Chapter 2
"The Nine of Cups"
Cody had always wondered what happened to Jessica. He replayed the night over and over again and couldn't come up with leads. He had taken Jessica out to a late-night movie at a theater in Uptown. After the movie, he took her home around one o'clock in the morning and waited until she got into her house before driving, as he always did.
It wasn't until another hour when Jessica's father, Mayor Haggar had called Cody on his cell phone wondering where his daughter was. The next few hours were spent searching for her, despite Cody seeing Jessica unlock the front door to her house, walking in and closing it behind her. The trail had gone cold in a matter of days a couple of days and made headlines on newspapers across Metro City. No one knew what had happened to Jessica. It appeared as if she had vanished.
Cody had cooperated fully with the police department, but with no clues on the whereabouts his girlfriend was, detectives started focusing their efforts on the last person she was with: Cody. Unfortunately, from the time Cody and Jessica had left the movie theatre to time he met up with the mayor a few minutes after receiving his call on his cell, the hero had no alibi to prove otherwise.
The interrogations were long and harsh, but due to his clean record, the services he performed for the city, and a few good words put in by Mayor Haggar, he was nearly home free. Fate, however, had other plans. Near the end of the interrogations, investigators brought in a knife they had found in the industrial area with its blade splotched in blood. Forensic scientists performed a DNA analysis and confirmed it as the blood of Jessica Haggar and made a statement that the blood was not even a week old. With that evidence submitted, and again without any alibis, Cody was arrested on charges of murder.
The trial was worse than the interrogations. Cody's integrity and trustworthiness was put under scrutiny. Even Mayor Haggar was clouded with doubt in lieu of the recent circumstances. Cody's defense lawyers put up a valiant attempt with valid loopholes at the scene of the crime presented by the prosecution, but it was just a valiant attempt. The evidence was too strong against someone without an eyewitness to bail him out. In the end, Cody was convicted of murder with a life sentence.
The boxer broke out of prison only six months into his sentence. He wasn't content on living a life behind bars for something that he knew that he was not responsible for. Somehow, he found his way into Pickle Crow, a small little town in northern Canada. It was a different lifestyle, definitely a lot colder, but a nice change of pace from living in the harsh city. The ex-hero had a grudge on Haggar. He blamed him for the way his life was now.
"How could you just throw me in jail, Haggar?" he thought violently. "I helped you save your own damn city and rescue your own daughter . . . my girlfriend. You threw your future son-in-law in the slammer. How I wish I could . . ."
Cody let it go. He was already upset as it is. He wanted to search for his missing girlfriend badly, but without any clues, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. With last night's ordeal and the letter he received, Metro City was his best shot if he ever wanted to find his love and prove his innocence. The only lead that he had was "MG" – the Mad Gears, or at least what he thought. He fully knew that he might . . . no, he knew he would be locked up again if he shows his face to Haggar. Unfortunately, it looks as if that's the only place he can go to now.
Cody's trail of thought whooshed away as a speeding car flew by him. He noticed that he was walking into the town limits of Pickle Crow. "It's no use thinking about that now," he thought. "I should just stick to what's at hand."
Pickle Crow was a nice place to live, away from all the hustle and bustle of Metro City – not to mention a nice place to hideout. The town isn't very big and pretty much had the necessities needed for everyday life. The water fountain in the middle of the park featured some Greek goddess with water coming out of her urn. Cody never stopped to take a look at what the plaque beneath it read. People were going about their daily business. It's all you pretty much did in this small town – routine. The bus stop was located in the center of town, in front of Ramona's Arts and Crafts Store.
The boxer leaned back against the building and put his duffel bag on the ground next to him. It was somewhat quiet out, but then again, it was always somewhat quiet. He looked toward his left to see an elderly lady sitting outside the store. She was wearing a magenta summer dress and had wavy, peppered hair. She sat behind a small table with a turquoise tablecloth over it. With a snap of her finger, she was shuffling some rather unique looking cards with intricate designs on them. Cody didn't pay much attention to what she was doing, until she called out to him suddenly.
"Young man," she softly said. Cody turned quickly, being the only one at the bus stop. "I sense something is troubling you. Are you alright?" as she shuffled her cards once again.
I'm fine madam, thank you," he replied politely, although he kept his eyes fixed to the mysterious cards she was shuffling.
"Hmm . . . let's see," she said with a pondering look. She flipped over four cards. "Interesting," she said matter-of-factly. "I see a letter of some kind, from someone you haven't seen in years. I'm also seeing photos of young girl . . . blonde, I . . . can't make out her face, and something is not right about it." Cody's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you know about that?" asked Cody.
"The cards send me visions. They . . . tell me things, so to speak. Is the young lady your girlfriend?" she asked.
"Yes! She went missing nearly a year and a half ago," he exclaimed, running over to the table.
"And you are heading on this bus to find her, correct? Well, the Ace of Cups tells me that you are beginning on a long journey, one that will take you around the world. The Star reconfirms this. The outcome is optimistic, but not without pain and hardship. The Queen of Wands, however, worries me. It shows me an aura of doubt around you and there will be times where you blame yourself for certain outcomes. Continued doubt will cause you to think unclearly, which heightens the card of the Devil. You must be aware of the choices you make, as evil will be a shadow away from where you step. You will be tested many times on your journey, but you must remain focused on what you are trying to accomplish."
"But . . ." he started, but to Cody's surprise, the bus stopped swiftly behind him, its breaks squeaking to a stop. He quickly darted to pick up his duffel bag and went over to the tarot reader. "Can you tell me where Jessica is? Please," he begged.
"I'm sorry lad, but that would be tempting with the Fates. This journey will open you up in ways you've never imagined. I wish you much luck young lad." She looked up with smile and Cody seemed to feel a little better. Hesitantly, Cody climbed aboard the bus, as she flipped over another card – the Nine of Cups.
"Wait a minute, young man!" she started, but it was too late. The doors closed behind him, leaving the fortune teller alone on the corner.
