"It meant everything to that fellow in Virginia, I'm sure, but he sold out his country for the cash. What you did, though, is help someone bring more poison into our city and become a paid enforcer to get rid of Bracato's enemies. His main one just got out of surgery, and, like I told you at the warehouse, you'd better start praying she makes it through this. Because, old friend, if she doesn't, I'm going to add murder to the list of indictments. You shot an unarmed suspect on direct orders from a known crime boss. Are you sure you don't want an attorney present for this?"

"There's no way you can prove any of this, because it didn't happen." Almost as if without his permission, Kyle's hands were back on the table and he had started blinking.

It was getting late and George had tired of the game. He got up and tapped on the gla.s.s to get the others to join them. Three chairs had sat empty throughout their talk, and Kyle hadn't even bothered to notice. The veins in his forehead, though, were noticeable when his underlings filed in and took a seat.

"You all will be investigating ice-flow patterns in Antarctica when I'm done with you."

His glare didn't work, and Anthony placed the folder they had showed George in the middle of the table. The young agent started placing pictures on the metal surface and kept at it until the whole table was covered.

Kyle looked down and saw himself accepting thick envelopes from a smiling Giovanni Bracato. Whoever had been behind the camera had even gotten a shot of him counting the payoff.

When Anthony pulled out all the relevant photos, he put a small tape recorder in front of Kyle and pressed the play b.u.t.ton. The volume was set so that the two people on the tape filled the room.

"You think she's set to go tonight?"

At the end of the question everyone heard the speaker spit something out. In front of his boss, Simmons placed a picture of Giovanni spitting out the end of the cigar he was chewing into the river.

"The talk we're picking up is making me think so. We lucked out with the team I've been able to put together. Casey can't take a p.i.s.s without our knowing about it."

The inside breast pocket of Kyle's coat was barely big enough for the envelope full of hundred-dollar bills Bracato had given him.

"Yeah, I'll admit, buying you, Fife, was the smartest investment I got going. Not everyone in my business has someone watch the watchers as well for them. I owe you for keeping my own team of federal pit bulls running around in circles trying to pin anything on me. As for tonight, how would you like to earn a big bonus?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"One million for that little retirement fund of yours for Cain's head on a plate."

Kyle made no verbal response, but Simmons showed a picture of the two men shaking hands. In court, that binder to the agreement, along with Cain being shot, would be good enough. Murder for hire would get both Kyle and Bracato the needle, if they were convicted.

"We have it all on tape too, sir. If you'd like, we can have equipment brought in so you can view the meeting. We also have hours of tape from the other meetings you had with Mr. Bracato, if you want to see those."

"I want an attorney. I have nothing else to say," said Kyle.

All the other men in the room pulled back from him because Kyle looked like he was about to be sick.

"Wise choice, Agent Kyle. I hope you can afford a good one," George told him as he stood up.

"Please, sir, don't insult the rest of us by addressing him as Agent. To some of us, the fancy ID you spoke of stands for something." Lionel stood with George and spoke in his usual quiet tone.

"Then, Agent Jones, why don't I give you the honor of arresting Mr. Kyle and locking him up for the evening."

"Stand up," ordered Anthony.

"You're under arrest," said Lionel as he produced a set of cuffs.

They were all anxious to finish with the traitor so they could go back to Cain's warehouse and wrap up.

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

"She's out of surgery and in recovery." Hayden spoke to Emma's back and didn't care that Shelby was also standing close by.

"Thank you for letting me know."

"The doctor, he said we should go home and come back in the morning. They'll call if we need to return before then."

Emma wrapped her arms around her chest and held herself in despair. She was alone. No allies to ease the raging emotions of having Cain almost die in her arms. "I'll go with you, then. That is, if you don't mind?"

Had she turned around, she would have seen Hayden act his age for once. He stubbed the toe of his shoe into the ground, obviously fishing for the right thing to say. "If you want, you can stay with us tonight. If you want, that is."

Her tears started to fall again. For one brief moment, she almost heard the little boy who would beg her to hold him when something was wrong. "I'm sure Cain wouldn't like you offering that, Hayden."

"I think it'd be all right with her. That way we can come together in the morning and see how's she's doing."

The ringing of Shelby's phone disturbed the emotional scene, and she smiled sheepishly for the intrusion. "Excuse me."

The call was from Anthony to tell her they had finished with Kyle and were headed back to the warehouse. They would wait for her, since now she would be the head agent for the investigation. She would delay any questions about their talk with their boss until they were face-to-face.

"Ms. Casey, will you be all right? I really have to get going, but if you want a ride somewhere, I'll be happy to give you one," she offered.

"She'll be fine, Agent Daniels. She's coming home with me." Hayden stepped closer to Emma, as if he dared Shelby to say otherwise.

"I'm sure she will be fine with you, Mr. Casey. Have a good evening." Shelby gave him an approving smile before she headed back out to the parking lot. The sun would be coming up in a few hours, and she still had plenty of work to do.

"Are you ready to go?" Hayden asked Emma, who hadn't answered him about where she would be spending what was left of the night.

"Yes, son, I am."

A few minutes later Emma walked through the front door of her old house and had a strange sense of deja vu when she found her bags sitting in the foyer. Only this time they would be carried upstairs instead of to a waiting car. From what she could see, everything was as she remembered.

The woman who ran the household was waiting for them in the den when they got home. "Carmen, would you please put my mother's bags in one of the guest rooms? I'm sure we're all ready to go to bed."

"I'll be happy to take care of that in a minute, Hayden, but first tell me, how's Cain?"

"You know Mom. She's hanging in and doing okay for now."

Carmen hugged the boy and patted him on the back. The look of sheer terror he'd worn when he first left for the hospital was gone, and having him come home with Emma was more than a little strange. "We're all praying for her."

"Thanks." He hugged the older woman back before turning to Emma. "Let's go." He walked her to a room at the opposite end of the hall from the one she had shared with Cain, but only a few doors down from his own. "Call if you need anything."

"Thanks again for doing this, Hayden. I know we have a long way to go before we ever become friends, but I'm grateful for you trying."

"You can thank Mom when she wakes up. She's the one who told me I should give you a chance."

"Is that the only reason you're doing this?"

He shook his head as if to emphasize his answer. "Yes and no is the best answer, I guess. I want to talk to you some more and find out why you did some of the stuff you did, but Mom made me want to do it."

"That's the best thing I could have hoped for. Could I ask for one huge favor before you go to bed?"

"What?"

"Could you hug me?"

The last time they had shared any physical contact Emma had been the taller of the two, but now he had become the comforter just by his size. He held her close as memories flooded his brain of all the times they had done this before. The longing of a child for his mother replaced the anger, and he felt warm inside for the brief moment he allowed himself to enjoy holding her close. It was nice to have someone other than Cain make him feel that way.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, sure. Have a great night." He turned abruptly and walked to his room without looking back. What Cain had tried to explain to him about safe havens made sense to him now, and he felt guilty for enjoying this newfound warmth, though the rational part of his brain told him Cain wouldn't mind if he ventured in that direction when he needed to.

The house gradually grew quiet, and Emma lay between the soft cotton sheets staring at the shadows the outside lights cast on the ceiling. Sleeping alone in this house now felt strange. Even on the nights Cain had worked late or was away on business, she had never felt alone.

The last four years she'd spent on her father's farm had been unbearable when the sun went down. Most nights she would sit up and read to Hannah, even after the little girl went to sleep, so she wouldn't have to face the empty portion of the bed, which taunted her for her stupid mistakes.

Twelve Years Earlier in the Casey Bedroom Branches barren of any leaves cast almost scary images on the bedroom window. Emma was close to putting the covers over her face so she wouldn't have to look at them anymore. She couldn't explain her tears, but suddenly she was sobbing uncontrollably.

The bed dipped a little when someone sat down, and she was embarra.s.sed to turn around and face who she was sure was Carmen.

"What's the matter, sweetling?"

In an instant she turned around and buried her face in Cain's chest.

"I was missing you."

With the hiccups and the tears, Cain almost didn't understand her.

"What are you doing home? I thought you were in Chicago until tomorrow."

"I wrapped up early because I missed you too." Cain ran her fingers through her wife's pale blond locks, and slowly Emma stopped crying. The repet.i.tive motion calmed Cain as well as Emma. It still amazed her how quickly her lover had gotten by all her defenses and tattooed herself on her heart. "Why all the tears? Are you homesick?"

"No, I miss my father, but I was just feeling alone." A few of the b.u.t.tons on Cain's shirt popped open, due to Emma's wandering fingers.

"And this lonely feeling, it makes you want to take people's clothes off?"

"I wouldn't exactly cla.s.sify it as people, honey. I just like the feel of you. It reminds me there's somewhere in the world I belong."

The touches Cain returned weren't about pa.s.sion, but enjoying what her partner referred to. Emma didn't possess her physical strength, but from the time they had met she had provided the kind of strength she did need. Emma gave her a place to come when the world overwhelmed her, and someone to share her victories with.

"I love you, Emma, and I hope you always feel that way. Your place is with me because I belong to you."

Emma thought of that night oftenlying with Cain, just holding her until the bad feelings went away. She had never feared shadows or lonely nights after then because Cain had instilled such a permanent sense of belonging in her.

That she had so readily thrown away her sense of belonging for reasons even she couldn't explain anymore haunted her now. In the warehouse, being in Cain's arms had reminded her of what she had given up, but that was over. She needed to convince her heart she had no chance of standing at Cain's side again. She didn't think Cain would keep her from trying to develop a relationship with their son, but that was where their connection would end.

To admit her loss was hard enough; to accept it would be impossible, she feared. She rolled over, closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind so sleep would come. That was when she heard it, the whimper from next door that could only be defined as fear.

As she entered Hayden's room, the thought of not being welcomed never crossed her mind. He was curled up into a ball like he was in pain, and he was crying. She held him tighter when he didn't push her away, and the little glimmer of hope Ross had lit in her heart before he put her on the plane flared just a bit.

"It's okay, Hayden. I'm here."

"I'm so scared."

"It's okay to feel that way." Running her hand over Hayden's thick hair brought back memories of the few times she had gotten to hold Cain this way.

"She promised she'd come back, and she didn't. I don't want to be alone."

As she tried to pull him closer, Hayden put up the first sign of resistance by rolling away from her. "You aren't alone, Hayden. You have me, and there's someone else." She had wanted to wait and tell him about Hannah with Cain, but she figured it would take his mind off Cain's condition.

"There isn't anyone else, and you already left me. Because Mom's hurt, I'm not just supposed to go with you. You didn't want us, remember?" Hayden sat up and pulled away from his mother. Without meaning to, she had distracted him from his worry about Cain by replacing it with his anger toward her.

"You have a sister, Hayden, who loves you very much."

The words had barely left her mouth when Hayden jumped up and twirled around to face her with clenched fists. "No!" he roared, loud enough to wake most of the house, and she heard the running footsteps headed for his room. "You'll say anything, won't you? I don't have any sister."

She spoke fast. "I'm not lying. Her name is Hannah, and she's going to be four in a couple of weeks. When I left I had just found out I was pregnant. I planned to keep that baby safe."

"How, by sacrificing me?"

"No, by coming back for you."

"I wish Mom had just ordered me to stay away from you. You not only left me, you love some other kid better? When Mom finds out"

The door opened, and Merrick and Mook slammed in without an invitation.

"Go back to bed, this is between me and her." Hayden pointed to Emma, expecting to be obeyed.

"What's all the yelling about?" asked Merrick.

"I said this is private. Leave." Hayden never took his eyes off her as he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. When they had gotten back from the hospital he had just collapsed on the bed, not feeling like undressing. "When Mom finds out, you won't be able to find a pit deep enough to hide in," he said, once the door clicked closed.

"Cain already knows about Hannah. I told her tonight, but she already knew."

"Liar. She would've told me. She tells me everything."

Emma stood and moved closer to him. She wanted to comfort him, but if she had to let him verbally attack her, so be it. "I don't know why she didn't tell you, Hayden. Maybe she was waiting for all this to be over."

When Hayden added betrayal to the list of things he felt, something in him snapped. "Get out. Go back to your room. You and Mom deserve each other."

"Let's finish this, son."

"I'm not your son, I'm not anyone's son. You've replaced me. Now, get out."

"Mrs. Casey." Carmen shook her shoulder lightly, waking her to a very bright room.