The Kidnapping King

INEZ & THE PORTAL

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - PRESENT DAY

The abyss was dark and formless. Millions of tiny, bright lights were speeding past as Inez Mac Paidin traveled, at high speed, through space and time. Thoughts were only a blur in this dis-embodied state. She felt confusion and rage building within her. What just happened?

The experience was short-lived, ending abruptly as she landed, face-down, spread-eagle, on the hard parquet floor of the foyer in her exquisite Ostermalm home.

Inez pushed up onto her elbows and rested, momentarily, re-establishing her boundaries.

The pendant.

She reached up to her neck and discovered it was, in fact, missing.

Ethan.

How could the boy have betrayed her trust so completely?

Her eyes widened, and then the hint of a smile gradually turned up the corners of her mouth.

That's right...their agreement.

Smoothing strands of long, dark hair from her face, Inez sat upright and glanced around her.

Flammel stepped out of the music room. "Madam?" He asked when confronted by the image of his mistress sprawled in a disheveled mess on the floor. Dashing to her side, he took hold of her elbow and gently helped her to her feet.

Inez roughly shoved him away, smoothing the front of her blouse and brushing off the knees of her slacks, as she gathered her wits about her.

"Thank you, Flammel." She looked at her servant, who was wearing a bewildered and slightly frightened expression on his age-worn face.

Shaking her head back and forth and blinking slowly, she addressed him;

"Things didn't go quite as planned. But I'm fine. No need to worry yourself." She turned from him and headed toward the staircase.

A small frown was forming on the butler's brow.

"But, Lady Clara and young Master Ethan? Will they be following you, Madam?"

Inez turned and glanced in his direction.

"That is yet to be determined. I expect their arrival will be delayed. How long is any body's guess." She turned again and, holding tight to the handrail, carefully made her way up the stairs.

Arriving upon the landing at the top of the staircase, Inez turned to the left, and slowly strolled to the far end of the hallway, where she opened a door that looked the same as every other door in the house. This one, however, revealed a large, mostly vacant meeting room, and the energy of the space differed from that of the rest of the elegant home. Unlike the light and welcoming decor filling the balance of the house, this room was deliberately designed to evoke a sense of fear, darkness, and foreboding. The center of the space was dominated by an enormous, round, ebony table around which were positioned seven ornately carved chairs. Their style was sharp and gothic. On the far side of the room, behind the table, and built into the wall, was a door-frame of the same color and design as the chairs. But instead of a door with a handle, where it would normally be, there was only a glossy, black, wooden panel. To the far right were floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a vast expanse of lawns, walking trails, and forest on the outskirts of Ostermalm.

Inez walked in and closed the door behind her. She strolled across the room to the windows and stared out for a moment before turning to gaze at the table.

Her thoughts turned to the last time she sat in this room.

3 DAYS PRIOR

"This situation is taking a turn we never intended.," Earl O'Brien glanced around the table at the others seated there. A deep frown creased his brow and a furrow was forming between his eyes where his little, round glasses sat upon the bridge of his nose. "But at least we know where he is, now. Lizzie and I have been distraught trying to locate him."