“Not dead,” Everly said, with halting breaths. She wrapped her arms around Ronan’s neck and held on for a few minutes.
Cope could wait to hear what Everly had to say, even if it took all day. His heart broke for Everly and what she was seeing.
Everly sat back and used Ronan’s shirt to wipe her eyes. “It’s a lot of information. Like a movie rushing toward me on super fast-forward. I can hear voices and see images, but they’re too blurry to understand.”
“I’ve had that happen before,” Ten said. “Remember Justin Wilson?”
Cope had heard the name a time or two in the past. The young man had been a victim of a vicious serial killer that was targeting gay, homeless men in Boston. Ronan and Fitz had helped bring the killer to justice. They’d almost lost Fitz, Greeley, and Ronan in the process.
“Justin couldn’t use dead speak,” Ten said quickly. “His only means of communication was to show me a series of images, like Everly described. They came at me too fast to make sense of at first.”
“But you were able to sort it out?” Cope asked.
“I was, but keep in mind that I was an adult man at the time this happened. There were things Justin showed me that Everly wouldn’t have understood, references from movies and pop culture. If that’s the case, it might take us a little longer to muddle through what she saw.”
Cope reached a hand out to his niece. “Thank you so much for your help, honey. Is there anything at all you can tell me about Jude?”
Everly nodded. “He’s sorry for the argument. All he wants to do is come home. I don’t know where he is or if he’s hurt, but I know he’s scared and lost.”
“Lost as in he doesn’t know where he is?” Ronan asked. “Or lost as in he can’t live without Cope and the kids?”
“Doesn’t know where he is,” Everly said. “I’ll let you know if I get more information. I reached out to Mimi Bertha, but I haven’t heard back from her.”
“Jude can sometimes see Bertha,” Ten said. “That was very smart thinking. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” Everly looked even sadder now than when she’d walked into the kitchen, almost as if Ten’s words of praise hurt rather than helped his daughter. She walked to the fridge and grabbed juice pouches and headed back into the living room.
“Okay,” Fitz said, sounding every inch of the captain he was. “Everyone make a list of all of Jude’s favorite places. Where he likes to eat, or drink, or pick up men.” Fitz paused. “Sorry, Cope, but we can’t afford to leave any stone unturned.”
Cope nodded. He understood where Fitz was coming from. “We don’t have room for hurt feelings at the moment. That’s what gotus here in the first place. We’ll go wherever you think Jude might be.”
“Saddle up, we’re leaving in five minutes.” Fitz got up from the table and headed toward the bathroom.
Anxiety roiled through Cope’s body, making him feel almost sea sick. “I’ll find you, Jude. I promise.”
8
Jude
In addition to being as cold as ice, Jude was also starving. He had a feeling it must be the middle of the afternoon, at the very least. He’d only gulped down two small pancakes before he and Cope started fighting. He wished he’d kept his stupid piehole shut and just shoveled in more food. If Jude had done that, he wouldn’t be in this mess, locked in a cage by an unknown maniac.
That last thought stuck in Jude’s mind. Maybe the maniac wasn’t unknown after all. The person had used some kind of modifier, making it impossible to tell if the kidnapper was a man or a woman or if he recognized the voice. To be honest, he wouldn’trecognize Cope if he used that device. It was entirely possible he knew exactly who’d done this to him. Why else would the kidnapper use such a gadget? If he or she was a stranger, there would be no need to change their voice.
If he could figure out who had done this to him, he just might be able to figure out why.
The first people who came to mind were Jude’s family and friends. He knew Ronan and Fitz would never do anything like this to him. Ditto for Cisco. If it had been his friends, they wouldn’t have called him, “Mr. Byrne.” They would have called him an asshole, douche canoe, or something else along that vein. The joke would have been up quickly and most definitely wouldn’t have been this elaborate. The kidnapper wasn’t family or close friends.
Jude thought back to what had been going on at work. He and the others had just solved the Rebekah Hannigan murder, which had gone unsolved for the last fifteen years. Maybe one of the detectives who’d work the case over the last decade and a half was pissed that Jude waltzed in, solved the case, and got all the credit. He thought he’d mentioned the hard work of the Salem PD when he was speaking to the media, but wasn’t a hundred percent sure. His brain was still muzzy from whatever the kidnapper had injected him with. It was also possible his kidnapper could be a friend or family member of the man who’d been arrested for the murder, wanting revenge.
Okay, so he had one viable cause for his abduction. Who else could have done this? Jude’s mind moved to Wolf’s school. He’d been a pretty big advocate in the PTA this year, and there had been a lot of parents who hadn’t liked Jude’s style or the fact that he was married to a man. Over the last two years or so, he’d noticed an increase in the amount of people who gave him shitwhen they found out he was gay. He’d thought Salem had been a bit above the curve when it came to LGBTQIA+ rights and freedoms, but he was so very obviously wrong. Maybe one of the parents snatched him?
Jude shook his head. If it had been a bigoted parent, wouldn’t they have brought him to one of those conversion retreats, where they pray or beat the gay away? They would have left a Bible in his cell and there would have been posters with verses of scripture telling him all about the glory of a life lived with Jesus and without sin. Good thought, but obviouslynota bingo.
Who else would have wanted to hurt him? Jude gasped. Maybe the person who did this was after Cope and Jude was just a means to an end? Who the hell could possibly want to hurt Cope? Deacon Boudreaux was dead, killed in prison several years ago. He’d been an only child whose parents died before he did. There was no one left to avenge the former fiancée who’d almost killed Cope.Twice.
Not to be egotistical, for once in his life, Jude knew Cope had nothing to do with his current situation. This was all on him. Sitting up, Jude’s stomach cramped and he was swamped with nausea. He moved to the bucket, which smelled horrible and did everything in his power not to throw up like he’d done last night.
Jude’s memory cast back to the previous night. He’d been absolutely sick to his stomach, which never happened to him. It had been years, maybe decades since he’d had enough booze to make him as sick as he’d been the night before, which was why he’d assumed drugs had been slipped into one of his drinks. He could remember at least two that were handed to him where he didn’t see the bartender mix them.
