Cope knew Ten was talking about using Bertha Craig to make Rooster visible to his son. He wasn’t getting a feeling one way or the other if Rooster would appear, but if anyone could bring him to the table, it was Everly.
“Okay, so we have a plan.” Heidi looked completely worn out. “Let me know if you find out anything else.” She took out her phone and texted Ronan. “Now you have my number. Text anytime if you’ve got important information.” She stood up and headed for the door. “Thank you all and thank Everly. I might not get the chance to say it later, if her vision comes to pass.” With those words Heidi walked out of the room.
“Wow,” Ten said on a sigh. “I have never had a meeting like that with a client before. I don’t think I want do that again.”
“Same,” Cope agreed. “It’s bad enough for us to know what’s going to happen to Cannonball, but it’s so much worse to know how it will affect Heidi and CJ. There have been clients in the past that haven’t followed through with what I told them, but there’s never been this much at stake before.”
Jude reached for Cope’s hand. “Have you guys thought about how you’ll handle our little miss if the worst happens?”
Ten nodded. “There will be lots of hugs, I can tell you that. She’s never dealt with someone like Cannonball before. Usually she’s talking to spirits who need help. The worst has already happened to them. There aren’t any real consequences if the living person doesn’t listen to her or us. I hate to even think about it, but she might need a psychologist or someone in our line of work who can help her deal with what happens if Cannonball insists on going through with his stunt.”
Cope’s heart broke for Everly, Ten and Ronan. His heart was already broken for Heidi and CJ. What else could he possibly do to stop this tragedy before it happened?
At the moment, Cope was drawing a blank. He needed to come up with something and fast or three people’s lives were going to be irrevocably changed.
The clock was ticking.
12
Jude
The kids were excited beyond belief to go to the indoor water park, Jude was less so. Ordinarily, he would have been the life ofthe party, going on the water slides and making sure to hold each of the kids under the large bucket of water as it tipped over on their heads, but today, he couldn’t rouse the tiniest bit of joy.
“Come on, Daddy!” Wolf grabbed Jude’s hand and tugged him into the park.
Jude was instantly hit with a wave of heat and humidity. The smell of chorine assaulted his nostrils, making it hard to breathe for a few seconds. The temperature outside was in the low sixties, but it had to be at least twenty degrees warmer inside. He couldn’t imagine how much it cost to heat this place and buy enough chlorine for the gallons of kiddie pee that was added to water on a daily basis.
“Jude, are you okay?” Cope asked, after nearly running into his back.
“Yeah.” He smiled at his husband. “I’m okay. Let’s go get wet!”
“Yay!” Wolf cheered. “Look, there’s CJ and Cannonball.” Wolf yanked his hand away from Jude and ran toward his new friend.
Jude noticed father and son laughing together. Heidi was nowhere to be seen.
“Don’t you wish making friends was that easy?” Cope asked, as they followed behind Wolf to a couple of open lounge chairs near CJ and Cannonball.
“I wish it was that easy to trust people.” Jude didn’t have trouble making cursory friends, people to say hi to in passing and grab a drink with, but the problem came with taking the next step to deepen the friendship. Jude didn’t trust people easily, which had played to his detriment for most of his life.
Cope nodded and set Lizbet down. She instantly toddled off, running behind Wolf and CJ toward the stairs to the tallestwaterslide. She let out a howl when Jude grabbed her from behind to keep her from climbing the stairs to the slide.
“Let’s watch Wolfie and then we’ll try it. Okay?” Lizbet looked at him like she thought he was the worst father on the planet. He’d have to do something to turn her attitude around.
“Dada!” Lizbet pointed to Wolf and CJ. Her bottom lip wobbled.
“Here they come! Let’s watch.” Jude pointed to the slide.
Seconds later, Wolf flew out of the lower tube. CJ followed behind him. Both boys were laughing as they climbed out of the water.
“Was it scary?” Jude asked when Wolf ran to him.
Wolf shook his head. “There’s lots of colors. LizzyB will love it.”
“Come on, Woofie. Let’s do it again!” CJ grabbed Wolf’s hand and together they headed off for the stairs.
“Me!” Lizbet said in a demanding tone.
“Okay, little girl. We’ll go.” Jude headed back to Cope, so he could take off the baby’s tiny robe.
