The Inheritances Game (Jameson Hawthorne)

Don't Breath

"Oh gosh we are really high up." I said looking down. I don't know why I let Jameson talk me into climbing, but here we are.

"So I have finally found your fear heights." He said climbing up past me, with a smirk plastered on his face. 

"Jae stop it, one of us could fall!" As Jameson continued his ascent, he couldn't resist the temptation to show off a bit. He reached a particularly challenging section of the wall, hanging onto the holds with apparent ease. With a playful grin, he swung from one hold to another, his legs dangling in the air. I watched, a mix of amazement and anxiety washing over me.

"Come on, it's not that bad!" he called down to me, his voice filled with both excitement and a hint of mischief. "Just trust your gear and your instincts." Taking a deep breath, I tried to gather my courage. Slowly, I inched my way upward, mirroring Jameson's movements as best I could. While my heart raced, there was a surprising thrill in pushing my boundaries and challenging my fear of heights.  For a moment, I forgot my apprehension and began to enjoy the climb.

As we continued our ascent, Jameson's earlier teasing gave way to encouragement and guidance. He offered tips on hand placement and weight distribution, making the experience feel less intimidating. The bond we shared seemed to grow stronger with each move up the wall, and I couldn't help but appreciate his ability to push me out of my comfort zone, even if it meant facing my fear head-on.

He pushed himself up to sit on the platform before extending a hand to me.

"Your grandfather left me a game," I heard from below, I sat on the solid surface and let out a deep breath. Jameson smiled at me before standing up and grabbing the zipline hanger and gliding down to Avery. I shook my head enough fears conquering for one day, I took the ladder. 

 "Just ask me about the game your grandfather designed to be delivered to me if and when Eve and I ever met." 

"He knew about her?" I asked joining the conversation. 

"The plot thickens. How far through the gameare you?" Jameson asked.

"Solved the first clue," Avery said. "Now I'm looking for a chess set." 

"There are six in the game room," Jameson replied automatically. "That's how many it takes to play Hawthorne chess." 

"I found all six. Do you know if there's a seventh somewhere else?"

"There's a royal chess set in the vault." I offered, as Avery suddenly smiled.

Avery's Pov

The last time I'd been to the Hawthorne vault, I'd jokingly asked Oren if it contained the crown jewels, and his very serious response had been To what country? 

"If what you're looking for isn't here," Oren told Jameson, Catalina, and I as we surveyed the steel drawers lining the walls," some pieces are kept in an even more secure location off site." We got to work gingerly opening drawer after drawer. I managed not to gawk at anything until I came toa scepter made of shining gold interwoven with another lighter metal. White gold? Platinum? I had no idea, but it wasn't the materials that caught my eye. It was the design of the scepter. The metalwork was impossibly intricate. The effect was delicate, but dangerous. Beauty and power. 

"Long live the Queen," Jameson murmured. 

"The Queen's Gambit," I said, my mind racing. Maybe we weren't looking for a chess set. But before I could follow that thought any further, Jameson opened another drawer and spoke again. 

Found it." There was something different in his tone this time. I looked at the drawer he'd opened. Each chess piece was magnificent; the board looked like a jewel-encrusted table. According to the binder, forty master artisans had spent more than five thousand hours bringing this chess set to life—and it looked it. "You want to do the honors, Heiress?" This was my game. A familiar, electric feeling coming over me, I examined each piece, starting with the white pawns and working my way up to the king. Then I did the same thing with the black pieces, glittering with black diamonds. The bottom of the black queen had a seam. If I hadn't been looking for it, I wouldn't have seen it. 

"I need amagnifying glass,"  

"How about a jeweler's loupe?" Catalina asked handing me a small lens with no handle. Using the loupe to look at the bottom of the black queen told me that what I'd seen as a seam was actually a gap, like someone had cut a paper-thin line into the bottom of the piece. And peeking through that gap, I saw something. 

"Were there any other jeweler's tools with the loupe?" I asked. Even the smallest file she brought me couldn't fully fit into the gap, but I managed to wedge the tip through—and it caught on something. 

"Tweezers?" Jameson offered. File. Tweezers. Loupe. File. Tweezers. Loupe. Sweat was pouring down my temples by the time I finally managed to lock the tweezers onto the edge of something. A strip of black paper. 

"I don't want to tear it," 

"You won't." Slowly, painstakingly, I pulled the strip out. It was no bigger than a fortune tucked inside a fortune cookie. Golden ink marked the page—with handwriting I recognized all too well. The only message Tobias Hawthorne had ever left me before was that he was sorry. Now, to that, I could add two more words. 

"Don't breathe."