The Chosen Child

“Did you bring gloves?”

Cody eyed Dustin's baggy jeans. A person could hide a small child and two dogs in the pockets of those things.

“Don’t need ’em.”

Cody bit back a sigh, “Yeah, you do.” He leaned forward and took the small pair of leather gloves he’d picked up at the feed store out of the glove compartment and tossed them in Dustin’s lap. The boy glared at him, but Cody ignored him.

“I’m not a hick.” Dustin spoke the word in such a way that it let Cody know exactly what he thought of him.

“I believe the politically correct term is cowboy,” Cody shot back. Then he softened. He was supposed to be setting a good example, not arguing with the boy. “Look, the gloves are for your safety, like I told you before. I’m not trying to make you into a hick.”

“Don’t you mean cowboy?” Dustin looked out the passenger window as though bored out of his mind. “How can you stand living out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Cody resisted his initial impulse to throttle the kid. The ranch meant almost as much to him as his marriage. It might be the only one of the two he had left at the moment.

Hell, if he lost Nikki, nothing else would matter.

Dear Reader,

Sometimes the old saying “Blood is thicker than water” doesn’t hold true. I have friends who are closer to me and who know me better than many of my blood relatives. There’s another old saying—“You can pick your friends, but not your family.” Again, not always true. Many children are chosen to be part of a family through adoption.

When the hero and heroine of this book, Nikki and Cody Somers, discover they cannot have a child of their own by traditional means, they turn to in vitro fertilization and surrogacy. But a tragic accident changes their plans.

As so often happens, Nikki and Cody find themselves journeying down an unexpected path. And when a special boy enters the picture, they must take a step back and explore the true meaning of family.

I invite you to take the journey with Nikki and Cody, and see that in today’s world, where there is often so much darkness, there is a ray of light, as well. We just have to be willing to look for it.

I love hearing from my readers. You can e-mail me at BrendaMott@hotmail.com. Please reference the book title in the subject line. Or stop by my author’s page at the Smoky Mountain Romance Writer Web site at smrw.org.

Happy reading!

Brenda Mott

The Chosen Child
Brenda Mott

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to Sam and her lost boys. And also to the women who are my sisters, if not by blood, then of the heart: Wanda Barnes, D’Ann Linscott-Dunham, Judy Meister, Jennifer Niles, Kayla Perrin, Janet Swanson, Joanne Ward (“Sissy”) and Brenda Williams. I love you all.

With special acknowledgment to retired 911 operator Barb Dimich, The Silt, Colorado and Rifle, Colorado Police Departments, and MADD—Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Any errors in this work of fiction are my own.

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

PROLOGUE

THE GLASS DOORS of the hospital emergency room slid open with a mechanical hiss, throwing Nikki Somers into a world tipped off its axis. Bright light and the sterile odors of medicine and cleaning solutions enveloped her, pitching her stomach into a nervous roll.

Faces, voices, blurred around her as she bypassed the busy front desk receptionist to find someone with answers. “Excuse me!” Hands shaking, Nikki waved down a woman in a nurse’s uniform. “You contacted me. My sister—Amanda Kelly—was brought in by Flight For Life. She was in an accident. I need to find her—now. Please.” The words poured out, nearly choking her. She felt as if she’d been dropped into some strange netherworld, and her real life was back there, somewhere outside the hospital doors.

Eyes filled with sympathy, the nurse met Nikki’s gaze. “Your sister is in surgery.”

Nikki’s heart nearly leapt from her chest. “Surgery! My God, how bad is she? What about the baby?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have the details, ma’am. The doctor will talk to you after Ms. Kelly is taken to recovery. There’s a waiting room upstairs, third floor. Take the elevator—” she pointed “—and follow the yellow line.”

“Isn’t there anything you can tell me?” Nikki persisted. “Anything I can do?”

The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry. You’ll need to wait for Doctor Smith.”

“Thank you.” Nikki could barely bring herself to utter the words. She didn’t want to wait. She rushed to the elevator and pressed the Up arrow.

Please, God, no. Not my sister…and not the baby.

The elevator bell dinged and the doors slid open. Nikki stepped inside. In what felt like slow motion, the car ascended to the third floor, where a lemon-colored line painted on the polished linoleum pointed the way to the waiting room. Nikki followed it, feeling as though she were on an alternate yellow brick road—one that led to nightmares.

The waiting room seemed small and close. She avoided eye contact with the four people who sat around the perimeter of the room. She had no interest in speaking to them, trading horror stories about why a group of strangers had been brought together in this room. Yet she couldn’t help but steal a glance in their direction.

In the far corner, a middle-aged woman sat with her coat unbuttoned, her dark hair pulled into a flawless bun. Beside her, a young man stared unseeingly at the television centered on one wall. The woman’s pantsuit looked designer, her nails professionally manicured, her makeup perfect. Nikki saw that she’d been crying and looked away as she sat, perched on the edge of one of the mustard chairs.

But she couldn’t block the whispers of the man and woman who commiserated with the elegantly dressed lady. She caught the words drunk driver and hit-and-run. And the fact that someone named Caitlin now hovered at death’s door. The dark-haired woman’s next words brought Nikki’s head up with a snap.

“The other woman was pregnant.”

And the man. “Dear Lord.”

My God. They were here because of the same accident Amanda had been in. She didn’t want to share this common bond with them, though she prayed their loved one—Caitlin—would live. Instead, she willed this all to go away and not be real, and for Amanda and the baby to be safe…alive.

The woman had said was pregnant. Surely she’d meant is. Nikki felt faint, but before she could address the woman, the door to the waiting area opened.

“Mrs. Somers?” Nikki turned toward the doctor as he entered the room.

“Yes.” Quickly, she rose to her feet and hurried to him.

“I’m Doctor Smith.” He held out his hand, and Nikki shook it reflexively. “Your sister is in recovery. You can see her in a little while, once she’s been taken to her room.” He pressed his lips together, looking grim. “I’m afraid the news isn’t good. Ms. Kelly suffered a placental abruption as a result of the impact from the accident. I understand her Blazer rolled into the ravine.”

Nikki’s throat constricted. “And the baby?”

“She lost the baby. I’m so very sorry.” He gently squeezed her shoulder, then went on to describe the extent of Amanda’s injuries—a concussion, cracked ribs…she’d required blood transfusions. She had yet to learn that the baby had died.

Nikki could only stare at the man, one hand over her mouth. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be real. She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears, wishing Cody were here instead of on duty some seventy miles away. When the hospital had phoned to say Amanda had been in an accident, she hadn’t even taken time to call the Deer Creek police station. The Colorado State Highway Patrol had responded to the accident, which meant Cody didn’t know. She needed to call him.

“Are you all right, Mrs. Somers?” Doctor Smith’s words barely penetrated the fog shrouding her mind.

She managed a nod. “I just want to see my sister.”

“Well, like I said, it’ll be a little while yet.” He gestured toward the phone on the wall. “That’s an in-house line. A nurse will call you with your sister’s room number once she’s been transferred from recovery. I’ll be dropping in later to talk to her as well.” He looked as if he didn’t know what else to say, as if he’d like to move on to his next duty, his next patient. The smartly dressed woman had risen to her feet as soon as Doctor Smith entered the room, and she now moved forward, questions of her own at the ready. He started to turn toward her.

“Doctor.” Nikki laid her hand on his arm. “Was the baby a girl?” The ultrasound had indicated it was.

His eyes softened with genuine sympathy. “Yes. Again, I’m so very sorry for your sister’s loss.”

Nikki mumbled a thank-you, but for what, she wasn’t sure. She amended the thought, thanking God that Amanda was alive.

An eternity later, the wall phone rang and Nikki hurried to pick it up. She listened as the nurse gave directions to Amanda’s room. Once more, she followed the yellow line to where her sister lay on sterile white sheets, her blond hair spread across the pillow, eyes closed. Fighting back tears, Nikki moved up beside the bed. Amanda’s eyelids fluttered open.

“Amanda.” Nikki reached for her hand.

“Nikki?” The fear in Amanda’s voice devastated her, and it was all she could do to stand. She couldn’t speak to answer the question in Amanda’s eyes. All she could do was shake her head.

Amanda’s wail tore her apart, and Nikki’s emotions whirled in confusion. Relief at knowing Amanda would live mixed with sorrow at seeing her sister in pain. At the same time, the sickening loss in knowing the baby had not made it continued to grip her.

Not Amanda’s baby, as the doctor had assumed. Amanda had been a surrogate mother.

Nikki squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could melt into nothing.

Wished with all her heart that she could slip into a dark, quiet place where there was no pain.

Where her little girl was not dead.

CHAPTER ONE

NIKKI STRUGGLED to control her anger as she looked at her husband. “Vengeance won’t bring Anna back.” In the four months since the accident, they’d made little progress in working through their grief, moving past the loss of their baby girl. And Cody’s attitude wasn’t helping.

His dark blue eyes held hers. “Maybe not. But I still intend to find the son of a bitch who killed our daughter.” He rose from his chair and walked out of the room.

Embarrassed, Nikki sighed, leaned back in her chair and faced Regina Jeffries. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Cody needs to work out his feelings in his own way.” She studied Nikki with her expressive eyes. “Obviously, revenge against the hit-and-run driver responsible for your sister’s accident is not your first concern.”

“No, that’s just it.” Nikki shook her head, the heated words she and Cody had exchanged ringing in her mind, giving her a headache.

Why are you so hell-bent on finding the guy, Cody? Let the State Highway Patrol and the sheriff’s office do their jobs.

It’s not that simple, Nikki. I wish you’d try to understand.

“Let’s talk about what you think is more important.” Regina glanced at her watch. “We’ve still got fifteen minutes left.”

Nikki shook her head. “I think I’d better go after Cody.” She stood and gave Regina a small smile. “Thanks. Hopefully we’ll see you next week.”

“I’ll be here.”

Outside the three-story brick building of Colorado Family Counseling Services, Nikki paused. Cody wasn’t in their truck, parked at the curb. He wasn’t anywhere in sight. Where had he gone? Her patience wearing thin, Nikki craned her neck, looking up and down the few blocks that made up Main Street in their little mountain town of Deer Creek. Through the plateglass window of Pearl’s Diner she caught sight of him, sulking over a cup of coffee. Head bent so that his black cowboy hat partially hid his face, he reminded her more of a pouting teenager than a thirty-one-year-old man. Half tempted to get in the pickup and drive away without him, Nikki instead took a deep breath and strode across the street. The bell on the door tinkled as she entered.

Cody didn’t look up when she slid into the booth across from him, and she waited until the waitress left with her order for coffee and a doughnut before she spoke, keeping her voice low. “Care to tell me what that was all about?”

He stared into his coffee. “I’m tired, Nikki. That’s all.”

“Maybe you should try coming to bed at night then, instead of falling asleep in front of the television.” She knew he purposely did that to avoid sleeping with her.

He looked up. “I’m tired of fighting with you.”

“I thought that was the purpose of counseling. To sort things out instead of arguing.” She hated what Anna’s death had done to their already shaky marriage. Their relationship had been tested by the injustice of three miscarriages in two years, and now they’d lost Anna. “How can we do that if you walk out in the middle of our session?”

“Do we have to do this here?” He indicated the room full of patrons enjoying Pearl’s down-home cooking and conversation with friends and neighbors.

“No, we don’t.” Nikki stood. “You know what, Cody? I’m just as tired as you are. I’ll see you at home.”

She turned and nearly collided with the waitress who’d brought the coffee and doughnut she’d ordered. Nikki eyed the huge, chocolate-glazed pastry, anticipating the comfort she knew she’d find in curling up with the treat in a quiet corner of her bedroom. “Can I get that to go, Sherry? Sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble.” Sherry smiled and darted back around the counter.

Cody was at Nikki’s elbow before she reached the cash register.

“We drove here together,” he reminded her.

“I thought I’d go see Jana.” Nikki’s longtime friend owned the bookstore down the street. “She can give me a ride home on her noon break. It’s my turn to buy her lunch anyway.”

“Fine.” He pressed his mouth into a thin line and slapped money down on the counter to pay for their order. “See you later.” He shot out the door and drove away in the Chevy.

Take-out bag in hand, Nikki headed down the block.

An hour and a half later, Jana drove her home, pulling up the long driveway of the sixty-acre ranch. Not even the welcome sight of the horses grazing in the sun was enough to lift Nikki’s spirits. She climbed from Jana’s car, palms sweating at the thought of picking up where she and Cody had left off. Both the truck and Cody’s squad car were parked in front of the garage, today being his day off.

“You’ll call if you need me?” Jana’s voice drew her from her thoughts.

“Of course.” Nikki lifted her hand in a wave. “Thanks again.”

“You bet.”

Inside, she found Cody in the kitchen. He’d made a sandwich, but had left it half-eaten. She sat at the table near his elbow. “What’s happening to us?”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly.

Silence gripped the room. “We need to find a way to get past this,” Nikki said. “How can we do that if you’re not willing to try?”

There were sorrow and hurt in the look he gave her. “I am trying, Nikki. But you don’t seem to understand that. You think going to town once a week to spill our guts to some stranger is going to make everything right. But it won’t.”

“And neither will your obsession with finding the drunk driver.” Nikki struggled to contain her temper. “Cody, I want to see justice for Anna, too. I want the jerk who ruined our lives to pay.” She leaned toward him, and laid her hand on his wrist. “But if you let revenge consume you, we’ll never be able to move on with our lives.”

He pulled away from her and stood. Raking his hands through his dark hair, he began to pace. “I’m a cop. It’s my duty to uphold the law.”

“You’re too close. Let the Highway Patrol and the sheriff handle this.”

Cody stopped pacing. “You do what you need to do to cope with Anna’s death. Why can’t you leave me to do what I need to?”

She leaned back in her chair. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your hair. Your clothes.” He shook his head. “I’ve known you since high school, and this—” he indicated her bright pink jeans, lacy blouse and pink cowboy boots “—is not you.”

Stung, Nikki’s jaw dropped. “I thought you liked my new look.” She fiddled with a strand of her recently dyed-blond, shoulder-length cut. “And what’s wrong with my clothes?”

“Nothing is wrong with the clothes, Nikki.” Heaving a sigh, Cody sat down again and stared at her. “They’re just not you. The colors, your makeup, none of it is you. Even Regina noticed the changes.”

“Yes, but she said they were good changes.” Defensively, Nikki folded her arms, suddenly conscious of her extra weight. She’d eaten her way through her depression, until she’d gone from the severe weight-loss she’d suffered since Anna’s death, to being ten pounds past her normal body size. But food gave her comfort. Something she hadn’t found anyplace else lately.

“Exactly my point.” Cody looked at her as if she were dense. “You cope your way, now let me cope in mine.”

“So, what you’re saying is that once you’ve tracked down the hit-and-run driver and put him away, things will be A-OK again? Everything will just go back to normal?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” He pursed his lips and shook his head. “And women say men don’t listen.”

“I’m listening, Cody. You’re the one who’s not.” Tears burned her eyes, and her throat tightened as she struggled not to cry. “I’ve found a healthy outlet for my feelings. Revenge isn’t healthy. You’ve got to find a better way than that to move past our little girl’s death. Regina can help us get back on track and work through this together.”

“I’m not so sure that’s the answer.” The look in his eyes chilled her.

“What are you saying?”

He was silent a moment before he answered. “I’ve been thinking about moving in with Jordan for a while. I need some time and space.”

Fear gripped her. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yes,” he said. “I do.”

Nikki fought to control her panic. She’d never been one to let emotions overrule good judgment. “Please don’t.”

“I’m not giving up, I just…” He let the sentence trail away. A fly landed on his discarded sandwich and he flicked it away, scowling. “I’m just taking a step back, Nikki. I think it’s best.”

Best. Not the word she’d use to describe what he proposed. “Please, Cody, just…wait.” God, if he moved out there might be no turning back.

“Wait for what?”

For us. For whatever it took to stop this hell they’d lived in for the past four months. She took a deep breath. “When I talked to Amanda on the phone last week, she asked me to come to Tennessee for a visit.” The accident had left Amanda unable to cope with her job as an RN in the maternity ward of the local hospital, or with anything else for that matter, including the tension between the three of them. She’d fled Colorado and now lived in the hills of Tennessee, in the cabin where their granny had taken care of them for the better part of their childhood. “I’ve been thinking I might take her up on her offer. I had planned to talk to you about it today, after our session with Regina.”

Now it was Cody’s turn to look apprehensive. “You’re going to fly out there?”

She shook her head. “Drive.”

His eyes widened. “Nikki, it’s fifteen hundred miles to Boone’s Crossing.”

“I know. That’s why I want to drive. It’ll give me some time to think.” She stared at the tabletop. “If I leave in the morning, I can be there by Saturday. I don’t want Amanda to face Sunday by herself.” She felt his gaze on her, and out of the corner of her eye, recognized the set of his jaw.

Sunday, June twentieth, would’ve been Amanda’s due date.

Cody would talk about little else besides his need for revenge. He had yet to open up and talk to her about their baby girl.

“Amanda’s been through hell,” he said quietly. “And you need to be with her, too.”

It hurt Nikki to admit that she couldn’t let herself lean on him. She nodded. “And when I come back, you and I can decide what our next step should be.”

“How long will you be gone?”

Her job as a kindergarten teacher left her with the summer months off, school having let out last month, the end of May. “I don’t know. Two weeks, maybe three?”

Cody’s jaw muscles tightened and she knew he wasn’t happy with the idea. “I really hate for you to be out on the highway alone like that. Especially after…” His words trailed away, but she knew what he’d been about to say.

After what had happened to Amanda.

“I’ll be fine, Cody. I’ll take my cell phone and check in with you.”

“Sounds like your mind’s made up.”

“It is.” She hadn’t fully realized it until now. But maybe this was best. Time apart might give them both a chance to cool down. Maybe when she got back home, Cody would be more willing to talk.

And less willing to simply give up and move out.

“All right.” Cody turned his hands palm up in a gesture of resignation.

“Will you wait until I get back to discuss moving in with Jordan?” Her heart raced, and she held her breath.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll wait.”

“Okay then.” She got up from the table. “Guess I’d better start packing.”

Nikki headed for the bedroom, half hoping Cody would call out for her not to go. To instead stay with him.

But he said nothing as she left the room.

THE DRONE of the dispatcher’s radio faded into the background as Cody tried to focus on the paperwork at hand, a task he normally hated. But he didn’t want to go home.

Nikki had been gone only two days, and already it felt like forever. He hated the emptiness of their house without her. It felt as if his life had suddenly veered south to hell the minute she’d driven away. One minute he’d had it all, right down to the proverbial white picket fence and family dog—if you could call a retired police dog with an attitude proverbial. And now he sat looking for excuses not to go home.

He scooted his chair closer to his desk and bent over it a little more intently. But his thoughts circled back to Nikki.

He’d called her on her cell phone so many times he’d lost count and had been relieved to know she’d made it to Boone’s Crossing safely. But when he’d hung up after their last conversation, he’d felt alone and empty, as though a lifeline to her had been broken.

He hoped her visit to Amanda would help Nikki. She felt so much guilt for having asked her sister to act as a surrogate in the first place.

And he knew he needed to call Amanda himself to apologize for the horrible things he’d said to her before she’d left Colorado, running from demons of her own.

How could you be so stupid, Amanda? So irresponsible. Stopping on a dark highway like that, for God’s sake!

He hadn’t meant it. In the pain of losing his baby girl, he’d lashed out at everyone. The fact that Amanda had pulled over to offer her cell phone to Caitlin Kramer—stranded on the side of a mountain highway with a flat tire—was typical of Amanda’s generous and caring nature. She couldn’t have known what would happen. Dear Lord, it had taken him longer than it should have to realize the depth of Amanda’s suffering. Baby Anna had been hers as much as she’d been his and Nikki’s.

The thought instantly caused Cody’s self-imposed safety mechanism to kick in, the one that kicked in every time his thoughts veered too close to little Anna. The hurt was still too great, too fresh. Instead, he tunneled all his energy, his grief, into revenge. He’d find the scumbag responsible for tearing apart his family if it was the last thing he did, and see to it that the guy went to prison.

“Man, now I know you’re desperate.”

Cody looked up at the sound of his partner’s voice. Jordan Blake had been with the Deer Creek PD a year longer than Cody, his tenth anniversary around the corner. A beefy man with a deep voice, Jordan had a way of putting the fear of God into a suspect with nothing more than a sharp word or two. He’d cover your back with his life, and Cody couldn’t think of anyone he considered a better friend.

“Yeah, well, it beats going home to my remote control and a cranky police dog that only understands German.” The dog had been trained in non-English commands so that a perp couldn’t distract him.

Jordan perched on the corner of Cody’s desk, his dark eyes sober. “You know the invitation to stay at my place is still open. You can even bring Max. I think I’ve finally figured out what kind of dog biscuits he really likes.”

Cody laughed, then shook his head. “That I doubt, but thanks.”

Jordan sat there a minute, as though fishing for something more to say. Apparently, he came up empty. “I’m out of here,” he said, standing. He gave Cody’s shoulder an affectionate cuff. “Don’t stay too long, cowboy. Go home and take a ride. You know what they say…nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.”

Cody nodded. “I might just do that.” The horses could always use a workout, and riding usually helped clear his head and bring things into perspective. Only this time, he was afraid there were no answers.

A short time later, he made his way to the parking lot. The sun beat down on the blacktop, the evening temperature still hovering high enough to make him glad his squad car had air-conditioning. He strode toward where it was parked off to one side of the building. And did a double take.

A boy who looked to be perhaps ten or eleven crouched in front of the car, a can of spray paint clutched in his hand, and as Cody watched, he reached up to finish the job he’d already started. Red initials—DH—big enough to read even from this distance, spread across the hood of Cody’s squad car as the kid’s finger depressed the button on the paint can.

“Hey!” Cody sprang forward. “What the hell are you doing!”

The boy’s eyes widened as he cast a hurried look over his shoulder. Then he ran. Thin as a whip, he wasn’t very tall, but the kid could move. He sprinted from the parking lot and into a field of unmowed grass behind the police station. The mountainous, rural area that surrounded Deer Creek offered plenty of places for a boy to hide. If Cody didn’t catch the kid quickly, he’d be out of sight and long gone.

The boy sped on like a downhill train. He ditched the paint can in a clump of bushes and vaulted over a six-foot chain-link fence at the end of the field as if it were nothing. Berating himself for spending a lot less time at the gym lately than he should have, Cody kept after him. He clambered over the fence but, as he hit the ground, the toe of his shoe caught in a tangle of deep grass, and down he went.

His knee slammed into a rock hard enough to bring a string of creative curses to his lips. With a grunt, Cody scrambled to his feet, feeling like an idiot, hoping the kid hadn’t seen him fall. Even madder than he’d been moments before, he took off again, trying to ignore the fresh shot of pain through his knee. Great. He gave chase as the boy zigzagged through the quiet neighborhood, down a side street.

“I’m warning you, halt!” Cody shouted. Or what? He couldn’t exactly draw his gun on a kid who’d been armed with nothing more than an aerosol can. The boy cast a glance back at him, but made no move to slow down. He wore baggy jeans that exposed colorful boxer shorts, and Cody couldn’t see how he could possibly run without his pants falling around his ankles. Shaggy hair stuck out from under a black ballcap, bill tilted at an angle, and a yellow basketball jersey with the number twelve bunched above his skinny hips.

Cody swerved, taking a shortcut across the front lawn of Old Man Parker’s place—a retired Navy admiral well-known for his dislike of children. The kid was already headed toward the backyard, ready to rocket over the fence, where he could cut across the alley and likely lose Cody by ducking through the next yard, then on into the sagebrush of the surrounding countryside. Cody’s heart flew to his throat, knowing what was on the other side of Parker’s fence.

Luckily, the enormous Doberman pinscher hit the chain-link before the boy did. Teeth bared, the dog barked in a way that said he meant business. The boy skidded to a halt and turned to run the other way, too late. Cody caught him by the arm and spun him around. “Hold it right there!” Fuming, out of breath, he glared at the child.

For a moment, Cody saw fear flicker behind the boy’s brown eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by defiance. The kid squirmed in his grasp. “Let go of me, man.”

“What the hell were you doing—spray-painting my squad car?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Breathing rapidly, the boy shrugged from Cody’s grasp and tried to bolt again.

Cody caught hold of him, simultaneously reaching for his handcuffs. “Oh, really? I suppose that red paint on your hands got there by itself.” He snapped the cuffs on the kid’s scrawny wrists.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing, dude?” The kid squirmed and twisted, tossing a fiery look of resentment over his shoulder.

“That’s Officer Somers to you, and I’m placing you under arrest.”

Panic snaked across the boy’s features before hiding behind a defiant mask once more. “You can’t arrest me. I didn’t do nothin’.”

“Tell it to the judge.” With a not-so-gentle push, Cody set the boy walking, back toward the station.

The kid cursed loudly and vehemently.

From the yard, Parker’s Dobie barked with renewed fervor, and the old man jerked his door open to see what the commotion was about. “Everything’s under control, Admiral Parker,” Cody said. He hurried the kid away before Parker could utter a word. Given the choice between facing the dog or facing the old man, Cody would’ve chosen the Doberman.