Free Assumptions by C.E. Pietrowiak Page B

dad travels all the time and I never get
to go.”
    Will wiped his hands on his pants. “We should
get started with your paper."
    "Right. Paper.” Jordyn pulled a thin laptop
from her backpack and booted it up.
    Will watched the machine come to life. A
photo of Jordyn and her father standing on a beach filled the
screen. “Nice wallpaper. Are you wearing a wetsuit?”
    “That’s how I spend my summers. My dad tried
to teach me to surf. I sucked, but I totally miss it.”
    “Totally, dude.”
    “Emerson, are you mocking me?”
    “Yes, Quig. I am." He smirked as best he
could without re-opening the gash on his lip. "It's dark in here. I
should turn on some lights.” Will pulled the chain on the lamp.
“Now we can . . .” he paused, staring at Jordyn. “Your eyes.”
    “Oh, no!” Jordyn's hands flew up to cover her
face. “My lenses were bothering me. I didn’t put them back in.”
    “Wow, your eyes are really not brown.”
    Jordyn lowered her hands. “I know,” she
said.
    “They’re . . .”
    “Jade green.”
    “And?”
    “Always a gamer around until you need one."
She sighed. "Serendipity green. My dad gave her my eyes.”
    “Oh." Will pulled a wood TV tray from behind
the study door. He opened it in front of Jordyn. "For your
computer."
    Jordyn set her laptop on the small table.
"Thanks."
    "I think they're much better on you,” said
Will.
    "Thanks, Emerson." Jordyn stretched and
pulled Will's book off the chair. "Sit." She looked at the cover of
the book, cocked her head, then looked at Will. " Ancient Cult
Objects . Interesting." She leafed through. A manila folder fell
to the floor. "What’s that?”
    “Nothing." Will grabbed the file, folded it
in his arms, and sat. "Just something I was working on.”
    “Do you always work on things marked
confidential?”
    “Well, it’s not really mine. It’s my
father’s. He investigates missing artifacts for insurance
companies. He specializes in cult objects.”
    “Cult? You're starting to creep me out a
little, Emerson."
    “Um, sorry, 'cult' is archaeologist for
religious stuff like icons, fertility figurines, grave goods,
really anything to do with belief systems.”
    “So, what’s so 'cult' about this one?” asked
Jordyn.
    “Maybe nothing. It’s just a book. The clasp
has a sapphire. That’s probably why the insurance company wants to
find it," said Will.
    “But, you don’t think that’s it.”
    “Did I say that?”
    “You still have the file."
    “Yeah. I guess I do." Will pulled out the
photo of the book and handed it to Jordyn. "The book was in a
museum in a small town. There was a storm. It ripped up the main
street and took out some houses. It was pretty bad. Anyway, the
collection was being appraised at the time and the only thing
missing . . .”
    “. . . was the book,” Jordyn finished his
sentence.
    "Yeah."
    "And that bothers you."
    "That, and someone assigned it to my father
for a reason."
    "So, what do you think it is?”
    “If it is what I think, then we shouldn’t be
messing with it." Will looked at the front of the file. "I should
put it away. There really isn’t anything to do. My father’s note
says the case is closed. ‘Act of God’, see?" He pointed to the note
on the front of the file. "Anyway, I’m not even supposed to have
it.”
    Jordyn sat forward on the edge of her chair.
She studied the photo under the lamplight. "Look at this. Is this
writing?" She pointed to the stick-like figures etched into the
metal ring around the stone.
    "Probably." Will took the photo from Jordyn
and tucked it back into the file.
    “Don’t you want to find out if you’re
right?”
    "It’s not mine,” said Will.
    "You can’t just leave it at that. It would
kill me not to know.”
    “I can see that.” Will thought for a moment.
“There is one person who may be able to help."
    “I'm game. When do we go?"
    "It'll have to wait. We're off next week for
Veteran's Day. We can go then, in the morning. It's not far