Degrees of Darkness, page 48
She blinked and lowered her chin. “I’ve been getting the cravings.” Her tongue darted across her lips. “Too many things piled up and … I caved.”
“It’s not something you try to deal with alone, Cody.”
“I know.” Her gaze met his. “I’m going back to the support group I was in. And the counselor.”
She was stronger than he gave her credit for.
Remy squeezed her hand. “Will you trust me enough to say something when the cravings come back?”
She stared at him. The spark lighting her eyes began to harden like emeralds. A thrill erupted inside of him at seeing pieces of the woman he’d first met returning. It was his only warning and he disregarded it.
“Are you going to trust me enough to believe I’m able to handle anything your past can throw at us?” she asked.
“That’s diff — ”
“No, it’s not.”
“I can’t let the scumbag who murdered my wife get his paws on you.” He released her hand, got up and left the kitchen.
She was asking too much of him. He entered the living room and wandered to the fireplace. The glass shards and the last vestige of Cody’s binge were gone. He moved to one of the windows bookending the fireplace. Arm braced against the frame, he stared outside.
Why did he keep trying to push her away?
• • •
Cody gave Remy the time it took her to clear her dishes from the table and down a glass of iced tea before joining him. He wasn’t getting out of this that easily.
She found him staring out the window at the darkening sky. By his stiff posture, she knew this could develop into a battle of wills. If things were to move forward with them, she had to know the truth about his past.
“Remy, it’s time to come clean.”
He bowed his head, but didn’t move. Seconds ticked past. Finally he sighed and turned. A darkness filled his eyes. The peek into his soul sent a tremor of fear into Cody’s heart.
“You’re sure you’re ready to hear this?”
She balled her hands into fists and nodded.
He stood there, seeming to weigh his words, or his options. “Where did you want me to start?”
“How’d you meet Marie?” she whispered.
A sad smile appeared then vanished. “She found me. The first few years I lived in New Orleans I worked a lot of odd jobs. Got work with a catering company that ran in the big circles of New Orleans society. Boss chose me, good looks an’ all, to work the floor for one of the mayor’s parties.
“Marie got bored, wanted to stir things up, and accidentally bumped my tray. What she didn’t bargain on was my quick reflexes. The mayor’s eighty-year-old mother was spared a dousing. The carpet didn’t fare so well. Neither did my job.”
“She got you fired?”
“I was the gui-gui gaga. A country bumpkin or Cajun interloper. Despite all its touting of loving the Cajun culture, those with money in New Orleans still look down on us.” Remy tousled his hair. “Marie actually felt bad and managed to track me down to apologize. I didn’t believe her at first, her being the poor little rich girl, out for a good time.”
“And I suppose you were the poor country boy looking to pave your way and didn’t have time for nonsense.”
A gleam passed through his eyes. “Non, I was the bad boy fathers warned their daughters about.”
Cody laughed softly. That sounded like Remy. “Marie’s daddy didn’t like you, did he?”
The amusement dissipated into cold steel. “The man hated me. Any chance he got me alone, he tried to bribe me to leave Marie. When that didn’t work, he thought to try to help me lose face with her. His little plan there backfired on him, too.” Remy rubbed his forehead. “When I first got to En Ville, I was working my way into the police academy. The day I got accepted I proposed to Marie. She said yes, and her father punched me. The only reason he allowed me to marry her was because she threatened to cut him out of her life. Something about a will. At the time I didn’t care what it was really about because I had her.”
“So, you married her out of spite toward him?”
“Non, I married her because I loved her. And for whatever reason, she loved me back.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Cody joined him by the fireplace. “What happened to her?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, but he never broke eye contact. “I happened. It was because of my ego and desperation to be a detective that got her killed.” He shook his head. “She couldn’t handle being a cop’s wife. She tolerated it, because it was my job. In her mind, she saw bigger and better things for me, for us. Follow in her daddy’s political footsteps.”
That didn’t sound like the Remy Cody knew. But then, all she knew of the real Remy was only what he’d allowed her to see.
“What did you do?”
The grief that filtered over his features hit her like a ton of cement blocks to the chest. “I got wrapped up in a murder and an old cold case I should’ve kept my nose out of. I wasn’t a detective, and didn’t have any business poking around.” He stared at her, seeming to wait for her to scorn him.
Biting her lips, flashing back on the photos she’d glimpsed, she flinched. Shaking the images free, she took hold of his hands. “How long were you married?”
“Almost three years. Cody, the night I lost her, we … ” He choked, swallowed a few times before saying: “She was pregnant.”
Cody failed to hold back her horror. She gasped and stumbled back a step. Remy would’ve been a father. He’d lost more than a wife, he’d lost a baby. A family. A whole, intact unit he’d loved and cherished. Gone. Forever.
“Cody. Say somethin’.” Pain, grief, and fear of rejection cycled across his features.
Cody rallied her wits and reached up to grasp his face between her hands. She looked him straight in the eye. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Pulling her hands from his face, he took a step back, but didn’t release his hold on her. “Yes, it was. I crossed someone, and they sent me a warning. Except, Marie paid the price. The scar on my back. That’s my penance. Marie’s killer meant to kill me. I lived. She and our baby didn’t.”
Slowly, his words sank in. “You know their killer?”
He nodded. “It should have been me who died that night. Not them.”
Cody choked down the tightness in her throat. “If you’d died, then the murderer would’ve gotten away with it for good. And I’d be dead.”
He scowled. “What?”
“Did you ever consider that had you not been here when the Rodeo Sweethearts killer started back up, I could’ve been one of his victims? Things work the way they do for good. We don’t understand it, but it’s how it happens. I forgot that piece of wisdom for a while.”
No rebuttal came. A surprise after the way he’d adamantly defended his belief there wasn’t a lick of good in the world, only evil.
“Cody, I need to make something very clear to you.” He tucked her hair behind an ear. The brush of his fingers against her neck sent out ripples of pleasure. Her body tensed, remembering the way he’d touched her when they’d made love. “The person behind Marie’s death is still after me. Those pictures. They were his warning that he found me.”
Tremors suddenly gripped her. Remy settled his hands on her shoulders, then massaged them. The soothing action of it eased her body quakes.
“Why, after he destroyed your life once, would he come after you again?”
“Because whoever controls the situation believes I know more than I do. And this is how New Orleans’ underbelly works, everyone is fair game. And that means you.” Remy wrapped his arms around her and crushed her against his body, burying his face in her hair. “I can’t lose you like that, Cody,” he whispered.
How she wanted to tell him she wasn’t Marie. She was capable of more than he expected. Somehow she didn’t think he’d believe her. Instead, she embraced him and laid her head on his chest.
The rumble of a diesel engine cut through the silence. Cody lifted her head and looked to the front door. “Who’s that?” She slipped from Remy’s arms only to have him grab her hand and pull her back.
“When is your dad supposed to be home?”
“Not until tomorrow night.”
“I’ll see. You stay put.” He reached for his Ruger and freed it.
Cody’s heart stalled at the sight of the gun. “It might be JC — ”
He held up a finger. “He wasn’t coming back tonight.” He moved off to the kitchen.
Cody eyed the main door. No way would she hang back here alone if someone was here who shouldn’t be. She followed Remy into the kitchen. The hinges on the doors squeaked, which brought Remy around. Cody halted in the middle of the swinging doors, and winced.
“You’re killin’ me here, chère.”
She gave him a wry smile and shrugged.
He waved her off, then edged the curtain away from the kitchen window and peered out. He sighed and holstered his Ruger, then moved to the door. “It’s Anderson.” Hand on the handle, he leveled a warning glare at Cody. “Stay inside. I’ll see what he wants.”
“If it’s about Kim, I want to know.”
• • •
Remy stepped outside as Anderson stomped up the steps. He didn’t want to see his partner here or deal with his attitude. The only benefit to this interruption was it stopped Cody from asking more questions about his past. Barring the doorway, Remy crossed his arms. “What are you doing here?”
“Where’s Cody?” Anderson asked.
“Asking a question to avoid answering mine won’t fly.”
Tilting his chin up, Anderson’s scowl deepened. “I got a text from you, saying you needed to talk to me.”
“I didn’t send you a text. And how the hell did you know I was here?”
“Again, your text.” Raising his arms above his head, Anderson rammed both hands through his hair, disbelief plastered on his face. “If you didn’t send it, then wh — ” His face blanched.
Remy shifted. “What’s wrong with — ” Air buffeted the left side of his cheek, followed by a warm splatter on his face. There was a thunk, then wood fragments sprayed him. Blinking, he rubbed his face and stared at his palm. Red was smeared across his fingers.
Anderson’s caustic curse jolted Remy. His partner was hunched over, holding his shoulder. Blood seeped between his fingers.
Remy swore, grabbed Anderson, and dragged him to the door as another thump hit the doorframe.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Cody!”
She wheeled away from the fridge. Remy crashed through the door lugging Heath inside.
Hand clasped over his right shoulder, blood oozing through his fingers, Heath slumped on a chair. Dark red streaks showed on his blue, plaid sleeve. Swallowing hard, Cody’s gaze flitted to Remy. Blood smeared his face. But it was the cold, stark fear in his eyes that scared her.
“She’s here,” Heath said.
“What do you mean she’s here?” Remy barked at the same time Cody asked: “Who’s here?”
“Candace, an assassin. She’s here. Probably after both of us.” Heath grunted.
Remy cursed in French.
Cody scowled at the two men. “Would someone tell me what’s going on here?”
“There’s a trained sniper out there, gunning for me and LeBeau, Cody.”
The warmth drained from Cody’s body. Trained sniper.
“How do you know she’s after you and me?” Remy asked. “And how do you know for sure it’s her out there?”
“After you told me about that one case, I did more digging on my own. Damn it, LeBeau, what the hell did you get yourself into?”
At the ugly expression crossing Remy’s face, Cody stepped between the two. “Why would she go after the two of you?”
Heath looked at her. “Someone put a hit out on LeBeau. I found that out talking to an old informant of mine. I think she was following me. And if she discovered who I am, she’ll take me on as the complimentary prize.” Heath winced and groaned. “Candace loves a challenge.”
Cody swallowed hard. The windows. They were all sitting ducks. Fear struggled to rear its ugly head, but the wounded man in front of her and the need to care for him beat the fear back. “Remy, cover the windows. I’ll take care of Heath.”
Amazingly, he moved without question, closing the kitchen windows and blinds before moving into the dining room. Cody released a pent-up breath then dropped to her knees at Heath’s side.
Pain-filled eyes latched onto her. “It’s not bad, just a flesh wound. Though it hurts like hell.” He groaned again. “How’d she miss?”
“How do you know she did?”
“We don’t miss.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Cody gently took hold of his hand and eased it from his arm. Blood beaded up, adding to the soaked sleeve.
“Think you can stitch it?”
She looked at him. “Are you nuts? I don’t have anything to numb it.”
“LeBeau said you took some vet tech classes.”
Oh, hell’s bells. He would blab something like that. “It’s not the same.”
“Cody, it’s the same.”
She hissed between her teeth. “You’re crazy.”
“The few and the proud.” He pressed his hand back over the wound. “Let’s make this fast.”
Climbing to her feet, she moved to the doors. “I’ve got some stuff in the mudroom. Try to get out of your shirt.” She pushed through the doors and halted.
Remy had drawn the curtains in the main rooms. He cursed at his cell phone and smacked it between his hands. “She’s got the lines jammed.”
“How?”
“Don’t know.” He muttered something in French. “Bet she’s knocked out the land lines, too. Where are your ranch hands?”
“With Dad at the ranch rodeo in Oklahoma. Remember?”
“Right, at least they won’t be caught in the crossfire.”
She hurried into the mudroom for the emergency wound kit. When she returned to the kitchen, Heath had removed his shirt and was holding a dishtowel over the bullet wound.
“You’re sure it’s me she was contracted to kill?” Remy was asking.
“Sorry, that’s what my guy said,” Heath replied. “Don’t ask me how he knows.”
Cody halted, fear surging through again. This time it wasn’t her life at stake, it was Remy’s. Blast it all, she didn’t have time for a stupid panic attack. She pushed down the renewed fear and scooted another chair closer to Heath and sat. Setting the kit on the table, she opened it and removed the items she’d need. After disinfecting her hands with rubbing alcohol, she slipped on gloves. Facing Heath once more, she sighed. “Ready?”
“If you are.” He smiled. He peeled away the towel and revealed the wound above a red arrowhead-shaped tattoo with a skull superimposed over crossed clubs and the number two. A black ribbon on the bottom of the arrowhead said 2D Recon BN. Inside the arrowhead were the words Swift, Silent, Deadly.
Cody gaped a moment, then muttered: “The few, the proud, huh, Marine?”
She glanced at Remy and stilled. The slack jaw and wide eyes said he hadn’t known about Heath’s stint in the Marines, either.
“Don’t look so shocked, LeBeau.”
“Two years, and you couldn’t tell me.”
Heath focused on the wall behind Cody. “You ain’t exactly been forthcoming with your past, either.”
“Touché.”
Cody cleaned the wound, then went to work mending Heath’s arm. Even with a sharp needle jabbing through his flesh, he managed to remain still.
“What did you do, Heath?” She drew the thread through a new hole.
“Recon Scout sniper.”
Remy took a chair on the opposite side of the table to face his partner. “Which explains why you knew so much about Candace’s tactics.”
“She’s good. For SWAT. But I’m better.”
His statement floored Cody. There wasn’t a trace of bragging in his voice, just matter-of-fact. Yet, he still refused to look at her and Remy.
“Those six years between high school and the academy?”
Finally, Heath peeled his attention off the wall and focused on Remy. “I don’t talk about it much, ’kay? My sister doesn’t even know what I did. She just knows I was gone a lot after we went in to Iraq.”
Remy nodded. “Got it.” He stood and paced between the dining room and the kitchen. “How do we get past Candace? Better yet, how do we take her down?”
“Corner her.”
Cody ceased her movements.
Remy froze, frowning. “Why would we do that? And how do you suggest we do it?”
A slight smile tipped the corners of Heath’s mouth. “That’s the nice thing about having me on your side. I’ve got a Remington seven hundred tactical sniper rifle. Problem is, it’s in my truck.”
Cody tossed the suture equipment on the table and ripped the gloves from her hands. “It’s dark she can’t — ”
“Don’t bet on it,” Heath interrupted her. “We’re talking about a professional assassin — who from our research has one of the best military sniper rifles out there. She’s got night vision. Probably top of the line, too.” He examined Cody’s handiwork. “Nice. You’d make a good medic.”
“If she’s watching the house, how do you plan to get your gun?” Remy asked. “And if you manage it, then what?”
Heath lifted his shirt, winced at the bloody sleeve, then dropped it on the chair. “I’m working that out in my head. I think I have a good plan.”
Cody’s gut bottomed out when a glint passed through Heath’s blue eyes. She’d spent her life hearing snippets of her dad’s time in Vietnam. Living with a war veteran taught her a thing or two about strategy, but she never expected to actually experience it on a personal level.
