Vendetta (WeHo Book 7)

by Sherryl Hancock

  In the end, Cody stayed with Savanna the entire day, holding her when she cried, or just sitting on the floor next to her holding her hand when she wasn’t crying. At one point early in the evening, Savanna fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. Cody stood up, leaning down to kiss Savanna on the cheek. She turned to kneel next to Lyric’s bed then, taking Lyric’s hand in hers.

  “I’m going to kill the bastards that did this, Mom…” she said. “I’m going to fucking kill them all…” she said softly, her tone determined. Moving to stand, she leaned down to kiss Lyric’s forehead, as Lyric had kissed hers so often over the years. “Thank you for everything,” she said, her tears starting again. “Thank you for my life, for everything you taught me, and for loving me no matter what stupid shit I did… I love you Lyric, I love you so much… If you can make it back here for Mom, that would be good… She needs you… I love you so much… I’m sorry, but I have to do this… I can’t let them get away with this… Not with this… I love you… I love you… Thank you…” she said, her tears falling continuously.

  She walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving by the back door. Getting onto her bike, she drove home. There she took a shower, and pulled on jeans, boots, and a black shirt. She loaded her gun and put it into her holster, then loaded her backup weapon and put it into the ankle holster above her boot. She then picked up the Kaybar that Lyric had given her, and slid it into the sheath at her thigh. She pulled on her jacket and turned to pick up her keys. Her phone pinged then, and she picked it up. It was a text message from Jet.

  “Cody they have McKenna! They’re at the ETown. Do not do anything until I get there!”

  Cody looked at the message, gritting her teeth at the image of McKenna in the Sureños’ hands. She tossed her phone on the bed and left the room. She got into her car and drove in a direction she knew so well. It was ironic to her that this show down was going to happen in the same place Lyric had killed Churro over eight years before. Almost poetic, Cody thought.

  She parked her car, she got out and looked around. There were plenty of Sureños in evidence, but they all just looked at her with varied degrees of malice and bravado.

  She was hailed with comments like, “How’s the family?” and, “Como esta tu madre?” Asking her how her mother was. Cody gritted her teeth, wanting desperately to shoot each and every one of them, but knowing she needed to get to McKenna first. Walking up the stairs, she looked ahead of her.

  “Jesus, the same room even?” she muttered to herself. “Not very original.”

  When she got to the room she was stopped by two Sureños who frisked her and took her weapons. She’d half expected that. They pushed her into the room then, and she saw McKenna huddled on the bed. She had a flash of Lyric walking into the room over eight years before and remembered that flash of hope that had started in her that night.

  “Cody!” McKenna cried.

  “It’s okay,” Cody told her, her voice completely calm.

  “Is it, puta?” drawled Martin, who sat in a chair next to the bed.

  Suddenly a man grabbed Cody from behind, yanking her arms back behind her. Cody struggled against his hold, but he only tightened his hold further, until Cody had no choice but to subside.

  “This is between you and me, Martin,” Cody said. “Let her go.”

  “Right….” Martin said. “It’s like the movies, I’m gonna just let her go, right?” he sneered. “Nah, this ain’t the movies, Cody, and what I’m gonna do is fuck her right here in front of you and then I’m gonna kill her slow so you can watch that too. And then when I’m done I’m gonna fuck you and kill you too. How’s that for a movie, eh?” he asked, laughing raucously. “Maybe like a hot porno, huh?” he asked, with a ribald laugh.

  “Don’t make me kill you, Martin,” Cody said, her tone a low growl.

  “Shit… You think you can do that puta? Let’s see you try,” he said, moving toward her and leveling a punch at her mid-section. Then he punched her in the face and continued punching her until she sagged to the ground.

  She was shaken back into consciousness when McKenna screamed. As she opened her eyes, she saw that Martin was yanking at McKenna’s jeans, and she was fighting him. He slapped her hard and she subsided, recoiling away from him.

  Cody became aware of the man holding her; she could feel his breath on her cheek, so she knew he was close. Without warning she rammed her head into his face as hard as she possibly could, seeing stars for her effort, but he also loosened his grip enough to grab at his face. She turned around kicking him in the knee, hearing it pop and he screamed in pain. She then launched herself at Martin, grabbing him by a handful of hair and ramming his head into the wall above the bed.

  He threw her off of him with surprising strength, and Cody hit the floor in a heap, but quickly shifted backwards to get away from him as he advanced on her, blood dripping from a cut above his eye.

  “Fucking bitch! You fucking cunt, I’m going to fucking kill you!” he screamed. “Then I’m gonna keep that cunt over there and let all the guys gang bang her till she’s fucking dead!”

  Cody had moved into a crouch, and hearing what he’d just said she knew she had no choice. Giving a banshee-like scream, she launched herself at him, ramming into his mid-section with all the force she had, driving him backwards. She heard McKenna scream her name as she broke the barrier of the open doorway, and she kept moving, driving Martin straight over the low rail of the balcony. Then they were both falling.

  Cody hit the ground and everything went black.

  Chapter 9

  Lyric woke to the sound of machines beeping. She stared up at the ceiling trying to gather her thoughts and wondering why she felt so heavy. With all the effort she could muster, she turned her head to the right and saw Savanna sitting in the chair. Her eyes were open, but she didn’t seem to be conscious.

  “Van?” Lyric queried, her voice coming out as the barest whisper.

  Savanna didn’t move.

  “Van?” Lyric said again, forcing more sound into her voice. It was barely audible, but it was enough.

  Savanna blinked, and looked over at her. Her mouth dropped open slowly, and she reached up to rub her eyes, sure she was seeing things.

  “Lyric?” she cried. “Lyric!” she exclaimed again, moving forward to touch Lyric’s face. “My God, my God, babe… Thank God…” she breathed, the tears in her eyes spilling over as she leaned down to kiss Lyric’s lips, cheeks, and forehead.

  Lyric blinked a couple of times, trying to gather her strength enough to ask questions.

  “What… happened?” she asked.

  Savanna nodded, assuring herself that Lyric really was awake and talking, she wasn’t dreaming it.

  “You were shot, babe, but you’re okay now… You’re okay now…” she said, her tone wondrous.

  Lyric’s blue eyes searched Savanna’s face, she could see the strain on her face and she suspected that she’d been hurt worse than Savanna was saying. She wanted to ask about Cody, but she already felt herself sinking back into sleep, she felt so heavy…

  “Love you, honey…” Lyric whispered.

  “I love you, Lyric, I love you…” Savanna said, her voice a desperate whisper next to her ear. “Rest now honey, just rest…”

  Lyric nodded slightly and was asleep a moment later.

  Savanna jumped up and strode out the waiting room where Lyric’s family and some of their friends were still holding vigil. Savanna skidded to a halt, her eyes scanning all the people there that loved Lyric so much and she smiled. She walked over to Jacomo, who was looking very old and very tired suddenly. She knelt in front of him, taking his hands in hers looking up into his face.

  “Daddy Falco,” she said, smiling. “She woke up… She woke up…” she said, her voice reflecting the awe she was feeling.

  Jacomo stared back at her for a long moment as if not understanding her. In truth, he was so far away in his mind at that point he didn’t understand her.

  “Lei �
� papà sveglia!” Mario told his father, saying in Italian that she was awake.

  “Sì?” Jacomo queried, looking at Savanna.

  “Sì, papa, sì!” Savanna said, nodding.

  “Oh my girl…” Jacomo said then, grabbing Savanna up in a hug and crying at the same time.

  The waiting room was filled with tears at hearing the news.

  Cody regained consciousness slowly and groaned as she tried to move, her entire body protested wildly. She lay in a hospital bed with machines around her beeping and whirring.

  “Cody?” McKenna queried, hovering over her.

  “Hi…” Cody murmured, her eyes staring up at McKenna.

  McKenna smiled. “Hi,” she said, her look relieved.

  “Martin?” Cody queried.

  “Dead,” McKenna said, her tone even.

  Cody breathed a sigh. “And you’re okay?” she asked then.

  McKenna nodded slowly. “I’m okay, Cody.”

  Cody nodded, closing her eyes again, her brow creasing in a frown. It had hit her again, why she’d had to do what she’d done, and she knew that it hadn’t changed anything.

  “Cody,” McKenna said then, reaching out to touch her hand.

  Cody opened her eyes and looked over at McKenna, her eyes haunted.

  “Lyric woke up,” McKenna said then.

  Cody’s mouth opened as joy swept through her, it was almost painful the way her heart leapt. “She did?” she finally managed to ask, her heart pounded so hard she almost couldn’t breathe.

  McKenna nodded, smiling with tears in her eyes.

  Cody blew her breath out audibly and her entire body relaxed instantly. Then she started to move to get up off the hospital bed.

  “Cody, no,” McKenna started to say, but Cody had already discovered that moving at all was really painful.

  Cody gasped and lay back down with a grimace.

  “Holy shit…” she breathed, gasping in pain.

  “Yeah…” McKenna said, her tone teasing and sympathetic at the same time. “A fall from a second story onto pavement tends to really piss a body off…”

  Cody grinned. “I kinda hoped he’d break my fall,” she said, her tone surly.

  “That really didn’t work out,” McKenna said, her tone wry, but then she grew serious. “You could have died, Cody…” she said.

  “He was going to kill you… and me… He’d already killed Lyric, at least that’s what I thought… I had to kill him, Kenna… I had to…” Cody said, her voice halting as emotions overwhelmed her.

  “Even if it had killed you?” McKenna asked, looking devastated.

  Cody shook her head. “I didn’t care in that moment,” she said, her look lost.

  She looked at McKenna then and saw the upset on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “I just didn’t see any other way. He had to die for what he did, and I had to be the one to do it.”

  McKenna swallowed convulsively, nodding her head. It had terrified her to watch Cody shoving Martin backwards. When they’d reached the open balcony door McKenna had known what was going to happen. She would never forget the terror that had sent her running to the railing to look down and seeing Cody lying on the pavement with Martin lying a couple of feet away.

  Thankfully, Jet had arrived with law enforcement back up just in time. She’d been the first one to get to Cody, calling in the ambulance immediately. It had been a terrifying ride to the hospital, but they’d told her that Cody’s pulse was strong and that she would be okay as far as they could tell, she’d been so relieved she’d cried on the EMT’s shoulder.

  Cody and McKenna were quiet for a few minutes. A nurse came in and gave Cody more pain meds, which put her back to sleep.

  When Cody woke again, she turned her head and was surprised to see Lyric sitting there in a wheelchair, her blue eyes looking back at her expectantly.

  “Mom?” Cody queried, hoping she wasn’t dreaming.

  “Yeah?” Lyric replied, grinning as she raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

  Cody shifted to try to reach out to Lyric, but winced in pain when she did.

  “That’s not a good idea, babe,” Lyric said, grinning again.

  Cody looked back at her, her hazel eyes searching her face. Lyric could see the minute it all clicked in her head. The tears started then, and Lyric moved as best she could to touch her daughter’s head.

  “They killed you, Mom…” Cody said, tears sliding from her eyes. “I heard them shoot you…” She was crying then, all of the stress, worry, and fear forcing its way out.

  Lyric leaned against the side of the bed, still a bit weak herself, but doing everything she could to comfort Cody.

  “I’m here, baby, I’m here…” she said, her voice soft. “They didn’t kill me, they didn’t kill either of us… We won… They lost…”

  When Cody finally calmed down, she looked up at Lyric.

  “And you’re really okay?” she asked, as if she wasn’t daring to believe it.

  “So they tell me,” Lyric said, smiling down at her daughter.

  Cody drew in a deep breath, blowing it out in a loud sigh as she nodded her head.

  “Okay, okay…” she said.

  “Now, let’s talk about your spectacular dive off a second floor…” Lyric said, her tone even, her eyes reflecting how crazy she thought the action had been.

  “He was going to kill her, Mom,” Cody said, her tone devastated. “He was going to torture her and kill her… I had to stop him.”

  Lyric nodded, understanding Cody’s motivation. “Can you not do that again, please?” she said her tone light, even as her eyes showed her anxiety.

  “Sure,” Cody said, nodding. “I think I can avoid that in the future,” she said, her tone light as well.

  “Good,” Lyric said, canting her head at her daughter. “Now you need to get better, ’cause we have a trip to take.”

  “A trip?” Cody asked, surprised by the change of topic.

  “Well, Mom and I missed our flight to Italy,” she said, her lips curling in a grin. “So I figure we might as well add a couple of people when we re-book.”

  “Like?” Cody asked, her eyes shining with hope.

  “Like you and McKenna,” Lyric said. “I’m thinking we could all use a vacation, what do you think?”

  “I think you’re the smartest woman I know,” Cody said, smiling.

  “Good answer, kid, good answer,” Lyric said, grinning.

  Epilogue

  They’d spent days wandering the lush and expansive grounds of La Famiglia Falco, a villa and winery. McKenna had been unable to believe the beauty of the countryside and had spent most of her time staring around her open-mouthed. Cody had never been to the family land either, so she was fairly impressed herself, although she was a bit more circumspect about it.

  Lyric and Savanna spent hours sitting on the veranda talking and drinking either coffee or wine. Savanna had spent a lot of time over the last few weeks simply looking at her wife and marveling at the fact that she was still there. They hadn’t really talked much about the incident, because Lyric had heard from a lot of people how completely devastated Savanna had been. She didn’t want to upset her by talking about it more than necessary.

  Two nights into their visit, Cody lay in bed watching McKenna move around their room. She was examining everything and wondering at the paintings and furnishings in the room. Admittedly, it was a beautiful room with murals on the ceiling accented in gold leaf, and antique neoclassical furniture with rich inlaid woods and damask materials.

  Cody grinned. “Are you ever coming to bed?” she asked.

  McKenna looked over at her, smiling. “I’m sorry, I’ve just never seen so much incredible art before in my life, and this furniture…” she said, running her hand reverently over a dresser, her eyes alight with excitement.

  Cody smiled, enjoying McKenna’s excitement. “Worldly rich girl like you, I’d figure this stuff would be blasé for you,” Cody said.

  “S
top it,” McKenna said, sending Cody a narrowed look. “This place is amazing, Cody… Don’t you think so?”

  “Yes, I think it’s amazing, but I think I’d like to lie here with my girl and enjoy her for a few hours…” she said, her tone suggestive.

  McKenna looked over at her, seeing Cody lift aside the covers, and pat the bed next to her. She smiled, so glad to see Cody looking relaxed and happy again. She walked over and lay down next to Cody. Cody leaned over her kissing her lips softly. They spent the next hour taking their time making love. Afterwards, Cody held her as they lay on their sides facing each other.

  “So you’re pretty impressed with La Famiglia Falco, huh?” Cody asked, grinning.

  “I’d say so, yes,” McKenna said, smiling.

  Cody nodded, her grin making her eyes sparkle. “Falco does seem to be a pretty cool name, especially here,” she said, gesturing to the area around them.

  McKenna chuckled. “Pretty cool,” she said, smiling.

  Cody looked back at her for a long moment. “Think you might ever want to take the Falco name?”

  McKenna looked back at Cody for a long moment, then nodded slowly, her look perplexed. “Cody…” she began, her voice hesitant.

  Cody pinned her with a look then, and McKenna found herself holding her breath at the look in Cody’s eyes.

  “Think you might want to take it with this?” Cody asked, reaching over to the nightstand. She picked up a small box and handed it to McKenna.

  “Cody, what is this?” McKenna asked, her voice soft.

  Cody smiled softly. “Open it,” she said.

  McKenna opened the box, and nestled inside was a ring. It was the most beautiful thing McKenna had ever seen. It was antique and in the neoclassic style, designed in white gold, with an intricately carved band, and a large European cut diamond in the center. On the sides of the ring there were carved curled scroll designs. There were also diamond accents on either side of the center diamond.