A to Z Challenge: C is for CODIE

posted in: Book Excerpts, Various Musings | 30

For the A-to-Z April Blogging Challenge, I am writing a story, aiming for at least 1000 words a day (Sundays off!).  This is part 1 in the beginnings of a story about one Codie Snow.  I hope you enjoy, and please be sure to tune in tomorrow for the next part!  Remember, this is completely unrevised and (mostly) unedited and will likely change quite a bit before publication…but I thought you might enjoy a glimpse into my writing process.

Codie Snow chomped on the ragged thumbnail that had been bothering her the better part of an hour. She was on a ride-along with five-year veteran cop Pete Olson, the former star quarterback from her hometown high school.

A guy she’d dated in high school.

That hadn’t stopped him from pursuing her once in a while since—when he was without female companionship—but Codie’s on-again, off-again boyfriend put the stop to a good many advances from Pete. Right now, she and Slade Stewart, said boyfriend, were once more off-again, and she was considering Pete.

She could see him approaching the glass door from inside Dalton’s one and only McDonald’s, with a paperboard tray in hand, two cups of nuclear hot coffee coming right up. He also had a brown paper bag. He hadn’t mentioned food.

Codie would have spent the last five minutes on her phone, either checking out her Instagram or Facebook or even just taking a selfie in the squad car, but Pete had told her no phones. They weren’t allowed on ride-alongs.

“Why?” Codie had asked, even while she’d been handing it over to the desk lady.

Because, Codie,” he said in a firm voice, but his dimples belied the seriousness of it all, “if something serious happens, something you shouldn’t be privy to, I can’t have you spreading it all over the internet before we’ve had a chance to do our jobs.”

“But you have dashcams, don’t you?”

He’d raised his eyebrows in mock irritation. “Yeah, our dashcams. Look, do you wanna go on the ride-along or not?”

She’d reluctantly handed over her phone, but Pete had been right. She’d been wanting to do this for a while. Now that she was a quarter of a century old, it was time to get serious about her life. No more messing around. No more waiting for something cool to happen to her. She needed to take her fate into her own hands and make it happen.

Codie had never thought she had a thing for men in uniforms—after all, her biggest crushes were rock stars: guitarists, frontmen, drummers, bassists. It really didn’t matter. If they played hard rock, they were tucked away in the fantasy part of her brain. She’d actually talked Slade into going to a Godsmack concert once—and he’d almost enjoyed himself.

No, that wasn’t true. He’d enjoyed the blowjob in his Maserati before heading to the Marriott that night.

But lately Slade was being his usual prick self, and Codie was enjoying looking at the overly macho guy in the blue uniform. Sure, Slade looked amazing, whether he was in one of his expensive courtroom suits or in his workout clothes, but she was mad at him right now. That’s where Pete came in.

And she suspected his body looked very much like Slade’s underneath the blue. She hadn’t seen Pete with his clothes off since she’d been a junior in high school and they’d dated. She’d been in the color guard—a step below cheerleaders and the dance squad on the jock dating totem pole, but still quite acceptable. She was a year younger than Pete, also quite acceptable and even smiled upon. It was a weird school, probably because there was only one high school in all of Dalton (not counting the online school for kids who needed an alternative), and they were locked in on all sides by agriculture, a small Colorado town on the prairie, one hour away from both Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Kids either went into the family business or stuck around because it was all they knew—but even more kids bailed the second they graduated high school. Well, that wasn’t completely true. Thanks to the community college housed there and the correctional facility in a town farther east, a good many kids stayed and kept the town thriving.

Codie had struggled with the thought of leaving more than once, though, and she had only three reasons for staying. The first was her family. She’d initially stayed behind to help her grandma until the woman’s death, and she’d remained because of her mom and dad. She’d been living with them and stayed with them while attending classes at the community college. She’d thought she was in love with Slade and moved in with him, only to move out again the first time he’d pissed her off. Now she lived with her best friend Matthew and dated Slade when they were on good terms.

And they were the second and third reasons why she stayed in that damned podunk town—Slade (sometimes) and Matthew (always). If Matthew decided to move to Colorado Springs tomorrow (something they considered off and on), she’d go with him in a second.

“Can you grab that?” Pete asked, handing her the tray with the two coffees.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” she said, leaning over to take it out of his hand.

He grinned that disarming smile of his, emphasizing his drop-dead gorgeous dimples. She didn’t know if it was okay for cops to sport stubble, but Pete looked good when he did. He had light brown hair with green eyes to match—and those eyes had a twinkle in them that seemed to say, “I know all the bad things you’ve done. Question is if I approve of them or not.” Seeing him in that uniform that hid all the ripples and valleys his rock hard muscles created in his flesh made her wonder if he’d be worth another go.Codie Snow-C

She’d lost her virginity to him all those years ago and didn’t remember him being a particularly memorable lover.

But she thought she might want to find out.

She wondered if he’d mind using his handcuffs on her.

“One of them’s for you,” he said, closing the door.

“Thanks.”

“Caffeine’s okay, right?”

Codie stifled a giggle. “Um, yeah. It should be illegal to serve coffee without it.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more.” He pulled open the bag. “You still like cherry pie?”

Oh…with its evilly decadent sweet crust and wicked flavoring. All that shit was bad for her. Then again, Pete probably was too. “Yeah. Why not?”

“Why not? A girl after my own heart.” He handed her a hot rectangular box and asked, “Mind putting two packets of sugar and a couple of those creamers in my coffee?”

“Sure.” She doctored his java while he turned on the car and began backing out. His radio that seemed to have a constant white noise pouring out of it and voices that seemed to want to be anywhere but where they were started blabbering again. Codie wondered how he could identify which calls were for him and which he could ignore, but she had to admit that, deep down, she was impressed.

She’d gone on the ride-along to see if maybe being in law enforcement would be something she’d be interested in, because the medical field certainly was not, but so far, tonight had been dullsville. Pete had pulled over two speeders and had broken up an “altercation” between two high school kids. After that, he’d gone to a convenience store to take a report about a shoplifter—and the store’s camera hadn’t been working. The remainder of the time they’d spent on patrol, driving around town struggling to make small talk. She had no idea as she stirred Pete’s coffee cup before handing it over to him that all that was about to change, though—in a huge way.

More tomorrow!  You might also be interested in reading these posts that explain what these shenanigans are all about:

A is for Accepting the Challenge
B is for Blurb

30 Responses

  1. LaDonna Pigg

    Okay, I am addicted. ? Ironically enough, Cowie and I already seem to have a big in common. Perhaps against my better judgment, I always go for the rockstar type, and in my late teens and early 20’s I was very interested in late enforcement. After doing my mentorship with the Juvenile Justice facility, and my internship with the Albuquerque police department in high school, I went on to major in criminal justice in college. If only I could have left the rockstar fetish behind, who knows where I might be today – not that I’m really complaining about how things turned out. It was a bit surreal to read this first snippet though (and yes, I did a few ride alongs in my internship days, and actually have a few stories from them.)

    Anyway, my very lengthy way of saying great start and I am finally getting really excited about your project. The blog a letter a day caught my attention as soon as I read about it, and though it was too late to officially join, it got me writing a bit myself lastnight, if only for therapeutic reasons. Now I am starting to see how you could use the platform for a story, and I am so in for the entire ride!

    • Jade

      Ohhh…that’s so cool, LaDonna. I’ve never been on a ride-along. I bet that was quite surreal for you. “Get out of my head!” LOL I’m so glad you’re feeling a fire to write as well. I need to check out your blog!!!

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