“On second thought, sugar, I think this might just be your lucky day.” Katlin ripped the stubs out of Blue’s hand and gave them to the waitress. “Go buy yourself that something pretty my friend mentioned.”
“That’s mine,” Blue whined, temporarily forgetting the trouble he was in.
“It’s just not your lucky day…again…you fucker,” Lou whispered before pushing him toward the door. “Let’s go so I can explain to you what the trifecta of screwups means.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“You ever get the feeling all hell’s about to break loose and there’s nothing you can do about it?” Joe asked. It was starting to frustrate him that everyone they’d targeted was being so circumspect. “Maybe if we recap what we have so far.”
“This started with us following Kyle’s lead by raiding Cain’s warehouse and finding a legal shipment of liquor,” Shelby said.
“Right, only the real crime was Kyle shooting Cain on Giovanni Bracato’s behalf. As retaliation for losing his inside man, Bracato orders the hit on the house, Muriel’s office, and Emerald’s.” Joe was pacing now as Lionel wrote the timeline on the board in the conference room they were using. “We have no real proof he ordered the hits, but who else would have held such a grudge against her?”
“Did we check with the police that day about any identification on the people Cain’s crew was able to bring down?” The blue marker in Lionel’s hand was starting to dry up from all the writing he’d done. “I don’t remember reading that in their report.”
“You’re right,” Joe agreed.
“If we had the names we could run down any leads on who they were working for. It could make it easier for us to find a way to bring someone in for questioning. At this point I don’t care who it is, just as long as we get a little something out of it.”
Shelby ran her hand through her hair and felt tired. They’d spent so many hours at the office trying to prevent the mayhem they were all waiting for that she was starting to feel like she’d never have any personal life. “I did ask about that, and the detective on the scene said there was no ID on any of the perps. If I was a betting woman, I’d say Muriel or Merrick has those right now and knows who they worked for.”
“You wouldn’t want to call her and ask her nicely to let us have a look at them, would you?” Joe drooped his lips into a pathetic frown and cocked his head to the side like a begging puppy.
“I’m sure she’d not only do that, but tell us exactly how her cousin has evaded detection from doing God knows what for so long.” She gave the answer in the same teasing tone as she addressed Joe’s question. “Come on, guys, we’ve been at this for days, and it isn’t getting us anywhere. How about we knock off early today and start fresh tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I can’t really see anything shaking out today.”
*
The inside of the Casey house seemed dark and ominous because the back windows had been boarded. When they reached Cain’s office, Emma had to put her hand on the doorjamb to steady her balance. Behind her, Merrick still looked irritated at having to be stuck with her as long as Cain ordered. “You know, Merrick, if you stop sulking long enough, you might find that my company really isn’t all bad.”
“I’m not sulking.” The long sigh that followed didn’t make Merrick sound all that convincing. “Are we almost finished here? Cain and the others might need me.”
“If you find this assignment so unacceptable, I’ll be happy to talk to her tonight and see if she’ll change her mind. I’m sure Cain can find someone else to work with me.”
Emma ran her fingers along the holes in the leather chair and closed her eyes. It chilled her blood to think of her lover sitting here. “There’s no sense in you being miserable and making me miserable watching you frown all day long.”
“No, I appreciate your concern, but she’s right,” Merrick conceded. “You need someone competent to watch you, and I’ll do it as long as necessary. Do you want to start calling repairmen? I could get the household staff to give me a list of who we’ve used in the past.”
“Maybe tomorrow, but for now I want to talk to Cain about all this. Fresh paint and new windows might fix what’s broken, but I don’t know how the kids would react to coming back here.”
“How do you feel about the prospect?”
“I’d be happy living in the pool house out back, Merrick. Just as long as I get to share it with her. I was scared before because I didn’t fully understand.”
“And now?” Merrick didn’t look entirely convinced.
“We’ve talked a lot in the last few weeks, and now I understand far better what makes her tick. Before, I just knew about what she needed from me here.” She waved to indicate the house. “But what she needed to get done out there was a foreign concept.”
“She’ll still need to do all the things you left her for. It might be even worse.”
Emma’s grip on the leather chair strengthened. “The upstairs looks just like this. Those men and the people who sent them came solely to harm my family. I’m sure it was only business to them. They didn’t think or feel anything, so I can only return the favor. Whatever she has planned for them won’t be enough.”
“That’s a good start, Mrs. Casey. Shall we go?”
The small phone in Emma’s purse rang as they headed to the car, and she answered it as Merrick opened the back door for her. “Hey, baby, everything going okay?”
“Just like I said, piece of coconut custard pie,” Cain said. “Listen, I was thinking—”
“Always a dangerous proposition,” Emma interrupted. “I’m sorry, honey. I couldn’t resist. What were you thinking?”
“How about you go buy yourself something devastatingly sexy for tonight, and I’ll take you out to dinner?” Cain
