The Devil's Orchard (18 page)

“I agree with you, but let’s go. Remember what Joe said. We’ll win this by cooperating.”

He glanced across the street and noticed Cain looking back at them. It was as if she had a talent for seeing them at their lowest points and took notes of their weaknesses. No matter how covert their operation, Cain picked out the detail like she had a locator chip embedded in each of their asses. He slowly moved to the driver’s side and got in, not caring that she watched him.

“What’s Chapman’s game, do you think?” Claire asked.

“He wants what we’ve worked hard for,” he said as he turned toward downtown. “He wants the credit for toppling Cain.”

“Cain might have something to say about that.”

*

The van’s turn signal came on, and they actually turned and left an eerie silence. Cain wasn’t used to it. She studied the street in both directions, surprised at their absence. When Lionel, who she’d talked to a few times, and his partner left, no one took their place.

“What the hell?” Instead of a relief, her sense of self-preservation for her family and herself kicked in. The last time the Feds had stopped watching, they’d beat her without fear of consequence.

“I think they left only one,” Lou said, and moved between her and the street. “Car to the right, green sedan.”

The only thing she could see of the person who sat crouched in the seat was their forehead and hair. She might not have recognized him in the house, but if he thought she’d forgotten him that quickly, he wasn’t a great addition to Shelby’s old team.

“Short guy with blond highlights?”

“That’s him, but from the outfit, he’s not carrying. Not the norm, for sure,” Lou said.

“Have Sabana and Dion cut him off, then tell them to meet us at the restaurant. I want everyone visible tonight, from Carmen up to me.”

Lou gave quick orders while she didn’t move. “Same man from inside?” Remi asked.

When the two of them stood together, the man straightened as if he suddenly didn’t care they were watching him. He started his car, backed up, and followed the same path as the van.

“With this new guy, something might shake loose, since they’re confusing the hell out of me. Perhaps that’s their new strategy—to get us to drop our guard and say something stupid,” Remi said, but didn’t appear to be worried. “I’ll tell my people to stay sharp.”

They headed to the restaurant, and Cain set her phone to buzz in her pocket at eight that night. Soon, Joe and Claire walked in and stood at the host stand. They were being overt so she’d see them. It’d be up to her, though, to move to talk to them, since they didn’t come any farther.

“Do you two have a reservation?” she asked, after Emma urged her to go over. Emma wanted them out of the place so Dallas and Remi could enjoy the night without these people breathing down on their fun. “If you don’t, and need my help getting one, let me know. My friend is celebrating her good fortune, so I’m feeling generous.”

“You know damn well why we’re here,” Claire said. “And I’m not in the mood to listen to your bullshit.”

“It only took you a few years to completely lose your cool, Agent,” she said with a smile that might provoke Claire to slap her. “What’s wrong?”

“We need a few minutes, Cain,” Joe said, pointing to the foyer of the place she’d picked. “We’ve got four more explosions, one more here and now in Mississippi and Alabama. While the authorities were responding to them, we had another slew of shootings. When someone orders something this big, including sixty murders, it’s not going to go unanswered.”

“By you or the people this happened to?” she asked, curious as to his answer. Compared to the others in his team, Joe was the one, along with Claire, she had the least experience with. He seemed to stick to the background of her life and only came out for the big events that, like he’d said, couldn’t be ignored.

“I’ve never had someone retaliate against me, so I’ll go with the police and federal agencies who’ll investigate this. I don’t have a choice but to come and talk to you, since the DEA had more information on the places that were hit than the local agents did when it happened here.” She followed him outside and motioned for Katlin and Lou to stay inside. “The places belonged to Rodolfo once upon a time, and now, I’m sure, to whoever took over for him. With this blow, whoever that is might be out of business, or they’re pissed and getting ready to come out shooting blind at anything and everything that moves,” Joe said.

“I’m not sure how I can help you. I didn’t know Rodolfo well, and all I knew about his death was what was reported on the news.”

“You were the one who told the cops who he was when they found him in the condition he was in.”

“I knew that because of a story I’d heard about what he’d done to his nephew Juan’s biological father. When you hear something like that you figure it’s part of that family’s folklore, because it’s hard to fathom someone doing that to another human being.”

“So you don’t have a hand in this,” Joe said, and sounded tired.

“You might need a nap if you think I’m answering that. Rodolfo approached me to do business, and I refused because I thought the guy was a bastard and his business is selling crap on the streets that’ll eventually get into the hands of children. He didn’t deserve what happened to him, but I haven’t really thought about it since. I do believe his death has left a vacuum in the power structure and someone’s trying to fill it.”

“Someone like your buddies Jasper Luke and Vinny Carlotti? You’ve been pretty friendly with them lately.”

“Don’t mistake a visit to friends with knowing anything about me, Agent Simmons. Whatever you can prove about me, drugs and being involved in trying to advance that business won’t be one of them.”

“Would you come in and answer some questions?” Claire asked.

“No. Would you leave a family gathering for what is in essence bullshit, as you so eloquently put it? How about I show up at your parents’ anniversary party, or your birthday celebration, and ask if you’d drive somewhere with me so I can act like I’m doing something about an issue I have nothing to do with?”

“I don’t run a crime family in my spare time, so I can’t answer that.”

“Funny, Agent,” she said. “If I decide to make that career change, I’ll let you know. It actually sounds like a fun job.”

“I might have to come back tomorrow, so don’t leave town,” Joe said.

“I’ll be waiting,” she said, but she meant she’d be waiting for Gracelia. She’d have no choice but to show up now, because with the night’s activities she’d eliminated most of Gracelia’s people. Depending on what she had going on in Mexico, Joe was actually right about one thing.

This might take Gracelia completely out of the game.

*

Gracelia was in the shower when the call came in, and she rushed out when she heard Jerome scream at whoever was on the other end. She went back, rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, and stepped out sooner than she’d have liked, considering how she’d spent the day. Jerome stood at the desk and held the phone like it would slip from his hand if he let up the pressure.

“What?” she asked, and didn’t care for the way he waved at her to shut up.

“When did that happen and how many people got hit?” Jerome asked the caller.

“Put the phone down a minute and tell me what is happening,” she said in a way that would get Jerome’s attention. No matter how much responsibility she’d given him and how much she cared for him, it was time for him to remember that the organization had only one head, and it wasn’t him.

“You don’t want me to find out why almost everyone we have working for us in three states is now dead? Gustavo missed the first attack against us, and while I was trying to figure out who did that one, they took out everything else.”

“Everyone?” She sat down on the end of the bed and missed the worry-free life she’d had.

“Pretty much. Right now all I can find is the men I left looking for Gustavo when I came to pick you up, so hold on a minute.”

He went back to the phone and finished his talk. Once he’d hung up he dropped into the leather desk chair and pulled on the hair at both sides of his head. Since she’d met him, this was the first time his FBI background didn’t seem to make a difference, because he didn’t act like he had a clue as to who had done this to them. The easy time they’d had after she’d killed Rodolfo felt like a thousand years ago.

“They have no idea? No one has moved in and tried to take over or sent in their own people?”

“It happened less than an hour ago, but whoever did this wanted to make sure almost everyone was neutralized. More than ninety percent of our people are dead. I think the best thing we can do is go back to Mexico and regroup. We need to concentrate on the export part of the business, and until we can grow that, it’ll be suicide to try to continue with our plans.”

“You expect me to run?” The shock of what happened faded and what she needed to do about it became clearer. “Call and order more of the men here by tomorrow. We’ll meet them in New Orleans but won’t move until I know for sure who did this. Once we do, we need to strike back twice as hard, to send a message.”

“I think you need to get the message. You can’t fight back from a crippled position, so be smart about this.”

“You don’t know the streets and how to navigate them.” She walked back to the bathroom and turned the shower on again. “Harvard, or wherever you went to school, isn’t going to help you now. Smart has nothing to do with what needs to be done now. These people understand power, money, and strength. If I run back to Mexico and hide, we can forget any future because it’ll be like throwing gallons of blood in a shark tank. The others in the cartel will go into a feeding frenzy until we won’t even be able to sell small bags to tourists on the beach.” She finished her shower and stepped around him, tired of his indecisiveness.

“You bring the men we have left and the same thing happens, you’ll be lucky to stay alive, much less worry about business. This isn’t about strategy, Gracelia, and how we can outwit whoever this is. It’s about survival.”

“Go, if you’re so afraid. When you choose this life, you must go all in. My brother was a bastard, but at least he understood that. He wasn’t some coward who ran and hid every time something like this happened. I figured you had more
cojones
than this, but it’s better I find out now.”

“Listen to me.” He knelt in front of her and grabbed her hands. “This isn’t about having balls or being the most macho on the block. When this has happened in New Orleans before, if the attacker was bigger and stronger than the people they went after, the little guy was completely wiped out. It made my life as an agent much simpler, but those poor bastards were still dead on the street. You want that? Because I know someone who would love nothing better than to put both of us out of our misery.”

“If you mention Cain Casey’s name to me, get out. You and my son have that in common. No matter what happens, you blame that bitch, and only her.” She wrenched her hands free and started to formulate a plan. “This time it’s not her, so start thinking of something else.”

“Why do you automatically think it’s not her? Your son tried to rape the woman she considers her wife and then ran. If I was trying to find him, this would be a good way to flush him out.” Jerome stood and looked at her with an expression of exasperation. That too was getting old. “But you’re right. This could also be someone like Hector Delarosa, and if it is, we can’t win.”

“Hector would never do this, and because you were on the other side of the law for so long, you wouldn’t understand that either. I’ve never moved against Hector, and he wouldn’t risk starting a war when we’re all trying to start up our businesses here.” She put on the hotel robe and started to comb back her wet hair. “No matter that you believe I’m as stupid as my son, I know enough. We’re growing, but not fast enough to worry someone like Hector. Rodolfo, I know, made a deal with someone named Gino Bracato, but that didn’t work.”

“It didn’t work because Cain is the main suspect in the deaths of him and his four sons. I’m not leaving, but I’m also not following you into the grave in some scheme to prove how tough I am.”

“What do you think we can do besides go home and hide under the bed?”

“If you want, we can go back to New Orleans and start asking questions. The most important thing to do first is to find Juan,” he said, and she cursed softly under her breath. “Don’t get twisted out of shape. We need to find Gustavo and pin him down about what he’s done to get close to Cain, her family or business partners. The only way to prove Casey had nothing to do with this is to know what she’s been up to lately. Gustavo prides himself on knowing everything he can find out about this woman.”

“Leave Gustavo to me, and to prove how much I trust and care for you, I want to do something for you. I planned to wait until we arrived back in New Orleans so everyone could watch, but their stories will be good enough. Know this, though, if you accept my gift, you’re tied to me for the rest of your life. How long that will be is up to you.”

“What gift can possibly be that important?”

Gracelia picked up the phone and talked to someone for a brief moment in Spanish. After she hung up, a knock sounded at their door and she opened it herself. Pablo looked at him as two of the other men dragged in Eduardo, who, because of the beating he’d obviously gotten, was having trouble walking on his own.

“What’s this?” Jerome asked.

“You wanted respect, and I’m going to give it to you,” she said, and motioned for the men to bend Eduardo’s knees so he was at her mercy. Lorenzo Mendoza was the man who’d watched out for her from the moment she’d decided to break out on her own, and he’d been in love with her.

She’d never let Lorenzo in her bed, but she’d used his affection for her to turn him against Rodolfo, and she still missed him. He was dead, something else her son and Jerome blamed on Cain Casey, but it didn’t matter to her. Once she’d figured out Lorenzo wasn’t coming back, she’d replaced him with Eduardo. He was a man who loved getting ahead more than he cared for her and wasn’t bright enough to hide that from her.