Ghost Falls (Haunted Souls #22)

12

The kids were excited beyond belief to go to the indoor water park, Jude was less so. Ordinarily, he would have been the life of the party, going on the water slides and making sure to hold each of the kids under the large bucket of water as it tipped over on their heads, but today, he couldn’t rouse the tiniest bit of joy.

“Come on, Daddy!”

Wolf grabbed Jude’s hand and tugged him into the park.

Jude was instantly hit with a wave of heat and humidity. The smell of chorine assaulted his nostrils, making it hard to breathe for a few seconds. The temperature outside was in the low sixties, but it had to be at least twenty degrees warmer inside. He couldn’t imagine how much it cost to heat this place and buy enough chlorine for the gallons of kiddie pee that was added to water on a daily basis.

“Jude, are you okay?”

Cope asked, after nearly running into his back.

“Yeah.”

He smiled at his husband. “I’m okay. Let’s go get wet!”

“Yay!”

Wolf cheered. “Look, there’s CJ and Cannonball.”

Wolf yanked his hand away from Jude and ran toward his new friend.

Jude noticed father and son laughing together. Heidi was nowhere to be seen.

“Don’t you wish making friends was that easy?”

Cope asked, as they followed behind Wolf to a couple of open lounge chairs near CJ and Cannonball.

“I wish it was that easy to trust people.”

Jude didn’t have trouble making cursory friends, people to say hi to in passing and grab a drink with, but the problem came with taking the next step to deepen the friendship. Jude didn’t trust people easily, which had played to his detriment for most of his life.

Cope nodded and set Lizbet down. She instantly toddled off, running behind Wolf and CJ toward the stairs to the tallest waterslide. She let out a howl when Jude grabbed her from behind to keep her from climbing the stairs to the slide.

“Let’s watch Wolfie and then we’ll try it. Okay?”

Lizbet looked at him like she thought he was the worst father on the planet. He’d have to do something to turn her attitude around.

“Dada!”

Lizbet pointed to Wolf and CJ. Her bottom lip wobbled.

“Here they come! Let’s watch.”

Jude pointed to the slide.

Seconds later, Wolf flew out of the lower tube. CJ followed behind him. Both boys were laughing as they climbed out of the water.

“Was it scary?”

Jude asked when Wolf ran to him.

Wolf shook his head. “There’s lots of colors. LizzyB will love it.”

“Come on, Woofie. Let’s do it again!”

CJ grabbed Wolf’s hand and together they headed off for the stairs.

“Me!”

Lizbet said in a demanding tone.

“Okay, little girl. We’ll go.”

Jude headed back to Cope, so he could take off the baby’s tiny robe.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

Cope asked.

“She’ll be fine. When we hit the water, I’ll hold her up over my head.”

Jude had a feeling the slide part would be fine, hitting the little water chute at the bottom could be a different story. Jude reached the platform at the top of the stairs in time to see Wolf hurtle himself down the tube. He could hear his son’s shrieks of joy echo through the slide. The attendant motioned Jude forward. He took a seat at the top of the slide and held Lizbet to his shoulder.

“You’re gonna want to keep her back to your front, so her head doesn’t bounce around on your shoulder,”

the attendant advised.

“Got it,”

Jude said, switching Lizbet around so that she sat on his legs. “Ready?”

“Meeeee!”

Lizbet squealed.

Jude pushed off and they slid down the blue tube. Wolf had been right, colors whizzed by his eyes giving them a magical blurry quality. Lizbet screeched. From his position he couldn’t tell if she was scared or exhilarated. Seconds later, she started to laugh and didn’t stop the whole way down. They splashed into the water, with Lizbet laughing like a loon. Jude joined in with her. As he got himself and the baby out of the way of the next slider, he noticed his heart felt much lighter.

As Jude carried Lizbet back to their chairs, he noticed Cannonball looking a bit down in the mouth. He handed the baby to Cope and took the seat next to the stuntman. “You okay?”

Jude’s words startled Cannonball. “Yeah, I’m good. Heidi-”

He stopped in his tracks, seeming to rethink what he was about to say.

“Is your wife okay?”

Jude asked, already knowing the answer.

“That depends on your definition of okay. She’s pissed at me for being so selfish. I don’t think she loves me anymore.”

Cannonball shook his head.

Jude debated if he should open his mouth at all, but knew Cannonball deserved to have all the facts at hand. “Heidi went Cope and Tennyson’s psychic group reading this morning. They didn’t read her during the event, but she stayed after everyone left. We went to check on our husbands after we left you and your manager. We were in time to hear Cope tell Heidi what was going to happen to her and CJ after your attempt at the falls. Did she tell you about that?”

“She tried to, but I wouldn’t listen. Finally, she grabbed my shoulders and shouted that she was going to end up dead by her own hand and CJ would end up in a psych ward.”

Jude nodded. “Yeah, that’s what Ten and Cope told us. It all starts with money troubles and devolves quickly from there with Heidi having no choice but to move in with her parents.”

“They’re not parents, they’re monsters. They never wanted anything to do with Heidi after she married me. They didn’t even come to visit when CJ was born. Heidi had to go through the birth by herself because I was in a hospital in Arizona after one of my stunts failed.”

Cannonball looked as if he had more to say on the matter, but stayed silent.

“Heidi told us about what happened when your son was born. Do you think the stunt was worth missing your son’s birth over?”

Jude knew he was straying into dangerous territory. Men didn’t like to be questioned about their motives by their wives, never mind from a complete stranger.

“No, I don’t think it was worth it. If it had been successful, that would have been another story. I’ve tried to apologize so many times over the years, but Heidi won’t hear me out. She says that if I’m really sorry then I’ll stop putting my life and our family at risk for some stupid stunt.”

“Do you think she has a point?”

Jude asked, knowing how he would answer the question.

“I don’t know. We’re talking about my life’s work here.”

“It could be argued that building a family is your life’s work too.”

Jude turned his attention to Cope and Lizbet, who screeched when one of the inground springs started to spray water on her. Coming off the waterslide again were Wolf and CJ, who were laughing together. “My mother died in childbirth. When I was thirteen, my father was murdered in front of me.”

“Jesus,”

Cannonball muttered under his breath.

“I went to live with my grandfather on Navajo Nation. There were a lot of people who wanted to get close to me, but I wouldn’t allow that. I even pushed my grandfather away. I left home on my eighteenth birthday and drove to California, got my PI license and banged every willing guy I could find. I didn’t make friends, only had one night stands, because I didn’t want anyone to get close enough to hurt me when they left or died.”

Jude paused, studying the daredevil, who wore a thoughtful look on his face. “After California I wandered east, worked for awhile in Colorado and Florida with the same results. I was a nomad, leaving jobs and towns when people started to matter to me.”

“How did you end up with Cope and two kids?”

Cannonball asked.

“I’d landed a PI gig in Boston, working for a defense attorney who needed an investigator to help reverse incorrect verdicts and get his clients out of prison. I met Ten and Ronan a few months after that. We were working on this crazy case where a twin brother claimed he’d been wrongfully convicted of murder. Since they were identical twins, there was no way to tell their DNA apart, making it impossible to scientifically prove who actually killed the victim. That’s where Tennyson came into play.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

Jude snorted. “Ten was able to read the client and saw that he hadn’t killed the woman. Later he spoke to the spirit of the murdered girl, but she didn’t have a lot to offer, other than being able to identify the man who killed her, which did us no good because the brothers were identical.”

“Did you believe Tennyson?”

“Fuck no!”

Jude laughed. “I thought he was a nutjob, Ronan too for believing the bullshit he was spouting. Since Ten knew the convicted brother was innocent, Ronan insisted that we pay the other brother a visit. We were in for the surprise of our lives. It wasn’t that brother who killed the victim.”

“Who was it?”

“A triplet brother no one knew existed.”

“Seriously?”

Cannonball’s mouth dropped open.

“Seriously,”

Jude confirmed. “The third brother had a gun and Tennyson saw that he was going to shoot Ronan. I was able to shove him out of the way and took two bullets myself. After I got out of the hospital, Ronan invited me to stay with him and Ten while I recovered. I was able to see how their relationship worked and that them loving each other didn’t make them weaker, but stronger. It took a long time for me to realize it was okay to love someone. The person who taught me that was Everly.”

“The little psychic.”

Jude nodded. “You’re damn lucky I didn’t swing on you when you called her a psycho.”

He grinned at the daredevil. “That little girl changed my life forever. When I met Cope a few months later, I was scared to death of my feelings, but I took a chance on him and look at us now. We’ve got two kids, two amazing careers, and a ton of friends who are more like brothers. I have all of these things in my life because I took a chance on love. Has our road been all smooth sailing? No, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“That’s a great story, but what does it have to do with me and Heidi?”

Jude shot Cannonball an are-you-kidding-me look. “We’re so much alike that its scary. I think losing your father and having to live with your grandparents fundamentally changed you. Having an uninterested stepfather just confirmed that loving people wasn’t worth the risk.”

Cannonball stared at Jude, but stayed silent.

“Yeah, you love your wife. I’ve seen it. You love your son too, but on the periphery. Makes me wonder if you crashed that bike on purpose before he was born so you wouldn’t be there for CJ’s birth and wouldn’t have to bond with him.”

Cannonball’s hands balled into fists and Jude had a feeling he was about to get throat-punched.

“All I’m saying is that it’s okay to love your family. It’s okay to get close to them. You think the path your life is on is the only one available to you, but I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. You can be a plumber or a boring accountant, a school teacher, anything you want to be. Killing yourself will hurt your wife and son in a way that they’ll never recover from.”

“This is my life,”

Cannonball gritted out from behind clenched teeth.

“Yeah, it is. You’re absolutely right.”

Jude turned back to CJ and Wolf who were chasing Lizbet around and letting her catch them. “What will dying prove? All you’ll be doing is continuing the cycle your father started, which will culminate in the death of your wife and son.”

Jude pointed to the boys running around. “Look at your son. He’s got the world on a string. Wolf talked about how much alike he and CJ are and how he wants to visit you guys in Michigan so they can have sleepovers, build Legos together and roast marshmallows over your fire pit. What happens on Sunday will change everything for your son. I understand that you think that you’ll survive the stunt. You’ve got more confidence in yourself than anyone I’ve ever known, Ronan included. There’s no shame in backing out. Say that they river conditions weren’t optimal for an attempt at the falls or that there’s a structural issue with the barrel. If there’s anything we can do to help you, let us know.”

Jude stood up, he was about to walk away, but had one last thing to say. “Talk to Heidi and when she speaks, listen to her. Ask her about her hopes and dreams for your family. Go from there.”

“Thanks, Jude,”

Cannonball said. “I’ll think about what you said.

With a nod, Jude headed off to play with his daughter. She and Cope were chasing each other and laughing and Jude wanted in on the action. Thinking back over his life and reliving the Hutchins case reaffirmed to Jude that he’d made all the right decisions to secure his future. He had a husband who loved him, kids who were his entire world, and friends who’d been there for him through thick and thin. He wouldn’t give any of those things up for anything, never mind money or prestige.

All Jude could do now was hope Cannonball came to the same conclusion before it was too late.