1 Jude
February, present day…
Jude reached for the ever-present bottle of Tylenol on the kitchen counter and popped two of them into his mouth.
Wolf, Lizzy, Everly, Ezra, and Aurora were in the living room laughing over an episode of Sesame Street.
Lizzy and Ezra had fallen in love with the show.
Cookie Monster especially, which made snack time clean up a bit problematic. Jude’s favorite was Super Grover.
There had been no watching Sesame Street when Jude had been growing up.
When he’d lived in Albuquerque with his father, he’d had a strict babysitter who believed television rotted children’s brains.
What young boys needed was time outside.
While he’d tried to amuse himself in the backyard, the babysitter spent the afternoon watching her “stories.” Apparently, General Hospital did not rot brains, although being stuck on the sofa for the last eight weeks had taught him otherwise.
Jude’s last week of sick leave coincided with the kids’ February vacation, which was why he was watching Bert and Ernie instead of finding out who really shot Drew Cain on General Hospital.
His money was on his wife’s ex-husband. If working for the Salem Police Department had taught him anything, it was that it’s always the husband.
“Daddy!” Everly shouted, running to the door. She swung it wide open as Ronan came inside carrying a large handled bag from the local ice cream parlor.
“I’ve got baby cups for everyone.” Ronan reached into the bag and started handing out cups with plastic domes.
“I am not a baby!” Aurora pouted.
“So that means you don’t want your ice cream?” Ronan’s bottom lip trembled and he started to cry. “I’m a failure!” he wailed. “I’m not fit to show my face in public.”
“It’s okay, Uncle Ronan.” Aurora patted his back. “I’ll be a baby just for one day.” She took the cup and spoon from him.
“My hero!” Ronan crowed before passing out cups to the rest of the kids. He angled his head toward the kitchen and Jude followed behind him.
“How are you today?” Ronan asked, pulling out the last two ice cream cups from the bag.
“Honestly, I’m bored as hell. I love having the kids, but it’s only Monday and I’m already feeling caged in.
” Bored as hell was an understatement. Jude felt like he’d been ready to go back to work for the last three weeks, but his doctor kept him back.
He’d finally gotten a clean bill of health on Friday.
Now, he was able to resume all activities, including driving and going back to work. Jude couldn’t wait.
“Since it’s school vacation week, there should be a lot of things to do. We could go to the movies, disco bowling, Disney on Ice, the Museum of Science. The train from Salem would take us right into North Station at the Boston Garden. What do you think?”
Jude nodded. “Sounds good. I’m just antsy because I’m at the end of this forced down time. I don’t think I’ve spent this much time on my ass in my entire life.”
“I know how you feel. Ten had to practically tie me to the bed after the last time I was shot. The last thing I wanted to do was sit home and do nothing, while the world went on without me.” Ronan shook his head.
“The office isn’t the same without you. I love having Greeley around, but he and Fitz are joined at the hip, which is great for them, and makes sense so he can learn the ropes, but I’ve been… ”
“Lonely?” Jude asked with a snicker.
“Maybe,” Ronan muttered under his breath. “I’ve picked out three cases for you to look at when you get into the office on Monday. Whichever one you like best is the one we’ll tackle.”
“Fitz is ready for me to jump right back into the fray?” Jude had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“I don’t see why not. You’re medically cleared. He was the one who had to send the letter from your doctor to the Salem Police HR Department.”
“Yeah, that’s just Fitz following procedure, but you and I both know he’s gonna fret over me like a toddler with a runny nose.
It’s been two months of that kind of shit.
I’m fine! My headaches are gone. So is my double vision.
I’m as good as new.” Jude stood up to twirl around.
His left knee cracked. “Okay maybe not as good as new, but not ready for the scrapyard yet either.”
“We’re both over forty. Fitz is over fifty.
We’re in the prime of our lives and our careers.
” Ronan sighed. “Look, we almost lost you. It wasn’t like you had a bump to the head or a couple of stitches, you were on life support.
A machine was breathing for you, Jude. I don’t want to sound like a drama queen but you have no idea how it affected me, seeing you lying limp in a hospital bed, your vital signs running across a monitor, reminiscing about all the great times we had together and praying to God we had more to come.
I think we’ve all got some trauma to deal with, so you can’t be angry with us if we treat you with kid gloves for a little while. ”
“You’re gonna be just fine, Uncle Jude,” Everly said, walking into the kitchen with empty ice cream containers.
She dumped them into the trash and took the seat next to Jude at the table.
“You and Daddy are gonna solve the Pistachio case in no time. I promise. Remember when I was a little girl and couldn’t wait to drive your car? ”
Jude snickered. “You still are a little girl!”
“Hilarious, Uncle Jude. I’m seven years old now.
” Everly giggled. “You told me to be patient, that there were so many amazing things that were gonna come my way before it was time to learn to drive. I think that was your way of telling me there was no chance you’d ever let me drive the Thunderbird.
” She elbowed his ribs and waggled her eyebrows.
“But I listened to what you said about being patient and now it’s my turn to give that advice back to you.
” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and hopped off her chair.
“What do I say to Fitz if he sticks me on desk duty?” Jude asked, feeling much better than he had a few minutes earlier.
Everly raised her hand, as if she had the answer to a question in class. “Do what we always do; say okay to his face and then do what you want, right Daddy?”
Ronan burst out laughing. “You learned from the best.”
“I sure did!” Everly hugged Ronan before running back into the living room.
“She’s not wrong, you know?” Ronan grinned. “I mean, I’ll feel differently when she’s sixteen and wants to go on car dates with boys, but I don’t see a problem where you’re concerned now, do you?”
“We’ve always been more of a beg for forgiveness instead of ask for permission kind of team.” Jude popped the plastic dome off his ice cream and dug in.
“I don’t see any reason to change that, do you?” Ronan asked.
“Nope!” Jude burst into an easy laugh. He felt better already. “What the hell is the Pistachio case?”
It was Ronan’s turn to laugh. “It’s the Pistorio case.
Maria Pistorio was found dead in her bathtub in 2005.
Her husband, Rocco, said she drowned accidentally, but there were marks that indicated maybe she’d been drowned on purpose.
The medical examiner wasn’t able to say definitively if the death was murder or an accident, so the case has sat in the unsolved pile for quite a long time.
It’s time we try to get Maria some justice.
Our first step is to interview the husband. ”
“It’s always the husband!” Jude grinned. He was going to hit the ground running and wasn’t going to look back.