Worst Date Ever (Scandals #3) (24 page)

She swept her arm around the room.  “Living here ain’t cheap.  I had to have some big-time income to bait the trap if I wanted to catch a millionaire.”  She glanced back at Cody.  “He was perfect.  Rich, hot and handsome.”  Again, she shrugged.  “Too bad, but he’s not the only one out there.”

Now I was confused.  Did she think she was going to get away with this and just walk away?  Apparently, she wasn’t very concerned with my presence. 

She moved so quickly that I didn’t have time to react.  She was on me like a pit bull on a Chihuahua.  Automatically, I rolled away as we hit the ground.  She still had the needle in her hand, and she jabbed it wildly, trying to sink it into any part of my body.  I grabbed her wrist and pushed it away, but she was really strong, and I watched it come closer and closer.

Growing up with a variety of kids, I had picked up some survival skills, one of which was fighting dirty.  I hadn’t needed it for many years, but it all came back to me now.  I grabbed a handful of hair and yanked her off to the side.  It threw her off balance, and I was able to get on top.  I tried to hold her down with my arm across her neck while pounding her hand against the floor, trying to force her to release the needle.  She kicked and squirmed beneath me and worked her head around until she clamped her teeth into my arm.  I punched her hard, and I felt the tender cartilage of her nose snap.  Blood flowed over her face, but instead of giving up, that seemed to energize her.  She screamed, clawed my face with her free hand and fought even harder.

We tumbled across the floor with her gaining the advantage, then me.  In an act of desperation, I slammed my forehead into hers, and for a moment, she was stunned.  But that was long enough for me to grab the needle and fling it across the room.  I was on my knees, catching my breath when she caught me from behind and wrapped the scarf she had been wearing around my throat.  I clawed at it, but she had all the leverage, and the pressure against my windpipe was cutting off my air.  The room started spinning, and I knew I was about to black out.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I leaned forward as far as I could, then crashed back, hard enough to make her lose her balance and release her grip.  I yanked the scarf off my neck and sucked in great gulps of air while I searched desperately for a weapon.  My hand touched a big piece of ceramic pot.  I grabbed it and as she lunged for me, I cracked it over her head.  She crumpled to the floor just as the front door burst open.

“Austin PD.  Freeze!”

I fell down on my knees and started crawling toward Cody.

“I said don’t move,” one of the officers ordered, his gun pointed at me.

“But he’s hurt.  Help him,” I cried.

Just then Christopher and Liberty burst into the room. 

“Joe, she’s one of ours,” Christopher told the officer.

The cop immediately lowered his weapon and turned to Amanda.

I stood and hurried to Cody.  His eyes were closed and his tanned skin was unnaturally pale.  A quick check of his pulse confirmed that he was still alive, but it was weak.

Two paramedics rushed in, pulling a stretcher behind them and pushed me out of the way.  I was glad Cody was getting some medical attention, but I didn’t want to let him go. 

One of the cops pulled me aside.  Even as I tried to tell him all I knew about today’s events, I kept an eye on Cody.  His precious face was partially hidden behind an oxygen mask.  They had already started an IV, and I watched until he was pushed into the hallway and out of my sight.  I had no idea whether or not I would ever see him again. 

Another set of paramedics were working on Amanda who was now awake and sitting on a chair, with a set of handcuffs adorning her wrists. 

“Miss Wiggins, do you have any idea why the victim was unconscious?” the officer asked me.

“He was already like that when I arrived.”  I nodded toward two cups on the coffee table.  “If you run a test on his coffee, I’ll bet you’ll find out what she used.”

“We have a CSI team on their way now.  We’re hoping Miss Mason will help us out.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. She’s the most soulless person I’ve ever met…and I’ve known some real losers,” I told him.  I didn’t mention that I thought she was a few fries short of a Happy Meal.  I figured they’d find out soon enough that she was freakin’ nuts.

Christopher put his arm around me, offering brotherly comfort.  “Are you doing okay?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sore all over from my elevator ride yesterday, and I could sleep for about four days straight…”

“What happened in the elevator?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes.   “I’ve got so much to catch you up on.  Can we get out of here?  I really can’t stand being in the same room with that crazy bitch.”

“Let me check.”  Christopher went to talk to the officer in charge. 

The hair on the back of my neck rose again, and I turned to find Amanda glaring at me.

“He doesn’t love you, you know,” she said, her voice low and calm.  “And he never will. You’re not good enough for him.”

I quickly turned away because I didn’t want her to see how accurate her poisoned arrows had been.  Of course, I already knew what she said was true, but hearing it out of her mouth somehow made it even more painful…and real.

I didn’t wait for the cop to give me clearance as I fled from the apartment.  I didn’t pause in the hallway, but ran up the stairs to Cody’s place.  Liberty and Christopher were right behind me as I went through the retinal scan, letting us in.  I went straight for the computer and saved all the results on a thumb drive.  Do you think they’ll need Cody’s computer for evidence?”

“I’m sure they will.  Amanda’s lawyers will probably try to dispute your findings and invalidate your programs,” Christopher confirmed.

I collected all the pages I had printed and packed them and the thumb drive in my laptop bag.

“What can I do?” Liberty asked. 

“Make sure all our dishes are cleaned and put away, then we need to get our clothes and that stupid air bed.” I bustled around, tidying the place up and retrieved the power cord that was still dangling over the edge of the balcony.

Christopher’s hands clamped around my arms, and he forcibly stopped me.  “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“I told Cody we’d leave the place just as we found it.  I want it to be back to normal when he comes home from the hospital.”  I looked up at Christopher through a cloud of tears.  “He
will
come home, won’t he?  He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?”  I desperately needed to hear that he was.

“I don’t know,” Christopher answered honestly.  “The medics said he was in critical condition.  Whatever she drugged him with was strong.”

“She works at an animal shelter, so she has access to all sorts of drugs.  There was pentobarbital in that syringe.  I saw the package.  But I have no idea what she used to knock him out.”

“He’s strong, healthy and in great physical shape,” Christopher tried to assure me.  “He’s going to be fighting to survive.  Why don’t we go to the hospital and wait there?”

I wanted to do that, but I knew this was the best time for me to walk away.  The more time I spent at his bedside, the more I would care.  And what I needed most was to stop caring and get on with my life…and let him get on with his.  He might wonder why I wasn’t there, but that would quickly pass.  There had been no promises or proclamations between us.  Just a few laughs and some great sex.  I’m sure he got that plenty of that from all his women any time he wanted it.

“Nah, I’m going to get things cleaned up here,” I answered.  “Why don’t you go and let me know how he is?  I’ll meet you back at the mansion.”

“I’m staying with you,” Liberty said.

I started to protest, but then I smiled. “Thanks.  I’m glad to have your help.” 
And your company
, I added to myself.  This condo had too many memories, and being alone would have made Cody’s critical condition all that much more painful.  Everywhere I looked, he was there.  Every smell reminded me of him.  In the bedroom as I made the bed, I paused for a moment to breathe in his masculine scent still clinging to the pillow.  If only I hadn’t fallen asleep and he hadn’t been such a nice guy, I would have had one more night of passion to last me the rest of my life.  I plumped the pillow, put it on top of the comforter and stepped away.  I stuffed my clothes in my backpack and turned out the light.

Goodbye, Cody.  I hope you have a wonderful life.

Liberty and I arrived at the mansion just as the others were coming home from the office.  I excused myself to take a long, hot bath and dress in clean clothes.  I really didn’t want to face everyone and repeat the whole story even though I knew they were all dying to hear.  All I could think about was Cody’s welfare.  I called the hospital, but, of course, they wouldn’t give me any information.  I paced the room, wishing Christopher would call.  I thought about taking a nap, but I knew I’d never be able to shut my brain off long enough to fall asleep.  Not until Cody was okay.

Finally, I gave up and went down to join the others.  Thankfully, Liberty had filled them in on everything…or at least the pieces she knew…so I wasn’t bombarded with questions.  We were on our third margarita when Christopher arrived.  He came straight to me.

“Cody woke up.  They think he’s going to be fine, but they’re keeping him there a couple days until everything is out of his system.”

“Did he…did he ask about me?” I asked, keeping my voice casual. But I could tell by the sympathy in Christopher’s eyes that he knew how much Cody’s well-being meant to me.

“Uh…no, but he’s still pretty groggy.  I’m sure that once he’s fully awake, he’ll want to see you.”

“There’s really no reason for that,” I managed to say.  “The case is over.  There’s no reason for me to meet with him again.”

Christopher frowned.  He obviously didn’t agree with my logic, but he was wise enough not to argue with me about it.

“Dinner’s ready,” John announced.  “And, may I say, it’s good to have everyone back.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

I pulled my tablet toward me and opened it up.  The new Scandals Investigations agency splash page I designed and uploaded this morning made me smile.  Not many things did these days. 

It had been almost a month since I last saw Cody.  He had called a couple times, but I hadn’t answered.  Nor had I returned his calls.  After the first week, he stopped trying which confirmed my decision to cut all ties at the end of the case.

Of course, I had followed his progress closely and was relieved that he’d made a full recovery.  Amanda was charged with murder and several counts of attempted murder, as well as multiple counts of identity theft.  Her trial was scheduled for October, and I, for one, wasn’t looking forward to it because I would have to testify.  But having Amanda off the streets was worth a little discomfort.

Michael was cleared of all charges but was still mourning the loss of Tamara.  At least Linked was consuming him as he worked to overcome the negative publicity of psycho Amanda being a charter member of an organization that prided itself on background checks.  He kept trying to fix me up, but I’d given up on love.  It simply wasn’t worth the pain…and I, like Michael, was mourning the loss of the love of my life.

I tried not to think of Cody more than a zillion times a day.  I wondered what he was doing…if he was at work…who he was with.  I didn’t regret a moment we had spent together.  Nor did I regret shutting the door behind me.  Cody had no idea about my past, and I knew he would never be able to respect me if he did.  It was easier on both of us this way.

Reno stuck his head around the door frame, then walked into my office and sprawled out on the chair in front of my desk.  “Hey, good job on the website.  Wish I could figure out computers.”  He chuckled.  “I can rebuild a motorcycle from scratch, but I can’t find my way around Facebook.”

“I could teach you.”

He waved away my offer.  “No thanks.  I’m already hooked on those stupid games on my phone.  I don’t want to lose any more time in cyber space.”

“How did Jenny do on her American Literature CLEP test?”

“She passed with flying colors.  But I knew she would,” he said proudly. “She’s brilliant.”

“You’re prejudiced,” I scoffed.

“Of course I am.”  He grew serious. “I think she’s the real deal.”

“The two of you are so good for each other.”

He studied me quietly for a moment.  “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you and Cody.  I never met him, but he sounded like a cool guy.”

“He was,” I whispered.

“He still is,” a voice said from the doorway.

Reno and I looked up and saw Cody standing there.  Reno immediately stood and held out his hand.

“Don’t tell me…you’re Cody, right?” Reno asked with a welcoming smile.

“That’s me.  Although some people in this room seem to have forgotten that.”

Seeing him, in the flesh, took my breath away.  I tried to think of something to say, but just managed to drink in the sight of him, looking as gorgeous as ever in his tight jeans and AFD t-shirt.  His hair had been ruffled by the wind with that disobedient lock falling across his forehead.  I was surprised to see a wide streak of blue mixed in with the dark brown.

“I just remembered something I need to do,” Reno said, looking from Cody to me, then back again to Cody. “Nice to meet you.  Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“It’s up to her,” Cody answered and nodded toward me.

Reno gave me a warning look that clearly said for me to be nice.  In the doorway, he kind of gave Cody a push inside the room and shut the door, leaving us alone.

“Mind if I sit?” Cody asked.

“No, of course not,” I managed to stammer.

“You’re looking rested,” he said.

“I think I finally caught up with all the sleep I missed.”  I couldn’t help but smile as I focused on his hair.  “That’s new.”

“Oh, that,” he answered with a grin.  “A girl I knew once told me that it helped her feel brave and special.  I needed some of that.”

“Really?  Why?”

“I was falling in love with that girl, and then she dumped me.  No reason.  No excuse.  No explanation.”

“Maybe she just didn’t think the two of you were right for each other.  What if she has some horrible secrets that would make you lose all respect for her?”  My throat closed around my words.  If I hadn’t been talking in third person, I would never have been able to speak of it at all.

“You mean the part about her mother leaving her when she was a baby and her having to grow up in foster homes?” he asked, as casually as if he was talking about the weather and not the tragedy of my life.

“That’s part of it,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper.

He had brought a tattered shoe box with him that he placed on my desk.  “What if I told that girl that her mother hadn’t abandoned her?”

“You don’t know what happened,” I cried.

“Open it,” he said and pushed the box closer.  “I spent the last couple weeks in Oklahoma and found out some pretty interesting stuff.  Like the fact that your mother couldn’t find a job, but she had a newborn to take care of.  So, she joined the army for the benefits and the salary.  When she got deployed, she left her baby with a friend who promised to take care of the child.  What that mother didn’t do was choose better friends because a month later that friend overdosed and the baby was taken away because the authorities thought it was hers.”

I straightened in my chair.  This was no longer an abstract stranger’s story.  Could it be true…?  “But what happened to my mother?  Why didn’t she look for me when she came home?”

Cody’s eyes darkened with sympathy and he reached out and took my hand.  “Tulsa, your mother was killed in Bosnia.  She was a part of a U.N. Security Council mission to monitor the two factions.  They were ambushed, and she was shot while protecting the U.N. representatives.”

The tears were rolling, unchecked, down my cheeks.  The lump in my throat kept me from saying anything, even if my shocked brain was able to process what I just heard.  Instead, I opened the shoebox and took out a Purple Heart medal, still in its original container, as well as a Silver Star.  I picked up a pair of dog tags and read the name Wiggins, Mary J.  Beneath the military items was my original birth certificate and a small photo album that my mother must have had with her when she died.

My fingers trembled as I caressed the worn leather cover.  My mother had actually held this album.  She had chosen the pictures and put them inside, and she had cared enough to take it with her so she could look at it every day.  I lifted the book out and slowly leafed through it, soaking in every photo of a tiny baby with a shock of dark hair being held by a smiling woman.  My mother.  I had never known what she looked like.  She was beautiful with shining dark brown hair cut into a cute pixie.  Her eyes were large and a soft shade of green.  I wasn’t all that interested in the baby…me.  I couldn’t get enough of looking at my mother. More pictures of her rocking me, feeding me, kissing me, holding me.  These were images of a woman who clearly loved her child.

“But why didn’t the army find me?  I’m sure my mother told them about me.”

“Apparently, they tried, but the friend was dead and you were gone.”

“What about grandparents?”

“Your mother was an orphan.  She had no one else to turn to.”

I slumped back in my chair, too overwhelmed to process it all.

Cody leaned forward and forced me to meet his gaze.  “You see, there was nothing for you to be ashamed of at all.”

“But how were you able to find all this?  I looked.  I spent years trying to track down my mother.”

“You didn’t offer the right incentives.  Government employees have bad memories and lack motivation unless someone flashes a little green in front of them.”

“You bribed them?”

“Money talks. Then once I found out your mom had been in the military, it went pretty quickly.  Oh, by the way, they wanted to deliver this to you in person, but I didn’t think hearing this from a military officer would be the right way to find out.”

I retrieved my mother’s dog tags and slipped them over my head.  I had never felt closer to her.  I rubbed my thumb and forefinger over the embossed letters.  The black rubber silencer around the edges was cracked and dried out, but I cherished it because I knew it had once been against her skin.

“This is amazing.  I can’t believe you did this for me,” I told him.

“I care about you,” he said.  “I knew it bothered you that you didn’t know your background.  I figured it was the least I could do to thank you for saving my life.”

My heart plummeted.  “So this was payback for that?”

“No, it was to level the playing field.  Now that you know you’re the daughter of a war hero, you can’t use all that bullshit about you not being good enough for me.”

I dropped my head, and my bangs fell across my eyes.  “That’s not the only reason,” I whispered.

“You mean the baby you gave up for adoption?”  His voice was soft and gentle and held none of the condemnation I would have expected.

My head snapped up.  “How did you did you find out about that?”

He took a white envelope out of his pocket.  “I don’t know the circumstances, but knowing you, you had a really good reason.”

I wrapped my hand around my mom’s dog tags as if they would give me strength.  “I was raped by one of my foster brothers when I was fourteen.”  I swallowed back the bile that filled my throat at the memory.  “His mother made me have the baby and give it up.  I never even saw her…or got to hold her.”  I sniffled and stared at a landscape painting on the wall, not wanting to meet his gaze.  “It was probably the best thing I could have done because there was no way I could have raised a child.  I was just a kid myself.  I would have been a horrible mother.”

“I think you’d be a wonderful mother.  You, more than most people, know what a child needs.”  He pushed the envelope across the desk top toward me.  “Here’s information about your daughter if you ever want to find her.”

All the emotion that had been building inside me bubbled over and oddly, turned into defensive anger.  “How dare you delve into my personal life like that?  You’ve taken this too far! You have no right…”

“Says the woman who pulled a snake out of my pants.  That’s about as personal as it gets.”

That abruptly brought me back into the moment.  I recognized my reaction as years of buried shame and regret and insecurity.  It wasn’t about Cody at all.  I couldn’t be angry at him.  He had given me a gift.  Two gifts, actually.  I didn’t know what I’d do with the information about my daughter, but it was nice to feel like I was in control.  All my life things had happened
to
me…things that I had been powerless to change.  Cody had turned my whole world upside down.  And he had done it because he cared about me.

“You really cared about that girl…the one with blue hair?” I asked shyly.

He stood, walked around my desk and pulled me to my feet.  “I’m falling in love with her and hope she’s willing to give me a chance to show her how it feels to be loved.”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck.  “She has never wanted anything more than to be loved by you.”

He kissed me, gently at first, then with a passion that assured me he had missed me every bit as much as I had missed him.  If we weren’t in a building full of people who might walk in on us at any moment, our clothes would have been on the floor and our naked bodies on top of the desk.   But we settled for some heated kissing and a little sexy cuddling…at least for now.

“You’d make a good detective,” I told him when we finally stopped to catch our breath.  “I’m amazed at all you found out…and so quickly.”

He gave me that sexy crooked grin.  “You’re worth whatever it takes.”

“I guess you’d better tell Michael that you’re dropping out of Linked.”

“I already have.”  He pushed my bangs out of my eyes.  “You’re my perfect match.”

I reached up and stroked the blue streak in his hair.  “That doesn’t wash out, you know.”

He grimaced a little.  “Really?  I thought it said semi-permanent.”

I shook my head.  “That means it’ll wash out in about four to six weeks.”

“Then I guess I’ll be wearing a ball cap at work when I don’t have my helmet on.”

I laughed, startling myself with the pure joy and happiness I was feeling.  “I like it, but you don’t need it.  You’re already brave…and very, very special.”

Cody pulled me back into his arms and convinced me how right I was.