My Lover Boy| JJ Maybank

Chapter 7

As JJ drove Evelyn to The Château, she couldn't help but wonder what was on the tape recording. She hoped that it would tell her what happened to her father, maybe tell them that they shouldn't go looking for him.

By the time they'd arrived at The Château, Evelyn decided that she would follow whatever her father's instructions were. If he told her not to look, she wouldn't, and if he told her to come find him, then she would.

Evelyn expected more of a reaction when she arrived at The Château, but she felt nothing. The incident was behind her finally, she realized.

"John B!" JJ yelled as he got out of the car. Evelyn quickly followed after him, walking into the screen porch, where JJ held the door open for her.

Her brother was lying on the couch, staring at a map. She assumed it was the one they had found in the package.

John B looked up at her with surprise. "What are you doing here? With JJ?"

"Well, uh," Evelyn started. "He found me at the party last night and told me about the tape recording."

"So that's where you went," John B replied, looking over at JJ.

"Yep, at a fucking kook party."

John B didn't seem to suspect anything. He got up and walked inside. The Château looked the same as when she had been there last. It was a little messier, but still the same.

"Here we go," John B said, sitting down at their father's old desk. He pulled the tape recorder out of the drawer and clicked play.

Dear Fox,

I hate to say 'I told you so,' but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don't kill yourself just yet, Ev.

"What did you fight about?" John B asked.

Evelyn just shook her head, tears brimming her eyes.

I didn't expect to find the Merchant either. You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly the father of the decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn.

Evelyn scoffed.

And hopefully, me, you, and John are listening to this in our brand new sugar shack down in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. That is if you'll forgive me.

If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If something happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid.

I love you, Fox, even if I didn't always act like it.

I'll see you on the other side.

The tape recorder clicked. Evelyn wiped tears from her eyes. As much as she hated her father for not taking care of them, she loved him and she missed him.

JJ and John B looked at her with anticipation. Neither one of them said anything.

"I need to think," she said. Evelyn walked out of the house and sat on the dock. She dipped her feet in the water, careful not to get JJ's sweatpants wet.

Part of her wanted to help. It was her father's dream, and she would've liked to have seen it completed, even after he was dead. If she helped her brother look for the treasure, she needed to make it clear that it was only the treasure they were searching for.

The search was only going to cause trouble for her, she knew it, but maybe if she was involved, it would lessen the consequences on her brother. He needed a rational mind to discourage him at times.