Page 46 of Covert Affair

“He’s dead?” I ask.

“Yes, ma’am. Someone will reach out to you with more information and to go over everything once we know more about the situation.”

“I…I’m not sure what to say.” Mixed emotions wash over me.

Taylor gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“I can provide a phone number to the person handling everything, if you don’t hear from them by the end of today, you can call them, if you’d like.”

“Yes, sure.”

Taylor is quick to pull out his phone and open up his notes app to record the name and number of the person I should be hearing from.

As quick as the phone call came in, it’s over and the line goes dead.

“He’s gone.” I repeat.

“I’m sorry. Why don’t you have a seat? I’ll get you a glass of water,” Taylor offers.

“I…I should probably call Cody, right? No. Maybe not. It’s too late, or early. Oh God, Waylon’s gone.” A hysterical laugh escapes and then the tears start falling. “Everything this fucker’s done to me. All the charges he was up against and he’s dead. Just like that.”

Taylor seems to ignore my emotional outburst. “One of us should probably call Cody. He’d want to know regardless of what time it is.”

“He’s here, right? Like, back in town?” I ask.

Taylor shakes his head. “He’s been back in town for a few days, yeah.”

“I think I’d rather you take me there, if you don’t mind.” The pull to be near Cody is unexplainable and may make me a horrible person. I’ve just been told my husband is dead and all I can think is that I need to see the one person who somehow manages to make things more bearable. The same person I’ve been avoiding for the last few weeks just to keep the rumors at bay.

“I’ll take you. Give me a few minutes to change and throw some water on my face, then I’ll be ready.”

While Taylor gets ready, I walk back to my room and do the same. We meet up in the entryway a few minutes later.

I was so sure that I wanted to be near Cody but as I walk up the steps to his apartment over top the commercial storefront, I’m questioning if this is a good idea. What if he has someone over right now? I’m the one who put him in the friend zone, and for good reason. So maybe he is seeing someone else. And that would make me the intruder.

Before I can knock on the door, it opens and Cody greets me with a sleepy look on his face. “Stace.”

“Hi. Uh. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course,” he stands back, making room for me to brush past him. “Where’s Taylor?”

“Right here,” Taylor calls out from the bottom of the steps, where he’s poking his head around the corner. “If it’s okay, I thought I’d let you two talk, in private.”

“I’ve got her from here,” Cody replies.

“I’m gonna head back then, maybe get some more sleep. I’ll check in later?”

“Sounds good.”

“Thank you, Taylor,” I call out before Cody shuts the door.

When the door clicks shut, I look up at Cody. I’m completely unsure of what to do now that I’m here.

“Everything okay?” he asks.

“Yes. No. I…the prison called.”

He stiffens. “When?”

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