The Kidnapping King

DECEIVED

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - PRESENT DAY 

 "Uhhh! That conniving little brat!" Inez erupted, stumbling forward into the space where Jack had been just moments before. Reaching up and weaving bony fingers through her tangles of long, dark hair, she spun around and glared at Ethan.

"Whyyyyy did you not see that coming?"

Ethan stared blankly at her, slowly shaking his head back and forth. He licked his lower lip then bit it, brows scrunched together.

"I wasn't focused on Jack's thoughts. Not at first, anyway." He glanced at the floor then glared back at her. "I was busy watching your interaction with him. You were putting on quite a show, you know?" He threw his hand in the air and crossed the room in two long strides, stopping before the window. Turning to face her again, with a deep crease on his forehead, he continued. "It wasn't until he said Grandma Lydia would teleport here that I began to delve into Jack's thoughts...by the time I realized his deception, it was too late." He flopped down into a chair sitting next to him and wiped the sweat from his brow.

There was a long silence between them before Inez took a deep breath, then closing her eyes and shaking her head back and forth, she looked back at Ethan.

"Do you know anything more about where she is? Where THEY are?"

Pressing his lips tightly together, a line formed between Ethan's eyes.

"N-o-t really. No." He started, "Jack said that she has been appearing to him through that telescope. But we didn't have enough time together for any more details than that." He paused, then his eyes flew open wide as saucers, "However...I DO know something else you will find quite interesting!" Inez glanced at him sideways and raised her right brow, but she said nothing.

"Well," Ethan began slowly, tipping his head in her direction and pursing his lips "Jack mentioned, in passing," he raised his arm, turning his wrist with a fanciful flourish, then paused, drawing out the revelation, "that Grandpa Edward isn't dead, after all..."

Inez's face went gray as the blood drained, and she quickly spun to support herself on the side of the bed, stumbling to take a seat.

"W-h-a-t?" She gasped.

"And apparently," Ethan continued, "he's been communicating with Jack through his reading glasses."

"How is that possible?" Inez gazed through him with a confused look on her face. "I watched..." she abruptly caught herself and readjusted her pose, eyes shifting in her nephew's direction.

"You watched what?" Ethan looked sideways at her.

"Uh-hem," Inez cleared her throat and dropped her eyes, covering her mouth with her hand. "I watched...as his casket was lowered into the ground. I was there at his funeral." She paused, "From a distance, of course, considering our estranged relationship. But how could he falsify his death and burial?" She looked at Ethan with sad puppy dog eyes.

Ethan squinted at her and pressed his lips into a tight line.

"I don't know how he did it, all I know is that Jack said he's alive and has been interacting with him through those glasses."

He walked to a brocade wing-back chair and sat down, "But that's all I have. If anyone knows anything more than that, it's going to be that Bart kid. Or his dad. Or both of them." He rolled his eyes at her.

Inez stood and began pacing back and forth across the room.

"Ok, let's stay focused. What do we know?" She pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers and closed her eyes tightly, exhaling an exaggerated sigh. "We know that Jack is gone and that he is likely with my mother. We also know that it's his unique magical abilities that allow him to connect with wizarding people through spell-crafted objects." She opened her eyes, gazing up at the ceiling. "So, it seems pointless to try to acquire the reading glasses since we no longer have access to Jack and his abilities, for the time being, anyhow. So they would be of no use to us." She tapped her lips with her finger as she paced.

"We know that both Grandma Lydia and Grandpa Edward are alive..."Ethan interjected. "And that both of them have been communicating with Jack through magical devices." He paused. "But why? Why, Jack?" He squinted and pursed his lips.

"Well, we also know that your grandfather sent Arthur to try to abduct you two years before they decided to recruit Jack..." Inez began, "but since you were unwilling to play their game, it seems they defaulted to Jack. But that still doesn't explain why Mother would be reaching out to him and not you..." A sadness slowly spread across her face, and her eyes teared up a bit, "or me...or Clara...her daughters." She pressed her lips together tightly and blinked several times rapidly.

"Nevertheless, she must have a good reason." Inez resolved, wiping hair away from her forehead. "The incredible news is that she is alive! And making contact. Though we still have absolutely no clue where she is or how to reach her."

And there was silence between them once again.

"Sooo...we need that Bart kid." Ethan raised both eyebrows in Inez's direction.