Читать книгу The Fighter Within - B. Cochrane Clark - Страница 8

Chapter 4

Cody sat staring into his cold cup of coffee thinking about when had been a beat cop on the job for about two and a half years. He had been called to a bar where a woman was found in the parking lot beat up with her clothes ripped to pieces. He had taken care of her until the ambulance came to get her. The next day, he had gone to the hospital to see how she was doing and see if she was up for answering a few questions. According to the doctor, she had a broken nose, shattered cheekbone, and some broken ribs, but the doctor had said she would be all right after a good bit of healing time.

He had stepped into her room to ask her a few questions on the incident. Her rich brown eyes squinted through the swelling and the tears. She hadn’t seen the guy who’d done it. He had come from behind and covered her mouth, beat the crap out of her to the point she lost consciousness. She couldn’t recall much more than that.

As tears fell down her swollen face, he desperately wanted to reach out and comfort her. He wouldn’t, of course, but he couldn’t help being drawn to her for some reason. Those eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. They were filled with sadness and pain, yes, but underneath there was a burning fire.

As he was wrapping up, Detective Miller had come in. He had taken Cody’s statement and told him he would take it from there. Stepping out of the hospital room, he had been sure that he would never see the girl again. Over the next few weeks, he had checked in with the detective several times to see if there was a break in the case. Unfortunately, the DNA they had gotten from under her nails and the rape kit came up empty. Either this was the deadbeat’s first time or, more than likely, he had just never been caught.

The ringing of his cell phone brought Cody back to reality. Shit, where did that come from, he thought to himself before answering his phone. “Hey, Jake, how’re things going?”

“Good, are you about ready? Tess will be angrier than a hornet’s nest someone took the garden hose to if we are late.”

Cody laughed. “Oh please tell me you are not afraid of that sweet young gal?”

“Hell yes, I am! You have no clue, she is all sugar and spice until you piss her off, then you better look the hell out and hold onto your britches. I am a smart man, I only piss her off when I really want to see her riled up. That way I get great make-up sex. But she’s stressed to the gills right now with the wedding, so I’m thinking now is not the time.”

“Well, stop worrying about it. I have been ready and waiting on your slow ass. I’m at the station, just meet me here, we will head over together, sound good?”

“Sure does, I’ll be there in ten. Talk to you then,” Jake said as he hung up the phone.

Logging out of his computer, Cody couldn’t help but wonder what had made him think about that night. Shit, it had to be almost a year ago when that happened. He had periodically thought about it before, more so right after, but it had been awhile since he had thought about it. “Must be because it’s the same time of year,” Cody mumbled to himself.

Jake pulled up in front of the station in his maroon Dodge truck just as Cody stepped out of the building. As he climbed into his friend’s truck, Cody smirked and said, “See, you barely even had to stop. Now you better floor this beast so that we’re not late.”

“You’ll see. One day, you will have someone you care about and then you’ll know what I’m talking about.” Jake laughed as he backed out of his parking spot and headed toward the caterers.

“Where are we going anyway? Who is catering this little shindig of yours?”

“A friend of Tess’s mother, Susan Montgomery. She has a small catering business, but from what I hear, it’s only small because she wants it that way. People rave about her food. We are lucky to have an in with her, because she is usually booked out quite a ways. Evelyn was able to sweet-talk her into adding this to her schedule,” Jake bragged.

“What kind of food are we talking about here? Dainty finger sandwiches and vegetable trays, or real food?”

“No finger sandwich crap, we are talking real food. We are going to have barbecue food of some sort. We will figure out what exactly today.”

“Barbecue? Are you serious? Tess is going to allow you to have all that mess when she, and everyone else for that matter, are dressed up in their best.” Cody looked at Jake like he had lost his mind.

“Shit, Jackson, barbecue is Tessa’s idea. She is a Montana girl, don’t forget. Grew up on steak, brisket, burgers, and ribs, and that’s just naming a few. She also loves to hunt and fish, eat wild game, and, hell, she even helps butcher it. She might be cute and dainty, but she is no delicate flower.” Jake was grinning ear to ear as he talked about his soon-to-be wife.

“Well, shit, this little food-tasting trip might not be so bad after all,” Cody chuckled.

“So, how’s your case going anyway?” Jake asked.

“It’s going slower than I would like.” He and Andrews spent all day yesterday combing through bank, phone, and DMV records. Their bank records didn’t show anything abnormal. Limited income, phone bills, cable TV bill, city water, and sewer and electric bills every month. Really kind of boring. Phone call log was about the same—calls to work, each other, and a few random places. Their DMV records had shown they moved here three years ago, with no ties that they could find to the area. “They moved here from Fresno, California, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why,” Cody said.

“Seems strange, but then again, you moved here from New York City. I mean, really, if we are talking about strange moves,” Jake added.

“That’s true enough, except all my mom’s family is from here. So after my dad died, she had no real reason to stay there and every reason to come back home.”

“True.” Jake nodded in agreement.

“One thing I cannot shake is that house.” They hadn’t found any mortgage payments; it looked like they owned it free and clear and with such a limited income that had Cody stumped. “It really is a nice house, historically old but renovated. From what we found, the last owners restored the house back to what it originally looked like. But there is something else about that house. I just can’t figure out what.”

“What do you mean?”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure, it’s just a gut feeling. I need to find out more on that home.”

“You know who would be great to ask about the house? Sydney.”

“Tessa’s sister?” Cody gave Jake a look like he had lost his marbles.

“Yes, Tessa’s sister, and don’t look at me that way. She loves history, especially old structures. She even studied it in college.”

“I guess, maybe, if I can’t get this figured out on my own.”

“Well, you might keep it in mind. She’s really sharp, especially when it comes to stuff like that.” Jake pulled up in front of a beautiful but rather small log home. “We’re here, and it looks like we beat the girls here. Score one for us,” Jake boasted, looking pretty proud of himself.

“I didn’t realize we were racing. If I knew that we could have taken my squad car and I could have thrown the lights and sirens on.” Cody smirked.

“I know you’re joking, but I’m keeping that in mind for next time,” Jake said as they both stepped out of the truck and headed up to Susan’s house.

Just as they were getting ready to knock, the sound of another vehicle pulling into the driveway had them both turning to see Tessa and her sister. Jake’s smile was comical, like a child who got away with the cookie he stole from the candy jar while his mother was busy cooking dinner. Tessa and Sydney climbed out of older Ford truck with what looked like a fairly new bright-red paint job. “What took you two gals so long? Having a little engine trouble with that pretty Ford of yours, Sydney?”

“Aw, Jake, don’t you wish. This baby runs better than the day they drove it off the assembly line.”

“It’s a damn good thing your dad is such a good mechanic and has taught you well, otherwise I would have to come tow that Ford home.” Jake razzed Sydney more for the fun of it than anything else. He knew that was a well-tuned truck, but he wasn’t really lying when he said Sydney and her dad were the reason it ran so well.

“The only way this baby would be stalled on the side of the road is if I let you drive it. You would probably forget to put fuel in it and then you would have to call me to come save you.”

“All right, are you two done yammering at each other?” Tessa interrupted. “I’m sure Susan is wondering what we’re doing hanging out in her front yard and not coming in.” She did love that they got along so well; their bantering was always in good fun.

“Yes, honey, we are all ready and waiting… I believe waiting on the two of you to get here. Yep, I’m sure of it, Cody and I had to sit here and wait forever for your slow butts.” Jake winked at his soon-to-be wife as he grabbed her hand and pulled her in for what was supposed to be a quick kiss, but with the love that radiated between them, a quick kiss wasn’t in their vocabulary.

“Okay, okay, break it up!” Sydney said. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I am dying to see what Susan has made up for us to try. By the way, since these two obviously have no manners, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Tessa’s sister, Sydney.” She held out her hand to shake Cody’s.

Cody had been watching their banter with amusement. The woman Jake had described as pretty had been misrepresented. The woman in front of him was not just your typical pretty. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with light brown hair that looked as if it had flakes of gold when the sun hit it just right and cascaded long and straight down her back. She had the most striking mahogany-colored eyes and was taller than her sister, but not by much, a couple inches maybe. Her smile so soft and inviting, it would make anyone feel at ease and comfortable. But those eyes, he couldn’t stop staring at. They were beautiful and mesmerizing, yes, but there was something so familiar about them. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen those eyes before. But there was no way he had, right? He would surely have remembered meeting this stunning woman.

“Hi, I’m Cody, it’s nice to meet you,” Cody managed to choke out as he shook her hand.

As they turned to head into Susan’s house, Sydney grabbed her sister by the arm, holding her back and whispered, “I think you were wrong about the Captain America lookalike. That man is most definitely more of a Thor.”

“What in the world are you two women talking about?” Jake eyeballed them suspiciously.

“Oh, just an actor we think would make a great Marvel character.” Tess glanced at Sydney as they both broke out laughing.

Both Jake and Cody looked at each other and then back at the two sisters, who looked oddly guilty and pretty proud of themselves. “Marvel?” the two said in unison.

“Sure, who doesn’t love Marvel movies? Have you seen the men that play those characters? Yum,” Tess said, wiggling her eyebrows in a teasing fashion at her soon-to-be husband.

Jake pulled Tess tight against him and with a sly grin asked, “should I be jealous?”

“Most definitely,” Tessa teased as she kissed her man then turned to knock on the door.

*****

A couple of hours later, satisfied with the dinner choices, the four of them headed out of the caterer’s house, thanking her as they left. As they stepped out of the door onto the front step, Tessa turned to her sister. “Syd,” she drawled, “do you mind if I just ride home with Jake? That way we don’t have to take two vehicles there. You can take Cody and drop him back at the station to get his truck. It just makes sense.” Tess grinned devilishly at her sister. Somehow Sydney was pretty sure that had been the plan all along.

“Sure, anything for you, sis.”

“You don’t mind, do you, Cody? I promise, as old as that truck is, it still runs like a beast. Syd here keeps it in tip-top shape.” Tess batted her eyes at Cody, making it impossible for him to say no. She was very good at getting what she wanted. Even as a kid, Tess would argue till Mom and Dad couldn’t stand it anymore and just give in. Luckily, Tess was also a good kid and they didn’t have to worry about her much. Which was probably the real reason they eventually gave in. Sydney used to think Tessa would make an exceptional lawyer, because nobody could plead and win a case like she could.

“Of course not. Besides I would love to see that truck in action. If it runs as well as it looks, then I have got to check it out,” Cody said as he glanced first at the truck then back at Sydney. When he caught her gaze, he could see those eyes full of fire, and mischief.

“Oh, she runs, all right. Her looks are nice, but there is nothing artificial about that truck. She is even better under the hood. If you really want to see her run, we could head out to a place I know outside of town just a ways.”

Tess squealed with excitement. “Awesome, it’s all set, then. You two have a great time.” Blowing a kiss to her sister and waving goodbye to Cody, she grabbed Jake by the hand and headed to his truck.

“Subtle,” Jake whispered to his soon-to-be wife and laughed as he smacked her on the butt while she was climbing into the passenger seat.

Tess blew a kiss to him and just grinned.

Watching her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law drive off, Sydney looked over at Cody. “Well, she’s sweet and stubborn, but subtlety was never one of her strong suits. I can just take you back to the station if you want, really.”

“No, not with all this talk about how nice your truck is. You have me way too curious to back out now,” Cody said as they headed to the truck.

“Perfect, I have been wanting to take a trip out there anyway. This gives me a great excuse.”

The thirty-minute drive went by quickly as they made small talk. To Sydney’s surprise, she didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Something about this man just put her at ease; maybe it was the fact that he was a detective. There was also something familiar about him. Helena was not that big; there was a good chance she had seen him around town and just never paid much attention. She found it hard to believe that if she had ever seen him that she would not have taken notice. Something was nagging at her that she had met him before. What woman in her right mind would forget meeting this man?

She spent a good portion of the drive trying her damnedest not to stare at him. With his striking blue eyes that really stood out against his dark brown hair, shorter at the sides but a little longer on top. Not perfectly styled, but the sexiest kind of messy that turned a girl inside out. His scruffy facial hair, not quite a beard, but well past a five o’clock shadow. She had a hell of a time at the food tasting not gawking at his well-built body, very tall, probably six foot three or four, and toned, oh so toned. She could tell that he took very good care of his body. He was not the meathead muscle-building type, but definitely the athletic and fit type. She figured he could probably even keep up with her on a run. Not that something like that was ever going to happen, but looking didn’t hurt anything. Just because she has sworn off men for the time being didn’t mean she wasn’t a thriving female with eyes.

Turning off the paved road onto a long narrow dirt road heading up the mountain, Sydney smiled at Cody. “Ready?” she asked him.

“Let’s see what all this hype is about,” Cody replied.

Sydney reach up on the dash, pushed a few buttons on a small screen attached to the dashboard, and then put her foot to the floor. The pickup’s engine came screaming to life as the tires peeled out then grabbed traction and took off. Bombing her way down the narrow road, the adrenaline rushed through her veins, making her feel so alive. For some reason, this was one of her favorite things to do. Coming to the top of the mountain and what appeared to be the end of the road followed up directly by a very large drop-off, she glanced at Cody and could see his fingers tightening their hold on the oh shit bar in the truck. As she neared the end of the road, she hit the brakes, sending the truck into a long slide on the gravel. Cranking the wheel, the back end slid sideways just before her trusty good ol’ truck came to a stop. She looked at the edge of the mountain. “See, at least twenty feet to spare,” she said, laughing.

“You’re kind of crazy, you know that?”

“Yes, yes, I do know that. But you are safe and sound, and look at this view. There is not another view that is better.”

“I take it you do this a lot. You must have a hell of a bill at the tire shop, and in paint repairs, for that matter.” Cody chuckled, as he realized he still had a death grip on the handle. As casually as he could, he pried his hand off, hoping she wouldn’t notice his tight hold.

Sydney just giggled. “Actually, no, I don’t do that very often. There have been a few times, yes, mostly when I need to let out some frustrations, or rather, a lot of frustrations. I probably over sold her a little on power, but she runs clean, has a booming stereo and four-wheel drive. That’s all I need. Well, and a small performance chip my Dad and I installed. That is good enough. I really do treat her with kid gloves most of the time, she means too much to me to be hard on her, but if you don’t burn the carbon out occasionally, she starts running like crap. Really, I do it to preserve the engine.”

“Well, that should have burned out any built-up carbon, that’s for sure,” Cody said, smiling at the woman next to him.

“Come on, you have to check out this view,” Sydney said as she opened her door and climbed out of the truck. Cody followed suit and in short order was standing next to her. Breathing in his masculine scent mixed with a little cologne had her mind thinking things it had no business thinking. For heaven’s sake, Syd, you don’t even know this guy and you are not, I repeat not, falling for anyone. Period, Sydney silently scolded herself.

As they walked to the edge of the mountain side, the city below came into full view. “Oh wow, you were absolutely right. This view is incredible,” Cody said in awe. “It’s no wonder you like this place so much.”

“You should see it when there is more snow. On a good enough snow year, the snowmobiling up here is fantastic.”

“You ride snowmobiles as well as work on trucks, and Jake tells me you also run an excavation company.”

“Yep, sorry not much for the soft feminine personality here, and, just like Tess, I hunt. Both my dad and mom have been taking us girls to do all that sort of thing, since we were tiny, it just became part of who we are. But unlike her, I’m not much of a fisherman. For one thing, I really don’t like fish. I eat it when need be, you know, because it’s good for you and all that crap, but I could really live without it. I mean we do live in Montana after all,” Sydney said, looking almost sheepish about it.

“There is nothing to be sorry about. I think it’s great when a family does all that kind of stuff together. Besides, it isn’t like this is the 1950s where the woman is expected to stay home and cook, clean, and take care of the kids.” Cody looked at her, a little puzzled as to why she would apologize in the first place.

“True, but unfortunately a lot of men still think that way, trust me. It has not been easy for me taking over for my parents. Some of the guys on that grew are just chauvinistic pigs. But I have handled it and will continue to make sure they understand that I am the boss, whether they like it or not,” Sydney said. She had no idea why she was telling this stranger her life’s story. She needed to shut up before he decided that walking back would be a better option. “I’m really sorry, I don’t even know you and here I am spilling my guts to you. I bet you think I’m a real head case. All I can say is it’s been a long week and I guess the stress just bubbled over a bit.”

“It really is okay, I’m a great listener. Hazard of the job. They actually train you to listen,” Cody said, smiling at Sydney.

“Well, even so, let’s talk about something else. Like, how did you and Jake meet?”

“On the job,” Cody answered, short and sweet.

“Wow, so they train you to listen but must fall short on the talking part,” Sydney joked.

“Well, there really isn’t much to tell. I was a beat cop when he started on the EMT crew, and because of our line of work we ran into each other quite often. It’s not some long bromance story, just developed a friendship.”

“Must be more than just your regular camaraderie friendship for him to have you as his best man,” Sydney probed.

“I guess you could say that,” Cody replied. “Through the years, we’ve hung out and been there for each other when shit hit the fan, in personal life or on the job.”

Sydney could tell that if there was more to the story, he wasn’t about to share it with her. Really, who could blame him, she was a complete stranger to this guy. Nobody in their right mind tells their personal stuff to strangers.

“Fair enough.” She smiled. “Now, for the real reason you are in this very spot at this very moment.”

She watched as Cody’s face flushed a bit. “Now, that’s not mysterious or anything. Are you here to warn me as the best man, that if Jake does anything to hurt Tessa, you will kill us both? I get the feeling you are pretty protective of your sister.”

“Oh, God, no! Nothing that cheesy. But yes, I am, and you are right about that if he hurts her I am coming after both of you.” Sydney paused and tried to hold a straight face. But the look on his was too much to handle and she busted out laughing. “I’m kidding, you don’t have to worry about me. Shit, Tessa can hold her own. No, look out over the valley and just watch, this is the most beautiful sunset you will ever see. This is the real reason I come up here. After the adrenaline rush bombing up the hill, this sunset just sets everything back in place. Brings a nice calm over the soul.”

Cody chuckled. “Good thing, I was just starting to think we could be friends.”

“Oh, you were, huh? I guess that stands to reason, with your best friend and my sister getting married very soon. I am sure there will be a lot of events we will all be at. Might as well not hate each other. To be honest, I promised Tess that I would get to know you because you are Jake’s best friend, and, well, I am hers, and she wants us to all be comfortable around each other. So that is the root of why I invited you up here. I figured that there was no better way to get to know someone than up here with this beautiful view and no distractions.”

“Sounds like a pretty great idea to me, glad you did. Because you are right, I don’t think I have ever seen a sunset so beautiful. The city looks amazing from up here.” Cody stared in awe over the valley below.

As the sun set slowly over the city, the two of them watched in silence. To Sydney’s surprise, the silence was comfortable. How does that even work, she wondered. She doesn’t even know this guy and yet she felt so comfortable with him. Extremely strange for her, after what had happened to her. Ever since then, she couldn’t hardly stand her own skin, let alone being in the company of a man for any length of time, especially by herself.

As the sun finished setting over the valley and darkness washed over them, Sydney supposed it was time to head back to town. “Well, shall we head back? The sky is too overcast to see the stars, which, by the way, is an awesome ending to the sunset if you ever get the chance.”

“Yeah, I need to get back to finish up some things at the office before I head for home anyway,” Cody replied.

Looking up to the sky as she opened her door, Sydney couldn’t help but hope for some snow. “I sure hope it snows, so far this year has been a bust. This drive would have been much better on my snowmobile.”

“It looks like it might, and the weatherman did say that we should be getting some finally. I’m not sure how much, and God only knows if they are right, but we can hope for some.”

“True, well I’ll be praying for some, you can count on that. Do you like to snowmobile?”

“I do. My grandparents got me into it when I was a kid. I go as often as the weather and my job permits,” Cody said with a big grin on his face.

Sydney could tell he loved the sport as much as she did. “Well, maybe if it would ever snow, we could get Jake and Tess and all go riding. It would be a great time.”

“That sounds like fun to me, but if looking around is any indication, it might not be this winter.”

“I know there is a lot of snow up high, we just need enough to coat down here so we don’t kill our sleds getting there.”

“You’re right about that. Let’s hope I can wrap this case up first. Otherwise I might not be able to get away for even a day.”

“Well, in that case let’s hope for a quick open-and-shut case.” Sydney smiled at Cody as she started her truck and headed back toward the city.

“That would be nice, but I have as much luck of that happening as the chance we have of getting two feet of snow.”

Sydney could see the stress of the case come over his handsome features. She couldn’t help but think of how hard that must be on him, on anyone. The burden of trying to solve such horrible crimes, to know the intimate details of what happened to these people and see the loss in the family’s eyes. Then she thought about her unsolved case; it sure didn’t seem to burden the other detective that her case wasn’t going anywhere.

“What’s wrong? You look like someone just stole the last cookie you had been dying to eat.” Cody watched her as she tried to wipe the look off her face and pretend all was all right.

“Me? I’m good. I bet it’s taxing on you to not get cases closed, huh?”

“Well, some cases take a larger toll than others, yes, but I am not about to not close them. I’ll get it figured out in time. I’m not one for quitting something once I’ve started. Some might just take a little longer than I would like.”

“Wish all the detectives had your commitment,” Sydney said softly.

“What do you mean by that?” Cody could see the pain gripping her beautiful face.

“Nothing, really, just that not everyone is as dedicated as you.” Sydney tried to smile and cover up her anger. This man did not need to know this crap about her. She needed to cool it; she sure wished she could get past it. But she was pretty positive she never would.

“So, do you like watching basketball?” Cody asked. “I don’t mean on TV either. The high school girls’ team is doing amazing this year, they have a real shot at taking state.”

Sydney couldn’t help but notice the strong change in topic, for which she was very grateful. Either he believed her weak-ass answer, and, if that was the case, he was a horrible detective, because she knew she sucked at lying, or he could tell she really didn’t want to talk about it and changed the subject. She was sure hoping it was the latter.

“I go to as many games as I can, at least home games. My cousin is the first-string point guard. This is her senior year, so I want to support her as much as I can before she heads off the college. What about you, though? You don’t really seem like the type to just enjoy a good girls basketball game.”

Cody chuckled a little “Why not?”

Sydney’s face turned bright red as she tried to come up with something that did not make him sound like a creepy pervert for watching young high school girls play ball.

“I’m just teasing you, I’m not some creepy stalker person. My sister is the coach, Anna Daniels.” Cody beamed with pride for his older sister. “Although I really don’t think there is anything wrong with any of the members of the community that come out and support the local team.”

“There isn’t, and I’m sorry if I gave that impression that I thought there was. It’s just not very common. The stands are usually filled with high school kids and family members of the teams is all.” Sydney was a little ashamed of herself even letting herself think of it any different than just support. She swore a year ago, before the incident, she would have never let a thought like that pass through her head. She hated that it had changed her so much.

“Don’t worry about it, you didn’t hurt my feelings. I probably would think the same thing if a strange man was coming to watch my cousin and her teammates play,” Cody said, obviously trying to ease the frustration that must have been written all over her.

“No, you wouldn’t, but thanks for trying to help remove the big-ass foot from my mouth.” Sydney tried to giggle, but her mood had gone to shit after she let her mind wander back to the open case of her own.

“Well, foot removed now, so no worries, and technically, you really didn’t say anything wrong. You may want to work on your facial expressions, though, they are kind of a dead giveaway.” Cody laughed out loud as Sydney’s face turned bright red again. “Yep, like that. You might want to keep your nose clean and make sure you never break the law, because I doubt you would be able to lie your way out of it.”

“Ha-ha, you think you’re so damn funny. You may be cute, but you need to work on your sense of humor.” At the realization of what she just said, Sydney could feel her face get even hotter. This truck ride really just needed to be over.

“Hey, I am funny, just so you know, and you’re pretty damn cute yourself,” Cody grinned at the very red-faced woman sitting next to him.

When they finally arrived in front of the station, Sydney turned to Cody. “I had a great time, just so you know, but I need to be honest with you. I am not looking for nor do I want a relationship beyond friends with anyone. Friends is all this could ever be,” she said as she waved her finger pointing back and forth at each other.

“I agree completely. I don’t have time in my life, or the desire to have anything other than friends,” Cody replied.

“Good. Well then, have a good night, and good luck on your case.”

“Thank you, and you have a good night too,” Cody said as he climbed out of the truck and headed into the station.

“So smooth, Sydney. Nothing like making a lasting impression of being a giant ass,” she said out loud as she backed out of the parking space and headed for home.