The Fighter Within. B. Cochrane Clark
please just be straight with me and tell me what happened.”
Dr. Anderson looked almost pale as he tried to find the words. After all his time in the medical field, it was still never easy. “Sydney, when Helena PD arrived at the scene from the nine-one-one call, they found you unconscious with your clothes all ripped up. Your face had been slammed into something hard enough to break your nose and your cheekbone. It also appeared you had been raped. The rape test came back confirming that. You also had slight hypothermia from being out in the freezing cold with barely any clothes on.”
Sydney couldn’t believe that this conversation was happening, or that it was about her. No way! She looked to her mom in hopes she would say it wasn’t true, but the sadness and heartache she saw looking back at her was all she needed to confirm what the doctor had said.
She had been raped. Something inside of Sydney died at that very moment of realization. Tears welled up in her eyes as a much deeper pain set in. Her mother took her in her arms and held her, like she was a broken child. Who was she kidding, she was a broken child. Sydney couldn’t remember how long she cried and how long her mother held her for; she just remembered in that moment, that was the only place she wanted to be: in her mother’s arms.
“Sydney! Hello!” Tessa barked at her sister.
“What? I agree with Mom, the dress and the flowers, all great.”
“Are you okay? What’s with you? You were completely zoned out. We were trying to figure out where to eat brunch. Any suggestions?” Tessa stared at her sister with concern in her eyes.
“Right, brunch, sorry. I was just thinking about the Monrow job. Need to get it finished now that the test holes are done, and we have our permit.” Sydney flushed as she tried to look casual. But Tess and her mom had seen right through her; they knew her way too damn well and she knew it. She was so thankful that they both gave her what she needed at that moment and pretended to believe her.
“Let me get out of this dress and we will get out of here. I say that breakfast place downtown. Remember the one we went to last month? I can’t remember the name, but it was dang good.”
“Oh yeah, the Sunrise Café. That was really good, I’m in for there,” Sydney agreed.
“Sounds good to me. French toast with my two favorite girls in the whole world. That sounds like a great way to finish an amazing morning.”
Tess made a small squeal of excitement as she headed to the dressing room to change out of her dress.
“It has been a great day, and productive,” Sydney said. “Tess finally picked the rest of the floral arrangements and the dress. Now all we need to do is to meet up with the caterer early this afternoon. I wish you were going to be there with us, after all, you have the most culinary knowledge.”
“Culinary schooling eons ago doesn’t really count,” Evelyn stressed.
“You are also the best cook any of us know,” Sydney protested.
“Which means you have tasted the best and know what you are looking for,” Evelyn gloated. “I do wish I could be there, but your cousin Becky has a game tonight and I promised her and your Aunt Emily I would be there. I also have to get some things done beforehand. Our team is kicking butt so far this year. With any luck, they will make it to state.”
“That’s awesome! I will be sure to catch a couple of her games.”
“She would love that. She has always looked up to both you and Tess.”
“Who has?” Tessa said as she came out of the dressing room area.
Evelyn looked over her shoulder and smiled at her youngest. “We were just talking about your cousin Becky.”
“Oh yeah! She’s kicking ass this year!”
“Language!”
“Sorry, Mom, kicking butt.” Tess laughed at her mother for still correcting her for her language and at herself for still listening.
“You ladies ready to get out of here?” Evelyn asked her girls as she gathered up her purse. “I’m starving.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Both Sydney and Tessa answered in unison as all three of them headed out of the bridal shop.
“Mom, I’m going to ride with Sydney, if that’s okay. We will meet you at the Café. Does that work for you?”
“Sounds great. That way I can just head out to what I need to do when we are done. I’ll see you girls there.” Evelyn climbed into her SUV.
“Oh, Syd,” Tessa said, “I just talked to Jake. He and Cody will be able to meet up at the caterers! That’s such a relief. I really didn’t want to make the food decision without Jake. You’re going to love Cody, he’s funny and so sweet. Oh, and not to mention, pretty easy on the eyes…” Tess ginned and winked at Sydney.
“This is not a setup! I am not interested in dating anyone.” Sydney felt panic start to grip her chest at the thought of someone touching her.
“Whoa, calm down, I was just saying he’s cute, not that you need to make the man your husband.” Tess held her hands up in surrender as she defended her words.
“Sorry, Tess, I didn’t mean to bite your head off. Just want to be clear that this is not a matchmaking session.”
“It’s not, I promise, but you do need to play nice and maybe get to know him. He’s Jake’s best friend and I hope we all get to spend a lot of time together. I don’t want Jake losing his best friend time over me, and I sure as hell don’t want to lose my best friend time with my sis. So even if he looked like Uncle Fester, we would still all be hanging out together. It’s just a bonus for both of us that he’s more of a Captain America.” Tess smiled and winked at her sister.
“Captain America?” Sydney questioned as she rolled her eyes at Tessa’s analogy. “And you are getting married. You shouldn’t be looking at all.”
“Maybe not quite Captain America, but definitely on that end of the sexy scale. And I am getting married, not dying. I can still enjoy a good-looking specimen. Now let’s get out of here before I waste away to nothing.”
Chapter 4
Cody sat staring into his cold cup of coffee thinking about when had been a beat cop on the job for about two and a half years. He had been called to a bar where a woman was found in the parking lot beat up with her clothes ripped to pieces. He had taken care of her until the ambulance came to get her. The next day, he had gone to the hospital to see how she was doing and see if she was up for answering a few questions. According to the doctor, she had a broken nose, shattered cheekbone, and some broken ribs, but the doctor had said she would be all right after a good bit of healing time.
He had stepped into her room to ask her a few questions on the incident. Her rich brown eyes squinted through the swelling and the tears. She hadn’t seen the guy who’d done it. He had come from behind and covered her mouth, beat the crap out of her to the point she lost consciousness. She couldn’t recall much more than that.
As tears fell down her swollen face, he desperately wanted to reach out and comfort her. He wouldn’t, of course, but he couldn’t help being drawn to her for some reason. Those eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. They were filled with sadness and pain, yes, but underneath there was a burning fire.
As he was wrapping up, Detective Miller had come in. He had taken Cody’s statement and told him he would take it from there. Stepping out of the hospital room, he had been sure that he would never see the girl again. Over the next few weeks, he had checked in with the detective several times to see if there was a break in the case. Unfortunately, the DNA they had gotten from under her nails and the rape kit came up empty. Either this was the deadbeat’s first time or, more than likely, he had just never been caught.
The ringing of his cell phone brought Cody back to reality. Shit, where did that come from,