Chapter 11

“This one or this one?” Cody held up two child size swimming suits, one pink with a design of yellow rubber ducks and the other light blue with a yellow peplum. Becky looked at one suit and then the other, shook her head and made a face. “Pumpkin, you can’t go to the beach in your jammies.” Pushing out her bottom lip, Becky crossed her arms defiantly across her chest and stared straight ahead.

“How about a bikini? Like your Aunty Dakota?” Cody turned to see Sidney holding up what looked like some macramé in one hand a bright blue and white polka dot child size bikini with frills and bows on it. Becky clapped. Cody shook her head but couldn’t stop herself from smiling. It was the first sign she’d seen since they’d left the house in the middle of the night that Becky hadn’t entirely disappeared back into her shell. “Here ya go squirt, go put it on,” Sid handed Becky the hanger and gave the little girl an affectionate pat on the head before sending her in the direction of the changing rooms. Cody watched her golden hair bounce as she skipped away, bear in one hand and brand new swimsuit in the other.

“You’re so good with her,” she sent him a grateful smile, which he answered by waving the teensie weensie bikini in front of her.

“She’s easy to please. Me, on the other hand, I think I’ve been called high maintenance. But I believe I can be appeased....” Cody fingered the ropey fabric doubtfully and raised her eyebrow at him.

“You weren’t very easily appeased this morning,” she reminded him, shifting from one foot to the other to ease the ache between her legs. He hadn’t lied when he’d whispered that she wouldn’t be able to walk for days.

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” he whispered, holding the bikini up in front of her and giving her a long, appraising look. “In fact I think what you said was ‘yes please more, more’,” he added in a hushed tone, his lips almost gently brushing her cheek. Cody grinned and then ducked her head. The woman at the cash register was giving them that look, like they were a pair of young lovers on honeymoon and she thought they were adorable.

“Stop it,” she hissed at him, giving him a playful shove.

“Then go put this on and I’ll go put on a pair of board shorts and we’ll go sit on the beach, in public so that all I can do is look,” he grinned in a way that she assumed was supposed to be lecherous but only turned out to be sweet and a little comical. “Oh yeah, I’ll look. Yeah,” he added, giving her another long look, “I am gonna look.”

“Okay, you need to go away and you need to stop that...,” she said pointing to his mouth, which she really wanted to kiss. His grin just grew. “Oh god, okay, I’ll put it on just to torture you,” she snorted, grabbing the hanger out of his hand and stomping off towards the changing room. “How you doin’ in there short stuff?” 

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Sid pulled Dakota’s phone out of his back pocket as he browsed the rack of board shorts. It had been vibrating like crazy for the last five minutes. It was Max.

“Fucking finally dude” he breathed, ducking out of the store and into the bright sunshine.

“Well I’ve been trying to get near the place but it’s crawling with les gendarmes mon ami. What have you got yourself into?” Sid sighed and nodded his head. Of course it was. Someone would have heard the shot and reported it.

“She’s got a jealous ex, that’s all,” Sid lied, though he wasn’t sure why. Dakota could be on wanted posters all over Pittsburgh by now. Not that any of the guys would know who she was....

“Okay, I get that but there’s a serious CSI situation going on here. There’s guys in black suits talking into their sleeves and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a few guys going in their wearing plastic booties over their shoes. Seriously mon ami, where are you and what in the hell is going on? And who’s this Cody?” Sid ground his teeth together. He’d considered just calling from the phone in the room, but then her phone had just been sitting there on the table and it seemed a safer bet. Sid considered telling his friend everything. After all, he was the one who’d asked Max to go into a crime scene and find his phone and get all of them some clothes. Things could be replaced, Dakota and Becky could not. It just wasn’t worth the risk.

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about,” Sid mumbled quietly. His phone was the only thing he had really wanted to retrieve and not for the phone numbers on it though he hoped the other guys would understand if their numbers got out. It was just that they’d know he had been there and he knew that he was far easier to track than the girls were. “Look, could you wire me some money?” The credit cards would have to go. He probably hadn’t carried cash for years but....

“Money? Mon ami, have you hit your head again? Your bank account could swallow mine and not even notice,” Max laughed but Sid knew that the disparity in their pay cheques wasn’t something that his friend and teammate held against him.

“I know it’s just...well, we left in a hurry. I don’t have anything on me.” His wallet had been in his jeans, which was a good thing but it wouldn’t take long for them to start tracking the withdrawals on his account and then....

“I know you’re good for it, and if not, I know where Taylor is. I’m sure your mom and dad would pay a hefty ransom, non?” Sid laughed. Troy would tear Max limb from limb, slowly and methodically, if the cocky Frenchman so much as looked sideways at his daughter, never mind kidnap her. He couldn’t even imagine the carnage his father would unleash if Max ever so much as laid a single finger on daddy’s little girl. “Where do I send this loan to and how much do you need?” Sid opened his mouth but shut it again. How much did it cost to live in a four star hotel in the Bahamas? He’d always just handed over the plastic and then shoved the bill somewhere in his bag without looking at it.

“A grand or...or maybe two?” he asked, cringing. It sounded like a lot but it might not even be enough....

“I know how you like to eat mon ami, je vais le faire un même trios. But do me a favour, if you need more, call Flower, he makes more, d’accord?” Sid chuckled and turned back into the store.

“I’ll text you the address of the hotel but, do me a favour Talbo, keep it to yourself. So no tweeting that I’m on vacation or something,” he instructed, doing his best to sound imposing and threatening. Not that, even with his very best captain’s ‘I mean business’ glare, Max ever really took him seriously.

“Parole de scouts,” Max laughed and then there was silence on the other end of the line.

Sidney sighed. He understood a little of what Dakota had to be feeling about dragging him into this situation but he considered it their situation now and not just hers. At least he had confidence his friends could take care of themselves.

“You coming out of there?” he called to the dressing room.

“Not until you get me a beach towel and some kind of cover up to put over this thing.” Dakota called back.

“Then let me come in and see,” he called back, smiling. He caught the clerk giving him that look that said he’d better not get any ideas about doing anything in the changing room. Too late, he already did.

“No way, it’s been a long winter. I look like a ghost!” she called back.

“You’ll come out wontcha squirt?” he called, knocking on the door of the other dressing room. There was no reply. Not that that was unusual. Becky didn’t talk much. “C’mon short stuff. The sooner you and your Aunt come out of there the sooner we can build a giant sand castle.”

Sid walked over to a display of sunglasses and picked out a pair of round blue plastic child’s size sunglasses that would match Becky’s bikini. He was looking for a pair for Dakota when he felt her body press against his back. He closed his eyes and counted to ten and thought about the funk from Jordan’s gym shoes.

“Hide me,” she giggled, wrapping her arms around his middle. He put the glasses down and reached back to find bare thigh and bare rib cage. He smiled.

“Let me see,” he started to turn around but she only reached up to cover his eyes.

“No, I’m hideous,” she insisted.

“Not possible,” he growled back. “I’ve seen you without a bikini remember,” he told her, letting his hand find the yarn like fabric of the bikini bottom and began exploring the knots at her hips with his fingers. 

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“Sidney!” she danced away, giving his still denim clad ass a firm smack. She did her best to cover what seemed like miles of bare skin in comparison to what her usual racing suit covered, but as soon as he’d turned around, his hands were peeling hers’ away and his eyes were roaming over her body with that greedy, appraising look. The smile his full mouth curled into said he liked what he saw.

“Every guy on the beach is going to envy me,” he whispered hoarsely.

“They all do already,” she corrected him, turning to grab a colourful beach sheet off of a pile near the register and began wrapping herself up in it. “Come on Becks! We’ve got to get a shovel and pail and flip flops and...,” she turned to the clerk who was standing behind the register. “Do you know where we can get those?” The woman began to write something down and Sidney walked over to listen to the direction while Cody tugged the door of the changing room open to retrieve the clothes she’d been wearing. For a brief moment she considered asking the clerk to throw them out. But then she remembered the way Sidney had looked at her when she’d put them on and balled them up in her hands instead, making a mental note that when they bought some actual clothes to get some skinny jeans. “Becks do you need some help in there? Want me to tie a knot?” Pulling the door open she’d expected to find her niece with a look of consternation on her face, her little lips puckered, her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to tie the halter top but instead, the change room was empty.

Cody looked around the little room, as if she expected her to appear in a corner somehow, as if her pyjamas that were lying on the wood floor would somehow reanimate and fill with her little body. She even ran her hand along the bench against the back wall of the changing room as a sense of panic made her pulse jump and her breath catch in her throat. Picking up her onesie pj’s Cody held them to her chest and backed out of the changing room.

“Sid,” she called him quietly, still staring at the empty space in front of her. “Sidney!” she called a little louder, her voice, her hands shaking.

“What is...,” his voice trailed away as he stared at the same empty stall. “Shit,” he cursed. She turned to him and saw the same panic in his eyes. ‘No’, she said to herself, ‘she’s supposed to be with you. You’re supposed to be my rock.’ She didn’t say it out loud. She blamed herself first. Becky was her responsibility. Hers’.  “I was gone for a minute...a minute,” he repeated, looking around the store and then back at her, earnest and concerned.

“You...you left?” Now she was going to blame him. She trusted him. He was going to look after them, both of them. How could he have left them?

“One minute. I was outside the door,” he explained. “No one could have got past me. There wasn’t anyone around.”

“Why?” she asked, blinking rapidly as tears began to fill her eyes.

“I had to make a call,” he growled, turning away from her and scanning the store again. “Did you see her? The little girl, blonde hair,” he began, looking over at the clerk who smiled and nodded, pointing at a display on the far wall that included an aquarium full of exotic fish. Becky was standing in front of it, in the polka dot bikini, thumb in her mouth, her teddy bear in one hand, dragging on the floor at her feet as she stared up at the fish. Cody felt Sid’s hand curl around hers’ and they both stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths, letting the panic fade. Blinking away her tears she looked up at him and found him looking down at her apologetically. “I won’t do that again,” he promised and she nodded, accepting his apology and giving him a silent one of her own. “Go get her. I’ll pay for this stuff.”

Cody nodded again and then weaved her way through the clothing racks until she was right behind her niece. Running her hands through her golden curls, Cody let the relief ease the tension in every muscle of her body. The idea that someone might have walked in and just taken her.... ‘Now you’re getting paranoid’, she told herself firmly. ‘No one knows you’re here. You’re safe. Safe’.

“You shouldn’t wander off pumpkin,” she said softly, going down to one knee so she could press her lips to the soft, warm cheek of the little girl she never believed she could love so much. “You kinda scared me. If you want to look at something, what do you do?” she asked. The little girl turned a pair of very serious blue eyes on her and smiled.

“But pretty fishies,” she said and pointed up at the aquarium bubbling away. Cody nodded.

“I know baby girl, but you come get me and we’ll both look at the fish, okay? Or Sidney, you can get Sidney too,” she added with a quick look over her shoulder. He was just putting his credit card back in his wallet. “You like him right?” She suddenly needed reassurance that it was okay to be with him too, that the little girl trusted both of them. Becky nodded her head without looking away from the fish tank. “That’s good.”

“What’s good?” she heard him ask and then watched him do the same thing, run his fingers through Becky’s wheat coloured hair as if to reassure himself that she was real and safe.

“Fishies!” Becky shouted enthusiastically and then turned to him, arms out to be lifted. Sid laughed and swung her up in the air before turning her around to face the tank.

“So you like fish squirt? I bet there’s some fish out in the ocean. Wanna go swimming with me?” Becky’s eyes were huge as she nodded silently at him. “Okay, let’s go.” 

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“Bigger!” Becky demanded as Sid added another formed pail of sand to the sandcastle that was now almost as tall as he was.

“Bigger?” he asked, staring at the at least five foot tower of sand. “I don’t know....”

“Bigger!” she demanded again, but this time she crossed her chubby little arms across her chest and her bottom lip jutted out as she stomped her bare feet in the sand.

“Big mistake,” Dakota laughed from her view point on a towel not too far away. She shook her head at him as he held one of the colourful plastic buckets out towards her. “Nope, you said you’d help her, I never did. I said I’d be right here, reading,” she reminded him, holding up one of those bodice ripper dime store novels they stick by the check stand at grocery stores. They’d bought fruit and crackers, juice and water to bring with them. She’d bought magazines, sun block and that book.

“Bigger!” Becky demanded again and, with a sigh, Sid got to his knees and began to fill the bucket again, patting the sand down with the little plastic trowel to make it stick together.

“Sucker,” Dakota laughed but when Sidney looked over, the expression in her eyes was far from disparaging. In fact, besides gratitude he thought he could see the same emotion that he’d been wanting to give voice too since he’d held her in his arms in the shower, her body leaning back against his, fitting with his. He was falling for her, big time, and he was pretty sure she felt the same way. It certainly helped that Becky had him wound tight around her little finger.

“You should come help,” he called to her, eyeing a bucket full of water he’d pulled out of the sea a few minutes earlier.

“Get sand in this bathing suit? Let me think. Mmmm no thanks,” she smirked and went back to reading. Sid held one finger up to his mouth and winked at Becky who promptly covered her mouth with both hands and even then barely held back the squeal that seemed to leak through her fingers.

Sid crept quietly towards her, his bare feet making no noise on the packed sand. Standing over her with the bucket, he debated his actions, but only for a moment before tipping the sun warmed water over her and then he turned, dropped the bucket and sprinted for the water, only pausing to pick Becky up in his arms to use as a human shield.

He heard Dakota scream and then he heard her hot on his heels as he splashed into the oncoming waves. Laughing, he held Becky out towards her and ducked his head behind the little girl’s squirming body.

“You wouldn’t hurt her,” he called out, backing deeper into the water.

“You’re right,” Dakota called back and then there was silence. Sid peered around Becky and Dakota was gone.

“What the fu...? Hey!” His shorts were around his ankles and Becky was laughing hysterically as Dakota surfaced right in the circle of his arms and took the squirming bundle out of his hands. “Too easy Crosby, too easy,” she grinned at him as he tried to pull up his shorts, feeling his cheeks burning as he looked around, expecting iPhones to be snapping away everywhere he looked. Fortunately, though the beach was fairly packed, no one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

“I’ll get you back,” he promised and Dakota just grinned back at him. “What do you think squirt? Should Aunt Cody get a spanking?” Becky nodded enthusiastically, of course and Sid grinned treacherously at Dakota who began to shake her head and back away.

“Noooo, you wouldn’t,” she breathed, not looking nearly as cocky as she had a moment ago.

“Do you think I would Becks?” he asked and she clapped and nodded and kicked her feet.

“Spankies! Spankies!” she shouted.

“You little rug rat! You’re supposed to be on my side,” Dakota cried as the little girl squirmed to get free.

“Put her down Dakota and take your lumps like a good girl,” he growled playfully while Dakota continued to shake her head and back away. Sid spotted the wave coming in, the wake from a passing boat, and knew that she didn’t see it. He held his ground and let the water do the work. Dakota stumbled as the wave hit them and Sid snatched Becky out of the water, putting her under one arm while he grabbed Dakota with the other and dragged her, kicking and cursing him, up to the beach. He dropped her on the towel and put Becky down and then kneeled on the sand beside her. She went to get up to her knees but a firm hand on the centre of her back kept her down and so she turned and gave him an evil glare.

“You wouldn’t,” she insisted again, but Sid only smiled down at her and then tugged one of the knots loose on the hip of her bikini bottoms. “Hey!” she squeaked and reached to stop him, but his reflexes were faster and curvaceous bottom was already bare and his other hand already falling towards it.

The sound of his hand meeting her tender bare skin echoed loudly across the beach as did her squeal of protest. Her reflexes were nothing to be sneezed at either as she got to her feet, grabbing the towel to wrap around her waist and grabbing her bikini bottoms out of the sand.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she snapped, her pretty cheeks blazing in the sun.

“Even?” he asked and she nodded, her bottom lip jutting out reminding him of her niece who was now looking at both of them like she was expecting a fight. “Good,” he said quietly, getting to his feet. He put his hands on both sides of her face and looked at her soft lips, her round cheeks and the freckles that the sun was bringing out. He had to fight the urge to say the words that immediately sprang to his lips. “Now will you help with the sand castle?” he asked quietly instead, touching his lips to hers’ in a brief, gentle kiss.

“I guess,” she mumbled against his mouth and he felt her arms go around his waist and her body press against his. He kissed her again, a little more firmly this time and then felt another body, a smaller one, press against his legs, and when they both looked down, Becky was hugging their legs and grinning up at them both.

“Bigger!”