“Excuse me for a minute, would you? And no, I live alone.”
Bob stopped at the edge of the flagstone and stared at Remi. The hatred she’d seen in his face before appeared only briefly, then was replaced by a smile so wide it made him appear freakish. If he intended to join them or to spend time with Dallas, the heated but short conversation Remi witnessed put those ideas to rest. That is, until they reached the gate again and Bob held the door shut with his palm.
“No fucking way, Dallas,” Remi heard him say as she walked up.
“Dallas, you were getting your shoes,” Remi said, never taking her eyes off Bob. “Are you about ready to go?” She stepped closer. “Unless you wanted something, Dickey?”
He opened his mouth wide enough for Remi to see the fillings in his top molars, but just as quickly closed it and took a deep breath. “Just a few minutes of your time to discuss Dallas’s contract.”
“I’m sure Dallas isn’t going to have a problem getting a fair deal for the sequel, but I’m not in a position to discuss that right now.” She lowered her eyes to where his hand was wrapped around Dallas’s bicep. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Since you’re new to this business, let me give you a word of advice.” He yanked Dallas closer to him. “It’s considered taboo to speak to someone without their representative present. Keep that up and no talent will want to work with you.”
“I appreciate your concern when it comes to my family’s business, but since you’re not familiar with the way we operate, let me give you a little advice.” Remi held her hand out to Dallas, which she quickly accepted, making Simon step forward. The actions made Bob let go.
“We don’t respond well to threats. If you don’t like the way we conduct ourselves, then I suggest you suck it up and do the best by your client, and leave your personal feelings outside the negotiations. If you can’t, then I’ll give Dallas some free advice—to find new representation.”
“Dallas doesn’t go anywhere or do anything without me,” he said, pointing at Remi. “She knows how long her leash is and isn’t likely to do anything stupid.”
Remi squeezed Dallas’s fingers when she began to say something and cocked her head in the direction of the house. Dallas took the message and started for the door, but stopped to look back every so often. “Something tells me you have a story to tell, Dickey. Do you plan to tell it willingly, or is it going to take a little persuasion on my part?”
“I did a little digging on you, and you and your family don’t scare me. You should be afraid of what I can do to you.”
His jabbing finger came within an inch of Remi’s chest, and she shook her head in Simon’s direction to keep her from doing anything. “Like I said, I don’t respond well to threats. That’s why I rarely issue any, but in your case I’ll make an exception.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I don’t know Dallas very well…yet. But if I find out you’re hurting her in any way, you’re going to remember today. You’re going to remember it because it’s the day you had the chance to walk away and didn’t. You’ll be thinking of that opportunity as your scariest nightmare unfolds, and it’s worse than anything you could dream up.”
“Big talk, Ms. Jatibon, but where I come from we don’t take people like you seriously. We take you for a walk in the woods and get rid of the problem ourselves. I don’t need any backup.” He pointed to Simon.
When Remi started laughing, Bob’s face got red. She heard the screen door open behind her, but Dallas didn’t move from the doorway unless she was still barefoot. “I’ll keep that in mind, and I look forward to talking to you again soon. Now I believe you were leaving.”
As Remi finally turned around to see where Dallas was, the gate closed behind Bob. The last thing she needed was someone with baggage, and she had a feeling Dallas came with a cartload. Her mother came to mind, though, and she headed toward the girl with her hand out. Ramon had taught her to be strong, but her mother had tempered that quality by preaching justice and charity.
Dallas Montgomery was beautiful, but she was clearly a woman in need of both.
Chapter Fourteen
“Come to gloat?” Barney Kyle walked into his side of the drab room and sat in the only chair facing the glass that separated him from the free world.
Cain spread her hands out and shrugged. “God knows what you would’ve dished out if I was on your side of the glass.”
“What in the hell do you want?”
She laughed at his impatience. “What’s the rush? It’s not like you don’t have tons of time on your hands, and only that little cell to run back to.”
“Actually, I’m glad you’re here.” He leaned forward, almost pressing his nose to the glass. “If only to tell you how much I enjoyed that night I pulled the trigger. Seeing you down and bloodied was the highlight of my career.” His smile widened when she lifted her fingers to her chest where the scar from his bullet was. “No matter how hard you try to forget me, that hole will make it impossible.”
“When you’re sitting on your cot, do you ever think of what a waste your life has been? That you worked so hard for something but you’re a complete, miserable failure?”
“Ha.” He slapped the thick glass but it didn’t move. “You think this is over?”
“In more ways than one, actually,” Cain said with a smile, enjoying the exchange. This was the first time she’d actually talked to Kyle face to face.
“Tomorrow I’m going to court, and when I’m done the federal prosecutor’s not going to have any choice but to let me go. I’m too valuable to lock up, and if that argument doesn’t work, then I’m still in a good position. I know too much for them to take the chance of pissing me off.” He sat back, looking to Cain like a man who was about to begin to enjoy all the rewards of his wrongdoings. “Annabel doesn’t have the balls to take me on.”
“Spoken like a man who’s spent his life observing it from under a rock.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
She sighed and reached in her coat pocket for something to hand to the guard on her side. “It means that you’ve spent your life in shadows watching other people live theirs, only you did it for your own gain and not for the reasons you took an oath. You made a pact with a demon to bring me down, but if I had to guess, Giovanni has done his best to disavow you. Your patron, if he shows his true colors, has turned his back on you and will do everything he can to destroy you before you get the chance to do the same.” She stopped so the guard could hand Kyle the gift she’d brought him. “You’re all alone, Barney, and that’s not a good position to be in when you’re in jail.”
“What the fuck is this?” He held up the gold-embossed prayer card Bishop Andrew had gotten for her after she’d asked for it. On one side was a novena written in scrolling letters and on the other was St. Michael in the pose most people were familiar with—his foot on Satan’s head and his sword raised in his right hand ready to strike.
“Just a reminder.”
Kyle held the card to the glass as if she’d forgotten what it was. “Of what? A reminder to pray for good things to happen to me?”
“I’m not that presumptuous, and I could give a fuck about your soul, so no.” She tapped her finger to the picture he still had pressed to the glass. “This is to remind you that before you go hunting the devil, you should know your own demons.”
“Getting religious on me, Casey? If you think that’ll get these assholes off your ass, you’re crazy.”
“I don’t waste my time on wishful thinking, and I’ve finished what I came for today.”
“So you’re not here to gloat and only come bearing gifts?” He put the St. Michael card in the pocket of his gray jumpsuit. “This doesn’t make us even, and it sure as hell doesn’t make us friends.”