The Fighter Within. B. Cochrane Clark

      Chapter 2

      “What do you have for us today, Rachel?” Detective Cody Jackson asked Sergeant Rachel Jamison of the Helena Police Department, the officer in charge of the crime scene, as he and his partner Dustin Andrews made their way past the crime scene tape.

      “Hey, Cody. Two vics, looks like husband and wife Paul and Maxine Gray. Maxine, age twenty-five, and Paul, age thirty-one. Her purse is there on the counter next to his wallet where we were able to get their IDs. Maxine is there in the kitchen, and Paul is in the hallway. She was shot twice, once in the stomach and the other in the chest. Mr. Gray was shot one time in the head. Looks as though he was coming down the hall, maybe he heard the first shots and was coming to see what was going on. Just speculation, but it’s a start.”

      “Did you find any signs of forced entry? Oh, and tell me the killer was super helpful and left the gun he used here for us,” Cody joked. He had to try and lighten things any way he could. In his line of work, the things he saw daily would drive him to the grave if he didn’t.

      “No such luck on the gun. The door was wide open when we got here. Which is why the neighbor Denise Feldberg called the police. She said she noticed it open first thing this morning when she went outside to grab her newspaper. She had assumed at that point that Mr. Gray had forgotten something and had to run back inside. Miss Feldberg said she had gone back in her house, read her paper, ate her breakfast, and showered before she came back down. When she peered out the window, she noticed that Mr. Gray’s car was still in the driveway and the door was still open. He usually left for work by seven thirty a.m. She said it just didn’t feel right, so she called 911 to have someone come and check on them. Nine-one-one operators got the call at nine fifteen a.m.”

      “Have you spoken to any of the other neighbors? Did anyone hear or see anything?” Cody questioned as he looked around the small but cozy home, noting to himself that it didn’t appear to be a robbery as nothing looked out of place or missing. Cream-colored walls were decorated with pictures of the couple in different places. They must have traveled a lot because there were pictures from Hollywood all the way to New York and a bunch in between.

      “We are still in the process of interviewing the neighbors. We will know more when all the interviews are finished up. Well, at least I hope we will. I also need to try and locate next of kin, so if you need anything else, give me a call. I’ll keep you posted on what we find out. Forensics is on their way and should be here anytime,” Sergeant Jamison informed Cody.

      “Sounds good. Thanks, Rachel.” Cody nodded at her as she left. “Andrews, why don’t you check and see what you can find in the bedrooms and I’ll start here in the kitchen and living room. See what we can come up with.”

      “Will do,” Andrews called over his shoulder as he headed to the back of the house.

      Cody started his search by carefully sifting through the small stack of mail next to Maxine’s purse and both victims’ wallets. He scoured the living room to see if anything was out of place: no go. Money and credit cards in both wallets, mail neatly stacked on the counter, and everything else placed in its spot on the counters. Maxine must be a little OCD, or Paul was, but this house was extremely clean. Not a dish out of place or in the sink; the counters were spotless, as were all the appliances. He headed for the living room to see if he could find anything there. After a half hour searching, he still had as much information as he had in the first five minutes.

      “I can’t find a damn thing out of place in this house. Do you find that odd or is it just me?” Andrews said as he returned from the back of the house.

      “Yeah, this house looks more like a model home than one someone lives in. Someone was sure a neat freak. Let’s head back to the station and see if any of the interview reports are back in. Maybe that will give us a place to start.”

      Walking into the precinct felt a little strange, but good. He had not been gone that long, but the last time he was on a case and back at his desk, he was with his old partner, Steve Daily. A pang of guilt cut through him and Cody had to brush it off quickly. This was not the time to fall apart. He had a job to do and people counted on him. If he didn’t keep his head in the game, he would end up in the same spot he had just gotten out of.

      “Hey, Jackson! How’s your shoulder and ribs doing? You kind of look like shit!” Detective Jane Kincade roused Cody.

      “Aw, thanks for the warm sentiments there, Kincade,” Cody teased back. He knew she was just messing with him, as they all did to each other. “My ribs still hurt like hell and my shoulder feels like someone put a point-forty-five bullet through it. Oh, wait someone did, I almost forgot. But seriously, they are getting better. I have a lot more movement in my shoulder than I did. Physical therapy, as big of a pain in the ass as it was, helped it out a lot.”

      “Good! It’s been really boring around here with no one to harass. I had to stoop to harassing Andrews, and with him being such a newbie, he is kind of a pansy.” Kincade giggled as she devilishly grinned at Andrews.

      “Hey, I can handle whatever you have to throw at me, I was just trying to spare your sensitive feelings by not giving you too much shit back. But now it’s on!” Andrews threw back at Kincade.

      “Bring it on!” She laughed as she headed off to her desk.

      Cody popped his head into Sergeant Kyle Roberts’s office “Sarge. Did HPD get those interviews over here yet?”

      “Yeah, they’re piled up on your desk, that is if you remember where it is. Damn big baby! Let a little thing like getting shot and a few bruised ribs keep you from doing your job. I thought you were tougher than that!” Sergeant Roberts had to get his jabs in along with the rest of them.

      “Well, you know, you don’t exactly let me take my vacation time, so I have to do what I have to do to get some downtime. Besides, that nurse was pretty cute. I almost faked another injury so she could keep nursing me back to health. But I missed you guys and all the love you share so much that I just couldn’t keep myself away. Shit, I was only gone three weeks, you act like it’s been months. I guess that just goes to show that you can’t live without me.”

      “Holy crap, it’s getting deep in here! Why don’t you get out of my office and get to work!”

      “Yes, sir, Sarge,” Cody hollered over his shoulder as he made his way to his desk. Across from his desk sat Andrews in the desk that used to be Detective Daily’s. That was going to take some getting used to. He and Daily had been partners since Cody was promoted to detective almost a year ago. The two of them closed more cases together than any of the other detectives in his precinct during that time, earning Cody only a short stay as the rookie. Now here he was with a rookie partner and he the lead detective. Cody hoped he could live up to the expectations of everyone he worked with, not to mention the victims and their families.

      “I’ll