There was no danger out here she couldn’t handle herself, and she wanted the time alone with her son for a talk.
Hayden had opened his alert blue eyes while she indulged in thoughts of her brother, and his quickness to get out of bed showed he had missed their morning ritual. Cain might have lost Billy to stupidity, but the generous man had given her a little bit of himself before he died so she would never be alone.
Cain moved to Merrick’s bunk and kissed her forehead while Hayden was in the bathroom. “Enjoy a rare morning off, sweetling, since I’m thinking no one’s going to jump me from behind a tree way out here.”
“But…” Merrick said, ready to complain.
“I’ll take care of myself and the kid, don’t worry. I even promise to be back in plenty of time to help you make breakfast.”
“I can blend into the background.”
Cain laughed softly, looking down at Merrick. “Honey, you’re talented beyond words. I’m not going to argue that, but in my eyes you can never blend into the background. I never told you this, but your breasts are a major distraction when you come with us in the morning.”
Merrick knew she was being teased. It would take a hard blow to the head to distract Cain from anything. “Then I guess me and my tits will be sleeping in today.”
Mother and son stepped out into the frigid cold and completed the stretches they’d begun inside. Cain detested running in so many layers, but the Wisconsin temperatures wouldn’t let her get by with less.
“Where to, Mom?”
“How about we end up somewhere nice and open that would take a lens from space to see my lips moving?”
Any hope of leaving today vanished from Hayden’s mind as he started off at a slow jog. If they headed far away from the tree lines dispersed throughout the property, he was certain Cain would open up and tell him what she couldn’t within the perimeter of the house and barn. It was hard to bug open spaces, and even harder to listen in on someone’s conversation without being seen.
The two agents who followed them couldn’t get any closer than half a mile when Cain and Hayden stopped to watch the sunrise. A small device Cain had turned on when they stopped running was giving the sensitive long- distance mike trained on them a steady stream of static.
“We aren’t leaving today, are we?”
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise, but no, we aren’t. Emma invited you for the week, and I’d like for you to take her up on her offer.”
“When we talked yesterday you said I could leave this morning, no questions asked.”
“Hayden, I know being a month shy of twelve isn’t exactly adulthood, but I want you to understand that sometimes opportunities come and you have to take them.”
His full lips turned to a frown, and Cain could see he was about to get angry. Sometimes it was a plus to have a kid who acted just like her in almost every way, down to the mood triggers that his face gave off. “Since you got here, have you seen anything that didn’t make sense to you?”
“What, a cow with five legs?”
“Kid, maybe you’re spending too much time with me. You’re turning into a smart-ass. Come on, I’m being serious here. Nothing made you scratch the side of your head and ask ‘I wonder why?’”
Hayden shook his head and stared at the ground as if the dead grass would give him the answer. Then he snapped his fingers. “That first morning after I finished my run and was heading downstairs after my shower. I saw a black sedan leave the yard and turn back onto the highway. I asked Emma about it, but she didn’t know what I was talking about.”
Cain moved closer to him, not taking any chances of tipping her hand to anyone but her son. “Think, buddy. Who drives around in black sedans in the middle of farm country? Hell, we had to wait for them to find something other than a truck at the rental counter when we got here.”
“Cops.”
She put her hands on the sides of his face so only she could see his lips move when the reality of the situation obviously hit him between the eyes. “My father was right. Those Casey genes do float to the top. You’re going to be something else with those looks and the brains to go with them.” She moved one hand to the back of his neck and pulled him in for a hug. “Kyle’s here, buddy, so watch what you say in the bunkhouse. You don’t know a whole lot, but I don’t want this to blow up in my face and they take me in and have you somewhere where I can’t get to you.”
“Why would Kyle be here? Who would have…” The rest of the question never made it out as the realization of what Emma had done hit him even harder. His birth mother had set them up, or at least Cain, to take a fall, leaving her as the concerned mother to pick up the pieces--the pieces being him. “That bitch.”
“Hey now, don’t blame her just yet, kiddo. Let’s see how this plays out and what game’s in motion before we rush out with guns blazing. I realize you think your mom just up and left you, but Emma’s never done something like this unless the situation or someone drove her. Can you do something for me, Hayden?”
“Mom, you don’t ever have to ask.”
Cain still held him close and spoke into his ear. “When we get back, don’t let your anger win out. I’m going to make an example out of Kyle and whoever helped him so he won’t bother us anymore. Do you think you can do that? You don’t have to play the forgiving lost son, but try and work on your relationship with Emma and see where it leads. That’ll give me time to deal with Kyle and his goons.”
From the trees, one of the agents had climbed up with the wand to see if he could get a better line and hear what Cain was talking to her son about. “Man, Kyle’s going to shit a brick if we go back with nothing. I don’t get it. There’s nothing out here between them and us.”
“Just go up a little higher and try a more downward angle. Maybe this thing’s so used to hearing background noise it doesn’t know what to do with only the occasional bird noise. Never mind. Pack it up. They’re heading
