Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with the WWE. Just any OCs! And the lyrics to "Reality" belong to the talented David Bowie.
Summary: AU. "Never take anything for granted. For everything can be taken away in a heartbeat." When a brutal attack causes Phil Brooks to lose his memory, he struggles to not only piece his life back together and regain what was lost, but also to discover who still wants him dead.
Author's Note: Hey! Thanks for the reviews! Also if you found "Fear Itself" from this story, I'm glad you liked that one as well :) So, a bit of a head's up, this chapter's a bit longer than the ones we've had so far, but there's a lot going on here (yes, the used car dealership is included, lol). From this point forward, definitely keep a sharp eye out for clues because they will be a lot more frequent. I know I've said that before, but it will be even more prominent from now on. So, here we go! Enjoy and happy hunting! :)
Chapter 11
Scott found a place to park with relative ease, glancing in the rearview mirror and running his hand through his dark hair a couple times just to make sure he looked somewhat presentable after a long shift. Not that he really cared since the man he was visiting didn't. With a slight shake of his head at nothing in particular, the officer grabbed the bag he had picked up from the late-night Chinese place on his way over from the passenger seat before climbing out of the car, locking it up and crossing the dark parking lot.
When he neared the lit door of the apartment building, Scott noticed a couple people in dark sweatshirts lingering nearby, standing by the corner just out of the circle of light. They weren't speaking much, but he thought he felt their eyes on him intently. Brushing aside his nerves, Scott entered the four-digit code on the keypad to let himself into the building, instantly glad that his best friend had told it to him as he hurriedly climbed the stairs up to the third floor. He walked down the hall, humming quietly to himself until he came to the other man's door, knocking a couple times in a cheerful beat.
"Come in. Door's open."
Slightly concerned by the listless tone of the other man's voice, Scott pushed open the door and stepped inside, seeing that he was sitting cross-legged on the couch, his hands fidgeting slightly in his lap. "So, is it a good idea to keep your door unlocked this late at night, man?" he wondered jokingly, attempting to lighten the mood a little.
Phil, however, simply shrugged, not even looking in his direction. "It's really no big deal," he muttered.
Scott sighed quietly as he slipped his shoes off and left them near the door before walking further into the apartment. "So, I came with food," he said, holding the bag up for emphasis. "I figured you might be a bit bored since you're not coming into work for the next couple days."
Once again, Phil didn't look up as Scott approached. The latter set the bag on the low table in front of the couch, smiling slightly when his best friend finally turned to him. "Chinese." He chuckled quietly. "Don't worry. No meat."
Phil nodded once, a moment passing before he leaned forward and took a curious look inside the bag. He was hungrier than he cared to admit and was glad that since his best friend had felt the need to stop by, he had at least brought food with him.
"So, anything good on TV?" Scott wondered, sitting down on the couch next to the other man. He grabbed the remote from the low table in front of them and turned on the television, starting to flip through channels when all he found was infomercials.
"That's why I didn't have it on," Phil replied, a slight smirk appearing at the corner of his lips as he opened a small container of rice and added a couple packets of soy sauce to it before breaking apart a pair of chopsticks.
Scott sighed, a smile appearing on his own face as well as he glanced at the other man. "Yeah, I figured as much." The look faltered slightly as he sat up a bit to grab another container of rice and a couple packets of soy sauce. He glanced at his best friend, watching him eat in silence for a moment before he sighed. "All right, Phil, what's going on?"
Phil paused with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth. "Um, rice," he muttered, holding up the small clump he held before eating it.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Scott finished pouring soy sauce into his container of rice before breaking apart a second pair of chopsticks.
"Does something have to be wrong?" Phil wondered, grabbing another clump of small white grains.
"Did I ask if anything was wrong?" Scott countered, a hint of triumph gleaming in his eyes.
Phil froze, lowering his gaze slightly as he set the small container on the low table in front of him. He ran a hand through his loose dark hair before rubbing his eyes beneath his thin glasses. Scott put the rice he had grabbed with his chopsticks in his mouth before setting his container down as well.
"What happened, Phil?"
A moment passed before the officer slowly turned to look at him, and Scott noticed with concern that he looked incredibly weary. "It's been at least... ten years..." he murmured to no one in particular.
"What, man?" Scott pressed quietly.
Phil rubbed his eyes once more. "Michael was here."
While waiting for his response, Scott had picked up his rice container and chopsticks again. However, the three words he heard nearly caused him to drop it. Phil noticed the action and attempted a smirk.
"You drop that on the floor and you pick it up, man..."
"Sorry." Scott quickly set the container back on the low table so he wouldn't spill it before he turned to look at Phil with disbelief. "But really? Michael? What did he want?"
Phil shrugged, casually grabbing another clump of rice with his chopsticks. "To talk," he said. "Claimed he wanted to make things right. But... he didn't stay."
Scott simply watched the other man for a long moment, knowing how difficult seeing his older brother must have been for him. He could tell there were things Phil wasn't telling him, but he knew better than to push him. Instead, he grabbed his container once more and took a couple bites of his own rice before turning to Phil once more. "Oh! As great as watching infomercials, eating Chinese, and talking about asshole brothers is, there is a reason I came here," he told him. "We got a bit of a lead on Michael Bolton."
The other officer quickly turned to look at him, all traces of his former weariness gone. "Really? What is it?" he wondered. "The sooner we can catch this guy, the better."
"Well, we haven't found him yet, but we traced the car itself to a used car dealership downtown," Scott explained as he added some more soy sauce to his rice. "Probably just got the car cheaply so he could do what he had to with it and get rid of it. Nick and I are gonna check it out in the morning, and I'll be bringing the kid with me."
Phil nodded thoughtfully. "It's a start," he muttered. "The owner will probably have some record of the transaction. Can get some information there." Then, a slight smirk appeared on his face. "How's Matt doing?"
"Fine." Scott grinned. "I'm almost afraid he's gonna end up overworking himself since he's trying so hard. Probably just wants to meet your approval."
"Well, I'll definitely give the kid credit," Phil replied. "He's a hard worker. I'm curious to see how he grows as he learns more."
"Yeah, me too."
The rest of the night was relatively uneventful, and Scott finally left close to two in the morning. Though the other man was his best friend, Phil was somewhat relieved that he was once again alone in his apartment. He threw away the garbage left over from their small late night snack before wandering into the bathroom, setting his glasses on the sink before splashing his face with cold water. He took a few deep breaths before straightening up, drying off his face before staring at his weary reflection in the mirror for a moment that seemed to stretch on for ages.
Michael... It had been so long since he had even thought about the other man. Why he had shown up at his door he had no idea, but something still wasn't sitting well with him about his sudden appearance. His brother had never been one to show up unannounced and not want something in the matter of finances. It was very unlike him, and it made him feel uneasy.
Phil finally made his way back into the living room, stretching out on his stomach on the couch. He sighed heavily, mindlessly watching the infomercials that were still on the television screen. For what felt like the hundredth time, he silently cursed the head injury he had sustained earlier that day. It wasn't nearly as sore as it had been, the pain was at least manageable, and he wasn't looking forward to the next couple of days off. It gave him too much time to think, which was something he did not want.
However, his exhaustion caught up with him quickly, and he wasn't even aware when he finally drifted off to sleep.
Barbara Blank closed out of her Facebook account, sighing as she rubbed her tired eyes. She rose to her feet as she picked up the empty water bottle and bag of pretzels she had been snacking on during her shift, tossing them both in the recycling bin before walking back to the main desk against the far wall of the lobby. She started packing up her math book, notebook, calculator, and pencils since Layla would be coming in to replace her within the next few minutes when the door of the station opened.
"Good morning, Darren," Barbara began automatically since the Chief was the only one who ever came in that early. But her eyes widened slightly when she looked up and didn't see the Englishman. "Oh, I'm sorry. What are you doing here? I thought you had a couple days off yet."
Cody Runnels shrugged slightly as he slowly took a couple steps closer to the desk. "I'm kinda bored sitting at home," he said with a quiet chuckle. "Lay's told me everything that's been going on, and though I can't do too much with this..." He held up his left arm, which was still supported by a sling, for emphasis. "I came to see if there was anything around the station I could do. Help out Lay, maybe. Something."
Barbara smiled slightly as she closed up her backpack, slipping on her lightweight sweatshirt before putting it over her shoulder. She turned to see Cody had stopped in front of the wall lined with pictures of men and women who had lost their lives in the line of duty, his blue-green eyes faltering slightly as they traveled over them. Adjusting her backpack to a more comfortable position, she slowly approached the officer.
"Did you know any of them?" she asked hesitantly, looking at the wall in front of them too.
Cody was silent for a moment before he nodded, pointing with his good arm to one of the officers in the fourth row. "My brother, Dustin," he answered quietly, causing Barbara to narrow her eyes slightly in concern. "Well, half-brother, actually. We both grew up with our dad, who was an officer himself. He was hardly ever home, but he somehow found the time to make sure he was there whenever we needed him. When I was in my first year of middle school, he was injured in a hold-up. Paralyzed from the waist down. I think that's when Dustin and I both knew that we wanted to do the same thing.
"Dustin made it first, and I always stayed home after school to take care of our dad. It was hard seeing how depressed he was a lot of the time since he wasn't able to do what he loved, and I was determined to continue it for him." Cody paused, lowering his gaze. "I'll never forget... It was my junior year of high school. I had stayed after school for the annual science fair. I won second place. I walked home with my best friend Ted since we didn't live far away from the school, and he came over every Tuesday and Thursday since his mom got off work late. But when we got there... there were three squad cars in the driveway. Chief Copeland was sitting in our living room with my dad, who was crying. He was holding a uniform and badge in his hands. Copeland took us into the kitchen, where he told us what happened. Drug bust gone wrong. Dustin was in the middle of it. He... he didn't make it to the hospital..."
Barbara's gaze faltered when she saw the thin line of tears that had formed in Cody's eyes, and she sighed as she reached out and lightly set her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry," she muttered, running her thumb lightly over his toned shoulder. "And I know that isn't enough to cover what happened, but..."
Cody just smiled slightly as he took a deep breath. "That was years ago," he said quietly, mainly to himself. "But everyday, I think about what could have been different had Dustin still been on the force when I made it. I constantly wonder if I can live up to the name my dad made, the name my brother made. I just want to make them proud."
"I think they would be," Barbara replied, the hint of a smile on her face mirroring the officer's. "You've done a lot of good things so far. And you're just getting started. They're proud of you, Cody."
A moment passed before Cody met the dispatcher's gaze, his small smile lingering as he blinked away his tears. "Thanks, Barbie."
Barbara smiled, standing on her toes as she leaned forward and left a light, quick kiss on his lips. Cody looked back at her with confusion, but he quickly turned to look over his shoulder when he heard someone clear their throat. He was surprised to see Layla looking back at them, her dark eyes narrowed as they rested on Barbara. He hadn't even heard the door open.
"Layla..." Cody began, but his sentence trailed off when his girlfriend turned on her heel and stormed out of the station. "Lay–!" But he sighed when the door closed behind her.
"I... I'm sorry..." Barbara murmured, lowering her gaze. She wasn't surprised when the officer didn't say anything in response.
Cody ran his good hand through his dark hair, moving his gaze back to the dispatcher. "I'll be back later," he said. "When Darren comes in, tell him I'll be here to help out."
Barbara simply nodded in response, slowly looking up in time to watch Cody hurry out of the station after the Englishwoman. She lightly traced her fingers over the creases in her forehead before adjusting her backpack to a more comfortable position on her shoulder as she slowly walked back to her desk. She took a seat in the chair with a sigh, twirling a strand of her light blonde hair around her thin finger as she waited for Layla to come back into the station so she could take over her shift. She hadn't known what had come over her in that moment, but she hadn't meant to kiss Cody like she had, and she certainly wouldn't have done it if she had known Layla was there. He had just seemed so hurt, so despondent, when he had talked about his family that she had done the first thing she could think of to offer some sort of comfort.
Of course, it had proven to be the wrong course of action. Barbara released the strand of hair before resting her forehead on her hand. Cody had been one of the people she had grown attached to after she had started working at the station three months before, and it was no secret that she had had a bit of a crush on him since, but she never thought that she would actually do something like that since she had always seen how happy he was with Layla. She just hoped she hadn't caused him to lose the woman she knew he loved.
"Lay! Wait up!"
Layla sighed when she heard her boyfriend's voice, but she didn't stop heading in the general direction of where she had parked her car toward the back of the lot. She knew she should turn around and go back to the station since she would be late for work otherwise, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so. She knew Cody had left the house early that morning, even before she had, since he had told her he wanted to stop by to see if there was anything he could help with around the station. But never had she imagined that she would find him kissing another woman, much less Barbara Blank.
Then, a hand lightly grabbed her wrist from behind, and Layla raised her hand as she quickly turned around. Whoever had stopped her seemed to know her intent to strike, though, since they lightly took her other wrist as well to prevent it. The Englishwoman felt a thin line of tears form in her eyes when she found herself looking back into the familiar blue-green eyes of Cody.
"Come on, Lay, please..." he began quietly, but his sentence trailed off when she shook her head.
"Don't do this to me, Cody," Layla muttered before she tried to pull her hands away.
But Cody kept his firm yet gentle grip on her wrists, keeping her close to him. "Layla, let me explain," he continued, moving his head back a little when she caught him off guard by another attempt to slap him. "It's not what it looked like!"
"No? No?" Layla stopped struggling against the officer, her dark eyes narrowing. "I should have known... Why else would you want to go to the station so early? You knew she would still be there!"
Cody shook his head slightly, his gaze saddening when a single tear rolled down his girlfriend's cheek. "Lay, that's not true, and you know it," he told her. "Now if you would just listen–!"
However, he couldn't finish what he was going to say when Layla's hand suddenly connected sharply with his cheek. Cody looked down at her with shock, and the Englishwoman's shoulders shook slightly as a few more tears escaped from her eyes before she pulled her hands away from him.
"I have to go to work, Cody," she murmured after a moment, raising her hand to wipe some of her tears away. "I want to get started before Darren comes."
Cody simply nodded, all words failing him, and he watched as Layla took a deep, shuddering breath before she walked past him and hurried back toward the station. She didn't look back, though she was glad that he didn't follow her, and she was able to compose herself before she walked through the automatic doors. However, she paused when Barbara approached her.
"Layla, I'm sorry," she said, distress clear on her face. "I... I don't know what happened. But it's my fault. I kissed him. Cody didn't know that I was going to. Please don't be angry with him."
The dark-haired woman stared at the blonde for a long moment before looking away, feeling more tears threatening to make themselves known. "You can go now," she muttered, picking at her manicured nails. "Your shift's over."
Barbara opened her mouth to say something more but thought better of it at the last minute. Instead, she sighed as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder, lowering her gaze as she slowly crossed the lobby and left the station.
Layla watched after the modeling student, waiting until the doors slid shut behind her before she took her place behind the desk. She set her purse down on the floor by her feet and briefly pulled her compact mirror out of it to make sure her eyeliner hadn't smeared before putting it back, taking another deep breath as she rested her elbows on the hard surface and covered her face in attempt to stop the tears that were now burning in her eyes.
It had been a long time since she had felt this vulnerable. She had only experienced it twice before in her life, once when her mother passed away from illness and once when she had learned her father had died in the line of duty. She loved Cody dearly, she still did, which was why the shock of seeing him being kissed by Barbara stung so badly. She was spoiled, Layla knew, for all of the gentle words he said and all of the loving kisses he gave had been reserved for her for the past four years. She knew she was probably being selfish, but she never wanted to share them with anyone else.
She hadn't been prepared to fall so hard for the dashing dark-haired officer what felt like so long ago, but she just hoped she wasn't a fool for not being willing to stand back up.
"I've been right, and I've been wrong,
Now I'm back where I started from,
Never looked over reality's shoulder,
Ha, ha, ha, ha..."
Scott proceeded to drum the steering wheel as he pulled away from a red light while Nick started to play a solo on his air guitar from the passenger seat next to him as they finished singing along with the radio. Matt sat in the back seat behind the former, raising an eyebrow as the two officers started to laugh as soon as the song ended.
"That was fun," Nick muttered, his smile lingering as he glanced behind him at the rookie. "Hey, you know that you can join in and have some fun too. You're not gonna get in trouble. It's not like we have to be strictly business all the time."
Matt was slightly startled at suddenly being addressed. "Um... yeah, I know..." he said quietly. "I just, uh... wasn't familiar with the song."
Scott chuckled quietly as he shook his head. "Then why did I hear you humming along back there?" he asked, for which Matt had no answer aside from slight color appearing in his cheeks. "Kid, it's okay. Relax a bit. Nick's right. We can have some fun sometimes. Remember, I was once Phil's rookie too. You'll soon see that you'll have to loosen up a bit if you wanna survive it."
A bit of a nervous laugh escaped from Matt as Scott then turned his attention to Nick beside him. "So where is this place?" he wondered. "Are we getting close?"
"Um..." Nick reached forward and grabbed a sheet of paper from the dashboard and unfolded it, raising his sunglasses to sit on top of his bleach blond hair. "Yeah, take a right in four blocks."
"Okie dokie."
The rest of the drive was pretty much silent before Scott finally pulled into the parking lot of the Auto Universe used car dealership. There were only a couple cars there besides the ones for sale, but since it was just barely past when the place opened, it wasn't surprising. Scott locked up the squad car as he stepped out, Nick and Matt following close behind. The rookie watched curiously as Nick slipped his gold wedding band off his ring finger and dropped it in his pocket.
"Why do you do that?" he asked.
Nick arched an eyebrow as he turned to Matt. "Oh, my ring?" He smiled slightly. "I don't like wearing it when I'm on a case since I don't want people we're after to know I'm married in case something goes wrong. It's never happened, but I just don't want to risk my wife's safety. And we know nothing about this guy that we're going to talk to now other than he sells used cars. Hell, he could be a total sleezeball for all we know."
Scott laughed from where he was walking ahead of them. "It wouldn't surprise me," he said. "Have you guys seen some of the prices on these cars? It should be a crime to sell 'em this cheap!"
Nick paused by a '90s Chevrolet and curiously leaned over to check the price on the front windshield. "Damn!" he exclaimed with a whistle. "I wish Icould have gotten my first car that cheap. You're right, Scott, that is almost criminal."
"Right?" Scott then noticed that Matt had stopped to admire a red Firebird, and he chuckled quietly. "Come on, kid. We can look at the cars later. Let's just go talk to this guy."
"I need a new car," Matt muttered, mainly to himself. He noticed a slight smirk on Nick's face as he walked with the two officers inside the building.
It was a small but well-lit room with tall windows containing a simple computer desk on one side and three cushioned chairs against the opposite wall. A dark-haired man with a slightly round face and a few tattoos on his arms was sitting behind the desk, seeming to be making something out of paper as he hummed quietly to himself. But when the rusty bell above the door reluctantly jingled when the door opened, he quickly looked up.
"Oh, uh, why don't you gentlemen have a, uh, seat, over theres," he said in a heavy Italian accent, gesturing to the three chairs across from him. "Someones will be with you in a minutes."
"That's okay, we'd rather not," Nick replied, approaching the desk as he pulled out his badge. "I'm Officer Nemeth, and these are Officers Colton and Cardona." Scott pulled out his badge to show the man as well while Matt quickly fumbled to do the same. "We need to talk to the manager."
The man stiffened slightly. "Uh, on what business do you wish to speak of with Signor Rodríguez?" he asked. "He's a very busy mans."
"That would depend," Scott answered, stepping forward to stand next to Nick. "Who are you?"
"Looks," the man muttered, swallowing nervously. "I don't know anythings. I'm Anthony Carelli. I'm simply the secretary for Signor Rodríguez. Please, I know nothings. I... I just need to provide for my daughter. Sees, I'm making this for hers!" He shoved whatever he had been making out of paper in Nick's face, causing the startled officer to nearly drop it. At a closer look, he saw that it appeared to be a snake hand puppet.
"Please, don't arrests me..." Anthony continued to groan, wringing his hands nervously.
"Why would we arrest you?" Matt wondered with confusion.
Anthony turned to the rookie with wide eyes, but before he could say anything, the bell over the door once again sounded, signaling that someone else had entered the building. Nick turned to the door of the used car dealership, seeing another man with slightly longer black hair that was parted neatly down the middle and a slightly round face had entered wearing a casual suit.
"All right, Anthony. You can tell Alberto that..." The new arrival's sentence trailed off when he saw the three visitors. "May I help you, gentlemen?"
"Are you the manager of this place?" Scott asked.
The second man shook his head. "I'm the assistant manager, Ricardo," he answered, his accent as thick as Anthony's Italian one.
"Not good enough," Nick told him, crossing his arms across his chest. "Is this Alberto guy the manager?"
Ricardo hesitated for a moment before he nodded. "Si, yes."
"Get him." Scott's tone made it clear that there was no room for argument.
What appeared to be apprehension crossed Ricardo's face, but when he realized that he had no choice, he slowly walked behind Anthony's desk before approaching a door that said "management" in golden lettering. He knocked a couple times before opening it and sticking his head inside. Nick and Scott each raised an eyebrow at each other as they listened to what seemed to be a heated argument in quick Spanish, but they both straightened up when a third man wearing a gray suit entered the room with Ricardo. He was taller and a bit more slender than either of the other two men with dark, well-kept hair and dark eyes, and he stared at them intently as he straightened out the white scarf he wore around his neck.
"May I help you, gentlemen?" he asked, his tone formal but stiff.
Nick opened his mouth to answer, but Scott beat him to it. "Are you the manager?" he demanded angrily.
A slight smirk turned up the corner of the other man's lips as he turned to the fuming officer. "Si, I am Alberto Rodríguez–!"
But that was all the smooth-talking used car dealer had time to say before Scott stormed forward. "We need to talk."
However, Alberto rose his hands in front of him before Scott could get too close. "Whoa," he said, chuckling quietly. "I'm not saying a single word until I see a warrant..."
Scott made to grab the man, but Nick quickly reached forward and pulled him back. "Calm down," he hissed before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper and held it out to the manager. "Here's your warrant."
Alberto took it from him before unfolding it, glancing at the small font briefly before handing it back. "Very well," he muttered, glancing warily at Scott. "What do you wish to speak about?"
Once again, Scott beat Nick to the answer. "Michael Bolton."
The relief the used car dealer felt was clear on his face before he raised a questioning eyebrow. "Michael Bolton?" he repeated while Ricardo couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh. "You mean the singer? I'm sorry, but I really have no time to talk about something so trivial as music..."
Scott tried to pull free of Nick's grasp without success. "You know damn well what I mean," he murmured, venom in his tone.
Alberto's gaze flickered nervously, and he cleared his throat. "Very well," he said with a slight nod. "All of you, come to my office."
Nick watched as the manager turned and walked through the door he had come out of earlier before he turned his attention to Scott. "Look, I know that this is very personal to you because of what happened with Lynne," he muttered. "But you need to keep your cool. Do you hear me?"
A moment passed before Scott nodded as he pulled his arm out of Nick's hands. "Let's just get this over with."
The three police officers passed Ricardo and walked around the desk where Anthony had gone back to muttering to himself and making his paper snake hand puppet. "You son of a gun..." They followed the used car dealer into his office, a smaller room that contained a desk that was similar to the one in the lobby against the far wall with a filing cabinet in the corner, a couple of Alberto's framed awards hanging on the left wall. Matt looked around the room warily as he stepped in after Nick and Scott, closing the door behind him.
"So, what is this really about, gentlemen?" Alberto asked from where he was leaning against the desk, his arms crossed in front of him.
Nick gave Scott a warning look when the second officer tensed slightly before he stepped forward. "One of your customers, who we are assuming to be a man, who bought a Chevy Malibu from you within the last few months with this license plate," he answered, holding out a small slip of paper with the plate A3L-24H on it. "We need to speak with him. Do you have records of all your transactions?"
Alberto reached out and snatched the slip of paper from him, glancing it over. "Si, of course I do," he replied somewhat irritably. "What kind of businessman do you think I am? But unfortunately, I don't remember every plate that I have ever sold." He held the slip of paper back out to the officer.
A quiet chuckle escaped from Nick as he took it back. "Well, fortunately for you, the name this car is registered to is one Michael Bolton," he told him. "You seemed to know that name back in the lobby. Can't be a hard one to forget."
"So, what are you asking me?" Alberto moved his gaze from Nick to Scott and Matt and back. "The name is not easily forgettable, certainly, but I don't remember the man."
"But you said you have the records," Matt reminded him.
Alberto narrowed his eyes slightly at the rookie. "Si," he confirmed. "I don't know what you want with this Michael Bolton, but as you see behind me, I have an awful lot of files to go through..."
The used car dealer's sentence trailed off as Scott pushed past Nick and approached him, leaning forward so that he was only a couple inches away from his face. "Then I suggest you start looking," he said quietly, ignoring how uncomfortable Alberto was. "Because I need the address he gave you."
Ted Dibiase, Jr. smiled slightly as he leaned back in his seat, taking a cautious sip of his still hot coffee. "So, the sling comes off on Wednesday?" he asked.
Cody nodded in silent answer to his best friend from middle school's question. The two men had decided to meet for lunch at a diner near the police station since the officer still wasn't technically on duty for two days yet and the other man was on his break. "I can't wait," he answered, absently stirring a couple of the ice cubes in his water glass with his good hand. "It's frustrating just sitting at home. I go back in Thursday, but I'll go back to the station and help out with what I can after this." He paused for a moment before looking up at Ted. "So, how's everything with the bank? I heard about what happened this weekend."
"Well, not good, but it could have been worse," Ted said with a sigh. "There wasn't much taken in the robbery, which I'm confused about. I've talked with my security staff, and we still have no clue what these men could have wanted. The amount they took was so minimal it was almost an afterthought or even a mockery. The footage was no help either. They turned off all the indoor cameras but left the outdoor ones on so they could see everyone else. But that officer the men wanted to talk to that was injured... Brooks, I think his name was... How's he doing?"
"Phil? He's doing fine. He'll be back in on Wednesday." Cody looked at the other man for a long moment, knowing how important the bank was to him. Having been born into a rich family, Ted had inherited it from his father, Ted Dibiase, Sr., and he wanted to prove he could run it as successfully as he had.
Ted took another sip of his coffee before looking back at Cody. "So, have you thought about how you were gonna try and talk to Lay?" he wondered casually.
Cody sighed. "Not yet," he muttered, glad he had told his best friend the situation with his girlfriend in the text he had sent him to set up lunch. "She's furious, man. Won't even listen."
"Hmm." Ted leaned forward on the table slightly. "Just give her some time to cool down. Even though I know you didn't kiss this other girl, you gotta think about how it looked from her point of view. I'd just hate to see you lose her over something like this."
The officer, however, didn't even appear to be completely listening. "I mean, I know this other girl likes me and all, but I never thought she would..." His sentence trailed off before he sighed. "Ted, I've never felt this way about anyone. If Lay won't..." He paused again. "And to think, I was gonna ask her to marry me."
Ted's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, hold on," he said. "You're gonna propose to her?"
"I was," Cody replied with a slight shrug. "Who knows what'll happen now."
"Don't think like that, Cody," Ted told him firmly. "My wife and I have had plenty of arguments in the past. Still do. You love this girl, I know you do, so don't give up on her yet. Lay's pretty hot-headed, we both know this. Just give her some time, and I don't think the ring will go to waste."
Cody glanced at the gold wedding band on his best friend's left ring finger before meeting his gaze. A slight smile appeared on his face as he took a sip of his water before chewing on one of the ice cubes. "Thanks, man."
After a quick lunch, Ted had to return to the bank to take care of some business that still lingered after the robbery, and Cody drove back to the police station. He found a spot to park and shut his car off, but instead of heading toward the building, he stayed sitting behind the wheel. Layla would be the first person he saw when he walked inside, he knew, and he wasn't sure how angry she still was.
Finally, he took a deep, resigned breath, and Cody locked up his car before crossing the lot and walking through the automatic doors. Layla was sitting behind the desk, phone at her ear as she spoke soothingly to a panicked caller.
"Yes, one of our officers will be there immediately. Thank you. Bye." She chuckled quietly as she hung up the phone. "His daughter's cat is stuck in a tree. He's acting like it's the end of the world..." However, her sentence trailed off when she saw Cody had been the one to enter the station.
Cody gave her a small smile. "Those cats can be quite the troublemakers," he muttered.
Layla looked back at him for a long moment, lowering her gaze as she brushed a dark strand of hair that had fallen loose from her ponytail behind her ear. Cody slowly took a couple steps closer to her but stopped when she rose to her feet. He watched as she walked around the desk, not flinching when she raised her hand slightly as she stopped in front of him.
However, the Englishwoman lightly traced the same cheek she had slapped earlier before standing on her toes and meeting his lips in a quick kiss. "Isn't that better than some Barbie doll?" she asked quietly with a smile.
Cody chuckled, winding his right arm around her shoulders and pulling her into an embrace. "Lay, I'm sorry," he muttered, running the fingers of his healing left hand up and down her arm. "I didn't mean..."
Then, he was interrupted by his girlfriend setting a finger on his lips. "I know," she told him seriously. "Barbie told me."
"Okay. Might as well not repeat it, then." Cody's smile returned, a look which Layla returned before he began to lean down to kiss her once more.
But he stopped when they heard someone clear their throat. Cody quickly looked up while Layla turned over her shoulder, both slightly embarrassed to see Darren watching them with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, whenever the timing is convenien' for you, Cody, I have some office things you can do since you wan' to help out," the Chief said, a slight smirk appearing at the corner of his lips before he turned and disappeared through the door out of the lobby.
Layla chuckled quietly as she turned back to her boyfriend. "Well, I'd better get back to work," she muttered. "Have fun, Cody."
Cody smiled, giving Layla a quick kiss before she walked back to her desk. "See you later, Lay," he replied, crossing the lobby and leaving through the same door Darren had left through.
The Englishwoman continued to smile to herself as she lowered herself into her seat once more. She pulled a small bag of chips and a water bottle out of her purse and set them on the desk next to her, her dark eyes moving to the wall of officers who had lost their lives to her left. Her gaze saddened when it passed over Dustin Runnles, and though she had never met him herself, she felt like she had gotten to know him well through Cody and his father.
Layla's gaze darkened even more when they landed on the last addition, Chris Irvine. He was the only one on the memorial wall that she had known personally, and it was a loss that had devastated the entire force. Chris was a man everyone had known in one way or another, his small acts of kindness and contagious smile dearly missed. It was almost six years to the day when he had lost his life when an assignment he had taken on with his rookie went wrong, and she knew it was going to be a difficult time for them all.
She just hoped that she would never have to see another face she knew so well on the same wall.
Author's Note: So, there you have it! Cody and Layla are getting back to being okay, there were a couple new characters introduced here (most of which we'll see again as the story progresses), and we're learning more about our already important ones. The used car dealership gives us a starting point, and in the next chapter, we'll find out what happens to Phil ;) Of course, this will not give us all the answers (we have a lot to get through before we get there), so, if you have any clues/theories, feel free to mention them! Thanks for reading, guys! Your reviews are much appreciated. Thanks!