The Kidnapping King

INEZ & THE TELESCOPE

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – PRESENT DAY 

 "Thank you for coming on such short notice. As I mentioned over the phone, we have an urgent situation and I require your particular expertise to devise a plan of action," Inez gazed intently at the faces of Earl and Lizzie O'Brien, Victor Borg, and Phinneas Dreadfort seated around the large ebony table.

"As you are aware, Ethan successfully transported Jack with him through a portal from Mac Paidin Manor. He is secured here, with us. What you don't know is...significant."

She paused and raised her left eyebrow, a conniving grin spreading across her face.

"Ethan discovered what it was that activated Jack's magical abilities."

She paused, taking a moment to look each of them in the eye.

"This really is incredible news...I can hardly believe it myself."

She closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth, the grin spreading into a full-blown smile.

"There is a golden telescope that Jack touched...but it's not just that..." She paused again.

The others in the room were perched forward on the fronts of their chairs.

"Mother has been contacting him through that telescope!" She blurted the words with enthusiasm.

Those sitting around the table exchanged expressions of disbelief, surprise, and wonder evident on their faces.

"What do you mean? Lydia is contacting him through a telescope?" Earl pushed himself back from the table and cocked his head to one side, eyeing Inez suspiciously, eyebrows crunched together. Lizzie O'Brien placed a manicured hand on her husband's arm as he spoke.

"I know! It's too incredible to be true!" Inez slipped crimson painted fingernails through her dark locks, pulling them away from her face.

"Ethan didn't have a chance to actually view the thing himself, but he says Jack recognized her when he saw the portrait hanging at the manor." She was pacing back and forth across the room as she spoke.

"I KNEW there was something that little brat wasn't telling us!" Lizzie O'Brien blared. "What do you have in mind, Inez?"

Inez stopped and leaned in, both hands flat on the table's surface.

"Well, as it so happens, Jack's best friend and his father are currently at the manor with Arthur. And, according to Ethan, they brought that telescope with them." She dipped her chin and raised her left eyebrow. "So, I say we need to somehow acquire that thing and have Jack conduct a demonstration for us." Inez finished and gazed at Earl.

"He won't do it willingly," Earl pushed the little round glasses up off the tip of his nose and readjusted in his seat.

"I know he's resistant right now," Inez began, "but he also knows he is stuck in a very precarious situation. I've made it clear that he can either cooperate or...we have ways to coerce him to do as we ask," She blinked deliberately and glanced in Victor's direction.

"Oh, how I would just love to warm him up to the idea of going along with our plans," Lizzie grinned, flicking the thumb and index finger of her right hand together to produce a bright orange flame. She cackled wickedly before blowing out the fire.

"Contain yourself, Auntie," Inez rolled her eyes. "We need a plan for stealing that telescope and transporting it back here." She looked at Earl. "And with Clara detained at the moment, it could make things a little tricky."

Inez turned her back on them and walked to gaze out the floor-to-ceiling windows. "The good news is that Ethan still has his teleportation pendant. So, we do have a covert way in and back out of the home." She turned to face them. "But that means he will have to accompany whoever else needs to participate." She looked at Phinneas, then Victor. "The biggest challenge is the fact that we have no idea where in the manor the telescope is located. Which could be problematic. Any ideas?"

The faces around the table were blank, lips pressed together into tight lines, brows crunched, and creases between eyes.

"I think we're going to need that kid," Victor spoke up.

"Yeah, I think so, too. How else we gonna grab dat ting without gittin' caught?" Phinneas Dreadfort agreed.

Inez blinked deliberately at Earl.

"Well, I must concur. It seems a near impossible task without Jack's participation," he paused, glancing at his wife next to him, then back at Inez. "But how we get him to go along with something like that is beyond me."

He shook his head slowly from side to side.

Inez was silent, contemplating for a long moment.

"Hmm...I must say, I think you're right. The odds of successfully locating that telescope without Jack are certainly stacked against us. Even if we're able to get him to go along with our plan, it will be a difficult task to pull off without the others in the house being alerted to our presence." She turned again to gaze out the window. Then, she slowly raised her right index finger in the air, "However," she spun around, "there is always the threat of force."

Inez walked back to the table and sat down.

"Let's think about this...by now, Arthur, Mr. Flanagan, and his boy have figured out that Ethan must have taken Jack. So, they expect Ethan hasn't switched teams, after all," she paused to take a sip from a crystal goblet, "They must suspect Jack is with me, but they have no idea where I am. So, that gives us an edge."

"True," Lizzie piped in, "but they also have Clara." She tipped her head at Inez.

"Yes, but Sister has her pendant and can exit anytime she feels the need."

"Good point," Earl interjected. "Still, they know how valuable the boy is to us. So, they won't believe we would do anything to harm him. Do we really have any leverage?" He looked at the others around the table.

"His friends want Jack safely returned. They want to see him again." Inez tapped her index finger to the tip of her nose. "Here's what I think we do. Ethan and I teleport to the upper room of the manor, while simultaneously Phinneas and Victor barge through the front door and demand to know where the telescope is. Our men will be armed and threatening, so we can play Good Cop, Bad Cop in that Ethan and I will come at them from behind, but with a more logic-based approach. One way or another, they should be convinced to hand the telescope over to us."