“I did one of those genealogy kits. When the results came back, I spoke to my mother and she told me the truth of what happened back then. She’d been desperately in love with my father and thought getting pregnant with his child was a sure fire way to keep him in her life. Doctors married nurses all the time, right? Mom was wrong.”
Tale as old as time, Jude thought, women trying to trap men with a baby. He guessed the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with Jerry kidnapping him. “I can’t believe you’re Armstrong’s son.”
“If that shocks you, then finding out who my mother is will surprise you even more.” Jerry laughed again. “Come on in, Mom! You remember Jude.”
Jude had never met Jerry’s mother. In fact, he never met any lover’s family. How the hell was it possible the mother knew him? Had she been stalking Jude along with her son? A macabremother-son bonding session. A twisted case of families who stay together, slay together.
Jude’s eyes were on the door. A woman walked into the chamber, dressed in blue hospital scrubs. Her face was hidden in shadows until she was only two steps away from the bars of the cage. “Nurse Betty?” He blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. This woman had been his pre and post-op nurse at Salem Mercy.
“Hello, Jude. It’s nice to see you again,” Betty said. “I can’t thank you enough for your sacrifice.”
“What sacrifice?” How the hell had Jude not noticed the crazed light in this woman’s eyes. He’d relied on her to answer all of his pre-op questions and allay his fears. She’d cared for him in the post-op recovery room when he’d been wonky from the anesthesia and at his most vulnerable.
“I did everything in my power to make Paul love me. Nothing I tried worked, but if I tell him I was the one who killed his greatest nemesis, along with your detective friend, I think that would be the thing that would push him over the edge to realizing I’m his soulmate. We’d finally be able to be together forever.”
Betty sounded as nutty as a shithouse rat. She was as insane as her son, maybe more so. Jerry had held on to his feelings for Jude for eight years, Betty had been in love with Armstrong for over thirty.
It wasn’t this brand of unrequited love psychosis that scared Jude. It was the mention of them wanting to kill Ronan too. Gathering every bit of strength in his body, Jude reached out to Bertha and Everly. He sent a three word message, hoping it would be enough.
If not, he and Ronan were both going to die.
15
Cope
Cope spent the night on Ronan and Ten’s sofa, wearing Jude’s t-shirt. With the kids tucked into bed upstairs with Everly, Aurora, and Ezra, Cope was free to roam the house. He found that he couldn’t sit still for very long and knew there was no way he’d be able to sleep.
He’d ended up passing the cold lonely hours of the night going through his photos and videos of himself and Jude. He started back at the beginning when he and Jude first met. There were pictures of them together making Jude’s favorite chocolate chip cookies. Both of them ended up gaining ten pounds thanks to all the sweet treats they’d baked together.
The pictures moved on to when they first started dating, their vacation to Key West, and the trip that changed their lives, to Arizona to pick up Wolf. Cope felt tears dripping down his cheek when he saw pictures of Jude snuggling the baby. There wereshots of Jude and Wolf smiling at each other and more with Cope in on the action, his arms wrapped around both of them.
His wedding to Jude in Running Eagle’s hogan were next. Both had been dressed in jeans and tee shirts and were surrounded by Jude’s family. His favorite pics were of the three of them together, both of their rings visible as they held Wolf between them.
The rest of Cope’s camera roll was filled with selfies of himself with Jude and with the kids. Some of his favorite pics were snapped by Wolfie. He taken lots of pictures of himself, some with only half of his face in frame. He was always laughing and having the time of his life. Looking at his son’s happy demeanor, he couldn’t help but wonder if those days were over. Would Wolf ever smile again if Jude didn’t come home? He was ready for another good cry, when he heard footsteps on the stairs. It was Ten and Ronan. Neither of them looked like they’d slept much either.
“Hey, Cope.” Ten sat beside him on the sofa and gave him a hug.
“Morning.” Cope tried to summon a smile.
“Ronan’s gonna make a big breakfast for the kids. I’ll stay with them here today, so that you, Ronan, and Fitz can keep looking for Jude.”
“Thanks, Ten, I appreciate it.” Cope smelled fresh coffee brewing in the kitchen and stood up, stretching his tired limbs. A text jingle caught his attention. His first thought was that it was Jude finally making contact, but then Cope remembered Jude’s phone had been collected as evidence when the police searched his car. They’d also brought the Thunderbird to a tow yard for further examination.
Cope grabbed his phone from the coffee table and tapped the screen. It was a text message from an unknown number with a video attached. The message that accompanied it simply read “Ransom.” What the actual fuck? “I’m not sure if I should open this.”
“Let’s bring it to Ronan,” Ten suggested.
Nodding, Cope headed into the kitchen where Ronan was mixing French toast batter. “I need you to look at this.” He handed the phone to Ronan.
“What is it?” Ronan focused his attention on the phone.
“We think it could be a ransom request.” Cope’s voice shook as he spoke. Maybe this meant they were going to get Jude back. “Whatever they ask for, I’ll pay. I don’t care what it is.”
Ronan turned to Ten. “Are you getting anything?”
“It’s legit. That’s all I’m getting.” Ten wore a worried look.
“Let’s do this.” When Cope and Ten crowded in beside him, Ronan pressed the play button.
