Ghost Falls (Haunted Souls #22)

13

When Cope woke up on Saturday morning, the first thing he did was use his gift to reach out to Cannonball. Jude had filled him in on the heart to heart the men had the day before and Cope had been hopeful that something Jude said would hit home for the daredevil. Unfortunately, nothing in Cannonball’s future had changed. He was still going to die on Sunday.

Reaching out for information about Heidi brought different results. Cope discovered that Heidi was able to save herself and CJ thanks to the advice Jude had given her yesterday about getting a lawyer and starting a GoFundMe page. Neither of them would die in the horrific ways he’d seen.

“You’re sure we changed Heidi’s future?”

Jude asked as the two were on their way to the ballroom for the second day of PsychicFest. Cope and Ten had a two hour meet and greet scheduled, where they’d sign autographs, take pictures and do mini-readings for the fans that came to see them.

“I’m positive,”

Cope affirmed. “Ten said the same thing when we were in the buffet line for breakfast, but I think we need to keep that information to ourselves.”

“Why?”

Jude asked.

“We’re all sort of hoping that it’s Heidi and CJ’s fate that will talk Cannonball out of going over the falls. If he finds out that their future has changed, he’ll be more determined than ever that the show must go on.”

Cope shook his head. “If you ever pulled anything like this, I’d divorce you quicker than you could say the word.”

Jude grinned at his husband. “Would you really though? I mean, we’ve been together for six years. We’ve got two kids and both of our names are on the house and all the bills. Would you really leave me to fend for myself?”

“I would,”

Cope said, sounding more serious than he had a minute before. “You’re an adult and have the free will to do anything you want. Shave your hair into a mohawk? Sure, thing. Become a vegan? Go for it. Attempt to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel? Nope! You’re on your own.”

“Explain that to me.”

Jude sounded more curious than annoyed.

Cope studied his husband for a few seconds and determined he wasn’t being a pain in the ass, but rather wanted to hear his thought process. “If you want to be self-destructive, it’s your choice, but I don’t want to watch your downfall and our kids don’t deserve to see it either. I think the thing that upsets me the most about Cannonball, isn’t that he wants to do this crazy, dangerous thing, but that he wants his son there to watch it happen.”

Cope could see the accident in his mind’s eye. It terrified him to see it as an adult. “Can you imagine watching him come over the falls to cheers and excitement, only for the capsule not to surface? Then watching as search and rescue jump into action and bring Cannonball’s lifeless body to the boat? What do you think seeing that would do to Wolf if it were your body?”

Jude shook his head. “The horror he’d experience would be overwhelming, just like it was when my father was murdered in front of me. Wolf would never be the same and even with the changes we made to Heidi and CJ’s lives, they’ll never be the same either.”

“You’re right, so yeah, I would divorce you to keep our kids safe.”

Cope patted Jude’s cheek.

“I can see where you’re coming from.”

Jude paused for a moment, seeming to think things over. “What else can we do to save Cannonball? My chat with him yesterday was pretty emotional and it didn’t make a dent in his armor. How else can we get through to him?”

“I don’t know, Jude.”

Cope didn’t like his answer one bit, but he’d run out of ideas. “I’ll think about it during the meet and greet. You never know where inspiration will come from.”

“I’m sticking by your side in case of trouble. Ronan’s coming along and Fitz will be here too. People have caught wind about your prediction for Cannonball and there might be some folks who take exception to your opinion.”

“I appreciate it, Jude.”

To be honest, Cope had expected repercussions from his Cannonball prophecy to have come for him long before now. The same went for Everly and Ten. Ronan had done a good job of keeping his daughter safely out of the line of fire, but Ten was a different story, he was going to be front and center for the next two hours speaking with people, fan or foe.

Cope entered the ballroom to see a flurry of activity. Psychics were busy setting up their booths and getting their headshots ready to sign. Cope saw a few who were deep in meditation, and wished he was doing the same thing. He hadn’t had any real time to himself over the last few days and could use a few moments of Zen.

When Cope arrived at their shared booth, Ten was already there. He’d set up the banner with their names and West Side Magick’s website as well as the tablecloth that covered the ugly fold away table. “Thanks for getting all of this done.”

“It was Ronan. He needed to burn off his nervous energy. I told him nothing had changed with Cannonball and he’s been in overdrive ever since.”

Ten pointed to the opposite side of the room.

Cope followed Ten’s direction. He saw Ronan and Fitz helping two women set up their free-standing sign. Several other women were standing by, presumably wanting their help as well. “They’ve gathered quite the following.”

Ten laughed. “My husband is full of charm and is always willing to pitch in until he’s got to wash the dishes or fold laundry. Then he turns into a man-child.”

“Preach, brother.”

Cope rolled his eyes at Jude.

“Well, if you’re going to besmirch my name in front of me, I’ll go hang out with my friends and their harem of lady psychics.”

Sticking his tongue out at Cope, Jude hurried away.

“I’m glad he’s gone,”

Ten said softly.

It wasn’t like Tennyson to have a mean word to say about anyone. “Why? What’s up?”

“Everly had another vision this morning. I wanted to tell you about it before we tell the others.”

“Wait, you didn’t even tell Ronan?”

Cope asked. Not telling Ronan something this important wasn’t like Tennyson either.

“No.”

Ten looked around, as if he were expecting someone to be eavesdropping. “Everly saw a way for Cannonball to survive the fall.”

“Holy shit! She did? How did he make it through alive?”

Cope felt his heart begin to pound. He reached out to Cannonball again and saw the same old vision of him being stuck under the falls and drowning before help could get to him.

“The United States Coast Guard, or as Everly put it, hunky men in orange onesies.”

Ten shook his head. “It took me a few minutes to figure out what she was talking about.”

Cope snorted. He could picture the Coast Guard rescue swimmers in their bright wet suits. “How did she see the swimmers helping?”

“We already know from Cannonball that the tourist boats won’t be running in the hour before or after the stunt. All we’d need to do is get in touch with Coast Guard Station Niagara and see if we could get them to be standing by.”

“Wow, that’s an awfully big ask. Not to mention how much it would cost. I mean search and rescue charged Rooster’s widow thousands of dollars for the work they did to find her husband’s body. We know they’re going to do the same thing with Heidi.”

How the hell would they even reach out to the Guard? Would they even take him seriously?

“Yeah,”

Ten agreed. “Cannonball would be alive though. People might be willing to donate to a GoFundMe page if he goes public with the costs incurred.”

“What about Jace?”

Cope asked. “I’d hate to even ask Fitz about him being willing to put up the money for something like this.”

“Jace would do it though. He’s a good man and would want to help.”

“Jace would want to help with what?”

Fitzgibbon asked from behind Cope and Tennyson.

“Fuck me blue,”

Ten muttered under his breath. By the time he turned to address Fitz, Ronan and Jude had joined them. “Okay, don’t be mad at me, but Everly had another vision about Cannonball.”

“Dammit, Ten. I hate that she’s having to see this moron die over and over again. What did she see? More importantly, why did you both keep it from me?”

Ten sighed. He motioned the detectives closer. “She didn’t see him die. Everly saw a way for him to live.”

“What?”

Ronan’s eyes widened. “Now I really don’t understand why neither of you told us.”

“It involves the U.S. Coast Guard. Everly saw rescue swimmers with their bright orange wet suits in the water. They were able to get Cannonball out of the barrel in time to save him,”

Ten explained. “The reason we didn’t tell you is that I wanted to figure out how feasible the idea was first, without getting anyone’s hopes up. I don’t even know how to get in touch with them in the first place.”

“Or if they’d even believe us, in the second place,”

Cope added.

“Where does Jace come into this?”

Fitz asked, wearing a skeptical look on his face.

“If someone were able to front the cost of the rescue, maybe the Coast Guard would be more willing to help,”

Ten said, chewing on his lower lip.

Fitzgibbon nodded along as Ten spoke. “Well, then, I guess it’s a good idea I know a high ranking member of the Coast Guard.”

“You do?”

Ten and Cope asked together.

“Yeah, a guy by the name of Milton Forsythe. I met him during my first year as a homicide detective. The Coast Guard had found a body floating in Boston Harbor near Georges Island. Since they were the ones who hauled the corpse on board their boat, the BPD had to work the case in connection with the Guard. Milt was the one who’d spotted the body. He was a petty officer then. Now he’s the commander of Coast Guard Station Chatham, on Cape Cod. I could put in a call to him and see if there’s anything he can do to help.”

“Do it,”

Cope said. “I’m sorry that we didn’t come to you with this sooner and that my first thought was that Jace’s money might be able to save Cannonball’s life.”

“It’s okay, Cope.”

Fitz set a hand on his shoulder. “The same idea would have occurred to me as well. We all know how accurate Everly’s visions are, so I’ll see what I can do.”

Fitz grabbed his phone and walked away. Moments later, he left the ballroom, most likely looking for a quiet place to make the call.

“Are you angry with me?”

Ten asked Ronan.

Ronan took a deep breath. “No, I’m not mad, but if you’d told me this morning, Fitz could have reached out to his friend sooner.

“You’re right.”

Ten wrapped his arms around his husband and gave him a hug.

Jude grabbed Cope’s arm and pulled him away. “Did you see this too?”

Cope shook his head. “No, only Everly did, which makes sense, since she was the one who saw him die in the first place. The only reason I was able to see what happened to Cannonball is because she transmitted the vision to me. I should have know she’d be the one to see any changes in the timeline.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“I know.”

Cope sighed. “I just hope that Fitzgibbon’s friend can help us out here, otherwise CJ is gonna grow up without his father.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Jude pulled Cope into his arms.

Holding on for dear life, Cope prayed Jude was right.