of gal,” Lionel explained, with a shy tilt to his head. “I just don’t want what Tony said to be a problem for you, and you getting pulled in front of an ethics committee for one stupid night will be problematic in the long run when it comes to your career.”
“Thanks, Dad, for your concern, but I know what I’m doing.” Checking her watch, Shelby waved to them and headed back out to her car. “Don’t wait up.”
“You think we should have her followed, Lionel?”
“So she can have me singing soprano tomorrow when she grabs me by the short hairs? No, thank you, Joe.” Lionel watched the sedan disappear. “We either have to trust her or we don’t.”
From the other direction their replacements for the night pulled into the lot. “Just one drink, Lionel. Where’s the harm in that?”
“Said the spider to the fly,” Lionel answered with a laugh. “I hope you’re right, buddy.”
The problem was, though, that they hadn’t been right when it came to the Caseys in a good long while.
Chapter Eight
“Drinks, huh? Not that long ago you were warning me to stay away from our attractive FBI Agent Daniels, and now you’re going to wine and dine her.” Cain winked at Muriel and smiled. “Of course, maybe if you interact enough with these people they’ll finally figure out we’re just pouring beer and having fun and aren’t some two-bit gangsters with an agenda for mayhem.”
“I give advice, cousin. That doesn’t mean I take it. Shelby just felt sorry for me because I lost some people today, so she offered to cheer me up, nothing more. She’s even more married to her job than I am, so don’t go spinning any romantic notions over her offer of a drink.”
It was just enough to give whoever was listening the right impression of their fellow agent. Merrick had found the listening device on a routine sweep an hour earlier. Her first reaction was to give Cain a complete rundown on paper of Emma’s whereabouts and phone calls. She couldn’t prove Emma had anything to do with it, but was pleased that Cain had at least listened to her concerns when she pointed out the intrusion on her privacy.
Muriel pulled a piece of lint from her pants and smiled, wondering what her father would think of her date choice for later. In the Casey family, her uncle Dalton had been the one to take chances.
“You, on the other hand, look a lot better, Cain. And Merrick tells me there’ve been some personal changes over here while I’m out slaving on your behalf.”
“Going to add your own bit of advice? So far Merrick has been full of it when it comes to the subject. I’d appreciate it if you were a bit more supportive.”
Muriel looked up from the fabric of her slacks. Her cousin usually didn’t need assurance about anything. “Maybe she’s just worried because of what happened. We both saw what that did to not only you.”
“Maybe, but I have to believe that some mistakes are made to be remedied. If not, what’s the point?” Cain’s answer was just as vague. Her life might have been a game of cat and mouse with the feds, but her personal life was not. As much as she could, she’d keep those parts of her life private.
“Then go for it.” Muriel put her hand over Cain’s and spoke from the heart. “I think you’re doing the right thing. There was plenty of blame for what happened, and you both lost a lot.”
“Yeah, well, that’s enough mush for one day. We have business to discuss.” Cain sounded gruff, but she added a hint of a smile for her cousin’s kind words. This wasn’t the place to share the innermost part of her heart. Not that she didn’t trust Muriel; it just wasn’t anyone else’s business.
“What do you want to do about what’s happened?” Muriel really didn’t expect a verbal answer.
For a long stretch the small listening device next to the bed only picked up silence, making the man across the street think it had been found and disposed of. He expelled a relieved sigh when he heard Muriel’s voice again.
“Are you all right? You just drifted off on me there.” Muriel made sure she sounded both concerned and a little distracted as she read the note Cain had spent all that time writing. “I should leave you to your rest.”
“Thanks. I
“Anything you want me to get you before I go?”
“Just between you and me, I’d love some good Cuban espresso.”
The listener scrunched his forehead in confusion at the odd request.
“I’ll see what I can do about that tomorrow.” Muriel stretched before bending to pick up her coat.
“Good. Try for first thing in the morning before they show up with the swill they serve around here. That way you can tell me how your date went.”
“I told you, boss, it isn’t a date.” The reprimand from Muriel only got her another wink from the bed. It was time to go and see about Cain’s request for a cup of coffee, or in this case to visit the other family head in the city with whom, unlike the Bracatos, they had a good working relationship.
Ramon Jatibon was a native of Cuba and, like Vincent and Dalton, had worked hard to carve out his piece of the city. For years he had carefully built the gambling empire that had helped finance his other enterprises, which his children now ran. As proud as Ramon was of what he’d accomplished, it was his twins, Ramon Jr. and Remi, who made his chest puff out when he talked of them. But they were currently in different states expanding the family’s holdings, and it was the old man Muriel had an appointment to meet.
After taking the freight elevator to the first floor of the hospital, Muriel exited in the delivery area. She ducked around a truck unloading carts of clean linens and headed for the steps that would leave her close to the one destination the watchers would never notice her.
The bus pulled up to the stop, and after a brief ride Muriel hopped off and headed to the upscale mall close to
