Page 96 of Once a Hero

Ansel motioned to a nurse. “You got something for him?”

She nodded.

A few minutes later, Jake walked with Ansel down a very long hallway and up a flight of stairs—which took Jake forever to climb because of his injuries.

“Are we mounting a rescue mission?” Jake asked as he was ushered into a large meeting room that looked like it had once been a ballroom back in the mansion’s glorious days.

Beneath the vaulted ceiling with old world chandeliers, there was a long and ornately carved table that looked like it had come from a medieval castle out there somewhere.

As the far end of the table, a man who was about Jake’s age paced back and forth. Taller than Jake by at least four or five inches, he towered over the table. He had the same colored hair as Beatrice. Could that be Benjamin Glynn, the recluse?

“Ben, this is Jake Kessler,” Ansel said.

“We met virtually in some of Bee’s meetings. Did you bring me any pralines?” Benjamin’s voice echoes in the cavernous room.

“I didn’t get a chance. Next time?”

There was no “Nice to meet you, finally!” from Benjamin. He was all business. When he sat down, everyone else did—everyone else being Jake and Art.

Truth be told, Jake did not want to attend yet another meeting.

He wanted to find Beatrice.

Benjamin drank some water from a covered glass in front of him. Slowly.

It was so deliberate that Jake almost jumped up and walked out.

I’m not me right now

He closed his eyes and prayed for calm and wisdom. Slowly, he also reached for the glass of water in front of him. It tasted like spring water. Crystal clear and odorless.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Benjamin said.

“Yeah. Wow.” Jake didn’t want to make small talk right now, but if Beatrice were there, he would’ve asked her to tell him about the source of the spring water and so forth.

“Ansel, what do we know?” Benjamin turned his attention away from Jake.

Just as well. Jake wanted to sit there and mope about failing to protect Beatrice. It didn’t matter that they had knocked him out with a blow to his neck. He should have been more prepared.

Prepared how?

He didn’t know. All he knew was that he had failed Beatrice.

Jake already knew half of what Ansel said. Yeah, yeah. The intruders knew where the lab was. In fact, it wasn’t hidden from anyone.

“I should have moved you all to the house,” Benjamin said. “Bee insisted that the lab was a fine place to work.”

“I should have beefed up security,” Ansel said. “I’m sorry.”

“She’s not dead,” Benjamin said. “If Molyneux has her, she’d want Bee alive for what she can do for them.”

“Like what?” Jake couldn’t think of anything.

“My sister has been searching for the Amber Room for over ten years. Molyneux could use her expertise.”

“What if that’s not why they abducted her?” Jake wasn’t trying to throw a stone into a spinning wheel, but he knew he offered a perspective that the Glynn family might not have considered.

“You think she’s doing this to draw the rest of us out?” Benjamin chuckled. “Molyneux doesn’t care about me.”

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