“Wow,” McKenna said, shocked that this had been going on, but then again not so surprised. Cody was Cody after all. “I guess she’d have been shocked all to hell if she’d met Cody Falco, huh?” she asked, her grin wide.
Cody gave a short laugh. “Yeah, I doubt she’d have known what to do with that,” she said, her tone wry.
“So are you going to meet her?” McKenna asked.
Cody lips twitched in irritation; on the one hand she’d told these girls if they needed anything or wanted to talk, they should reach out to her, but on the other hand, Rosa could just be making a new play thinking the rules had somehow changed.
Making an irritated noise in the back of her throat, she picked up her phone and texted Rosa back saying she’d be there and to send her the address.
She looked over at McKenna who was watching her.
Cody rolled her eyes. “I guess I’ll take my chances.”
That night Cody knocked on a door in a bad part of town. She reached up under her jacket she touched her gun at her back reassuringly. She would have preferred to meet in a public place, but Rosa had insisted that she couldn’t let anyone see her talking to a cop.
Rosa opened the door to the house and gestured for Cody to come in. Cody walked inside, listening for sounds of anyone else in the house. She didn’t hear any.
“Whose house is this?” Cody asked.
“A friend,” Rosa said simply.
Cody looked back at the girl. She would have been pretty if she hadn’t let the streets make her hard. Her insistence in using dark eye makeup and red lipstick made her look more garish than attractive.
“So what’s up?” Cody asked, when Rosa didn’t say anything else.
“Well, I wanted to talk to you about the case…” Rosa said, her eyes looking everywhere but at Cody, which was the first indication to Cody that she was lying.
“Okay,” Cody said, her tone even. “What about it?”
“Jesus, you just wanna get right to it, don’t you?” Rosa said seductively, her eyes screaming come on.
“Rosa…” Cody sighed. “I’m a cop, I’m not sleeping with an underage girl, period.”
“But who’s gonna know, Cody?” Rosa asked. “’Cause I won’t tell anyone…” she said, sliding her hand up Cody’s chest as she moved closer.
Cody lifted her chin, stepping back and putting her hands up in a halting gesture.
“Just give me a chance, Cody… You could see how good I am…” Rosa said, moving closer still.
Cody backed up a couple of steps and into the kitchen table. Rosa took that opportunity to move in and locked her lips to Cody’s, her hands sliding up Cody’s chest, caressing and touching. Cody yanked her head back, breaking the lip lock.
“Rosa!” she snapped. “I told you no, get it through your head.”
Rosa apparently didn’t get things very easily, because she pressed closer to Cody, looking up at her in an attempt to be seductive.
“What could that juera do for you that I can’t?” she asked, her hands sliding down to Cody’s waist.
Rosa’s lips were on hers again, and Cody felt Rosa’s hands sliding to her back.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” Cody growled against her lips, as she reached up to grab Rosa’s shoulders to shove her away.
Rosa’s face contorted in a sudden rage and she launched herself at Cody, all flying fingernails and fists. She caught Cody’s throat with her nails, raking four bloody welts down her neck before she could grab her hand. Rosa wasn’t done; she grabbed a knife that had been lying on the kitchen table and slashed at Cody with it. Cody raised her arm, blocking the blade but felt it slice her forearm. Fortunately, the force of her block knocked it out of Rosa’s hand. Cody grabbed her extended arm, and with speed born of experience spun Rosa around, twisting her arm up behind her back and taking the girl down to her knees in one move.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Cody yelled.
Rosa struggled against Cody’s hold, screaming.
“Rosa, stop!” Cody yelled, trying to hold on to the struggling girl without hurting her.
“You’ll be sorry, you fucking cunt, you’ll be sorry!” Rosa screamed. “They’ll fucking kill you, they’ll fucking cut you up into food for their pit bulls!”
“What are you talking about?” Cody asked, going cold suddenly.
“M-13 are gonna fuck you up…” Rosa practically sang.
Cody lifted Rosa’s arm up higher, making her gasp.
“Who in M-13?” Cody asked sharply.
Rosa cackled. “You like wanna name or something? Are you fucking stupid? They’re gonna kill you, bitch… You should never fuck with them, you stupid cunt.”
Cody fought the urge to beat the shit out of the girl out of the pure rage she was feeling at that moment. Instead, she pulled out her cuffs, hooking one to Rosa’s wrist and the other to the leg of the table. With that she walked out of the house, pulling out her cell phone and dialed dispatch.
“Dispatch,” the operator answered.
“Yeah, dispatch, this is SA Cody Falco, Badge number three eight seven six seven.”
There was a slight pause, then the dispatcher said, “Go Agent Falco.”
“Can you send a black and white to 879 MLK Boulevard, I have a female suspect hooked up. Tell them to charge her with assault on a peace officer, and I’ll come in to make a statement later.”
“10-4 Agent Falco, do you need medical?” the dispatcher asked.
Cody lifted her arm and saw it was covered in blood. She flexed it and , winced at the burning pain. “Nah, I’m good.”
As she drove home she considered what Rosa had said. She wasn’t sure if the girl was lying or not, she could have been. The fact that she’d specifically called out M-13 wasn’t significant since Cody had mentioned them that day at the LGBT house. Still, it was something she knew she needed to look into. Lyric had told her earlier that day that she and Savanna were going out of town in two weeks. The last thing Cody wanted was for this to get back to Lyric and mess up their vacation plans.
With that in mind, Cody entered the house through her own entrance, rather than through the garage. She figured at that time of night Lyric and Savanna would be having dinner, and she didn’t want them to see the blood on the sleeve of her jean jacket.
Lyric, Savanna, and McKenna were having dinner, talking about McKenna’s background and where she’d gone to school. She’d told them that when she was sixteen her family had moved to the Manchester area of New Hampshire and that she’d gotten her bachelor’s in psychology from Dartmouth. Lyric and Savanna had exchanged a look, it sounded like McKenna was from money. They weren’t sure if Cody was aware of that or not. Having been a street kid, Cody tended to have an attitude about “rich people.”
They were all three surprised when they heard music coming from Cody’s side of the house. Lyric and Savanna looked at McKenna as if for an answer but she just shrugged.
“I guess the meeting was short? I’ll go see,” she said. She got up from the table and walked toward Cody’s rooms.
When McKenna walked into the bedroom, she heard the shower running. As she walked into the bathroom she saw Cody standing in the shower, one arm up over her head braced on the wall,. Her head bowed allowing the water to run over her head and down her back. The other arm was down at her side. Then McKenna saw the blood dripping from her hand.
“Oh my God, Cody!” McKenna exclaimed.
Cody’s head snapped up. “Quiet!”
“What happened?” McKenna asked, opening the shower door and reaching for Cody’s hand.
Cody turned and then McKenna saw the bloody welts on her neck.
“Cody, my God, what happened?” McKenna asked, touching the skin where the nail marks ended, heedless of the water splashing on her clothes.
“Did Rosa do this?” she asked, reaching for Cody’s hand to carefully lift her arm.
“Yeah,” Cody said simply, reaching up to redirect the showerhead
so McKenna wouldn’t get completely soaked. “Came with a warning too,” Cody said, her tone conversational.
“What warning?” McKenna asked, taking a washcloth to dab at the blood on Cody’s arm trying to see the cut.
“That M-13 are gonna kill me,” Cody said, her tone still so casual that McKenna looked up at sharply.
“Are you serious?” McKenna asked.
Cody shrugged. “I am, I just don’t know if she was.”
“This seems awfully serious,” McKenna said, gesturing to the nail marks and the arm she was still trying to clean.
“Oh, that was because I wouldn’t let her get to me,” Cody said, her look wry. “The threat came after that.”
McKenna looked up at Cody, her eyes searching Cody’s face. “Why are you so calm right now?”
“Think this is the first time I’ve been threatened?” she asked, a grin at her lips.
“Well, no, maybe not,” McKenna said, her tone faltering.
“No,” Cody confirmed. “I just have to decide how serious the threat is,” she said. “But we do not breathe a word of this to Lyric and Savanna.”
“Cody, why?” McKenna asked, looking worried.
“They’re going on the first vacation they’ve taken in years. I don’t want this to fuck up their plans.”
“If you’re in danger though…” McKenna said.
“I’m always in danger, Kenna,” Cody said, sounding tired suddenly.
McKenna looked up at Cody, seeing the weariness in her face.
“Okay, well, this doesn’t look too bad,” she said, her hand on Cody’s arm. “Those need to be cleaned,” she said, gesturing at the nail marks. “God knows what that girl had under her talons!” she said, her tone snide.
Cody grinned at McKenna’s tone.
“Feeling a little possessive, honey?” Cody asked.
“No,” McKenna said, her look narrowed. “I’m feeling a lot possessive and a lot like I want to go rip her hair out!” she said, smiling sweetly.
Cody chuckled. “Well let me finish my shower so I can clean this up,” she said, making a shooing gesture to McKenna.
McKenna left the shower, and went to change her clothes. She was sitting on the bed reading when Cody emerged from the bathroom wearing a tank top and sweats. Cody lay down on the bed next to her.
“Let me see your arm again,” she said, setting her book aside.
Cody dutifully lifted her arm. The blood had clotted and the cut luckily wasn’t very deep.
“I hope she’s going to pay for this,” McKenna said, leaning down to kiss the cut gently.
“She’s probably being booked for assault on a peace officer as we speak,” Cody said.
“Good,” McKenna said.
Cody grinned, she enjoyed McKenna’s possessive streak. She moved to sit up, facing McKenna and reached out to touch her cheek.
“You’re so cute when you’re possessive,” Cody said, smiling.
McKenna narrowed her eyes at Cody. “It’s not cute,” she said.
“What is it then?” Cody queried, still grinning.
McKenna gave her a baleful look. “I don’t like that you’re taking this so lightly, Cody.”
Cody looked back at her for a long moment. “It’s part of the job, Kenna, I get threats, I get hurt sometimes… It’s not a big deal.”
“Well, it is to me, okay?” McKenna said tearfully.
“Oh honey…” Cody said, moving to gather McKenna in her arms, holding her close. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t your world,” she said softly. “But I’m okay, really.”
McKenna shook her head against Cody’s shoulder. “She could have killed you Cody,” she said, her tone affected.
“No, honey,” Cody said. “I’m much more careful than that. She caught me off guard a little bit, but I wasn’t in danger of dying, okay?” she said, bending her neck to look down at McKenna, her lips near McKenna’s ear.
McKenna nodded and just then her phone rang. Cody glanced over at the phone on the nightstand.
“Babe, it’s your parents again,” she said.
“Oh,” McKenna said, reaching for the phone and moving to sit on the side of the bed. “Hello?” she answered. “Hi Mom, yeah sorry I meant to call you back tonight, but something came up… I know, I’m sorry… Things are a little bit hectic right now… I know, and I do need to… What?” she asked, her tone surprised. “Mom, I can’t come home right now…” she said anxiously. “I’m sorry you’re worried, but… Yes, it has to do with him… Yes, it’s a big thing… I just… No, I don’t want to just… Okay, okay, I’ll come, I know, Mom, okay,” she said then, glancing at Cody who had moved to lean against the headboard.
When McKenna hung up a few minutes later, she sat back on the bed facing Cody, setting her phone back down on the nightstand.
“Going home?” Cody asked, her tone mild.
“Yeah,” McKenna sighed. “They know something’s going on and they’re worried.”
Cody looked back at her surprised. “You haven’t told them what’s going on?”
McKenna looked hesitant. “No, I haven’t.”
Cody canted her head to the side, her look assessing. “Do they like John?”
“No,” McKenna said, shaking her head. “They were completely against me marrying him.”
“How’d you meet him anyway?” Cody asked. She realized then that she knew very little about McKenna’s life with John.
“He was a guest speaker at Dartmouth once, he asked me out after,” McKenna said, shrugging.
Cody looked back at her, her eyes reflecting surprise.
“Dartmouth?” Cody repeated, a little shocked.
McKenna nodded. “Yeah, after my sister… My parents moved us to New Hampshire, so I ended up at Dartmouth when I decided to go into psychology. They’re back in San Diego again now though, my father’s firm has an office there.”
“So, your parents didn’t like John, huh?”
“No,” McKenna said, “they were worried that I was just bowled over by his ‘big heart’… And they were right…” Her voice trailed off as she thought once again about how stupid she’d been.
Cody gave McKenna a pained look. “I’m sorry babe,” she said. “He’s a real son of a bitch.”
“Yes, he did,” McKenna said, her tone grim. “And now I have to go back and tell them all of this and…” Her voice trailed off as she shook her head.
Cody reached out touching her cheek, not sure what to say at that point. She pulled McKenna into her arms and held her tight.
“So how’s that going to go over?” Cody asked after a few minutes.
“Oh, it’s going to go over like a lead zeppelin,” McKenna said. “My mother is really big on making people feel stupid for their mistakes.”
“Ouch,” Cody said, her tone sympathetic.
“Yeah…” McKenna said
“I guess I’m lucky Lyric and Savanna don’t do that, otherwise I’d never hear the end of it…” Cody said, grinning self-effacingly.
“Hmmm…” McKenna murmured. “I still have questions about that, but I’ll ask them when I’m not freaked out about facing my parents.”
A look of surprise flickered across Cody’s face. “I’m guessing bringing the bi-polar, butch lesbian you’re seeing now wouldn’t be any help, huh?” she asked, grinning.
McKenna looked up at Cody. “I know you mean bringing the incredibly sexy special agent with a doctorate in psychology with me,” she said, her eyes narrowed at Cody for her alternate description of herself. “And I don’t know that anything would help at this point… But having you with me would make me feel better if that counts.”
Cody smiled softly, her eyes showing that she appreciated McKenna’s description of her “It counts.”
“Then you’ll come with me?” McKenna asked.
‘I’ll drive,” Cody said, winking at her.
Chapter 8
Cody and McKenna left the house early the next morning, making the short drive
down to San Diego.
McKenna looked every bit the dutiful daughter, looking fresh and clean in her flowered dress with black heels, her hair pulled back attractively from her face with combs and her makeup perfect. They’d gone back to McKenna and John’s house a couple of days before so McKenna could pick up as much of her personal property as she could, since it was likely that the house would be forfeit when the case was done. Cody had gotten special permission for McKenna to pick up her personal property that had been hers prior to the marriage.
When they’d been walked around McKenna and John’s house, Cody could see that McKenna was looking around, as if she was looking for signs of John’s betrayal in everything. In their bedroom McKenna had skirted the bed, refusing to look at the place where she’d slept next to a man who’d turned out to be a monster. As she’d shoved clothes from her dresser into a bag, McKenna found herself looking at the picture she and John had taken on their honeymoon. They were smiling and so happy. Without a word, she picked up the framed picture and threw it across the room hearing it shatter into pieces. Cody stood by, waiting.
John hadn’t bought her much, except for the wedding band she’d worn. McKenna had left that behind on his dresser.
For the trip Cody dressed smartly, wanting to make a good impression on McKenna’s parents. She wore her black slacks, the ones she usually wore for court, and a crisp white-collared shirt. She matched it perfectly with a tailored black jacket with white pinstripes that fell to her mid-thigh and her heeled Harley Davidson leather boots.
McKenna also wore a delicate gold chain with a heart-shaped pendant and small gold hoop earrings. Cody wore a necklace of black cord with sliver accents and a black and silver triskele pendant hanging from it. She’d explained to McKenna that the triskele was a representation of the Trinacria which was the Sicilian symbol.
“Because the island of Sicily is essentially a triangle,” Cody had said, showing McKenna what a Trinacria looked like. It is the head of Medusa encircled by three bent legs. “The three bent legs represent the three capes of Sicily and the wheat stalks on Medusa’s head represents the fertility of the island. Medusa represents the goddess Athena’s protection of the island; Medusa’s head is mounted on her shield.”
Vendetta (WeHo Book 7) Page 17
