The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Nineteen

“Ross, it looks like you’ve got some shingles loose on the roof of the barn. Want me to climb up and check it out? It’ll save you a service call.” Cain looked up and pointed to the area she was talking about.

“You don’t mind?”

“I can’t wait.” She scaled easily to the first section of roofing next to the loft, with a hammer in her belt and a box of nails in her coat pocket. It only took a few minutes to check the shingles and remove the tapes and equipment she had left the night before. She chuckled as she imagined the agents on the other side of the wall holding their breath and praying she wouldn’t hear anything to alert her to their presence. She didn’t care about them, though; she stared off into the distance, where she could see Hayden and Emma in one of the pastures.

She wondered if she was asking too much of her son, considering his age, and tried to bury her guilt. Not for the choices she’d made, but for the real reason for allowing the talk he and Emma were having. “I’ve had to live with the consequences of my life, Emma, but don’t think you get to walk away unscathed because of what you believe were your noble choices.” Her soft voice never reached the two people now in the middle of an empty pasture.

“I’m sorry, Hayden, for letting you find out about this in this way. As much as I love you, I’ve always been too afraid to tell you.” Her apology was also a prayer the boy wouldn’t walk away too scarred, but today Hayden would get the answer he had wanted for four years.

Two Weeks after Marie Casey’s Death

No one on the street paid attention to the marked police car making a routine stop. In this section of town the men in blue routinely hassled the residents for the smallest infraction, as an excuse to search for something more illegal than failing to use their turn signal. As the patrolman made his way to his door, Danny Baxter studied his face in the rearview mirror to make sure he didn’t have a trace of white powder around his nose.

“Is there a problem, officer?”

“Step out of the vehicle and come with me.” The leather utility belt creaked when the cop placed his hand over the holster near his gun and waited. “Don’t make me say it again,” he added when Danny didn’t move.

They walked to the unit together, and the patrolman held the back door open for him. Danny finally thought to look at the cop’s face. “No fucking way.”

“Come on, idiot. Someone’s waiting to see you,” said Merrick from the backseat. She pointed her gun at his head, and Cain’s other trusted guard Lou pressed his to Danny’s back.

Screaming or begging now would be futile, so he got in, deciding to save the dramatics for later when he could play on Cain’s sympathies. He recognized where they’d stopped and laughed at Cain’s sense of irony. Marie had spent her last tortured hours of life at this dilapidated shotgun house where most of the crackheads came to smoke their scores. Tonight it was quiet, but not for long.

The door lock clicked closed with such ease it belied the condition of the rotted-out building, and Merrick pushed him farther in to where Cain waited. Her boss stood at the rear of the house gazing out the kitchen window at the unkempt yard. In the center of the kitchen was the only piece of unbroken furniture in the place, a green Formica table with stained aluminum trim.

It had taken Cain some time, but she had pieced together where Marie had died. The table had to be the spot Danny used, since she could still see traces of dried blood on one of the legs and at one corner.

“Anyone follow you?” she asked, without turning around.

“Lou was careful. Nobody but the rats know we’re here.” Merrick didn’t lower the gun she had pointed at Danny’s head, motioning for him to move farther into the room. “You ready, boss?”

“You should’ve brought a chair if you’re tired, sweetheart. We’re going to be a while.”

“Who are you fucking kidding?” Danny decided to let his impatience show, hoping it would shorten the time he’d have to spend with his cousin. “Cut the bullshit and hit me some more if you want, but the tough act is crap.”

“Do you know the proper way to kill a goat, Danny?”

Lou, Merrick, and Danny all hiked their brows at the question. Cain wasn’t known for small talk in these situations.

“Lou, how about providing some incentive for him to answer the question.”

Lou delivered a punch to Danny’s left kidney that dropped him to his knees. The pained air escaping from her cousin’s lungs caused Cain to turn around and give him her full attention.

“What’s the answer?”

“How the fuck should I know?” he wheezed. “And why should I give a fuck?”

“That was always your problem, Danny.” Cain put her hands flat on the table and just stared at him. “You grew up never wanting to learn anything. Your aunt Therese married well, and my father was supposed to provide you a gun and a wad of cash for being a wiseguy. That’s what your daddy told you when he was sober enough, isn’t it?”

“My father raised me to be a man. He didn’t have to pretend like Dalton did.” Danny let out another long stream of air when Lou kicked his other kidney. No matter what, he wasn’t going to scream like he had the first time he found himself at the end of Cain’s ire.

“You think having a pair between your legs makes you a man?” Cain took a pair of leather gloves from her back pocket and started to put them on. “Or because you’re strong enough to make a woman do your bidding proves you’re superior?”

“You’ll never measure up to me, admit it. You need these assholes to hold me down to show how strong you are.”

“Help the man up, Lou,” she said.

Danny massaged his side when he got to his feet and glared at Cain. All of them could see he was getting angry.

“Just you and me, so show me. Show me what kind of man you are.”

He lunged for her, obviously hoping to knock her down with his momentum, but she moved at the last second, sending Danny’s head through the glass of the dirty window behind her. When he turned, blood was already running down his cheek. Her fist halted his next lunge when he got close enough. The blow to his nose made Danny double over and spit out a sudden spurt of blood.

When his head whipped back from the kick she delivered, she could hear the gurgle in his throat as he landed on his back. “Give up already?” She stood over him, careful to stay away from the spray coming from his mouth when Danny started coughing. “You should try a little harder, since we’ll be here until you beg me to kill you.”

“Fuck you.”

The insult only made her laugh. “Given any more thought to my question?” Cain waved Lou over and pointed to her cousin.

During the sleepless nights after Marie’s murder, she had spent the time thinking of how she was going to kill Danny. Many thought revenge didn’t squelch the pain. Cain, though, was more concerned with responsibility than with revenge. Danny would pay with his life for what he had done.

As the head of her family, she was responsible for seeing that he did. She couldn’t erase the pain of loss, but she could take some comfort in knowing Danny was burning in hell and she had stamped his one-way ticket. Yet she hoped she wasn’t becoming the type of person Emma had accused her of being four years earlier.

“Playtime’s over. For you anyway,” she said.

Behind her Merrick grabbed the length of rope hanging from the ceiling with a loop at one end.

While the guards had been out earlier picking Danny up, Cain had added one new fixture to the house. She had screwed a brass ring into one of the support beams over the doorway; it was so new it looked almost out of place. Pointing at it, she said, “My grandfather told me how his father had various methods for slaughtering different animals on their farm in Ireland.”

“I thought Dalton always bragged about how you come from a long line of bootleggers?” After he asked the question, Danny winced as Lou locked his hands in the cuffs again.

“A man can’t live on whiskey. You need a good stew to help you keep drinking.”

“What in the hell does that have to do with me?” asked Danny.

Tying one end around Danny’s ankles, Lou gave the rope a good tug pitching Danny forward, slamming his chest and face into the floor. Lou kept pulling until Danny was hanging upside down from the ceiling. With his head even with Cain’s waist, he could see perfectly what she was taking out of her pocket. The old switchblade had belonged to Dalton and had been one of the last gifts he’d given her before his death.

“What does that have to do with you?” she repeated his question. “Plenty.” The tip of her blade rested at the opening of Danny’s shirt. “You’re nothing but an animal, cousin, so that’s how I’m going to deal with you.”

Beads of sweat broke out on his brow when the sound of tearing fabric filled the silence. “Think about what you’re doing, Cain. I’m your family.”

She stopped her hand just before she plunged the knife into Danny’s heart for what he’d said. Instead, she moved to the hem of his pants, not caring that she cut into his hip when she got to the bottom.

“You stopped being my family after what you tried in my house, with my wife.” The boxers he was wearing fell to the top of the pile on the floor.

“Shit, if you wanted some action you didn’t have to go through all this to get me here. We’re family, but if you want a piece of me, just ask.”

If Danny wanted to jibe anymore, the attempt died when she sliced off his right nipple, instantly eradicating his promise to not scream.

“Somehow I don’t think you would’ve accepted my invitation once you see what I have in mind.” She sat back on the edge of the table and watched as rivulets of blood made their way from Danny’s chest to his face.

“What’d you do that for?” Danny sobbed.

“Call it foreplay.” She felt calm as she put the knife down and accepted a belt from Merrick. “We could waste each other’s time with me asking why you lost your mind and killed Marie, and you denying it, so we’re going to skip that.”

“That’s what this is about? Hell, you should be thanking me for getting rid of that anchor.”

The slap of leather against his mouth opened a new cut on his lip, shutting Danny up once again. She hit him next over the open hole in his chest, wrenching another scream.

“You grew up around Marie. She was never an anchor to anyone who counted. That definition fits your family perfectly, so shut the fuck up.” She swung again, hitting his chest and making sure the belt hit right on his wound again. “After all, we haven’t finished our talk about the goat.” She noticed his tears mixing in with blood when she picked up the knife again.

“If you’re going to kill me, then go ahead.”

“I’m going to kill you, Danny, but it’ll be anything but fast. You know me better than that.” She cocked her head to one side and continued to glare at him. “My grandfather told me when you kill a goat, to keep the meat from tasting gamey, you have to bleed it. You cut slowly.” Belying her statement, she quickly sliced away his left nipple.

“You fucker,” Danny screamed. He was crying and trying to pull himself up, almost as if to not provide her with such an easy target. Just as quickly he dropped back down when she slashed him again with the belt.

She hit him until he begged her to stop. She quit when her arm got tired. By that time Danny looked like someone had painted his body with red, cruel stripes, some of which were bleeding. The sun was starting to set, and the light in the room was fading as quickly as Danny.

“Please, Cain, no more.” He could see the pool of blood on the floor under him, signaling he didn’t have much longer to live. “I’m sorry for what I did.”

“Granddad told me the last step was to slit the animal’s throat and let it bleed out,” she said, as if he hadn’t spoken.

“Anything but that, please. I don’t want to die.”

“It’s all right, Danny. I’m not going to do that to you.” She watched as he laughed as if in relief through his tears. “No, I’ve got something else in mind.” She picked up the knife and moved closer. “It’s only fitting after what you did to Marie and the others before her. All those innocent girls your depraved little mind left scarred to satisfy your sick needs. Those women deserve justice just as much as my sister.”

“Please, Cain. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me anymore.”

She was surprised he had that much energy to scream when the blade came to rest on his scrotum. Without hesitation she cut all the way down, and Danny watched what had been a source of pride drop on the floor like a discarded turkey neck.

The fact that he was screaming made it easy for Merrick to slip it into his mouth right before Cain slit his throat.

Hayden studied his mother’s face as if it were his first time to see it. “Are you going to answer my question truthfully, or do we just dance around the issue?”

“I don’t want to do this, Hayden.”

“Christ, just answer the question. Why did you leave? What’s hard about that?”

“I don’t want to change how you feel about Cain just because you’re curious. It’s hard because by telling you what she’s capable of, that’s what’s going to happen.”

“She’s at least willing to take that chance. Why can’t you?”

The question should have sent up a warning flare in Emma’s brain, but her anger at Cain clouded her judgment. Hayden’s reaction to the truth of her departure might be what she needed to win him over. “I don’t see her out here answering any questions.”

“She didn’t abandon me. You did. Now I want to know why.”

Emma glued her eyes to the ground and kept walking. Moving would make the tale easier to tell. “A little before I left, Cain and I hosted a party for your aunt Marie.”

“I remember. We’ve been over this part already.”

“The first time you asked me, I did tell you about the attempted rape Cain saved me from, but I changed the ending. I asked her not to hurt the guy too badly, but she went a lot further than that. She killed that guy for touching her property. He lost his life for something he almost did.”

Hayden stopped and felt shocked. Cain was harsh when warranted, but she rarely lost control and made such stupid mistakes. “She told you she killed him?”

“She lied to me to cover for herself, but I found out later what she had done.”

“Who was it?”

“What does it matter now, Hayden? It’s done, but it doesn’t change how she feels about you.”

“Just answer me, and let me worry about how I feel about my mother.”

“All right, but I found who it was the most disturbing since he was part of her family.”

The cold weather intensified as he felt the blood drain from his face. “Who was it?” asked Hayden through clenched teeth.

“Cain’s cousin, Danny Baxter.”

He stumbled when Emma said the name, certain he had heard wrong. “Impossible.” He felt her arms come around him, but he was too confused to care.

“It’s hard to believe, I know, and maybe now you’ll understand why I had to leave. My greatest regret, or should I say biggest mistake, was you, Hayden. I should’ve fought harder to keep you with me.”

“You’re lying, it couldn’t have been Danny.” He pushed Emma off him and looked like he was about to bolt.

“I’m telling you the truth, son.”

“You’re the one who begged her for Danny’s life?”

The warning bells finally went off in Emma’s head. Hayden couldn’t possibly remember the man who had come so close to violating her, and Cain had admitted she hadn’t answered Hayden’s questions. His question was totally out of context to what they were talking about. “How do you know Danny?”

“I asked you a question first.”

The anger, the straight body, the ice in his eyes and voice—it was all Cain she was looking at. What Emma didn’t realize was that she was standing on a cliff of her own making, and by encouraging her to tell Hayden the truth, Cain was about to push her off.

“I asked her, yes, but she didn’t listen to me.”

“She listened to you, all right. It’s your fault she’s dead, and I never want to see you again. I hate you!” Hayden screamed the last part so loudly the people in the yard heard a faint echo despite the distance. He ran back as fast as he could manage through the tears, his lungs burning from the cold air.

Cain was waiting for him, and he lunged into her arms. As upset as he was, he felt better when he realized that Cain wore her usual suit and cashmere long black coat instead of jeans and boots. He wouldn’t have to stay here any longer.

“Let it out, Hayden. It’s all right. I’ve got you.” Cain just held him until the tears subsided.

“Why, Mom?”

“It was a mistake.” She shook her head when he began to blame Emma. “My mistake, and mine alone. I have to live with the lesson that sometimes you have to choose the hard road, because in the end it’ll get you where you need to be that much quicker. I chose with my heart because it was easier and it cost me, so it’s my mistake, not hers.”

“I want to leave.”

“Go help the guys pack up. We’re going home.”

Cain sent him off knowing it wasn’t the end of their talk, but they would have to wait for a less public area to rehash it. Kyle had access to her business here, but her personal life and her relationship with her son were off limits. She started walking to intercept Emma, now that she was prepared to finish their talk.

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?” Emma accused when she stopped in front of Cain, gasping for air.

“What truth is that?” She pointed her finger at Emma, almost poking her in the mouth. “The truth you spun for yourself to get you through the days?”

“You killed that bastard, and now all of a sudden I’m the bad guy here? I won’t let you get away with this, Cain. He’s my son and he deserves the truth.”

“Emma, you left because you believed what you thought was a minor infraction on Danny’s part sent me into a jealous rage and I killed him, right?”

Emma nodded.

“I beat the shit out of him, that part I’m not going to deny because to me it was no minor infraction, but Danny survived that night because you asked me and I gave in. I did, even though I knew he had done it before to other young women and no one was there to stop him. His punishment was the beating and banishment from my family. You know what that means, or at least you should.”

“Why continue the charade now? I know the truth.”

She kept going, not caring not if Emma believed her or not. “He went to work for Giovanni Bracato’s organization. I’m no saint, but I’m not an animal like Bracato. Danny waited and took his revenge on me by going after the most innocent of my family. He lured Marie away from her school and beat and raped her until she was barely alive. She was taking a fucking class she talked me into so she could keep up with Hayden better— God.” She stopped and turned her face to the wind in the hope it would dry her tears before they fell.

“But Agent Kyle said…” Emma fell to her knees and couldn’t finish as the shocking truth hit her.

“That answers my question as to who turned you. Be careful the company you keep, Emma, lest you drown in the shit they wallow in.”

To cement the truth in Emma’s mind, she threw her the picture the police had taken of Marie’s swollen face just hours before she died. It was for their investigation, they had said, to help show the jury the damage when they caught the guy. She had let them take it just to get rid of them. She wouldn’t need the police or a jury for Danny Baxter. Not caring to offer comfort, she left Emma there on the ground, staring at the picture.

“Cain, wait, please.” Emma looked once more at the picture and remembered the sweet person Marie had been. No wonder Hayden had gotten so upset when she had brought up his aunt’s name before. How could she have known what happened?

Cain was too far away to hear the plea to stay. It was one of the first times she had said all that out loud, in a way proving to herself Marie’s death was her fault. Had she buried Danny, like she had wanted to all those years before, Marie would be alive. She had failed her family by not killing him when she should have.

The group was ready to go when she got back to the farmhouse, waiting for her by the car.

“Ross, thank you so much for having us.” She pulled out a business card and handed it over. On it was a list of numbers, should Ross need to get in touch with her.

He put it in his coat pocket and nodded.

“I really had a good time, and I’m positive Hayden enjoyed his time with you too.”

“You sure you won’t stay another day?”

“Hayden wants to head home, and I don’t feel right about pushing the issue anymore. Stay in touch,” she said, holding her hand out.

The farmer shook it without any hesitation.

“Hayden, come over here and say good-bye to your grandfather.”

The boy stepped up and offered his hand as well, getting Ross to give him a warm smile. “Thank you, sir, for having me.”

“I hope it won’t be the last time you come up here to see us. Especially now that we’re business partners,” Ross joked and held Hayden’s hand with both of his.

“Maybe next time you can come and see us in New Orleans,” Hayden said.

Just as the large vehicle turned onto the road, Emma came running into the yard with the picture Cain had left. If everything Cain had said was true, she couldn’t possibly undo the damage she had caused to all their lives by just walking away.

God, why hadn’t she trusted Cain enough to just ask? She had just blindly sat and listened to Agent Kyle that day he had cornered her outside Hayden’s school. The one time she had forced her hand about the constant protection Cain insisted on was the one day the agent had been able to get so close.

Four Years Earlier in New Orleans, a Week after the Attempted Rape

“Stay put. I’m just taking Hayden to school. That’s hardly cause for a gang war.” Emma grabbed her purse and car keys, wanting to get out of the house for a while.

“Ma’am, Cain said—” Mook tried to stop her, but Emma wasn’t in the mood to listen.

“Cain’s your boss, Mook, I respect that, but she isn’t my keeper. The fact that I’m married to her should carry some weight.”

“Yes, ma’am. I meant no disrespect.”

Emma helped Hayden put on his sweater and smiled at her son’s guard. “Don’t worry, Mook. You can blame me if she gets mad. I just need some time for myself.”

“Please be careful.”

They made the short drive in relative silence, with just the radio tuned to a station Hayden had picked out. Emma kissed him good-bye at the front door of the school and waved to his teacher standing in the hall.

She never noticed where the man came from, but suddenly when she got back into her car, he stood there tapping on her window. The badge he held up made her put her head on the steering wheel for a moment. Could she just drive away and expect him to leave her alone? His insistent tapping made her look up again and press the button to lower the window. Kyle handed over his ID.

“Ms. Verde, can I have a moment of your time?”

“It’s Casey,” she informed him as she ran a finger over the leather of the wallet that held his credentials. It was a rich calf leather and extremely expensive, if she had to guess. Interesting taste the agent had, and she wondered if it was government issue.

“Excuse me?”

“My last name, it’s Casey. Would you like to see my driver’s license?”

Kyle laughed and accepted his wallet back. “I see you’ve learned a few things from Casey about how to deal with the authorities.”

“Agent Kyle, is it?”

He nodded at her question.

“If you want to talk to Cain, then I suggest you call her at the office. If you don’t have the number, I’ll be happy to give it to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to Casey. I want to talk to you. Would you like to have a cup of coffee? I promise it’ll be worth your while.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You can drive away now, Ms. Casey, and I promise never to bother you again. But if you’d like to know the true nature of the monster you live with, I suggest you accept my offer.”

She followed him to the location he suggested and hoped no one from the house would come searching for her if this took too long. In less than an hour Kyle painted a picture of Cain she had never considered. She couldn’t conceive of the drugs Cain peddled and the number of prostitutes she owned. They went far beyond the image Cain had always painted of herself as a saintly bootlegger.

It was his last detailed account of Danny’s murder that finally made the tears roll down her cheeks. If what Kyle said was true, Cain had looked her in the eye as she washed his blood off her hands and lied. The last lie in a long list of them.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Ms. Casey, what could I possibly have to gain by deceiving you? I’m not here to try and talk you into testifying against Casey. I just think you deserve to know so you and your son have a fighting chance at a normal life, if that’s what you want.”

He sounded so sincere as he described the makeup of Cain’s business and the people she dealt with. However, when he asked what she would do when the ugliness Cain was involved in invaded their home again, but with more devastating results, she winced. What if next time the enemy went after Hayden? Could she live with that?

A few days later Emma had packed her bags and left. She sacrificed one child to save another, and when Hannah was born she had tried to make peace with her decision.

How strange it had been when they laid the baby in her arms and she had not seen Cain’s blue eyes smiling down on her in pure joy. Her friend Maddie and her father had been the only ones at the hospital to make sure mother and child had made it okay, but they were outside in the waiting room, not standing by her side as Cain would have been.

Four Years Earlier—Maternity Ward in Wisconsin

“One more big push, Emma, and we’re done,” the doctor coached as one of the nurses mopped her forehead.

It was a relief to finally be in labor after what seemed like more than nine months of misery. This time around she had no Cain to rub her tired back or to grimace in sympathy through the worst of the morning sickness. This time she saw only her mother’s disgusted face, which grew worse in proportion to her waistline.

She screamed as a powerful contraction hit her, and she half sat up and pushed. She felt the baby slip out and heard the lusty cry a few moments later. Then she sobbed from the happiness of hearing the baby roar and the doctor say, “It’s a girl.”

Hannah Marie Casey was placed in her arms just long enough for Emma to know any chance of forgetting Cain was futile. Her first clue was a full head of black hair matted down from the mess that still covered the baby. Later, when she breast-fed for the first time, the innocent blue eyes that opened served to complete the picture. She had given birth to another Casey, and she had to keep it from the one person who would have rejoiced in the knowledge of her existence. Billy Casey might have provided the means for her conception, but Hannah was Cain all over again. Not only in looks but in spirit.

“It’s just you and me, baby girl. Let me tell you about your family.” Emma started talking to Hannah about her rich heritage, just like Cain had done for Hayden after his birth.

Rousing herself from her reverie about Hannah’s birth, Emma murmured, “I’m sorry, Cain. I’m so sorry.” She watched the dust settle after the departing vehicle roared away. Kyle had lied, and she couldn’t begin to understand why.