Page 24 of Ghosted
“That’s right, the man in the blue tuxedo.”
Jude nodded his agreement. Jace was a lot of things, handsome, rich, successful, the one thing he wasn’t, was fashionable. Jace had looked like he’d walked out of the 1970s with his blue tux. No one seemed to notice his back to the future style and Fitz looked even more crazy about his husband than usual. “Don’t do this, Jerry. Don’t ask my friends for money unless you’re going to let me go. Jace has a lot of friends who are even richer than he is. Guys he went to Harvard with. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to set you up with some of them.”
“Yeah, right.” Jerry didn’t look very impressed with Jude’s offer. “Like I said, I want the money you offered, and to get it, we’re gonna make a little ransom video.”
Jude’s heart sank. This wasn’t what he expected at all. “Fine, do whatever you want, but I’m not taking part in any of this.”
“Don’t forget I know where your family is, Jude. It wouldn’t take much to pay them a visit. Maybe they’d like to join you here, although I can’t imagine your little girl, what do you call her again? Oh, yeah Lizzy B. That’s right. I can’t imagine Lizzy B being very happy with these conditions.”
Jude felt his anger rising. He’d die before he let his daughter come anywhere near this place. He wanted to scream and shout at Jerry, but he quickly realized that’s exactly what he wanted. All Jude needed to do was be his old self. He shrugged and didn’t answer. Jerry hated it when Jude ignored him, so he was going to get a double helping of Jude being Jude.
Jerry pulled out his phone and held it in front of his face. “Hi, Cope! It’s Jerry! Remember me? Yup, I’m Jude’s once and future lover! I’ve got him here with me and we’ve been getting reacquainted. Wanna see?” Jerry waggled his eyebrows at the screen. “Heeeeere’s Jude!” He tapped the phone screen.
Jude assumed he’d turned the camera around to face him. He got up from the bed and walked quickly to the front of the cage. “Cope! I’m sorry, I love you! Tell the kids I love them!”
“There you have it, proof of life. In return for that touching video, I want one million dollars. Don’t give me that, ‘I don’t have any money,’ bullshit. I know you’re Buford Forbes’ son. He was loaded when he died, but not as loaded as your friend Jace Lincoln. One million dollars, Cope, and for that, you get Jude back. I’ll be in touch with a drop off location. If you involve the police in the ransom drop, Jude dies. I’ll send him back to you in pieces. I’m in my Dexter era!” Jerry laughed. “Don’t fuck with this bull, you will definitely get the horns. Byeee!” Jerry tapped the phone several more times. “All I have to do is route this message through a couple different IP servers and bingo! It’s off.”
“You’re not going to let me go even if Cope and Jace turn over the money.” It wasn’t a question, Jude knew he wasn’t going to walk out of this cage alive. At least he’d had the opportunity to apologize to Cope and tell him and the kids he loved them, one last time. He supposed that was all he hope for.
“Of course I’m not letting you go! First of all, your mine now. Second of all, if I let you go, the first thing you’d do is go to the police.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Jude said. “All I want is to go home to my family. I don’t want to see you arrested or in jail. Live and let live, you know?” Jude actually sounded sincere, when he wasanything but. In fact, he’d do more than call the police when or if he was set free. He’d be the star fucking witness at Jerry’s trial and would be there for every parole hearing making sure Jerry was the one behind bars. Permanently.
“Oh, Jude. Jude. Jude.” Jerry shook his head. “You must think I’m pretty fucking stupid.”
“Actually, I think you’re pretty fucking pathetic.”
“I lost everything because of you! My one true love. My job! My house! My family. It’s all gone because of you!” Jerry’s bellow echoed around the small chamber.
Jude could see the anger in Jerry’s eyes. This wasn’t a performance, this was real. “How did I cost you your job, house, and family?” He was genuinely curious.
“You were supposed to die at the hands of the killer angel! It was too good to pass up, finding out you were going to be in the hospital after your surgery. I couldn’t wait to watch the life slowly drain out of your eyes.”
Jude’s eyes narrowed. “Wait! You weren’t the killer angel, Paul Armstrong was. Why would you have been there to watch me die?” He didn’t like the sound of this one bit. If Jerry were caught up somehow with Armstrong, this wasn’t good. Maybe he could have played on Jerry’s love for him to get out of this mess, but it was an entirely different situation all together if he was mixed up with Armstrong.
“I was Armstrong’s physician’s assistant.”
“You, what?” Jude asked, feeling chilled to the bone. He was aware of what PAs did, assisting doctors in the operating room and even performing minor procedures. “I was awake during my surgery. You weren’t there. I would have heard your voice.”
Jerry laughed. “Not true on both counts. The anesthesia you were given was meant to cause anterograde amnesia, meaning you don’t form new memories while under the drug. Mickey Fucking Mouse could have performed your surgery and you wouldn’t have remembered it.”
Jude thought back to his time in the hospital. He remembered saying goodbye to Cope and Nurse Betty wheeling him out of the pre-op room and into the operating theater. His surgeon said hello and Jude remembered Armstrong telling him to count back from one hundred after putting a mask over his mouth and nose. The next thing Jude remembered was waking up in the recovery room with Betty offering him Biscoff cookies and a heavily iced cup of ginger ale. “Were you there?”
“After you were under the anesthesia.” Jerry laughed at the shocked look on Jude’s face. “I didn’t want you to see me that morning. My plan was to come to see you after Doctor Armstrong paid his visit. In fact, I was waiting in the hallway, watching his every move. I hand-picked you, Jude.”
“I don’t understand. You wanted me to die because I didn’t want to be with you?” Jude’s voice sounded small. He was well aware of men who stalked and killed their exes, several of the cases he’d worked with the Salem Police had been thanks to husbands and lovers who couldn’t stand to see the relationship end. It was one of the most extreme example of domestic violence imaginable. The only thing worse would have been hurting the kids.
“Yup! That’s exactly why I wanted you to die. I was just lucky that my father owed me a favor.” Jerry laughed again. He sounded insane, like a movie villain going over the edge.
Those words stopped Jude cold. He remembered Jerry saying his father had never been a part of his life. What the hell was hetalking about? “Who is your father?” Jude asked, having a very bad feeling he already knew the answer.
“Doctor Paul Armstrong, of course.”
“How?” Jude couldn’t have been more surprised if Jerry said his mother was the Queen of England.
“Now Jude, I hardly think you need me to explain the birds and the bees to you. Surely you know where babies come from.”
“You told me your father walked out of your life before you were born and your mother wouldn’t tell you who he was. I remember you asking if I would consider working for you to find out who your father was.” Thank fuck Jude hadn’t accepted that job. He’d told Jerry he never did work for lovers and never fucked men he’d worked for. Thank goodness he had some standards.
