Cody stepped off the deck and headed toward the crime scene. The closer he got to the water, the more his feet began to sink in the sand. A breeze picked up the scent of the decomposing body and he got an unpleasant whiff.
It was after eleven, and the sun’s heat had not been kind to the waiting corpse. No one was taking pictures. No one was collecting evidence. At least someone had marked off a large portion of the beach with tape and a few uniforms guarded the site.
Other than that, there was no one else around. Pissed, Cody located Jilly and strode her way. “What the hell’s going on?”
Jilly glanced at him. “The CSU will be a little while. I guess they got another call while they were processing my house. The coroner should be here any minute.” She stared back at the ground.
“I was just searching the area for evidence. I’ve only marked a couple of things so far.” Jilly bent down and set a numbered placard on the sand.
After she stood, she turned to him. “Why do you think the killer left her body on the beach, but her head in my bed?”
“Sharing the wealth?”
She rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”
“Maybe he couldn’t get into my house. It has a state-of-the-art alarm system and three people staying there. That’s a triple threat. Anyone could get up in the night to get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, or be a light sleeper.”
“So the killer’s not sophisticated enough to bypass an alarm and/or knew several people were staying there. That tells us something.”
“Yes, it does.” He crouched down to investigate the body. “It doesn’t look as if he had time to torture her, does it?”
Jilly cocked her head. “Besides the fact that he cut off her head?”
“Well, yeah. I’m certain she was alive when he did that and then bagged the head in plastic immediately. That’s why there was so much blood on the sheets.”
“True, plus there’s no evidence he killed her in my house.”
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Cody looked up and saw the coroner heading their way carrying a black satchel.
“Hey, George, how’s it going?” Cody said.
“You mean, after I had to leave my half-eaten breakfast sitting on the table at Grizzly’s, then walk through your house to get to the scene while smelling bacon cooking the entire time?” George growled.
“Uh, sorry about that.” Cody turned to Jilly. “Do you think you could have one of your men go out front and direct people to the scene so they don’t need to traipse through the house?”
She blew her bangs up. “Dane was supposed to be taking care of that. Where the hell is he?” She stormed off.
George set his bag on the ground and extracted a pair of latex gloves before he squatted beside Cody.
“I hope this body belongs to the head we found last night.” George encircled her wrist with his hand and gently tugged, there was no movement. “She’s still in rigor, so it’s possible. Won’t know for certain until I get her back and do some tests, blood, fingerprints. DNA takes too long.”
“Jane Wheaton is a school teacher, so her fingerprints should be on file,” Cody said.
“Good, that makes things a lot easier.” He took out a capped pen and lightly touched the edge of the severed neck.
“I guess we won’t know if she’s had any bones broken until you x-ray her?” Cody said.
“Nope. She’s pretty stiff, but I don’t see any bruising or any obvious signs of abuse. She’s been mauled pretty good, but the cadaver is in far better condition than the other victims I’ve seen. She should be able to tell us a thing or two,” George said.
“God, I hope so,” Cody replied.
Chimes tinkled and Cody glanced up to see Jilly heading their way. She took out her phone and looked at the screen. “Can I use your computer? Jane Wheaton’s cell phone records just came through.”
Cody stood. “Yeah, follow me.” He led her back into the house and showed her to his grandfather’s study. “Make yourself at home. Coffee?”
“Please. And could you swipe me a couple of pieces of bacon? The smell is killing me,” Jilly said.
“You and me both.”
Cody found Meagan and Jess chowing down at the table. His stomach grumbled. As he poured the coffee, he scanned the ingredients on the counter. “Dang, girl, did you make that French toast with sourdough bread?”
Meagan nodded while she chewed. “Mmmm.”
“Man, I ate some made that way when I was in San Francisco and I swear it was the best I’ve ever had.”
Meagan swallowed. “Help yourself. I made plenty.”
Cody opened the oven and snagged a slice, and began eating it with his hand. “God, that’s good.” He took another bite as he made his way over to the table, snagged a handful of bacon with his free hand and tossed it on a nearby plate.
Then he shoved the rest of the toast into his mouth. He went back to the counter and tried to juggle the cups with the plate of bacon.
Meagan ran over. “Let me help you.” She snatched the plate before it landed on the floor.
“Fanks,” Cody said around a mouthful.
Meagan chuckled. “Don’t mention it. Really. You’re spraying food everywhere.” She followed him to the office and set the plate in the middle of the desk.
Jilly grabbed a piece and took a big bite. “God bless you, you’re a saint.”
“I can make you each a plate.” Meagan glanced from Cody to Jilly. “I mean, what would it hurt?”
Jilly stared at Cody with her brows raised. “We do need to go over these phone records.”
Cody nodded. “And we’ve already seen the body.”
Jilly stood. “But you don’t need to fix our plates, Meagan. That’s really sweet, but we can do that ourselves.” She walked around the desk as Cody got out of his chair. She quickly stepped in front of him, blocking the open doorway, and raced down the hall.
“Hey!” Cody chased after her, snagged the back of her shirt and tugged, then took the lead. He felt a weight at the back of his legs and he flew forward. Jilly had tackled him to the ground.
“Not fair.” Cody yelled. Jilly scrambled back up and took off running. He snatched her foot as it passed and she collapsed with an oomph. She didn’t move.
Cody belly crawled up next to her face. “Are you all right?”
Her eyes shot open, she pushed on his back and leapfrogged over him. “Sucker!” she yelled.
Jilly raced into the kitchen just before him, shot her fists in the air and danced around the room singing the theme to Rocky.
Cody sauntered over, breathing hard. “You cheat.”
She stopped singing long enough to say, “All’s fair in love and food.”
Cody opened the oven. “Where did you learn to fight so dirty?”
“Three brothers.” Jilly grabbed a couple of hot pads. “If I didn’t get to the kitchen first, I didn’t eat. They were pigs.”
Cody shook his head. “Jeez, I’m gonna have to watch myself around you.”
Jilly pulled the plate of French toast out of the oven, and grinned at him. “Damn straight.” She placed it on the counter, and started piling a bunch of slices on an empty plate.
Cody watched as his breakfast disappeared before his very eyes. “Don’t take what you can’t eat.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jilly said without looking up.
“No way you’re going to devour all that.” Cody reached over her plate and she slapped his hand.
“Ouch!” He pulled it back.
Jilly glared at him. “Serves you right. Never get between a hungry woman and her food.”
“I second that.” Meagan yelled from the table holding up a half-eaten piece of bacon.
The women nodded to one another.
Cody turned to Jesse. “I’m getting ganged up on here, bro. Help me out.”
“It’s better to just give in,” Jesse said.
Meagan leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. He smiled and raised his brows toward Cody as if to say, see?
“Thanks for nothing,” Cody grumbled as he waited for the syrup. The bottle was completely upended over Jilly’s plate. Her French toast practically floated. “Hey, leave me some, will ya?”
Jilly glanced at him with raised brows.
“Come on,” Cody said. “Have a heart.”
Jilly set the bottle in front of him. A mere two inches of syrup remained at the bottom.
“You are evil.”
Jilly made a move toward the plastic container, but he latched onto it and held it out of her reach. She laughed, picked up her plate and left the room.
“I wouldn’t let that one get away,” Jesse said.
Cody stared at his brother. “Yeah, if you’re a masochist.”
“I like her,” Meagan added.
“Whatever,” Cody mumbled. He picked up his breakfast and left the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the look exchanged between Meagan and his brother.
Cody found Jilly sitting behind the desk eating while she stared at the computer screen. A whirring sound filled the room as pages shot out of the printer. He set his plate down on the opposite side of the desk and pulled up a chair. He reached toward the printer, about to grab a page when she slapped his hand.
He turned on her. “What the hell?”
She wore a huge grin. “Just kidding.”
“God, woman, you are on a roll today.” Cody collected the pages and started skimming them.
“I get a little punchy when I don’t get enough sleep,” she answered.
“Lucky me.” He grabbed a pen and started circling repeat numbers.
“Just remember, it’s your fault.”
“My . . .” His head jerked her way and he pinned her with a stare. “What? Hey, you’re the one who–”
“Who what? Took advantage of you?” She chuckled.
He squinted at her. “Something like that.”
“Poor you. I’m the one who can barely walk today.”
A flash of her naked body from the night before made him grin. “Serves you right. If you can’t take the heat,” he challenged.
“Oh, I can take it.” She crooked her finger. “Bring it on.” Her voice had turned sultry.
He glanced at the open door, then back at her. “What, here?”
“Right here, right now. We’ll just clear off this desk.” Her eyes twinkled, but he couldn’t tell if she was pulling his, uh, leg, or not.
He thought about it for all of thirty seconds. He pictured her lying on the desk, her head resting on her hand, completely naked, beckoning him.
Then reality reared its ugly head.
“What the hell? Meagan and Jesse are in the other room, the place is crawling with cops and probably the CSI’s by now. That would be a bit unprofessional, don’t you think?”
Her head tilted back and laughter rang out. She continued until tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Hey, what gives?” he practically had to shout to be heard.
“You should have seen your face!” She swiped at her cheeks, but the mirth had yet to die down.
“So you were just screwing with me?”
She nodded and snatched a tissue from the box on the desk.
“You are the devil incarnate, you know that?”
She stopped chuckling long enough to say, “I told you payback’s a bitch.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled and stood to adjust his pants.
That brought on another guffaw. Soon she grabbed her stomach and doubled over. He had to get out of there. He seized his mug. “I need more coffee,” he mumbled as he escaped the room.
Jilly’s laughter followed him all the way down the hall and into the kitchen.
Meagan frowned. “I didn’t know police work could be so much fun.”
“It isn’t,” Cody replied.
Jesse turned to Meagan. “Don’t be offended. They’re just blowing off steam. When you have to deal with the gruesome sights we see all the time, you need to find a way to counter the effects or risk eating your gun someday. Humor is the best defense.”
Meagan nodded. “Okay.”
Jesse turned toward Cody. “What’s going on in there?”
“I don’t know. She’s just in a weird mood, I guess.” Cody tipped the pot over his mug. He leaned against the counter facing the table and took a sip.
“Aren’t you going back?” Jesse grinned.
“Nope.” Cody stared into his mug.
“I thought you guys were working a big case,” Meagan said.
“Yup,” he said glancing her way.
“Isn’t it easier to work with your partner when you occupy the same space?” Jesse smirked.
“Not in this case.” Cody left the room.