Zoe stopped in front of the gate at Mrs. Newton’s Hamptons home. The place was surrounded by a tall stone wall, which prevented people from peeking in other than at the iron gate. The driveway extended quite a way past the gate and was lined on both sides by trees. Zoe pressed the intercom button and waited.

“Are you the courier?” a pleasant baritone voice asked after a moment. She turned from her inspection of the grounds beyond the gate and found the camera embedded in the stone above her.

“I am,” Zoe replied. “Want me to send you, my credentials?”

“That won’t be necessary Ms. Blanco. I have confirmed your identity,” the voice said. Zoe’s eyes widened in alarm. How did they do that? “The gate is opening, and you are authorized to drive up to the front door. I’ll meet you there.”

“Oh. Ok,” Zoe replied still feeling unnerved by how and how quickly they knew who she was without her providing any information. Zoe started a scan of her system just to be on the safe side. After the gate opened enough for her to ride through, Zoe started slowly down the driveway. Then it hit her, and she smacked the side of her helmet. “Facial recognition! That camera must be good to see through my helmet.”

While driving along the long driveway, Zoe sent the pictures and video she had made to Aunt Anne, Jimmy, Claire, and Zane. She received an error message.

“User not found. Jimmy should be available,” Zoe muttered. She tried again and received the same message. A quick search showed that the most common cause of that error was the person being offline, usually do to getting upgrades. Zoe shrugged as she thought he might be getting an upgrade and decided she would attempt to message him again later as she pulled up to the house.

The house was brick with large bay windows above the narrow porch that had the white columns supporting it and on both sides of the front door. The house was painted an off-white color. Zoe stopped while making sure she didn’t park on the tiled part of the driveway that led up to the porch. She took off her helmet and stuck it to the tank before dismounting. She walked to the porch and the door opened before she even set foot on the bottom step. A tall, then man with slicked back black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache stood in the doorway.

“Hello Ms. Blanco,” the man said. “My name is Sebastian, and I am Mrs. Newton’s majordomo.”

“Hi,” Zoe replied.

“Right this way Miss and I’ll lead you to Mrs. Newton’s study,” Sebastian stated. The majordomo led Zoe down a long hall that was lined with expensive looking paintings, portraits, and statues. At least, Zoe assumed they were expensive since they looked that way to her admittedly untrained eyes. She reached out to touch a small horse statue. Sebastian stopped, turned, and glared at her. “Please don’t touch the artwork. That sculpture is worth more than you could make in 20 years.”

“Sorry,” Zoe said holding her hands up and away from the statue.

“Just follow me, we’re almost there,” Sebastian sniffed.

“Sure,” Zoe said fighting to not roll her eyes. She didn’t think someone that’s whole life revolved around waiting hand and foot on another should have an attitude. A minute later, they stopped outside the door at the end of the hall. The majordomo knocked and opened the door a minute later. She thought his actions silly, but what did she know about living with servants.

“Mrs. Newton, I’ve brought the courier as you requested,” Sebastian said.

“Excellent. Admit her,” Zoe heard a feminine voice say.

“Of course, ma’am,” the majordomo replied stepping to the side and holding the door open for Zoe.

Zoe stepped into the study and felt like her jaw nearly hit the floor. The room was nearly as large as her boathouse. The far wall had a large floor to ceiling window that overlooked a flower garden. On either side of the window were bookshelves. The shelves covered the majority of the walls. The only exceptions being a few places that had pictures and more sculptures. What struck Zoe the most was that the shelves were filled with real books.

“Impressed with my collection?” the pretty older blonde woman sitting behind the desk in front of the window asked. Zoe snapped her mouth shut.

“Yes ma’am. I’ve never seen so many books before,” Zoe honestly answered. The woman, Mrs. Newton, just smiled.

“You have something for me?” she asked, changing the subject and getting to business.

“Yes ma’am,” Zoe replied giving her the documents.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Newton said. She transferred Zoe’s fee to her. “And the pictures I asked for?”

“I have them and some video as well,” Zoe replied sending the video and pictures to the corporate executive.

“Just a moment,” Mrs. Newton said. She glanced through the pictures and watched a minute or two of the video. “Not bad. I’ll pay you the 500 credits for going above and beyond what I requested.”

“Th-thank you,” Zoe replied. She had hoped to get paid the 500 credits but hadn’t expected to.

“Sebastian, see the courier out.”

“Yes ma’am,” the majordomo replied. “Right this way Ms. Blanco.”

*

“Hey Aunt Anne,” Zoe greeted her aunt.

“Where are you?” Anne asked.

“Leaving the Hamptons,” Zoe answered. Seeing her aunt crying, Zoe pulled over to the side of the road and stopped before asking, “What’s wrong?”

“You need to get here as quickly as you can,” was all Anne said in reply.

“What’s wrong?” Zoe asked again.

“Jimmy’s dead,” Anne sobbed.

“What? How?” Zoe asked. Anne just cried harder in answer. Zoe assured her aunt she was on the way and would be there as quickly as possible. They ended the call as Zoe’s tears started to fall. She screamed out frustration and grief, “Jimmy nooooo!”