“Then you know every one of those crates holds bottle after bottle of federally and state-approved commodities. Leave before I have to put your name on the suit we’re filing.”
“But we’ve been watching Cain for months.” The seriousness of the situation was dawning on Shelby. An FBI agent had shot and seriously wounded a citizen going about her business. The fact that he did it on orders from one of the city’s crime bosses wouldn’t help their case in the eyes of the public. As a group, they had been so busy watching Cain that it never occurred to them to watch their own.
“I’m sorry. Is this where I’m supposed to tell you that everything’s going to be all right?”
Shelby looked up from the papers in her hand and winced when Lionel pried the first crate open. The nails giving from the wood sounded like fingernails running down a chalkboard. “Ma’am, I know you would like us to vacate the premises as soon as possible, but could you give me a few minutes?”
“Take all the time you need, Agent Daniels, as long as it doesn’t take all morning. Could you also refrain from breaking anything else? Nothing upsets Cain as much as spilled booze.” Muriel walked to her cousin’s office and ordered the agents who had taken up residence to get out.
The young man who had written down the serial number of the broken crate was now busy writing up the fact that the desktop was full of mud. The agent sitting behind Cain’s desk had thought nothing of putting his feet up when he took a short nap earlier that morning.
“Tell me there aren’t any tax stamps on those bottles,” Shelby said to Lionel, who was breaking open one of the boxes in the crate.
“This is the fourth one we’ve popped open, and I wish I could tell you no. She played us, Shelby, and like a bunch of fucking morons, we just trusted Kyle. Cain Casey’s business is illegal liquor, but this one time she went more than aboveboard. Those papers that suit handed you have every
“You’ve got to give her credit, though. God, we should’ve known when she just started talking in Wisconsin. Kyle’s chased these people for years, and all of a sudden she starts giving details, dates, and times. Common sense should have told us all that it would be the one time she’d do it by the numbers.”
Anthony and Joe joined them after they unlocked the back of one of the other trucks and opened some of the crates. All of them had the appropriate markings, meaning the agents shouldn’t be there. In their game of cat and mouse with Cain, none of them had ever realized that they were the ones standing on the wrong side of the trap. They all knew if the winner had been conscious, she would have been laughing her ass off.
“Is everything in order?” Muriel asked, scaring them all because no one heard her walk up.
“We’ll be on our way, and I can assure you, Ms. Casey, we’ll conduct an inquiry into what exactly happened here last night. Here’s my card.” Shelby handed her own card over with a prayer that she wasn’t about to be subjected to a complete dressing-down.
“My cousin told me to watch out for you, Agent Daniels. Her exact words were you were the smart one in the group.” Muriel looked over at the three men backing Shelby up. “No offense, gentlemen.”
“Thank you,” said Shelby. “I was wondering about the last name and the family resemblance.”
“My father thought some of us in the Casey clan should be on the up-and-up.” When Shelby looked confused as to whom Muriel was talking about, she provided the complete family connection. “Jarvis, in case you’re wondering. It was his idea for me to pursue a career as an officer of the court and all that jazz. If you all are finished with your less-than-successful fishing expedition, may I show you to the door? Oh, and if you left any of those nasty bugs behind, I’ll send the extermination bill to you all personally. I’m already on retainer, so what’s one more trip to court to make sure it comes out of your own salary.”
The new guy with the muddy shoes stepped back into the office and returned about two minutes later. He nodded toward Muriel before climbing into the back of one of their cars.
When Muriel laughed softly, Shelby noticed how much she reminded her of Cain.
“I’m sure Agent Hicks from our office will contact you at your convenience, Ms. Casey,” said Anthony, to break the silence.
“Tell Annabel I look forward to it, though she’s another one who would benefit from a name change. Janet Bond, maybe. It sounds much more secret-agent like.” She pointed to the door where some of Cain’s men were already taking up their posts. “Gentlemen and Ms. Daniels, if you would please excuse me, I have work to do.”
Seeing the personnel coming in, the four agents started walking toward the entrance. Whatever was up was big, since most of the men on Cain’s payroll were arriving. One of them dragged a rolling bag behind him and stopped to talk to Muriel before he headed into the office. She nodded at what he whispered before she waved one last time to the curious onlookers.
Shelby turned to her coworkers and winked. The game was afoot again, and this time they would get it right.
*
The doctor patted Emma’s knee. “She’s doing much better this morning, Ms. Casey. She had a good night and is responding well to the medications. The painkillers are one of the reasons she hasn’t regained consciousness yet. Derby needs a few more days of rest to put her on the road to recovery.” He answered the rest of her questions and then just sat with her.
Emma tried to process what the man who had put Cain back together had said. She took deep, calming breaths, trying to keep her tears and more-than-overwhelming emotions at bay. “Do you think she’ll have a lot to overcome, once this is all over?” She knew that Cain would be devastated if she couldn’t go back to the life she was used to.
“It’ll take some time, but I think it’s up to Cain to see how long that journey of recovery is going to be. I promise if she applies herself, she should be fine. Last night I wasn’t this optimistic, but the woman lying in there has some amazing healing powers. Are you ready?”
Emma nodded and stood to follow him into the intensive care unit. The sight of Cain with all the tubes and equipment hooked to her made her slump against the doctor. Seeing Cain this vulnerable was threatening to make her breakfast reappear. When they had been together, Cain looked vibrant even in her sleep.
“She needs your strength now, Emma, not your hopelessness.”
He left when she walked to the bed and put her head down on the uninjured side of Cain’s chest. Dr. Elton had explained to her that he was a firm believer that his patients could hear their loved ones when they came to see them and talk to them in situations like this. He had assured her that when she got over the shock of what
