The Devil Be Damned Read online

  Synopsis

  Cain Casey is close to getting everything she wants. Her partner Emma is pregnant with their third child, her children are safe and happy, and her business is still thriving despite the FBI’s vendetta. Life is perfect on the surface, but it’s the underbelly that worries her. Her long-time enemy Juan Luis and his new partner, rogue agent Anthony Curtis have disappeared; her cousin Muriel has gotten serious about Shelby Philips, the FBI agent in charge of the Casey surveillance team; and her business partner, Remi Jatibon, is facing trouble from her new love Dallas’s secret past.

  While Cain struggles to defeat a new enemy—a woman who just may be her equal when it comes to destroying those who stand against her family—an unimaginable betrayal may bring Cain’s charmed life to an end.

  The fourth book in the Casey Family Saga series

  The Devil Be Damned

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  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  By the Author

  Carly’s Sound

  Second Season

  Calling the Dead

  Blue Skies

  The Cain Casey Saga

  The Devil Inside

  The Devil Unleashed

  Deal with the Devil

  The Devil Be Damned

  The Devil Be Damned

  © 2010 By Ali Vali. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 10: 1-60282-159-3E

  ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-159-0E

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: August 2010

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Shelley Thrasher and Stacia Seaman

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  Acknowledgments

  Writing is a solitary exercise that you share only with the characters who tell you their story, but once that’s done it takes a team to complete the journey. Bold Strokes Books is my team, and I’m grateful to Radclyffe for her leadership, encouragement, and enthusiasm that have given me the freedom to grow as a storyteller.

  Thanks to my editor Shelley Thrasher, a true Southern lady who wields a red pen with authority. Every book is always an adventure, and always a learning experience. Thanks to Sheri for another great cover. Your vision is always spot on. To Connie, Kathi, and Nicole, thanks for taking the journey with me and letting me know when I took any wrong turns. Thanks also to Stacia Seaman for a great job in putting the final book together and for always teaching me something new. Your input is invaluable.

  To the readers, thank you for your encouragement and really kind words about these characters. Your kindness is what keeps me at the keyboard.

  This last year was tough with the loss of my mom. She was one of a kind, and she taught me what true courage is until she left us. I know she’s no longer in pain, but I miss her. Thanks, Mami, for loving me, and for the sacrifices you and Papi made to give us a better life.

  Thanks to my partner. You’re my best friend, therapist, personal shopper, and safe haven. You’ve given me over twenty-five wonderful years that make me look forward to every tomorrow. Sharing my life with you is my own happily ever after, and up to now our life together is the foundation from which I draw to write romance. You are a gift and I love you.

  Dedication

  For C

  A lifetime is not enough

  &

  For Mami

  You are missed but not forgotten

  Chapter One

  The recent haircut was stylish and made the beautiful face it framed appear as it had the day Cain first saw it. The pink dress was loose but still showed the slight belly that held the future. Obviously the new look was intended to erase the image of what Cain saw as her own mistakes and worst failures.

  Emma Casey was perfect. Not because of her appearance, but simply because her partner of fourteen years, Derby Cain Casey, knew she was.

  Cain felt in control of the life she’d built because she was. But here before her was the exception to every rule and the person she thought about as she ran her business. Emma was as strong as she was beautiful, and she loved fiercely and devotedly. She’d given Cain happiness, children, loyalty, and love by choice, not out of fear.

  “Is it the fish or the company that’s got you so down tonight?” Cain asked after watching Emma play with her food. “You push that around any more and someone from the kitchen will probably come take the plate away from you.”

  “I’m sure it’s great, and I love you, but you know what pregnancy does to me. I suppose I ordered fish because I feel like a school of them is swimming around in my stomach.” Emma finally moved the dish away and concentrated on her water instead. “I’m not very good company tonight, am I?”

  “You don’t have to make small talk with me, lass,” Cain tapped the side of Emma’s head gently, “but if something’s swimming around in here as well I’d like to know what it is.” When Juan took Emma a little of her spirit had died, and some of Cain’s along with it. Failing her wife so completely when she’d needed her most had made Cain lose more than a night’s sleep, and no new haircut would erase the image of Emma strapped down like an animal ready for torture.

  Emma nodded to the waiter when he came over and removed the dishes, then placed her hand over Cain’s. “It isn’t what you think.”

  “What do I think?” Cain asked, and took a sip of her wine.

  “That you failed me.”

  The statement was simple and direct. They had danced around the subject from the day Emma had been released from the hospital, so it was almost a relief to hear Emma finally say it. “We both know I did, and every day I don’t find that bastard is one more day I continue to fall short.”

  “Oh, my love,” Emma said, and her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t believe that. I only said it because I know that’s what’s been driving you. We’re here, we’re whole, and we have so much to look forward to. Despite that, I’m sad that you’re focusing so much energy on finding those two that you’re missing out on this special time for us.”

  “I know you want me to forget, but I can’t. That’s not how I’m wired.”

  “I know exactly how you’re wired, mobster, but right now I need my wife back.” Emma smiled. “In case you missed it, I’m going to have your baby, but before that happens I need you to hold my head when I’m puking and rub my feet when I gain the twelve hundred pounds that are coming. Not to mention the two kids we have already.”

  “Is that your way of telling me I’m losing sight of the big picture?” Cain said, her attention diverted briefly to her main bodyguard, Lou, who was paying the bill.

  “You could never ignore me and the kids completely, but even when we’re alone, I know you’re thinking about that day. When the time comes you’ll be ready, so let it go just a little. Trust me, I worry enough for both of us.”

  “That’s not what I want to hear,” Cain said as she helped Emma up. Their night out had been the first in a very long month, and Cain had only agreed because they’d reserved a private room at Vincent’s restaurant. “I’ll try my best, but the hardest
person to forgive is myself.”

  “Juan the idiot has stolen enough from us, so I refuse to give him my fear.” Emma kissed the top of Cain’s hand. “And I refuse to let him make you doubt yourself, my love. I trust you with my life and, more importantly, the lives of our family. Do you think my love for you blinds me? You can take care of anything he throws at us.”

  “You might be a little biased, Mrs. Casey, but sometimes that’s not a bad thing.” Cain waved the waiter away when he approached with the dessert tray. “If Vincent’s trout in lemon-butter sauce wasn’t the right choice tonight, how about a cup of hot chocolate and a beignet?”

  “Only if we can have it at Café Du Monde,” Emma said, and shook her head when Cain began to refuse. “Honey, I’m tired of being inside. Besides, you have to relax a little.”

  Emma put her hand through Cain’s elbow as they started out of the restaurant. “Our little adventure robbed Hayden of his birthday party, and I want to make it up to him.”

  “I’m as relaxed as I’ll get for a while. In case you forgot,” Cain scanned the area as intently as their guards when they reached the door, “your being pregnant always makes me crazier than it does you.”

  “But we’ve got a few months to go.” Emma kissed Cain when she got into the car. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m looking forward to your hovering. When I was carrying Hannah, I was miserable for a lot of reasons, but I missed being the center of your protective attention the most.”

  “Remember what you said when I insist on carrying you everywhere.” Cain laughed softly close to Emma’s ear and rested her hand on Emma’s middle. Their child as well as their future rested on her shoulders. If something happened to Emma or their family she wouldn’t be able to conjure up any more forgiveness for herself. “I love you, lass, and I’m looking forward to adding this little one to our brood.”

  “That’s why I want you to not worry so much.” Emma put her hand over Cain’s. “We deserve to be happy.”

  “I’ve got a couple of things on my to-do list first.”

  “You’re not a slacker, so I’m not concerned.”

  *

  “The last time you asked for this you did an about-face, so what’s different?” asked Annabel Hicks, lead agent of the New Orleans FBI office. She slowly flipped the pages of Shelby Phillips’s open file as she spoke.

  “I’m in a unique position now, ma’am.” Shelby had asked for this meeting but knew better than to set the pace. For the last year and a half she’d forgone a personal life after she’d been assigned to the New Orleans bureau in their organized crime division. But her dedication was about to pay off.

  Her first small undercover job as an attendant on Vincent Carlotti’s plane had thrilled her at first, but on a cold night sitting in a field somewhere outside Wisconsin, she’d met the most fascinating but terrifying person she knew.

  Cain Casey had held her life in the palm of her hand along with the bugs Shelby had planted that night, and she’d allowed her to walk away. Cain had promised that what had happened would stay between them, but she was also the head of one of the crime families in New Orleans. Along with Vincent and Ramon Jatibon, she ruled the other side of the law Shelby was sworn to uphold.

  Just as Cain had surprised her that night by showing mercy, she continued to surprise her every day now that Shelby led the surveillance team that battled Cain. She was as elusive as she was seductive.

  “By ‘unique position’ do you mean Muriel Casey?” Annabel asked. “If that’s it, get back to work. We both know Cain is a criminal, but she’s not stupid. You going steady with her cousin won’t suddenly make you part of the family.”

  “This isn’t high school, ma’am, and Muriel is only part of it. My opening came a month ago and I took it. From what little Muriel has said on the subject, Emma Casey is fine now, but Cain won’t forget what happened or the fact that I was there to help. It’s now or never if we want to get inside the organization.”

  “You do this and your team won’t be able to get to you if something goes wrong, partly because we’ll be the only two in the office who know about it.”

  “I’m not worried. Cain knows me, but that day in that house with Emma tied to the kitchen table for Juan Luis’s sick pleasure, I was on her side, and she knows it. That’s the moment I’m planning to capitalize on to build our new relationship.”

  Annabel fell back in her chair and knocked the tips of her fingers together. “Tell me why you pulled the plug on your first undercover operation and I’ll consider it.”

  The file open in front of her boss held her attention. Had Cain somehow passed along the details of that night, knowing a day like this would be in her future? If so, the lie would cost her. But this was more of her own personal test since she would never even consider this new assignment if she didn’t thoroughly believe she knew the woman who was in her sights every day.

  “I was afraid I’d been made. Once that happens you can’t fight the fear, and nerves will get you killed.”

  “Are you sure that’s all?” Annabel glanced at the open page.

  The memory of the night Cain had provided information on Barney Kyle that proved he was dirty came to mind, and Shelby thought of something her father always told her when she asked why he picked law enforcement. “The devil is tempting not because he’s hideous, but because he’s beautiful. It’s when you’re in his grasp and you’ve gladly sold your soul that he finally shows his true face. Only then it’s too late.”

  Cain was easy on the eye, but it was time to show the world her true face. “No, ma’am, that’s all it was.” The decision to lie was easy. Cain wouldn’t ruin the chance to play with Shelby.

  “Give me a few days and I’ll get back to you.” Annabel closed the file and smiled.

  Now Shelby was certain she’d known nothing. Cain had kept her word. “Thank you, ma’am, you won’t be sorry.”

  “More importantly, make sure you’re not sorry you took this chance.”

  *

  Anthony Curtis could hear the mosquitoes swarming around them as they lay in the tall grass near the Rio Grande in south Texas. Next to him Juan Luis slept, his head propped on the red jacket he’d bought at a gas station the day before, NASCAR embroidered across the back in black letters.

  Anthony’s skin itched too much to sleep, and even if he could ignore that, the air was so heavy with heat it felt like a weight holding him down. As the horde of insects buzzed around Anthony, bile rose in his throat. This shit of a place was as far from Quantico, Virginia, as you could get, and he’d never return to the life he’d built a brick at a time.

  He’d fallen from exemplary FBI agent to pariah and target in less time than it would have taken to point his gun at his head and pull the trigger. His former bosses would punish him for all his wrong choices, but that wasn’t what fueled his nightmares. He’d tattooed a target on his forehead the moment he taunted Cain Casey into a fight he thought he could win.

  He and Juan had left before Cain arrived to find Emma in the same position her sister Marie had died in, but he knew what her reaction would be. His partnership with Juan had started as a farce, but they wholeheartedly agreed that the path to bringing Cain down started and ended with her family, especially Emma.

  Their story was well documented in Cain’s FBI file, and Anthony knew the power of Emma’s reach into Cain’s heart. Even though Emma had once betrayed Cain, she was the mother of Cain’s children and remained the solid foundation of Cain’s life.

  “You dumb motherfucker,” he whispered to himself.

  In his need to show up Annabel and bring Cain down, he’d screwed with the one person who mattered more than anyone to Cain. And not only had he tied Emma on Marie Casey’s alleged deathbed, he’d done it on the order of Juan Luis, who’d propositioned Emma more than once.

  Cain would kill both of them when she found them, in one of her unusually inventive ways. That’s why he was lying in a ditch with Juan now, waiting for Juan’s mother to
sneak them over the border into Mexico.

  Juan’s uncle Rodolfo would’ve turned them over to Cain himself, or at least that was the word on the street. There was family loyalty, and then there was getting Cain off your ass for a nephew who’d defied you. Obviously Rodolfo’s choice had been easy.

  “Nothing yet?” Juan asked without bothering to lift his head.

  “Border Patrol went by an hour ago, but I doubt they’re looking for anyone running in the opposite direction.”

  “Don’t worry. My mother’s coyote is the best in the business,” Juan said, stretching so hard the bones in his neck cracked loudly. “That’s who she had to turn to after my uncle the pendejo threw her out.”

  “What’s the story with that?” Anthony asked, if only to forget about the heat. He should’ve been considering the credentials he still carried and how he could use them to help him, but those were as worthless as his life right now. He had to worry not only about Cain but about Annabel and his old coworkers too. “I thought Rodolfo was like a father to you.”

  “Rodolfo kill my father before I was born, so he can fuck himself if he thinks of me as his son. The sick hijo de puta probably wanted my mother in his bed.”

  “He told you that?” he asked, surprised Juan was so forthcoming.

  “Tío Rodolfo don’t have the balls for that. My mother told me what I need to know.”

  In the distance Anthony heard a vehicle of some kind approaching, but didn’t move. It was probably the Border Patrol swinging back around. The engine sounded different, though, and then it stopped, making the insect noises loud again.