Then Frank looked back at Gray and asked softly, “How much time’s she got?”
“Not much, God feels kind,” Gray answered.
These words spoke volumes and there was a moment of silence then some Cody men shuffling their feet. Then there was a very long moment of silence while all three Codys looked anywhere but at each other or Gray.
Men!
“God!” I cried, impatient and on edge. “Seriously?”
Again they all looked at me.
And again it was Frank who lifted his eyes to Gray but this time their blue depths were twinkling with something familiar, something I saw often in Gray, something I used to see in Grandma Miriam and he remarked, “Heard word, now see it’s true. Your girl’s quite the spitfire.”
I rolled my eyes to the nearly cloudless Colorado sky as Gray’s arm gave me a squeeze.
“’A course,” Charlie said and I rolled my eyes to him to see him grinning, “Gray’s a Cody.” He leaned a bit toward me and shared, “Cody men like fire and not a little bit of it.”
“You’re still here,” I noted.
Olly ignored my comment and asked Gray, “Ang drop off her chicken Mexican thing?”
Charlie’s back straightened as he shot to attention.
“Fuck, yeah, that casserole could win awards,” Charlie muttered, breaking off from the pack and, to my utter disbelief, heading toward the house. “Tragedy strikes, Ang breaks out the tortillas.”
“Does he really think he can go to my kitchen and eat the casserole Ang made for you and me?” I hissed but I should have saved my breath seeing as all the Codys, including the one by name only, started toward the house.
“Seems like it,” Gray muttered, I started to twist my neck to look back at him then I felt his arm and body tense around me and I knew why.
Coming down the lane was a police cruiser.
By the time Captain Lenny parked, got out of the car and approached a Gray who had wrapped his arm around my neck pulling me in close, front to his side, I felt the Codys all standing at our backs.
It was long overdue.
But at least they were there.
Lenny took in Team Cody and continuing to do so, muttered, “Good to see this shit’s had some good come outta it, you all workin’ out your crap.”
“Save the commentary, Len, you got news?” Frank barked, Lenny studied him then his eyes came to me. I give him a wince-faced apologetic look and he sighed.
Then he looked at Gray. “Pete rolled over on Bud.”
Gray and I both got tense but Gray definitely was tenser and a wave of emotion came from behind us.
Lenny went on.
“Spent the mornin’ gettin’ a judge to get us warrants. Once we got those, we moved in on Pete’s place as well as Bud and Cecily’s. Boys are still at both places. Buddy’s been at the station since eight o’clock this mornin’ when we brought him in. We been talkin’ to him on and off since then and he denies any involvement. We pushed it, he’s lawyered up. We’re waitin’ for his attorney to get there so we can have another chat. That said, the warrants we got included lookin’ into his phone records and financials and we found he took a trip to Vegas not too long ago, stayed a single night, this corroborating a statement Ivey gave us about when he went there to have his chat with her. This is new evidence we just got about half an hour ago and we’ll be usin’ that when we sit down with him and his attorney.”
“Right,” Gray muttered, his voice tight and Lenny held his eyes but shifted his feet in a way that was very un-Lenny.
I would know why when he said softly, “You know, Pete’s been outta work now for goin’ on two years.”
Oh God
Gray’s body went solid, my arms slid around him and another wave of emotion hit us from the back.
“Do not defend that piece ‘a shit,” Olly growled and Lenny looked to him.
“I’m not. I’m tryin’ to do the impossible and explain the unexplainable. Sometimes, folks get wronged, they like knowin’ what motivated the ones who wronged ‘em.” Lenny’s eyes came to me. “He’s taken odd jobs but they weren’t makin’ ends meet. He was gettin’ desperate, thinkin’ he’d lose his place, his truck. He said Bud paid him. Unfortunately, this was with cash but we’re hopin’ we can string that line together.” Lenny looked back at Gray. “He knew about the shotgun, Gray, set the fire and then tripped the shotgun to give you warnin’. Boy’s never set a fire before, didn’t know the barn would go up that fast. Thought you’d have plenty of time to get those horses safe.”
“I think you can guess my response to that is I don’t give a fuck,” Gray replied softly, his voice still tight with restrained impatience and controlled anger.
“Yep, I could guess that was your response,” Lenny muttered.
“He cop to poisoning my trees?” Gray asked, Lenny held his eyes a moment then nodded. “And, knowin’ about the shotgun, he did my horses,” Gray went on, Lenny’s jaw went hard and he nodded again. “All paid for by Buddy?” Gray finished and Lenny nodded again.
Gray held Lenny’s eyes and Lenny let him then Gray, his jaw now hard, looked to his boots, I knew, seeking control and patience.
“So what now?” Macy asked from behind us and Lenny looked at her then to Gray and me.
“We hope Bud confesses but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Had a number of boys take a shot at him and he’s not givin’ us anything. Which means we gotta hope we can find somethin’ at his house that ties him to this shit or find a trail that leads to him.” Lenny told Macy then his eyes went back to Gray. “You got my promise, Gray, swear on my Momma, rest her soul, that me and all my boys at Mustang PD are doin’ everything we can. They don’t like a man and his woman woke in the middle of the night to take their lives in their hands savin’ horses. They don’t like dead horses. And they don’t like Buddy Sharp. You got a lotta motivation working for you, Gray. Trust in that.”
“The only thing I trust is that Bud’s lackey and fall guy is in the tank and stayin’ there awhile so my horses that have no barn to give them a minimal amount of safety won’t go poisoned until Bud gathers the money to find someone else to fuck with me. And maybe I can trust that knowin’ this shit, Bud doesn’t have the balls to do his own dirty work so me and Ivey got a window of time to feel safe. That could be a day, a week or a month but we won’t know how long that is so I think you can guess I won’t be hangin’ around waiting for whatever he plans next. I appreciate you’re doin’ what you gotta do how you gotta do it and the way that is, it takes time. But what I said last night stands, Len. You don’t take care of this shit, I will.”
“Not smart to make an open threat to a police captain.” This warning from Lenny was gentle but it was still a warning.
“Probably not,” Olly put in from behind us, “but I’ll tell you too, you don’t take care of this shit, Gray doesn’t, I will.”
“And I’ll say,” Frank added, “you, Gray or Olly don’t do it or I get a wild hair up my ass waitin’ for this shit to get done, I’ll do it.”
“I don’t even need a wild hair. Bud Sharp’s an asshat. I’m already thinkin’ of doin’ it,” Charlie threw down.
“So there you go,” Frank summed it up, “four Codys, four threats, four men in Mustang with fierce reason to carry them out. Somethin’ happens to Bud Sharp, you got four directions to turn.”
At that, Gray went solid again and I knew why.
By making open threats, they had Gray’s back by casting suspicion four ways.
It was clever, it was kind (in its way) and it was family.
Feeling something I didn’t think I’d ever feel, my heart warming to Gray’s uncles, I pressed closer to my man’s side.
“Though, sayin’ all that, somethin’ happened to Bud Sharp, you’d probably have to bring in most of Mustang for questioning,” Olly muttered.