The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Forty-One

The next two weeks were quiet. No one had spotted the Casey children yet, but the watchers saw their parents almost every night sharing quiet dinners at some of their favorite spots. Lou and Merrick were never too far away, and Katlin was barely a blip on the FBI’s radar.

Muriel’s offices and Emerald’s were almost complete, and the club would open soon. Shelby and her team figured Cain would make whatever move she’d been planning then.

The one team of agents assigned to the Bracato family was working overtime to piece together what was happening and why they were missing so many players. After hours on the street and monitoring their wiretaps, they had concluded that Giovanni had sent three of his sons out of town to finalize whatever business they had with Rodolfo Luis.

“There’s nothing new with Casey?” Annabel asked. After one too many embarrassing moments, she’d taken a more active role in all their ongoing investigations.

“No, ma’am,” Joe answered. He opened the file in front of him in case Agent Hicks wanted a more detailed account. “Since they’re set to open in a couple of days, we’ve added a few more guys at the warehouses and other places she might not think we’re watching.”

“You’re delusional if you think she’s not aware,” Anthony interjected.

“Agent Curtis, do you have anything constructive to add to what your fellow agent is saying?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then why are you talking? I suggest you stay quiet and listen from now on, or I’ll reassign you to desk duty. Are we clear?”

He lowered his eyelids a little, but merely answered, “Crystal, ma’am.” He was convinced that he hadn’t been transferred or bounced out of the agency because no one had found out about his illegal wiretap operation when Cain was in the hospital.

“You were saying, Joseph.”

“We’ll be ready if something happens. The shooting at her home, along with the two bombings, won’t go unanswered. We predict a turf war between the Casey and Bracato families.

“But we don’t know how the other families will react or if they’ll get involved. If they want to gain more territory, they’d be smart to let the two families battle it out, then divide the city once they’re done. That leaves us with one good scenario. Once the dust settles, we can put two of the four families out of business.”

The agent assigned to Giovanni’s family opened his file next. “Gino was bragging about both jobs, so we concur. If Casey moves, it’s going to be against him first.”

Agent Hicks nodded and placed her hands flat on the table. “Then let’s keep our eyes open, people. I don’t need to remind you how ill-advised another fiasco like the warehouse incident would be.”

*

Cain led Emma to the new bar and helped her onto a stool. Emerald’s was set to open the following night, so they wanted to enjoy the quiet before the state-of-the-art sound system cranked up. Cain pulled a new bottle of their best whiskey off the shelf, picked up two glasses, and poured a finger of liquor in each.

“Here’s to our success, darling girl.” The clink of their glasses echoed in the empty space.

“That’s a given, honey. This place is beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as the woman who shares my life, but if the lady doesn’t mind, it’ll be more beautiful because it’ll share her name.” With a quick tug Cain removed the paper taped up to the mirror behind the bar and revealed the name “Emma’s” etched across the middle. “It isn’t much, but I have a lot of birthdays and such to make up for, so it’s a start.”

Emma held her hands over her mouth and gasped as she studied Cain’s offering. “Thank you, love, but it wasn’t necessary.”

“I wanted to do it. Do you know why?”

Emma shook her head and reached for Cain’s hand.

“Because I want to come in here for years and dance with you pressed against me. Because I want everyone who enters this place to know who my heart belongs to.”

“I belong to you as well, and I will for the rest of my life.”

“Thank you.” Cain lifted the delicate hand off the bar and kissed the back of it. “Tonight we finish what we started. The Bracato family will pay for every sin they’ve ever committed against us.”

“Do you need anything from me?”

“An alibi later on tonight,” Cain joked.

“Honey, I’ll be happy to. You never have to ask.”

“Merrick and some of the others will take you home. Go in through the garage like we’ve been doing, and no matter what, don’t leave the house. I’ll be there by ten at the latest, and I won’t be calling. We can’t afford any lucky intercepts now if I’m supposed to be in the house with you.”

Cain joined Emma on the other side of the bar and walked her to the waiting vehicle with heavily tinted windows.

“You do what’s right, Cain, but whatever you do, come back to me.”

“You have my word, love.”

They kissed, and Cain walked to the other side of the bar again.

There, she pulled back one of the industrial rugs to reveal a trapdoor. She’d wanted to purchase the building for so long primarily because of the door and where it led. Now more than ever, she thanked God her grandfather had told so many stories.

After Cain lowered the door behind her, Merrick replaced the rug before she joined Emma. In the rare chance someone investigated the club, the only thing they would find would be the two used glasses on the bar.

Below the building, Cain flipped on her flashlight and stooped to make it through the narrow tunnel, walking along the edge to avoid the inch of water on the center of the floor. A string of old lights was bolted to the wall on the other side, but they hadn’t worked in a long time and she didn’t intend to fix them. She didn’t want to tip off anyone who didn’t need to know of the tunnel’s location.

After thirty minutes, she reached a rusty white iron door and pulled a set of keys from her pocket. Despite the door’s age, the new security lock turned easily, and when she opened the door the dampness of the river hit her immediately, since she was now close to the port. An old beat-up Buick was parked where Katlin had said it would be, and Cain found the key. Her watchers would never notice the car with all the head-banger stickers on the back window.

At that moment the surveillance teams had another problem. Two of their major targets had totally vanished. Gino had left his house an hour earlier and disappeared into the crowd at a local mall. Whoever had helped him escape knew how to spot the feds’ vans, and now the agents were at a loss.

“Houston, we have a problem,” the one in charge of Gino said as he watched two of his men on the sidewalk in front of Gino’s house search for signs of life.

“You locate your targets yet?” the dispatcher asked. He held his phone, poised to dial Agent Hicks’s number.

“Negative. We’re going to circle one more time, then come back here and wait for him.” The two men outside shook their heads slightly. “Does Shelby have her target in sight?”

“They’re in for the night after an early dinner and a stop at the new place before heading back to Jarvis’s,” Shelby reported. She and Claire were sitting in one van, while Lionel and Joe hung back farther down the street. “Do you need me to cut our backup loose?”

“Hold for now, and let me get Agent Hicks on the phone,” the agent at Gino’s said. “Something about this feels hinky to me, and I want to cover everyone’s ass.”

“I’m telling you, all’s quiet here,” Shelby said, “so let us know if you need more backup to canvass where they were last seen. Looks like we’re going to have a slow night.”