Vendetta (WeHo Book 7)

by Sherryl Hancock

  Again, Cody hesitated, wondering how many skeletons she needed to drag out of the closet today. Again, she figured she’d gone this far, why not at this point?

  “Bipolar Depression.”

  “Which type?” McKenna asked.

  “Two.”

  McKenna nodded, knowing that meant that the manic episodes Cody had weren’t long or too severe. Regardless, she felt something new shift inside her. She’d wanted to protect and care for Cody Wyatt, now she wanted to protect and care for Cody Falco just as much, if not more.

  “Why didn’t you take them?” McKenna asked, thinking she already knew.

  Cody looked back at her, her lips pursed.

  McKenna nodded. “Because of me.”

  Cody nodded looking pensive and took another deep drag off the cigarette in her hand.

  “Because meds would have smoothed things for you,” McKenna said, her eyes searching Cody’s as she spoke. “And you thought you deserved for things to be rough.”

  Cody inclined her head, her look grim.

  “Cody…” McKenna began to say.

  The sliding door opened again then, and Cody closed her eyes for a moment, now knowing that yes, her mothers were listening to every word.

  “Cody,” Lyric said, from the back door. “Come in here please.”

  “Mom…” Cody said her tone placating.

  “Now, Cody,” Lyric said, her tone all cop, all supervisor and worse, all mother.

  Cody winced at Lyric’s tone, and then she looked at McKenna smiling tightly. “I’ll be right back.”

  McKenna glanced at Lyric and could see that she was looking at her. McKenna bit her lip and nodded to Lyric, hoping she was conveying her agreement with Lyric’s ire. Lyric’s blue eyes narrowed at McKenna, but then she watched her daughter as she stepped inside the house.

  Lyric held her hand out with Cody’s pill in it. “Take it, now,” she said, her voice brooking no argument.

  Cody picked the pill up, glancing over at Savanna who was giving her a you know better look. She put it in her mouth and swallowed it.

  “Wanna check under my tongue?” Cody asked, her eyes flashing in anger.

  “Want me to remind you about what happened last time you didn’t take your meds?” Lyric asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “It was one morning, Mom,” Cody said.

  “It’s always just one morning, Cody,” Lyric said, her look serious. “And then another, and another… I’m not going to lose you over a case, it’s not going to happen.”

  Cody looked back at Lyric, and saw the pain her eyes. She reached out and touched Lyric’s shoulder. Lyric pulled her into her arms and hugged her.

  “Love you, Code,” Lyric said, her tone affected.

  “Love you too, Mom,” Cody said, closing her eyes for a moment.

  McKenna watched as Cody walked back outside. She’d heard the entire conversation with Lyric.

  “Everything okay?” McKenna asked.

  Cody nodded, sitting down again and reaching for the cigarette she’d set aside so she could re-light it. McKenna looked at her for a long moment, wanting to ask what had happened “last time,” but knowing she didn’t really have a right to ask for too many of Cody’s secrets now.

  “So…” McKenna queried.

  Cody leaned back, taking a deep drag on her cigarette, her eyes narrowing as she blew out the smoke. “So, what?” she asked gently.

  “What happens now?” McKenna asked, her eyes on Cody.

  Cody canted her head. “I thought we talked about that already…” she said.

  McKenna smiled softly at her. “I meant with us.”

  “Oh,” Cody said, her eyes widening slightly, then she looked considering. “That’s up to you, really.”

  “It is?” McKenna asked, looking surprised.

  Cody nodded the look in her eyes sincere.

  “If you want, you can leave here today and never really have to see me again, except for maybe court,” Cody said, pulling her knee up to lean her elbow on it, in an unconscious defensive gesture. McKenna noticed it immediately.

  “Or?” McKenna asked.

  Cody looked back at her for a long moment, thinking about her answer. McKenna felt like Cody was trying to decide whether or not she wanted to give her another option. McKenna waited practically holding her breath for Cody to answer her.

  “Or,” Cody said, “you could stick around.”

  “Which one would you prefer?” McKenna asked, her eyes searching Cody’s.

  “Oh, no, doc,” Cody said, shaking her head. “This is all your decision.”

  “But you can’t tell me whether or not you want me to ‘stick around’?” McKenna queried, repeating Cody’s words.

  “Nope,” Cody said, shaking her head.

  “Well, then I think I’ll stick around and get to know Cody Falco,” McKenna said her tone sure, her look defiant.

  Cody’s lips curled into a grin, as she nodded. “Okay…” she said.

  “Was that the option you wanted me to choose?” McKenna couldn’t help but ask.

  Cody looked amused “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On how well you want to get to know me,” Cody said, grinning, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

  “As well as you’ll let me,” McKenna said seriously.

  Cody drew in her breath, tilting her head. “That could be a lot,” she said, almost as a warning. .

  “Then I’ll take a lot,” McKenna replied.

  Cody looked quizzically back at her, then she inclined her head. “When did you want to start?”

  “Is now too soon?” McKenna asked smiling.

  Cody glanced at her phone, checking the time.

  “Well, I’m headed to the gym here in a bit,” she said. “And then the shelter… If you want to come you can.”

  “I want to come,” McKenna responded immediately.

  “Okay,” Cody said, inclining her head.

  “And I want you to take me to that club tonight too,” McKenna added, surprising Cody.

  “Uh,” Cody stammered, “why?”

  “’Cause that’s part of getting to know Cody Falco,” McKenna answered, crossing her arms in front of her chest stubbornly.

  Cody licked her lips and pressed them together in consternation. “I’m not sure that’s a really good idea…”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’re not,” McKenna said, grinning, “but I want you to take me anyway.”

  Cody drew in a deep breath and blew it out in a sigh. “Fine,” she said. “But don’t blame me if you don’t like what you see or hear for that matter.”

  “If it’s about you, it’ll be interesting, I’m betting on that,” McKenna said, her eyes sparkling humorously.

  Chapter 5

  Lyric had worked for three days almost constantly after she and Savanna had gotten together. She called Savanna regularly to let her know what was going on, not wanting her to think she was avoiding her again. By the time she got done with the paperwork from her latest case it was almost ten at night. She called Savanna, but figured she’d just have to see her the next day.

  “Come over here,” Savanna told her. “I need to see you…” she said, her voice soft.

  “I’m gonna warn ya now,” Lyric said, grinning, “I look like hell, and I’m dead on my feet.”

  “It’s okay, I just want you here with me, babe…” Savanna said, smiling at her end of the line.

  “I’ll be there soon,” Lyric said, smiling too.

  “Drive carefully,” Savanna said. “You know, like you usually don’t.”

  Lyric chuckled. “Okay, okay…” she said.

  A half an hour later, Lyric climbed the stairs up to Savanna’s room. Savanna had heard her car pull up and was standing at the top of the stairs.

  “Oh my God…” Savanna said, seeing the cuts and bruises on Lyric’s cheek and neck. “What happened?”

  “Nothing new,” Lyric said, grinning.

  “Come
on,” Savanna said, as she hugged her, and then led her over to the bed where the light was better.

  She looked at the cut on Lyric’s cheek, grimacing at the blood still there.

  “This needs to be cleaned, babe…” Savanna said, touching just below the cut.

  Lyric made a small groaning noise in the back of her throat. “Babe… I just want to sleep…”

  “Okay, you lie down, and I’ll clean your cut,” Savanna said, grinning.

  “Seriously?” Lyric said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, seriously, Lyric, if that cut gets infected it’s going to scar,” Savanna said. “And I don’t want anything marring this beautiful face,” she said, touching Lyric’s other cheek.

  “Sweet talk will get you anywhere…” Lyric said, grinning.

  Savanna helped her take off her jacket and she sat down kicking off her boots and pulling her jeans off and laying them aside. She lay down on the bed and Savanna cleaned the cut and a couple of others she’d found on Lyric’s arm and knee.

  “You are definitely a mess,” Savanna told her.

  “Mmmhmm,” Lyric murmured, already half asleep.

  Savanna put aside the peroxide and cotton balls, and climbed into bed, sitting up against the headboard and touching Lyric’s shoulder.

  “Come here, babe…” Savanna said, her voice soft.

  Lyric turned over onto her stomach and rested her head against Savanna’s stomach, wrapping her arms around Savanna’s waist. Savanna put her hands into Lyric’s hair, running her nails over Lyric’s scalp and stroking her back. Lyric was asleep moments later. Savanna picked up the book she’d been reading and continued to rub Lyric’s back with her other hand.

  She heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up.

  “I saw Lyric’s car…” Cody was saying and then she turned and saw Lyric lying half clothed with Savanna’s hand on her back.

  Savanna was sure she saw Cody’s face turn to stone.

  “You lied to me…” she breathed and then turned and ran down the stairs.

  “Cody!” Savanna yelled, waking Lyric up.

  “What? What happened?” Lyric asked as she moved to sit up.

  Savanna heard the front door slam. “Damnit! It was Cody, Lyric, she came up here… She just ran off!”

  “Son of a bitch…” Lyric muttered as she jumped up and threw her jeans on, jamming her feet into her boots and grabbing her jacket. “I’ll get her.”

  Two days later, they still had no idea where Cody was. They were both worried sick. Lyric had spent hours driving up and down the streets looking for the girl, to no avail. She hadn’t slept at all and Savanna found she was worrying about Lyric just as much as she was about Cody. She was watching Lyric talking on the phone, she was pacing back and forth.

  “Okay, are you sure?” she was asking, reaching up to rub her face in frustration. “Okay, thanks.” She hung up then, looking over at Savanna and shaking her head.

  Giving a frustrated yell, Lyric threw her phone across the room. “Where the hell is she?”

  “Lyric…” Savanna said cautiously. “Honey, you really need to get some sleep.”

  Lyric looked over at her, then shook her head. “I can’t right now, Van… She’s out there and I need to find her.”

  “I’m worried about her too, but there’s only so much you can do… You haven’t slept in days and I’m starting to worry about you too,” Savanna said, her eyes pleading. “Will you please just come over here and lie down and close your eyes for a few minutes?” she asked then, touching the couch next to her. They were in the front room of the group home.

  Lyric sighed, she didn’t want to worry Savanna too. She walked over to the couch, picking up her phone on the way, and lay down, putting her head in Savanna’s lap, looking up at her.

  “What if she never comes back?” Lyric asked, voicing her fear.

  “She loves you, Lyric, she’ll come back,” Savanna said, smiling down at her. She slid her hand over Lyric’s hair, smoothing it back. “She was just shocked… It’ll be okay.”

  “She said that you lied?” Lyric asked, her look perplexed.

  “She thinks we lied to her about you not being gay, I hadn’t told her about us yet. She’s probably feeling a bit possessive of you.”

  “Of me?” Lyric asked.

  “You’ve become incredibly important to her, Lyric,” Savanna said. “And she’s probably worried that I’m going to replace her in your life.”

  “Why would she think that?” Lyric asked, not understanding at all. “I thought she wanted us together.”

  “I think that she wants to be like you so much that being gay is really hard for her. So I think she wanted you to be gay like her. I’m not sure she wanted us together, I think she just asked you if you liked me in that way to determine if you were gay, and maybe to confirm to herself that you weren’t…”

  “So this is a betrayal to her?” Lyric asked, looking devastated.

  “Right now, I think it is,” Savanna said, seeing the distressed look in her eyes.

  She knew that Cody was important to Lyric too, and she was suddenly worried that her relationship with Lyric may be in danger if Cody didn’t approve. It was that realization that made her worry even more. She knew there was nothing she could do at this point in time to fix things. She just hoped that she was important enough to Lyric to try and work through things with Cody.

  It was another full day before Cody walked back into the group home, a determined look on her face. Lyric was pacing on the back porch when one of the girls came running in to tell her. Striding into the house, Lyric walked into a confrontation between Savanna and Cody.

  “Why did you lie to me?” Cody asked Savanna, her eyes flashing in anger.

  “Cody…” Lyric said from behind her.

  Cody spun around, her eyes falling on Lyric. “You lied to me too,” she said, her look more hurt than angry now.

  Lyric grimaced, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Code… When I told you that I wasn’t gay, I really thought I wasn’t.”

  “But she changed your mind?” Cody said in a derisive tone.

  “Yes…” Lyric said gently.

  “You love her,” Cody said then, seeing it in Lyric’s face.

  Lyric pressed her lips together, seeing the hurt in Cody’s eyes and just wanting to take it away, but not knowing how to do that.

  “Answer me,” Cody grated out, her face a mask of anger.

  Lyric nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.

  Cody looked like she’d been struck. “I hate you,” she said, and turned to run out of the room.

  “Cody!” Lyric yelled, her voice authoritative enough to make Cody stop.

  Lyric strode to her and stood directly in front of her. Cody turned her head away, refusing to look at Lyric. Lyric glanced at Savanna who was watching the scene with a devastated look on her face. Shaking her head, Lyric knew she couldn’t deal with that right now too. She needed to fix this with Cody first.

  “Cody, look at me,” Lyric said, her tone softer now.

  Cody shook her head, her fists clenched at her sides.

  Lyric stepped closer to the girl, reaching out and taking her chin to turn her head toward her. Cody tried to fight her, but Lyric wasn’t having that at that point. When hazel eyes met blue, Lyric could see all the pain and fear in Cody’s eyes. She pulled the girl into her arms then, hugging her. Cody’s hands went out to her sides, refusing to let Lyric comfort her.

  “I love you, Code… Please just talk to me…” Lyric said, her voice a gravelly whisper.

  Cody squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to hear what Lyric was saying, tears slid down her cheeks.

  “Please talk to me…” Lyric said again, tears in her voice now.

  Cody pulled back, looking at Lyric and suddenly she could see the devastation in Lyric’s eyes, and how exhausted she looked. Letting out a sob, Cody put her arms around Lyric’s waist, leaning her head against Lyric’s shoulder and started to cry. Lyric held her,
talking softly to her.

  “It’s okay, Code… It’s okay… I’m here… I’m not going anywhere… I’m always going to be here for you… always… I love you… I’m here, I’m here…”

  Lyric’s eyes connected with Savanna’s as she did her best to calm Cody down. Tears were sliding down Savanna’s face too. Lyric mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to Savanna who then cried harder. Lyric felt her heart break a little seeing Savanna so upset and hearing Cody crying as well. The two women in her life who’d suddenly come to mean everything to her were hurting and she was just trying to withstand the storm long enough to fix things.

  Eventually, Cody calmed down enough for Lyric to move them onto the couch, though with Cody still leaning against her. She reached out her other hand to Savanna, who walked over to take it and let Lyric pull her down next to her on the other side of where Cody sat. Lyric slid her arm around Savanna’s shoulders and held her close. She leaned over, kissing Savanna’s lips softly, then turned to kiss Cody’s forehead. The three of them sat there together for a while, letting everything calm down. The other kids in the group home saw the three and couldn’t help but wish for a family too someday.

  When Cody finally sat back, she looked over at Lyric and Savanna, actually seeing them now and seeing that they looked good together. Lyric looked at Cody, moving to kneel on one knee in front of the girl, and taking both of her hands in hers.

  “Cody, you need to know that no matter what happens, I’m here for you, okay?” she said seriously. “But please don’t run off like that again… You had me and Savanna worried sick about you.”

  Cody looked over at Savanna, who nodded. “Lyric hasn’t slept for more than a half hour in the last three days…” she told the girl.

  Cody looked back at Lyric, not fully taking in what she had said. She blinked a couple of times. “You were worried?” she asked, her tone questioning.

  “Of course I was worried, Cody,” Lyric said. “I know you were upset, but if we’re going to be friends, you need to learn to stop and talk to me about stuff, okay?”

  Cody looked back at her, her lips trembling. “Are we still friends?” she asked.

  Lyric smiled softly. “Yes, we’re still friends.”