“I wanted to know what happened to you and your mother after Rooster died.” Fitzgibbon folded his hands in front of himself, as if he were about to deliver a book report.
“Oh, well, that’s easy. All you needed to do was ask. We sold our house and moved in with my grandparents who treated my mom and me like shit. Then she married an asshole who couldn’t give two fucks about me and made my mother cry nearly every day. End of story.” Cannonball looked as if he were becoming emotional himself.
Fitz nodded. “I read all of that, but there are some details you left out or don’t know about.”
“How so?” Cannonball asked, sounding interested in what Fitz had to say.
“I assume you know there’s a fine for going over the falls on purpose?”
Cannonball nodded. “It’s about twenty-five grand, if memory serves.”
“That’s right,” Fitz agreed. “Did you know that your mother was forced to pay that fine after your father died?”
“What?” Cannonball’s mouth hung open. “I didn’t know that.”
“She was also sent bills from the search and rescue teams who looked for your father after the accident.”
“No,” Cannonball shook his head. “That can’t be right. They can’t charge you for services they perform in the line of duty.”
“They can, and they did,” Ronan said, picking up the story. “Do you have a permit for this stunt?” he asked.
Jude couldn’t help but think if the answer was no, they could simply have the cops show up and arrest him before he could get into the barrel.
“Yeah, my management team worked something out. The U.S. said no, but the Canadians were willing to give it a go since the Horseshoe Falls are more survivable than the American.”
Okay, well that idea was out, Jude thought. If Cannonball didn’t have a permit, they could have called the police and had them pick him up at the spot he planned to launch the barrel into the Niagara River. “You spoke to my niece last night. The tiny psychic.”
Cannonball rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she’s cute, for a con man.”
Ronan snorted and started to laugh. Under any other circumstance, he would have most likely thrown a punch, but Ronan was surprisingly calm. “That cute little con man, as you call her, is trying to save your life. Same with Tennyson and Cope.”
“After breakfast this morning, we sat down with Everly and asked her to go through what she saw, step by step. Fitzgibbonquestioned her, Ronan took notes, and I asked follow up questions. When we were done, we printed it all out. We brought a copy for you.” Jude reached into his back pocket and pulled out the sealed envelope. He slid it across the table to Cannonball, who looked as if he wasn’t going to open it at first.
With a sigh, he tore open the envelope and started to read. He wore an annoyed look on his face until he flipped to the second page, where the shit got real. Everly had described, in detail, what was going to happen to Cannonball and the state in which his body would be recovered.
“This isn’t funny. Not funny at all.” Cannonball dropped the pages as if they were on fire.
The stuntman’s manager picked them up and began to read. Denbart gasped several times. He looked at Jude with a questioning look on his face. All Jude could do was nod.
“Look, I get that the idea of a six year old being able to see into the future sounds bananas. To be honest with you, when I first met Ten and Cope, I thought they were out of their minds. Over the years, I’ve seen things that you would never believe. I’ve been able to speak to both of my parents who’ve been gone for years. I’ve seen the white light and spoke to a spirit who died on theTitanic.” Jude shrugged when Cannonball’s mouth dropped open. “I know, crazy, right? The other thing I can tell you is that Everly is never wrong. She might have a hard time describing what she sees, but when she tells us something is going to happen, we listen, and act.”
“Which is why we’re here today,” Ronan continued. “I grew up without my father. I never realized how much that affected me until Everly was born. I felt totally unprepared and didn’t have anyone I could fall back on for advice.”
“The same thing happened to me when CJ was born. My father was gone and my stepfather was a piece of shit. Definitely not role model material. I think that might be part of the reason I kept going with my stunts. I wanted my son to see that I’d accomplished something. That I was worthy, I guess.”
Jude understood what Cannonball was saying. He’d spent a lot of years trying to prove himself to his father. “I hear you, but you can’t be a role model for your son if you’re dead.” Jude paused to let his words sink in. “Maybe you don’t believe a word we’ve said today, but show what we learned to the people who are in charge of the barrel and the course you plan to take on the river. There’s a chance that if you alter your trajectory or the time of day, you could change your fate.”
“Of course, there’s the very real chance that any change you make could be even worse than the outcome my daughter saw today.” Ronan got out of his seat and pushed his chair in. “You have my card. If you have questions or want to talk, we’re available day or night.”
Jude followed Ronan and Fitz toward the door.
“Has your tiny psychic spoken to my father?” Cannonball called after Ronan.
Ronan shook his head. “She and the others have been trying to find him, but they’ve had no luck so far.”
Cannonball’s chin sunk to his chest.
“Do you have anything that belonged to Rooster?” Jude asked.
