“This is it, up here on the right,” Ronan said.
Fitzgibbon drove past the house, turning around in an empty driveway up the street. He parked the SUV and shut off the ignition. “There are no cars parked at that house and I didn’t see any lights on in the place.”
“If it’s been abandoned since 2004, the power might be off completely,” Ronan said. “Maybe the cars we saw in other driveways belong to Jerry and Betty. If we parked at an abandoned house to stay out of sight, maybe they did too.”
Cope shivered in the backseat. Just the thought of Jude being locked in a basement with no power was the stuff of nightmares, never mind how cold the temperatures had been over the last few days.
“Yeah, maybe.” Fitz parked the SUV and got out. He walked to the back hatch and opened it up. He came back with three Kevlar vests. He handed one to Ronan, one to Cope and kept the last one for himself. When Ronan had strapped his vest on, he opened Cope’s door and helped him out.
“This is Ten’s vest. The two of you are about the same size, so this should fit pretty well.” Ronan slipped it over Cope’s head and fastened the Velcro straps tightly. “You good?”
Cope nodded. His heart was pounding a crazy beat. All he wanted to do was get into that house and find Jude, but knew there were steps they needed to take to keep them all safe. “Tell me what to do.”
“Fitz and I are going to walk around the house, looking for signs of life, then we’ll make entry and head for the basement to find Jude. Do not rush into any room. Let Fitz and I clear them. Stay behind me. Don’t get shot. Got it?”
Cope nodded. He’d never been so afraid in his life, not for himself, but for Jude.
“What is your gift telling you?” Fitz asked.
Taking several deep breaths, Cope managed to calm himself down enough to focus his gift on the house. “There are two people in there. It’s Jerry and Betsy. They’re both in the living room, which is the window on the left. They’re arguing.”
“About what?” Ronan asked.
“Jude. Jerry wants to let him go, but Betsy wants to shoot him. She’s saying that the only way Armstrong will fall in love with her is if she finishes the Beast’s work.” Cope felt sick to his stomach. If they’d arrived any later, it might already be too late. “They want to kill you too, so stay on your toes.”
Ronan nodded sharply. “Do you think we should wait until Jerry leaves to got to the ransom drop?” Ronan asked. “Grab him first and when we’ve got him in handcuffs go in after Betsy?”
It sounded like a sound plan to Cope. Deal with mother-son duo individually, rather than at the same time.
A gunshot broke the silence of the neighborhood.
“So much for best laid plans,” Fitz said, unholstering his gun and running across the street. He kept his head down.
“Stay low and stay behind me,” Ronan said, heading across the street.
There were a lot of scenarios Cope imagined himself in over the years. Winning an Oscar, ice skating for Team USA in the Olympics, being the man in the middle of a lube fueled orgy, but never in his life did he ever dream of running into a house where gunshots had been fired in order to rescue his abducted husband. Yet here he was.
Cope did exactly as Ronan said. He followed behind the detective, using Ronan’s footprints in the newly fallen snow as his guide. He was terrified that the gun shot he’d heard had been Betsy getting her way and killing Jude. He tried reaching out with his gift again, but he wasn’t getting a straight message, what he was seeing appeared scrambled.
Fitzgibbon, raised his right fist and made his way up the snow-covered front steps. Cope had seen enough tv cop shows to know that the fist meant to stay where he was. Cope had no problem obeying that command. He noticed Ronan was positioned at the bottom of the stairs.
Fitz leaned over the side railing leading to the front door, to look into the living room window. Whatever he saw must have been safe because he uncurled his fist and waved Ronan forward. Both men whispered to each other, before Fitz lifted his left leg and kicked the door open. It splintered into pieces. “Salem Police! Hands up!”
Ronan was right behind Fitzgibbon, charging into the house. Two more gunshots were fired in rapid succession. Cope stayed where he was at the base of the stairs, until he heard Fitz shout that Jerry was in custody. Seconds later, Ronan shouted that he’d lost Besty.
Cope took that as his sign to call Cisco Jackson. With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone and pressed the button to dial the chief.
“Cope, tell me you found Jude,” Cisco said, sounding worried.
“We’re at a house on Milton street. One of the last ones at the end of the road, deep in the woods. Ronan and Fitz are inside with Jerry Dunkirk and Betsy Wilcox. Three shots have been fired so far.”
“Do I want to know how you found this house?” Cisco asked.
“Let’s just say I dusted off my cauldron and took it out of storage.”
“I’ll bring the cavalry,” Cisco promised. “Stay safe and out of that house until we get there.”
“You got it,” Cope agreed and ended the call. Cisco Jackson might be the chief of the Salem Police, but he was Jude’s husband. He’d been separated from his husband for long enough. He crept slowly up the stairs and heard the sound of Jerry Dunkirk crying. Slowly peeking around the doorjamb, Cope saw Jerry down on his face on the dirty living room floor, with his hands cuffed behind his back. Fitzgibbon stood in front of him. Cope could hear Ronan shouting for Jude. He wanted to run in there and kick Jerry in the face, but he wouldn’t, not because assault was against the law, but because his gift was giving him new information.
