The Devil's Orchard (14 page)

Gustavo dropped the phone into the cradle and pinched the bridge of his nose. The sweat he’d just noticed was adding to the sour odor he couldn’t get out of his nostrils. He needed a shower, a meal, and a long stretch of sleep.

His teak box was his greatest need, but it was still back in the shithole hotel room they’d been renting. Thank God he’d thought ahead and its twin sat on the desk.

“None of you will escape me,” he said after he’d snorted a large amount into both nostrils. He whispered the threat again and gladly welcomed sleep.

*

“What’s the matter?” Judice asked. Fiona had been an hour late, and her mood had been horrible since she’d opened the door to her room.

“Nothing,” Fiona said, but to Judice she resembled the pouty five-year-old who’d been denied a cookie.

“Nothing doesn’t usually make you rude toward your mother.” She finished putting on her lipstick and went to sit next to Fiona so she could take her hand. No matter how Fiona acted, she’d always brought her an abundance of joy. Having Fiona had filled the emptiness in her heart that no man had come close to accomplishing. “Let it out. It’ll make you feel better.”

“I rode out with Sept Savoie this afternoon, and it started out okay since someone like her can teach me the rules here. Her dad is the chief of detectives, so she has to be twice as good as everyone else. That’s something I’m familiar with.” Fiona seemed relaxed, and if she’d been talking to anyone but Judice they’d have missed the small signs, like the fast words that meant she was enraged about something.

“Did she say something you didn’t like?”

“We ended our day at Cain Casey’s home, and Sept insisted on staying to eat. Don’t worry. I still want to go out with you because being there killed my appetite.” Fiona rubbed the ring she’d given her years before with her thumb. “The way Sept treated that idiot was enough to make me sick.”

“You think Sept is dirty?” Maybe this was a way in, and she could use it to get Fiona out of here.

“They went to school together and became friends even though Casey’s an animal. They have this give-and-take relationship, and Sept tries to get information out of her. I’m sure she’s got to give up something, and I bet it’s a lot more than she’s getting out of that deal.”

“If it’s not Sept, then was Casey rude to you?”

“No, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to start hanging out with the type of people I’ve sworn to try to bring down.”

Fiona sighed, and Judice figured whatever the problem was now simmered at the surface. “If you’re this upset, either Sept is turning a blind eye to what Casey’s doing because she knows what Casey’s doing, or Casey wasn’t happy she brought you there and treated you accordingly,” Judice said.

“It’s not that at all,” Fiona said, the harshness gone. “She did seem so normal, and I didn’t expect that. She has a partner and a family that loves her. I could see that in how they interacted with her. I’ve wanted that all my life, but I’ve never had time. Besides, no man has ever been interested after a first date when I tell them a little about myself. Who knew a badge could be so emasculating?”

“I’m sorry,” Judice said, since Fiona’s childhood had been missing so much she hadn’t been able to provide. She’d actually been terrified to try.

“Is this the daddy lecture again?”

It hadn’t been as hard as she’d thought to explain how it’d always be only the two of them. No man was in the wings waiting to swoop in and take her dead father’s place. “It was a discussion, not a lecture, but I wasn’t the best example when it came to relationships.”

“Stop apologizing. You’ve been doing it since I turned eighteen, and it’s not necessary. I know my sperm donor’s dead, but eventually I’d like you to trust me enough and get comfortable enough to tell me something about him.” Fiona stood and took her hand again, ready to leave. “Nothing you say is going to upset me. I’m too curious to get mad.”

“Sometimes the truth about something is better than picking it to death. This isn’t one of your cases, so let it lie.”

“What choice do I have?”

“Would you rather skip this?” she asked, and Fiona squeezed her fingers. “I can appreciate you had a bad day, so don’t feel like you have to entertain me.”

“The day did suck, but I want to have dinner with you. I promise that we’ll take a trip to the past, but only when you’re ready. I won’t ask about it again.”

“Thank you.” Judice had enough money to retire to a comfortable life, but she was on the brink of losing her greatest treasure—Fiona. “I love you.”

She hoped it was enough.

*

“We lose him,” Chico said into his phone as he pulled the hair on the top of his head. The heat had a lot to do with the amount of sweat pouring off him, but he was sure it had more to do with the fear of what would happen to him for this screwup.

“Where?”

“He go to the bathroom and go to window. He gone before we know to look.” The silence from the other end unnerved him, and a tingle started from the small of his back to his neck. “We look for him, and I call you back when we find him.”

“Don’t take too long. Do we understand each other?”

“
Sí
, I mean, yes, I understand.” He hung up and pressed the phone to his forehead. He’d been allowed to come from Mexico with strict instructions to watch Gustavo and keep him from doing anything stupid.

That’s a job he understood since this wasn’t the first crew he’d worked for. Before this he’d kept the son of one of drug lord Caesar Kalina’s enforcers in line. The kid had thought since his father killed people for Kalina, he could do anything he wanted. From what Chico had seen, the first and perhaps second generation of each family knew what it took to stay on top. Once they became successful, though, they indulged their children to the point of raising whiners who had a fit if they didn’t get their way.

Gustavo was there for something, but sitting outside film shoots and sulking near the same locations were typical of an overindulged heir who’d get everyone killed the moment he took over. The problem was, he didn’t know anyone named Katsura.

The American Gracelia had brought in was doing his best to pull the organization together, but the men hadn’t been quick to warm to him. It’d been only after Jerome had made the tough calls on more than one occasion that they understood the danger of going against him. No crew was successful unless its men had a real fear of failure. If they didn’t realize their actions had consequences, there’d be total chaos.

Chico tapped his phone against his head a few more times and thought of the chaos getting ready to rain down on him because he’d fucking lost some loser who was important to Gracelia Ortega and her enforcer.

“He’s not back at the room,” one of his men said.

“Put somebody at each of the places he loves going every day. This guy’s crazy enough to go back because he can’t help himself. If they see him, call me, and if we lose him again I don’t think I have to tell you what’ll happen to us.”

“Who is this stupid shit?”

“I don’t know,” Chico said as he started to walk toward Bourbon Street. Maybe Gustavo had a sudden urge to see naked women. “But Jerome wants him found, so we’re going to find him.”

Hopefully somewhere along the line he’d figure out who this guy was, which would give him more leverage with Jerome. Or he could just kill the guy and maybe Jerome would assign him to something more important than babysitting duty.

*

“Cain, you have a call in your office,” Carmen said as Cain started up the stairs with Emma. “I tell them you were retiring, but he say it’s important.”

“Thanks, Carmen, I’ll take it.” She kissed Emma and placed the hand she was holding on the rail. “Keep the bed warm for me and I’ll be right up.”

“Don’t take long,” Emma said.

She nodded with a smile and wondered what else had happened that couldn’t be put off until morning. It certainly didn’t have anything to do with her, since she was waiting for the first part of her plan to flush Gracelia out to work. Once she had Juan’s mother in her sights, Juan would be easier to find.

“Hello,” she said into the phone as she stared out the window at the guard on the wall. The man was smoking a cigarette but still appeared vigilant.

“Señora Casey,” a man said, and she zeroed in on the voice, trying to figure out who it was.

“Yes, who is this?”

“It’s Carlos…Carlos Luis now. My father Rodolfo wanted me to take his name.”

“I remember you,” she said, really confused now. When she’d had to break the news about Rodolfo being found covered in ants and honey with a lot of bullets in his chest and head, she thought she’d seen the last of him. “Can I do something for you?”

“I have information for you,” he said, his English much more practiced since the last time they’d spoken.

“Okay,” she said, and stretched the word out.

“Juan Luis, he is in New Orleans.”

The strength went out of her legs and she dropped into her chair. She’d looked forward to hearing that statement, yet feared it. She couldn’t eliminate Juan if she couldn’t find him, but having him in the same city as Emma and their family made her want to throw up.

“Señora, you hear me?”

“I heard you,” she said, and took a deep breath to try to calm the nausea. “Please call me Cain.” It took effort and concentration to stay seated, since she wanted to get up and run out and find Juan. She opened and closed her fingers to try to release the anxiety. “How do you know Juan’s here?”

“He call me, and my men don’t get all we need, but we know New Orleans is where he call from.”

Juan had killed his father, a man who’d admitted who he was to Carlos right before his death, so it confused her as to why he’d share this information with her. She and Rodolfo weren’t friends. “Can I ask why he called you? Rodolfo left everything to you, and Juan went with his mother, from what I hear, so he didn’t have any reason to.”

“He call to tell how he kill my father, and how he cry before he is killed. Juan say my father has no, how you say, honor,” Carlos said with the Spanish pronunciation.

“Carlos, may I call you Carlos?”

“
Sí
, please.”

“Your father and I weren’t friends, only because he allowed Juan to disrespect my partner Emma and didn’t do anything about it.”

“He try to find Juan for you.”

“He did, but only after he’d realized what kind of man Juan had turned into. But let me finish my thoughts before you think I’m only condemning Rodolfo. We weren’t friends, but after he asked to do business with me and I refused, Rodolfo left me alone. He was not my friend, but he wasn’t my enemy, and I believe he was a man of honor.” It was as if she had a swarm of wasps under her skin, but she couldn’t rush this. Carlos knew something and she didn’t want to scare him away.

“Thank you, and I don’t agree with my father when he do nothing the first time Juan see your Señora Casey and he talk to her like she a whore. He no do nothing and Juan go more brave to try again.”

“We talked about what happened the last time he saw Emma and what almost happened. If I’d found him maybe your father would still be alive.”

“I call you because if he come back, your family no is safe.”

“Thank you, and I owe you a favor for telling me,” she said, and decided not to worry about what Carlos might want in return.

“I want one thing from you,” Carlos said softly. “Give me Gracelia.”

He understood her need to kill Juan, to watch the life drain out of him, taking with it the threat to the safety of her wife. “Not Juan?”

“When I come to America we talk some more, but Gracelia must pay for what she done. Juan was
estúpido
as a boy and he never have to grow into a strong man. My father knew this. Gracelia took that weak in him and talk, talk, talk to Juan until he hate my father. Juan kill him, but I blame Gracelia, so he belong to you, but she must give me what I lose in blood.”

“Is she here as well?”

“Only Juan call me, but I think you look and you wait for me if you find her.”

“Call me when you arrive and I’ll tell you anything I find out.” She hung up and leaned forward to rest her head in her hands.

“Do you know the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life?” she heard Emma ask before she felt her smaller hands on her back.

“No, but it’s moments like this that should prove to you why, no matter what happened between us, I could never hate you. You left for something similar, and I never could punish you for it.” She felt like a child afraid of monsters hidden in the closet. Control and ferocity had always been her strong traits, but Juan had gotten in and made her remember what had happened to her sister Marie. If she wasn’t careful she’d look away for a second, and Emma and her children would be gone.

“The night I decided to fly back here after what I’d done to you in Wisconsin was the longest, most fearful of my life.” Emma pushed her back and sat in her lap. “You were so angry when you’d left, and I thought you’d never see me, much less forgive me. That you’d cut me out was my biggest fear. I couldn’t imagine a life without you.”

“Maybe you should’ve,” she said, to indulge her self-pity.

“Don’t ever say that to me again.” Emma framed Cain’s face with her hands and roughly made her look at her. “You are mine, and you are what gives my life meaning. Do not
ever
disrespect that or me again.”

“You’re too forgiving,” she said, and smiled even though it took effort. “That animal took you. He took you and strapped you to a table. If I hadn’t gotten there—” She couldn’t finish and she couldn’t stop the tears that fell. No amount of time or cajoling on Emma’s part would ever make her forgive herself for that mistake.

“You did get there, my love. That’s why what happened wasn’t the most horrific day of my life. You promised me in the beginning that there’d never be a moment you wouldn’t be there for me, loving me, protecting me, and making my dreams come true.” Emma kissed her and wiped her face with her fingertips. “Those promises gave me faith in the future we’d have together.”