Sin (The Waite Family) (14 page)

The
phone ringing in her pocket made her stiffen. He wanted to scream out his frustration when he felt her pulling back both mentally and physically.
He
let go of her nipple
,
but went back for another quick nip and was happy when she tightened her fingers in his hair once more before she let him go.

She stood there breathing hard as she pushed at his chest. He stepped back again
,
but
didn’t let her go. He couldn’t. Not yet at any rate. He was afraid if he did, he’d fall on his face.
While he watched she adjusted her bra back up and pulled her shirt down.

“We can’t do this. Never.
Do you understand me?
I’m going to marry Richard because he won’t…you want too much. More than I can give you.”

“How do you know what I want from you is more than you’re willing to give me?
How do you know what I can give you is
n’t
just what you want?”
He pulled her in for
another
kiss.
She responded as she had before.
“You want me as much as I want you,
Sydney
.
Are you willing to settle for Richard because he’s safe?”

“Yes.
”
She stepped to the side and out of his arms.
“Yes
,
I am.
I have to go.”
She was out the door before he could stop her.

Coop sat in the chair and looked around the kitchen.
What the hell had just happened?
Every time he thought he understood her or had a handle on her, she would bring something
else
out on the table. He was going nuts
,
that was it
.
Nutty
as a fruitcake.
He needed to burn off some of this energy.
Going to the
basement
door he decided to
take her up on her offer to use the equipment.

The equipment was state of the art. There was everything anyone could ever hope to find in an expensive gym.
There was a weight bench and a NordicTrack
, an
elliptical and a rower.
In the corner there
were weight, squat
,
and step machines.
He opened the other door
,
looked in
,
and had to lean against the wall for support.

Sydney had made the smallish room into her bedroom.
There was an army cot along with a sleeping bag on it.
She had a pillow and a table that he’d seen the match for in the living room.
On it was
a lamp, book
,
and a canteen.
In the corner
was a dorm
-
sized refrigerator and a hotplate on top of it. The only window had been blacked out with a heavy
,
woolen
-
looking blanket.
Her clothes were folded neatly and lying on a duffel
bag
,
and her shoes, both civilian and
service
,
were polished and set near the bag.
With all the bedrooms in this house she felt the most comfortable in her own version of army life.
Coop went out to the equipment and
started to work out.
He tried not to think of the woman who lived here with him.

~~~

“I don’t care what you have to do to find him, I want that fucker found.
He is fucking with my livel
i
hood and I want him dead.”
Carl began pacing the floor. “He’s been gone now almost two months and not a word from anyone.”

“It’s only been about seven weeks, sir, not two months.”
The man speaking had no idea when to shut up
,
apparently.
“I think he was picked up by his—
”

Carl shot him in the head.
There was going to be a mess, but he was too far gone right now to give a good flying fuck about that. That’s what cleaning services were for.
He put his gun away and turned to the other two men standing there.

“Either one of you want to correct me on how long that cock sucker ha
s
been gone.”
They both shook their heads no.
“Good.
Moving
on. He
did have a point.
Did his mother stash him somewhere and he’s out there just waiting or did he
die
and no one has informed me yet?”

One of the two idiots cleared his throat before speaking.
“I don’t believe he’s dead
,
sir. If he is, his family sure isn’t taking it all that hard.
Unless they hated him as much as you do.
Could be that.”

“No, he was a momma’s boy
,
pure and simple.
If he were dead I’m sure she’d have some fucking black arm band on every cop in the city by now.
I need to move and I can’t move
until
this trial is over.
And
it won’t be over to my
satisfaction
until
Cooperider is dead.”

He sat down at the desk. There were all sorts of photos spread
everywhere
on it and nothing of value. He’d had the family followed since he’d been arrested and Carl was no closer to finding his
accuser
than he’d been that night.
There were pictures of his mother going to meetings, to dinners. There were pictures of his sister going with her on some, but mostly Mrs. Cooperider with her bevy of bodyguards.
He raked his hand across the entire mess and threw them to the floor.

“
How can one near death man just disappear like that? He would have had to go to the hospital somewhere.
He had a gut shot that would have required surgery. I know
,
I put that one there myself.
This was planned out and planned.”
He closed his eyes.
“How did whoever pick
ed
him up know where to find him? And better yet, how did the
c
hief find out?”

“Maybe he used his own phone to text someone?
You
were
listening in
,
right? Wouldn’t take much to text
,
say
…
the chief then have him bring somebody in to save him.”
Carl looked at the man who’d just figured out what he’d been working on for weeks.
“I mean, that’s what I’d do.”

Carl toyed with the idea of shooting his bastard too
,
but glanced over at the bloody mess already staining his carpet and the chair he’d been standing near.
He saw the two men start to move and decided that for now they would both live. For now.
He stood up again and took out his gun. He smiled to himself when they both backed up a step.

“I’ve thought of that too.
But who would he trust besides the
c
hief
?
His
list of buddies in the department is less than zero, I made sure of that.
Who else then?”
Carl wasn’t expecting an answer and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get one.
“His sister, mother
?
Surely he wouldn’t bring his family into a hostile place to save his pansy ass, would he?”

“My mom would be the last person I’d trust, but by all accounts this feller has a good relationship with h
is
.
Could be she pulled some strings and had her baby boy put on ice somewhere outta state.”
Carl looked at the other man.
“She wasn’t from around here, right?”

Carl got up and got the file.
“No, she was from Ohio.
Do we know anyone in Ohio who could do
s
ome searching?
Or better yet, you go. I need someone I can trust.”

“What about me?
I can help him.”
The second guy actually raised his hand.
“I’m pretty good with searching.”

Carl glanced at the other man.
He gave a small shake of his head. Carl nearly
laughed
out loud. He didn’t know any of their names, but he thought he might like this guy.
“No, I have something else you can do.
After
you
get rid of this body.”
He looked at the smarter one. “What’s your name anyway?”

“Shipley, Roger Shipley.”

“Well, Shipley, you can look up someone else for me while
you’re
doing some searching in Ohio. I have a wife there that I’d like to know the whereabouts of.
Her name is Quinn Waite.
She was supposed to
have
married some dick a few months back
,
but don’t know if that panned out. See what you can find out
about
her and there’s a bonus in this for you.”
Carl took out his wallet and gave Shipley five grand.
“Use this to get the balls rolling on either of those assignments.
Keep
me updated on anything you find.
Use my personal number.”

Shipley nodded as he took the money.
He simply opened his own wallet and slipped the cash inside.
After a few more
instructions
Shipley left.
Carl was just going out the door himself when the idiot
spoke up.

“How do I get rid of this body, Mr. Wickett?
There anyone in particular I can call?”
Carl was tempted once again to shoot him
,
but didn’t. The mess wouldn’t get cleaned up and he’d have two bodies to get rid of instead of just the one.

“I don’t give a good fuck, it just had better be gone when I return.
And
make sure you get this carpet cleaned too.
I can’t have all this blood messing up my décor.”