She dropped to her knees and Simon took her knife back before Kim fell forward, dead before her head hit the ground. Simon wiped the blade on Kim’s back before putting it back in her sheath.
“It might be hard to hear this, Nunzio, but it’s important for you to understand,” Cain said, making Lou tap Nunzio’s face to make him stop staring at Kim’s limp body. “The casino is ours. We’re letting you go, but if you return to Mississippi with thoughts of causing problems, that’s where you’ll end up.” She pointed to Kim. “You tried and it didn’t work out.”
“The casino’s mine,” Nunzio said, his voice despondent.
“Richard was who we needed,” Remi said. “That was your last strike.”
“If it takes me the rest of my life you aren’t getting away with this,” Nunzio said. “Why Kim?”
“Why Remi?” Cain asked in return. “We all have our reasons and we have to live with the results of our decisions.”
“This has you written all over it, so I’m coming for you first,” Nunzio said to Cain. “When I’m done, you’ll lose people you—”
Katlin’s phone rang and Nunzio shut up. “What? Slow down,” she told whoever was calling.
Cain’s phone rang next, followed by Lou’s. “Cain, hurry, it’s Emma,” Carmen said when Cain answered. “They took her.”
Cain felt like Simon had stabbed her through the heart. The panic rose so fast she came close to throwing up. Lou stopped her from running out the front door, but they sprinted the entire way back to the office where Nick already had the car running.
“What the hell happened?” Cain asked, part of her afraid to hear, and she didn’t expect answers—not yet.
*
“Do we have enough escorts for the movers?” Emma asked Merrick. They were in the den at Jarvis’s house and Emma had her date book out. “I made that mistake already and I don’t want a repeat.”
“I took care of it. Since we’re only moving small stuff, we didn’t need to hire that many guys.”
“If that’s the case, let’s go pick up Hayden’s gift.”
“The gunsmith called about that already?” Merrick asked, sounding surprised as she pulled her jacket on to cover her double holster. “He must’ve put in some time to finish so quick.”
“One of his assistants called this morning after Cain left and said he worked late last night to get it done. I would’ve thought all that engraving would take more time too, but I guess he wanted to make Cain happy.”
Emma followed a foot behind Merrick as they walked around the workmen, her hand on her stomach the entire time. The morning sickness hadn’t kicked in until she’d actually eaten something, making her regret she’d chosen waffles.
“It’s Hayden who’s going to be thrilled.”
Emma laughed. “I think my boy’s thrilled most days just with the fact that he’s Hayden Casey. The shotgun’s an added bonus—lagniappe, as Cain likes to say.”
The hunting trip Cain was taking him on was only part of Hayden’s gift for his thirteenth birthday. They had ordered a twelve-gauge shotgun identical to the one Cain owned, with a vine of Irish roses engraved along the barrel and the Casey family crest carved into the stock. Cain’s had been a gift from her father on her fifteenth birthday.
“True, but it’s nice that it’s ready a few days early,” Merrick said.
They turned right out of the drive, and Merrick glanced in the rearview mirror.
“Why do you suppose these guys are always so interested in our little shopping trips?” Emma asked when she saw Merrick’s attention still behind them.
“Shit,” Merrick said, speeding up.
“What?” Emma asked, squeezing the armrest to brace herself. The car rammed them from behind, making Merrick sideswipe a parked car. She righted them and punched the accelerator, but the car hit them again as they crossed an intersection.
In the more open space they were rammed hard enough that the car Merrick was driving turned sideways. The attacker then slammed his brakes on and threw it in reverse to give him more room to speed up and hit them again. This blow to the driver’s side pinned Merrick behind the wheel and broke her left arm.
Even though she was hurt, Merrick tried to get to her phone as Emma lay unconscious beside her. The last impact must’ve slammed Emma’s head into the window, because Merrick could see her blond hair was dripping with blood.
“Emma,” she yelled, trying to revive her. “Open your eyes,” was all she was able to say as her window shattered beside her from the force of Juan Luis’s gun butt.
“She’ll be easier to move if she’s out, bitch,” he said as he placed the gun correctly in his hand.
Merrick forgot about the phone and went for her weapon instead, as someone flung the passenger-side door open.
Anthony Curtis unbuckled Emma and jerked her from her seat and over his shoulder. Merrick framed the word “No” on her lips, but Juan pulled the trigger before she could get it out.
All Juan could do was laugh and stare at Emma in the backseat as they sped away. Anthony’s plan had gone off flawlessly, and he had what he’d most wanted from Cain.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said to Emma, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him. “And I promise it’ll be slow and long.”
“This is the beginning of Cain’s end,” Anthony said and laughed. “If that bitch had a weak spot, it’s ours now to do with as we please.”
“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Juan asked.
“I got the address from the file before I quit. It’s the last place Casey will look, which will only prove she’s not the big shit everyone thinks she is.”
“Let’s go have some fun then.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
The police had barricaded the intersection where Merrick’s car sat mangled. An ambulance was screeching away, and the police had to hold Cain back to keep her from chasing it down.
“It’s not Miss Emma,” Carmen told her over and over. They were only a block from the house so most of the staff was outside waiting on news. “It’s Merrick, she’s been shot.” Katlin shut her eyes and brought her fist to her mouth.
“Katlin, go,” Cain ordered. “You’ll be of no use to me here.”
“You don’t need to—” Katlin said, looking at her as if Cain had punched her.
“If you love her, go. Some things are more important than anything or anyone else. If you have to concentrate on something let it be Merrick—she deserves it.”
“Boss,” Lou said. “The cops said Emma wasn’t here when they arrived, and the people who called it in said only Merrick was in the car.”
“Miss Emma left with Merrick, I saw her,” Carmen said.
“Somebody rammed them and took her,” Lou said, as if Cain hadn’t figured it out. “Emma’s gone.”
Cain roared like a lion that had lost its mate. “No one saw anything?”
“Our boys said a black Tahoe followed the car out but they figured it for feds,” one of Cain’s men said.
“The feds,” Cain said, as she scanned the crowd and found Joe and Claire looking on. “Who was it?” Cain asked Joe. “You vultures are always watching, there’s no way you missed this. Tell me who.”
“We tried, Cain, but our people didn’t get here in time, even if that isn’t their job.”
“Your job is to protect the innocent. My wife’s done nothing to deserve this, so your job was to protect her.” Cain grabbed Joe by the lapels and shook him. “Tell me who, you son of a bitch.”
“It was Juan Luis,” Claire said, “and we’ve put out an APB on the car.”
“Well, if you did that I can go home and put my feet up and wait for Emma to come home. Your job’s done and I’ll buy you a drink later,” Cain said sarcastically. “Was your fellow agent with him? Because we all know Juan couldn’t find his ass by himself if someone put a gun to his head and said go.”