Читать книгу The Fighter Within - B. Cochrane Clark - Страница 7

Chapter 3

“Nothing. That is what we have. It has been four days and absolutely nothing. Even trying to contact next of kin was a bust. No one in their contact list seemed to know who we were talking about, that is if anyone answered at all. The only people who seemed to know who they were, were the neighbors and their bosses. Then there’s also the fact that nobody saw or heard a damn thing. There were no strange cars or people. Whomever did this must have been a ghost, or a stealthy little ninja. When I spoke to their employers, they had both said about the same thing. They showed up for work on time, hardly called in sick, and were decent workers. Neither of them sounded overly ambitious, but did their jobs well enough.” Cody grumbled to his partner. “Mrs. Gray worked as a clerk down at the grocery store on Fifth and Main. Her shift was nine to three Tuesday through Saturday. Mr. Gray worked as a mechanic downtown eight to four Monday through Friday.”

“You did go back and talk to all the neighbors again, including Miss Feldberg, right?” Cody continued, hardly taking a breath.

“Yeah, sure did, and you are right on the nose there. We have squat, except next time you get Miss Feldberg. I could hardly get out of there, she’s a talker. Unfortunately, everything she needed to say had nothing to do with this case, but I am pretty sure she would have done her own strip search if I had allowed it. Not that it would have mattered. The damn woman was undressing me with her eyes the whole time I was there.” Dustin tried to complain, but his face told a different story.

Cody didn’t bother holding back his amusement as he chuckled and taunted Dustin. “As fifty shades of red as your face is, I’m thinking she was really going more for a shade of gray. Maybe you could let her make good use of those handcuffs, break them in for you.”

“She’s not getting anywhere near my handcuffs or any other part of me.”

“Oh, come on, Andrews, let yourself have a little fun. She could probably teach you a thing or two.”

“I’m perfectly fine in my little sheltered love life. I have work and a good woman at home. That is all I need. Besides, you are not one to talk. When was the last time you went on a date?”

“You know, I can’t really remember. I do remember it was a blind date set up by my sister and her husband, and it turned out awful. She never shut up and pretty much only talked about herself. I don’t think I have ever met someone so high on themselves. I am perfectly content in my life with work as my mistress. Now, in your case, you are almost thirty and probably need to start looking for a good woman. I don’t think your dog counts. Although she will be more loyal than any woman you can find and won’t nag at you all the time. On second thought, I think you’re probably on to something. Let’s head back over to the crime scene. I want to take another look. We had to have missed something,” Cody blurted out in a quick subject change as he threw on his jacket.

“Trying to follow your thought process is like trying to herd cats,” Dustin mused. “You almost think you have it under control, and then all the little buggers split and dart.”

“I know, keeps people on their toes. I wouldn’t want anyone getting bored.”

As they made their way across town to the crime scene, Cody couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with this case. There had to be something left behind. He couldn’t believe anyone could be that big of a neat freak. Even his father, who had been extremely anal about the house and all of his things being kept clean and maintained, didn’t hold a candle to this house. The more he thought about it, the more the house seemed like a spec home that nobody lived in. He also couldn’t figure out why the door was left wide open. Someone who was that careful to leave no evidence behind would surely shut the damn door when he left so as not to arouse suspicion.

As they pulled up and stopped in front of Mr. and Mrs. Gray’s house, Cody asked, “How old do you think this house is? It looks like it could be about a hundred. I mean, very well kept, but it must be one of the few original structures left. I think we should pull the records on it when we get done here.” Cody looked at Dustin only to find he was looking at Cody like he thought he should pack his shit and head to the loony bin.

“I don’t know why yet, but something tells me we need to know the history on this house,” Cody explained to his partner.

“Whatever you say. You are lead detective on this case.” Dustin grinned as he climbed out of the car and headed for the crime scene. “Have you heard back from forensics on the bullets found in the victims’ bodies?”

“No, they’re busy working some big drug deal case in Missoula. They said it could be a week or more. The medical examiner’s office is getting pretty frustrated with me for calling them so much, pushing them to finish their autopsies. Not that it will stop me from calling, but so far they haven’t found anything.”

“This all seems very neat and clean. Not very often do you find a double homicide without some sort of mess around it,” Dustin surmised.

“I know, and I just can’t shake the feeling that something is off with this house. I mean, really, who lives like this? Not a paper on the counter, outside of a small stack of mail, a dish in the sink, or a book on the table. No shoes sitting around or anything.” Cody huffed.

“There is a full wardrobe in the closet, but I swear they have never been touched. No dirt on the shoes or stains on any of the clothes. In fact, most of them look all but brand-new.” Dustin looked around the kitchen. “Do you think they were maybe getting ready to sell it? That could explain some of why the house is so neat and tidy.”

Dustin’s thought process made sense; maybe Cody was just overthinking things after what had happened to him.

“So besides trying to get you out of your uniform, what did Miss Feldberg say?”

Automatically, Dustin’s face turned red again, but he quickly turned his head and focused his attention on the house, looking as if he might have found something of use. Of course, he wasn’t quick enough. Cody just chuckled to himself and let Dustin think he had gotten away with the sleight of hand, so to speak.

“Just that the Grays seemed pretty routine. He left about seven thirty in the morning every weekday, and she left just after him, except she also worked Saturdays. She said they worked too damn hard because neither one would get home until super late at night. She had invited them to a couple of neighborhood BBQs, but they always, in her words, ‘made some piss-poor excuse,’ so eventually she stopped asking. Denise said it always took them forever to answer the door. The first time she went over there, she was about to leave thinking they must not have been home, when Maxine finally opened the door.”

“Denise, huh? First-name basis with the nice neighbor lady.” Cody grinned with satisfaction in making his new partner turn red. Again. “So, if they were both off in the early afternoon, what took them so long to get home?”

“Maybe they met up and ate dinner out together. That could help explain the lack of food in the house,” Dustin speculated.

“Possibly, but that’s a very long dinner, and every night? That seems like a stretch. We need to find out where they would go after work. I haven’t had time to check their bank and phone records. We’ll do that first thing in the morning. I’m going to head to the bedrooms. You check out the living room and kitchen,” Cody suggested to his partner. “Maybe a fresh set of eyes might pick up something the other one of us may have missed.”

“Sure thing, although I don’t really get why we’re going back over the house when the forensics team has already been here and collected anything that could possibly be evidence.”

Cody smirked. “You know me, I don’t trust that anyone can do as thorough of a job as us.”

Dustin rolled his eyes and teased, “And by ‘us’ you really mean you.”

“No, absolutely no.” But even saying it, Cody knew he was probably right. That was something he really needed to work on, he thought to himself as he headed to the back of the house to search the bedrooms.

After searching both bedrooms and the bathroom again, Cody checked his watch, surprised to find it after 6:00 p.m. “Damn, I didn’t realize how late it was,” he said to his partner as he made his way down the hall and back into the living room. “Find anything?”

“Well, maybe. Is it just me or do these photos all look photoshopped?”

Cody stared at the photo his partner handed him. “You know, possibly. But if so that’s impressive Photoshop skills.”

“Not necessarily, could just be a great program. My sister has this awesome Photoshop program that does pretty amazing stuff, even if you’re an amateur.” Dustin pulled another picture off the wall.

“We need to take all these into the forensics lab and see what they can find on them,” Cody said, thinking to himself that maybe Dustin could hold his own after all. Not that he had ever given him a reason to think otherwise. It was just one of Cody’s quirks he needed to work on. Trusting others was not his strongest suit, and the last time he did, it didn’t end well.

“Sounds good to me,” Dustin agreed.

“Let’s get out of here and get these pictures to the lab, then call it a day. It’s a beautiful old home, though. I wouldn’t think on their salaries they could afford something like this. Not that it’s huge, but it is rather nice. Someone must have restored it at some point to take it from the late eighteen hundreds or early nineteen hundreds to modern times. Anyway, tomorrow we will start with their personal records and see what we can come up with there as well.”

“Sounds good. Hey, Jackson, we’re having a guy’s poker night Friday, you should join us.”

“Man, that sounds like a hell of a time. Way better than my plans, but I promised Stetsman I would go with all of them to the caterers to pin down the menu.” Cody was only half dreading the evening. He was happy for his best friend, but weddings, no thank you.

Dustin’s face filled with confusion. “Who all is going?”

“Jake, his soon-to-be-wife, and her sister, the maid of honor. I have met his wife, Tessa, several times. She’s a spitfire but really sweet. I haven’t met her sister, though. Should be nice and uncomfortable.”

“Sister, hmm. And you said maid of honor, so she isn’t married. Maybe you should be the one to step out of your comfort zone,” Dustin said, looking pleased with himself for being able to finally get a shot in on his partner.

“Yeah, not going to happen. I have my own crap to deal with, I don’t need some dame and her drama to add to it.”

“Look at the pot calling the kettle black.”

Cody grumbled under his breath as they headed out to his car and back to the station. He needed some time to himself. He would never admit it to anyone, but being back in the thick of it was exhilarating, yes, but it also drained him.

*****

“Tess, they are all beautiful, but you can only wear one, and this one is it, if you ask me. I know it’s not my decision, but you look amazing.” Sydney gushed over Tessa and her dress. The dress was simple but elegant with strapless shoulders, high waist just under her breast tied up with a small red satin ribbon that had a beautiful delicate bow in the front and long tendrils that tied in the back and then ran down the length of the dress. Not all that traditional to have color on your wedding dress, but it was so elegant and striking. It fit Tess’s personality perfectly, pure with a streak of fire.

Evelyn smiled softly at her youngest daughter. “She’s right, Tess, that dress looks like it was designed just for you.”

“Thank you. I agree, I love this one. It will go with the flowers perfectly as well, the red roses—and thank God I finally found the other flower I wanted. Don’t you think white lilies are perfect? I mean, we could have gone with the gardenias, they were beautiful too. Do you think I made a mistake? Should I have gone with the gardenias?”

Evelyn could tell Tess was starting to panic. Walking over to her daughter, she softly reached for both of her hands and held them in her own. “You made the right choice. Calm down and breathe. The lilies are beautiful and they go amazing with the red roses.”

Sydney watched her sister’s stress melt away. It was amazing to her how their mom could ease her sister, and herself for that matter. In just a matter of a seconds. A soft touch and kind words, and all the love her mom held in her heart, made everything okay, no matter how bad things got.

Sydney remembered when she had first woken up in the hospital. She had been so confused. She hurt so badly, but couldn’t for the life of her think of why she would be in the hospital and why she felt like a train ran her over. She was struggling to wake up and her brain was mush. There was a nurse to her side taking her blood pressure.

“Good morning, Sydney, I’m Nurse Jillian, so glad to see you open those beautiful eyes of yours.”

Why was she so groggy, and why did she hurt so bad? Trying to move and sit up, a hand laid softly on her shoulder. It was her mom. Thank God, a familiar face. Sydney looked to her mom for answers, but all she saw in her eyes was heartbreak. “Mom, what’s going on? What happened? Why am I in the hospital? Did I get in a wreck? Why do I hurt so bad?”

“Shh, calm down, it’s okay, Syd. It’s all going to be all right. You just need to breathe. I’m here.” Her mother assured her of this while she stroked her hair and held her hand.

“I’ll go get Dr. Anderson, let him know she’s awake,” Nurse Jillian said as she hurried out the door.

Her mother continued to hold her while they waited for the doctor, stroking her hair and rubbing her thumb across the top of her hand as she had so many times growing up. It wasn’t long before the doctor came into the room. Sydney hoped he had answers for her.

“Hi, Sydney, I’m Dr. Anderson, how are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit by a freight train and it drug me a mile before it dumped me in the mountains to die alone. What happened? Was I in a car wreck? Because I don’t even remember getting into a car. I don’t understand why people will not tell me what is going on.” Sydney was starting to freak out, and if she didn’t get answers soon, she was going to blow.

“It’s okay, Sydney, it’s perfectly normal to not remember right away. What you went through was very traumatic and your mind has blocked it out. You may or may not ever remember what happened,” the doctor explained.

“Back to my point, what in the hell happened to me!”

“Sydney, dear, calm down, Dr. Anderson will explain everything, but you need to calm down.” Evelyn’s voice was stern but soft, something Sydney was very familiar with growing up. This meant you had better listen to her before you were in big-ass trouble. How, at the age of twenty-three, her mom was still able to make her stop her attitude and listen was beyond her.

“You were not in a wreck or hit by a train. Sydney, do you remember anything from the other night?”

“No, doc. I don’t. If I had, I wouldn’t have to ask you!”

“Sydney!” Evelyn snapped back.

“Sorry, no, I don’t, and what do you mean the other night? How long have I been in here?”

“Since early Sunday morning. You were brought in about one a.m. We sedated you for forty-eight hours to help your body heal after the surgery. It’s important that you try and stay calm and not add more stress to your body. It’s Tuesday morning, Sydney,” Dr. Anderson explained.

“Well, this beating around the bush about what happened to me isn’t helping my stress level. So please just be straight with me and tell me what happened.”

Dr. Anderson looked almost pale as he tried to find the words. After all his time in the medical field, it was still never easy. “Sydney, when Helena PD arrived at the scene from the nine-one-one call, they found you unconscious with your clothes all ripped up. Your face had been slammed into something hard enough to break your nose and your cheekbone. It also appeared you had been raped. The rape test came back confirming that. You also had slight hypothermia from being out in the freezing cold with barely any clothes on.”

Sydney couldn’t believe that this conversation was happening, or that it was about her. No way! She looked to her mom in hopes she would say it wasn’t true, but the sadness and heartache she saw looking back at her was all she needed to confirm what the doctor had said.

She had been raped. Something inside of Sydney died at that very moment of realization. Tears welled up in her eyes as a much deeper pain set in. Her mother took her in her arms and held her, like she was a broken child. Who was she kidding, she was a broken child. Sydney couldn’t remember how long she cried and how long her mother held her for; she just remembered in that moment, that was the only place she wanted to be: in her mother’s arms.

“Sydney! Hello!” Tessa barked at her sister.

“What? I agree with Mom, the dress and the flowers, all great.”

“Are you okay? What’s with you? You were completely zoned out. We were trying to figure out where to eat brunch. Any suggestions?” Tessa stared at her sister with concern in her eyes.

“Right, brunch, sorry. I was just thinking about the Monrow job. Need to get it finished now that the test holes are done, and we have our permit.” Sydney flushed as she tried to look casual. But Tess and her mom had seen right through her; they knew her way too damn well and she knew it. She was so thankful that they both gave her what she needed at that moment and pretended to believe her.

“Let me get out of this dress and we will get out of here. I say that breakfast place downtown. Remember the one we went to last month? I can’t remember the name, but it was dang good.”

“Oh yeah, the Sunrise Café. That was really good, I’m in for there,” Sydney agreed.

“Sounds good to me. French toast with my two favorite girls in the whole world. That sounds like a great way to finish an amazing morning.”

Tess made a small squeal of excitement as she headed to the dressing room to change out of her dress.

“It has been a great day, and productive,” Sydney said. “Tess finally picked the rest of the floral arrangements and the dress. Now all we need to do is to meet up with the caterer early this afternoon. I wish you were going to be there with us, after all, you have the most culinary knowledge.”

“Culinary schooling eons ago doesn’t really count,” Evelyn stressed.

“You are also the best cook any of us know,” Sydney protested.

“Which means you have tasted the best and know what you are looking for,” Evelyn gloated. “I do wish I could be there, but your cousin Becky has a game tonight and I promised her and your Aunt Emily I would be there. I also have to get some things done beforehand. Our team is kicking butt so far this year. With any luck, they will make it to state.”

“That’s awesome! I will be sure to catch a couple of her games.”

“She would love that. She has always looked up to both you and Tess.”

“Who has?” Tessa said as she came out of the dressing room area.

Evelyn looked over her shoulder and smiled at her youngest. “We were just talking about your cousin Becky.”

“Oh yeah! She’s kicking ass this year!”

“Language!”

“Sorry, Mom, kicking butt.” Tess laughed at her mother for still correcting her for her language and at herself for still listening.

“You ladies ready to get out of here?” Evelyn asked her girls as she gathered up her purse. “I’m starving.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Both Sydney and Tessa answered in unison as all three of them headed out of the bridal shop.

“Mom, I’m going to ride with Sydney, if that’s okay. We will meet you at the Café. Does that work for you?”

“Sounds great. That way I can just head out to what I need to do when we are done. I’ll see you girls there.” Evelyn climbed into her SUV.

“Oh, Syd,” Tessa said, “I just talked to Jake. He and Cody will be able to meet up at the caterers! That’s such a relief. I really didn’t want to make the food decision without Jake. You’re going to love Cody, he’s funny and so sweet. Oh, and not to mention, pretty easy on the eyes…” Tess ginned and winked at Sydney.

“This is not a setup! I am not interested in dating anyone.” Sydney felt panic start to grip her chest at the thought of someone touching her.

“Whoa, calm down, I was just saying he’s cute, not that you need to make the man your husband.” Tess held her hands up in surrender as she defended her words.

“Sorry, Tess, I didn’t mean to bite your head off. Just want to be clear that this is not a matchmaking session.”

“It’s not, I promise, but you do need to play nice and maybe get to know him. He’s Jake’s best friend and I hope we all get to spend a lot of time together. I don’t want Jake losing his best friend time over me, and I sure as hell don’t want to lose my best friend time with my sis. So even if he looked like Uncle Fester, we would still all be hanging out together. It’s just a bonus for both of us that he’s more of a Captain America.” Tess smiled and winked at her sister.

“Captain America?” Sydney questioned as she rolled her eyes at Tessa’s analogy. “And you are getting married. You shouldn’t be looking at all.”

“Maybe not quite Captain America, but definitely on that end of the sexy scale. And I am getting married, not dying. I can still enjoy a good-looking specimen. Now let’s get out of here before I waste away to nothing.”