“Find Nurse Betty.” Everly looked back and forth between Ten and Cope. “Does that help, Uncle Cope?”
“Nurse Betty?” Cope asked. “I know that name, but I don’t know why.” Getting up from the sofa, Cope paced around. “I swearwe’ve been to the hospital on so many occasions, for the kids, Jude, Ronan, for cases they’ve worked on.”
“Maybe we should pull up the staff directories for Northshore Medical Center and Salem Mercy Hospitals?” Ten asked.
Cope didn’t answer Ten. The answer to his question was on the tip of his tongue. All he needed was a few more seconds and he’d have it. “Jude’s surgery!” Cope said. “Betty was the nurse who took care of Jude before he went into surgery. She was the one who wheeled his bed out of the pre-op room. She was also the one who took care of Jude in the recovery room.”
“I’ll get Ronan.” As Ten got up to go to the front door, it opened, with Ronan, Fitz and Cisco walking into the living room. “Everly gave us a clue.”
“What clue?” Cisco asked.
“Uncle Jude told me to find Nurse Betty,” Everly said proudly.
“She was with Jude in his room at the hospital the night he almost died,” Fitzgibbon said.
“Are you sure it was then?” Cope asked. “She was the prep nurse before Jude’s surgery.”
“That’s right, I met her before Jude went under the knife. I told her I was Jude’s brother,” Cisco said with a grin. “She didn’t believe me for a second.”
“Fitz, are you sure you saw her on Jude’s floor after Armstrong tried to kill him?” Ronan asked.
“I’m positive. She was the one who came into the family waiting room to let us know Jude was out of surgery and was doing well. With everything that went on that night, when Armstrong came for Jude, it had slipped my mind that she was there during theaftermath. She followed us when Armstrong was handcuffed and marched out of the room, after Jude had been resuscitated.”
All Cope remembered about that moment was when Jude opened his eyes. He hadn’t been paying attention to anything else. Marilyn Monroe could have been in Jude’s hospital room and he never would have noticed her.
“Ronan, get on Betty. Get an address for her. Find out if she’s on duty at the hospital today. What the hell is her connection to Dunkirk and Doctor Armstrong other than the fact that they worked at the same hospital?”
“I’ll find out.” Ronan went into the kitchen. Cisco and Fitz were behind him.
“I’m so proud of you, honey.” Ten hugged his daughter. “Why don’t we go upstairs and get dressed. We’ll have French toast for breakfast, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.” Everly let go of Ten and moved to stand next to Cope. “Uncle Jude is so strong. Don’t tell him I said so, but he’s stronger than my Dad.”
Cope chuckled at his niece. He’d always thought the same thing of Jude, not that he’d tell his husband. Words like that would have gone straight to Jude’s head.
“We’re gonna find him. I know we are and when Uncle Jude comes home, we’ll have a big party with cake and a million hugs.”
“Cake with pink frosting?” Cope asked, feeling better about the situation.
Everly nodded. “Uncle Jude loves pink!” She held her hand out to Ten. “Come on, Daddy. Let’s get ready.”
Cope watched as Ten and Everly went up the stairs.
“Cope?” Ronan called from the living room door. “We’ve got some information.”
Getting up, Cope followed Ronan into the kitchen. Fitz and Cisco wore serious looks. Whatever the news was, he imagined it wasn’t good.
“You’re not going to believe this but, Betty Wilcox is Courtney and Jerry’s mother,” Cisco said.
“What?” Cope asked. He took a seat at the table and tried to puzzle out what Cisco was telling him.
“Yeah, and it gets stranger from there,” Ronan added.
“How could any of this possibly get stranger?” Cope asked. A frisson of fear shivered down his spine, in that moment, Cope found that he didn’t want to hear the answer.
“Betty is Jerry Dunkirk’s mother.” Cisco folded his hands in front of him on the table.
Cisco’s words were like a kick to the stomach. Cope took a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time for him to break down. “Hold on. Last night when we interviewed Courtney Wilcox at the library, she told us she was Jerry’s half-sister. Before we went to see her, Everly told us the person who was holding Jude and controlling Jerry was angry at Jude and you.” Cope pointed to Ronan.
