Jean-Baptiste Dupree spent maybe half an hour in the car. Eddy had on a radio station that played rock from the 50s and 60s, and he didn’t talk. JB had thought the Black Valentine talked too much, but now he wished she was there to fill the silence. When Eddy stopped the car, he got out and had a muffled conversation with someone before telling JB to get out, too.
They climbed up metal stairs and entered something that JB figured out was an airplane when the cabin pressurized. It must have been a private one, because there didn’t seem to be anyone else on it besides the pilot. It figured the Black Valentine had a private plane. She’d probably robbed enough banks to own a whole fleet of planes. Eddy spoke again, his gravelly voice asking if JB wanted anything to eat or drink. JB ended up with a Sprite and a bag of Doritos, which were the highlight of the boring, quiet flight. They landed about two hours later, got into another car, and maybe an hour after that, stopped at what JB assumed was their destination.
JB smelled pine trees before they went inside. Then Eddy led him through twisting hallways, across thick carpet and smooth wood before finally grunting “sit” and pushing him down onto a soft couch.
“Jean-Baptiste Dupree,” said a voice as dry and brittle as an old book. “We meet at last. So you’re the one that all this fuss has been about?”
“Yes, sir,” JB said, because his parents had taught him to be polite. But even if they hadn’t, there was something about this man’s voice that gave the impression it would be a very bad idea to be rude to him. “I’m sorry if I caused any trouble.”
“Whether this is trouble remains to be seen. That’s something you can answer for me, Eddy.”
“Sir?” Eddy asked.
“Tell me,” said the voice, growing as cold and hard as hail, “Where is my daughter?”
Eddy cleared his throat, and the wooden floor creaked as the big man shifted his weight. “Um, about that….”
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Kristen’s Corner
So that’s the end of the first episode! I hope you all enjoyed it. I think I’m going to keep a tally of the property damage that happens in each episode, in which case the total for episode 1 is:
- 1 collapsed building
We’ll see if episode 2 manages to top that. 😉
I’m going to take next week off, and episode 2 will begin on Monday, September 26.
Kristen Brand 
I started reading this while I was pregnant last year and had to stop when I was admitted for preclampsia. I wasn’t allowed to do anything that had even the possibility of raising my blood pressure until the baby was born, so I had to leave Dave and Val trapped under a building. Then after he was born he spent 3 weeks in the NICU (leaving me zero inclination or time to do anything but go back and forth to the hospital or sleep when possible), and when he was released kept the Momma so busy I couldn’t do anything that wasn’t taking care of him! Now, I have a health 8 month old boy and he lets Momma actually get on her computer for a little bit here and there. I FINALLY have the time to binge and catch up, YAY!!
After re-reading Hero Status and Villainous I sped over here and have been devouring this story. I LOVE Val and Dave (who acts like my husband, also named David amusingly enough), JB is adorable as a kid, and I’m really enjoying watching their love bloom. I can’t wait to keep reading this online and will be throwing my book money at you the instant you come out w book 3 of the White Knight and Black Valentine series 😍
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