Thanks guys for the great reviews. I post quickly. Here is the craved chapter two of Cliff Hanger. Oh, and this is where the unconventional ship sales in ;D
8:30 am. It had been a long night and a gruesome shift, and Nick and Catherine were unwinding. That is, if making out on Nick's couch constitutes unwinding. Their mouths were looked in a passionate kiss and his fingers were tangled in her blond hair when a knock at the door threatened to kill the mood. Nick started to get up to answer, but Catherine pulled him back.
"Let them knock." She said.
For just a moment longer they continued as they were, but the second knock officially did them in. "Dallas police department, open up!" a voice on the other side of the door ordered.
"What in the hell?" Catherine gasped in astonishment.
"Oh, god," Nick dreaded, "I hope my family's not in any sort of danger."
Nick got up to answer the door. Catherine fluffed her hair in an attempt to render herself halfway presentable. Nick opened the door to see two detectives standing there. The man was tall and thin, friendly looking with salt-and-pepper colored hair.
The woman, however, was like a lion next to this tabby cat. She too was tall, but also sort of chubby. Here fair skin could have blended in with snow if Las Vegas had any,
and her tar black hair was pulled so tightly in a bun that her eyebrows raised. She wore a stern, cold look on her face by which Nick was already intimidated, though he did not know why. Yet.
The man in Nick's doorway initiated the conversation. "Are you Nicholas Stokes?" He asked sternly but kindly.
"I prefer Nick, but yeah, that's me."
"Mr. Stokes, I'm detective John Blevins," he motioned to the woman next to him, "This is Kerstin Salazar. We're with the Dallas Police Department cold case unit. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"
"Sure, come on in." Nick stepped aside to allow the detectives to enter and closed the door behind them.
Immediately, the lion went on the prowl. "Mr. Stokes, we will need to speak to you alone." Salazar stated in a hotty, matter-of fact tone.
"Catherine, could you…"
"I'll go to bed and wait for you," she said. Nick sat don in a chair and motioned for the detectives to be seated on the couch. Nick new, but did not mind, that Catherine had quietly slipped into the kitchen to eavesdrop.
"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?" Nick was extremely curious. The fact that they were from the cold case unit ruled out any dire situation his family may have been in.
"Mr. Stokes…"
"Nick, please."
"Nick, " the male detective proceeded, pen and notebook in hand, "Do you remember a boy named Tanner Woods?"
Nick felt the demon from his past punch him in the stomach. Stay cool, Nicky. The chick can probably smell fear, "Yeah, I remember Tanner. He was my best friend. We met in kindergarten and were like this until he died." Nick held up his hand with two crossed fingers. "Is that what you're here about?"
"Yes." Salazar answered.
"Nick, could you please tell us, in your own words, to the best of your memory, what happened the day tanner was killed."
Nick took a deep breath to wash down his trip down memory lane and began to tell his story. "It was pretty early in the morning during the summer. Tanner and I practically lived in the stables with the horses. We would go riding on my dad's land nearly every day. I rode my hose, Bolt, and Tanner rode Jeda, my sister's horse. She didn't mind. That day we decided to go to our favorite spot, Buckman's Cliff."
Detective Salazar interrupted, "And whose idea was it?"
"Excuse me?" Nick did not quite understand what she was asking.
"Who said 'hay, let's go to the cliff today'?"
"Tanner did." Nick said confidently.
"Please continue, Nick," Blevins urged.
"Well, when we got to the cliff, Tanner steered Jeda over close to the edge. I was already off Bolt and had tied him to a tree. I moved a big rock over so I could sit on it, but there was a rattlesnake under it, and I woke it up. It immediately started striking everywhere, and I screamed and jumped out of the way. I guess all the commotion scared Jeda. She started kicking, and then she reared up and bucked. Tanner couldn't hold on to her and he fell off and over the side of the cliff. I panicked for a minute, then I calmed Jeda down, tied her up so she wouldn't run away, untied Bolt, and rode home to tell my dad what happened."
Nick felt winded after telling that story and paused for a moment to ketch his breath. "I never went back to that cliff again."
The woman, who had been following along with Nick's original report, turned to her partner. "His story seems to match the report he gave hen he was fourteen." She turned back to Nick and asked, "Why didn't you just ride Jeda back sense she was already lose?"
"Because she had just gotten over a spook. I didn't want to endanger myself." The lady detective did not seem satisfied with the answer, but did not pres the issue further. "I don't mean to get defensive, but I thought this case had been ruled an accident."
"Originally it was." Salazar reached into her briefcase, retrieved a paper and set it down on the coffee table a little harder than was necessary. The sound of her hand hitting the table made Nick feel like he was in an interrogation room, not in his usual position, but the hot seat. "This is a photo copy of a journal entry Tanner made the day he was killed. Do you have any idea what he was talking about?"
Nick read the entry without taking it off the table,
I can't take it anymore. Lying hurts too much. Nick's my best friend. He has to know the truth, that…
He won't be happy about it, but he has to listen. I know he'll be angry, he might even hate me, but I just can't stand it anymore.
"This is the first I've heard of anything like this."
"You have no idea what he needed to tell you?"
"No. He must have fallen before he could tell me. That might be why he wanted to go there that day; so we wouldn't be interrupted by anyone." Then Nick realized the gravity of what was going on.
He was being investigated for murder.
"Are you guys trying to say that I killed Tanner? That I pushed him!" The detectives stared at him blankly. "No. I didn't kill my best friend. Even if he had a chance to tell me whatever it was on the cliff, I would have never killed him for it. We were best friends, we went through everything together." His pleading eyes bounced back and forth between the two detectives across from him.
Blevins stood up from the couch, and Nick followed. He felt small enough without an authority figure towering over him. Blevins reached out his hand and Nick reluctantly shook it. "You have a nice day, Nick. I'm sorry we bothered you." He looked at Salazar, who had remained seated. She did not want to leave. Nick knew that in her mind he had already been tried, convicted and sentenced to eternity's hellfire.
The woman reluctantly stood. "Mr. Stokes, I'll leave that paper with you, just in case you suddenly remember something the moment we walk out the door." Blevins shot Salazar a death glance from the underworld. If looks could kill, Kerstin Salazar would have been dead and buried.
Nick wasted no time showing out his guests after her little remark. "You two have a nice day he willed to them and closed the door. The sound of the latch clicking was music to his ringing ears.
"Who on God's earth does that bitch detective think she is?" Catherine exclaimed as she came out of the kitchen. "That's my Nicky she's accusing of murder."
"She's just doing her job, Cath, you know that. Come on. Let's go get some sleep."
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Nick and Tanner sat on the fence eating apples. It was about seven in the morning and they had just fed the horses. The sun was just starting to warm the air and a cool gentle breeze was blowing. It was a perfect morning on July fourteenth, 1986.
Tanner tossed his apple core at Bolt's hooves and watched intently as the horse ate it.
"I'm bored, Nick. What should we do?"
Nick tossed his apple down and looked up at the sky. "It's still early," he said, "Let's go to Buckman's Cliff."
TBC. Did you ketch the little white lie? I know I may have shippers of snickers, grillows, yobling, and slash reading, but Nick and Catherine's relationship is not the main focus. Please stay with me! R&R and I hope to see you next chapter.