The Cain Casey Series
Volume One
by
Ali Vali
The Devil Inside
The Devil Unleashed
Deal with the Devil
The Cain Casey Series
Volume 1
Brought to you by
E-Books from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com
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By the Author
Carly’s Sound
Second Season
Calling the Dead
The Cain Casey Saga
The Devil Inside
The Devil Unleashed
Deal with the Devil
The Devil Inside
Derby Cain Casey was groomed from birth to take the reins of the Casey family enterprises, which just happens to be one of the major crime organizations in New Orleans. Surviving by never turning away from a fight and knowing how to win at all costs, Cain is as careful with her heart as she is with her business—until she met Emma Verde.
The farm girl from Wisconsin puts a hit out on Cain's heart and leads her down a dangerous road filled with great joy and devastating sorrow. The Devil Inside is the story of unexpected passion, a shattering betrayal, and the challenge of love put to the test.
First in The Casey Family Saga
The Devil Inside
© 2006 BY Ali Vali. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 10: 1-933110-30-9E
This electronic book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.,
New York, USA
First Printing Bold Strokes Books 2006
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 (graphicartist2020@hotmail.com)
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Radclyffe for believing in my writing and for her input into this story. I could have found no better home than Bold Strokes Books and no better family to help me grow as a writer.
After two years I’ve grown rather fond of the characters in this story, so I want to thank Shelley Thrasher for taking such good care of them. She has treated them and me with such respect, helping me to tell their tale with her expertise and infinite patience in editing. Thanks also to Stacia Seaman for her input in bringing the final product to print.
Thanks also to my partner for constantly asking the most important question of all, “What happens next?” I’m looking forward to a lifetime of answering.
Dedication
For C
My Guide, my love
Chapter One
A steady rain fell over a sea of dark umbrellas clustered around a pale canopy. Two lone figures sat beneath it, next to Marie Casey’s gleaming, flower-decked casket. A dark-haired woman and a boy.
Father Andrew Goodman had feared he would one day preside over the funeral of a Casey sister but had never imagined Marie would be the one. He glanced toward the woman he had expected to bury young.
Derby Cain Casey—Cain to those who knew her—sat with one hand on her son’s shoulder and the other on her sister’s coffin. She looked deceptively calm, but beyond the face she revealed to the world, Father Andrew glimpsed a cold, terrifying rage. Before this was over, she would exact her own unique form of revenge. Blood would be spilled for the injustice dealt to the Casey family.
“Let us all remember Marie, the kind spirit whom God has called home.” Father Andrew observed the large congregation gathered around him in the Metairie Cemetery just on the cusp of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. The mourners seemed lost in thought as they recalled their own fond memories of the young woman.
“To her parents, Dalton and Therese, she was a blessing from heaven whom they cherished from the day she entered their lives. They said that often after her birth. To her brother Billy, she was someone to protect and love, and he did so until his final day here with us.”
He removed his glasses so he could wipe tears from his eyes. The Lord could have cooperated with better weather on the final resting day of the beautiful girl he had baptized twenty-six years before. It didn’t matter to the over two hundred people who had turned out, though. Many of them were more familiar with Marie’s family than the young woman they were there to honor. The Caseys’ contributions to the community through charitable giving and deed were as renowned as the way they allegedly earned their money.
“And to her sister, Cain, and nephew, Hayden, she was a harbor from the storm.” Father Andy put his glasses back on and smiled at them, hoping to provide a little comfort. “Derby, I’m confident your parents and brother were all waiting with open arms to welcome her home. And with your family, I’m sure they had a party that’d do all the Caseys proud.”
Cain disregarded the sniffles and laments of the family members standing nearby, but graced the priest with a nod for his generous words. They were only words, though, coming nowhere near to quelling the fury she felt inside for what had happened to her sister. Her life had often been marked by loss, but to lose Marie cut deep.
The man who had killed Marie obviously intended for Cain to dream for months about what he had done. He wanted the images of Marie’s rape and torture to serve as a permanent reminder of how Cain had not only failed Marie, but her father as well, since she had inherited from him the responsibility of watching over Marie after his death. The killer had wanted her to remember that her sister had taken her last breaths alone and in pain.
If his intent was to brand her brain with his savagery, he had succeeded. Marie’s barbaric murder had killed a part of Cain’s soul as well. She would long remember every bite mark, bruise, and cigarette burn on Marie’s body.
Soon, though, she would temper those cruel memories with the salve that came only through revenge. The man who stole Marie’s dignity before pulling the trigger to end her misery would pay with blood and a world of pain. His price would be a thousand of Marie’s lifetimes before she was through with him and God heard his pleas for the sweet peace of death.
No one in her life had loved her so unselfishly as Marie. As Father Andy continued his eulogy, Cain remembered the day Marie had turned ten.
“Derby, do you think I’m pretty?”
“No, Marie, I don’t think you’re pretty. I think you’re beautiful. You get any more that way and Billy and me will get into more fights than we’ll know how to win. You’re going to grow up so gorgeous, we’ll be beating them off at the door, there’ll be so many boys after you.”
The little black-haired girl held out the sides of her new pink dress and smiled into the mirror. “No, Derby, I want to grow up and take care of you.”
“Why do you say that, birthday girl?” Cain locked eyes with her and smiled back. No one could bring a smile to her face easier than her little sister.
“’Cause you look like someone who’s going to need looking after.”
Out of the mouth of babes, wasn’t that the old expression? At thirty-six, a much older-feeling Derby Cain Casey lost track of what Father Andy was saying and looked to the oak box that held her baby sister. I’m so sorry, Marie. You did such a good job of taking care of Hayden and me, and I wasn’t there when you needed me most.