“Can you read the letters?” Ronan asked.
“S-H-E-R-A-T-O-N,” Everly said.
“Is it green with lots of shiny windows?” Jude asked.
“Yup,” Everly agreed.
“That’s our hotel, the Sheraton Fallsview,” Jude said. “Any idea what room he’s in?”
Everly shook his head. “I can’t see that but he’s gonna answer questions and give a speech to his fans on Friday night.” She turned to Ronan, “Did I do good, Dad?”
“You sure did!” Ronan pressed a kiss to her cheek before she hopped off his lap.
“It seems like we’ve got luck on our side,” Cope said. “It’s going to be easier to find him than we thought.”
Jude felt the same way. He only hoped that they’d be able to talk some sense into the young man before it was too late.
3
Cope
The Forbes-Byrne luck held through the rest of the flight, with the kids and Ronan behaving perfectly, with no meltdowns. It continued onto the mini bus that Fitz had chartered to pick them up at the airport. The kids had been well-mannered and were happy to be on this new adventure. Cope had a feeling ithad to do with the bag of snacks Kaye brought with her. Every time Lizbet squawked, Kaye handed her a treat. Under any other circumstance Cope would have tried to soothe his daughter without food, but needs must.
When they reached the Rainbow Bridge leading from New York State into Canada, passports were handed forward to show the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Officer. Cope figured they’d be here for a while with eleven people on the bus, it was going to take a while to process all the IDs.
Handing the passports back to Ronan through the window of the bus, one officer waved them forward. The security gate opened and the bus drove onto the bridge.
“What the hell did you do, bribe CBP?” Fitzgibbon asked with a grin.
“Of course not.” Ronan lifted up the hem of his shirt to reveal his Salem Police badge. “Works every time!”
“Oh my God!” Kaye said. “Look at that.” She pointed out the left side windows to their uninterrupted view of the American and Canadian Falls.
“Wow! That’s so cool!” Ronan’s mouth hung open. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”
“What do you think, Wolfie?” Cope asked his son.
“That’s a lot of water, makes me have to pee!” The little boy announced.
Cope felt the same way, but kept that information to himself. He’d seen hundreds of pictures and videos of the falls while they’d been researching the trip, but seeing them in person was almost a religious experience. No wonder Kaye had taken thename of the Lord in vain, which wasn’t like her at all. “It’s incredible.”
“According to Google, 750,000 gallons per second flow over the falls,” Fitzgibbon said, sounding awed. “I can’t wait to do the boat ride to the falls.”
“Boat ride?” Aurora asked, sounding scared. “Won’t the boat go off the falls?”
“The boat go back and forth at the bottom, not the top. See the boats down there? All the people are dressed in red ponchos?” Fitzgibbon pointed out the window.
“Yeah,” Aurora said, looking mildly curious.
“The boat captain gets you close to the falls, so you can watch the water from a different perspective.”
“What are the ponchos for?” Aurora asked.
“’Cause you’re gonna get wet!” Wolf announced. “Let’s do it, Daddy.” He tapped Jude on the shoulder. “You’ll love it, Aurora. I’ll hold your hand if you get scared.”
The little girl didn’t look quite so sure. “Maybe.”
“We’ll be able to watch the boats from our hotel room. Then we can decide if we’re going to do it or not.” Fitzgibbon pointed to the large hotel in front of them. The mini bus turned right and seconds later, they were parked in front of the hotel.
