The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Ready?” Andrew asked when Cain finished her prayers.

Both agents saw the problem facing them when Cain and the priest stood up and walked toward the altar and the door to the left of the ornate area. No way could they follow without blowing their cover.

Andy bowed his head and said the appropriate prayers before removing his vestments, kissing some of the items before storing them in their proper place. When he was done, he wore the black shirt with the stiff white collar and the dark pants Cain remembered from her childhood.

“It must be nice to have such an orderly and predictable job.”

Andy laughed. “God manages to throw in a few wrenches for even us of the cloth to deal with, child, so don’t be thinking I have it too easy.” They headed to the rectory for the tea he’d offered. “Though I don’t have the luxury of sex to take the edge off when things get too out of control, like you do.”

Cain felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She was glad she’d accepted Andy’s invitation to visit, which he’d offered by phone late the night before. He might be a priest, but every so often he reminded you that under the collar still beat the heart of a man.

“True, Father Andy. Sometimes I like to compare people who don’t like women to vegetarians.”

“Interesting analogy, and I do like the way your mind works, so lay it on me.” He opened the door and waved her in.

“If God had meant for people to be vegetarians, a good steak wouldn’t taste so divine. Following that line of thinking, neither would a woman.”

“You owe me another set of prayers for that one.” He shook a finger at her before speaking into the intercom. “Megan, please bring in some tea for two when you have a chance.”

The leather chair next to Cain’s, set in the alcove of a large bay window, let out a woof of air as Andy fell into it. Outside, the gardens were being tilled for their spring plantings.

“You know, the day they made me bishop of this area, I sat in this room with your father and enjoyed quite a few drinks from a rather good bottle of whiskey he’d brought. In spite of all that pomp and circumstance, I remember our conversation more vividly than anything else.” He sighed as if lost in thought. “Strange where we both ended up—those skinny little boys who used to throw rocks at passing trains way back when.”

“Trying to corrupt you even back then, huh?”

“Heavens, no. More like reminding me about life and taking time to live it.”

“Why did you like my father so much, Father Andy? You had to know some of what he stood for, all of it going against the church’s teaching.”

Megan’s entrance with their tea gave Andrew time to think of an appropriate response. He knew how important Dalton had been in Cain’s life and how much she still missed the man who’d molded her. He looked Cain in the eye and waited to hear the click of the door before he answered.

“If you ever tell this to anyone, I’ll have to deny it,” he began. “The church sometimes misses the old proverbial boat on a lot of things. I loved your father, and he was one of my best friends until his death because he was an honorable man who loved his family and those loyal to him. How can that be wrong, no matter what he did for a living?”

“You won’t get me to disagree, and I’ve tried my best to follow in his path, but I don’t think I’m walking it as well as he did.”

Andrew realized that from Cain’s slumped shoulders that the admission had cost her dearly. Cain’s father had brought her up to ignore and defeat weakness, no matter what her action cost in terms of her soul.

“The wolves are baying at my door, and I don’t know how to keep them out.”

Andrew recalled Dalton’s final visit. He’d taken time to visit Andrew the day before Bracato’s henchmen had gunned him down. As if a premonition had sent him to seek out his old friend, he’d come to ask a favor.

*

Sixteen Years Earlier

“Andy, is it true that confession is good for the soul?”

“And for the spirit, but only if you mean it.” Andrew often had theological discussions with Dalton’s wife Therese, but seldom with Dalton. “What troubles you, my son?”

“Wiseass,” Dalton shot back. “I want you to hear my confession and say a prayer for my family.”

“Could you clear the rest of my afternoon?” Andrew asked the secretary on the other end of the intercom. “I’m not making fun of you, Dalton, but if you’re here asking me that, you must think it’s important.”

He had spent a couple of hours after that trying to keep a neutral expression on his face as Dalton spoke. Several times, Andrew longed for the barriers of the confessional so his look of surprise wouldn’t halt the words streaming from his friend’s mouth.

When Dalton finished, Andrew stood, placed his hand on his friend’s head, and prayed for his soul with all the fervor in his heart. “Now that we’re done with that, what’s the favor you need?”

“In case something happens to me, I want you to promise you’ll offer the same absolution to Derby Cain and Billy if they ever come to you. My life is so unpredictable at times, I’d feel comfortable moving on if I know they can rely on you. Your friendship has been a gift for me all these years, and I wanted to thank you.”

“It would be my honor, Dalton. You didn’t even have to ask.”

In a voice tainted with weariness, Dalton said, “I just feel better knowing for sure. If I leave Derby all alone, I want her to have somewhere to go.”

*

Dalton had died the next day, and if the church teachings were true, he’d gone with a clean slate. Therese and Billy had followed not long after, then Marie. Andrew pondered how much self-reliance Derby Cain must possess to bear that pain every day.

“If my life of watching other people live their lives and giving advice on how to do it better has taught me anything, it’s this,” Andy said, wanting more than anything not to let Dalton down. “Those who want to beat you down can’t succeed unless you give them a lot of help. God grants us free will to live life as we choose, Derby. You’ve taken a wife, you’re raising a fine son, and you’ve done everything possible to protect them both from harm.”

“But look at how I failed Marie and my mother.”

He took her hand. “No, you had nothing to do with that. What happened was God’s will, and nothing, no matter how hard you tried, could have prevented it from coming to pass.”

“God’s will? That’s the best you got?”

“Just like your father, I swear,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “You simply can’t control everything in your life. Things happen, and you have to accept them and try to find a way to keep going forward.” He held up his hand to keep her from interrupting. “I know it’s easy to say, but sometimes simple is exactly what’s needed. Would it be fair to Emma and Hayden if you just accepted defeat?”

“What kind of question is that?” A little of Cain’s fire seeped into her answer.

“One that begs an answer.”

“I’d never give up and abandon my family. You know that. If you don’t, you didn’t know my father and what he taught me at all.”

“I knew your father better than most, and how he raised you and all he taught you.” He squeezed her hand before letting it go and leaning back. “Why are you here, besides the fact that I asked you?”

“To be honest, I don’t really know. It’s a little about respect, a little about being summoned, and a little about finding answers to the million questions in my head. I certainly enjoy having someone safe to talk to and not have what I say come back to bite me on the witness stand.”

“Then you’ve found the one reason your father came often. The church is for everyone, Derby, even those not in the pews every Sunday. I can give you absolution for your sins.”

“Even if I have every intention of sinning again?”

Andrew laughed again, feeling like he was spending time with his childhood friend. “Even then. The other thing I can offer,” he continued on a more serious note, “is a little wisdom. No one can be strong all of the time, no matter how broad their shoulders. When your load gets too heavy, let the woman you’ve chosen help you.”

“I thought the church frowned on the fact that I love a woman.”

Andrew exhaled a long sigh. “Someday all believers will see love for the beauty that it is, no matter where it’s found. That day hasn’t come yet, but some of us are a little ahead of the times, no matter how many years we carry around with us.”

“And the wolves at my door?”

“Neither the church nor I has an answer for them.” The whirl of a leaf blower came through the window, and Andrew waved to the young man operating it. “However, I do know who does have an answer to that question.”

“Father Andy, if you tell me to pray on it and it’ll come to me, I may have to smack you one.”

The laugh lines around her eyes were a sign that her smile was genuine and that she was teasing.

“I see some smiting in your future, if you don’t behave,” Andrew shot back. “I was going to say that the one person who could answer that was your father. After all, he was a man of honor, but also a man with more than his share of enemies. So he had a philosophy about what the two of you liked to call wolves.”

Cain leaned forward and put her hands on her knees. “How much easier would my life be if he’d lived?”

The question didn’t seem directed at him, so Andrew stayed quiet.

“There was still so much he didn’t tell me before he left.”

“Knowing Dalton the way I did, I can tell you he didn’t choose to leave. He got his money’s worth out of each day God gave him, and if he could have, he would’ve bargained with the devil himself to stay for a while longer and watch you shine.”

The easy silence came once more, broken when Andrew said, “Hell, I miss him so much I would’ve made the bargain myself.”

“I’m sorry, Father. I didn’t mean to come here and upset you with old memories.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m an old man who gets more sentimental every day.” He slapped his hands together. “So on to the answer to your question. Dalton Casey believed that man had dominion over the animals.”

“Is this a riddle?”

Andrew shook his head. “If man has dominion over all the animals, then you can either tame the wolves causing you trouble or give them a new scent to follow. What’s most important here is not to show fear for any reason. Accept the things you can’t control, Derby, and plan around them. But you can control some things, so start thinking about how to keep yourself and those around you safe. It wouldn’t hurt to keep them out of jail too.”

As Cain smiled and sat quietly, she brushed back some mussed hair, an old habit that made Andrew see her incredible resemblance to Dalton. “I can see why my father loved you, but why did my mother?”

“Not everyone can be shown the way by taking the same road, child. I listened to your father and didn’t judge, because that’s not my job. To Therese, I was Bishop Goodman first, a man of faith who helped her find peace by praying for her family. It took me an age, it did, but she finally also accepted me as Andy, the guy who shared a few whiskeys with her husband on Saturday afternoons.

“But your father liked coming here for another reason, especially toward the end of his life.”

“Another riddle?”

“Just an observation, but perhaps useful, and the real reason I asked you here today.” With his fingers steepled on his chest, Andrew stopped talking. “I don’t often call my parishioners so late in the evening, bothering them while they’re with their families.”

“Well?”

“He was right about you—a bit impatient.” The reprimand was a bit sterner this time, and it made Cain’s jaw click shut. “Tell me, have you ever heard the expression ‘blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’?”

“It’s part of scripture, if I remember my religion classes in school.”

“Good. Do you think that God would bless those who help unfortunate children?”

That Andy took the long road to get to every point didn’t escape Cain, so she put her empty cup down and relaxed into the comfortable chair. If anything, their visit was helping her forget Anthony’s intrusion and its ramifications. “If life was fair, my answer would be yes, but it seldom is, so my answer is maybe.”

“Excellent. I see your brain is still capable of firing on all cylinders. In this case, the answer you’re looking for lies with you.”

He held his finger up and she stayed silent.

“Your father took an interest in our youth-development programs, sponsoring certain things so the church’s outreach programs would touch many people’s lives. He would sit in here with Anya and talk about them for hours.”

Cain laughed, but played along. “And Anya is?”

“The director of the youth sports programs. Would you like to meet her?”

She threw her hands up and laughed again. “Sure, I’ve got all day.”

After a short phone call, an athletic-looking woman with auburn hair and dark skin stepped in, introduced herself, and offered Cain her hand. The three talked about Anya’s job and how successful her programs were in the city’s most poverty- and crime-ridden neighborhoods.

Wasting time carrying on such a conversation seemed surreal to Cain, but Anya sounded so enthusiastic about her causes that Cain listened with genuine interest.

“It was nice meeting you, Ms. Casey,” Anya said as she stood up, holding an envelope Cain hadn’t noticed before. “Thank you for listening to me, and just remember, every little bit helps. I also wanted to tell you how fond I was of your father. Mr. Casey did a lot of good, and we still miss him.” She dropped the envelope into Cain’s lap and started to leave. “Would you mind throwing that away for me? I found it outside and don’t need it.”

The innocuous white envelope felt heavy, and out of curiosity Cain opened the flap. She couldn’t control her brief look of shock but quickly slid the cool veneer back into place. “Ms. Sterling?”

The woman stopped, her hand already on the doorknob. “Yes?”

“The new volleyball program you wanted to start, how much do you need?”

“We could do the whole thing for twenty-five thousand.”

“You’ll have a check today.” Cain tucked the envelope into the inside breast pocket of her jacket. “And if you ever need anything else thrown away, give me a call.”

“You don’t have any questions?” Anya asked.

Cain turned to Andy as she answered. “I have faith enough to know when to consider something as good fortune for helping those less fortunate.”

“God bless you, then,” and with that, she was gone.

“Does the church realize aiding known criminals is part of your daily job?” Cain waited until the door was closed before posing the question to Andy.

The bishop put his hand on his chest, his eyes wide. “You’re a criminal?”

“Now who’s the wiseass?”

“Guilty as charged,” Andy joked. “Anya’s a wonderful woman who’s done a lot of good. Her partner works in the FBI forensics lab here in town and in that position sees some rather interesting things.”

“I’ll just bet.”

“Last night when an agent came to her partner and asked for something without following protocol, it piqued her interest, and she said she felt like she was seeing a ghost from the past. She remembered Anya speaking of Dalton often, and someone in the pictures looked an awful lot like him. Anya called me last night, concerned, and I don’t need to tell you what a horrible position you’d put her partner in if you let anyone know about this conversation.”

“You have my word, Father Andy.”

“I don’t know what Anya wants thrown away. I just know she needed a donation to start something that’ll bring happiness to kids no one wants to think about. If you decide to make that dream of hers a reality, it’s certainly up to you. That’s why I called you to come today. One thing about her, though, bears mentioning. A fledgling program to do outreach in the housing developments, funded by your father, saved Anya’s mother, who was walking the streets selling her body and using the profits to feed a habit that spiraled out of control.”

Cain nodded. “I guess to her it didn’t matter that it was bootlegger money.”

“It didn’t matter to anyone who benefited from Dalton’s generosity, but he learned an important lesson from the act. Her fortune came back to bless him more than once, but don’t think she’ll always be there to help. When Anya sees an injustice she can do something about, she acts. Lucky for all of us that she’s found someone to share her life who feels the same way. To her it’s just that simple. Do you understand? What happened today may never happen again, so don’t help her if that’s what you think you’ll be getting in the bargain.”

“Perfectly, and your call couldn’t have come on a better day.”

“Just remember her donation and take care of yourself. I told your father I’d look out for you, and you don’t want to make an old priest a liar. It’s sacrilegious.”

“Thanks again, Father Andy.” Cain stood and prepared to leave, hatching a plan.

“Want to go out the back?” Andy pointed to a door near the bay window. “I can have my car take you home.”

She shook her head and stepped closer to him. “My father always said you have to be seen to play the game. To do that I have to go out the front door. ’Cause you know what?”

“What?”

“I’m ready to play.” She wanted to see just how good her opponents really were.