But if I find out you're hurting her in any way, you're going to remember today. You're going to remember it because it's the day you had the chance to walk away and didn't. You'll be thinking of that opportunity as your scariest nightmare unfolds, and it's worse than anything you could dream up."

"Big talk, Ms. Jatibon, but where I come from we don't take people like you seriously. We take you for a walk in the woods and get rid of the problem ourselves. I don't need any backup." He pointed to Simon.

When Remi started laughing, Bob's face got red. She heard the screen door open behind her, but Dallas didn't move from the doorway unless she was still barefoot. "I'll keep that in mind, and I look forward to talking to you again soon. Now I believe you were leaving."

As Remi finally turned around to see where Dallas was, the gate closed behind Bob. The last thing she needed was someone with baggage, and she had a feeling Dallas came with a cartload. Her mother came to mind, though, and she headed toward the girl with her hand out. Ramon had taught her to be strong, but her mother had tempered that quality by preaching justice and charity.

Dallas Montgomery was beautiful, but she was clearly a woman in need of both.

Chapter Fourteen.

"Come to gloat?" Barney Kyle walked into his side of the drab room and sat in the only chair facing the gla.s.s that separated him from the free world.

Cain spread her hands out and shrugged. "G.o.d knows what you would've dished out if I was on your side of the gla.s.s."

"What in the h.e.l.l do you want?"

She laughed at his impatience. "What's the rush? It's not like you don't have tons of time on your hands, and only that little cell to run back to."

"Actually, I'm glad you're here." He leaned forward, almost pressing his nose to the gla.s.s. "If only to tell you how much I enjoyed that night I pulled the trigger. Seeing you down and bloodied was the highlight of my career." His smile widened when she lifted her fingers to her chest where the scar from his bullet was.

"No matter how hard you try to forget me, that hole will make it impossible."

"When you're sitting on your cot, do you ever think of what a waste your life has been? That you worked so hard for something but you're a complete, miserable failure?"

"Ha." He slapped the thick gla.s.s but it didn't move. "You think this is over?"

"In more ways than one, actually," Cain said with a smile, enjoying the exchange. This was the first time she'd actually talked to Kyle face to face.

"Tomorrow I'm going to court, and when I'm done the federal prosecutor's not going to have any choice but to let me go. I'm too valuable to lock up, and if that argument doesn't work, then I'm still in a good position. I know too much for them to take the chance of p.i.s.sing me off." He sat back, looking to Cain like a man who was about to begin to enjoy all the rewards of his wrongdoings.

"Annabel doesn't have the b.a.l.l.s to take me on."

"Spoken like a man who's spent his life observing it from under a rock."

"What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean?"

She sighed and reached in her coat pocket for something to hand to the guard on her side. "It means that you've spent your life in shadows watching other people live theirs, only you did it for your own gain and not for the reasons you took an oath. You made a pact with a demon to bring me down, but if I had to guess, Giovanni has done his best to disavow you. Your patron, if he shows his true colors, has turned his back on you and will do everything he can to destroy you before you get the chance to do the same." She stopped so the guard could hand Kyle the gift she'd brought him. "You're all alone, Barney, and that's not a good position to be in when you're in jail."

"What the f.u.c.k is this?" He held up the gold-embossed prayer card Bishop Andrew had gotten for her after she'd asked for it. On one side was a novena written in scrolling letters and on the other was St.

Michael in the pose most people were familiar withhis foot on Satan's head and his sword raised in his right hand ready to strike.

"Just a reminder."

Kyle held the card to the gla.s.s as if she'd forgotten what it was."Of what?A reminder to pray for good things to happen to me?"

"I'm not that presumptuous, and I could give a f.u.c.k about your soul, so no." She tapped her finger to the picture he still had pressed to the gla.s.s. "This is to remind you that before you go hunting the devil, you should know your own demons."

"Getting religious on me, Casey? If you think that'll get these a.s.sholes off your a.s.s, you're crazy."

"I don't waste my time on wishful thinking, and I've finished what I came for today."

"So you're not here to gloat and only come bearing gifts?" He put the St. Michael card in the pocket of his gray jumpsuit. "This doesn't make us even, and it sure as h.e.l.l doesn't make us friends."

"For once, Barney, you're right on both counts. After meeting you, I can honestly say I'm rooting for the feds this one time. You don't deserve anything more than a small cell and time for everything you've done." She stood and b.u.t.toned her jacket. "Take care, and perhaps with everything you're facing, prayer wouldn't be such a bad thing. My priest tells me confession is good for the soul, and if you're contrite enough, the folks who control your future might just show compa.s.sion."

"After tomorrow you should just worry about yourself and that pretty b.i.t.c.h who shares your bed. As a matter of fact, Emma might be one of the first people I visit when I get out of here. I gave her a way out and away from you, and she spit in my face."

"Best of luck to you then.I'll have a whiskey waiting." Cain chuckled at his baffled expression, but she didn't add anymore.

She'd gotten what she came for, which was to meet the man who'd brought her such misery in both his time with the FBI and in Giovanni's employ. She knew her demons, so now she could bring her sword down on this snake with no remorse.

With one last wave she stepped out and headed toward the waning sunlight. She gazed back at the building, wondering if, when your time came to an end, it would be better to know or more peaceful to never see the bullet coming? Whatever the answer, she would ask Kyle when she eventually met him in h.e.l.l.

"Can I call you back?" Shelby asked as soon as she answered her cell phone, not bothering to see who it was. Her eyes were glued to Cain's retreating back as she quickly navigated the steps of the Federal Building on the way to her car.

Muriel answered her. "I'll be in the office until seven,then I have an engagement tonight for work. Try me before then or wait until tomorrow."

"Wait," she said, but was too late. The call had dropped from Muriel's end. "s.h.i.t."

"If you have to get going, I'll brief the next shift," Joe said, waving her toward the door. Since they were essentially back at the office, their cars were only a few blocks away and Shelby could get to Muriel's quickly.

"I'll take the morning briefing then." As she drove to Muriel's office, she tried to phone three more times, but the a.s.sistant said she was on a conference call. She stepped out of the elevator on the second floor over Emma's, Cain's newest nightclub, and was escorted into Muriel's office right away. She was still talking and pointed Shelby into one of the chairs facing her desk.

"A few more daysis what I'm guessing, so sit tight and keep your eyes open. Call me if you get anything new and I'll let Cain know what you said," Muriel finished and hung up. "Don't," she said when Shelby stood and started toward her.

"So much changed since last night that I can't touch you?"

"Things haven't changed, Shelby, but they're clearer than they were last night. I pride myself on not going out of my way to make mistakes, but I didn't do that well this time," Muriel kept eye contact with her. "I made a mistake and it's time to rectify it, because no matter what promises we make, our lives aren't going tochange, and our priorities sure as h.e.l.l aren't. It's time to end this before we get any more involved."

"You think it's that easy to walk away?"

Muriel took a deep breath and shook her head. "It's far from easy, but neither of us has much choice. It was my mistake to think we could make this work, but our worlds are too farapart, and there's a fence dividing them that neither of us is willing to cross. To do that, we have to betray something that means more to us than what we have now."

"You're making a mistake, Muriel," Shelby said, her fingers wrapped so tight around the arms of her chair her chest was aching.

"No one expects you to sacrifice so much for family honor. This isn't the Stone Age, for G.o.d's sake."

"I'm saving us both from facing now what's going to be inevitable eventually."

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?" Shelby asked, her swelling anger making her want to hit something.

"Tell me that Annabel or someone else in the Bureau hasn't made an issue out of who you're seeing, and I'll back down."

"No one of import"

Muriel slammed her hand down on her desk. "You lie to me now and you can get out, we're done."

"It doesn't matter to me who said what about you, baby. I don't owe my life to the Bureau, just like Cain doesn't own you. Don't throw this away for things that won't matter to us in the long run."

Muriel's phone rang four times before she reached over and picked it up. All Shelby did was watch as she held it to her ear and said nothing. Muriel wouldn't utter a word as long as Shelby was sitting in the room, so she put aside any notions of begging. It would do no good unless she was willing to toss aside everything she'd believed in up to then. Clearly Muriel wouldn't, no matter how much she cared for her. The realization hit her like a hurricane in August and she walked out.

"Muriel, did you hear what I said?"

"Sorry." She pressed her fingers to her forehead as if the pressure would erase the image of Shelby leaving. "Start from the beginning, T-Boy."

"This is a safe line, right?"

T-Boy was a gambling addict who knew more about the city than the people who supposedly ran it, but he was smart enough to know when to stay quiet. His call meanteither he was broke and looking for some fast cash or he was banking for the future with something Muriel and Cain would find valuable.

"Safe is always relative, isn't it?"

"Just heard from my buddy that works at the airport."

Muriel picked up her pen, ready to start writing."New tourists in town?"

"Your uncle and his boy are back from south of the border. Got in about an hour ago and got detained in customs, but from what I hear, it was so they could get fitted for a new suit.Custom job like from where your family shops."

Muriel wrote down that Rodolfo and Juan Luis were back and already under the watchful eye of the FBI and DEA. "We'll have to get together soon. Thanks for letting us know."

"One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"There's a new player in town looking for work, and considering his resume there's been plenty of interest."

Under the Luis names she put a question mark. "Can you come by in the morning? I'll stop and pick up my father's favorite."

"I'll be there."

"s.h.i.t," Muriel said as she fell back in her chair. Their future was a little more complicated. She wanted to wait to tell Cain, but thought better of it considering how Cain felt about Juan.

She called the house and found out where Cain and Emma had gone out for the evening, then drove to the Quarter to Galatoire's, one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Outside was a no-parking zone that the police patrolled regularly, so the paneled van that had been trailing Cain was parked down the block. Muriel was sure the group on duty was crammed inside because you couldn't get a table here without a subpoena, and even with one you'd have a hard time.

They were sitting in the corner of the back of the place, with Lou and a couple of guys at the next table enjoying iced tea. "You look like you could use a drink," Cain said when Muriel sat down."Rough day?"

"Tied up loose ends and some more unraveledtypical." Muriel quickly drained the gla.s.s Cain pushed toward her. "Expecting someone else?" She pointed to the other empty chair.

"Remi called and invited us, and I thought it was a good night to go out. To be seen, as it were." Cain signaled the waiter for another round and another place setting and glanced at her watch; it was a minute to eight.

They continued to chitchat until Remi arrived with her date. The room quieted for a moment as Dallas followed Remi to their table, but just as quickly the other diners went back to their own conversations.

"It's great to meet you, Dallas," Emma said.

"I figured she'd like having dinner with all of you since she thinks I'm only interested in sleeping with her," Remi said, clearly teasing.

"Then come to the restroom with me and I'll give you some pointers," Emma said to Dallas, making the others laugh.

"I'd find a hobby," Cain told Remi once the two left. "If Emma's persuasive, and she is, then s.e.x is a long way off, if thatis what you had in mind."

"And I thought this was a good idea," Remi said.

Cain looked at her watch and the second hand was sweeping past the two, on its way to mark nine o'clock. In her mind's eye she could see the armored van leaving the underground parking facility.

The drive wouldn't take very long, and that's why it was being done at night. Less traffic meant fewer ha.s.sles from pointato pointb .

She looked up as Emma and Dallas headed back, walking closely together and already appearing to be best friends. Cain loved seeing Emma like this, alive and happy, and she was willing to do anything to keep her that way. Even if it meant crossing a line considered taboo for so very long, no matter what city you did business in.

Chapter Fifteen.

"Comfortable back there?"Agent Martin Chesterfield asked through the open porthole between the front seat and the back section.

"Just drive, a.s.shole. And shut the f.u.c.k up." Barney Kyle stretched his hands upward but found that the shackles would stretch only an inch past his knees.

"I can see you're going to charm everyone in court tomorrow, but don't get too comfortable with the accommodations. Once you plead to the state charges against you, we'll pick you up for your next court appearance. It's a good thing you look so good in that federal gray, since you'll be wearing it for years to come." Martin laughed as they drove under the interstate. "Just ten more blocks now.How's it feel to be so popular?"

"f.u.c.k off."

"Be nice or I'll tell our brethren over at central lockup to put you in with the general population. You know how those local guys feel about us. Then I'll ask them to pin a note to your back so everyone knows what you used to do for a living. I bet those guys won't care that you don't work for us anymore."

The driver pulled up to the gate on Broad Street and handed over the necessary papers. After a glance the guard pressed the b.u.t.ton and the gate rolled slowly back, powered by a motor that sounded like it was on its last breath.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," Martin told the driver, getting out and walking to the back with the key. "Come on, Mr. Kyle." He unlocked the chain looped through his cuffs and put his hand under his arm to help Kyle down. "We'll be back for you tomorrow around ten." Martin let him go as the sheriff's officers responsible for the jail population walked toward them.

Merrick waited until Kyle was standing between the two groups before she set up her shot. The night-vision scope on the rifle she was using clearly outlined his head in the crosshairs. She took a breath and had started to put pressure on the trigger when he looked up at her as if he knew she was there. The last thing she saw as she squeezed all the way was his brows going up in what appeared to be confusion.

"Cover," more than one of the police around Kyle screamed as the back of his head sprayed into the rear of the van he'd been transported in.

Merrick took advantage of the chaos to remove the scope and lean the rifle on the half wall surrounding the old Jax Beer brewery. The rear fire escape looked rickety, but she took the steps at an alarming rate, not wanting to get caught anywhere in the vicinity when the cavalry started streaming out of the jail yard. Only Cain knew where she was and why she was there, and she had every intention of keeping it that way.