“Bertha!” Ten gasped. “You can’t say that. Rooster is his father, for better or worse.”
“Not true, Tenny. Cannonball doesn’t need a so-called man like him in his life. Look around you, young man. You’ve only known these people for two days, have been a colossal dick yourself, and they’re still trying to save you. This is what a real family lookslike. I sure to hell hope that some of this is penetrating that thick skull of yours.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Cannonball reached for his wife’s hand. “We’ve got a lot of talking to do. Would you keep CJ for a bit so we can have some privacy?”
Jude nodded. “Text me when you want him dropped off and I’ll bring him to you.”
“Thanks, Jude. It was nice to meet you, Bertha. I’m really sorry about what I said to Everly. She’s a special young lady.”
“Damn straight she is. Now go and let your wife help you figure out how not to be a dumbass.”
“I can’t believe that asshole,” Jude said, when he returned from walking Heidi and Cannonball out of their room.
“Which one, there’s been a ton today, you’ll need to be more specific.” Ronan laughed at himself.
“Rooster, for a start. His personality sure explains a lot. If he can treat his son like this the night before his possible death, I can’t imagine what he was like to live with.”
“He was a monster to his family,” Bertha said. “Cannonball’s mom filled me in on a lot of the details. She did what she could to protect her son from his father, but somehow or other, Carl decided to take after his father, rather than his mother.”
“Do you think seeing his father helped change his mind about going through with the stunt?” Fitzgibbon asked.
Cope shook his head. “If anything, it’s made Cannonball more determined to do go over the falls.”
“I can’t believe it.” Ronan sighed. “He just found out his wife is pregnant with twins and he’s still going through with it. I will never understand that as long as I live.”
“Oh, no?” Ten asked, raising a quizzical brow. “I remember a certain cocky detective, who, two weeks before he was supposed to make a donation to inseminate our surrogate, was out running an off the books investigation that got him suspended and then punched by Fitzgibbon.”
Fitz snorted. “Happy days.”
“Yeah, you were that asshole, Ronan,” Jude said.
“You’ve got no room to talk!” Ten turned to Jude. “You were right in the thick of things, working by Ronan’s side. Face it, you all understand where Cannonball is coming from.” Ten’s dark eyes traveled from Ronan, to Jude, to Fitz. “Christ, you’ve taken nine bullets between you. If it were me, one would have been enough! But, no, you all strapped on your Kevlar and went back for more.”
“You’re right, Ten,” Jude agreed. “Maybe that’s why we’ve been trying so hard to talk Cannonball out of doing this crazy thing. All three of us have done things in the line of duty that were reckless and dangerous. I remember how scared you were when Ronan was working that Salem Witches case. I also remember how scared I was when Fitz got shot in front of me. All I can say about the three of us is that we do what we do to help people. To keep our city safe. Cannonball is only out for himself and his legacy. There’s nothing altruistic about this stunt.”
“What’s he going to do, Ten?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“I still see him going over the falls.”
“Cope?”
“Me too,” Cope agreed. He knew Everly had seen Cannonball surviving with the help of the Coast Guard, but that sure as hell wouldn’t be enough for him to try to survive the falls. He’d never been much of an outdoorsy kind of guy, forget being a daredevil. Never in his life had he done something for the adrenaline rush it would give him. The one thing Cope did understand was wanting to stick it to his father. Buford had been crushed, then angry, that his only son didn’t want to follow in his exalted footsteps. Nothing Cope could have done would have made his father proud of him. He and Cannonball had that in common. While Cope had focused his life on building a family, Cannonball concentrated on trying to out do his father. Cope got it, he truly did, but didn’t understand why Cannonball had to go so far as to risk death.
In Cope’s mind, a happy, well-lived life was his way of showing up his father. Buford had never been happy. Not with his money or his mistresses. Cope knew his father would never understand being fulfilled by his husband and kids. More to the point, he didn’t care what Buford thought. The real tragedy here would have been allowing his father to continue to control his life from beyond the grave like Cannonball was doing.
Cope wished he’d thought to say that to the stunt man. He’d said all he could say to convince Cannonball to walk away. Cope could only hope the daredevil decided to live for his family, rather than dying for his father.
18
Jude
Sunday dawned bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. He kept an eye on his phone throughout the morning, but hadn’t gotten any messages from either Heidi or Cannonball. He was going out of his mind not knowing if the ride over the falls was on or off.
Jude had finally gotten a text from Cannonball around half past eleven. It was simply a selfie he’d shot with three Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Cannonball flashing a thumbs up. He knew in that moment the stunt was still on.
Thanks to Everly’s vision seeing Cannonball survive the falls, Heidi decided that she and CJ would attend the stunt. The television crews filming the event made room for them to stand at the railing on the edge of the Horseshoe Falls, opposite from the side of the falls Cannonball’s barrel would plummet from. She’d asked Jude, Ronan and Fitz to stay with her, just in case. Everly and Wolf wanted to be there too, with Aurora preferring to stay at the hotel with Nana Kaye, Lizbet, and Ezra.
After some serious negotiations on Jude and Ronan’s parts, Everly and Wolf were allowed to attend the stunt as well. Both kids argued that they wanted to be there for CJ. Cope and Ten didn’t have the heart to deny them that. However, Jude and Ronan were under strict orders to get the kids away from the falls if something went wrong.
