“Jesus, I’ve never heard a story like that in my life.” Poor Ten, what a horrible thing to go through.
“I’ve got pictures if you want to see.” Ronan offered.
Cope shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Ronan. I’ve just never come across anything like this in all the years I’ve had my gifts.”
“When Ten went to see a psychologist, she saw the bruises on Ten’s arms and asked if his domestic partner was hurting him. She actually started to call the police before Ten bolted out of there.”
“Holy shit,” Cope muttered.
“When I showed up at the Magick shop to talk to Ten, he blew up at me and blamed me for losing his gift. I stormed out of there and ended up on a bench at the beach. I’d been there for about four hours when Fitzgibbon showed up. I was still working for Boston Cold Case, and had called out sick that day, so you can imagine my fear when he sat down next to me.”
Cope remembered Ten talking in passing about a few knock down drag out fights Ronan and Fitz had gotten into over the years and couldn’t help but wonder if this was one of those moments.
“Instead of being angry though, Fitz brought me lunch and let me cry on his shoulder, so to speak.” Ronan shook his head. “Christ that was seven, nearly eight years ago. I always go there when I’ve got something on my mind and I need a quiet place to work it out. I know I mentioned that place to Jude a time or two, but I never knew he used it.”
“I know the two of you like to give each other shit, but you’re so much alike, Ronan,” Cope said. “We don’t fight or even argue very much, but Jude also needs some time and space to work out whatever is going on with him or us. He’s always found the answers he needed on that bench in the past, which is partly why I wasn’t worried about him until he was gone for hours. This is the worst fight we’ve had over our entire relationship. What if he left me for good? What if something happened to himbecauseof me?”
“Let’s not put the cart before the-” Ronan stopped in his tracks. Fitzgibbon had driven into the park at the Salem Willows. “Oh, shit.”
Cope unbuckled his seatbelt to peer around Ronan to see what he was staring at. It was Jude’s car. “Oh, thank God! Jude!” Cope shouted, jumping out of the SUV. He ran toward the Thunderbird, every trace of anger gone. He was just happy to have found Jude.
When Cope reached the car, he came to a stop. Jude wasn’t sitting inside of it, but his phone was in the console and the keys were in the ignition. Looking toward the beach, Cope could see the thinking bench was empty and there was no sign of anyone walking on the sand.
“Where the hell is he?” Ronan asked, when he reached Cope’s side.
“He’s not here,” Cope looked to Ronan for help, but for once the detective was silent.
Fitzgibbon walked around the car, seeming to inspect it as he moved. Cope assumed he was looking for blood or maybe signs of a struggle. “Cope, do you have a spare set of keys to the Thunderbird?”
“Um, yeah, on my key ring.” Cope dug into his back pocket and pulled out his fob. “Wait, if his keys are in the car, why do you need mine?”
Fitzgibbon swallowed hard, his throat clicked. “Cope, I-” he began.
“We don’t want to touch anything inside the car, because we would contaminate the evidence. We need your keys to look in the trunk.” Ronan wore a heartbroken look.
It took Cope a minute to understand what Ronan had said. “Sweet Jesus! You think someone hurt him and put him in the trunk of his own car?”
Ronan nodded.
Cope felt the earth tip on its axis. He stumbled to the left. Thankfully Fitzgibbon caught him or he would have ended up on the ground. This wasn’t happening. Thiscouldn’tbe happening. “I’m dreaming right? When I wake up, we’re all gonna have a big laugh.” Chuckling, Cope looked to the two cops, neither of them were laughing. Ronan was holding his hand out for Cope’s keys. He sobered instantly and after fumbling through his keys, found the one for the trunk. “I’ll do it.”
As calmly as he could, Cope walked toward the trunk, he inserted the key and was about to turn it when he realized he could just walk away. If he left now, he’d never know what was in the trunk and he could go on believing that Jude was coming home to him. Taking a deep breath, Cope knew he needed to face this now. It wouldn’t be fair to ask Ronan and Fitz to do this. It had to be him.
Turning the key to the right, the lock thumped and the trunk popped open a few inches. Using the cuff of his winter jacked, Cope lifted the trunk higher and breathed a sigh of relief. Aside from Jude’s set of jumper cables and a couple of reusable shopping bags, the trunk was empty.
“Thank fuck,” Ronan said, pulling out his phone. After a few taps, Cope could hear a call trying to connect.
“Tell me you found him, Ronan,” Cisco Jackson’s voice barked roughly.
“We only found his car. It’s down at the Salem Willows Park. There’s no sign of Jude and no sign of a struggle. His phone and keys were in the unlocked car, out in plain sight.”
“Fuck me blue,” Cisco muttered. “Jude loves that car more than almost anything. There’s no way he would ever leave it somewhere with the keys inside.”
“What do you want us to do?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“I’m sending patrol units and crime scene techs. Wait with the car until they arrive. When they do, go to Ronan’s. I’ll call you as soon as I have information. Got it?” Cisco asked.
“Yes, chief,” Ronan and Fitz said together.
