“Hey, I’m heading out.”
Cody looked up to find Jilly leaning through the open doorway. He glanced at his watch, it was after nine. “You want to grab a burger? I missed lunch.”
She hesitated a beat before answering. “I have to feed my cat.”
“Why don’t you run home and do that, then meet me over at Murray’s Saloon?”
Jilly stared at him.
“It would give us a chance to compare notes,” he added.
She sighed. “Okay. But we can’t go to Murray’s. Karaoke started at eight-thirty and we won’t be able to hear ourselves think, let alone talk.”
“Damn. I was really in the mood for a good burger.”
“How about Duke’s? That’s where we all hang out after work. They make a pretty good burger.”
“Sure.”
“Meet you there in thirty.”
“Great.” Cody scooped up the paperwork and shoved it into the file to take with him. He could almost taste that fat juicy burger. He shrugged into his suit jacket and left the quiet station.
When he opened the door at Duke’s, all conversation ceased. He should have known. After all, it was a cop bar. Feds were not welcome. He ignored the crowd and found an empty table. He sat with his back against the wall so no one could sneak up on him.
Before long, the noise level rose again. He opened the folder and skimmed through his notes. A few minutes passed before he got that prickly feeling on the back of his neck.
Someone was watching him.
He glanced around, but didn’t catch anyone’s eye. And in this crowd, they wouldn’t be shy about it. The animosity most cops felt toward feds was not a secret. He went back to his notes.
Although Cody knew someone was standing at his table, he waited for them to address him.
“Hey, you. I heard you were in town.”
He glanced up and found Jane Wheaton standing over him. She was a girl he’d dated briefly back in the day. He jumped up, kissed her cheek, and gave her a big hug. “How are you, Jane? You’re looking good.”
“Thanks.” She blushed and looked at her feet. “You too.”
Sweet Jane. He only had fond memories of her.
“Will you join me?” He pulled out a chair.
She looked at him. “Just for a minute, I have groceries in the car.” She sat and scooted closer to the table.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who frequented a cop bar.”
She giggled. “Oh no. I’ve never been in here before. Actually, I drove past you on the street heading in the opposite direction. I turned the car around to say hello. But by the time I reached your jeep, you were going through the door. I’ve been sitting out there a few minutes deciding whether or not I should come in.” A bashful grin played at her lips.
He smiled. “I’m glad you did.”
Just then a seasoned waitress appeared. She looked to be in her late fifties or early sixties. The buttons on her blouse looked about to pop and take someone’s eye out. Her blonde hair was up and teased within an inch of its life. Heavy blue eye shadow rounded out the look. Her name tag read Babs.
“What can I get you folks?”
“I’ll have a Dos Equis. Jane?”
“Oh, nothing for me. Thank you.” She fiddled with her hands in her lap.
“Okay, just the beer for now.” Then he focused on Jane. “So tell me what you’ve been up to? I don’t think I’ve seen you in years.”
“I’m a teacher.”
“That’s great. You always wanted to teach. What grade?”
“Third. I get them when their little minds are still developing. Before they become too engrossed in social media and cell phones.” She smiled.
“You mean hit their teens.”
“Exactly.” She chuckled.
“Smart thinking. I heard you and Dwight Young got married.”
“Dwight and I split up last year.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you two have any kids?”
She looked at the table, then back at him with sad eyes.
“No. Just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”
“Well, you’ve got a new crop of kids every year and I bet they love you. You must be a fantastic teacher.”
“I don’t know about that, but I do love the kids.”
Jane was always a bit on the shy side. A beautiful girl that never seemed to realize it. As a stupid kid, Cody had broken up with Jane to date Delilah. It wasn’t until later he realized the biggest difference between the two.
Jane never had a bad word to say about anyone, whereas Delilah had a mean streak. The waitress deposited a frothy mug in front of him and took off without a word.
“What about you? I heard you joined the FBI.”
“Yeah.” He took a drink of his beer.
“How do you like it?” She appeared more relaxed now that the spotlight was on him.
“It’s challenging, but I love it.”
“I bet. What brought you to town?”
“Just came up to spend a few days with family and decompress.”
“I stopped at Murphy’s last night for a bite and everyone’s talking about the bodies found at Hunters Cove. The way Dale tells it, the scene was pretty horrific. The entire town was plying him with drinks to hear all the gruesome details.”
“I bet ol’ Dale loved being a celebrity for a day.” He twisted the mug around in his hands on the table.
“Yes, between the booze and the attention, he was practically glowing. I also heard you were taking over the case.” She lowered her voice. “Tom Gilchrest had a few choice words regarding that.”
Cody glanced around before answering. No one seemed to be paying attention, but he kept his voice down just the same. “The locals always have a fear of the FBI coming in and taking over, but the truth of the matter is, I’m just helping out. The case is actually Jillian Reid’s.”
“Really? Well good for her.”
Cody looked up and saw Jilly coming their way. “And speak of the devil.” He stood and pulled a chair out for her.
Jane turned her head and the moment she saw the other woman, she jumped up. “Jilly, it’s good to see you.”
“Hi, Jane. You joining us?” Jilly seemed relieved at the prospect.
“Oh, no.” She looked at her watch. “It’s late and I have school tomorrow. It was nice seeing you both.”
“Are you sure? We promise not to talk shop until we finish eating,” Cody said.
“Thanks, but I have groceries that need to get in the fridge,” Jane said, scooting her chair back in.
“Maybe we can get together and catch up more another time.”
Jane grinned. “I’d like that. Just give me a call, I’m in the book. Take care.” She waved before she headed for the door.
“You too.” Cody reclaimed his seat.
Jilly took the chair he offered. “I can’t leave you alone for a minute before the women are all over you.”
“Huh?” Cody couldn’t tell if she was kidding or serious.
She looked around the room. “Have you ordered yet?”
“No, I was waiting for you.” He took a swig of beer.
“Okay.” She found the waitress and waved. “Babs!”
The woman, who was serving a drink behind the bar, nodded toward Jilly. The moment she’d finished with the customer, she wandered over.
“Hey, Jilly, good to see ya. What’ll you have?”
“Cheeseburger, medium rare, Swiss cheese, extra onion, and a Corona Lite.”
The waitress pulled a pen from the rat’s nest on her head and scribbled the order on her pad. “And you, hon?”
Surprised Jilly’s order mirrored his own, he said, “I’ll have the same.”
The waitress pointed to his mug. “Refill?”
“Please,” Cody answered.
She nodded, and took off.
Cody noticed Jilly watching the TV above the bar; a baseball game was on. “You into sports?”
She turned back around and addressed him. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“Who’s playing.” Jilly fiddled with a paper napkin on the table.
“Who’s your team?”
“Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins.”
“Boston girl, huh?”
“Yup. Born and raised. We moved here when I was fourteen.”
“Huh, I never knew.”
Her brows rose. “Why would you? It’s not like we were close.”
“No, but we weren’t strangers either. We were lab partners in chemistry one semester.” He finished his beer just as Babs appeared with a new one along with Jilly’s.
“Yeah, and you made me do all the work,” she grumbled.
Cody shook his head. “No, I didn’t.” Then he noticed her glare. “I did?”
“Oh, please, don’t act like you don’t remember.”
“I remember coming over to your house to work on a project.”
“You came over, once, but you didn’t do shit.” She took a sip from her bottle.
“Come on. I got a B that semester. I must have done something.”
“You got a B because I did all the work. If I’d waited for you, I would have flunked.”
Cody racked his brain and she was right. He only remembered going to her house the one time and sitting next to her in class. It was when he’d first moved to Big Bear and he was miserable. He missed his friends and family.
He felt like he’d been abandoned. Like his parents didn’t love him anymore. He must have taken it out on those around him.
“I guess I was a bit of a jerk, huh?”
“Ya think?” Her lips thinned.
“Sorry. No wonder you hate me.”
Her brows creased. “I didn’t say I hated you. Hate is a very strong word.”
“Okay, don’t like me very much. If it makes you feel any better, it wasn’t you. It was me.”
“You did not just say that.” She smirked.
“Ha!” He barked a laugh when he realized what he’d said. “What I meant to say was, it was a really hard time for me. I’d gotten into trouble at home and my parents were fed up so they kicked me out.”
Babs showed up with napkins and utensils before she scooted off.
“Your own parents kicked you out of the house? That’s harsh.” Jilly took another sip of beer.
“It felt that way at the time. We’ve since made amends, but the truth is, I went through a pretty destructive stage in my life and my parents didn’t know what to do.
“They had four other kids and all their energy was spent keeping me out of trouble. So my grandfather stepped in and offered to have me live up here.”
“I was warned you were a delinquent.”
Cody was surprised. “Who told you that?”
“My mother. When she found out you were my lab partner, she said I was not to be alone with you and we could only meet at our house.”
“Huh.” He looked down at the table.
She covered his hand on the table. “I didn’t say that to offend you.”
He shook his head. “No, she was right. I was bad news for a while there. I was angry and hurt. I guess a few people got caught in the cross-hairs. I’m sorry you were one of them.”
“It’s okay, I guess. It was a long time ago.” She noticed her hand on his and quickly removed it.
“Then why–”
The waitress showed up with two platters and laid them on the table. “I’ll be back with the ketchup for your fries. Anything else I can bring you?”
Jilly jumped right in. “Mayo and mustard, please.”
The waitress looked at him and he pointed to Jilly. “What she said.”
Babs was back in no time with the condiments and they began preparing their burgers. Jilly grabbed the mustard, so Cody snatched the ketchup. When they were done, they switched. Then he waited until she finished with the mayo before he slathered a blob on his bun.
The only difference between the two sandwiches was that she cut hers in half. That was something he never understood about women. It was still the same height whether it was cut or not. Maybe it was because their hands were smaller.
He took a big bite and moaned. Once he’d finished chewing. “Damn, now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“So, to get back to our conversation. Are you telling me you’re not that bad boy anymore?”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Now I didn’t say that.”
She threw a fry at him. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
But the smile stayed on her face.