"What?"

"Second oak outside.She acts like she's looking right at us, like she knows we're here."

Joe glanced from Sabana, who was leaning against the tree, to the front door, where a few of Cain's men were standing, staring at their van as well. "If she's waiting to talk to Cain, all she can say is that you came by and tried to ask some questions. It's not like you broke the kid."

Sabana straightened out and took a step in their direction before turning and heading into the house. From inside they could hear Cain telling the mother good-bye and not to worry about anything, followed by Cain's talk with Sabana. Everyone in the van was quiet as they eavesdropped on the hushed conversation, and then came Cain's question of "nothing else?" As Sabana started to answer, Cain cut them off so quickly they didn't even catch the first word.

Joe saw Shelby press her fingers to her forehead as if trying to remember what she and Joe had said after that. The door opened and the group, followed by Lou, stepped out. They could see Cain's lips moving, and she appeared as tight as a bow.

"I asked her if she knew or heard the name Anthony next, didn't I?" Shelby asked him. "My notes are back at the office."

"It was, but there's no way in h.e.l.l Cain puts him at something like this. Anthony's not that stupid."

"Willing to bet your badge on that?"

"Not quite yet, when it comes to Anthony." Joe's cell phone vibrated on his hip and he answered it. "Call in our backup unit to stay with Cain. Agent Hicks arranged a meet with the other teams we'll be running into as we work our case. Mark Pearlman from DEA and the crew investigating the Jatibons are due in the office in thirty minutes. It's time to start sharing information."

"Tell them not to lose Cain," Shelby said. "Whatever that kid told her sparkedsomething, and wedo not want to miss the fireworks once they start."

Chapter Thirty-Seven.

Cain had her driver stop in front of the Piquant, and she and Lou walked quickly through the boutique section to the elevators. From the lobby on the third floor, they crossed to the bank of elevators and punched the eighteenth floor. When the doors opened they headed for the stairs at the end of the hall and jogged down a couple of flights in case their tagalongs made it in on time to see what floor they'd gone up to. By the time they ran background checks on the guests on eighteen, Cain planned to be home.

She could hear the television when she opened the door of the room farthest away from the elevator, but closest to the stairs. Katlin was sitting with Nathan Mosley, who was in town at Cain's request, and when they were done he'd be on the next flight to Los Angeles.

She wanted him gone as quietly as he'd come.

"Mr. Mosley." Cain walked in and offered him her hand.

"CainCasey, and I want to thank you for agreeing to meet me."

Nathan was an even five foot, slender man with the reddest hair Cain had ever seen on an individual, and judging from his age someone had concocted the color for him in a bottle. He was stylishly dressed, wore a pair of wingtips whose heels were higher than normal, and gla.s.ses that overall made you want to peg him as an eccentric accountant.

"Your bonus made it hard to refuse." After turning the television off, he sat back down and Cain took Katlin's seat. "And don't worry.

If anyone looks, the room was occupied by Edward Miller. Just another tourist from the Midwest and no one anyone will concern themselves with."

"I'm sure that as long as no one actually gets a look at you, you're right. Your work, after all, speaks for itself."

"I love a woman who knows how to flatter an old guy like me, but I doubt you went to all this trouble for that alone."

"That's not why you're here, Mr. Mosley, but before we start I do need to know if you're as discreet as you are talented."

Nathan picked up a gold-plated cigarette case and held it up before taking a stick out. When Cain nodded once, he lit his smoke with the matching lighter. "I've been doing this for close to forty years, and I haven't had a problem yet. The whole purpose of coming to me is that you want to start fresh. If I give you up the first time someone asks, what'd be the point?"

Cain smiled at him because he showed absolutely no fear, considering who he was sitting across from, and she wasn't alone.

"Before we're done then, both of us are going to have to bend a little and trust a lot."

"Agreed, Ms. Casey.I can a.s.sure you that if anyone asks, we've never met. What can I do for you?"

"Dallas Montgomery."

He took some drags from his cigarette and stubbed it out in the crystal ashtray the hotel provided. "Actress, I believe, with relatively good success recently."

Cain's laugh was heartfelt. "You're discreet all right, or do you work forEntertainment Tonight ? I know who she is. What I don't know is if she's a former client of yours."

"Tell me first why you need to know."

"Where she started from doesn't matter to me, but Dallas has recently come to mean something to a friend of mine. Like I found you because of what you do, I'd hope you know who I am before you accepted my invitation. If you do, then you realize in my world I can't afford to let someone with no past in without question. My friend is in the same position."

He lit another cigarette and seemed to be strategizing his next move. "Why are you here and not your friend?"

"She ran into your carefully constructed brick wall and asked for help. In my opinion, there are ways through it, no matter how well built or how high you made it."

"Are you a blaster, Ms. Casey?"

"If the situation calls for it, but not today.What I want today is the key to the gate, and I believe it's up here." She tapped the side of her head then pointed at him. "Is Dallas one of your creations?"

"I'm not saying I won't answer, but one more question before we move on. Is your friend good at keeping secrets? Dallas is a lovely girl I won't have hurt."

"Remi Jatibon is as honorable as they come, and you have my word Dallas won't suffer from this."

Nathan waved Cain closer and started to talk. In a low murmur he told Dallas's story, or as much of it as he knew. When he finished he fell back in his seat and spread his hands in front of him. "I've had all kinds come to me, and she was the first I almost did for free. It's good to know the papers I forged have worked up to now."

"I know how I broke through, but how did Bob Bennett?"

"Dallas never did give up all her secrets, but I think Bob was there before she came to me. He's got time and history on his side." He pulled a black book from his bag. "I'm not sure if he's aware I drew up more than one set of papers for her, but Remi needs to know if she wants to help her." His finger went down the page and stopped near the middle. "Dallas Montgomery wasn't the only one who I gave birth to that day. There was a Kristen Montgomery as well, but her I never met."

"On the doc.u.ments you forged, what was their relationship?"

"Kristen is her younger sister, or at least that's what she was when I was done. She's a better-kept secret, though, than who Dallas really is."

"Thanks for your help, Mr. Mosley. One more thing," Cain said as Nathan repacked his stuff. "Because of who Dallas has become, you might get other requests similar to mine. Before you're tempted by the money, I want the chance to counteroffer."

"After today I plan to destroy any connection between us."

The decision made Cain raise her brows. "She must've really made an impression."

"She did, but that's not why. What Dallas paid me was a fraction of what you offered, and your money finished burying who Dallas was and whatever she did. If anyone finds out what I told you, it won't have come from me."

"Still," Cain said tapping her finger on the briefcase where he'd put his book of potential blackmail, "sometimes the money's hard to pa.s.s up."

"That's true, but let me play the devil's advocate." Nathan picked up his gold case and lighter and slipped them into his front pocket.

"What happens if I renege on our agreement? No amount of cash is worth gambling my life. Your friendship guarantees her past stays buried."

"It's been a pleasure," Cain said as she shook his hand. "If social security doesn't cut it for you, give me a call."

"I'll do that. If you've got the occasional job it might be good to stay in practice, in case I get bored out of my mind playing shuffleboard." Before Cain opened the door Nathan had one more thing to say. "If Dallas finds out I told you, could you apologize for me."

"Because of you I'm going to wield whatever power I have to wipe her slate clean. Instead of requesting an apology, she'll probably want to send you a thank-you card."

"You're an interesting woman, Ms. Casey."

"It's the romantic in me I didn't know existed until my wife came along," she said, making him chuckle before she disappeared behind the door.

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

The walls of the third-floor conference room in the Federal Building were plastered with crime-scene photos of the first-floor bathroom located in the airport. Rick resembled a large broken doll as he sat with his eyes and mouth open, his hands crumpled on his lap.

Annabel Hicks came in and sat at the head of the long table and waited for everyone to follow suit. "A few months ago we thought we had a war on our hands when the Bracato and Casey families squared off. What we ended up with was a stealth operation conducted by Cain Casey, resulting in the disappearance of Bracato and his four sons. A lot has changed in a few months, but what we avoided then I'm afraid will soon be a reality, considering how many players we've added to the game."

Shelby used a laser pointer and aimed it at the picture of the stall.

"The death of Rick Greco yesterday might be the fuse that starts it."

She then gave a brief history of Rick's work record. "Because of where in the airport this happened and how exposed it was, none of us had someone inside. The closest team was Mark Pearlman's from DEA. Mark." Shelby turned it over to him.

"We're mostly a.s.signed to major players in the city but are rea.s.signed whenever Rodolfo Luis is in town. The street vendors are one thing, but Luis is one of the big heads of the snake. Cut him off from moving his c.r.a.p in and we put a serious hurt on supply." He turned on the projector connected to his laptop, and one of his guys dimmed the lights. "Yesterday we followed four of Rodolfo's men to the airport. When security sounded the alarm, we started to move a group in to pick these guys up on their way out, since video from their exit shows one of them in different clothes that are too big for him and a bundle under his arm.

"But that's not the only thing we captured on surveillance after the pandemonium that this caused." Mark advanced to the next picture.

As soon as it came on the screen, Annabel and the rest of her agents leaned forward. Anthony Curtis and Juan Luis were getting into a car on the lower level of the airport.

"Anthony was in there when this happened?" Shelby asked.

"If he was, we didn't pick him up with the other four, but we weren't really looking for him," Mark said. "We spotted Anthony and Juan seconds before security called for help. Having Juan come back so soon leaves us with more questions than we have answers."

"Like what?" Joe asked.

"The name Juan Luis appears nowhere on the manifest from the flight he took, he hasn't gone anywhere near his uncle since he came back, and neither have the four idiots who probably did this. I don't think Rodolfo knows his nephew is back. I just don't know why, so we let everyone go and stepped up the surveillance on them."

"He's splintered off from Rodolfo, that's why," Shelby said.

"There's no way that's true," Mark said. "Rodolfo runs that family with no tolerance for dissension in the ranks, and Juan will be lucky to keep control once the old man goes down."

"But Rodolfo sent him home why?" Shelby asked.

"From what we could gather," Mark said, "because your guy's gotten in the way."

"Rodolfo, probably for the first time, hasn't given in to Juan's whims, and because of Anthony he feels emboldened to defy his uncle," Shelby said. "You're right. Rodolfo doesn't know he's back, but it's only a matter of time before Juan does something to announce his arrival. When that happens, Juan and everyone who helped him will get off easy if all that happens to them is a bullet in the head."

Mark turned off the projector and the lights came back up. "You're doing a lot of guessing, and we can't afford to be wrong. You may know your subjects but we know the Luis family. After watching this guy, we're positive Rodolfo won't put up with anything from anyone, especially his nephew."

"Juan may love and respect his uncle," Joe said, "but something stronger is pulling at him now."

"Since you two have all the answers, how about you share with the rest of us," Mark said.

"His hatred of Cain Casey, that's why he's back, and in Anthony he's found the perfect ally."

"Find Anthony and bring him in. If he was there yesterday and stood by while this went down, that's his a.s.s," Annabel said. "And Shelby," she added as the meeting started to break up, "make sure your team reads him his rights as soon as you find him."

"Yes, ma'am."

"At this point it might be better to leave him on the street with the rest of them," Mark said. "If your guy's been able to get close to Juan, he's going to be easier to squeeze when the time comes. Pick him up now and we blow the opportunity."

"I want regular reports, if that's the case," Annabel told Mark.

"You got it, since we're putting a team on Juan."

Joe placed his hand on Shelby's arm and led her to an interview room while Annabel finished up with the other agency. "If Sabana Greco told Cain that you asked about Anthony, we better find him first."

"There's no way Cain goes after an agent."

"Shelby, are you crazy? Anthony was standing next to Juan when he confronted Cain.In her mind that changed the rules of the game."

"That G.o.dd.a.m.n moron," Shelby said, letting her anger out. "If something does happen to him, it's his own fault."

"At this point I'm not sure who he has to be more afraid of," Joe said as he scratched the top of his head, "Cain or Hicks."

"You know the answer to that one, Joe." Shelby stared at the chair Cain had occupied recently when they'd brought her in. "Hicks might reprimand or maybe fire him, but Cain...that's a different punishment, isn't it? If Cain puts him there, Anthony's going to be joining Giovanni and his sons, wherever that may be. We'd have better luck finding Jimmy Hoffa or having tea with s.p.a.ce aliens."

"You're looking smug today, mobster," Emma said as they descended the stairs together the next morning. "Not that you shouldn't, considering what you're able to do to me most nights,"

Emma teased until she saw her father waiting for them on the first floor.

"Have I ever mentioned how beautiful you are when you blush?"

"Don't you bruise easily?" Emma shot back, smiling the entire time. "Morning, Daddy."