“Today’s our new beginning…right here and now.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then it’s time to put the past behind us, Cain. What you started to protect us—it’s time to finish it. I want more than anything to come back here and try for this baby. When we do, I want it to be born with nothing hanging over its head and no one looking over its shoulder.”
Emma kissed Cain with the same passion she saved for their most intimate moments. She knew she was asking Cain to unleash the devil inside that Cain feared would drive them apart, but by doing so Emma declared herself as true a Casey wife as Therese Casey had been.
“Swear to me that’ll you’ll finish it.”
“On my mother’s grave, I’ll finish it or die trying.”
“Oh, no, my darling, dying is a long way off for you.” Emma brushed back a lock of dark hair and smiled. “And when she comes calling, I’ll be just a step behind you.”
Emma finally trusted Cain to use any means necessary to finish what needed to be done, and when she did, Emma would be there with the love that would heal what haunted her.
Chapter Forty-Four
“What’s going on now?” Joe telephoned to ask Shelby. He and Lionel were helping to canvass the Bracato brothers and babysit Anthony. Because Cain had become a virtual saint overnight, Agent Hicks had cut them loose from tailing her.
Shelby laughed along with Claire at the sheer boredom that faced them if their day continued on the same slow scale. “We’re sitting outside the clinic and guessing Cain’s just finished one more follow-up visit, since Merrick and Lou are back down here. I doubt they’ll be deserting their charges in broad daylight.” Running off a couple of eager security guards and an overzealous meter maid had provided their only excitement so far. “How’s it going on your end?”
“Lionel’s thinking of shooting Agent Surly if he makes one more snide comment, and we both agree the grim brothers four can give lessons on how to drop off the face of the planet.” Joe stepped out of a cafe some of the agents assigned to the Bracatos said Gino liked to frequent and looked for the car the three of them were in. “Why do I feel we’re always two steps behind these guys with no hope of catching up?”
“Because we’re always two steps behind these people with no hope of catching up,” Shelby said, making him laugh. A knock on the back door of the van cut short her razzing. “Joe, let me call you right back. If it’s that woman again, I may shoot her this time instead of showing her my ID.”
“Shelby, heads up. Our targets are mobile again,” Claire said.
Shelby was so busy watching Cain and Emma that it took her a while to realize Merrick had walked up to the van.
“I see our company isn’t the meter maid,” Shelby said. She was seriously considering ignoring the knock, but Merrick and Lou weren’t moving.
Merrick merely smiled as the back door cracked open. “I hope I’m not disturbing anything, but I come bearing gifts.” She held up two cups of coffee but didn’t try to come closer and peek in. “My boss thought a nice warm drink might make all these boring hours pass faster.”
“Make sure and thank Cain on our behalf.”
“Actually, Cain would let you rot out here, but I’ll tell Mrs. Casey you appreciate her thoughtfulness.” Merrick had begun to head back across the street when she snapped her fingers as if she’d forgotten something. “She also wanted me to inform you she was going shopping again and there was a great sale on suits, if you were interested. In case you lose us, we’ll be in the designer section.”
“Thanks.” Shelby made sure the sarcasm was hard to miss. “Tell her no one likes a smart-ass,” she added in a whisper.
It wasn’t soft enough, she realized, when Merrick laughed and shook her head.
“Then perhaps you should ask to be reassigned. Smart-ass seems to be her specialty.” With that, she walked back to her waiting car.
As pissed as Merrick had been when she was first assigned to Emma, she was starting to enjoy her company. Cain, she’d found through the years, had a wicked sense of humor, but after only a few weeks she was finding that Emma rivaled her.
“What, they aren’t coffee drinkers?” Emma laughed at Merrick’s still-shaking head.
“More like they’re still in shock that they’ve run across someone who actually likes to mess with them more than Cain does.” They all looked at the van, which had an electric company name on the side. “After all, you’re not supposed to notice them because of the convincing camouflage.”
“Kind of hard to miss a big-ass electric truck following you around all day. They’d be less conspicuous if they rode around on a huge pink elephant playing a couple of banjos.” Emma waved one last time before accepting Cain’s help into the car.
Even if the FBI was monitoring her every movement, Emma felt too good to be upset about it. A majority of the prayers she’d uttered in the quiet of the Wisconsin nights while she’d been apart from Cain had been answered in the last hour, and nothing was going to ruin that for her.
“Keep this up and your file may be thicker than mine,” Cain said, once the door closed.
“I’m bad, but I’m not that bad, lover.”
The car headed back downtown since Cain hadn’t planned on separating from her partner that day. Even though Emma was going to the mall for a final fitting of her new outfit for the club opening, Cain had vowed to tag along.
