Reckless

The winds are gentle and the waves wash onto the shore in quiet whispers. Jupiter watches them from the balcony. Soon, she will be far away from here. Not by choice. In fact, her intention was to remain on this island for another couple of weeks. However, fate had other plans. Her smile is rueful, and barely visible in the soft moonlight. Benjamin. Would he have planned for the events that are now unfolding? Most likely, she thinks.

Her evening is quiet. She packs lightly. Because this trip won’t take long. This place is more home to Jupiter than any other place she knows. Furthermore, Mary Elizabeth has everything ready for her arrival. If only it were for a family visit, and not business. Speaking of which, she’s a little concerned about the business. Mary Elizabeth was pulled away from their call. Something about Emma, and an emergency.

Emma watches Callisto. Additionally, she can’t help but notice the giant chauffeur, also known as Tiny. The giant man is never more than five feet away from Callisto. They are slowly walking around the porch, looking at the ground. Callisto is on the phone and relays details while he scrutinizes the area. Emma can’t understand what happened to Eric. She feels relieved that Callisto is here. She called Mary Elizabeth because intuition told her that Eric wasn’t just missing. He was in danger.

However, Mary Elizabeth somehow already knew about Eric. Furthermore, she summoned Callisto. Emma was still on the phone with Mary Elizabeth, when Callisto arrived. Now, she is trying to stay out of the way of the giant, as he assists Callisto in searching for Eric. She wants to ask him how Mary Elizabeth knew about Eric. How could they have known anything? As far as Emma knew she and Eric were not a part of Mary Elizabeth’s estranged father’s business dealings.

Except that might not be entirely true, now that she thinks about it. She is remembering the shipping containers that occupied this lot after the demolition of the house. Furthermore, there were other things in those containers. Some of those things were absolutely priceless. It would be reckless to doubt the connection. Yet, she barely cares, because none of it means anything without Eric. She looks at Callisto again, and can’t help herself. “Well!?”

Jupiter’s Heart

Eric struggles against the ropes. He’s been alone for hours now. At least, he thinks he’s alone. He still can’t see what’s behind him from this chair. Likewise he can only turn his head oh so far. He still can’t get his head around Eileen. Back before he and Emma built the house, they met Eileen. Furthermore, he and Emma knew that Laraby, their persistent detective, was also interested in Eileen. Although it was for vastly different reasons.

With this in mind, Eileen slipped from their minds. He wonders what happened. The last time they heard anything, Eileen was in jail. The irony isn’t lost on him as he looks at the books lining the walls of the room he’s in. Where the hell was he anyway? Furthermore, what did Eileen intend to do with him? He thinks about Emma. Was she safe? Had she been abducted too? And what is the end game? If Eileen got what belonged to her, would she let Eric go?

Reckless

The lights flicker on and Eric’s eyes squint from the glare. He hears footsteps as someone enters the room.

“They are gonna want proof I have you.” Eileen circles to the front of the chair where Eric can see her. Then she kneels in front of Eric and produces a pair of pruning shears. “We’ll just give them a little proof.” Eric watches in horror as Eileen grabs the pinky finger of his tethered left hand. Then she places the razor sharp blades, around his finger…

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