Cope followed Ronan and Fitzgibbon into the living room where they were putting on their heavy winter coats and boots.
“Bring Daddy home,” Wolf said from the sofa.
“Dada. Home!” Lizbet echoed.
“I’ll do my best.” Cope shrugged into his coat and walked out the front door. Seeing the sad looks on his kids’ faces was devastating. What would happen to their little family if he couldn’t find Jude? Both kids had already lost so much. Cope couldn’t bear the thought of them losing Jude too.
“Hold on, Jude. I’m coming,” Cope vowed.
12
Jude
Jude woke to the sound of the outer door squealing as the kidnapper opened it. His head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. He could barely remember who he was or how he got here, never mind how long he’d been out cold. Whatever drug had been slipped into his food had been much stronger than what had been in his drink at the ball. He sat up and watched as the kidnapper, dressed again in all in black, entered the room.
“Someone’s finally awake,” the modulated voice said. “That was quite a trip to Neverland. Wasn’t sure you’d wake up. Had to guess on the dosage.”
“Cut the shit, asshole. Tell me who you are and why I’m here. You’re gonna kill me anyway, I might as well know the reason why.” Jude felt like he had nothing to lose at this point in the game. He was muzzy-headed, heartsick, and starting to feel a bit hopeless. He had no doubt that Ronan, Fitz and the rest of the Salem Police Department were out searching for him. Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of clues to help them find him.Even Jude had no idea where he was. He could be in fucking Canada for all he knew. It was only seven hours or so to the border. In that time he could have also been taken to upstate New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, hell, maybe even as far south as Delaware if the traffic was light.
“You always were a demanding fucker, weren’t you, Jude?” the voice asked.
“Yup!” Jude agreed, feeling his spirits buoy. Finally, after all this time he had his first clue. Obviously the kidnapper was someone he knew. Which, considering his former himbo days, and his time working with several law enforcement agencies and law firms, the person who abducted him could be almost anyone. What he needed to do was narrow the field and try to dial in on who this particular fucker was. “The only way to get what you want is to reach out and grab it.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” the kidnapper agreed. “Only some of us grabbed for the biggest prize.”
“What prize?” Jude asked. “Fucking look at me. I’m half-drugged and trapped in a cage, like a lion at the zoo. All I want to do is see my family and eat a fucking meal that won’t make me feel like I’ve been knocked into next week.”
“You don’t consider your family a big prize? That husband of yours? Those two adorable kiddos. All your friends who are more like brothers. I consider that a pretty big fucking prize.”
Jude pulled the picture of the kids out from under his pillow. He wanted to cry just looking at Lizbet and Wolf’s little faces. He’d give anything to see them again, but tears and losing his temper wasn’t going to help make that happen. Jude needed to wise up and stay on his toes. Anything this asshole said could be a possible clue. “My family is the only thing that matters to mein this world. I could give two fucks about everything else. All I want to do is go home. Whatever it is you want, it’s yours, just let me out of here. The sooner you tell me how much money you want, the sooner I can put the wheels in motion to get it to you.”
“What if I said I wanted a million dollars?”
“Done,” Jude said, without a second’s hesitation.
“Must be nice to have friends who’d slap down that kind of money for you,” the kidnapper sneered. The sarcasm was obvious, even with the voice modulator.
Obviously, whoever this deranged person was, they didn’t have a family, or at least not one they were in close contact with. Jude thought back to the people who’d been in his life since his move to Salem. Aside from Cope and the detectives, Jude had been in contact with cops, parents of Wolf’s classmates, and neighbors, which brought him back to the photograph of the kids the kidnapper had left earlier. “Courtney took this picture.” It wasn’t a question, for Jude, it was a statement of fact.
“Took you long enough to figure it out.” The voice laughed, chilling Jude to the bone.
“I could have taken out your kids and your nieces and nephew at any time. You let my sister into your home willingly. No break-in required.” The chuckled. “Not only did you pay her to be there, but you and your numbskull friends tipped her over three hundred dollars.”
Jude thought back to what he knew about Courtney. He didn’t recall her ever mentioning a brother or a family at all. She said she was a student studying early childhood education at Salem State and to Jude, had seemed intently focused on her degree. Other families in the neighborhood had used her to babysit their kids. So far as he knew, there were no troubling incidents.Truman and Carson wouldn’t have recommended her if she wasn’t trustworthy. “This was a set up from the start.”
“Very good, Jude. The plan has been in motion for months. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get your neighbors to trust Courtney? How long it took to move that chess piece onto the board?”
“You couldn’t have known Carson and Truman’s kids would get sick. They cancelled on us last minute. Jesus Christ, did you poison those kids to make them throw up?” Jude would never forgive himself if Stephanie, Brian, or Baby Bertha were injured because of him.
“I’m not a total monster, Jude, despite what you may think.”
“Despite what I may think? I think I’m locked in a fucking cage on the whim of a crazed lunatic who’s too chicken to show his damn face. If this is all happening because of something I did in the past, then spill it! Enough fucking around. Who are you?” Jude demanded.
The kidnapper stepped forward. He or she was dressed in black from head to toe. Shoes, gloves, pants, hoodie and a balaclava pulled up their face, ending just below the eyes, which were shadowed. He was several inches taller than his abductor, putting them around 5’8” or so. With that height, it could be a man or a woman. Jude had no idea who this person could be.
Slowly, the kidnapper pulled off their gloves. Jude noticed the hands were large, white, and wore no jewelry. Definitely a man’s hand. Next, the hood was pushed back, showing what looked like short, dirty blonde hair. Stepping closer to the cage, the kidnapper grinned, Jude could see the curve of their lips beneath the face covering. “Moment of truth.” They held up the voicemodulator and pressed a button before putting it back into the kangaroo pouch of the sweatshirt.
“Moment of truth,” Jude agreed. His palms were sweating while his heart pounded out a crazy beat. What happened next would change his entire life.
