Ghost Falls (Haunted Souls #22)

2 Jude

The next morning was, surprisingly, a piece of cake. The kids got up and dressed without a fight. They had breakfast together, -Wolf’s favorite little powdered donuts- all of the comfort items were packed in the backpacks, and the van taking them to the airport had been on time. Now, Jude was sitting on Jace’s private jet, while the flight steward asked if he would like caviar with his lobster tail.

“I still don’t understand how we got here,”

Jude mumbled after the man left with his order.

“You mean how we took the van to Logan Airport or how two morons like us ended up flying on a private plane?”

Ronan asked, before taking a sip from his pricy bottle of water.

“The plane.”

Jude refrained from rolling his eyes. Ronan was sitting in the seat beside him, while Cope was in the back of the plane making sure the kids were settled with a movie and snacks for the ninety minute flight to Niagara Falls. He and Cope had briefly debated driving, which would have taken about ten hours, but the second Jace offered the jet, the idea was quickly abandoned.

“I still don’t know how we got this lucky.”

Ronan shook his head. “How’s Cope feeling about this weekend?”

“He’s good. I’m the one who’s a wreck.”

Jude had a hard time sleeping the night before. His mind had been spinning with all the things that could go wrong on this trip. He remembered the cold reception Cope got when they visited with some distant family members of Titanic’s passengers a few years back and didn’t want a repeat of that situation this time around, especially with their kids around. “How about you and Ten?”

“Same,”

Ronan agreed. “Ten hasn’t seen any trouble coming our way, but all I see is trouble. Hundreds of people will be at the event this weekend. There are several hundred more who are staying at our hotel and don’t get me started on the regular tourists who are here to see the falls. It’s a security nightmare.”

Jude had the same worries. “All we can do is keep our eyes open and be prepared for anything. There are going to be a lot of psychics who are participating in the con, so the full attention of the crowd won’t be on Cope and Ten.”

Jude was hoping they could fly under the radar, but had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that simple.

“Stop it, both of you,”

Cope said, taking a seat across from Jude. “Nothing bad is going to happen this weekend. No one is going to try to abduct our kids, ruin our reputations, or steal kisses.”

“Kisses?”

Jude asked, sounding offended.

Cope patted Jude’s shoulder. “Just making sure you were listening to me. Everything is going to be fine. Trust me.”

“I trust you with my entire being,”

Jude said, laying a hand over his heart.

“It’s everyone else he doesn’t trust,”

Ronan added.

“Are they still talking about security worries?”

Ten asked, sitting beside Cope.

“Yup. We’ve got our own private Dudley Do-Rights.”

Cope offered a wide grin.

“Are we gonna see Mounties?”

Fitzgibbon asked. “Those red jackets and those weird black pants that bulge on the side of the thighs. Yee Haw!”

“Mounties make you hot?”

Jude asked with a snicker. Men in uniform weren’t his thing, but to each his own.

“Damn, skippy. Man, I would have loved to fuck one wearing just his hat.”

Fitzgibbon let out a low whistle.

“What did you say, Kevin?”

Kaye asked, making her way toward the front of the plane.

“I was talking about a man in a hat driving a truck.”

Fitzgibbon offered her his biggest smile.

Kaye’s left eyebrow shot up. “Uh, huh, and I’m the Queen of England.”

Ronan snorted and started to laugh. He stood and offered his mother-in-law a courtly bow. “Your Majesty.”

“Asshole,”

Fitzgibbon muttered under his breath when Kaye made her way back to her seat. “Okay then, what group of people make you hot?”

His attention was on Jude.

Cope snorted and started to laugh. “I know the answer to that.”

“No, not porn stars,”

Jude said. The answer was dead on, but definitely not family friendly with Kaye lurking around.

“Okay, who then?”

Cope asked.

“Construction workers in their tight fitting tank tops and hard hats. Oh, mama!”

Jude let out a loud wolf call. “They could hammer, bang, screw and nail me all night long.”

“Do you need some new tools Jude?”

Kaye asked, carrying empty juice pouches to the trash can and grabbing new ones out of the fridge.

“No, ma’am. All of my tools are in fine working order.”

How Jude managed to say that with a straight face, he’d never know. Kaye was a good Kansas Baptist, who’d probably only had sex in the missionary position. He wasn’t sure she’d ever heard of sex in terms like bang, screw, and nail.

“Glad to hear it, Jude,”

Kaye said with a wink, indicating maybe she had known what he’d been talking about all along.

“What about you?”

Fitz pointed to Ronan. “Who gets you hot and bothered?”

“My handsome husband, who at this moment is scanning me with his brain powers to see my real answer.”

Ronan laughed when Ten let out and outraged gasp. “Tell me you weren’t trying to read me.”

“I don’t need to read you. I already know the answer.”

“Okay, Mr. Smartypants. Hit me with it.”

Ronan crossed his arms over his chest and wore a look that said Ten was never going to get the right answer.

“NASCAR pit crews,”

Ten said with a so-there look. “With their identical racing suits with all those logos on them. His most favorite is the jack man.”

“I do like a man who knows his way around a heavy tool.”

Ronan snorted, neither confirming nor denying that Tennyson was on the money.

Wanting to change the subject from tools, Jude grabbed the remote and turned on the television mounted above them. The Price is Right should be on and he loved to guess the prices along with the contestants. The screen came to life in the middle of a commercial block.

“Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!”

an excited announcer shouted. “Watch as legendary daredevil Cannonball Jackson goes over Niagara Falls in a barrel.”

The shot cut to a man jumping cars on a motorcycle, then switched to the same man racing what looked like a rocket in Death Valley, before landing on an unassuming young man who wore a pair of jeans and black tee with the word Cannonball spelled out with stars and stripes to look like the American flag. “Sunday, at one pm, I’m gonna make history. It’s time to say my prayers and name my heirs!”

The young man crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the camera. “This one’s for you, Dad.” Cannonball pointed to the sky. Details for the stunt were posted on the screen.

“Who the hell was that?”

Ten asked.

“According to Wikipedia, Cannonball is the son of famed daredevil Carl ‘Rooster’ Jackson, who died in 2003 after his barrel lost its structural integrity on it’s way over Niagara Falls. He was supposed to have gone over the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side, but the current took him over the American falls where his barrel was smashed to pieces on the rocks below. His body wasn’t discovered for three days after the accident.”

“Christ, now I understand why he mentioned his father.”

Ronan shook his head.

“Cannonball’s gonna die, just like his Daddy,”

Everly said from the back of the plane.

“What, honey?”

Cope asked. He’d tried reaching out with his gift during the commercial but hadn’t gotten any information on how the stunt would turn out for Cannonball.

Everly ran to the front of the plane and climbed into Ronan’s lap. “Cannonball’s gonna drown. I don’t know how to explain what I’m seeing.”

She held her hand out to Tennyson, who took it in his own.

“Oh, no,”

Ten said, opening his eyes.

“What did you see?”

Jude asked.

“Cannonball survives the trip over the falls, but gets caught in the water. The barrel keeps getting submerged and won’t pop out from under the falls. He opened the hatch, thinking he could just swim free, but the power of the water was too strong.”

“We need to call him, Dad, tell him what’s gonna happen.”

Everly looked between Ronan and Jude with a pleading look on her face.

“We’ll see what we can do,”

Ronan assured his daughter.

“You bet we will,”

Jude agreed, but had no idea how to do it. If he reached out to Cannonball through his social media, the man was likely to think he was a nutjob or might not see the message at all. There had to be a better way.

Everly hopped off her father’s lap and went back to her seat.

“What if we try to reach out through the Ontario Police?”

Ronan asked. “They know PsychicFest is in town and might be more apt to believe us.”

“Yeah, but we’re screwed if we get an officer who thinks our gifts are bullshit,”

Cope said.

“Well, then you just work that Sherlock Holmes thing you do where you tell the cop that his mother won a Betty Crocker look-alike contest in 1952 and that his father’s missing pocket watch is in a box with Christmas ornaments in the closet.”

Jude waved his hand in the air with gusto.

“That might work,”

Cope admitted. “What if we try to get in touch with his production team? If they’ve made this commercial, there’s bound to be people who are working with him behind the scenes.”

“So much for leaving our detective hats at home,”

Fitzgibbon said.

“Are you serious, Cap?”

Ronan asked.

“We can’t let this boy die, Ronan. Not when we have three days to save his life. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t do everything in my power to stop Cannonball from dying.”

Jude nodded. “I’m in. Whatever I can do to help. Hey, Everly?”

he called, with an inspired voice.

“No, Uncle Jude, I don’t know where Uncle Cope hid your tiara.”

Everly shook her head and laughed.

“Wait! Cope hid it! He said it was lost!”

Jude turned an angry look on his husband.

“We’ll talk about your crown later, princess. For now, let’s stick to trying to save Cannonball from his father’s fate.”

“Do you know where we can find Cannonball?”

Jude asked his niece. He figured if anyone could pin point his location, it would be Everly.

“He’s staying at the hotel with big red letters on the building, but I can’t read the word.”

Everly wore a puzzled look.

“Can you read the letters?”

Ronan asked.

“S-H-E-R-A-T-O-N,”

Everly said.

“Is it green with lots of shiny windows?”

Jude asked.

“Yup,”

Everly agreed.

“That’s our hotel, the Sheraton Fallsview,”

Jude said. “Any idea what room he’s in?”

Everly shook his head. “I can’t see that but he’s gonna answer questions and give a speech to his fans on Friday night.”

She turned to Ronan, “Did I do good, Dad?”

“You sure did!”

Ronan pressed a kiss to her cheek before she hopped off his lap.

“It seems like we’ve got luck on our side,”

Cope said. “It’s going to be easier to find him than we thought.”

Jude felt the same way. He only hoped that they’d be able to talk some sense into the young man before it was too late.