Page 20 of Code Violation

What had Nero Vik been doing out here?

Nick claimed Vik was in the clear, but Forrest wasn’t going to be quite so quick to accept his innocence. Surely, he could be the murderer. The question, Forrest supposed, would be why? What motivation might Nero Vik have to kill Ned Barker, someone he’d probably never known?

Maybe he had met him? Vik had been living at the resort for a month or so now, Forrest thought, and Ned delivered to most of the town.

For now, he would tentatively accept that Chief Dear was right, and someone else had offed the grizzled mail carrier. But he wasn’t letting his guard down around Vik, no matter how hot and bothered he made Forrest feel.

It had to have been someone strong, Forrest thought as he took in the murder scene. He’d been in his late sixties, but Ned had been healthy, strong, and in good shape. Maybe it had been someone he was familiar with. Weren’t most victims murdered by someone they knew? Of course, that would make most of the residents of Cooper Springs suspect; Ned Barker had always been friendly to everyone.

As he sat in his truck and mulled things over, a cop car pulled up behind him, its headlights illuminating the interior of the truck’s cab. Without having to check, Forrest knew the officer was his sister. As she got out and limped to the driver’s side of the Ford, Forrest rolled down his window. Lani had only recently been cleared to drive, and Forrest knew she wasn’t following doctor’s orders to take it easy.

Hands on her hips, Lani asked, “What the hell are you doing out here, Forrest? You’re as bad as everyone else in this town. I’m disgusted with every last one of you.”

“Busted. I was curious, I guess.”

“Well, take your curiosity elsewhere. I’ve had enough of everyone.”

Forrest would never say anything out loud, but Lani looked tired. When were the new hires going to be deemed fully ready?

“What happened, Lani?”

“You know I can’t tell you much.”

“What can you tell me?” He wasn’t admitting what Nick had already told him.

With a put-upon sigh, Lani crossed her arms over her chest and leaned one hip against the door of the truck.

“We don’t know, Forrest. He was discovered around noon. He had a head wound and his neck was broken. The coroner who came out said he probably died quickly, at least. It appears he was killed in the street and dragged into the bushes in an attempt to hide him, but there were no witnesses. At least, no one who has come forward to tell us anything. People were at work or wherever they go during the day.” She waved a hand. “I imagine some were over snooping around the fire scene instead of at home. That’s about all I can tell you—and it’s about all we know. Hopefully, something will come back from the autopsy or from what was collected around the scene. And don’t get huffy with Officer Cavanaugh, he did the best he could until the Chief and I arrived.”

Forrest wasn’t sure if he was glad or not that he’d been right about Lani not taking it easy.

“It’s hard to believe he’s gone,” Forrest said instead of scolding his sister.

Meeting his gaze, Lani released a soft sigh. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I guess I kind of thought Ned would always be around. Our world has always had those old coots in it, hasn’t it? I’m going to miss him.”

Straightening up away from his truck, Lani banged the door with the flat of her hand. “Now, get your ass out of here and go home. Seeing you out in the wild is disturbing. And leave Vik alone. I know you, Forrest, and as far as we’re concerned, he had nothing to do with Ned’s death.”

Forrest watched his sister slowly walk back to her cruiser before turning his vehicle around and heading back home. The rain that had been threatening all day began to pour down. Huge, fat drops that seemed to defy physics plummeted from the sky, spattering against his windshield.

* * *

Forrest hadn’t planned on stopping in town before he got home, especially not anywhere Nero Vik might have been—he was too worked up At least that was what he told himself. But when he ended up at the stop sign across the highway from the resort, a hundred feet or so in front of Nick’s penis glade, he noticed the lights in Cabin Five were blazing.

Sleep with the enemy.

The thump of his windshield wipers echoed the beat of his heart. Thump. Want. Thump. Want.

Rufus had literally dared him, so it’s not like Forrest had to take responsibility.

He could just drive over and knock on the door. Take the bull by the fucking horns. See if Vik could tell him anything about what had happened. Make Vik tell him. See if Vik smelled as good up close as he did from a few feet away.

Forrest veered into the lot, but just as he did so, Vik came outside and headed to his car. Where was that fucker going? Forrest gestured for him to wait, but the asshole got into his car and the white reverse lights flashed on.

Oh, hell to the no.

Forrest jerked his truck to a stop behind the Explorer so he was blocking Vik in. Who drove boring black cars like that anyway? People with no imagination, that’s who. People like Nero Vik, who stuck their noses where they didn’t belong. Who had wild hair and smelled good. People who had Forrest all twisted up even though they hadn’t exchanged much more than a few words over the last weeks.

Now what are you going to do, a little voice wanted to know.

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