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Cody watched the waves hitting the boat and knocking against the dock. He could hear his brother and father talking in hushed, angered voices. He had more than proven himself over time, but they still treated him like a kid. Not really a kid exactly - that was never his father's way - but just not like them.
He knew that their meeting with the most recent client hadn't gone too well. They were taking the case - or Cody assumed since he was left out of the current discussion - but his gut told him that something was going on. His father appeared genuinely freaked out in a way Cody hadn't seen in years and Matt had gone into full-on big-brother protective mode. His gut was telling him something was definitely up. For a second, he worried that maybe it was his mom, but he had talked to her the other day...she was fine. And Matt had recently talked to their friends back home, so it wasn't any of them.
"Still confused about how a boat stays afloat after all this time, Cody?"
Cody rolled his eyes and glared at his brother. He motioned to where their father was on the phone and asked, "What's going on?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me."
"Nothing to tell. Dad doesn't want to take the case and I agree with him."
"And why was I left out of the loop?"
"You weren't. I just told you that we're not taking the case."
"You're a jerk."
"Cody, trust me, okay? There are some things you don't want to know."
"Because I'm a kid?" Cody met his brother's gaze and took his silence as answer enough. "Sometimes I hate being the youngest."
"It's not that great of a picnic being the oldest either, Cody."
"Fine."
"Fine? Really?"
"It doesn't matter and I'm tired."
Matt rolled his eyes and said, "The possible client was some hot shot lawyer whose eighteen-year-old son was tortured and then hacked into little pieces. The cops ran out of leads and labeled it a cold case, so now this guy wants Dad to take the case."
"Oh," Cody paused, trying to hide the frustration and tension that had been running not only through him, but his family since the bank robbery. He met Matt's gaze and said, "I get it, but-"
"-we're not taking the case."
"That's stupid."
"That's not our call to make."
"If this is about me, I'm fine. Dad's the best out there and someone should find whoever did something like that."
Matt glanced back to the cabin of the boat before replying, "I tried to tell him that, but he's not exactly logical when it comes to you and me."
Cody nodded. Most people didn't get that about their dad. They saw the hard-as-nails man standing in front of them. They didn't know the things that Cody did about their father - the look he got when his eyes wandered to the mountains in the distance or how, sometimes, the only thing holding him together were him and Matt. Cody also knew there was no way in hell his father would listen to him about taking this case, especially not so soon after his near miss with a psychopath.
"You being quiet is never a good sign. It usually means trouble," Matt replied.
"Like I said - I'm tired. I'm going to bed and you need to get him to take the case."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Make it happen, Matt. It might be good for him."
Matt nodded. "Night Cody."
Cody raised his hand in a goodnight wave and went into the boat. He forced a smile in his father's direction, who was still on the phone, and made his way below deck to his makeshift room. He knew his dad worried about the decisions he had made for Cody as a kid and even more concerned recently about Cody's future. Cody wished he could make his dad see that he liked helping people, wanted to follow in his father and brother's footsteps. Besides, if there was ever any proof that there were no guarantees, it was that the son of some wealthy guy had been brutally killed. There were no rules that life felt it had to follow - he could stay far away from cases that hit close to home and get hit by a bus. There was no good reason not to help this guy, to keep helping people.
Now he had to think up a good argument to convince his father.