Vendetta (WeHo Book 7)

by Sherryl Hancock

  Cody bit her lip, nodding.

  “What else do you listen to?” Cody asked.

  “I’m mostly into rock,” Lyric said, once again hitting buttons. “This album is awesome,” she said, hitting pause. “It’s by a band called Queensrÿche, ever hear of them?”

  Cody shook her head.

  “Well, this album’s called Operation Mindcrime,” Lyric said. “It’s this whole cool story about this revolutionary group that’s trying to overthrow the government, and they use this kid that’s addicted to heroin and get him to kill key people for them… It’s wild.”

  Cody’s eyes widened at Lyric’s description, then she nodded. “I want to hear it,” she said, smiling.

  Lyric laughed, hitting play on the CD player. They spent the next half an hour listening to the songs from the album and discussing what certain lyrics meant. Lyric found that Cody was really sharp and had insights into things that someone her age usually wouldn’t. She really did like the girl, and she could sense that Cody really needed someone to take an interest in her.

  When Lyric pulled into the parking lot of the area Costco, Cody looked over at her.

  “Gotta shop for my family,” Lyric said and pointed to the list on the floor near Cody’s feet. “You mind?” she asked.

  “No,” Cody said, shaking her head. “You have a big family?” She asked.

  “Well, no, it’s my dad and three big brothers, but they eat a lot, so…” she said, grinning as she gestured to the land of bulk foods.

  “Your mom doesn’t shop?” Cody asked.

  “My mom died giving birth to me,” Lyric said. “It’s always just been me, my dad, and my brothers.”

  “Oh,” Cody said, nodding.

  “What about you?” Lyric asked as she parked. “Big family, small family?”

  Cody didn’t say anything for a long moment, then shrugged. “My dad got killed in a drunk driving accident, he was the drunk,” she said, her tone even. “It was just me, my brother and my mom for a couple of years and it was okay. But then my mom married this other guy…” Her voice trailed off as she looked out the window.

  Lyric nodded. “You didn’t like him?”

  “He was a Baptist preacher,” Cody said, her lips curled in disgust.

  “Aw,” Lyric said, nodding. “Yeah, I get the whole messing up of the family dynamic,” she said. “I always freaked out when my dad tried to start dating again. I’d do some insane thing and get myself hurt, and suddenly there’d be no girlfriend anymore…” she said, looking at her hands on the steering wheel. “I feel bad now, ’cause my dad’s retired and he’s alone...” Her voice trailed off as she shook her head.

  Cody looked over at Lyric, surprised by what she’d just said. She’d never had an adult talk to her like she was another adult before. At fourteen, Cody felt like she’d seen more life than a lot of people twice her age, but everyone always tried to treat her like a kid. Lyric didn’t do that, she was really cool. Cody knew that she was growing very attached to the cop and it could spell trouble, but at that moment in time she enjoyed the kinship she was feeling.

  They walked into the store and Cody noticed that Lyric received a lot of looks from people. She had a way of carrying herself with a level on comfort that she couldn’t even begin to imagine ever having. Cody didn’t know if it was the cop thing, or just an overall confidence about herself, but she knew she wanted to be like that someday. She wanted to be confident, to be strong and brave, like Lyric seemed to be.

  Lyric walked through the electronics section, playing with various gadgets. Cody wandered over to the iPod display, looking at the one on display, playing with the buttons.

  “Ah-ha,” Lyric said, grinning as she walked up. “There ya are.”

  “This thing’s pretty cool,” Cody said, sounding awed.

  “This is a cool color,” Lyric said, picking up the purple one.

  “Yeah, that’s my favorite color,” Cody said.

  Lyric looked over at her, seeing the way that she was looking at the display. She picked up the box marked for the purple 16 gig Nano and stuck it in the cart.

  “Come on,” she said, and turned and walked away.

  Cody had to rush to catch up. “What are you doing?” she asked, as Lyric continued toward the food area of the store.

  “Shopping,” Lyric said, grinning.

  “I mean with that,” Cody said, indicating the box in the cart.

  “Buying it,” Lyric said.

  “For you, right?” Cody said.

  “No, I already have two and an iTouch, I don’t need another one,” Lyric said.

  Cody looked back at her, her look becoming afraid. Lyric stopped and turned to Cody. “I’m buying it for you, okay?” she said.

  “But you said…” Cody began, her voice trailing off.

  “I know what I said, Code,” Lyric said. “But this is the latest model, it’s a 16 gig, so it’ll hold more songs, and it’s a cool color…” she said, grinning as her voice trailed off.

  “But, that’s like three hundred bucks!” Cody exclaimed, surprising people walking by them. “I’ve never even seen that kind of money!” Cody said.

  “Well, then it’s a good thing I’m not asking you to buy it, huh?” Lyric said, winking at the girl and then turning to continue on her way.

  A while later in the car, Cody sat with the box on her lap, looking at it almost reverently.

  “You really didn’t have to buy this for me,” she said quietly.

  “I wanted to, okay?” Lyric said.

  “Why?” Cody asked plaintively.

  Lyric looked back at her for a long moment. “Because you need a friend,” she said, smiling.

  Chapter 2

  Lyric and Savanna awoke to sounds of a woman screaming in pleasure.

  “Seriously?” Savanna muttered, glancing at the clock. “It’s four in the morning, are those two ever going to go to sleep?”

  Lyric chuckled, turning over and pulling her wife close.

  “That’s youth for you, they can go all night long…” she said, nuzzling her wife’s neck from behind.

  “Yeah, well, she keeps this up she’s gonna be old before her time,” Savanna said, shaking her head.

  “She does seem to be rather dedicated lately,” Lyric said.

  Savanna turned over looking at her wife. “Dedicated?” she repeated.

  “To debauchery,” Lyric said. “Almost fixated on it.”

  Savanna looked back at Lyric, her eyes narrowed slightly. “What are you sensing?” she asked.

  Lyric’s lips twitched. “I think I need to talk to her,” she said simply.

  “Good,” Savanna said, nodding.

  Later that morning, Cody wandered out into the backyard where Lyric sat drinking coffee and reading the paper. Lyric glanced up, her blue eyes bright in the morning sunlight. Cody looked tired, and Lyric noticed that her hands were shaking when she reached for a cigarette.

  “Overdoing it a bit, aren’t ya?” Lyric said, as she went back to looking at the paper.

  Cody shrugged as she sat down. “Live fast, die young, right?” she said, grinning.

  “Don’t let your mother hear you say that,” Lyric said, narrowing her eyes at her daughter.

  “It’s what you used to say,” Cody said.

  “Not to you,” Lyric said pointedly.

  “No, to Grandpa,” Cody responded.

  “Just to irritate the shit out of him,” Lyric said, grinning.

  “And Uncle JJ,” Cody added.

  Lyric narrowed her eyes at Cody, her look assessing this time. “Why are you so on edge suddenly?” she asked.

  Cody looked back at her mother, her lips twitching. “Why do you say that?”

  “Code,” Lyric said. “I know you, and you’re pushing really hard right now, I’m just asking why.”

  Cody look contemplative as she took a long drag on her cigarette, she knew she could get away with not answering Lyric’s question. That was the cool thing about Lyri
c, she never pushed too hard, just enough.

  “Right now it’s nothing, really,” Cody said.

  Lyric nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing again slightly.

  “But you know if you need to talk…” Lyric said.

  “I know, Mom, I know,” Cody said, nodding.

  “Just be careful, Codes, holding too tight can break things, ya know?” Lyric said.

  Cody looked back at Lyric, her mother always had a way of putting things in a way that made sense to her. It was one of the things she’d always loved about her.

  Two nights later, Cody was back at the group home. She was almost asleep in her room when she suddenly noticed the complete absence of sound, other than the wind howling outside. She noted that the house was completely dark and silent. Then she saw a light in the hallway as she sat up.

  “Cody?” McKenna queried from the hallway. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Cody replied. “What happened?”

  “Power went out,” McKenna said. “The whole block is out.”

  “Oh,” Cody said, thinking about who else was in the house.

  McKenna must have been thinking along the same lines because she said. “I think we’re the only ones here tonight,” she said as she walked into Cody’s room carrying a candle and the flashlight she was using. “Mind if I hang in here with you?” she asked.

  Cody shook her head thinking, Probably not the best idea, but what am I supposed to say? McKenna lit the candle and set it on the nightstand. Cody shifted to the other side of the bed, as McKenna sat down on the bed.

  Cody noticed that McKenna was wearing a pink thermal long-sleeved shirt and cotton blue and pink paisley pajama pants. Cody was wearing a black tank top and sweatpants. McKenna eyed the chain around Cody’s neck, but she couldn’t see what was suspended from it. The differences between them were immense. There was a crack of thunder outside and rain began pouring down.

  “Hope this isn’t the part where we find out the house has leaks,” McKenna said, grinning as she looked around at the ceiling.

  Cody nodded, sitting with her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.

  “You don’t talk a lot, do you?” McKenna asked, looking at her.

  Cody shrugged. “Not a lot to say I guess,” she said.

  “Maybe if I ask questions, I can get you to talk,” McKenna said trying to cajole her.

  Cody just looked back at her, her face expressionless.

  “Tough crowd,” McKenna muttered under her breath.

  Cody smiled slightly at that.

  “Ah-ha!” McKenna exclaimed softly. “At least I got you to smile.” She winked. “So where are you from, Cody?”

  Cody looked back at her for a long moment. “Wyoming,” she said.

  “Way over there?” McKenna asked, surprised.

  Cody nodded.

  “And how long have you been in LA?”

  “Since I was fourteen,” Cody said.

  “That long?” McKenna said. “Three years, right?”

  Cody nodded.

  “Why did you come here?” McKenna asked. “To become a movie star?” she asked, chuckling softly.

  Cody gave her a censorious look. “No,” she said simply.

  McKenna suppressed a grin at the look the girl was giving her.

  “You could do that,” Cody said, surprising her.

  “Do what?” McKenna asked.

  “Be a movie star,” Cody said, her tone soft.

  McKenna laughed softly. “Well, thank you for the compliment, but I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Why?” Cody asked.

  “I don’t think I’m pretty enough or talented enough,” McKenna said.

  Cody looked back at her for a long moment, knowing she needed to shut up, but feeling some insane need to push this.

  “I don’t know about the talent part,” she said, “but definitely pretty enough.”

  McKenna looked back at Cody, feeling a rush of fondness for this girl. It bothered her that she was so closed up. She just wanted to make her smile and relax for a minute. She wished she knew how to make that happen.

  “Well, thank you, Cody, that is really sweet of you to say,” McKenna said. “I just think we may need to have your vision checked now,” she added, winking at Cody.

  Cody surprised her by chuckling and smiling a little, her eyes softening just slightly. McKenna suddenly felt completely breathless for a moment; she didn’t understand it, nor did she understand the stab of disappointment when Cody lowered her face to rub it against her knee in sudden discomfort. They were both silent for a few minutes, listening to the storm outside.

  “So, what do you want to do when you grow up, Cody?” McKenna asked, wanting to get the girl engaged in conversation again.

  Cody looked back at McKenna for a long moment, having to tamp down on the urge to raise an eyebrow at the woman. She knew McKenna was trying really hard to draw her out, and felt bad for her, so she played along.

  “Dunno,” she said, shrugging. “I just want to make money.”

  McKenna nodded. “Have you applied for any jobs?” Cody chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Actually, John had said he thought he could find a way for me to make some money,” she said, her look hopeful.

  McKenna looked surprised at that statement. “Really?” she said. “He hasn’t said anything to me about that, but… I guess I’ll have to ask him.”

  Cody nodded.

  McKenna leaned her head against the headboard of the bed, still facing Cody. “You really have to be careful out there though,” she said, her tone cautioning.

  “What do you mean?” Cody asked.

  “I mean, there are a lot of people out there who will try to use you,” McKenna said.

  Cody looked blankly back at McKenna.

  McKenna reached her hand out, touching Cody’s knee. “I mean, for their own purposes or profits.”

  “You mean pimps,” Cody said, her tone matter-of-fact.

  “Yes,” McKenna said, nodding. “I mean pimps.”

  “I already know about that stuff,” Cody told her, looking direct.

  “You do?” McKenna asked, feeling sick for some reason at that thought.

  Cody looked back at her, seeing the pained look in her gray-green eyes, and for some reason pleased by it. “You don’t live on the streets of LA for long without knowing about that.”

  McKenna looked at Cody for a long moment, almost not wanting to ask the next question, but knowing she needed to ask.

  “Cody, have you… done that?” she asked, hoping against hope that the girl said no.

  That hoped was dashed a moment later when Cody nodded looking away. McKenna winced, hating the idea that someone had taken advantage of this girl. She’d known going into this area of study that she was going to deal with stuff like this on a regular basis. She just had no idea how it would feel when it was a girl like Cody.

  “When did you do that?” She asked Cody then.

  Cody looked back at her like she was afraid to answer.

  “It’s okay to tell me, Cody, I’m not going to get you into trouble, I promise,” McKenna said.

  Cody blinked a couple of times. “Not since I came here,” she said.

  McKenna nodded, looking relieved. “Good, okay,” she said. “I don’t suppose I could get you to promise me that you won’t do that again, could I?”

  Cody looked back at McKenna. In her head she was trying to reconcile what the woman was saying. She didn’t want her to prostitute herself? That would go completely against the whole point of the sex trafficking operation that Cody was sure was going on in that house, or at the very least supplying girls for the operation.

  McKenna wasn’t sure what Cody was thinking, maybe trying to decide whether or not to lie and promise something she had no intention of honoring. Part of McKenna thought she should probably take it back, but the other part, the part she wasn’t sure she understood at the moment, wanted to force the girl to promise her th
at she’d never sell her body for sex ever again.

  It was that part that made her kneel face-to-face with Cody, taking her face in her hands, and staring right into Cody’s eyes in the flickering candlelight.

  “Please Cody?” she whispered, her tone so earnest that Cody felt a stab of guilt for making this poor woman think she’d ever do that kind of thing again.

  She blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out what was going on. It didn’t add up, and that bothered her. McKenna mistook her pensive look as hesitation and in desperation, moved closer to Cody, wanting to get through to the girl. Cody averted her eyes until McKenna moved closer still and then Cody’s eyes connected with hers and once again, suddenly McKenna felt that breathless sensation come over her. And then she saw the heat in Cody’s eyes; it was unmistakable. And the realization slid through McKenna making her almost gasp in surprise.

  Pressing her lips together, McKenna moved back, terrified that she’d be crazy enough to act on what she’d just felt. Cody looked away and turned to sit on the edge of the bed, with her back to McKenna. What McKenna couldn’t see was that Cody was closing her eyes, doing her damnedest to will away the virulent reaction to the desire she’d seen in McKenna’s eyes moments before. She knew she was playing with fire here, and she knew she’d be smart to get the hell out of there that second.

  “Cody,” McKenna said, feeling horrible and her voice reflecting just that. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “It’s okay,” Cody said, her voice coming out as a ragged whisper.

  “No,” McKenna said, wanting to touch the girl’s shoulder, but afraid to make any more physical contact when her emotions were in such turmoil. “It’s not okay,” she said. “I’m just really afraid for you, that’s all.” She hoped that she sounded sincere.

  Because it was true, the idea of this girl, or any girl, put in the position of having to sell their body to men to survive was absolutely horrifying to her.

  Cody turned around, looking back at McKenna, seeing how shaken she was and feeling bad that caused it. Cody knew that McKenna was freaking out because she thought she was feeling hot for an underage girl. She couldn’t change that at this point in time, but she could do something.