The Devil Inside Part 18

Silence reigned after that as the five watchers concentrated on the coffeehouse.

Emma and Cain still faced each other. "First off, Cain, I'm sorry I didn't believe you about Danny. I brought Marie, a total innocent, excruciating pain, all because I chose to believe someone other than you. You had your faults, but you'd never lied to me about anything. I'm so sorry for Marie. If I could trade places with her, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"Don't apologize for things you had no control over, Emma. Marie was my responsibility, and I'm the one who failed her, not you. And don't try to be n.o.ble. If that's all you have to say, consider yourself unburdened and free to go about your life. I have things to do." She stood up and brushed past Emma without saying good-bye.

If Emma didn't know better she could have sworn she'd seen tears in Cain's eyes.

"You can leave, Cain, but you aren't getting away from me so easily."

Emma walked to the counter and ordered a cup of coffee. She wasn't anxious to go back to Jarvis and the lecture she was positive was waiting for her. The door opened behind her, letting in a cold blast of damp air and making her wish the guy behind the counter would hurry with her coffee so she could at least wrap her hands around the cup to get warm.

"She wants it to go," said a rough voice.

The young man holding the large ceramic cup nodded and went to pour the coffee into another container.

Kyle pressed up against her back and whispered in her ear. "You say one word, and I swear on any higher power you may believe in, I'll arrest you right here, right now."

"I don't have anything else to say to you, Agent Kyle, so I suggest you get lost."

"Why don't you take the b.i.t.c.h's advice and just shut the h.e.l.l up, Ms. Casey, or I might make good on my promise, just to brighten my day. Think of what'll happen to poor little Hannah if Mommy's in jail."

The little condescending laugh made a surge of anger shoot through her, and she pushed back from the counter as hard as she could so she could turn around. "You leave my family out of this or I swear, a.s.shole, I'll tell Cain everything you have planned."

"Isn't that why you're here? You're going to get back in Casey's bed by selling me and my people out?"

"I'm here for the rest of my family, so unless you want to give yourself away by being seen with me, I suggest you walk out of here and forget we know each other." The fact that the rest of her family included Cain was none of his business.

"You tell her anything about what we have planned, Emma, and I'll personally see you lose everything and everyone you hold dear."

She couldn't believe he would even say that, after his lies had cost her so much. Her anger surged stronger and surprised her more than it did Kyle. "You pompous b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You can't stand there and threaten me with something you've already done. You left my father's place before I could talk to you and ask you why."

"Why what?"

"Why did you lie to me all those years ago? What did my leaving Cain have to do with anything you had planned? You left me alone for four years before you thought of something I could offer you, but it was never about me and keeping me safe, was it? This was all about you and whatever vendetta you have against Cain. The sad thing is I gave you everything I love without a question or a fight. You convinced me Cain was evil, and I ran just like you wanted me to. What in the world did you get out of that?"

When the young man handed Emma her coffee, Kyle pulled her next to a large display to try to keep their talk private. After he had seen Casey leave, he had jumped from the van to go after Emma, giving the rest of the team orders to keep an eye on their target and leave the blonde to him.

"I thought your leaving would make Casey sloppy, but I guess you didn't have the influence over her I thought you did. You may not want to admit it, but getting away from here was good for you. Your mother told me"Kyle stopped when he saw the green eyes narrow.

"What does my mother have to do with anything?"

The poke to his chest following the question was so hard it made him flinch.

"Tell me, or I swear on everything you believe in, you'll have to arrest me to keep me from going to Cain."

"Carol called me and asked me to help get you out of here long before Danny Baxter came along. Your mother's smart. She figured Casey had someone watching her, ready to pounce when the opportunity presented itself. Selling out Cain was her way of helping save your soul from the fires of h.e.l.l. You should thank her for caring so much. When I found out what happened the night of Marie's birthday party, I thought I'd kill two birds, as they say. Your mother seemed nice enough, and I wanted Casey off balance. A little white lie saved your life, so don't bother to thank me either, since my job description doesn't include saving souls."

Hot coffee splashed on Kyle's legs when Emma dropped her cup in shock. Not once in all the time she had been home had her mother mentioned that she knew Kyle before he showed up at the farm. "Thank you? I d.a.m.n you to h.e.l.l along with my mother. How dare you play with our lives like that and keep us apart?"

Emma's voice was getting so loud Kyle was afraid he was going to have to take drastic measures and gag her with a small bag of coffee, if that was what it took.

Just as quickly it died away, and Emma narrowed her eyes, this time in suspicion. "Wait a minute. How did you find out about what happened that night with Danny? Cain made d.a.m.n sure to keep that in the family." Emma saw Kyle's jaw tighten slightly and realized he was uncomfortable with the fact that he had said too much.

Shelby watched from the van with Lionel. She had hopped out and switched vehicles, knowing this was the more interesting conversation. "Yeah, Kyle, tell us how you knew about that little incident and in such vivid detail? Danny Baxter was your chance to snare Cain, but you have yet to find the body. And I'm willing to bet five years of my salary the little s.h.i.t's dead." She asked the question as both she and Emma waited for Kyle to answer.

"I work for the FBI, lady. We know things." With a shrug and a laugh, Kyle was ready to move on to the next subject.

"The only way you got into the house was by turning someone else, because we all know what a good job you did on me. G.o.d, how could I have been such a fool? Leave me alone, Agent Kyle. Don't worry. I'm not here to ruin your plan. I'm here to try and get back something I too willingly gave away."

"Just remember, you tell Casey anything, and I will make you suffer." Kyle squeezed her arm so hard that she gasped.

"Are you all right, miss?" The young man had a bit of an acne problem and was wearing the green ap.r.o.n that was a standard part of the wait staff's uniform, but he seemed willing to stand up to Kyle if Emma was in trouble.

"I'm fine, thank you. I was just leaving." Emma smiled at her savior and felt Kyle's grip lessen. "You're too late, Barney. I'm already suffering." With a big push back, Emma broke his grip and turned to leave. If she could help it, she would never see or talk to this man again.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Anthony and Joe watched as Cain strode away from her house. They didn't see her usual relaxed posture as she made her way down one of New Orleans's most famous streets. The two agents had become as familiar with Cain's gait as they had with her choice of clothes and cool head. Emma had obviously thrown her for a loop with one short conversation.

For the first time they followed closer than was prudent, in case Cain needed them. She was still locked in a heated territory dispute with Giovanni Bracato, and a lone walk to clear her head made her an easy target. Neither man was willing to let one of Bracato's goons get in a lucky shot just because Cain wasn't thinking.

Anthony reached for his ringing cell phone and handed it to his partner, who sat in the pa.s.senger seat chewing on a hangnail.

"What's up, Shelby?"

"Could you hop out of the van and hand the phone to Cain, please?"

"Are you going to support the wife and kids I hope to have one day when I get my a.s.s fired for doing that?"

Shelby laughed more than she had when she had dialed Cain's cell and had to tell Merrick it was a wrong number. The juvenile stunt made her think of her teenage years when she and her friends used to crank call all the guys they were in love with that week. "Joe, you're going to have to trust me on this one."

Joe thought about what they had already trusted her on and made a quick decision. "Pull over, man. I gotta hop out a minute."

Anthony parked at a street corner, wondering what Joe needed out of the back that was more important than keeping up with Cain, who sure wasn't talking to herself as she walked down the street. "What in the h.e.l.l are you doing?" he called after Joe, when he opened the door and took off on foot after Cain with his phone.

"Making the book I'm planning to write that much more interesting."

Cain was close to the park entrance when she heard someone call her name. Seeing who it was only made her day more bizarre. "What can I do for you, Agent Simmons?"

"You know who I am?" Having her call him by name made him totally forget why he was talking to her.

"It's only fair. After all, you know who I am. Or did you think I'd mistake you for the Wisconsin farmhand who likes to hang out downtown in freezing cold temperatures just to see if anything exciting is happening in Haywood's local diner? Did you feel a sudden urge to confess your true ident.i.ty? Because why else would you run out and flag me down? Even you have to admit that's a little unorthodox and probably isn't in the secret-agent handbook. Didn't you get a copy, with the ever-handy decoder ring? Am I supposed to start confessing now so you won't feel alone in your sudden honesty?"

"No, ma'am. Agent Daniels wants to talk to you." He held the phone out to her. "You were kidding about the decoder ring, right?" Joe tried to joke back. All of a sudden he felt like he was getting to hang out with the coolest kid in school.

"Please call me Cain, and no, just ask Daniels to show you hers." She took the phone and stepped away from him. "What a pleasant surprise. How's your day going, Shelby?"

"Please don't give him any more ideas about me showing him anything. Just listen to me and do what I say. Accept a ride from the two agents with you and go home right now."

"Darlin', don't you mean the two agents trailing me? Furthermore, I'm not in the habit of getting into cars with federal agents, no matter the circ.u.mstance."

"Cain, please don't argue with me. I need these guys to go somewhere with me, and I don't want to leave you out there alone."

She laughed as she leaned against one of the stone pillars that marked the entrance to the park. "Shelby, you do realize the only reason we know each other is because your boss thinks I'm a vicious killer?"

"Sure, and I don't really have time to discuss it in detail, so what's your point?"

"Dismiss Mr. Obvious here and his friend, and I'll be just fine on my own."

"I can't do that. Please don't be stubborn, and don't ask me why I'm being so obstinate. It's really necessary, believe me, so tell me you'll go?"

"Okay, you win, but I expect an explanation eventually."

"You got it, h.e.l.lion. Now put Joe back on the phone."

"Joe, is it?"

The young agent nodded and decided he liked the woman he had been watching for so long. She probably instilled such loyalty in people because of her humor and smile, which in his opinion lit up her face.

"Agent Daniels would like to talk to you."

A short talk later Joe pointed to the van and c.o.c.ked his head to see if she really would accept a ride.

Cain stopped them a block from her house and promised she would be fine the rest of the way. "Thanks for the escort, gentlemen. I feel better about paying my taxes this year after such accommodating treatment from the feds."

"Anytime, Ms. Casey. We're always available if you'd like to chat," offered Anthony.

"I'll just bet. Run off to wherever Daniels needs you. I won't be going out for any more interesting meetings until around ten tonight."

As soon as she closed the side door, the van sped off down the street, headed in the direction of the river. Whatever Shelby had going was important enough for her fellow officers to abandon their post, so Cain would do her part and stay put. The afternoon would give her time to think about Emma's sudden appearance. Having her there might be for the best, if anything went wrong.

Merrick met her at the door to tell her Jarvis was sitting in her study.

Not ready for a fight, Cain took her time stripping off her coat and gloves. "Don't tell me. Bracato's out in the car and wants to talk to me?"

The sarcasm wasn't lost on the old man, and he held his hands up in surrender. "Cain, it hurts me that you would even ask me that."

"Why not? It's a fair question after your actions lately. What are you hoping to gain, uncle?" She took a seat next to him and put her hand over the one he had resting on the soft leather of the chair arm.

"I want you to be happy, Derby. You've lost so much in your young life, and the one person who's balanced all that and made you want to live again was Emma."

She didn't let go of his hand as she contemplated what he had just said. "But did you forget it was Emma who left and took so much with her when she did? Or is your matchmaking selective memory?" A picture of the beautiful little girl Cain had seen in Wisconsin popped into her head. Yeah, uncle Jarvis. Emma took so much with her when she left.

"Do you remember the first day your father gave you a job to do for the family?"

"I'm not ten anymore, uncle Jarvis. These little life's lessons won't work on me."

"Humor an old man, and just play along for a moment."

"It's hard to forget. I screwed up so bad I figured he'd pa.s.s me over and hand the job to Billy permanently."

"But he didn't. Dalton forgave you and gave you more than one chance to get it right. I grew up at our father's knee just like your father did, and when the time came he made more mistakes than you did when Papa started to trust him with more responsibility. At night we would sit out on the porch and smoke a cigarette when Mama wasn't looking, and he would tell me how tomorrow we'd have to try harder so the old man wouldn't just give up on us.

"The day he had you, he held you up in the hospital and showed you off to the rest of the family. 'This is my legacy, Jarvis,' he told me with those big blue eyes full of tears. I thought your mama was going to faint when he put that big finger soaked in Irish whiskey in your mouth."

Cain laughed and remembered her father telling her that story. In fact, she could remember his exact words. "The Catholics, they got ahold of you soon enough, me pride, but the whiskeythat was a Casey baptism. That spirited drink's in your blood, Cain. No oil and water a priest pours or rubs on you is going to wash that away. The whiskey's not only our business, it's our heritage, our history, and soon it'll be your turn to keep that tradition alive. Your mother didn't understand that first taste was a welcome home to a Casey. A bit of a reminder of who you are and what you come from. You're a Casey, and you're mine, but only for a time. When I set you out in the world, the one thing that's for certain is you'll be a h.e.l.l of lot better than your old man."

"He said a lot more that made Mama's hair curl," she said, smiling. Suddenly she felt melancholy. "You know, uncle Jarvis, he told me that story for the last time about a week before he died. When Hayden was born, I don't think Emma understood any better than Mama. 'A taste to welcome you home. You're a Casey and you're mine, but only for a time.'"

She had repeated the line when her son was first placed into her arms. The whiskey she had wet her finger from had been the same bottle her father had used on the day of her birth.

"You're so much like him in so many ways, la.s.s. Your brother Billy had the brawn to muscle his way in life, but the brains and the tactician your father was, that's all you, Derby. For as much as you're like him, though, you're both very different people. You don't do business the same way, but that's how he wanted it. He was so hard on you at first because he wanted you to find your own way and lead your own way. Dalton learned from our father that experience makes the seeds of success grow."

Cain shook her head and walked over to the windows. "This is different, uncle Jarvis. Pop forgave his family, but he never once had cause to question us."

"What's Emma to you, if not family?"

"My father was my family, as is my son, my mother, Billy, and Marie. But even they would have turned their back on me had I helped the snakes crawl so close to our nest."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That our sweet little Emma has changed much in her time away from us Caseys. I'm willing to bet Pop never had a day when Mama went against him or thought of walking out that door because of something he had done. I can't say the same thing about Emma."

"Don't be so sure about that, Cain. Your mother was a great many things, but she was never your father's lapdog. Your father never wanted her to be. She went against him plenty of times, but he never let it get in the way of how he felt about her. You had to let Emma go, if only so she could find her way back to you. Can I ask you one more question? I promise to leave you to your business once we're done."

Cain nodded but didn't turn around.

"Do you still feel anything for Emma? Look into your heart before you answer."

She closed her eyes and searched her soul for the most truthful answer she could give him. "A part of my heart will always love her. The sad thing is, it's the part that shrinks every day we're apart. But it'll take an eternity for it to fully die."

When she turned around to see if Jarvis was satisfied with her answer, she found his chair empty and the door slightly open. So much like her father, she thought. Dalton would ask questions that begged for truthful answers. In the end the answers mattered only to you, since you would be ultimately deciding how to change your life.

Could she forgive the woman who had shared such a large part of her life? Who had made her forget her responsibility to her family? Had her answer affected only her, she could decide more easily, but she wasn't alone. How would Hayden accept that his mother cared more for his unborn sister than for him? And what of Hannah? How would the little girl adjust to her after knowing only Emma and her parents? Carol had no doubt used the long four years to work on the little girl's thought process.

When she had time she would find some answers, but now she needed to put Emma aside and think of the upcoming night and any possible complications.

"Park out of sight and meet us on the roof of the American Coffee Company," said Shelby.

"Where in the h.e.l.l is that?" Anthony asked as they drove through one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city.

"Look to your right. It's the abandoned building at the foot of the block."