As they rode over the rough Wisconsin terrain, Cain closed her eyes and rested her head on the neck support. The bundle she held against her chest was still, oblivious to the rocking. Aside from Mook, who was driving, she’d brought along only Lou and Katlin. Emma and Merrick were already well on their way to Maddie’s.
For once, she wished Hayden were a little older so she could’ve included him. Someday she’d tell him the whole story as part of his lessons for his future responsibilities, which included keeping the Casey secrets as well as their legacy.
They stopped next to a pitch-dark wooded area. After they entered the old stand of trees and walked about half a mile in, Cain noticed that the stars were barely visible, even though the trees were still bare. She had to give Mook credit for accomplishing what she’d asked. From the thickness of the roots, it couldn’t have been easy.
“I owe you a bonus, man,” Cain said. She now sat in the portable chair Katlin had carried for her, a lantern at her feet, and clutched her still-achy side. She could forget about it for long stretches now, but in the cold night air after a long walk she knew she still wasn’t a hundred percent.
“It took me two weeks because I only worked at night, so I’m thinking fifty-yard-line tickets for a couple of games next year for Hayden and me.” The hole they were staring at was deep and more than worth what Mook was requesting.
Carelessly, Lou dropped his load onto the mud near the hole, and in the stillness of the night Cain heard a moan. Giovanni Bracato’s eyes didn’t open after Lou slit the bag apart, and they stayed closed until Katlin slapped him hard across the face, which woke him up from the sedative Vincent’s men had given him.
Blinking rapidly, he tried to focus on where he was. He was sure he would wake from this nightmare and find himself in bed next to the young woman he’d hired for the night. The process by which he’d gone from her bed to a cold night on his knees had to be a dream.
“Personally,” Cain’s voice was low as she adjusted the lamp by her feet, “I like the city, but this place is starting to grow on me.” She waved to the surrounding area. “It really is more suited for nights like tonight than the sprawl of New Orleans.”
“You let me go now, and I might consider letting your family live.”
“You shut your mouth now, and I’ll let you live that many more minutes longer.”
Cain’s matter-of-fact tone made Giovanni stop talking.
“If you want a quick death, though, I’ll be happy to accommodate you.”
“Cut the shit, Casey. You aren’t going to kill me.”
Her chuckle came close to making Giovanni lose his temper, but he pressed his lips together and stopped talking again.
“Why do you think that?”
“You need me.”
She raised her eyebrow at that statement, so Giovanni rushed ahead. “For balance, you need me. Besides, my sons will never rest until they avenge me, and you don’t want that kind of shit.” The urge to take a shot was more important to him than his immediate safety, so Giovanni took it. “It’s less time for you to fuck that little piece—”
Lou hit him in the back of the head, pitching him forward and giving him a mouth full of mud for his words.
“Careful, Big Gino. I wouldn’t want you to die on me before we’re through.”
“Sorry, boss,” Lou said, even though he sounded less than sincere.
“No need. You just saved me the trouble.” Cain pulled her coat tighter around her. “Are you done, or do we leave you with Lou a little while till we kill all that spunk?”
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?” She put her hand on her chin as if to think of a good answer. “Not too much, really. I just wanted to have a talk.”
“That would’ve taken a phone call, so why all this?” Even though his hands were tied behind him, Giovanni could feel goose bumps rising on his arms. “Your father would’ve never tried anything like this. He understood the ways things were done.”
“Like having a coward kill him from a moving car? You’re right. I guess he underestimated how dishonorable you are.”
Had there been more light, Giovanni was sure Cain would’ve seen the vein in his neck pulsate. “Dalton was careless, but that had nothing to do with me.”
Cain’s head fell back a little as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I should start by saying that I told my wife this wouldn’t take long.”
Giovanni shrank back from her glare when she opened her eyes again.
“You wouldn’t want to make a liar out of me, would you?” Leaning in his direction, she balled her fist, and the blow knocked him back so far, Lou had to jump to catch him before he tumbled into the hole.
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Giovanni shook his head, trying to clear the blood out of his nose.
“Call it incentive to pay attention.” From her coat pocket Cain pulled a small pouch.
Giovanni spat, trying to get the copper taste out of his mouth, and almost hit Cain’s boot. “What do you hope to gain here? Aside from me making it my mission in life to kill you.”
“I gain knowing the truth of what happened. That’s all, really, and in a way, so will you.” Cain untied the drawstring on the pouch. “Actually, your new mission should be to ask for forgiveness.”
The clink of whatever landed in her palm made Giovanni crane his neck to see.
“I have all the truth I need, so there’s no reason to lie.”
“You do, huh?” Giovanni laughed and shifted in an attempt to get the circulation going in his legs again. “You’re a lot like Dalton.” He needed to tip the scales back in his favor. “Do you realize that? A taste for cheap whiskey and cheaper women, but weak for everything else.”
When he saw the first ring in Cain’s hand, any other words died in his throat.
“If I’m lucky”—the next ring came out of the bag—“at the end of my life, people will compare me to my father.” The third ring rolled out into Cain’s palm, but she didn’t look up until the last one came out and she returned the bag to her jacket.
“What have you done?”
“I observed your offspring, Giovanni. I watched them and how they lived.” She stretched out her hand so he could see the four signet rings clearly. “Your sons were very much like you. Do you realize that?”
“Were?” The possibilities of what Cain had said were almost too much for Giovanni to handle, but he fought back the bile in his throat.
“Did you think I’m so weak that I’d ignore your attacks on my family?” The laugh that followed had nothing to do with mirth. “No, Giovanni, you now have to atone for every action you ordered.”
Giovanni had always avoided tears, but they now flowed freely down his cheeks. “Please, not my sons. Anything but that.”
Cain raised the first ring and held it to the light to read the inscription inside. “For my brother Billy, you paid with Stephano’s life.” With a quiet thud it landed in the mud in front of Giovanni. “For my mother’s life, Michael’s sacrifice seemed to fall short, but it’ll have to do.” The next ring fell next to the first. “Marie, my sister, was an innocent soul, but your boys couldn’t respect that, and they gave her the most miserable of deaths.”
At the word “innocent,” Giovanni knew what name would come next, and the totality of his sins landed on his shoulders. His youngest, Francis, was too kindhearted to ever get far in his world, and Giovanni had kept him close so the vultures wouldn’t get near him. He was doing better after Giovanni had started to spend a lot of time showing him the business, but he still had a lot to learn. Through his tears he recognized Francis’s ring in Cain’s hand. A car accident had caused the ding on the side that his youngest son had never had repaired.
“Francis was your sacrifice for Marie’s death.”
Cain’s words confirmed his fears.