The sedan that picked up Santino at the hotel started driving southwest out of town and turned off eventually where a string of small fishing towns was located. All of them were sparsely populated, and the people who did live there were always suspicious of outsiders. A line of cars like the ones Cain’s group was in would be as obvious as a drunken guy masturbating in the middle of a Sunday mass.
“Doesn’t Emile keep his boat around here?” Cain said as they drove down the ramp off the highway. They’d let one of their people follow so they in turn could lose their own shadows. With Vinny and Jasper’s help that had been easier than usual.
“About fifteen miles in,” Remi said as they both watched the three cars with Santino. “How about I call him and ask him to get some of his friends to give us a buffer?”
“Tell him to drop Dallas at the house and come down and meet us. We might need him later since he’s familiar with the area,” Cain said of Dallas’s bodyguard.
It didn’t take long for a few pickup trucks to pull out in front of them and stay between them and the three sedans they were following. After another twenty miles, the sedans turned left on a dirt road and disappeared into what looked like a swamp. The pickup closest to them pulled over, and the guy got out and started walking toward them, waving them off the narrow road.
“You the guys with Emile?” the man said with a thick Cajun accent.
“That’s us,” Lou said, shaking the man’s hand. “What’s in there besides the makings of a good horror movie?”
“You don’t get out the city none, do you, cowboy?” the man said with a laugh. “There’s an old pier about a mile in, but that there’s the only road in or out since there’s water on either side. Rumor is the drug guys use it to bring that shit in from the Gulf. Pretty cars like that make me believe it.”
“Are you familiar enough with the place to go in without turning your lights on?” Cain asked.
“My truck’s not bulletproof, no.”
“Lou up there will go with you and a few others in the bed of the truck, in case there’s trouble, and we’ll be right behind you.” She thought of going it alone since this guy was a potential witness and was about to tell him that.
“I do that favor for you, friend, and you do one for me?”
“What’s the favor?” she asked, wondering if she’d be boat shopping after this.
“My little girls had to go live by their mama’s place because the judge man wouldn’t listen to me. My old lady can live with that bastard all her life if she want, but that man went to prison for touching kids. I want my girls out of there with me.”
“You drive me in there, and I’ll take care of it. I’m persuasive when I want to be.”
Cain and Remi got in the front and watched as Lou and a few others got in with their new friend. Right before they took off, a car came speeding up the road and stopped right next to her. It was Katlin and Shaun.
“Let me drive,” Katlin said, so Cain and Remi moved to the backseat. “We hung back to make sure Nunzio wasn’t with them, but the old man’s on his own on this one.”
The shooting started right when they turned off the highway, but their guide kept going in as if he did indeed have a bulletproof truck. He stopped as soon as the narrow road that appeared to hover over the swamp opened into a clearing large enough for a house to have once been there. Apparently, someone else had been waiting for Santino and had shot up the first of his vehicles, which was now almost standing up in the water after having gone off the side. The two cars following it had no choice but to stay and fight since Cain’s group had them hemmed in.
“Katlin, who are those people?” Cain said, crawling into the back of the SUV and retrieving a weapon. “Open up the back.”
“Let’s ask later,” Katlin said, turning to the right to use Santino’s remaining cars as a shield. “Shoot anything that moves,” she yelled as the night lit up with gunfire. They concentrated their fire on the four SUVs close to the water, while Lou and their guide kept Santino’s party under control.
Cain stepped out of the SUV and aimed her machine gun at the flashes coming from the direction of the water. Lou had brought enough clips to wage a war so she didn’t let up. When Remi joined her, the people shooting back immediately went down in number until the night went silent.
“Stop shooting,” a man yelled and came out with his hands up.
The guy in the truck aimed a spotlight at him. He seemed like the only survivor, but Cain wasn’t taking a chance. A few more shots rang out, but she guessed it was Lou shooting at Santino’s people when they tried to clear the road so they could get away.
“I’d take a stroll to see who the hell all these people are, but it’s darker than the inside of my ass out here,” she said, and Remi laughed.
“You alone?” Lou asked. “If you’re not, you’d better drop and roll. The order spurred another round of shooting, and Katlin, Shaun and Lou took the opportunity to advance to where Santino’s cars were and found only two people alive.
“I’m shocked the cops aren’t all over this place,” Cain said as she tried to make out anything in the darkness.
“You in the middle of nowhere here, my friend,” the guy from the truck said. “Ain’t no law or anyone else coming, but if you wait here, I’ll go see who’s left.” He took his white rubber boots off and got in the water. It took what seemed like a second for him to disappear.
“You couldn’t pay me to do that,” Cain said. “What do you think Santino was doing way out here?”
“All clear, friend,” their guide called out, and the man who’d stepped out to give himself up to Lou got up with his hands way over his head.
Lou jogged to keep up when Cain headed to the ring of cars along the water’s edge. None of the dead guys seemed familiar until she got to the third one and saw the blond hair. Nicolette was still alive but had gunshot wounds to the shoulder and right abdomen, the blood marring her suit.
“You bitch,” Nicolette said when she squatted next to her. “How did you know?”
“This is what you’ve come to?” she asked, shaking her head at the fact that Michel would allow his daughter to lead him in this direction. “You never did know your limitations did you, Nic?”
“Help me,” she said, holding her hands to her abdomen. “I can tell you what Hector has planned for you and that little family of yours.”
“That you would know seals your fate. Remember how you got here and who was responsible,” she said as Katlin stood behind her with her gun at the ready.
“How I got here?” Nicolette laughed weakly. “I got here because of you. Always you, who couldn’t learn to just accept that I love you and you belonged to me. Kill me, or I swear I’ll kill you the minute I’m able to hold a gun.”
Cain started to walk away.
“Cain, wait,” Nicolette screamed again. “Don’t leave—”
Katlin’s shot silenced whatever else Nicolette was going to say. Cain stopped and glanced back. No more loose ends, she’d vowed, but for once she wished Nicolette had gone home and back to the grapes she loved so much. Instead, she’d died in this mysterious place and would have no headstone or coffin in the French countryside of which she always spoke so fondly.
“Found these two hiding in the trees,” Lou said as Santino and some other guy glared up at her from their knees. “The rest of them are dead.”
“How’d you know about this?” Santino asked.
“The woman trying to kill you asked me the same thing, but I only wanted you. I’m not sure about the rest of it.”
“Look, they’re coming,” the only man alive with Nicolette, standing there with his arms up, said loudly as a power-sounding engine seemed to be getting closer.
“You know them?” she asked, and the guy frantically nodded. “Do they know you?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Make the transaction and don’t get cute. If I even think you’ve made a wrong move, I’ll make you sorry.” Cain glanced around her and waved everyone back. “Take cover. I don’t want to fire another shot tonight.”
Lou knocked Santino and the other man out and dragged him into the trees. They all watched as a cigar boat pulled up to the rickety dock. The man Cain had let live pointed to the cars Nicolette’s people had come in and seemed to be telling them a story. “Just help me get them on land and I’ll call for help,” he told the guy who didn’t appear to speak very much English.
“Freddie, you owe me,” the man said thirty minutes later before he shoved off.
“Freddie, what’s in the boxes?” she asked, and was surprised at his answer. “Mano, can you escort Freddie back to town and introduce him to Vinny and Jasper, please?”
“What about all that stuff?” Mano asked.
“Should fit in two of the Suburbans if we pack them up right,” Remi said, waving for Simon to pull their vehicle closer. “If not, leave the rest here and we’ll bring them with us after we take care of things here. Call Vinny and tell him you need a safe place to unload, and have this guy Freddie walk you through it.”
“And after he does?”
“Leave that to Vinny and Jasper. But if there’s even an inkling of a problem, cut him loose,” Cain said while Remi answered the phone.
“Feel like an airboat ride?”
They loaded Santino in the back and drove the few miles to where Emile kept his boat. The trip to his camp was always interesting at night, but she needed a secluded spot to talk to Santino about his plans for his very limited future. Emile hoisted Santino over his shoulder, and they followed him up the shaky stairs before he went back for the other guy.
Emile dumped the second guy on the floor, and then they waited for the two to come around.
“Do you think he knew Nunzio hired that guy to shoot me?” Remi asked.
“I can’t imagine Junior not telling him. Santino always comes across as the kindly grandfather, but he raised Junior and made it so the man didn’t feel comfortable making a move without consulting him first.”
“I wasn’t much different than Dalton in that regard,” Santino said softly.
“My father’s gone, old man, and I’m not the one laying on the floor bleeding, so I’m confident in that he taught me to stand on my feet without a prop.”
Emile picked up the other guy and set him on the empty chair at the table. The man groaned and blinked rapidly as his eyes opened. The lights were run off the generator outside so they weren’t extremely bright, but the blow to the head had likely left him with a splitting headache.
Cain pulled out a chair across from him and sat. “What’s your name?”
“Mike.” He glanced between the two of them, then reached to his side as if his gun would still be there.
“Mike, you work for Nunzio and Santino here, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question she was waiting for him to answer.
He didn’t answer, his eyes following Remi as she took out her cigar clipper and cut the end off the Cohiba she’d taken out of her pocket. Cain noticed it wasn’t the gold one she usually used at home.
“You want to tell me where Nunzio is?” Cain did expect an answer this time.
“You keep your fucking mouth shut,” Santino said.
“Let me tell you a little story. The last time I was here, the guy sitting where you are got his fingers taken off one joint at a time.” She turned sideways in the chair and casually crossed her legs as if they had all night. “My friend here took them off with that neat little gadget.”
Mike blinked again when Remi blew some smoke in his face.
“Look, I don’t know. I work for Mr. Santino. I haven’t seen Nunzio for a while now.”
“Okay, let’s try something easier. Who’s the blonde that bears a striking resemblance to the late Kim Stegal?”
“Where’d you see her?” Mike said, then clicked his mouth shut as if he’d said too much.
“A name, Mike,” she said, but he shook his head. “Okay, how about your plans for the future? How’d you get mixed up with Nicolette Blanc?”
“I’m a flunky. No one tells me anything,” he said, curling his fingers into his palms.
“That’s three questions you don’t know.” She shook her head.
Emile stepped behind him and pressed a large knife to his throat. “Open your hand.” He pressed the knife tighter against Mike’s throat, making him come up in the seat. “Put it on the table or I’m going to cut once and be done with it.”
Mike put his hand down, sweat beading on his forehead, and waited.
“You sure you owe this bastard this kind of loyalty?” Cain asked. She gave him a few long seconds to decide, the room quiet except for Mike’s panicked breathing and the repeated snick of metal sliding against metal as Remi worked her blade a few times.
“Nunzio’s in the hospital in Lafayette. He got sick in—”
“Shut up, you asshole,” Santino screamed. Emile kicked him in the head, silencing him.
“You were saying?” Remi prodded him with another few snicks.
“He got sick in Mexico where he went to see some guy named Roth Pombo in a jail down there. Santino and I stayed at the hotel, but Nunzio said he wanted to restart some pipeline of drugs this Pombo guy used to do.”
“The bottles of liquid coke, you mean?” Cain asked. The thought of Hector getting his hands on that idea made her take a breath.
“Yeah. Nunzio came back from seeing Pombo, but before he could tell us what the score was he got really sick, so Santino returned to town to wait for tonight.” Mike put his hands under his armpits, his eyes darting from Cain to Remi. “I really don’t know who that woman Nicolette is. If she was there tonight, she was with whoever started shooting the second we got there.”
“And the woman who looks like Kim Stegal?”
“It’s her sister, Tracy Stegal. She was with Nunzio at first, and they were really together for a while, but she left and he hasn’t been able to find her. He looked though.”
“Did Santino tell you who you were meeting at that dock tonight?”
“No. He doesn’t like to share too much.” He smiled and then started laughing. “Now you have to decide if I’m lying or not. The only way to know for sure is to let me go, and I’ll tell you as soon as you do.”
“What do you think, Remi?” she asked and moved back a little.
“I think it’s enough of the truth,” Remi said, and then Emile buried his big hunting knife in the guy’s chest. When he pulled the knife out, Mike slumped forward, his head hit the table with a muffled thump, and he gurgled his last breath.
Cain made a call to Ramon on the satellite phone Emile kept at the camp and told him where to find Nunzio. If they were able to get to Lafayette in time, they could maybe finish this tonight. But Cain would let her friend make that decision, and she’d do her best to back Remi up if she needed it.
Remi worked her cutter a few times as though she felt cheated of the chance to use it. She spoke without looking at the man on the floor. “I know you’re awake, Santino. So have the balls to open your eyes.” She kicked a chair over to him, and Emile grabbed him by the collar to haul Santino up and seat him in it.
Santino stared at Remi with an almost blank expression.
“Do you know what it’s like to get shot in the chest?” Remi asked, but he didn’t answer. “What, no smart comeback?”
“If you can’t understand it was only business, then there’s nothing else to say,” he finally said. “You, your father, or Cain would’ve done the same thing.”
“Business to you is killing someone’s child, a lover, a sister because they won’t buy something you’re selling?” Remi hit him before he could answer. “Junior’s dead because that’s what he thought. Your grandson will be dead before the sun comes up, and it’ll all be on your head.”
“The death of my family will haunt you for years to come. You can kill me, but that’ll be a huge mistake.” Santino lifted his hand as if to point his finger at her, but it dropped quickly when Remi shot him through the heart. It was a poetic thing considering what the Lucases had planned for her.
“Emile, are you sure about the guy who drove us down that road?” Cain was ready to go back and spend the rest of the night with Emma.
“I had him take the dead out to the Gulf. You won’t have to worry about him because his pockets are full of cash now. But mostly because he knows me and what’ll happen to him if he double-crosses us.”
“Then we’re almost done.”