Chapter Forty-Seven

Lou was the first to intercept them before they reached the door. “Good evening, Agent Hicks.”

“It’s nice to be so well known.” Annabel spoke almost as if she were joking with him and had no choice but to stop, since the man was so large. “Step aside or we’ll move you. I don’t care how intimidating you think you are.”

“Is there a problem?” Lou asked.

“Open the door,” commanded Annabel, Anthony Curtis at her elbow.

“Can I see a warrant?” Lou didn’t seem fazed and didn’t budge. “Since you can’t answer a simple question, maybe your reason for being here is written on that.”

“The lady said move.” Anthony put two hands in the center of Lou’s chest and shoved. Considering Lou’s size, Annabel was shocked when he went flying into a table where a waiter had just served four heaping bowls of pasta.

The bigger shock came when Vincent came to the door and opened it himself. “What the hell is going on out here?”

“Where’s Casey?” Anthony demanded, his words dying on his lips when he saw that smug smile from behind Vincent. “You can’t be here.”

“Agent Hicks, I want an explanation,” the elder Carlotti continued.

They all watched as the diners who’d cushioned Lou’s fall were helped off the floor by a team of waiters. The hot oil and garlic on one of the pasta dishes had splashed on Lou’s face, forming angry red splotches.

“We have reason to believe,” Annabel started, grimacing when the rest of the group they thought was missing came out as well, “that you have some illegal liquor on the premises. We have a warrant to check your licenses.”

“Be careful, Vincent. The last time this happened to me I caught a bullet with my chest,” Cain said.

Annabel was one of the only people in the place who didn’t laugh. “That was uncalled for, Ms. Casey.”

“You aren’t kidding, Agent.” This time any lightheartedness bled out of Cain’s voice.

“Dominic, get the paperwork, then get my attorney on the phone,” Vincent ordered. With a sneer, he looked at Annabel like a shark regarding a wounded fish. “How do you feel about Anchorage, Agent Hicks? Because once I’m done with you, you’ll be investigating bear shit for the rest of your career.”

“Is that a threat, Mr. Carlotti?”

“It’s an invitation to meet me in court, and unless Lou over there says otherwise, I don’t think I’ll be alone in my complaint.” He held his liquor as well as other license information up, but she didn’t even bother to look at it. She and the other agents had seen what they’d come for.

“Tell me again, Agent Curtis, how this isn’t personal,” Cain said as the agent started to leave. “At least this time you all bothered to get a warrant and not shoot me at the first given chance. I thought you would’ve learned your lesson after paying some stupid flunky to bug my hospital room,” she said, taking a chance that she was right.

Anthony pulled away from Hicks by shrugging her restraining hand off his shoulder, his face red. “You think you’re smart enough to never get caught, but no one’s that fucking smart. I’m going to love the day we bring you down, no matter how we do it, and I’m going to be the one who drags you there.”

While Cain’s comment was meant to bait, no one in the restaurant heard it, though Anthony’s booming voice was hard to miss.

“Agent Curtis, stand down,” his superior ordered. “My apologies, Ms. Casey.”

“You can apologize from across the street, Agent Hicks.” Muriel arrived dressed in a tuxedo, like most of the group that had been called away from the private dinner. “Sorry I’m late, but I was just finishing up with a bit of business.” She gave a copy of something to Cain before addressing the group gathered in the main dining room. “The Fifth Circuit just issued an emergency protection order on my client’s behalf, stating there must be five hundred yards between the agents listed here and Derby Cain Casey and her family.” With a smile she handed over the brief as she pointed her date in the direction of the private dining room and away from the agents standing behind Annabel. “That includes everyone present, so please vacate the property or I’ll involve the police, and we both know they’d love nothing better.”

“There’s no way the court sanctioned this.”

The paperwork Annabel was examining looked authentic, though.

“Ordinarily no, but this was extreme circumstances, and neither I nor the court was willing to take a chance with my client’s life again. If there was one rogue agent, who’s to say there aren’t more?”

The order wouldn’t be in place long, but Muriel decided to have a little fun while she could. Anthony had been the weak link, and Cain had exploited it well.

As Annabel stood and read, none of her people moving, Muriel pulled out her phone. “Commissioner Albert, Muriel Casey.”

The fact that she had his direct number snapped Annabel’s head up.

“About that paperwork we filed, I might need some assistance.” She paused to listen to something, never losing eye contact with Cain. “Carlotti’s Italian Restaurant, and please bring as many units as you see fit.”

“This isn’t over, Ms. Casey.” Annabel handed back the papers and signaled for everyone to pull back. No way in hell was she letting the New Orleans Police Department escort her anywhere.

“I bought you a night, cousin,” Muriel whispered in Cain’s ear when they embraced. “Use it wisely.”

“I use them all wisely, Muriel, but thank you. Emma doesn’t need any stress right now, so this should simplify matters.”

“It sounds like you’ve got a lot to look forward to, then, so I want you to be careful as well.”

Cain held out her hand out to Emma, who immediately took it. “I have everything to look forward to, cousin.”

And every reason to fight for what’s mine, she thought, and Emma read the sentiment clearly in her face.

As they rode in silence to their new club after dinner, Emma enjoyed the feel of Cain’s arms around her and her lips against her neck. Their afternoon had left them both in the mood to touch, and they didn’t waste even that short span of alone time.

“Thanks for bringing me with you tonight, baby.” Emma looked into Cain’s blue eyes. She smiled easily when Cain’s hand went to her middle. “Do you think it’ll be a boy or a girl?”

“It’ll be what I want most. A Casey with a lot of Verde mixed in. We’re going to love it no matter what, so it isn’t important to me what it is.”

The excitement from the restaurant as well as having Emma this close in a very tight black dress was fueling Cain’s libido. She felt Emma’s nipple harden under the material as she squeezed her breast. “Tonight was about both our futures, mine and Vincent’s, and the futures of our families, so it was important for you to be there.”

“Just remember that I belong to you and it’s my job to make your dreams come true for the rest of our lives.” Emma pressed Cain’s hand harder against her chest as she brought their lips together. “Tell me we’re almost done? I miss the kids and want us to be a family again.”

“One dance, darlin’. Then we’ll finish this.”

The car stopped, and the noise coming from the line waiting to get into the new club was just audible through the thick glass. After another long kiss Cain knocked on the privacy window, and Merrick opened the door.

Their dinner companions were already at Cain and Emma’s private table, and the others they’d invited were dancing and taking advantage of the open bar. Cain hadn’t thrown a party like this in a while, and the crowd seemed happy to be there now that she felt the need to celebrate something.

When they paused at the top of the stairs that led down to the bar, the music didn’t stop, but the DJ lowered the volume considerably, making people look up.

“They look stunning together,” Muriel said to her date as they both stood up. “And I didn’t realize till just now that I missed seeing them together.” She glanced across the place as people started to clap, spotting Claire and Shelby not far from where Cain and Emma were standing. Since the agents’ names weren’t on the list, they weren’t supposed to be there. Before she could do anything about it, Cain nodded in her direction, then motioned for her to forget it.

“The place looks great, honey.”

Cain put her arm around Emma’s waist as they descended the stairs. “Let’s hope it isn’t the explosive success the last place was.”

“Not funny, darling.”

The techno beat changed to something slow and sexy, and Emma pulled Cain to the middle of the dance floor. “Dance with me?”

“Forever and a day, my love.”

The two agents scanned the room as the Caseys shared a dance, but they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. They’d been a little surprised when Cain had nodded to them on their way in, giving the bouncer the false impression of permission to enter. It was a chance, but it was worth taking, even if they did end up in jail.

Once the dance was over, the rhythm picked up again and Emma followed Cain’s lead as they continued to dance. Emma’s would only have one opening night, and they looked like they were prepared to enjoy it.

Before long, Remi and her date and Mano and Sylvia joined them, making Shelby and Claire relax a little more. From their vantage point Cain knew they were there and didn’t care, and apparently all Cain had planned was a great party.

Forty minutes later, Cain and Emma made their way through the crowd to the back of the room and disappeared behind a door that Merrick opened for them.

“Joe?” Shelby whispered into her mike.

Claire ran to keep up as Shelby rushed toward the exit.

“What’s wrong?” Joe responded.

“Does Cain’s new real estate have a helipad?”

Lionel hacked into the city’s building permits department and started scanning. “Yep. Nothing to accommodate anything big, but it does have one.”

“Scramble something. Anthony was right. She’s got something planned. Probably something remote.” When Shelby got to the front door she could see the bird coming from the direction of the heliport next to the New Orleans Superdome. “Move it, Joe.”

Instead of heading to the car, Shelby and Claire ran toward the building next door, which was one floor higher than the one they’d just left. Their badges got them in and worked again when they knocked on the door of a young physician just getting home from a double shift. When they reached the large windows facing Cain’s building, they saw Cain leading Emma to the helicopter. Again Cain had her arm around Emma’s waist, and Emma was pressed up to her side.

Relief flooded Shelby when she saw another helicopter coming from the west. Unlike the night Cain had lost the agents in Wisconsin with the same trick, tonight they would know exactly where she was going and what she’d be doing once she got there.

“Make sure they stay five hundred yards away. We wouldn’t want to break a court order,” Shelby said.

“Stop making jokes and get your ass on the roof,” Joe ordered. He was driving as Lionel was busy looking at the fueling records for all the private planes in the vicinity, along with any flight plans they might have filed. “We need you airborne before we lose them again.”

“Not going to happen again.”

“Got something,” Lionel said as he tried to keep his seat and ignore the fact that Joe was driving and watching the helicopter more than the road. “Carlotti fueled his plane this afternoon, but the pilot said they wouldn’t have the flight plans until they were ready for takeoff.”

“Hear that?” Joe asked Shelby as he directed them to the nearest interstate entrance ramp. “I’ll call ahead and arrange something, and we’ll meet you there in less than ten.”

Shelby listened, and from their direction, Joe was right. Wherever Cain was headed, she would have to take a plane. Shelby couldn’t understand why she’d pulled such a stunt, but at the moment all the speculation in the world wasn’t as important as keeping up with Cain and, no matter how much she liked her, finally catching her at something so they could shut her down.

The blackness of Lake Pontchartrain came into view, as did the runways of the airport located on the south shore. “What’s your ETA, Joe?”

“If we’re lucky, in about five.” He never let off the accelerator as they arrived at their exit. “Even if they’re twenty minutes ahead of us, we won’t have a problem. A Coast Guard plane’s waiting for us, and she’s fully fueled. Wherever they go, we’ll be five hundred yards behind them.”

Lionel was calling Hicks and giving her an update. They’d need help from the State Department if Cain was traveling someplace they didn’t have jurisdiction. They pulled up as Cain and Emma were landing close to their ride. Again the couple stayed close together as they boarded and never looked back, even though they had to know they were being followed.

“What are you up to, Cain?” Shelby whispered into the noise of the rotor blades as she and Claire landed.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14