Cupid's Treasure - Mystery of the Golden Arrow (20 page)

“I remember the tale from my college days,” Jessie said. “Zeus was asked to mediate,” she continued, enjoying the telling of the story. “Placed in such an awkward position of choosing between his wife, his daughter, and Aphrodite, he nominated the mortal, Paris, who was the prince of Troy, to judge. At the time he was considered the most beautiful of mortal men.”

“Beautiful?” Jacques questioned.
“Beautiful manly or pretty in a metro sexual way?”

Jonathan looked at him and rolled his eyes. “Does that matter?”

“It may,” Jacques said. “Why are you so grumpy . . . Oh, it is that
thing
?”

“What
thing
?” Jessie asked.

“Now I see where
the
cherub
gets it from,” Jonathan said, indicating the kid in back.

Jacques winked at Eros with a grin, “I am your grandpapa,
oui?”

“
Jacques really is your grandfather?” Amber asked.

“No,” Jonathan said.

“I’m actually his great-great-great-great grandpa
, oui?”
Jacques asked.

“Zeus is his father,” Eros said.

“We are here . . . finally!” Jonathan sighed while pointing to the corner unit with the lights on in the back. He’d parked a few units down the street, and there was a bush in front of the car that hindered a direct view.

“It looks like she is still up,” Jacques said.

“I’ll go see,” Jonathan said. “You,” he looked at everyone, “stay here.”

They watched as he got out and walked toward the window and peeked inside.

“Again?” Jessie said. “Why don’t we just ask her for it?”

“The book is on her nightstand,” Jonathan said when he came back to the car, “but, ah—she’s still up.”

Jessie pulled out her phone and pushed some buttons.

“Um—” he started, but was cut off.

“Patricia? Hi, it’s me, Jessie. Today when you were at the library you picked up a book by accident, and I was wondering if I could come by and pick it up. . . . Yes, I know it’s late. . . . Oh—!” She hung up the phone.

“Well?” Jonathan asked.

“She says if you want it you should have the, um . . .
gumption
to call and come and get it,” Jessie said.

“Gumption, huh?”
Jonathan sighed.

“More or less,” Jessie said. “It was worth a try.”

“All right.” Jonathan looked at his watch. “I’ll come over and get it, although it might look a little weird if I just show up a second later.” He got back into the car and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he waited.

“What about this Paris, metro sexual?” Jacques asked as they waited. “What happened next?”

“I still can’t believe you’ve never heard of the Judgment of Paris,” Eros said. “It started the Trojan War.”

“I have heard of the war. Tell me the story,” Jacques said.

“Well, the goddesses all bribed him to gain his favor,” Eros said.

“Of course,” Jacques said.

Jonathan watched Amber in the rear view mirror as she put her hand over her mouth and looked absolutely mortified.

“Hera offered to make him king of Europe and Asia. Athena offered wisdom and war skills, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world for his wife.” He, of course, gave Aphrodite the golden apple, earning Hera and Athena’s enmity, and selected Helen of Sparta to be his wife, even though she was already married.”

“I must have really been an idiot,” Amber said.

“C’mon,” Jonathan said, getting out of the car. He opened her door and said, “Let’s go for a little walk while we wait.” He held out his hand. “Fresh air is good for us.”

“Is it safe? What about that other man that Eros saw earlier?” Amber asked.

“I know exactly where he is,” Jonathan said, rubbing his ear. “Patricia is not exactly alone.”

“Oh,” Amber said.

“We’ll just take a stroll around the block—”

“Ahem,” Jacques cleared his throat, pointing toward the condo, “too late.”

“Hide,” Jonathan said to everyone. Amber slipped back into the back seat and ducked down with the others while Jacques disappeared altogether.

“You can’t come in,” Patricia said as she approached the car. “And stop trying to get Jessie to sweeten me up so I’ll take you back. That’s too low, even for you.”

Jonathan rubbed his neck and sighed.

“How long have you been here?” Patricia asked suspiciously when she noticed the gold Cadillac’s fogged windows.

As she walked toward the car, he stepped in front of her. “You should know that the diary you took today is one of the library’s most valuable books, and if you don’t return it, there could be a large fine.”

Patricia rolled her eyes. Watching her as she stood outside in her light robe with the light showing right through it, he was relieved that he felt nothing. In fact, he found her repulsive . . . revolting even. She, however, noticed how his gaze swept over her form.

“If you’d like, we could have breakfast and talk about it.” She stepped at little closer.

Jonathan couldn’t believe how even though she had
company
, she was still coming on to
him
.
How could I have ever been duped by her?
He wondered. “I just came by for the diary,” he said as a car door slammed behind them.

“What was that?” she asked. “Do you have someone with you?”

Jonathan rubbed his ear, noticing how her screen door opened by itself and then her door. He stepped away from her.
Great! Now I’m going to have to stall her for time
! “Nope. . . . Do you?”

“No,” she said, almost offended.

“Maybe I could just look around really quickly then?” Jonathan asked, knowing that she’d refuse. “It could have dropped into your purse without you even knowing.”

Jacques crept into the bedroom where Joe the fish was lying back in the bed and smoking a cigarette.

“Is that you, hot cakes?” he called out and then watched as the door slightly swung open on its own. He reached over, placed his smoke on the nightstand,
and picked up his 9mm.

Jacques waited next to the burning cigarette holding his nose while Joe the fish got his shorts on and walked out into the living room area. Jacques grabbed the book and was about to put it into his jacket when Joe ran back into the room and saw the book floating in midair.

Bang!

“What was that?” Jonathan asked as the gun shot rang out.

Jacques didn’t feel like seeing if he had nine lives, so he held the book far away from himself while Joe used it for target practice. Jacques danced around with it while making his way out of the condo.

“I thought you said you didn’t have company,” Jonathan said as the door to her place opened and a few other shots were fired.

Patricia stared open mouthed as a man in his shorts came out onto her porch and waved his gun. “What are you doing?”

Jonathan could see the diary running towards them. “Well, if you discover it later make sure you drop it by,” he said as he ran back to his mother’s car, started the engine, and pressed the automatic button to lower the window on the passenger side.

Patricia watched as the diary floated by then narrowed her eyes on Jonathan as he started to drive away.

“We can’t leave Grandpapa behind,” Eros said, peeking out the window.

The book hit the seat with a thud as Jacques jumped through the window. “Go-go-go-go!” he said.

“Everyone
keep your heads down,” Jonathan yelled as the tires screeched and they sped past Joe the fish standing in his boxers.

Joe pointed the gun and fired.

The back window of the golden Cadillac shattered, spraying glass all over the seat. Amber covered Eros with her body. She didn’t know what to make of his story, but when he’d changed into the little cherub, she’d had a difficult time not plucking him to her bosom and holding him tightly.

Whoever this child was, he brought out every motherly instinct she had. She also knew now what she’d been feeling the first time she saw him at the station in the line-up. He could make up any story he wanted, but how could she account for the maternal feelings he evoked within her, or how his father stirred such strong feelings of love?

“Is everyone all right? Jonathan asked as he drove around the corner.

Jacques looked over the backseat to make sure. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Jessie said. “No one is hurt.”

Joe the fish turned to look at Patricia. “I think you and I need to talk, and this time I want all the little details about your boyfriend.”

Jonathan slowly drove to the house, killed the lights, and pulled into the driveway of his mother’s house.

“I think your mother is going to notice this one,” Jacques said.

“Not if I get to Bob’s place early enough that I can get the window fixed without her ever knowing,” Jonathan said as he parked. “Just don’t slam the car door. Duke will go nuts.”

Everyone carefully got out of the car and tiptoed across the grass until Jacques shut his door.

Ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff!

Jonathan gave Jacques a look of distress as the outside lights came on. Holding his fingers to his lips, he motioned toward the others to go inside.

“Jonathan is that you?” Mavis called out.

“Yep, just me, Mom,” he called
back, glad that she couldn’t see the back from her bedroom window.

“What are you doing out there?” she asked.

“I thought I heard a noise and wanted to check on it,” Jonathan said. “Did you set the alarm?”

“Yes, I did,” she said.

“That’s good,” Jonathan said. “Call me if you hear anything else.”

“All right, dear,” Mavis said. “Goodnight.”

He slowly walked toward Katie’s house. He found Jacques on the front porch. “I’ll take the first watch,” Jonathan said. “Just let me say goodnight to Amber first.”

He walked inside to find the girls and Eros in the living room. Jessie already had pillows and blankets out, and they were making the young man a bed on the couch.

Eros looked back at Jonathan. “Give me my arrows, and I will put a stop to this.” He made the actions of shooting an arrow again.

“I don’t think so, sport,” Jonathan said, noticing Amber’s sudden look of panic. “You try to get some sleep.” He waited until Amber tucked the sheets into the cushions and plumped the pillows. “I have the first watch.”

“And I have the privilege of the second watch,” Jacques said. “I earned it because I got the book,” he said as he produced it in its new shredded state. He poked his finger in through a bullet hole that had passed through the middle.

“Oh, no,” Jessie said, looking at it. She started to giggle as he looked through it.

“You mock my pain?” he asked.

“No.” Jessie smiled.
“Never that.”

“There you are. Your bed is ready,” Amber said as she turned back the blanket on the couch bed.

“Thanks, Mom,” Eros said as he called his kitty who leapt onto the bed.

“You’re welcome,” she said softly and stepped back. Jonathan placed his hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her.

“Are you all right?” he asked as he drew her off into the entry and turned to look at her. “It’s not every night that you become the mother to a juvenile delinquent.”

She looked deeply into his eyes and smiled.

“Just wait and see what happens on our second date.” He moved his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

She laughed, then took a deep breath and let it out. “Actually, I feel better than I have in a very long time.”

“No plans of running off?” He grinned.

She smiled. “I can honestly say that for the first time, I’m planning on staying right here.”

“Good,” Jonathan said as he bent his head and kissed her.

Poof!

Eros magically changed into a cherub, and the cat landed on the couch cushion.

“Oh, he is so cute!” Jessie exclaimed.

“Ah—” Jacques said, leaning out of the living room and whispering up to the second floor. “We have a baby here again.”

Jonathan stopped the kiss and stood staring down into her golden eyes.

Amber smiled up at him and blinked. She took her glasses off and stared at him in amazement. “I can see much better now.”

“I can’t tell you how tempted I am to try for perfect vision.” Jonathan grinned wickedly. A cherub popped up right next to him as he said it, followed by Jacques, who appeared from thin air and plucked him out of the air.

“If you don’t want him permanently in diapers, I would say to stop that,” Jacques said as he carried him back into the living room.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Jonathan said and kissed the tip of her nose.