I See You

Chapter Twenty-Three

The call came in of a building on fire with possible dead bodies out in Fischer DW part of NOLA and Cody saw red. There was no fucking way they'd missed her for the second time. Surely the universe wouldn't be that cruel.

Hank glanced at him. His eyes narrowed. The guy hadn't said a single word since they'd left Emma's house. Cody's best guess was his partner was either in shock or trying to figure out what the hell he'd just witnessed. He glanced at Hank and frowned.

"You intend to respond to that call?"

Hank lifted Cody's radio hand mic and replied. "Officers en route, ETA ten, over." He placed it back where Cody always lay it and sat back quietly.

Cody took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's hear it," he gave Hank a quick side glance. "I need my partner to have my back right now. I don't know what we're driving into considering. I don't need to have to worry you're going to put a bullet in my fucking back too."

"No, Cody." Hank shook his head. "You don't need to worry about that. But once this is all settled, me and you, we're going to have a conversation."

"Done. Now can you pull my shotgun shells from the compartment under the seat? I don't know what kind of firepower we're walking into."

Hank pulled the black case from the floor as they neared the block that signaled the beginning of one of the worst crime ridden parts of New Orleans.

"How'd you figure out where Carol had taken the girl?"

Cody's lips tightened as he drove through traffic aggressively trying to make his way closer to where he prayed Carol would've taken her. Otherwise they might never find her. The sense of urgency in his chest grew as the time passed. "The pictures on the drive were in this neighborhood. The Reeves brothers had a drug house in the area. I figured it was as good a place as any to start."

Hank nodded slowly. "Makes sense. Good catch."

"Thanks," he murmured when a moment later the smoke could be seen overhead.

"Damn big fire," Hank muttered, pulling the shotgun down from the holder in the back window. Hank slowly laid the gun aside. "Don't think we'll need this."

Cody nodded, dread filling him as the building came into view. "Holy fu—" he stopped himself when he spotted the two people laying on the ground outside. One he would clearly see that one of the forms was Carol, the other was a male, Dalton Reeves unless he missed his guess. 

Where the fuck was Emma?

Surely she wasn't in the building?

Cody was out and running before he even realized it. Thankfully Hank was out right behind him as they ran toward the small house that was on fire. The firefighters were already in place and beginning to battle the blaze.

Cody shouted to the nearby firefighter. "The building has been cleared? We're looking for a missing female."

The firefighter shook his head. "Been cleared of any people. Just a building to save," he said and then hurried away to continue on with his work.

"Okay," Hank nodded and clamped Cody's shoulder. "You got her? I'll check him. Remember Cody, we need them alive," he reiterated calmly.

"Yeah," Cody replied as they both approached the bodies.

There was a strange sense of urgency as he knelt down and felt for a pulse. It was slow and faint but there. He rolled her over and spotted the huge gaping gunshot wound in her chest. "Fuck," he mutter as he tapped her cheek, "Wake up Carol. Where's Emma?"