43. Cody

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD

FORTY-THREE

Cody sat in his truck beneath the shade of the tree.

Waiting.

His guts in a knot of shame and desperation.

How many times had he heard the sayings? Proverbs and inspirations and pretty words inscribed on plaques about the lengths a man would go to for his family? He doubted much those sentiments extended to what he'd succumbed to. The immorality he'd been driven to.

But he had no other choice, and he was close. So close to getting his mother out of the hole she was in, and he was determined to dig her out of it even if he ended up buried.

It turned out Brent was running an illegal gambling ring based at the horse track here in Eddings, a small city a little more than an hour from Wagner Ranch. He'd used his connections at the ranch to give him an in. Using it as a cover.

The guy was dirty. As dirty as they came.

And he was using Cody to put pressure on those who hadn't made good on their bets.

Cody tried to justify his actions by saying these guys had it coming to them. It wasn't like they were innocent. It wasn't like they weren't out pilfering away their families' security with their addiction to money. With their greed. With their stupidity.

Cody kept telling himself that over and over as he waited for any sign of movement outside the accountant's office where he was hidden at the far side of the small back parking lot that accommodated three cars.

There was only one sitting there.

A white BMW that he'd confirmed the idiot drove the night before when he'd followed him to his house, keeping his distance, fucking sick to his stomach at what he was supposed to do.

It didn't matter that he'd already done it close to fifteen times. He was sure he was never going to get used to it.

The only thing that kept him moving was his mother's grief that was wound in his spirit. Her tears in his hands. That promise he had made to his father as a little boy playing through his head on repeat.

And he was going to keep that promise.

So he slipped from his truck when he saw the back door swing open and the middle-aged man come waltzing out without a clue. Dressed in slacks and a button-down, confidence oozing off him in waves.

Cody came up behind him just as he was opening the driver's side door of his car, and he had him by the wrist. He was locking his arm behind his back and pinning him to the frame before the man even noticed he was there.

Shock blistered, a beat of succumbing, before the man flailed and tried to break free as he roared, "What the hell? Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, I know exactly who you are." Cody grunted it at the man's ear, and he wrenched his arm back farther until he let go of a howl of pain. "A good friend of yours sent me."

A cold chill rolled through the man, like he was just then catching on that this wasn't some kind of robbery. This was about what he owed.

"You didn't think you could just ignore his calls, did you?" Cody warned it, cool and low.

Fear radiated from the asshole who winced in his hold, dude about to piss his pants as he floundered all over his words. "I…I already talked to him. We came to a deal. Just ask him."

"Ah, see, I know you're lying because I just talked with him this morning, and he told me you didn't keep your end of the deal. You were to have fifty g's in his pocket by last night. He already let that day go by once. It's not going to happen again."

"I…I…please, I'll get it, just…don't hurt me." Guilt constricted Cody's body as the man spluttered all over the place.

Begging.

Pleading with Cody not to be the monster he was paid to be.

Cody forced him down onto his knees.

Bile rolled his throat as he leaned down to issue the vitriol to the back of the man's head. "You don't have it by midnight tonight, things are going to get ugly. I'd suggest you take this as a friendly warning because you aren't going to get another."

Cody nearly gagged when he clocked the guy on the side of the head, sending him slumping forward, knocking him clean out. The punch was softer than the one that he could have delivered, though. Softer than the one he was supposed to.

He fucking prayed the message would be enough. That this fucking idiot would come through. This guy who had three little kids at home and a wife who probably had no clue her husband was bartering away his life. Putting them all in danger.

Because it was becoming clear what Brent was capable of, and Cody was hoping to God that it wouldn't come to that.

The only thing he did know as he strode back for his truck, hopped in, and peeled out from behind the building and onto the road was that he was done. This was the last job he was going to do. He had enough to pay off his mother's debt, and he sure as fuck wasn't in this to get greedy.

He'd done his duty.

For his mother.

For his sisters.

To his father.

Now, he had to get out of this before it completely warped who he was. Before the demons that had already slithered their way into his soul weaved themselves any deeper. Before the shame grew to something he couldn't stand beneath.

Because those scars were already there, marking his insides, the depravity that he'd risen to.

No more.

No more.

Because being this monster was someone he refused to be.

He felt the presence crawl over him from behind. Not the bright, shining one he'd come to crave. Not those blue eyes that washed him in warmth and that sweet smile that knitted his heart in comfort.

Nah.

This one was malignant.

Corrupt.

"You did good. Payment came in as expected," Brent said, as casual as could be, as if he were commending Cody for finishing the fence rather than having threatened and assaulted.

Rather than having incited discord and fear.

Disgust prickled the fine hairs at the base of Cody's neck, and he ground his teeth as he drove the hammer harder against the nail, fitting the railing to the support pole as he struggled to rein in the shame and dread that gathered like devastation in his being.

Cody turned, hating the face that grinned back, this guy's persona so fucking fake Cody couldn't stand looking at him, kind of the way he was starting to hate looking at himself in the mirror.

Brent passed him the envelope that contained a fat wad of cash for the last five jobs he'd done, including the one yesterday. Five more men Cody had terrorized.

It was the last ten thousand Cody needed.

The promise he'd made his father bashed against the reproach, and Cody reached out and took the blood-tainted money. There was no fucking way on earth he could bring himself to say thank you.

Brent just kept looking at him with that smug look on his face, and Cody itched, feet shifting in discomfort. He gestured to the fence, voice rough, "I'd better get back to it."

"Think that's going to have to wait, I have something more important for you to handle."

Cody gave a harsh shake of his head. "I finished what we agreed on. Job is done."

"Well, see, the thing is, Cody, I'm going to have to ask you for one more favor. I have someone who's become a problem, and I need you to take care of that problem."

Foreboding rolled through Cody's being, and his flesh slicked with sweat. "I'm going to have to pass."

"Nah," Brent said, still grinning. "You're going to have to see it through. Instructions are in your truck." Brent clapped him on the shoulder like they were old pals, sending him a wink before he strolled off with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Cody sat in the driver's seat of his truck.

Terror rolled down his spine as he stared at the two items that had been in the manila envelope.

The first was a picture of a guy he'd shaken down about a month before. One he'd beaten for owing a hundred grand.

The other item was a gun.

It didn't take all that much to discern the guy hadn't paid up.

Cody trembled like a fucking earthquake, a ball of razors rolling his throat as he tried to swallow, as he tried to breathe, as he tried to process the disaster that he'd gotten himself into.

He'd promised he'd help his mother, no matter the cost, and Cody was realizing just how steep that cost might be.

Because the decision he made was likely going to land him in a shallow grave. But there was no fucking chance he'd stoop to this level, so he sucked all the fear stampeding through his insides down, and he shoved the contents of the manila envelope back inside, and his gaze rose through the windshield toward the enormous cabin in the distance.

Sickness lined his guts, that terror clamoring, his end in sight. He could almost feel his time running out, the hands on the clock of his life coming to a mangled standstill.

But his fear wouldn't stop him. He'd accepted it. What this was coming to.

So, he strode up the long walkway made of decorative rock and around the side of the massive house to the separate entrance to Douglas Wagner's office that was attached at the far side.

His hand was a dead weight as he lifted it to rap at the door.

He'd barely talked to the man, Brent being his point of contact, and confusion littered the guy's expression when he opened the door to find a frazzled Cody standing there. "Can I help you?"

Sweat poured down Cody's back. "I need to speak with you, sir."

Douglas Wagner's frown deepened. "Of course. Come in and have a seat."

Except Cody couldn't sit as he confessed what he'd been involved in. As he told the man about the betting ring that Brent was heading. The shakedowns. What Brent was now asking him to do.

Cody set the evidence on Douglas Wagner's desk.

The man had gone pale, blanching in disbelief. Weak, he sank down onto his brown leather office chair, the picture in his hands, his voice ragged as he peered up at Cody. "And this was Brent who got you involved? Brent who runs my goddamn ranch?"

Regret carved into Cody's words. "Yes, sir."

Mr. Wagner nodded through dismayed acceptance. "I see."

Then it was anger that surfaced, as if he'd had to work up to what this really meant. Standing, he scuffed a hand over his face before he was glaring at Cody. "I'm going to deal with this through a friend of mine at the Feds, but I need it quiet. I can't have this scandal marring the reputation of the ranch. As for you…"

Cody couldn't stop shaking as the man stared at him in repulsion. "I'm disgusted that you got involved in this to begin with, but I am grateful that you came to me in the end. So, here's what's going to happen…you're going to get in your truck and drive off my ranch. You're going to turn your back and act like none of this ever happened and thank your lucky stars that I'm not turning you in, too. Beyond that, I don't want to ever see you again."

The man steeled his voice. "Not here on my property, not in this town."

He leaned in closer to prove a point. "And if I ever catch you talking to my daughter again which you can be sure I've noticed the way you've been doing? I'll make sure you won't have the capacity to make that mistake again. Stay the hell away from her. Do you understand me?"

Cody's nod was a jolt of relief.

"Good. Now get the fuck out of my face so I can deal with this mess."