“You what?” McKenna said, her look shocked.
Cody turned her head to look at McKenna and seeing the shocked look on her face, she started to grin. Thomas and Rebecca watched the exchange avidly.
“You what?” McKenna asked again, her tone stronger, her look searching Cody’s face.
Cody turned her body to face McKenna as best she could on the couch. “I love you,” she said softly.
The look of joy that swept over McKenna’s face was almost painful to see, but then she narrowed her eyes.
“And you didn’t think to mention that sooner?” she asked her tone teasing.
“Well... Meetin’ the ’rents and all...” Cody said, her tone humorously offhanded as she rolled her eyes.
McKenna pursed her lips and blew her breath out through her nose. “I supposed I can let you off the hook for that,” she said, nodding. “Considering...” She nodded toward her mother who was watching them closely. Then she gave Cody a direct look. “Say it again,” she said, her tone soft.
Cody put her hand to McKenna’s cheek, her eyes staring into McKenna’s. “I love you,” she said, her voice soft but sure.
McKenna took Cody’s face in both of her hands, leaning forward to kiss her lips softly. Pulling back she smiled and said, “Thank you for letting me love you back.”
“We’ll see how long ya wanna do that,” Cody said winking at her.
“Yes we will,” McKenna replied, the look in her eyes challenging. “My guess is forever, but maybe longer.”
“Uh-huh,” Cody said, grinning.
McKenna narrowed her eyes at Cody, but then looked over at her parents and saw that they were watching them.
“Sorry,” she said, her tone breezy. “First time she’s admitting to being in love with me, so I kinda had to clarify.”
Thomas grinned at his daughter, then glanced at his wife, who seemed absolutely stunned.
“So, tell us more about your family, Cody,” Thomas said after a few long moments of silence, his smile open.
Cody leaned back in the chair again, once again crossing her leg at the ankle, her arm on the back of the couch.
“What do you want to know?” Cody asked, her look straight forward.
“What does your father do?” Thomas asked.
“Don’t have one,” Cody said simply.
“She has two mothers,” McKenna said, moving to sit back and lean against Cody, who immediately put her arm around McKenna’s shoulders.
Thomas looked taken back for a moment, but then recovered nicely.
“And what do they do?” he asked.
“Lyric is a cop like me, only she’s a supervisor, because she’s been doing this a lot longer, and Savanna is a psychiatrist who has a private practice and runs an LGBT group home, like McKenna did.”
“Impressive,” Thomas said, nodding, then looking at McKenna. “That’s what you’re planning to do isn’t it honey?”
“Yes,” McKenna said, “but Savanna’s already board-certified and everything, I still have a ways to go. I’m hoping I can finish my internship at Savanna’s group home.”
Thomas nodded, looking pleased, then looked at Cody. “And you’re in the family business,” he said, grinning.
“Oh, you have no idea how true that is,” Cody said, grinning. “My grandfather retired from the police department as an assistant chief. One of my uncles is a captain, the other is a Special Agent Supervisor, like Lyric, and the youngest one is a sergeant for the LAPD.”
“So it really is a family business,” Thomas said, smiling.
“Yes sir,” she said, nodding. “What exactly do you do?”
“I’m the enemy,” Thomas said, chuckling. “I’m a lawyer.”
“Oh, not all lawyers are the enemy,” Cody replied. “Don’t suppose you know one that could help Kenna with her divorce though.”
“In fact I do,” Thomas said, winking at his daughter.
“I don’t want anything from that marriage,” McKenna said, “except out.”
“And the group home, babe,” Cody said. “The kids’ll need you.”
McKenna nodded. “Yes, that too.”
They talked for a while about the ins and outs of the divorce and what would happen with the group home. Cody really liked Thomas. Rebecca sat silent through most of the conversation, but had stopped being adversarial.
By the time they drove back to LA that night, McKenna was very happy they’d gone.
“My dad likes you,” McKenna said, glancing over at Cody as she drove.
Cody smiled. “I like him too,” she said. “Your mom...” she said, letting her voice trail off.
“She’ll grow on you,” McKenna said, grinning.
“So does fungus,” Cody replied sourly.
“Stop it!” McKenna said, laughing as she swatted at Cody’s arm.
Cody laughed, grabbing McKenna’s hand and bringing it up to her lips to kiss it softly and then holding it with her elbow resting on the center console.
“So, family money in Sicily?” McKenna asked.
Cody grinned. “Yeah,” she said, “not that we care that much over here.”
“Still,” McKenna said. “Not something I knew either.”
Cody shrugged. “Isn’t mine, so I don’t mention it, unless some battle-axe is backing me into a corner with hers.”
McKenna laughed at the term Cody used. “I see,” she said, nodding.
Later they lay in bed, having just made love. McKenna looked up at Cody, a question in her eyes.
“What?” Cody asked, feeling very comfortable and sated since having orgasms with McKenna didn’t seem to be an aberration after all.
“That first day I was here,” McKenna said cautiously. “Lyric mentioned the last time you stopped taking your meds...” she said, letting her voice trail off as she looked at Cody to judge her reaction.
Cody remained relaxed, nodding and waiting for McKenna to finish.
“What happened?” McKenna asked, her look apprehensive.
“Which time?” Cody asked, her tone derisive. “I’ve done it more than once,” she said, her tone self-effacing. “And it’s almost always bad when I do. I’ve laid down a few bikes, I wrecked the Ferrari twice,” she said, her tone bitter. “The last time was the worst though. Which is probably why they’re so hyper-vigilant about me taking my meds.”
“What happened last time?” McKenna asked, her look pained, because she knew just from the descriptions she’d heard already that if this was worse it wasn’t going to be good.
Cody settled more comfortably on the bed, lying on her back and sliding her arm around McKenna’s body to pull her closer.
“I decided to go take care of the Sureños myself,” she said, her tone condescending.
“Oh God...” McKenna said, her look worried.
“Yeah,” Cody said, her tone sardonic. “Probably not my best idea ever.”
“What happened?” McKenna found herself asking again.
“Oh, I got the crap beat out of me before Lyric saved the day again,” Cody said.
“Again?” McKenna asked.
“Yeah, it was the second time she had to go get me back from them, so yeah, again,” Cody said, her voice so casual, McKenna was partially lulled by it.
“Wait,” she said, putting her hand on Cody’s arm. “When was the first time?”
“When I was fourteen and they had me locked up in a hotel room servicing men for three days,” Cody said quickly. It didn’t lessen the impact of the words though.
McKenna felt sick at the picture Cody had just painted. “Oh my God, Cody...” she breathed.
“You say that a lot, you know,” Cody said, her look wry.
McKenna gave a flabbergasted laugh. “I guess I do,” she said. “But you just keep telling me things that would have broken any normal person, and yet here you are alive, and pretty damned healthy considering.”
“Yeah,” Cody said, not sounding convinced of her “emotional health.”
&nbs
p; Little did either of them know that that emotional health was about to be sorely tested.
A week after the meeting with McKenna’s parents, Cody walked into the house of the leader of M-13, her hands out to her sides, her badge prominently hanging on a chain around her neck.
“What do you want, pig?” Julio, one of the lieutenants of the gang, spat.
“I want to know which one of you wants to try to kill me,” Cody asked, her tone even.
“Is that an offer?” one of Julio’s hangers-on asked.
Cody’s eyes fell on the man, her look pointed. “One at a time, honey,” she said, winking at him sarcastically.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Julio asked. He didn’t like this cop coming in interfering with his business.
“Your girl, Rosa,” Cody said. “She said that M-13 are gonna kill me, so I’m here to find out which one of you wants to give it a shot.”
“Juera es loco!” called out one of the other members of the gang.
Cody looked at him calmly. “Sometimes,” she said.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, cop, I didn’t order no hit on you,” Julio said, the vein in his neck standing out in his tension. “So I don’t know what that stupid puta was sayin’.”
Cody looked back at Julio for a long minute, trying to discern whether or not he was telling her the truth. She’d had it with looking over her shoulder, so she’d done some digging and traced Rosa to Julio; she’d been his girl at one point in her young life. She’d decided to take the bull by the horns so she could breathe again. Now she wasn’t sure if she was getting the truth or not.
“None of your boys would do it for fun?” Cody asked.
“If any of ’em fuckin’ smokes a cop without my say so, I’ll cap ’em myself,” Julio said, his look at his people pointed. “That’s trouble we don’t need.”
Cody nodded. “Then I guess we’re good,” she said, grinning.
With that she turned and walked out of the house. The gang members all looked at each other like the cop must be crazy.
Cody wondered the same thing as she pulled into the lot at the jail. She wanted to talk to Rosa again, to see if she could get anything out of the girl. The last thing she wanted was to dismiss a threat that was real. She figured one last visit with the girl would tell the tale. Twenty minutes later she walked out of the visitation room having gotten nothing but more bullshit from Rosa. Shaking her head, she blew her breath out, figuring it was now time to just dismiss the threat and move on. As she turned to head back out to check-in, she literally ran into John Tucker being led out from another visitation.
“Little Cody…” John said, his tone leering.
Cody stood looking up at him. “How’s jail, John? Comfy?” she asked sarcastically.
“I hear you’re fucking my wife,” John said, smirking.
“Better than you did,” Cody replied.
John’s nostrils flared in anger at that, but then his eyes fell on Rosa who was being led out of the visitation room. A smile crossed his face as he looked back down at Cody.
“Still barking up that tree?” he asked.
“I never barked up that tree,” Cody said. “Underage girls were your thing, John, not mine.”
“Still think it’s M-13 that’s gonna kill ya, you little cunt?” John snapped.
“What?” Cody asked, going very still.
John gave a sarcastic laugh. “Not as fuckin’ smart as ya think you are, little Cody. They’re gonna take out your cunt of a mother and then you.”
Just then, a man left the visitation area John had been led from; Cody’s eyes connected with him as he walked past. He was Mexican, about nineteen years of age. She recognized him, he’d been a kid back then, but she knew it was him. His name was Martin, and he’d been around the gang all the time… Then it hit Cody, he was Churro’s brother… Churro was the man Lyric had killed the night she’d rescued her when she was fourteen. Then Cody saw the SUR tattooed to his neck.
“Son of a bitch…” she breathed. John started laughing as they led him away.
“So long little Cody!” John yelled.
But Cody didn’t hear him, because she was running to catch up to Martin. When she did, he turned to look at her, his eyes as cold as ice, then he started to smile and Cody felt her blood run cold. Blindly she reached for the doors, and ran outside to get a signal on her cell phone and dialed Lyric’s number.
Lyric answered on the second ring, she was putting her gear bag in her car.
“Hey Code, what’s up?” she said, moving to lean against her car.
“Mom! You gotta be careful, they’ve put out a hit on you!” Cody yelled, running toward her car.
“What? Cody, calm down…” Lyric said
It was too late. Cody heard the report of the rifle over the receiver. There were multiple shots, and Cody heard the phone hit the ground and the screeching tires.
“Mom!” Cody screamed, standing where she was. “Mom!” she screamed again, but somehow she knew it was no use.
Dropping her phone she staggered, and went down to her knees as a wave of nausea swept through her. The idea that Lyric had just been shot ricocheted around in her head making her wince painfully.
She gave a yell of pure frustration and pain, scaring people around her. She forced herself to her feet, scooped up her phone and began to run toward her car. She started it with a roar, throwing it into gear even as she dialed her phone. She called dispatch to ask about the incident, they reported to her that Lyric had indeed been hit and that an ambulance was on its way. Cody headed for the office, driving at breakneck speeds, and not caring how many lights she blew to get there.
They were loading Lyric into the ambulance when she got there, and she climbed inside just as they closed the door. Cody had to grit her teeth to keep from passing out. Lyric was unconscious; according to the EMT she’d been hit three times with AK-47 rounds. Cody moved to sit next to Lyric, she heard the heart monitor beeping erratically. Reaching out she grabbed Lyric’s hand, holding it tight, putting her head down to Lyric’s ear.
“Come on Mom, you gotta fight, okay?” Cody said, tears streaming down her face.
They lost Lyric’s pulse three times in the ambulance before they reached the hospital. As soon as the ambulance stopped, Cody got out of the way, knowing that if Lyric had a chance to survive this they needed to do their jobs and she needed to stay out of the way. As she climbed out of the ambulance, she made the phone call she never wanted to make in her lifetime.
Savanna answered the call on the fourth ring, sounding harried.
“Mom…” Cody said, her voice breaking as she started to cry again.
“Cody, what is it?” Savanna asked, instantly worried.
“Mom, it’s Lyric...” Cody said, her voice a barely audible whisper. “She’s been shot… You need to get here… You need to get here now…”
“Oh my God…” Savanna said, falling to her knees as she closed her eyes. “No…” she said, with tears in her voice. “No… no… no…”
One of the assistants took the phone from her then.
“Hello?” “This is Cody,” Cody said. “You need to get Savanna to Cedars now, Lyric’s been shot.”
“Oh my god!” the woman exclaimed. “Okay, okay, we’ll get her there, Cody, you wait for her!”
Cody hung up the phone, and slid it into her pocket as she walked into the emergency room.
A half an hour later, Cody was stood like a stone statue waiting to hear word of Lyric’s condition. Jet arrived after hearing the news, and made straight for Cody and hugged her. Cody squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself not to break. She was holding on to her control with the iron will that had gotten her through life when she was young and things were hopeless.
“Have you heard anything yet?” Jet asked.
Cody shook her head, her look haunted.
Lyric’s unit all showed up, hugging Cody in turn and asking if she’d heard anything. C
ody continued to shake her head, her knee starting to bounce in agitation. When Savanna arrived, she ran straight to Cody. Cody held her mother, while she cried almost hysterically.
“I can’t lose her, Cody…” Savanna said at one point. “I can’t lose her…” she repeated.
“I know, Mom, I know,” Cody said, her voice soft. “She’ll be okay, you know Lyric is as tough as they come…”
Lyric’s father and brothers arrived. They again hugged both women, asking if they’d heard anything. A short while after, Cody handed a still distraught Savanna off to Lyric’s oldest brother and went outside to smoke. Standing against the side of the quad she was in, she could see Lyric’s brothers talking.
“I can’t do this…” Lyric said, her tone tremulous.
“Okay…” Savanna said, her tone gentle. “We can just play it like always…” Savanna said. “Like any other dinner with them.”
Lyric looked back at her, her eyes searching Savanna’s, then she shook her head. “No, I need to tell them the truth about us,” she said, her tone strong again.
They were sitting outside of the Falco family home, the house Lyric had grown up in and they were supposed to tell Lyric’s family about them and the fact that they were not only a couple, but were getting married and adopting Cody. They hadn’t brought Cody to meet the family yet because they wanted to make sure her family was okay with them first before they exposed Cody to any negativity.
Lyric’s family had met Savanna previously at dinner, though back then she’d just been Lyric’s friend and they’d happily accepted her into their group. But things had changed, and Lyric didn’t like lying to her family so she wanted to tell them everything. Wanting to do something and doing it, however were two different things.
Blowing her breath out, Lyric nodded to herself, then reached over to open the car door. She got out and walked around to the passenger side, opening Savanna’s door and holding out her hand to help her out of the car. Savanna squeezed Lyric’s hand gently, smiling up at her.
They walked up to the front door, Lyric blew her breath out again, and then reached for the door. Inside she called to her dad.
Vendetta (WeHo Book 7) Page 19
