6
Cope
After the morning Cope had dealing with Jonas Crawford and Aurora having to cleanse him and the others, Cope had been looking forward to a low-key night at home with takeout.
Jude had called an hour ago to say they were having a guest for dinner and that he’d stop by the supermarket to pick up food to cook.
Jude didn’t say who this guest was or why he was coming in the first place.
Cope had his phone in his hand, ready to call Jude, when the door alarm sounded.
“Babe? I’m home.”
Rushing into the living room, Cope helped Jude carry bags into the kitchen. He could see boxes of pasta, crushed tomatoes, ricotta cheese, and sweet Italian sausage. “This looks like the ingredients for my baked ziti.”
Jude nodded. He reached for Cope’s hands and pulled him into a hug.
Cope was instantly on alert. What the hell was going on?
Why was Jude crying on his shoulder? Did this have anything to do with the mystery guest coming for dinner?
“What’s wrong, Jude?” He’d been worried about his husband’s reaction to what happened with Jonas Crawford, now he was even more worried over what his husband was about to tell him.
“Something happened at work today and I’m not sure how to tell you about it.”
“Okay, have a seat, and I’ll get you something to drink.
” In all the years Cope and Jude had been together, he’d never seen his husband act like this.
If Cope didn’t know better, he’d think Jude had some kind of falling out with Ronan and Fitz and had lost his job.
That couldn’t be it, could it? He went to the fridge and grabbed a can of ginger ale and set it in front of Jude.
Jude cracked open the can and took a long sip.
“Whatever is going on, we’ll handle it together. I promise.” Cope took a seat across from Jude and waited for his husband to compose himself enough to tell him what happened at work.
“It started with Cisco.” Jude took a deep breath.
“We all thought Ronan had done something stupid, again, but that’s not why the chief wanted to see us.
Apparently, the mayor refused to sign off on the police budget for fiscal 2027 and he ordered an audit of the entire department.
The mayor told Cisco in not so veiled terms that he wants to axe the cold case unit. ”
“Sweet baby cheeses,” Cope muttered. His worst fear was about to come true. “What did Cisco have to say about that idea?”
“He thinks it’s bullshit, like the rest of us do.
With the midterm elections being two months away, Cisco thinks axing our team would look bad for any local politicians who go along with the idea.
He says that if it comes to it, we’ll have a rally at City Hall and let public support speak for us all. ”
Cope was going to throw up. Thanks to being the sole heir of his father’s estate, they had plenty of money to make it through any storm.
Hundreds of storms, actually. It wasn’t the financial side of this that worried him, but what being off the job would do to Jude.
His husband was a strong man and so much of that strength came from his sense of self-worth, pride in a job well done, and spending every day working with men he considered brothers.
Cope couldn’t help but wonder what this would do to Jude’s mental health. “When does this audit happen?”
“It’s happening now. We met the asshole auditor after lunch.”
“That skinny guy with the beat up briefcase?” Cope asked. He hadn’t been impressed with the man or his attitude.
“Yeah, did you meet him?”
“Sort of, I was in the shop when he came in looking for Fitz. I was the one who showed him to the stairs.” Cope remembered back to the moment he saw the man.
“He’s in a world of pain. It was a mix of grief, rage, and inequity, I guess.
He feels like life isn’t fair. Anyway, after the day I had, I didn’t want to waste precious energy getting a full read on him, but there’s something going on with him for sure. ”
“What do you mean ‘after the day you had?’ What happened?” Jude’s woe is me look turned to anger. He looked ready to fight any battle on Cope’s behalf.
“Finish your story about this auditor and then I’ll tell you. Just know that I’m fine now, so are Ten and Carson.”
“Ten and Carson were in danger with you?” Jude’s eyes went wide.
“Take a breath, babe. I’ll explain it all.”
Jude frowned. “The auditor’s name is West Strickland.
He was a complete and total dick. He agrees with the mayor that the cold case unit is useless and a waste of money.
He also made it very clear that he thinks psychics are conmen and aren’t worth the powder to blow them to hell.
Oh, and by the way, he’s the guest coming for dinner. ”
“He’s what?” Cope couldn’t believe his ears. “So, let me get this straight, the man who holds the future of the cold case team in the palm of his hand and hates psychics is going to sit in my house, at my table, eating my baked ziti tonight. Do I have this right?”
“Unfortunately.” Jude sighed.
“Why is he coming to dinner? Who the hell invited him? If it was Ronan, I’ll punch his lights out.”
Jude wrapped Cope in his arms. “No one’s punching anyone’s lights out, although, I’d love to see you lay one on this asshole.
Fitz thought if we had Strickland over he might see us as family men, rather than cops.
Ronan and Fitz’s families are coming for dinner too.
I’m hoping Everly will be our ace in the hole.
Maybe she can get to the heart of this guy’s malfunction and help find a solution that will help him and us too. ”
“I hope so, Jude.” Cope slumped back into his seat at the table.
“Tell me what happened with you today.” Jude reached for Cope’s hand, giving it a squeeze.
The last thing Cope wanted to do was retell what happened that morning, but Jude deserved the truth and from Cope. “Have you heard of Jonas Crawford?”
Jude’s eyes narrowed. “The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know why.”
“He’s a new psychic in town. His shop is the old soap store on Essex Street.”
“Oh, he’s the guy all over the radio and social media promising free readings.”
Cope nodded. “I’ve been so busy getting the kids ready for school and whatnot that I had no idea who he was. Carson and Ten were talking about him this morning. We were all free after lunch, so we went to this guy’s shop to introduce ourselves and get to know him a bit.”
“I’m guessing by the look on your face that he wasn’t happy to see you.”
“Right. The shop smelled of sulfur, which is used in aggressive black magic spells and is also used as a countermeasure to certain curses and hexes. We weren’t quite sure which use Crawford had been employing, but that was evident soon enough.
” Cope’s hands shook as spoke. He’d been afraid of Crawford.
It had been a long time since Cope had been afraid of any witch or wizard.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No, he didn’t cause physical pain, but he compelled me to let down my guard surrounding my gifts. He knew about the Devereaux death spell and made it sound like he knew my mother personally. He tried to compel me to give him the spell.”
“Compel? What, like Dracula?” Jude sounded as shocked as he looked.
“Yeah, something like that. He told Carson and Ten to get the hell out of the shop and to never come back and asked me to stay so we could talk about the spell. Jude, there was a part of me that wanted to stay and tell him everything.”
“Jesus Christ. You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“No, I got out of the shop as quickly as I could. We called Madam Aurora from Lobster Charlie’s and she came by to cleanse us with some rosemary concoction that broke the spell used to compel us.”
“Thank god for Aurora.”
“Yeah, she was a big help today, wanting to make sure we didn’t contaminate the shop or any of you with that man’s magic.
Aurora also said that this guy’s magic felt old.
She wasn’t sure if he was someone reincarnated or if he was an energy vampire, stealing from people’s minds.
I have to say I think it’s the latter, because I felt like Crawford went through every square inch of my mind and my life.
Ten said he felt violated the way he would if someone had broken into his house and had gone through his things. ”
“Cope, I don’t know what to say to that. You’ve never met anyone like this before?”
Cope shook his head. “No, Ten and Carson hadn’t either.
He knew things about all of us. How Carson passed himself off as psychic after Bertha died, even though he hadn’t come into his gifts yet.
He knew Ten’s history with his family and of course, knew I had the death spell.
I’m looking forward to having Everly here to see what she can tell us about this.
I’m sure her gift will light up like a Christmas tree when she sees or feels what this guy did to Tennyson. ”
“That kid’s gonna earn her dessert tonight. That’s for sure.” Jude smiled wistfully.
“I hate to put her in the middle of this, but if she can help, then I’d like her to do just that.”
“Ronan will feel the same way once Ten explains what happened to you all this morning.”
“I think so too.” Cope sighed. “What we need to do is put this all to the side for now and concentrate on dinner with this Strickland person.”
“Right. I wish there was a spell you could put on me so that I don’t say anything stupid or do anything stupid or wear anything stupid.”
Cope found his first smile in what felt like hours. “We’ll circle the wagons and make sure this man leaves tonight with a full belly and a changed attitude about psychics and the cold case team.”
“Here! Here!” Jude said. “There’s enough time for us to hop in the shower and blow off some steam before the kids get off the bus.”
“Jude Byrne, are you trying to seduce me?” Cope winked at his husband.
“Is it working?” Jude waggled his eyebrows and kissed Cope’s neck.
“It sure is.” Cope let Jude lead him up the stairs.
Even though the sky felt like it was falling in their world, Cope knew Jude would be beside him through it all.
Banging his hot husband might settle him down enough to be cordial to the man who held Jude’s police career in the palm of his hands.
If not, well, then there were spells Cope could use to turn the tide.
He’d only use them as a last resort.
Or maybe not.