Читать книгу The Fighter Within - B. Cochrane Clark - Страница 6

Chapter 2

“What do you have for us today, Rachel?” Detective Cody Jackson asked Sergeant Rachel Jamison of the Helena Police Department, the officer in charge of the crime scene, as he and his partner Dustin Andrews made their way past the crime scene tape.

“Hey, Cody. Two vics, looks like husband and wife Paul and Maxine Gray. Maxine, age twenty-five, and Paul, age thirty-one. Her purse is there on the counter next to his wallet where we were able to get their IDs. Maxine is there in the kitchen, and Paul is in the hallway. She was shot twice, once in the stomach and the other in the chest. Mr. Gray was shot one time in the head. Looks as though he was coming down the hall, maybe he heard the first shots and was coming to see what was going on. Just speculation, but it’s a start.”

“Did you find any signs of forced entry? Oh, and tell me the killer was super helpful and left the gun he used here for us,” Cody joked. He had to try and lighten things any way he could. In his line of work, the things he saw daily would drive him to the grave if he didn’t.

“No such luck on the gun. The door was wide open when we got here. Which is why the neighbor Denise Feldberg called the police. She said she noticed it open first thing this morning when she went outside to grab her newspaper. She had assumed at that point that Mr. Gray had forgotten something and had to run back inside. Miss Feldberg said she had gone back in her house, read her paper, ate her breakfast, and showered before she came back down. When she peered out the window, she noticed that Mr. Gray’s car was still in the driveway and the door was still open. He usually left for work by seven thirty a.m. She said it just didn’t feel right, so she called 911 to have someone come and check on them. Nine-one-one operators got the call at nine fifteen a.m.”

“Have you spoken to any of the other neighbors? Did anyone hear or see anything?” Cody questioned as he looked around the small but cozy home, noting to himself that it didn’t appear to be a robbery as nothing looked out of place or missing. Cream-colored walls were decorated with pictures of the couple in different places. They must have traveled a lot because there were pictures from Hollywood all the way to New York and a bunch in between.

“We are still in the process of interviewing the neighbors. We will know more when all the interviews are finished up. Well, at least I hope we will. I also need to try and locate next of kin, so if you need anything else, give me a call. I’ll keep you posted on what we find out. Forensics is on their way and should be here anytime,” Sergeant Jamison informed Cody.

“Sounds good. Thanks, Rachel.” Cody nodded at her as she left. “Andrews, why don’t you check and see what you can find in the bedrooms and I’ll start here in the kitchen and living room. See what we can come up with.”

“Will do,” Andrews called over his shoulder as he headed to the back of the house.

Cody started his search by carefully sifting through the small stack of mail next to Maxine’s purse and both victims’ wallets. He scoured the living room to see if anything was out of place: no go. Money and credit cards in both wallets, mail neatly stacked on the counter, and everything else placed in its spot on the counters. Maxine must be a little OCD, or Paul was, but this house was extremely clean. Not a dish out of place or in the sink; the counters were spotless, as were all the appliances. He headed for the living room to see if he could find anything there. After a half hour searching, he still had as much information as he had in the first five minutes.

“I can’t find a damn thing out of place in this house. Do you find that odd or is it just me?” Andrews said as he returned from the back of the house.

“Yeah, this house looks more like a model home than one someone lives in. Someone was sure a neat freak. Let’s head back to the station and see if any of the interview reports are back in. Maybe that will give us a place to start.”

Walking into the precinct felt a little strange, but good. He had not been gone that long, but the last time he was on a case and back at his desk, he was with his old partner, Steve Daily. A pang of guilt cut through him and Cody had to brush it off quickly. This was not the time to fall apart. He had a job to do and people counted on him. If he didn’t keep his head in the game, he would end up in the same spot he had just gotten out of.

“Hey, Jackson! How’s your shoulder and ribs doing? You kind of look like shit!” Detective Jane Kincade roused Cody.

“Aw, thanks for the warm sentiments there, Kincade,” Cody teased back. He knew she was just messing with him, as they all did to each other. “My ribs still hurt like hell and my shoulder feels like someone put a point-forty-five bullet through it. Oh, wait someone did, I almost forgot. But seriously, they are getting better. I have a lot more movement in my shoulder than I did. Physical therapy, as big of a pain in the ass as it was, helped it out a lot.”

“Good! It’s been really boring around here with no one to harass. I had to stoop to harassing Andrews, and with him being such a newbie, he is kind of a pansy.” Kincade giggled as she devilishly grinned at Andrews.

“Hey, I can handle whatever you have to throw at me, I was just trying to spare your sensitive feelings by not giving you too much shit back. But now it’s on!” Andrews threw back at Kincade.

“Bring it on!” She laughed as she headed off to her desk.

Cody popped his head into Sergeant Kyle Roberts’s office “Sarge. Did HPD get those interviews over here yet?”

“Yeah, they’re piled up on your desk, that is if you remember where it is. Damn big baby! Let a little thing like getting shot and a few bruised ribs keep you from doing your job. I thought you were tougher than that!” Sergeant Roberts had to get his jabs in along with the rest of them.

“Well, you know, you don’t exactly let me take my vacation time, so I have to do what I have to do to get some downtime. Besides, that nurse was pretty cute. I almost faked another injury so she could keep nursing me back to health. But I missed you guys and all the love you share so much that I just couldn’t keep myself away. Shit, I was only gone three weeks, you act like it’s been months. I guess that just goes to show that you can’t live without me.”

“Holy crap, it’s getting deep in here! Why don’t you get out of my office and get to work!”

“Yes, sir, Sarge,” Cody hollered over his shoulder as he made his way to his desk. Across from his desk sat Andrews in the desk that used to be Detective Daily’s. That was going to take some getting used to. He and Daily had been partners since Cody was promoted to detective almost a year ago. The two of them closed more cases together than any of the other detectives in his precinct during that time, earning Cody only a short stay as the rookie. Now here he was with a rookie partner and he the lead detective. Cody hoped he could live up to the expectations of everyone he worked with, not to mention the victims and their families.

“I’ll start on this stack of interviews if you want to take that one and see what we can come up with,” Cody told Andrews as he reached for one of the two stacks that were piled on his desk.

“Sure thing, Jackson. I’ll grab us some coffee. It looks like it’s going to be a long day. Oh, by the way, welcome back.”

*****

Sydney stared at her computer screen, exhausted from the weekend with her sister. Never in her life would she have thought a little sister shopping trip could wear her out so much. Tessa had insisted on going into Missoula to the new bridal shop, which turned into going to four different bridal shops, three different bakeries, and she couldn’t even count how many florists.

By the end of Saturday, Tessa had narrowed the dress selection down to five, and settled on a beautiful three-tiered vanilla almond cake with the best cream cheese frosting Sydney had ever tasted. It was to be decorated in a bright white frosting with scarlet red roses and forest-green ivy swirling around it. To top the cake, she picked out a bride putting shackles on her groom’s ankles. Sydney chuckled to herself at her baby sister’s feisty spitfire sense of humor.

The flowers, on the other hand, seemed like a hopeless task. Tess knew she wanted roses to go with her cake. Other than that, yeah, she had no clue, but she needed to figure it out quick since there were only five weeks left until D-Day. Tess made Sydney agree to go back Friday to make a final decision on the dress so that there was time to have alterations done if needed. This whole wedding thing with her baby sister was going to suck every ounce of energy she had out of her. Luckily for Tess, she loved her dearly and would do anything for her. But stocking up on energy drinks, that she shouldn’t have, and coffee was going to be a must.

“Did you get that permit pulled for the house out on Monrow?” Bill Riley, Sydney’s father and boss, asked Sydney as he came to stand in front of her desk, snapping her back to reality.

“I did, and I’m meeting the inspector out at the job site on Wednesday with the crew to dig the test holes. The builders are faunching at the bit to get started. As soon as we have our portion done, they can get their permits and get started.”

“And what did the inspector say about the job up Willow Road?”

“Passed. We’ve already finished it up, and it’s billed out.”

“Oh, and don’t forget the inspection set up for tomorrow at—”

“Dad!” she hollered, interrupting him, “I’ve got this! I can handle it. If you want me to take this company over, you need to trust me to do my job. I’ve been working with you since I was a little girl, I think I know what needs done. If by chance I do not know how to handle or do something, I will come to you and ask for your help.”

“Okay, okay, I was just checking. I know you can do it, or I wouldn’t have put you in charge. I’m just out of things to do since you are doing most all the work I would be doing.”

“I know you are, but here’s an idea. I’m doing this so that you have more time to do things you want to do at work and more things at home. So why don’t you go and do them, like not in this office, out there in the wide-open spaces,” Sydney said, pointing at the door she hoped he would use to get out of her hair. She loved her dad very much, but it was hard enough with her own mind wandering, she didn’t need any more. Especially from a man who was just bored and didn’t know what to do with his spare time.

“Fine, I will leave you alone. I’m sure your mother has a list a mile long she’s wanting done. I could go see if she needs help. Or maybe I will just peek in on the crew and see if they need anything.” Bill chuckled as he headed out the door.

Turning back to her computer, Sydney started on the stack of paperwork that had piled up while she was helping the crews the week before. Yuck. Office work was not her favorite part of the job, but unfortunately, it was a necessary part of it. She had worked in the office some in high school as an after-school job and then again after she started college. She was just thankful that now she was able to also get out into the field and on the jobs. Running the whole business meant she needed to know all parts of it. Knowing the logistics of what needed to be done and actually doing the work were two different things. She had definitely learned a lot more since she had started going into the field. At first, Sydney got a shit ton of flak from the guys on the crew for being a woman. She quickly remedied that by kicking ass on the jobs and with all the equipment. Perks of having a father who would let you tag along and drive the equipment from a very young age.

Looking up at the clock, Sydney was surprised to see it was well after 4:00 p.m. “Wow, today went quick. I guess that’s a bonus for letting my crap pile up,” Sydney mumbled to herself. Shutting down her system, she cleared off her desk and neatly piled the small stack of work she was not able to complete but was sure, unless she got bombarded, that she could finish up tomorrow.

As she left her office, she ran smack into Ethan Callen. At six foot five and about two hundred and fifty pounds of mostly muscle, it was like running into a brick wall. “Holy shit, Ethan! Where the hell did you come from?” Sydney snapped at him. A little more hostile than she meant, but at this point in her life, surprises were not high up on her list of likes. In fact, she absolutely hated them.

“Whoa, you ran into me, sweet cheeks. What’s your hurry anyway? Have a hot date?” Ethan probed as he eyed Sydney top to bottom and back up. It made Sydney gag inside, something she could not let him see. She was not weak enough to give him the satisfaction of that.

“No, I don’t have a hot date, I’m just getting out of here because I have been here since seven. That’s long enough today. So, if you’ll excuse me, I will see you later,” Sydney managed to choke out without it sounding like she was going to puke on his mud-covered boots.

Pressing her way past him, Sydney thought she was in the clear to bolt when his hand grabbed hold of her forearm, whipping around and smack up against him. “How about you finally let me take you out, then? I promise it will be a night you won’t forget.” Ethan grinned with pride and an ego the size of Canada thinking there was no way she would deny him. Well, at least not again.

“I’m sorry, Ethan, I am not going out with you. I don’t date anyone from work. For that matter, I don’t have time for any man, nor do I want to make time.” Sydney tried to contain her panic and fury; after all, she did have to work with him, but if he did not take his sweaty mitt off her in about two seconds, she was going to have a come apart and he would be picking his Gigantor ass up off the ground. Pulling her arm from his grip, he let her arm slide free.

“Too bad for you, I would be the best you ever had.” A sly and cocky grin crept onto his face as he turned and headed down the hallway and out the back door.

Heading down the hall in the opposite direction, Sydney passed through the front office, said goodnight to the secretary who stayed until six, and wished her a good evening while trying her hardest to look composed while she hurried out the door and to her truck, a 1995 Ford her and her dad had spent countless hours rebuilding and fixing up for her. It was her first truck and was supposed to get her through high school, except she loved it so much there was no way on God’s green earth she would give it up for anything. It was nothing fancy, but with a cherry-red paint job, booming stereo, and four-wheel drive, it was all she needed. Climbing in quickly, she locked her doors as soon as she got her butt in the seat and the door closed. Even though Helena wasn’t huge, it was bigger than she liked and with a lot more traffic; she couldn’t wait to get out of the city and back home to her cabin. As she pulled out of her parking spot and into the thick of it, Sydney screamed at the top of her lungs, with anger and fear. “Why do I let pigs like that bother me?”

Cranking up the radio, she tried to lose herself in the music. She’d had a pretty good day up until that very last minute; she needed to let it go. Letting a couple minutes of shit out of a good day ruin the entire thing was not how she was raised, and she would be damned if she let him have that much control.

After making her way through the city and up and over MacDonald pass, she let the mountains and countryside start to take away her anger. Turning up the mountain road that led to her cabin, she had cooled down some and couldn’t wait to see her pup, who always had a way of making her feel better. As her cabin came into view, there stood Nikita wagging her tail hard enough her entire body wiggled. “Yup, that’s what I needed.” Sydney smiled to herself. “Well, that and a good run.”

Getting out of the truck, Sydney laid her purse and lunch bag on the hood so she could give Nikita ample attention. “There’s my baby. Did you have a good day? I missed you. You get to come with me today! You think you’re up for a nice long run? It’s going to be a long one today, Mom’s in need of some rejuvenation.” Sydney knew she probably sounded strange to others, but Nikita was the best to talk to. She always listened and never judged. “I’ll take this stuff in and change, then I’m ready.” Ten minutes later, they were on the front porch and ready to hit the dirt running. “Come on, Nik! Let’s do this.” Both of them bounded off the step and down the mountain road. This was definitely what she needed.