“The shooter isn’t due until Friday,” Muriel said.
“That’s why today didn’t have anything to do with Luca,” Cain said after she’d sat between Remi and Ramon.
“Then with whom?” Mano asked. “If we’re going to be targets I’d like to have some idea why before one of us gets killed.”
“We have to work together to answer that question, before anyone else gets hurt. I’m guessing, so you can’t take what I say for fact.”
Remi nodded and butted shoulders with Cain. “When you guess, you’re usually in the ballpark, so let’s hear it.”
“Today was like I just told Lou. Our guy Rick was in the wrong place and someone recognized him. To hide the fact that Rick knew who they were, they killed him.” Cain stopped and glanced at Muriel. She didn’t appear as upset now, but no way could Cain let her leave now if she was so angry she couldn’t think straight. “I’m not discounting the shooter and whatever reason someone has for bringing him here, but it had nothing to do with today.”
“I think we can all agree that today, while tragic, is over. Our new problem is Friday and why this guy’s coming,” Mano said.
“Today isn’t over. No one walks up and kills one of my people for no reason, and he’ll pay. Friday has to do with Nunzio Luca and how he plans to break us.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Mano persisted.
“Then we sit and wait to find out which one of us Nunzio’s planning to knock off and afterward come up with a plan. I don’t know about you, but that’s not one choice I’m going with.”
“Cain,” Ramon said with his hands spread out on the table in front of him.
Cain raised her finger for Ramon’s patience and studied Mano and his posture. “I want to hear what you have in mind. I’ve been doing all the talking, and I haven’t given you a chance.”
Mano glanced up and Remi nodded her head, brought her hand up, and curled her fingers over so he’d start talking. “If this is Nunzio Luca, he’s going after the weakest link as a scare tactic to get us to deal. He’s tried being nice, so now he’s going to try the other plan available to him.”
“You should speak up more often, Mano. I agree,” Cain said, lifting her can in his direction.
“So you think I should just sit around and wait for someone to put a bullet in my head?” Mano asked.
Muriel covered his hand with hers and patted it before sitting back. “It’ll be a shot through the heart. That’s Jorge’s signature. He likes the chest shot so whoever’s lucky enough to have him as an assassin can have an open casket. That way your family can look at you before you’re buried and realize it’s their fault they put you in the ground.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Mano asked, laughing finally.
“I don’t think Nunzio hired this guy to kill you, so you should feel better,” Cain said.
“Forgive me if I’m still a little on edge,” Mano said.
“You’re assuming you’re the weakest link in the chain, and in this case you’re not.” Cain peered first at Ramon then at Remi.
Mano didn’t take his eyes off Cain. “What are you talking about?”
“Mano, you’re Remi’s right hand, or you will be eventually, but unless she gives over the reins, you won’t be the head of your family.” She spoke softly and with as much compassion as she could muster, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “I’m not telling you this to hurt you, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to you.”
“You’re right, but that’s not something I’m worried about. Remi will take over for my father one day, and I’m fine with that.”
“Then you have to consider that this chain has three links.” She put her right hand on the table and slid it in front of Remi. “There’s Remi,” she put her left hand toward Ramon and repeated the motion, “there’s your father, and there’s me. Out of those three, if you were some clueless idiot who let somebody they’ve never met before take care of their business, who would you hit?”
“Remi?”
“Remi,” Cain confirmed. “I don’t agree with the assessment, but Nunzio’s thinking like a man chasing something he had, and because he again let that idiot Richard handle his business he lost it, and now he’s desperate. If he takes Remi out, he sends the message that none of us are untouchable if he wants to strike.”
“Then why not you or my father?”
“I told you before, I’m only guessing. I’d kill me, followed by your father, then Remi. You and Emma would be left, and the grief would make you easier to control.”
Mano leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. “I can see why my father thinks you’re fascinating. You have an interesting way of thinking.”
“Your father’s a smart man, but so was mine. Dalton never thought of anything as having only two sides, but layers. If Nunzio tries to hit me or Ramon and misses, let’s just say he’s an idiot, but he’s not totally stupid. If he misses the two people who are the most insulated, then the fallout would be a tad more stepped up, and he knows that.”
“I still don’t understand why he wouldn’t think that anyway?” Mano said.
“Because your sister’s death would send a message to me more than to Cain,” Ramon said. “If he goes after Cain, she’s in a more powerful position to strike back. We’re partners, though, not family. If he hits Remi, then it could break us, since he considers us the weaker opponent.”
“You’d stand by and allow that to happen?” Mano said, sounding as if he were loath to ask the question.
“You aren’t my family, Mano,” Cain said, and saw his head lower. “Not by blood, but remember this. What we
