The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Cain strode confidently up the main aisle, with only a quick glance to her right where the gift shop was located, before stepping out into the cool early afternoon. A car was parked across the street in front of the community theater, just as Cain had requested in a short call from Andy’s office. Since Shelby and Claire were on the opposite side of the square, Cain didn’t expect a tail, at least not from them.

Joe and Lionel made it out in time to see her jump into the back and close the door. Now that no one would see him, Joe pulled out his phone and called for backup. He described the car and its general direction, then called the surveillance van on the radio to join in on the conversation Lionel was already having with them. Joe knew that if they’d had the advantage, Cain had swiftly taken it back.

The car stopped at Vincent Carlotti’s offices so Cain could take care of some business before heading to her home, since she was ready to finish what she’d started with Giovanni and his sons. When they got to the house, Cain sat back and studied it.

It looked exactly like it did the last time she’d walked out the front door to head for the warehouse where Kyle had been waiting to kill her. Not a single paint chip was out of place, but Gino’s men hadn’t come from the front. Like his father, he’d taken the coward’s way and approached from the back, and that’s where the real savagery lay.

Cain had to take a few breaths before she could open the car door, though she knew Emma had tried to prepare her when she’d explained the damage. Now it was time to see for herself what had happened while she was in the hospital, and why Giovanni Bracato’s family would never come out of this intact.

Voices were filtering from different parts of the house, but Cain zeroed in on the one that belonged to the person she wanted to see. Emma was in Cain’s office sitting in the big leather chair full of gunshot holes, signing a contract with the moving company that was transporting the furniture to storage while the house was repaired.

“Just make sure everything that’s not already broken gets wrapped and packed really well, especially the things in my son’s room upstairs.”

The foreman was examining every square inch of the room while he listened. “We’ll be careful, ma’am. Can I ask what happened in here?”

“My wife hired a group of killers to shoot the place up so she’d have an excuse to remodel,” Cain answered from the doorway.

Emma slid the papers across the desk. “Funny guy.”

“But you love me anyway. Imagine that.”

“Yes, imagine that.”

The look between them was smoldering, and the man with the contract in his hand stood there staring.

“Do you have something else for me to sign?” Emma’s eyes never left Cain’s, but her question did snap the worker out of his trance.

“No, ma’am, I’m sorry.” He crumpled the papers in his hands a bit as he stumbled toward the door.

“Mrs. Casey, I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time?” Cain bent a little at the waist and held her hand out. “That is, if you’re free and could perhaps show me a room in the house that isn’t full of holes.”

They were on the first few steps heading upstairs when both Lou and Merrick started to follow them.

“Don’t even think about it,” Emma warned. “As a matter of fact, I want you both to stand here and shoot anyone who tries to climb these after us.”

Cain laughed softly as she followed Emma to what had been their bedroom. The space looked no different than the last time she had stepped out for the ill-fated meeting with Kyle. A shirt lay thrown over a chair near the closet and a half-full glass of water sat on the nightstand, but what caught Cain’s attention was the way Emma was staring at the picture still sitting near the phone.

*

Fourteen Years Earlier—Vincent Carlotti’s Restaurant

“Tell me something,” Emma leaned over and whispered in Cain’s ear.

Emma was afraid the butter knife in Cain’s hand was going to bend from the pressure she was putting on it. The black dress and heels Emma was wearing had obviously put Cain on high alert from the time she’d picked her up.

“What?”

Emma laughed at the way Cain’s voice cracked on the simple word.

“You’re playing with fire, lass, and you’re about to get burned.”

Emma always dismissed the idle threats, knowing Cain was, above all things, noble. “I’ve been playing with fire for months now, so I’m pretty good at it,” she said. “But enough about that. I believe I asked you to tell me something.”

They were seated in a booth at the back of one of Vinny’s places having dinner, so no one even glanced at the table full of tough-looking characters sitting close to them. The tablecloth gave Emma enough privacy to put her hand on Cain’s thigh and scrape the expensive material of the slacks with her nails.

“First tell me, Ms. Verde, do the residents of Haywood, Wisconsin, know what an incredible tease you are?” Cain captured her hand and kissed her palm.

“I’m not teasing, honey.” Pulling her hand free, Emma placed it on Cain’s chest and ran it up until it was resting behind her neck.

With only a very slight tug, Cain’s head came forward and her lips pressed to Emma’s. The sound and feel of a flashbulb going off separated them, and Emma almost felt sorry for the poor guy with the camera surrounded by Cain’s pit bulls. She would have felt more sympathy for the man if he hadn’t just interrupted the best kiss of her life.

“Guys, I don’t think he’s going to sell the thing to the feds. Let him go,” Cain ordered. She handed over a hundred dollar bill and asked for a copy of the picture.

*

That photograph had sat in Emma’s apartment until the day they’d moved in together. Emma could still feel Cain gently holding the side of her face as she returned the kiss. Cain’s tenderness had made her feel incredibly adored, and she’d missed seeing this reminder of it during the years she’d been away.

“You never did get around to asking me a question that night.” The hands she’d been thinking about rested on her shoulders, and she could feel the solidness of Cain’s body as Cain pulled her closer.

While she’d been studying the photo, Cain had removed her jacket and thrown it on the bed. “Do you remember what you wanted to know?”

Her breathing hitched when the hand at her neck slid down and Cain cupped her left breast. “I was going to ask if you liked my dress, since you never said anything when you got there.”

“I see.” Cain trailed her hand down to Emma’s stomach, then back up to her other breast. “How thoughtless of me not to tell you how beautiful you looked.” A very slight pinch to a very alert nipple made Emma lean farther back into her embrace. “In reality, though, love, you always look beautiful, but I never want to be thoughtless and not tell you so.”

“You make me feel beautiful.” The picture came into Emma’s focus again, and she smiled as the roving hand made its presence known again. “You always have.”

“You’ll always be beautiful to me.” Cain stopped teasing and just held her. “Can I tell you anything now?”

“Just a few things, but they’ll be painless.”

The cheek Emma had slapped was still slightly red, and she laid her palm on it in a comforting gesture. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

They gazed at each other a moment longer before Cain walked them to the bed, knelt between Emma’s legs, and started whispering in her ear. With the radio Cain had switched on before that, even the most sophisticated listening devices couldn’t have deciphered what she was saying. “Never apologize for doing something I asked you to do. Our little ruse this morning flushed out the watchers quite nicely, but I really need you to be more careful about leaving the house alone. Agent Daniels and whoever she was with were easy to spot, but where there’s one fed, there’s always more. They’re like cockroaches that way, and the other ones were in the square.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have hit you so hard.”

“Put that aside for now, because I have more important things to talk to you about.”

They stayed in that position for twenty minutes, Emma never breaking the silence, only nodding every so often when Cain asked if she understood something.

When Cain finished, Emma examined the contents of the envelope Anya had given Cain, then stood and dropped all of it into the fireplace. She burned its secrets until nothing was left but ashes.

“How would you like to take a ride downtown?” Cain asked her as she stood at the floor- to-ceiling window and pulled the heavy drapes aside. The van parked across the street looked empty, but it was hard to tell with the tinted windows.

“Are you sure you want to do that? Agent Curtis seemed so sure of himself.”

Someone took a series of photos as Cain laughed at what Emma had said. The moving company Emma had hired had acquired a slew of new employees that morning who’d left more than they’d carted out. The fruits of their labors while taking inventory were helping the guys stuck in the van outside looking in. When the music had come on and the two women had lapsed into silence, the men assigned to the surveillance chuckled, figuring Cain and Emma were busy making up for the earlier fight.

“And just how do you know that?” The curtain fell back into place as Cain stepped closer to Emma. “Not working the other side already, are you?”

“Get real.” Emma picked up the frame on the nightstand and handed it to Cain, then looked on as Cain removed their photo and pointed to the inside corner. The thought of someone listening in on their most intimate moments infuriated her.

“By the way, after you left this morning Muriel and I had a talk. She really wants you to call her once you decide on anything.”

“Why take Muriel when I can take you?” Cain put her arm around Emma.

“True. I’ll do my best to protect you, honey, but I really want you to call her. On the way to pick her up I can tell you about the visitor I had this morning.”

“And here you’ve just gotten back to town, lass. You’re such a popular girl.”

“You have no idea.” Emma straightened her clothes and started for the door. “You should keep a close eye, Cain. The competition is getting fierce.”

Emma looked over her shoulder and winked, knowing that nothing in the world could compete with what she found in Cain’s eyes.