The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Two

Two months had passed since Marie’s funeral, and summer had faded like the fallen magnolia blossoms into an early winter in the city along the Mississippi River. Life had slowly returned to normal. School helped Hayden with his grief, and work helped Cain do the same. Over dinner one night, when he brought the subject up again, she told him what had happened to Marie and to the man who had taken her from them.

At first she didn’t know how to react to the grim face Hayden wore throughout her story, but all he wanted to know was if the guy was dead. She nodded, which he mirrored, and no other questions were necessary between them. It was the last time they had spoken of it, and she hoped the story had helped relieve his share of nightmares.

She thought of that night often, realizing Hayden had picked up on more than even she could imagine. Never evasive, she had wanted more time for him to enjoy being a child before the realities of life consumed his days.

Maybe it was all the time she spent with him, answering all his questions with infinite patience, which helped him think beyond his eleven years. Or maybe it was his insatiable need to know and his consumption of books in search of answers and things to share with her. Whatever the reason, she had ended up with a son who would be a brilliant man when his time came, and the thought never failed to put a smile of pride on her face.

Setting her coffee cup down, she put away her personal thoughts, got up from the table, and donned her jacket, signaling her shadows that she was ready to head to work. The car idled a few feet from the front door, ready for the trip to her office in a local warehouse.

She owned two nightclubs, but spent most of her time in the building along the river her father had bought years before. The faded chipped paint on the outer walls gave no clue to the posh offices inside.

What she did have a clue about was where every FBI and other government agency wiretap and bugging device was located within the walls of her offices and complexes. She irritated the agents no end when she often smiled and waved to the cameras. By now they had to know that for every device they garnered to perform the constant surveillance, someone was always willing to sell better equipment to find the nasty little bugs.

Merrick, the woman next to her, was adjusting the shoulder holster under her jacket, making her chest thrust toward Cain. She was tall, slim, African American, and one of the most beautiful women Cain had ever come across.

In a hand-to-hand fight with her employer, Merrick would lose. Anyone else who suspected her of any type of weakness soon found she was three times as deadly as Cain, because her boss used more restraint before ending someone’s life. Usually Merrick didn’t want the hassle of talking when action was quicker and, in most cases, more efficient. She had worked her way up the ranks by taking orders and keeping the Caseys’ secrets until she was the one at Cain’s side.

“What’s on the plate today?” Cain asked.

“Could be me if you play your cards right.”

Cain let her eyes stray to the all-too-tempting cleavage and sighed. “It’s hard to turn down such a great offer, so don’t forget it later when we’re done here. Did you meet with Mook this morning before he left with Hayden for school?”

“Of course. Don’t worry, sugar. I’m not letting anything happen to your boy or to you.” She reached over and patted the inside of Cain’s knee. “To answer your first question, your uncle Alex’s waiting to see you. He wanted to talk to you sooner, but I told him the last couple of weeks weren’t the best time. He wouldn’t be put off any longer, so I figured you’d want to get this over with.”

Alex Baxter, her mother’s redheaded older brother, was the one person on that side of the family who had tried to act as a surrogate when Cain’s father had been killed in a turf war fifteen years before. The same battle had taken her brother Billy and her mother three years later, leaving her and Marie to pick up the pieces. Alex was the most socially acceptable of all the Baxter boys, but just barely.

“Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, just said it was important and it wasn’t family business.”

Merrick took Cain’s black coat and hat as soon as they cleared the door and handed them to Cain’s assistant. When she saw Alex was alone, she took her usual seat outside Cain’s door.

“Cain, how are you?” Alex stood as if waiting for his niece to embrace him and just as quickly sat down when she bypassed him and sat behind her desk.

“I’m fine. Thanks for coming by to ask. If that’s all you want, we’ll have to cut this short. I had to postpone a lot of things to take Hayden on a short trip, and the paperwork piled up. As much as I love these little chats with you, I’m busy.”

“I told your trained pit bull outside I wanted to talk to you about something important, so surely you can spare me ten minutes.”

“Careful not to call her that to her face, uncle. She’s been known to bite for less. What’s so important you walked into the viper’s lair to talk to me about?” Cain relaxed into the leather chair and put a fist under her chin. She was grateful these little talks didn’t happen often, but they were annoying nonetheless.

“So much like your father, Cain. What my sister ever saw in that man, I’ll spend my life trying to figure out.” He shook his balding head, remembering the senior Casey and his sister’s adoring looks whenever he was within sight. Time and years of marriage hadn’t changed the way she felt about him or what she was willing to overlook.

“Considering you and Edith lived off his money, and still do to an extent, I’d think you’d talk about him with an iota more respect. I’ll tell you for the hundredth time to tread carefully when it comes to speaking ill of my father or of my mother’s choices.”

“No need to get mad.” Alex threw his hand up, starting in on his reason for coming. “I want to talk to you about someone close to you who recently called and asked me to soften the blow before they come to see you. Promise me you’ll listen before you end up smashing something.”

Cain ran her hand through her thick jet-black hair, trying to defuse her impatience with the annoyance taking up space in her office. It was always the same between them. He would blame her father and his family for her mother’s death, and she would get mad enough to throw the windbag out. The only other time he became this much of a nuisance was when his monthly check was late.

“Either you spit out what you’ve got to say or get the fuck out.”

Before Alex could reprimand his niece for her language, the voice of one of Cain’s other uncles, Jarvis Casey, interrupted him from the open door. “Perhaps the person Alex is speaking of went to the wrong family member for help. They should’ve sent only the favorite uncle, instead of one from the side of the family you find extremely annoying.”

Jarvis’s teasing yet biting remark coaxed the first smile out of Cain that day. Her uncle Jarvis was the closest thing she’d ever get to watching her father, Dalton, grow old. Jarvis had been born a few years after Dalton, but in some of their childhood photos the brothers could have passed for twins, both fitting the clichéd tall, dark, and handsome description.

Alex studied the two as they said hello. Unlike the Baxter family, which produced a brood of short redheads, the Caseys had produced giants with dark looks and even darker blue eyes. It had been Dalton’s eyes, Therese had told him, that had captured her heart the first time she looked into them.

“Merrick,” Cain said into the intercom, “please come in here and show Alex to the door. We’re done.”

Alex followed Merrick out, knowing Cain’s dismissal was genuine. The Casey clan was an inner circle the Baxter side of the family would never crack.

Cain jumped up and hugged Jarvis as soon as her finger had released the intercom button.

“How you holding up, kid?” asked Jarvis.

“Trying to convince myself she’s gone, even though all this time has passed. Marie was an innocent. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

“You took care of your own, Cain. Don’t go doubting yourself now. It’s only been a few months so cut yourself some slack. Walk across the street and buy an old man a cup of coffee, and I’ll tell you a tall tale, I will.”

The two strolled out, followed closely by Merrick and three other people. Under their assorted coats the four were wearing enough firepower to take out the entire block, if necessary. As backup, a team of ten guards looked on from the roof of the Casey warehouses. Each of them had a legally registered high-powered rifle strapped to his shoulder.

“What’s up?” Cain cocked her head up from under the brim of her hat to give the telephoto lenses, always aimed at the warehouse to catch her in a misstep, a clear shot.

“Why do you always look up when you know they’re there?” Jarvis turned the brim of his own hat further down on his head.

“I figure the ladies in the jury pool will never convict me if I provide enough good-looking photos for them to study in the deliberation room.”

The joke made her uncle laugh and slap her on the back. “Ah, it’s nice to hear a little of that ego back. I missed it.” They walked across the street to a café where Cain ate lunch almost every day. “Your father loved coming in here for the eggs.”

“You left your house in this rain to tell me about my father and eggs?” Cain waved to the waitress, holding up two fingers before she pointed to the coffeepot.

“It could be I just wanted to see you.”

The finger tapping on the table clued Cain to the fact that something was bothering Jarvis. Once the waitress put down two cups mixed with the right amount of cream and sugar, Cain laid her hand flat on the Formica surface, ready to hear whatever was on her uncle’s mind. “What gives?”

“Emma called.”

Had Jarvis stood up and slapped her, he wouldn’t have gotten a more stunned response. Cain slid her hand away from the coffee cup and curled it into a fist at hearing the woman’s name. “What did she want?”

Jarvis lowered his head and played with the top of the wet hat resting on his lap. He’d consider himself lucky if the fist close to him on the table didn’t lift and strike him before he was finished. He felt like the room had become nearly glacial from the color and look in her eyes.

“She’s in town and wants to meet with you. I offered her my protection as long as she doesn’t try to contact Hayden without your permission. I’m not telling you what to do, kid, but you need to finish with this business.”

“There’s no business to finish, it’s done. She walked out, remember?”

“She went home…” said Jarvis.

“This was her home, and our life.” Cain’s voice rose an octave, and she slammed her fist on the table, making the salt shaker fall to the floor and break. “I know where she went, uncle Jarvis. For Hayden’s sake, I know all about her. What does she want?”

Jarvis was surprised at the outburst since Cain was usually all about control when she was in public. He noticed that everyone else in the diner went about their business as if the two of them were sitting in a soundproof box.

“Just a chat, Cain. Then you’re done.” Jarvis put his hands up in an effort to calm her down. He knew he was taking a chance, but he thought it was the best decision for all of them in the long run. He was willing to gamble anything for Cain to be happy.

Cain turned in her chair and addressed Merrick. “Call Mook now. Tell him no detours today, straight home, and he doesn’t open the door unless it’s one of us. Any fuckups on this one and it’ll be his last.”

Merrick didn’t ask why. She just pulled her phone out and relayed the message to the big blonde who was in charge of Hayden’s personal security.

Cain glared at Jarvis. “Tell Emma to meet me at the Erin Go Braugh at one o’clock. She’s got twenty minutes. And next time, uncle, never pick someone else’s loyalties above your family’s. If you learned anything from my father, besides what foods he liked to order, it should’ve been that.”