Jerry gasped and clutched his proverbial pearls. “I would never share you. With anyone. Ever.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his former lover that had shared himself over the eight years they’d been apart, first, with one night stands and then with Cope. “Good to know. What’s the plan?”
“We’re gonna make another video for Cope so that he can make the ransom drop.” Jerry was still smiling. “I can’t thank you enough for putting that idea into my head. Once we finish the Beast’s work, Mom and I deserve a little comfort. We’ll use the ransom money to buy a little place down south, maybe in Myrtle Beach or New Orleans and spend the rest of our lives on easy street. Great plan, huh?”
“Yeah, sounds great, man. Am I coming with you to NOLA?” With the mention of the Beast, Jude had a very bad feeling that he was going to be left behind in the cage to starve to death, or would end up in the back yard in a shallow grave.
Jerry’s bright smile dropped. “Silly boy. Of course not. The Beast must be satisfied. I’m going to tell Cope that Ronan has to make the ransom drop. I’ll kill him when he shows up with the money. Once I have it, I’ll come back here and will kill you. Easy peasy, lemon squeezie.” Jerry dusted his hands off, as if they were dirty. “With the Beast satisfied, Mom and I will be free.”
“I thought she was still in love with Doctor Armstrong. Is she really going to leave him here in Massachusetts by himself?”
Jerry shrugged. “I’m not going to give her much of a choice. Paul Armstrong ruined both of our lives. If he’d just manned up and took care of his responsibility when I was born, none of this would be happening.”
“Of course it would,” Jude challenged. “If you’d grown up at the knee of a serial killer, you would have turned into one too. Instead of telling you bedtime stories about three little pigs orthree bears, you would have gone to bed at night with stories of The Golden State Killer, or the Night Stalker.”
Jerry’s eyes darkened. “This is all Armstrong’s fault. None of us would be in this position if not for him. If I could get to him and kill him, I would. I should have done it years ago, but my mother begged me not to. With all of the drugs we use in surgery, it would have been easy to sneak something out and stick him when no one was around.”
Jude remembered stealing unused drugs from the OR had run rampant at Salem Mercy Hospital. Thanks to Jude hearing a bit of gossip from the man who performed the MRI on his injured knee, Jude had been able to pass that information on to Cisco. As a result, new polices were put in place to keep better and closer track of drugs that went unused in operating rooms. “You need to get rid of the hate. Even if you do get the ransom and buy a house down south, the hate will still live here.” Jude set a hand over his heart. “You’d be in a different place and a different space, but you’d still be dragging all of your baggage behind you.”
“And I suppose you know how I can cut that baggage loose, huh?” Jerry set his hands on his hips and looked at Jude expectantly.
“Once you get the money, let me go. You’ve lost eight years of your life to loving someone who couldn’t love you back. Make a fresh start down south. Find a man who’s crazy about you and settle down. Use the money to get a fake name and fake credentials. You could go back to work at one of the hospitals down there. Maybe even use the money to go to medical school. The world is your oyster.”
Jerry appeared to be thinking over Jude’s proposition. “The Beast must be satisfied.”
“It’s not your beast,” Jude said. “You said that Armstrong never gave you anything but trouble. The Beast is another example of that. Are you really gonna let him pass another burden down to you?” Jude was silent for a few seconds, wanting his words to sink in. “So far, you’re only guilty of kidnapping me and holding me against my will. If you kill me and Ronan, that’s all on you. Don’t let Armstrong’s madness ruin you. Get the money. Let me go. Live happily ever after in the sunshine to spite your father. Show Armstrong you didn’t need him to be rich and successful.”
“You’ll go to the police.”
Jude shook his head. “I won’t. I’ll tell Cope I went off on a bender, just like I used to do before he and I met. I’ll say I spent the weekend drinking with old friends and lost track of time. No harm. No foul.”
“Ronan is a cop. He’s not going to let this go.” Jerry looked to be seriously considering what Jude was saying.
“Then have Cope make the ransom drop.” As much as Jude hated to put his husband in the line of fire, he didn’t have much of a choice.
“Let’s just film this video.” Jerry shook his head and paced around the room. It looked to Jude like he was trying to get his head straight before he started to film. He took several deep breaths, and shook out his hands, reminding Jude of a basketball player, psyching himself up for a game.
Grabbing his phone from his pocket, Jerry pointed it at Jude and plastered on that bright smile again. “Hello, Cope! It’s me! Jude’s lover, Jerry! Ransom drop today at 2pm. Leave the money under the bench at Dead Horse Beach. No cops. I’ll be watching. If I see Ronan, Fitz, or any other member of lawenforcement, Jude dies. Got it? I’ll send him back to you in pieces.”
Jude was terrified. He didn’t know if Jerry was going to kill him or let him go, meaning it was doubly important to break the lock, so he’d be ready to fight if and when he needed to.
“Here’s your last proof of life. Say hi, Jude!” Jerry walked closer to the bars of the cage.
“I’m okay, Cope. I love you. Tell the kids I love them too. Make sure Ronan, Fitz, and Cisco know this isn’t their fault.”
“Oh, how touching. Thinking of your friends until the end.” Jerry offered Jude a sneer. “2 P.M. No cops. Dead Horse Beach.” With those words, Jerry ended the recording. He tapped the phone a few times and Jude heard the familiar woosh of the email being sent. He turned and headed for the door.
“Wait!” Jude called out.
Jerry turned his head, but didn’t walk back toward the cage. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“I’m thinking I’ll just leave you here to die. Cope and your cop friends will never find you. It will be a long, drawn out, painful death, which is just what you deserve for breaking my heart and making me suffer without you for these last eight years.”
“We haven’t seen each other for the last eight years. I had no way of knowing you were suffering.”
Jerry laughed. “Just because you didn’t see me, doesn’t mean I didn’t see you. I knew all about Cope and the two of you dating. Your trip to Arizona to pick up Wolfie. Not to mention a million other little moments like sitting on your front stoop singing silly songs to your daughter when she had a cold or lying on a blanket in the backyard with your son to see a meteor shower. I’ve beenthere for everything, Jude. All of those little moments lead me to this. When I saw your name on the surgery list, I knew it was the universe finally giving me a win. You should have died that night at Salem Mercy. Ronan too. All of this would be over and I could have moved on, but no, you had to go and fuck me over again. Well, this time, it’s going to be me doing the fucking. Bye, Jude. Fuck you! Have a nice death.” Jerry left the room, shutting the door behind him. Seconds later, Jude heard the deadbolt engage.
Jude’s eyes burned with unshed tears. Now wasn’t the time to sit and feel sorry for himself. Now was the time for action. He reached under his pillow and grabbed the metal bucket handle and approached the bars again. He stuck the metal through the loop in the lock and used his entire body to jerk the handle. The lock banged against the bars, but the hasp didn’t break. Jude tried it again and again.
