“Wine? Getting fancy.”
Cody leans down and kisses me. “Anything for you. Still like Reubens?”
Warmth spreads in my chest. “You remembered?”
“How could I forget something that offensive? Sauerkraut on a sandwich? Gross.” He grins. “I’ll meet you back here in five.” He stands and practically runs away to dodge the pillow I throw at him. His laughter follows him into the kitchen.
By the time I get there, he’s calling for delivery. There are three bottles of wine on the counter. I open one and fill two glasses. When I turn to hand him his, Cody’s gone. I walk into the living room, surprised he’s not there. I set the glasses on the coffee table and walk toward the office.
“Yeah, I hope to be done with Joseph by the end of the week,” I hear Cody say.
I can’t blame him for that; Joseph is a pain in anyone’s ass.
“Afghanistan? How long will I be there?”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
I know Cody travels for his security work, but I didn’t realize he would leave the country or go somewhere so dangerous. I guess I didn’t really ask.
“A month? Yeah, I can do that.”
My stomach drops. A month? He just agreed to be gone for a month like it was nothing? A wave of nausea swoops over me, and I run to the bathroom. Once I lock the door, I splash my face with cold water.
I don’t understand. The idea of leaving him for one month makes me feel physically ill, but when asked to do the same, he sounded like it was no big deal. Shit. I’ve gotten too attached. Okay, deep breath. There must be more to this than I know. I’ll just act normal and let him tell me what is going on.
By the time I dry my face and step out of the bathroom, Cody is sitting on the couch.
“Dinner should be here in about twenty minutes,” he says. “Want to start the movie? I picked out one I know you’ll love.” He winks.
“Sure.” I sit down and take a healthy sip of wine. “Is it okay that you’re here?”
He frowns. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you need to look for Joseph?”
“Rover is tracking down the car he drove off in. We got the license plate. Until then, there isn’t much we can do. You can’t protect someone who ran away. Besides, I’m happy to be here with you tonight.”
Thinking of him tracking Joseph down reminds me of something he said earlier. “You mentioned you were at the police station for a while. Did something more happen?”
I feel him tense next to me. “Yes. I wasn’t going to say anything until after dinner, but Randy, your student, was found dead.”
What? How can that be? I may think he’s a punk, but he seems popular. I turn to face Cody. “Dead? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
He rubs his eyes. “He was found in Joseph’s garage. The medical examiner determined he died of smoke inhalation, but there was evidence that something hit him in the back of the head.”
“But the fire was Saturday. Has he been dead since then? How would the detective not have known that?”
Cody cocks his head. “What detective?”
I tell him about Detective Beyers coming to my class on Monday.
His mouth drops open. “And you are just now telling me this?”
“Sorry, I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
