Unity

Tiny stands unmoving at the entrance. Behind him is the meeting room, and the shouting is still happening. Furthermore he can hear it through the doors. It certainly sounds like Callisto’s sister is giving him what for. And at first he didn’t think they would enter the room at all. Callisto and his sister started arguing the moment they arrived.

Indeed, one would think all the years apart would soften the heart. Tiny adjusts his stance slightly. The shouting from within the room carries on.

“How dare you stand there and tell me to calm down James Abner!” Mary Elizabeth glares at James, and continues pacing.

“It’s Callisto! And shouting is completely unnecessary.” James remains standing while he watches Mary Elizabeth pace the floor. “Furthermore, I fail to see what the big deal is. So it’s been a couple of decades. I didn’t even know who I was until a couple of years ago. There was a war for crying out loud! Just in case you don’t remember.”

Mary continues pacing as she listens. Don’t remember? It’s almost more than she can stand. She stops pacing, and stares at him with eyebrows raised, “No big deal? No…big …deal!” Her voice rises with each word, topping out at a near shout. “No big deal is a missed hair appointment! No big deal is a dent in the car! But learning my brother is alive, after thinking you were dead for twenty years, is a huge deal James Abner Thomas!” She glares at him, although there is a softness at the edge of her gaze.

Now they both stop and simply stare at each other. There are tears forming in Mary Elizabeth’s eyes. She speaks but much softer this time, “We thought you were gone James. All those years, the pain…and now here you stand. If only mom and dad were here…” her voice trails off, as the tears begin. Then they hug each other, and for a time all is quiet.

The Retrieval of Jupiter’s Heart

Detective Laraby watches the giant of a man standing at the entrance. Although he got dispatch to run the plates of the limo, he wasn’t surprised it came back to a corporation. The Callisto corporation. Additionally, he just got the info on the woman. Mary Elizabeth Jennings. No rap sheet. However, what surprised him, was the connection to the old man.

In fact, Laraby wouldn’t have made the connect if not for the Chief. Furthermore, it was the Chief that remembered the daughter. Therefore, when Laraby got the full report it was clear. Jennings was her married name. The woman in the office, behind the giant, was Mary Elizabeth Thomas. Before she married.

With that little bit of information, the connection to Emma and Eric was easy to make. Furthermore, it looked as though the whole family was coming together. Some effort at unity perhaps. The only thing he didn’t know, was the Callisto corporation’s connection. Nor who the man in the limo was, however, that was about to change. Laraby watches the first of the police cruisers pull into the lot beside the limo. It is showtime. He cranks the car, and hits the siren. Time to get some answers.

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