The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Eighteen

“Ready to head home in a couple of days, buddy?” Cain and Hayden sat in the same booth she and Ross had occupied the day before.

The café in Haywood was like a throwback in time. Oak floors, scuffed by time and heavy foot traffic, needed a coat of finish, and the countertop was a dated avocado green color, though clean. Their waitress completed the atmosphere with a ruffled apron.

Cain ignored the nostalgia of the place and studied the anger brewing just under the surface of her son’s face.

“I’m ready to go now. I don’t understand why we have to stay longer.”

“Hayden, what’s wrong? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. I can see something in there eating away at you.” Cain tapped her finger against the side of his head, making him smile a little.

“I’ve been taking all these long walks with Emma, you know?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that? I know you’re mad at her for leaving and not getting in touch with you, but I’ve got to believe there’s just one little part of you that’s been dying to see her again. It’s all right to admit that, son. Feeling that way isn’t an insult to me. For better or worse, Emma’s your mother, and in her own way she loves you. She gave you life, Hayden. Never discount that.”

“It’s just she never answers any questions directly. I’m trying to get to know her like you said, but it’s like she won’t talk to me. She doesn’t treat me the same way you do. I know I’m a kid, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a brain.”

“You want me to talk to her?”

Hayden slumped his shoulders a little more because he wanted nothing more than to answer no. If Cain was forever running around fixing his problems, she would never start to confide in him more about the business. “Can I give it one more shot?”

“You can give it shots for a month of Sundays, boy, if that’s what you want. Good answer, by the way. You’re growing up on me faster than I think is fair.”

That got him to crack his lips in a genuine smile. Praise from his mother was something Hayden treasured more than anything else. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You want to take a walk with me, or are you all walked out?”

“Are you going to talk about your feelings and how I should be playing with kids my own age more often?”

The sarcasm gave Cain some insight into how Emma had spent their time together. “That would be no. I want to walk down to Roy’s and make sure your grandfather’s all set for the winter. I don’t want to see him have to sell off any of his…” Cain paused and tried to find the right word.

“What, land?”

“No, I was going to say ‘flock,’ but that’s not right when it comes to cows. It’s ‘herd,’ right?”

“You’re looking at someone who’s allergic to manual labor,” joked Hayden. Actually he had enjoyed his time with Ross the most during his visit. His grandfather talked about different things, not to just fill the silence, but probably because he thought he should know a little about the other part of his family. Ross never seemed to expect anything from their time together, and Hayden had opened up in turn.

“Remind me to buy you an axe when we get home, then, son. Your new job will be to split logs for the fireplace.” The two laughed as they got ready to leave.

The waitress ran over and asked if she could get Cain a cup of coffee to go. Haywood had never seen such a heavy tipper. She was used to the couple of quarters her regulars left on the counter, which wasn’t an insult to the service, just a reality of tight budgets. With Cain coming in two days in a row, the new shoes she had been saving for were now a reality.

“Have a good day,” Cain said as she put on her hat.

“Tomorrow the special is pork chops, if you’re interested.”

“How about you make plenty, and I’ll bring my crew in for lunch?”

The waitress smiled and nodded enthusiastically as she pumped Cain’s hand.

“If you eat in here and wink at her one more time, we may have to take her home with us,” whispered Hayden.

The woman had run ahead and opened the door for them.

“If she can cook a pork chop as well as your grandmother could, she might be worth the airfare home.”

Cain maneuvered Hayden between herself and the buildings they were passing, to protect him from any attack from the street. As they neared the corner, she spotted the same guy who had watched her have lunch with Ross the day before. The guy still looked cold and out of place. It was time to have some fun.

“Excuse me, could you tell me where the feed store is?”

The rapid eye movement was a giveaway that the last thing the man expected was for her to speak to him. He pointed in the direction they were headed and cleared his throat. “A few blocks down there.”

“Thanks. Hey, does Bob carry any livestock?”

“Livestock?” The guy looked like he was about to jog down the street to get away from her.

“I believe she means live animals of any kind,” Hayden added, trying not to laugh.

“I guess so, but I’m not really from around here. I’m just visiting friends.”

She wanted to ask who he was visiting but didn’t think the fun of needling the guy was worth the risk, not yet anyway. She wondered if he would bother to go down and find out the owner’s name was Roy, not Bob. Maybe in my retirement I’ll offer to teach some classes on the art of what not to do when following outlaws, if the feds pay me well enough.

Roy came around the counter and greeted her with a firm handshake, truly glad to see her. The fee she had paid him for the use of his property was more than generous, making the visit from Kyle inconsequential. They talked about Ross’s account briefly, then spent the rest of their time shopping for a new tractor. The new piece of equipment was a gift from Hayden and Cain to thank Ross for his hospitality.

Another man unfamiliar to the storeowner browsed the sparse shelves during his transaction with Cain, declining his offer of help when mother and son left. Roy was about to call after Cain and warn her about the guy, but thought she looked like someone who could handle just about anything or anyone.

A few days after Cain’s arrival, had the citizens of Haywood been responsible for her future fate, Kyle would have been hard-pressed to find anyone willing to convict her of a traffic ticket, much less anything else.

*

When Emma pulled Ross’s old truck into the Verde farm and stopped at the back of the barn, she noticed Cain’s vehicle was gone. Taking a chance she climbed to the loft. Time was running out, and she wanted to know if Kyle had found anything useful.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Kyle told her in a more-than-irritated voice. He had spent the morning on the phone with his supervisor, trying to talk her out of pulling the plug on their whole operation.

“I have a right to know if you’ve made any progress, Agent. I want my son back, and you promised me results.”

Kyle looked at her and found someone to vent his bad mood on. “I can’t demand she start doing business as usual so your helping us bug her room won’t go to waste, now can I? Get your butt back down there and let us do our jobs. You lived with the woman for years, so you know she’s not stupid. Casey isn’t going to suddenly start talking up a storm. She’s too careful to say anything that’ll lead us to a conviction. You and your mother knew going in this might not work.”

“That’s not exactly how you pitched it.”

“This conversation is over, Emma. You are free to leave.” Kyle bowed his head to his paperwork, fully expecting her to be gone when he decided to look back up.

When Cain spotted Emma coming down the loft ladder, something inside of her snapped and she curled her hands into fists. Here was her Judas, and she fought the urge to choke the life out of her. In her mind, helping Kyle was the ultimate betrayal, tantamount to throwing away everything they had shared. Furious, she decided to inflict on Emma the same kind of pain she was feeling now. The game had begun, and all she wanted now was to play it out.

“Hey, guys, I didn’t realize you were back.” Emma scrambled for a reason she had been in the loft, in case Cain asked.

“We went in for breakfast at Mabel’s,” said Hayden.

“You must be full, then.” Emma tried to make a joke as she watched Cain’s face turn more glacial by the second. “Any way I can convince you to finish our talk from yesterday?” she asked Cain, as she tried to find some of the affection the blue eyes always held for her.

“I’m thinking it’d be a waste of time since we have nothing more to talk about. Hayden, though, tells me he has more questions for you. Since we’re leaving tomorrow, why don’t you try answering a few?”

“Is something wrong, Cain?” Emma’s worry was starting to grow, and she heard it add a quiver to her voice.

Cain ignored the question and turned to her son. “Why don’t you try one more walk, and don’t back down from the hard questions. You have a right to know who your mother is and why she’s made the decisions she has, even if it changes the way you feel about me.”

“That would never happen,” Hayden said with confidence.

“Buddy, we all make choices in life that alter it in ways you can’t begin to fathom. Hindsight doesn’t make them better, and they change how you feel about yourself. So suffice it to say they change how other people see you. Even those who love you the most.”

She put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed gently. “I know you hate when I say this, but bear with me this one time. It’ll take you getting older to fully understand what I just said, but years and experience under your belt won’t make it any less true.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“To hear you say that is my greatest accomplishment. I love you too, son, and at the end of your walk I’ll be here to answer the questions Emma can’t.”

“Cain, I don’t think this is a good idea.” As much as Emma wanted Hayden with her, she didn’t want to shatter completely his image of and feelings for Cain. To find out his parent was a cold-blooded killer would most likely make Hayden reject the one person he loved most.

“Like I said, Emma, I made a choice four years ago, and it cost me something precious. No amount of lamenting over it now is going to bring it back, so the boy has a right to know how we got here. He’s young, that’s true, but give him the benefit of an explanation of why his mother left.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Cain patted Hayden’s shoulder one more time and strode to the bunkhouse. Relaxing into the old chair next to the phone, she started making calls that in essence were the beginning of her downfall. Kyle’s men recorded call after call, full of the information Kyle had been waiting for.

When she returned to New Orleans, her Canadian supplier would deliver a warehouse full of contraband liquor, and Kyle would be waiting. Merrick listened in horror as the agents in the barn exchanged hugs and congratulations.

“I have faith in you, but I don’t understand why,” Merrick whispered into her ear.

Cain leaned forward and kissed the woman’s lips. “I want you to trust me to know what’s best for my family.”

“I do trust you, Cain. It’s the giving up I don’t understand.”

Cain smiled and kissed Merrick one more time. She cherished the woman’s loyalty.

“My father once told me a story about when he was a young man just learning the business. His father took him to a cockfight one night. It wasn’t something my grandfather did often, but some of his clients enjoyed that kind of thing. The sport of kings, I believe it’s called.”

Merrick, no matter what she did for a living, shivered at the thought of the barbaric sport.

Cain pulled the guard down to sit on the arm of her chair and kept hold of her hand when she got comfortable. “Pop said one of the last fights he saw that night was between a big bird with an impressive head of plumes and this small, insignificant-looking bird with a missing eye. As their owners threw them in the ring, the money started changing hands. This was back when twenty bucks meant a day’s pay, but he said most of the people there saw that big cock and pulled their wallets out. They were slapping money down to cover the growing odds and the two hadn’t exchanged a peck, but the spectators were sure the little one was going down.”

Merrick relaxed a little more, leaning against Cain and starting to realize what the moral of the story might be, but asking anyway. “What happened?”

“My grandfather pulled five hundred bucks out of his pocket and bet on the small bird, amidst the laughs of those around him who warned he was throwing his money away. For twenty minutes that big, good-looking rooster chased the shrimp around the ring without laying a beak on him, Pop said. He chalked it up to the small one’s fear of the inevitable, but when the big one showed the first weakness, he revealed his strategy.”

“A bird can formulate strategy?”

“According to Dalton Casey, Jr., it could. He said that little bird, dismissed by everyone there including himself, and most importantly his rival in the ring, turned and sunk his talons into all those pretty feathers. It was over in nothing flat, and the big rooster was dead. He said that bird taught him a valuable lesson—never take for granted what seems like ultimate victory or defeat. The winning or losing in anything comes in the playing, even for small, one-eyed birds.” Cain stopped and pointed to her eyes, hoping Merrick understood what she was saying. She wasn’t running, and she wasn’t half blind.

“When’s the shipment getting to the city?”

“Two weeks at our dock offices. The boxes will be labeled ‘sardines.’”

Merrick nodded and got up to start dinner.

Cain’s only thought was “good girl.” She had only two more things to do, and then they could all go home.