Wayward: A Cadence Phoenix Novel Page 3

  “Are we done?”

  “Yeah, we’re done,” Tommy replied. He hefted his backpack and walked away, still favoring his wounded stomach. “Freak.”

  Tyler finished stuffing his locker and retrieved his pack. “You didn’t have to hit him.”

  Cadence opened her own locker, with its picture of her at the end of Cadence Road and collection of comic books. “Yeah, I did. Tommy is a jerk, Tyler, you don’t have to put up with his crap.”

  She stuffed what she affectionately called her ‘gaming crap’ into her backpack and hefted it over her shoulder.

  “Now everyone is going to think I’m a wuss,” Tyler replied, slamming his locker shut.

  Cadence looked at him. He looked angry and scared, like she’d bruised his masculinity or something.

  “No, they won’t,” she said. “Tommy is a bully and a jerk, everyone with half a brain knows it. Nobody will think less of you because I hit him. Tommy bothers me as much as anyone.”

  Nikki put her arms around both their shoulders. “Besides, would you rather CJ let Tommy wipe the floor with you? Come on, lighten up, guys, it’s Christmas!”

  She kissed both their cheeks and the trio wandered down the hallway into the snow. Buses were pulling out of the lot, heading down the mountain toward the town of Lobo, home to four thousand souls. It was snowing, not a heavy storm but enough that the street was covered, as were the cars in the lot behind the school. Cadence stopped beside the blue 1966 Mustang Phoenix had given her and unlocked the driver door. She propped the back seat up for Tyler, then slid across and opened the passenger door for Nikki, who dropped into the passenger seat with a happy sigh and rested her foot against the dashboard.

  “I can’t wait to get home and put some music on,” she said.

  Cadence started the engine and closed her own door. “What you call music isn’t music.”

  Nikki feigned being affronted. “Michael is the King−”

  “Of crap,” Tyler and Cadence said in unison.

  “You’re both just jealous,” Nikki grumbled. Her smile said she was teasing as much as they were.

  Cadence backed the Mustang out of the spot then guided it down the hill after the buses. They had left enough ruts behind that the car glided smoothly along the road, the powerful V8 keeping it at a steady thirty miles an hour with a gentle touch on the throttle. She loved the car, though she’d only had it a few weeks. Phoenix had rebuilt it himself, intending to use it as his daily driver. But he’d given it to her as an early Christmas present instead and bought himself a new project. She didn’t know if she’d ever celebrated Christmas before, it didn’t feel like she had, but if so, this was by far the best present she’d ever received.

  Tyler lived at the far end of town in what he called a cabin and everyone else called a mansion. In Tyler’s defense, it was made from rough hewn logs, at least on the outside, but there any resemblance to a cabin ended. The house had six bedrooms, a walk-out basement where he held his D and D games, an indoor hot tub and a living room big enough for a party of fifty. Tyler had it to himself most days, his mother had passed away when he was young and his father traveled for work two weeks out of three. Tyler lived on grocery delivery, pizza delivery and the occasional Chinese take-out from the restaurant in town.

  She dropped him off then headed toward the other end of town, where she and Nikki lived. Their houses were on the same street, only a few blocks from each other. They’d met on the school bus on Cadence’s first day and became more or less a couple just a few weeks later. If love at first sight was a thing, this was it. Until that moment, Cadence hadn’t even thought about her sexuality. She’d told Phoenix about Nikki and he’d shrugged and said, “whatever makes you happy, kiddo” and that was it. He was an amazing father.

  “You okay, Ceej?” Nikki asked.

  Cadence glanced at her. “Huh? Oh, yeah, just thinking. I don’t like snow much, driving in it sucks.”

  Nikki slid onto the center hump between the seats and put her hand on Cadence’s leg. “Would this help?”

  “Only if you want me to wrap Bluie around a tree,” Cadence replied with a grin.

  She was uneasy though, and she didn’t think it was just the snow. There was a feeling she got sometimes, a sense that someone was watching her. It didn’t happen often, but she felt it now, like an itching in the back of her skull. Danger was coming, she was certain of it, she just didn’t know from where.

  She parked the Mustang in her driveway and slid out into the snow. Phoenix’s cruiser was in the drive with the engine still ticking from its climb up this side of the valley and a hood covered with melting snow. He’d just gotten home, probably for a meal before heading back on patrol. Nights like this, the whole force pulled a double.

  Nikki joined her and they entered through the garage door into the house she’d shared with Phoenix since the week she’d gotten out of the hospital. It wasn’t much, a three bedroom bungalow with a small basement and a two car garage they used to keep their cars running. His 1972 Challenger filled the bay at the moment, its front end on jack stands. They’d been changing the front shocks when Phoenix had been called away on overtime, so the repairs had gone unfinished.

  Cadence paused in the small galley kitchen to grab a handful of grapes from the bowl on the counter while Nikki tossed her backpack onto the sofa and flopped down beside it with her legs over the back. Like the rest of the house, the living room was small, with a grey leather sofa, pink and beige spatter-print chair and a wide-screen television that Cadence had bought Phoenix for Christmas with the money she earned playing guitar at the local coffee shop. It wasn’t much, a floor model someone had returned, but it was better than the old nineteen inch RCA he’d had.

  “I’m going to check on Phoe, want to crack open the books? I need to update Katana, she just hit seventh level,” Cadence said around a grape.

  Nikki rolled over and snatched a thick grey-covered book off the coffee table. “Sure. Demetria went up a level too. We can do a little game junk then head over to my place for the movie?”

  “Yup.”

  Cadence tossed a grape in her direction then proceeded down the narrow hallway to the bedrooms. Hers was small and more feminine than she would have liked, with pink walls, flowered trim and a four poster bed big enough for the Bobbsey Twins. She’d added posters of Madonna, Def Leppard and anything else she could pick up at the small record store in town to cut down on the pink. Phoenix had gone overboard when he’d found out he was being granted custody, and Cadence couldn’t stand to disappoint him. She’d like to think her birth father had been just like him.

  She dropped her school things off on the bed then knocked on the door to his room. “Dad, you in there?”

  “Out in a sec, kiddo, just getting a fresh uniform,” Phoenix replied.

  Cadence leaned against the wall to wait. She could hear the storm whistling against the window at the end of the hall and she turned to leaned against the wall to watch the snow. Phoenix opened the door a moment later, still tucking in his uniform shirt.

  “What’s up, Ceej? How was school?”

  “Hey, dad. It was good, just another day,” Cadence replied. “Whatcha doin’ home?”

  “I spilled a cup of coffee on myself and just picked up a new homicide,” Phoenix replied.

  His face hardened and he squeezed Cadence’s shoulder. “Someone killed Dr. Lee early this morning.”

  Cadence blinked in surprise. “Dr. Lee? How? Why?”

  Dr. Lee was the first face she’d seen when she woke up in the hospital. He was a kind, middle-aged man who had become her counselor and friend. His loss felt like a yawning pit in her stomach, a pit filled with butterflies.

  “Why is part of the investigation,” Phoenix said. “How is easier, a single bullet to the head.”

  Cadence shook her head and
let Phoenix hug her around the shoulders.

  “I’m sorry, CJ. I know he was a friend. Do you need anything?” He asked.

  She wanted to say yes, that she needed someone to tell her everything was going to be okay, that she needed a big hug and a hot chocolate to chase away the monsters. But she shook her head again.

  “I’m okay, dad. I just… I can’t believe he’s gone,” she said.

  Nikki entered the hallway, tears in her eyes. She joined the hug, pressing herself into Cadence’s back. “I overheard. I’m sorry, Ceej.”

  Phoenix hugged both of them and Cadence could feel his love. The big man had an even bigger heart and he’d accepted them as his family, no questions asked.

  “I’m sorry,” he echoed.

  The hug ended a moment after it became uncomfortable and Cadence wiped the tears from her eyes. “It’s okay, dad. Just find who did it and be careful.”

  “You know I will,” Phoenix replied.

  He hugged Nikki, then put his hat on and walked for the door. He paused to grab his jacket and looked back. “You girls be careful if you go out. Jerry told me you were watching a movie tonight, have fun.”

  He smiled again and disappeared out the door.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Nikki asked when he was gone.

  Cadence kissed her cheek. “Yeah, I’m okay. Let’s fix our characters, then I’ll order some pizza for your dad’s place and we’ll go watch the movie.”

  “Okay, sweets. I got our sheets out, come help me pick a new spell,” Nikki replied.

  They adjourned to the living room where Nikki had spread their game books and character sheets across the table. Two neat piles of polyhedral dice sat in the middle, ready to roll hit-points, spells and the random items Tyler let them roll every level. It was almost normal, after learning that Dr. Lee had been shot. This was Lobo, New Mexico, a small town in the middle of nowhere, not the big city. The last murder in the area had been in 1927, they’d learned in a local history class. Now Dr. Lee had been shot? She knew that she was no stranger to death, even if she couldn’t remember it, and his death made her feel cold inside.

  She pushed the feeling away and dropped onto the sofa, pencil in hand. Updating her character would clear her head, then pizza and a movie. The night could only get better.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The snow had stopped by the time Cadence and Nikki finished updating their characters and the neighborhood had lit up with Christmas lights and holiday cheer. Cadence suggested they walk the few blocks to Nikki’s house and enjoy the winter wonderland together. Nikki’d agreed without hesitation and they walked hand in hand along the side of the street, bundled in their jackets and hats.

  They were halfway to Nikki’s house when the hair on Cadence’s neck and arms began to tingle. She slowed, scanning the shadows around them for any hint of danger. She didn’t see anything, just Old Man Hanes shoveling snow and Mrs. Davis hollering for her boys to come in and eat. It was just an ordinary evening two weeks before Christmas in small-town America. But she felt like she was about to enter combat.

  Nikki pulled on her arm. “You’re doing it again.”

  Cadence glanced at her then looked back at the shadows between the houses. “Doing what?”

  “That thing where you tense up and look like you’re about to punch someone. What’s up? spidey-sense tingling?” Nikki asked.

  Cadence wanted to say yes because she was certain if spidey-sense was a thing, it felt like this. Her skin was extra sensitive, her senses were strained and the world had gotten a shade lighter, as if her eyes were adjusting to what light was available.

  Instead, she turned back to Nikki and kissed her forehead. “I’m good, just thought I heard something. Come on, if we don’t get there soon, sure as hell the delivery guy will take the pizza back.”

  Nikki snuggled into her side. “That wouldn’t be the end of the world, dad is always buying stuff for the new microwave. Did you know you could nuke milkshakes?”

  “How do you microwave a milkshake? Doesn’t it melt all over the place?” Cadence asked.

  “That’s why it’s magic,” Nikki replied, referring to the bright red boxes in the freezer.

  Nikki’s house was near the corner, with a view of the four way intersection that led into town or further up the mountain. The single stop light was flashing red, casting shadows on the fresh snow that filled the intersection. What caught Cadence’s attention, however, was the shadow lurking beneath the electric pole at the corner. The shape was familiar, as if she knew the man who was standing there and just couldn’t place it.

  “Who’s that guy?”

  Nikki looked where she was indicating. “Who?”

  Cadence frowned. “The guy under the lights.”

  Nikki looked again then spun and pulled Cadence toward her house. “You need food, baby girl, you’re seeing things. Let’s get some pepperoni in you.”

  “Because that didn’t sound pervy at all,” Cadence said with a giggle

  She let herself be pulled up the sidewalk to the small white house that was almost identical to her own, save that the doors and faux shutters were a strange burgundy color that no one should put on a house, ever. The interior was different, however. Nikki’s dad, Jerry, was obsessed with wood paneling. He’d done the living room in light brown matched with beige carpet and a sofa in a soft brown that was just a hair darker than the floor. It was like walking into a chocolate milkshake. The only save for the room was the big screen television he’d won in some kind of raffle. It had taken four people to wrestle into place, with its built in stereo speakers and rear projection screen, all enclosed in a cabinet of wood just as fake as the paneling on the walls.

  The kitchen was the same sort of anti-style, with white counters, beige appliances and wax fruit set amidst ceramic chickens along the walls. It wasn’t so much ugly as inexplicable. Jerry’s sense of style was why Nikki preferred to stay anywhere but home. Her bedroom was the sole exception to the creeping beige that filled the rest of the house. Like Cadence’s room, it was pink, with a variety of pop idol posters, a stereo with speakers so big they could be heard up the street and a four poster bed fit for a princess, so long as that princess liked strawberries. They were everywhere, from the dust ruffle to the pillows. If the living area was a chocolate milkshake, Nikki’s bedroom was strawberry.

  Cadence followed Nikki into the kitchen, where she hopped onto the counter while Nikki took two red boxes out of the freezer and set them in the microwave.

  “Milkshakes for the movie. I’ve got corn, too, if you want,” she said.

  Cadence shook her head. “We’ve got pizza, the shakes are fine. Why in the microwave, though?”

  Nikki grinned, flashing her dimples. “I told you, it’s magic.”

  “You watch too much television,” Cadence said.

  “Not like there’s anything else to do here,” Nikki said, stepping closer and craning her neck for a kiss. Cadence lowered her head and kissed her, a gentle brush of her lips, before whispering “I’m not going to say ‘you could do me’. I’m just not.”

  Nikki wrapped her arms around Cadence and hugged her tight. “But you just did. Tyler’s head would explode if he heard you.”

  “Tyler’s cool, I don’t think we faze him at all,” Cadence said.

  “Nah, he’s a good guy. I’m glad you two are friends,” Nikki replied.

  Cadence kissed the top of her head. “He’s your friend too, Niks.”

  “I know, but he’s more your friend. You just click with everyone, you know?” Nikki said.

  “Not everyone,” Cadence replied, thinking of Tommy and the other boys she’d run into since coming to Lobo. She’d developed a reputation for fighting before she even gotten through the first week. She couldn’t abide bullies, they made her see red and she just had t
o take them down a peg. She’d been told that some of the bullies were mean because they had problems at home or elsewhere, but that shouldn’t matter. Having a bad day or week wasn’t an excuse to make someone else miserable.

  The microwave beeped and Nikki scooted over to retrieve the microwaved milkshakes. She poked straws into each of them and handed one to Cadence, who looked at it suspiciously.

  “Really?”

  “Just try it,” Nikki replied, walking into the living room and sipping her own shake.

  Cadence took a hesitant sip and found it wasn’t half bad. It was slightly too sweet, but otherwise no worse than the soft-serve milkshakes they got at Charlie’s before it closed for the winter. Soft serve ice-cream was another one of those oddities she didn’t think she’d ever had before now.

  She followed Nikki into the living room, where the video was just beginning. She flopped onto the sofa and curled up to watch, with Nikki at her side. She wanted it to be a happy moment, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong. After a few minutes, she calmed down and snuggled into Nikki’s side, content.

  ***

  The movie ended with a crescendo and Cadence felt as if she should be applauding or something. She’d been to a few movies since waking up in that car, but nothing like this. She felt both elated and sad that the film was over. She also felt an urgent call of nature. She kissed Nikki’s cheek then hurried down the hallway to the bathroom, which was baby diarrhea green instead of beige, with weird frog-shaped soaps on the back of the toilet.

  When she was finished she bent over the sink to wash up. She was turning to dry her hands when a shape appeared in front of her. It was human, but black, like a shadow moving of its own accord. She stepped back in surprise and almost called out, but something made her pause. Again, the shape looked familiar, almost comforting. She concentrated on the image and reached out with one hand. It felt cold and her fingers passed through it like it was smoke. When she pulled her hand back, the shape solidified into the form of Dr. Lee. He was dressed in the regular brown suit he wore for office visits, but his glasses were askew and there was a neat hole in the middle of his forehead with a single drop of blood descending toward his nose.