Degrees of darkness, p.46
Degrees of Darkness, page 46
Suspicion etched his face. “Doing what your daddy asked me to before he went to the ranch rodeo; checking up on you. What were you doing?”
“Watching the mares.” The lie slipped too easily off her tongue. Like they had years before.
The scowl lifted. “Oh.” He grabbed a chair, spun it around, and straddled it. “Got any coffee made?”
“No.” She moved to the cabinet where the coffee was kept and pulled out the canister. “You’ll have to wait on it.”
“Fine.”
As she dumped grounds into the filter, her hand trembled. She glanced at JC. He was busy flipping through the morning paper and hadn’t noticed. She angled her body so he couldn’t and tried to steady her nerves, but the constant quiver in her muscles wouldn’t give up the ghost.
After she’d escaped Remy’s she’d drove all over southern Dallas. It took two to tango, and she hadn’t let him stop her. Between crying jags, she’d yelled at herself for succumbing to her passion for him, then tried to justify her actions with arguments of love. In the end it left her confused and exhausted. About the time she’d decided to go home, the twenty-four hour liquor store appeared out of nowhere.
“So, when ya plannin’ to hit the road?”
She whirled. “What?”
JC’s eyebrows dipped into a V. “You okay?”
Placing her hands behind her, she gripped the counter’s edge and leaned back. “Fine.”
He gave her a ‘yeah-right’ look. Hooking an elbow on the chair back, he stared at her.
Cody resisted the urge to squirm.
“I asked if you were ready to go on the road again? We need to make up for missing the finals in Red Bluff.”
“I know. After Kim gets out of the hospital.”
The coffeemaker beeped. She busied herself with pouring cups. From the dining room, the bottles called. Cody swallowed a sudden pool of saliva. Not now.
She carried the mugs to the table. After setting one in front of JC, she settled in the chair across from him. “Have you seen Kim?”
He blew on his coffee. “Yup. She said they’re letting her go tomorrow morning.”
“That’s good.” She gripped her mug.
“What’s on your neck?”
Cody’s head snapped up. “Whaddaya mean?”
He scowled, and he reached across the table to flick aside her hair on the right side. “Is that a freakin’ hickey?”
Panic gripped her. She shoved his hand away and hid the hickey with her hand. “It’s none of your business.”
Realization flooded JC’s features. “Son of a bitch. Did you sleep with LeBeau?”
Hurt, then anger swept through her. Cody slapped her hands on the table and shoved her body upright. The chair rocketed out and toppled over. “What the hell do you care what I do?”
He rose. “Plenty. This isn’t you, Cody.”
“Me! You know nothing about me.”
He grimaced. “I know everything about you. And I know you swore you’d never make the same stupid mistakes you did with that bastard McCord.”
“Remy isn’t Austin. Not even in the same category.”
“He took advantage of you. How is that different?”
The anger swelled inside her. Remy didn’t take advantage of anything. Good God, he hadn’t even raised a hand to her. “You’re acting like a jackass, JC.”
His eyes widened, then narrowed. “I’m acting like a jackass? The last time you said that to me, I found you the next day lying on the floor convulsing.” He started to pace the floor. “You did whatever the hell you wanted back then and look where it got you. You’re going to make the same mistakes again.”
She staggered back. JC had voiced her own thoughts. Hearing them out loud cut deep. “It’s not a mistake.”
“If you keep going the way you are, it will be. Damn it, Cody, you’ve got problems. If you don’t take care of them … ”
“If I don’t take care of them what?”
“I won’t be here the next time you decide to end your life.” He bent forward. “I won’t be put through that again.”
Clenching her fists, she sucked air through her nose. “Leave,” she growled the word.
“No.”
She jabbed a finger in the direction of the door. “So help me, JC, if you don’t leave now, I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”
Spitting a nasty word, he grabbed the chair and slammed it under the table. Coffee slopped from their mugs. He stomped to the door, jerked it open, paused, and looked back at her. “You need help. Now.” He exited, the door rattling the dishes in the cabinets.
A cry ripped free. Cody crumpled to her knees. Her whole body shook from the gut-wrenching sobs. Gradually, she toppled onto her side, and laid there, curled in a ball, letting the weight of her mistakes drown her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jared took the box from the man Candace had paid to transport it, scowling when the asshole held out his hand for more cash. “How ’bout you take a long walk off a short dock, dickhead. You got your money up front.”
“The woman said you’d have the other half.”
“Bullshit. Get, before I slit your throat.”
Ignoring the name calling behind him, Jared reentered his home and kicked the door shut. If the jackass hung around New Orleans and Jared caught sight of him, he’d off him then. But now … Now he had better things to do. He rushed to the table and sliced open the box and withdrew the brown bag.
Candace had done her job. Another forty-five thousand gone, but well worth it, if what he suspected held true. Leaving the bag on the table, he hurried into his special room and plucked two, small vials from a shelf. He examined the strands of hair inside. His tendency for saving souvenirs from his jobs would pay off. No doubt about it.
Palming the vials, he returned to the table, grabbed the bag, and headed out to his SUV. The Garden District was an explosion of full color after the recent rains. He left his window down and let the spring air billow against his face. The beauty of the Garden District faded and the stench of the river took over.
He followed the river to the pathology lab’s building. After parking, he hurried inside. A lab-coated clerk sat peering at a computer monitor through thick glasses.
“I need a rush on these.” Jared set the items on the counter.
“Fill out the forms there.” The clerk pointed at the stack of papers. “And we’ll get to them when time allows.”
Jared leaned closer. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I said rush.”
The clerk’s myopic gaze slid to Jared and his eyes widened. “Savard. Sorry.” He hopped up and snatched the bag and vials from the counter. “Do you want them marked a special way?”
“No. This is off the grid. I want my guy working on this and getting back to me personally with the results.”
“Certainly.”
Jared drummed his fingers on the counter top. The fear of other people tended to fuel him, but this blockhead’s brand of fear was annoying. “Get going.”
The tech nodded and bolted through the lone door behind him.
Jared returned to his SUV. What if he’d gotten it wrong? Was getting this sample processed too big a risk? If anything got out about it, it might alert the wrong people to his activities.
Jared grabbed his phone and scrolled to the pictures he’d taken a few months ago of Dumond at Tulane. After Jared’s search pinged on LeBeau, he began trailing the DA. The trip to Tulane revealed more than Jared had hoped for. Not only did he learn who Dumond used to help him protect the whereabouts of LeBeau, but Jared found out that the DA was pissed.
Damn, their argument still made him grin. Jared flipped to the final picture in the file, the one of Dumond poking his finger in McBride’s chest. He recalled those final parting words. “He was never supposed to get in the public eye. A detective? Damn it, Roger. How am I supposed to fix this? You’re through. Consider our deal over.”
The picture automatically flipped to the two women Candace had sent. Jared studied the dark-haired woman. Such an uncanny likeness to the woman from his first contract kill thirty years ago. The test results might tell him more. He’d just need to trust his guy in pathology to keep his mouth shut. Because if word got back to the man who ordered the kill, Jared might find someone sticking a knife in his back.
One thing was for certain. The woman he’d killed had done something before her death. Something with far-reaching consequences to ruin somebody’s life.
Jared grinned. And ruining lives was what he did best.
• • •
Cody released a steady stream of air through her nose. Licking her lips, she grabbed the china hutch knob and twisted. The bottles glistened. Beckoning. She withdrew one and an etched tumbler.
A few slugs. She only needed a few to numb the pain, to kill the regrets. To silence the voices beating at her head. Cradling the bottle to her chest, she padded into the living room and sank, cross-legged, on the rug in front of the fireplace. The seal crackled and coiled as she pulled it away. She twisted the cap off. The first drops splashed on the bottom of the glass. Her tongue flicked across her lips, expectation surging through her.
The flow wavered. She steadied her hand and stopped when the liquor was just over the shot line. Setting the bottle on the floor, she lifted the tumbler to eye level and swirled the amber liquid. Her mouth watered.
She touched the rim to her lip, inhaled a quick breath, then tossed the liquor back. It hit the back of her throat and seared a path down her esophagus, hitting her stomach like a hot branding iron. Cody flinched. Her hand shot out and grabbed the bottle. Poured another shot. Head back, down the hatch.
One more. And her thoughts would be stilled.
Just one more.
• • •
The dressing down Remy had received after Moreno combed through the papers Remy gave him ate up an hour of his life he’d never get back. Combined with the worry over Cody, made for one helluva headache.
Remy cracked his neck to relieve some of the pressure in his muscles, then shifted the Corvette into fourth for interstate speed. Almost four hours since Cody ran from his condo. He’d tried her phone once, didn’t expect her to answer, which she hadn’t, only to leave a message. He called JC next and got an automated message telling him the phone was out of range.
A bike zipped past him. Remy blinked and his grip tightened on the steering wheel. It seemed familiar. Yet how many black Ninjas were there in the Dallas and Fort Worth area?
The bike got caught behind a semi and a line of cars. Remy pressed the pedal and inched closer. Studying the back of the rider’s leather coat, the red-on-black pattern triggered a memory.
He had seen that same bike and rider.
In Irving. When he’d gone to see Emily McBride the second time, a bike like that blew past him on the street.
His skin crawled. Was someone following him?
The bike ducked into an opening. Remy backed off. He was being paranoid. But his muscles remained tense.
“Incoming call. JC Manning.” His cell chirped.
Remy punched the hands free device. “LeBeau.”
“Yeah, it’s Manning. You called?” The irritation in JC’s voice scraped along Remy’s nerves.
“I did. Have you seen Cody today?”
“Yeah I saw her. Damn, LeBeau, why couldn’t you have waited? Sleeping with her while she’s in a bad way. Not cool.”
Merde!
“Beside the point. How was she acting?”
“She’s pissed; that’s for sure. Kicked me outta the house.”
Damn it. Remy sped past a line of semis. “JC, Cody’s PTSD escalated last night. She had a full-out attack.” Remy glanced in the rearview mirror. He didn’t need a patrol car on his ass. “I think she regrets what happened between us, too, since she tore outta my place this morning. Some business kept me from going right after her.”
JC’s sigh reverberated through the connection. “I told her to get help.”
“Has she been drinking?”
“I don’t know.”
“Damn it, JC. You were around the last time. You know the signs. Has she been drinking?” Remy slammed the pedal to the floor, roaring past the first semi and jerking the Corvette in front of it.
“Far as I could tell, she hasn’t.” JC cursed again. “But that don’t mean jack-squat. Now that I think on it, I bet she was hiding it when I showed up this morning.”
“I’m almost to Fort Worth. Where are you?”
“Too far away. You’ll beat me there.”
“Hurry. If she’s managed to get her hands on alcohol, I’ll need help.”
• • •
Certain he hadn’t followed her, Candace cranked the throttle and zipped along the exit ramp. She halted the bike at the stop sign and flipped up the helmet visor. She watched the traffic pass until another vehicle came up behind her. Visor in place, she pushed off and gunned the engine. Speeding toward the county road that would take her to Fort Worth’s ranching area, she smirked.
LeBeau might have noticed her and maybe recognized her bike. Damn the traffic. But the call he’d received that her wire-tap on his car picked up and fed into her helmet was enough to assure her he wasn’t concerned with trailing.
So, LeBeau’s woman fell off the wagon. Candace chuckled. God, they made it too easy for her.
If she got Anderson on the Lewis ranch, all the better. All three would make a nice addition to her dossier.
A thought tickled her mind. “Hmm.”
Maybe a li’l confrontation between partners was in order. Candace bent lower over the Ninja and put the engine into its racing mode. Screw the money this time.
She wanted the thrill.
Chapter Thirty
The tumbler thunked on the floor, tipped, and clattered onto its side. Cody watched it roll until it came to a stop against the edge of the rug. The glass slid out of focus and wavered like heat waves. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head and blinked. Her tongue flicked over her lips, and she pawed for the bottle, finally grasping the bottle neck. She lifted it and squinted. The last third of the bourbon sloshed against the sides.
The pain and images were almost gone. She wasn’t completely numb. One more shot.
Where did the glass go? Oh, she remembered. Letting the bottle thud to the rug, she eased onto her knees. With a grunt, she crawled over to the tumbler, grabbed it up and crawled back to the bottle.
Forget this pussyfooting around. She was done with regrets. Done with this shit-life she pretended to like again. This time she filled the glass. Lifting it to salute an invisible companion, she tipped back the tumbler and guzzled half the liquid. Dragging the glass away from her lips, she sucked air. Heat surged through her. Screaming a curse, she hurled the glass at the fireplace, relishing the shatter. Wet tracks coursed down her cheeks, and she curled in a ball on her side.
Damn these awful memories that stuck like burrs. Why wouldn’t they go away?
A face flashed through her mind’s eye. Not Remy’s. Not her kidnapper’s. But someone else. Someone she’d never seen before. An ugly sneer filled his face and he reached for her. Cody flinched and lurched away. An image of Marie ripped across her brain. Cody flung her body back and slammed into the sofa.
The echoed sound of someone laughing brought her onto her feet. She weaved, turning, looking for him.
He was here. After her.
The laugh, deep and sickening, crackled in the air.
Cody spun, lost her balance, and fell across the couch. Jerking sobs tore from her throat and she scrambled onto her feet. Get away. She had to hide.
Hinges squealed and the heavy tread of footfalls reached her. Stuffing the screams, she wobbled for the stairs. Get away. Find a safe place.
Her toe caught on the edge of the rug, and she toppled to the floor. Smacking the wood. She laid there panting.
Get up! He’s going to kill you!
Cody dragged her arms under her body and heaved. Her arms shook, then buckled, and she collapsed.
Tired. She should sleep. A little nap and she’d be better.
Slowly, she flopped onto her back. Sleep, for a little bit. She peered through slitted eyes, and a shadow hovered over her. Was someone here?
Someone spoke, but it sounded garbled and hallow, like they were talking under water. She forced her eyes wider. The shadow began to take on form and color.
“Oh God, Cody, what have you done?”
• • •
Remy crouched beside her and swept tangled curls from her flushed face. The heavy stench of alcohol hung on her breath. His gaze shifted to the bottle. Mere inches of the liquid remained. Cursing, he slammed it on the coffee table. How long had she been at this?
“Cody.” He shook her shoulder. “Come on. Get up.”
She moaned, head wagging back and forth. “No,” she groaned. “Tired.”
Mon Dieu! He reached down, grasped her arms, and hauled her on her feet.
“I wanna sleep.” Her words were so slurred he could barely understand her.
“You can here in a minute.” He slung her arm over his shoulders and braced her weight against him. “Cody, where’s your dad?”
She mumbled something and slumped. Remy chucked her chin up, and she stiffened.
“Come on. Stay awake a li’l longer, chere. Where’s your daddy?”
She heaved. Spitting a curse, he hefted her into his arms and rushed her into the main floor bathroom. They cleared the doorway in time for her to fall on her knees and retch into the toilet. Backing out to give her some privacy, Remy clawed out his cell and punched in JC’s number. Cody continued to empty her stomach, hopefully ridding her system of whatever was left of the poison.
