The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Thirty

Another padlock slipped into place on one of the trucks the federal agents were using to cart away the mounting evidence against Cain. It wasn’t yet ten in the morning, and the combination of too little sleep and the sick feeling over what they were doing was giving Shelby a massive headache. Why Cain had just given up and let them catch her so easily had been the question on her mind.

Lionel took a seat next to her. “We’re going to have to call Agent Hicks to see where she wants us to store all this stuff. Eventually I’m sure it will all be destroyed. Since I like a drink every so often, I think that’s a shame.” He stared out at the warehouse, which was far more luxurious than he would have guessed from the outside. Cain obviously didn’t use it too often the way the space was intended because of all the exercise equipment and the collection of cars.

Shelby had meant to call Agent Annabel Hicks all morning, but she had put it off until the inventory was done. Hicks supervised the New Orleans office and was no friend to their supervisor, Barney Kyle, so she had spent her morning in the federal lockup dealing with the ramifications of having a dirty agent in her employ. As Shelby went to call her, a forklift unloading boxes dropped one of the crates. It sounded as if every bottle had broken, and the stains on the wood confirmed at least a majority of them had bitten the dust.

All of a sudden, a car door slammed near the entrance to Cain’s property. A tall, dark-haired woman emerged from the driver’s side, accompanied by a group of young, well-dressed men and women. One of them pulled out a leather-bound notepad and wrote down the number on the crate that had just been destroyed. Anthony stopped them from entering the premises and just as quickly pointed toward the table where Lionel and Shelby were sitting.

“Agent Daniels?” The woman in the lead held her hand out in greeting, not bothering to introduce the people she was with.

Shelby just stared at her, not lifting her hand. She knew clothes, and the outfit the woman had on cost more than the federal government paid her in two months, six if you threw in the expensive jewelry that adorned the hand at the end of her visual tour. “And you are?”

“Muriel Casey, and I believe you are trespassing on private property.” Tired of waiting for the woman to break out of her stupor and shake her hand, Muriel dropped her hand and lifted an eyebrow instead.

“If anyone is in the way, it would be you and your little entourage of eager beavers.”

“As Derby Cain Casey’s attorney I would like an explanation as to why you’re destroying her property.”

“Ms. Casey, we are investigating the illegal importation and sale of liquor and cigarettes, which your boss didn’t bother to pay federal taxes on. In case you missed that class in law school, that’s a crime. I know she hid them in the cleverly disguised sardine boxes, but we are a bit more sophisticated than she gave us credit for.” Shelby leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. She was tired, and the fact that this woman looked a lot like Cain was throwing her. Her own investigative skills and gaydar were pinging family in more ways than one.

“If you and the mental giants you’re working for had bothered to open one of the crates, you would’ve found the little tax stamp you’re talking about.” Muriel snapped her fingers, and one of the lapdogs pulled a stack of papers from his leather-bound notebook and handed them to Lionel. “As for the sardine crates, I’ll have to mention to Cain’s Canadian distributor, Sardine’s Liquor and Spirits, that you have a problem with their name. I doubt they’ll change it since it’s their family name. Who knows, maybe way back they were little fishers of little fish? You can take up the great question with Norris Sardine.” The other younger attorneys behind her laughed, and Muriel joined in. “I know. I offered to change it to Morris Salmon, but he refused.”

After Lionel read over the shipping invoices, which contained all the proper customs stamps, he ran to get a crowbar.

“This will only take a minute to clear up,” said Shelby, reading the same papers. If they were legitimate, Cain had played them like blind sheep.

“Good, since you have about a minute to vacate my client’s property. If not, I’ll have the police come and remove you, along with every news crew we can get down here to film the government’s harassment of a legitimate businesswoman. Would this be a good time to interject that said businesswoman was shot while she was receiving legal goods?”

“I don’t know they’re legal goods.”

“Do you know Cain, Agent Daniels?”

“I’ve had the pleasure of making her acquaintance.”

“Then you know every one of those crates holds bottle after bottle of federally and state-approved commodities. Leave before I have to put your name on the suit we’re filing.”

“But we’ve been watching Cain for months.” The seriousness of the situation was dawning on Shelby. An FBI agent had shot and seriously wounded a citizen going about her business. The fact that he did it on orders from one of the city’s crime bosses wouldn’t help their case in the eyes of the public. As a group, they had been so busy watching Cain that it never occurred to them to watch their own.

“I’m sorry. Is this where I’m supposed to tell you that everything’s going to be all right?”

Shelby looked up from the papers in her hand and winced when Lionel pried the first crate open. The nails giving from the wood sounded like fingernails running down a chalkboard. “Ma’am, I know you would like us to vacate the premises as soon as possible, but could you give me a few minutes?”

“Take all the time you need, Agent Daniels, as long as it doesn’t take all morning. Could you also refrain from breaking anything else? Nothing upsets Cain as much as spilled booze.” Muriel walked to her cousin’s office and ordered the agents who had taken up residence to get out.

The young man who had written down the serial number of the broken crate was now busy writing up the fact that the desktop was full of mud. The agent sitting behind Cain’s desk had thought nothing of putting his feet up when he took a short nap earlier that morning.

“Tell me there aren’t any tax stamps on those bottles,” Shelby said to Lionel, who was breaking open one of the boxes in the crate.

“This is the fourth one we’ve popped open, and I wish I could tell you no. She played us, Shelby, and like a bunch of fucking morons, we just trusted Kyle. Cain Casey’s business is illegal liquor, but this one time she went more than aboveboard. Those papers that suit handed you have every t crossed and every i dotted. Hicks isn’t going to like this. It’s a complete media nightmare when you put Barney in the mix. We’ll be lucky to convict Casey of an overdue parking ticket now.”

“You’ve got to give her credit, though. God, we should’ve known when she just started talking in Wisconsin. Kyle’s chased these people for years, and all of a sudden she starts giving details, dates, and times. Common sense should have told us all that it would be the one time she’d do it by the numbers.”

Anthony and Joe joined them after they unlocked the back of one of the other trucks and opened some of the crates. All of them had the appropriate markings, meaning the agents shouldn’t be there. In their game of cat and mouse with Cain, none of them had ever realized that they were the ones standing on the wrong side of the trap. They all knew if the winner had been conscious, she would have been laughing her ass off.

“Is everything in order?” Muriel asked, scaring them all because no one heard her walk up.

“We’ll be on our way, and I can assure you, Ms. Casey, we’ll conduct an inquiry into what exactly happened here last night. Here’s my card.” Shelby handed her own card over with a prayer that she wasn’t about to be subjected to a complete dressing-down.

“My cousin told me to watch out for you, Agent Daniels. Her exact words were you were the smart one in the group.” Muriel looked over at the three men backing Shelby up. “No offense, gentlemen.”

“Thank you,” said Shelby. “I was wondering about the last name and the family resemblance.”

“My father thought some of us in the Casey clan should be on the up-and-up.” When Shelby looked confused as to whom Muriel was talking about, she provided the complete family connection. “Jarvis, in case you’re wondering. It was his idea for me to pursue a career as an officer of the court and all that jazz. If you all are finished with your less-than-successful fishing expedition, may I show you to the door? Oh, and if you left any of those nasty bugs behind, I’ll send the extermination bill to you all personally. I’m already on retainer, so what’s one more trip to court to make sure it comes out of your own salary.”

The new guy with the muddy shoes stepped back into the office and returned about two minutes later. He nodded toward Muriel before climbing into the back of one of their cars.

When Muriel laughed softly, Shelby noticed how much she reminded her of Cain.

“I’m sure Agent Hicks from our office will contact you at your convenience, Ms. Casey,” said Anthony, to break the silence.

“Tell Annabel I look forward to it, though she’s another one who would benefit from a name change. Janet Bond, maybe. It sounds much more secret-agent like.” She pointed to the door where some of Cain’s men were already taking up their posts. “Gentlemen and Ms. Daniels, if you would please excuse me, I have work to do.”

Seeing the personnel coming in, the four agents started walking toward the entrance. Whatever was up was big, since most of the men on Cain’s payroll were arriving. One of them dragged a rolling bag behind him and stopped to talk to Muriel before he headed into the office. She nodded at what he whispered before she waved one last time to the curious onlookers.

Shelby turned to her coworkers and winked. The game was afoot again, and this time they would get it right.

*

The doctor patted Emma’s knee. “She’s doing much better this morning, Ms. Casey. She had a good night and is responding well to the medications. The painkillers are one of the reasons she hasn’t regained consciousness yet. Derby needs a few more days of rest to put her on the road to recovery.” He answered the rest of her questions and then just sat with her.

Emma tried to process what the man who had put Cain back together had said. She took deep, calming breaths, trying to keep her tears and more-than-overwhelming emotions at bay. “Do you think she’ll have a lot to overcome, once this is all over?” She knew that Cain would be devastated if she couldn’t go back to the life she was used to.

“It’ll take some time, but I think it’s up to Cain to see how long that journey of recovery is going to be. I promise if she applies herself, she should be fine. Last night I wasn’t this optimistic, but the woman lying in there has some amazing healing powers. Are you ready?”

Emma nodded and stood to follow him into the intensive care unit. The sight of Cain with all the tubes and equipment hooked to her made her slump against the doctor. Seeing Cain this vulnerable was threatening to make her breakfast reappear. When they had been together, Cain looked vibrant even in her sleep.

“She needs your strength now, Emma, not your hopelessness.”

He left when she walked to the bed and put her head down on the uninjured side of Cain’s chest. Dr. Elton had explained to her that he was a firm believer that his patients could hear their loved ones when they came to see them and talk to them in situations like this. He had assured her that when she got over the shock of what happened, her soothing voice would bring Cain back to those who loved her.

“Honey, I know I’m the last person you probably want to hear from right now, but I have you in the perfect spot to listen to me.” She wiped her eyes and tried to sound teasing as she brushed back the black hair before running her fingers along Cain’s jawline.

“This is my opportunity to work on that little part of your brain that’s still crazy about me and is being beaten into submission by that tough macho part that likes to swagger most of the time. I’m here for you, my love, until forever.” Her fingers stopped their caress and moved to Cain’s lips, while she clasped the other hand lightly. “You are mine, but not for a short time. You pledged yourself to me forever, and that’s what I want. Please give our family a chance. I want you to rest and get better. I’ve got some stuff to do, but I’ll be back.”

From her post at the door Merrick looked on as Emma leaned over the bed and kissed Cain on the lips. When they connected, Emma felt a flutter in Cain’s fingers. “I love you.”

The nurse behind the counter keeping watch on all the monitors glanced up and smiled. “Thank you for observing the time limit. Dr. Elton is hoping to move her into a regular room by the end of the week.”

“Take good care of her.”

Emma walked out with her two shadows, remembering to nod toward Lou and the other man who stood guard with him. It was time to see a man about her son.