or residue hanging around?” Cope looked more bewildered than he had a few seconds ago.
“Has this ever happened before? Where things were this jumbled?” Jude couldn’t remember Cope or any of the other psychics ever describing something like this before.
“Not like this. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”
Jude was pussyfooting around, hoping Cope sensed some of the things he’d seen at the house. “I think I may have found a piece to the puzzle.”
“What is it? Why didn’t you tell me before?” The edge was back in Cope’s voice.
“I didn’t get a handle on it until just now.” Jude was telling the truth. He’d been so riled up over what happened at the house, that when he’d stumbled on the information he was about to tell Cope, the importance hadn’t set in.
“What is it?”
“Marc mentioned Peg’s family in Newburyport having money. I checked them out right before we left the office for the day. Peg’s maiden name is Hancock.”
Cope’s eyes widened. “As in John Hancock? The guy with the big-ass signature on the Declaration of Independence?”
Jude snorted. “No, Hancock as in Boston Scientific. Peg’s father, Royce, made a bundle in the eighties with his tech advances in robotics. Royce holds the title of CEO, with Peg as the CFO, but rumor has it, she’ll be taking over from him when he retires in the next few years.” Finding out Peg had money only solidified what Jude had been thinking about her husband. He was a money-grubbing douche.
“I take it Peg is loaded too?”
“She is and there’s an iron-clad prenup keeping Marc from her money.”
“How the hell did you learn all this? All these rumors and stories about a prenup?”
“Employee of the month, remember?” Jude burst out laughing. “I used my PI skills to find out what I could through public records, and you’d be surprised how much gossip there is on news websites about people like the Hancocks.”
“Good work,” Cope mumbled, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
“Why don’t we eat? You’ll feel better after we have some dinner. Maybe we’ll go to bed early.” Jude pressed a kiss to Cope’s head and moved back to the stove. The water was boiling, and he dumped the pasta into the pot.
“Do you think it’s that thing?” Cope asked. Concern marred his handsome face.
“Could you be more specific?” There were a lot of things able to nudge Cope’s mood in one direction or another.
“That thing you got me for my birthday.” Color rose on Cope’s cheeks.
“You’re a thirty-three-year-old man. You can say the word vibrator out loud, you know.” Jude snickered. “Was it possible the prostate pounding made you come your actual brains out?”
“Maybe.” Cope found a laugh. “I just realized I’m starving. Maybe that’s it. We didn’t really eat well today.
Jude wasn’t about to contradict his husband after the mood he’d been able to walk Cope back from. There was something odd going on, all right, but Jude knew it had nothing to do with hunger or vibrating butt plugs.
11
Copeland
Oddly enough, Cope found himself back in his office after Wolf dropped off to sleep. Jude had gone downstairs to start cleaning up, and Cope had every intention of following his husband, when he felt the pull of the typewriter. Maybe this was what Jude was talking about when he said the machine drew him in.
Words flowed from Cope’s fingers the second they touched the keys. It was like they were lined up and ready to go the moment his ass hit the seat. Clicks and pings filled the room. Cope was lost in the moment and his memories.
When he was writing, he felt his mother’s presence. They’d spoken a few times since their reunion last year when Cope had been shot, but nothing as regular as his times with Bertha Craig. Elizabeth had a full rich life on the other side, one she hadn’t been free to pursue during her lifetime. She didn’t need to hang out with Cope to relive their memories. She had new glory days to conquer.
Cope didn’t blame his mother for embracing her freedom. He would be doing the same thing if his father had been as domineering over his life as he had been over Elizabeth’s. His thoughts turned to that last day. Their final goodbye had nearly broken Cope. It was his father’s unfeeling words that had somehow managed to ground him and keep him from losing his shit in that lousy hospital room.
He’d held on to that pain and resentment for years, only realizing much