose name is on the deed, Rodolfo. We have enough muscle between the two of us to ensure that. Like I said, I’m handling things.”

“Who’s taking over?”

“We aren’t partners in everything. Who we’re doing business with has nothing to do with our arrangement with you. Just know that we picked someone we can easily control and had the ready cash. I’ll be in touch once everything’s been finalized.”

When Rodolfo heard the dial tone he felt free to curse. Perhaps for once he should listen to Juan’s ranting and investigate what was going on. He wasn’t about to hand over most of his inventory to a man who couldn’t be up-front with him. And now he knew that Nunzio didn’t even have the capital for the deal he’d made. If Nunzio had withheld that piece of information, Rodolfo wouldn’t be able to trust him and his father about anything.

*

Nunzio muttered a few expletives as he gently put the phone down. The call from Rodolfo had interrupted Richard Bowen’s explanation of why he wasn’t handing over a check. “So you just walked out?” Nunzio asked, making Richard fidget more. “Are you a fucking moron?”

“Remi and Cain ran the meeting and they wouldn’t sign the contract that let us provide security so I pushed, thinking they’d cave.” Richard pulled at his collar as if he were having trouble breathing. “I thought you’d appreciate me taking the chance, since I thought it would go our way. I was just looking out for you.”

“I don’t pay you to fucking think. I pay you to go over there and pick up a fucking check. How difficult is that?” Nunzio had stood up, but he was using his lower, more menacing voice.

“Cain and Remi were running the meeting and you expected them to cave? My dog could’ve told you that wasn’t going to happen. All you had to do was kiss their ass for five minutes and we’d have worked around it. I don’t need those bitches’ permission to do business.” He looked at his nails while he delivered the threat.

Nunzio glanced back up and laughed at the total fear on Richard’s face. “Now the only question is what happens to you, since you haven’t exactly proven your value to this organization.”

“If you give me another chance, I’ll get them back to the table.”

“One more chance means one more. I don’t have to explain the price of failure, do I?” Richard nodded quickly at Nunzio’s question. “Make it your priority to get them to close this deal, and, Richard, start praying they do. We might have to shave off a couple mil, that’s not important, but we do need the bulk. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes, sir, we do.”

“Good, get on it.” He walked out of the room and headed to the office he kept in the house.

Nunzio Luca III, like Cain and Remi, had gone into the family business and had recently taken over most of the operations that his grandfather had started. The old man, Nunzio Sr., was now living in a gated community in southern Florida and leaving the business to his son in New York and his grandson in Biloxi. He had put in his time after a life of work that began after entering the United States as an immigrant from Naples.

Junior, Nunzio’s father, had moved him to Biloxi to establish the family in that market. He had set his son up by buying property in other people’s names so there wouldn’t be a problem with the Biloxi Gaming Commission, which cringed at the mention of organized crime. That’s why Richard was the “owner” of the Capri Casino.

The Luca family wasn’t interested in gaming, though. It fronted the cocaine, heroin, and crack they sold across the country. The casino had been a good way to launder money without tipping off the authorities to the real source of the cash. With Nunzio’s work in Biloxi, the family had enough police and politicians on their payroll that the family no longer needed the casino. Now they planned to use the capital from its sale to expand the drug pipeline they’d established from Florida to California.

But Cain and Remi had walked away, taking all their money with them. They weren’t his favorite people, but cutting a deal with them was his best option since they had the money up front, and it would have been the quickest sale, considering Ramon’s connections with the commission.

Richard’s stupidity had set things back, but Nunzio figured he could fix the situation once he made his buyers see reason. If not, he would eliminate the weakest link in the chain and deal with what was left.

Putting away his opinions he picked up the phone and called his father. “Pop, how are you?”

“Tell me how heavy that check feels in your hand, son. Now that you have it, don’t make any plans for next week. We’re taking a trip south of the border. I set up a meet with some of Rodolfo’s competitors. They want to break the stronghold he has, and that’s good for us. Any war between the big suppliers will make the price drop there, but go up on the street here.”

“I’m not holding a check, but let me explain before you get all crazy. Richard pushed them on the security issue, and Cain and Remi pulled the plug.”

“If I didn’t feel like looking for a new front man to hold the paper on that place, I swear I’d cut that idiot into little pieces myself. And as for that fucking Cain and Remi, they’re just like Dalton and Ramon, which means nothing but headaches for us.”

“I was thinking what our next move should be, but I wanted to run it by you first.” Nunzio laid out his plan, his father grunting his approval every so often.

“That sounds good, but remember that we need this,” Junior said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”

*

“Is this part of the Caseys’ legitimate business too?” Agent Joe Simmons asked Shelby. The team, now led jointly by Shelby and Joe, sat in a room they’d managed to lease in the building across the street from Cain’s offices.

“Even though Anthony’s on leave, I could close my eyes and imagine him asking me the same thing.” After watching Remi and Mano disappear into the warehouse, she let her binoculars down. “If you have a problem with my personal life, then be up-front about it. The snide remarks are getting old.”

“First off, don’t compare me to that asshole, and assume from now on that if I ask you a question, that’s all it is. I don’t expect your answer comes from some inside track because of who you have dinner with every so often.” Joe bumped shoulders with her and smiled. “If anyone gives you shit about anything, let me know.”

“Thanks. After this morning I wasn’t in the mood for any more ragging.”

“Then let’s take a walk and set some stuff straight.”

There were only a few people walking along the sidewalk in front of Cain’s place, but Joe noticed the guards posted on the roof stop pacing and follow Shelby and his movements as they headed for the café Cain frequented on occasion.

“To answer your question, we’ll probably be seeing more of the Jatibons, which means we should have a meeting with the agents assigned to them.”

Joe held up two fingers when the waitress picked up the coffee pot. “Cain’s going into business with Ramon?”

“I think so,” she told him about the party the night before, “but I’ve tried to stop speculating when it comes to Cain. It can give you whiplash when she takes a turn you’re not expecting.”

“There is one thing I’m expecting, but I’m not sure how she’s going to pull it off.”

“You’re talking about Kyle?” Shelby poured some sugar into her cup and stirred it in slowly. “I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“In this case we’re working to put away a guy who shot her. I’d think she’d get some satisfaction knowing he’s serving time and we’re the ones who’ll be taking him down.”

Joe nodded, then just as quickly shook his head. “You have to consider that Barney talked Emma onto that plane to the frozen North while she was pregnant with that cutie we’ve been seeing. If he’d done that to me I’d be tempted to put a bullet between his eyes, and I have more self-control than Cain seems to.” He put his hand over Shelby’s on the table and whispered, “If she does try, that might be the way we finally pin something on her.”

Both their phones rang simultaneously, so Joe threw a five on the table and followed Shelby outside when he got the message Cain was on the move. “Speak of the devil. Let the fun begin,” he said to Shelby as they climbed into the back of the surveillance van. He had barely closed the door when the driver floored it to catch up to Cain’s vehicle.

“Looks like a trip downtown,” Lionel Jones said. He was fooling with a piece of equipment with one hand and holding a headset to his ear with the other. “If she doesn’t turn that damn song off I’m going to put in for a transfer.”

“I’m working on it,” Claire Lansing said.

They all had to hang on as they came to an abrupt stop in front of the Federal Building.

“Get the feeling we won’t have any trouble hearing her next conversation?” Shelby asked as Cain, flanked by three guards, made her way up the stairs. “Claire, you might want to call the boss and give her a heads-up.”

“You got it. The guys inside said she just requested a visit with Kyle.”

“Good,” Joe said. “Maybe he’ll talk to her since he hasn’t done much of that since we locked him up.”

As their driver pulled into the parking lot so they could get inside and in front of a monitor, Shelby asked, “What were you saying about fun?”