by Lee Winter
Lionel took Lauren’s measure, then slid his gaze to his daughter. “Hmm.” His smile widened. “That might be interesting.” He cocked his head. “All right, Ms. King. Come with me. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
As Catherine made to follow, Lionel turned. “No.” He pointed at Lauren. “Just her.” He continued walking.
A scowl crossed Catherine’s features. She pulled Lauren aside and pressed her lips close to her ear. “Ask him why Ansom set up in Iowa.”
Lauren nodded. She followed Lionel into what turned out to be a small side office not far from the stage area.
“Sit,” Lionel ordered after closing the door.
Lauren did so, giving him a wary look, then took out her phone, flicking to the voice recorder app.
“No, no. No yet.” He templed his fingers. “So, you want to marry my daughter?”
“Yes.”
He regarded her. “I disowned her, you know.”
“I know.”
“She won’t get a dime.”
“I know what disowned means.” Lauren offered a polite smile to lessen the bite. “It’s fine. I get her, not the money. That’s a far better end of the deal.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t care about money?” He sounded curious more than anything.
“Not so much, no.”
“Mm.” He scrutinized her. “What do your parents do?”
“My dad runs his own car-repair business. My brothers are all mechanics, too. Mom’s dead.”
“Ahh, a mechanic. An engineer of sorts. There’s no shame in that. I appreciate machines in all their forms. This whole company is about redefining technology. Making a smarter, faster, more perfect machine. We even have an electric car division here. Something new we’re testing.”
Lauren decided it’d be a bad idea to explain how she knew all about that particular division.
“So…Middle America won over my oldest girl?” His tone was taunting.
Lauren only just avoided rolling her eyes. “Why don’t you want anyone knowing Catherine’s your daughter? Aren’t you proud of her?”
His laugh was thin. “Not especially. Half of DC hates her. Always poking her nose in the finances of various movers and shakers. These are all people I do business with or lobby. So, no, I don’t like to advertise their Antichrist is my offspring. It’d make them uncomfortable. I prefer my partners very comfortable…and generous.” He smiled.
“Is that the only reason?”
“There are a few family reasons. Not for public consumption.” He eyed her for a moment, then pointed at her phone. “Go.”
Lauren hit Record.
“MediCache,” he said. “What do you want to know?”
“Why do it in the first place? You have to know any tech embedded in people is controversial.”
He shrugged. “It’s the logical next step. The next Everest. We do it because it’s revolutionary. Oh, there are a few similar experimental products here and there around the world—hobbyists, companies, and scientists tinkering with the concept with trial schemes. But we’re the first to mass-manufacture it. I’ll give you a little scoop: there are some plans for it in the future that go far beyond its current application. Big plans.”
“Such as?”
“We have all sorts of lifestyle options for the everyman and woman. You’ll see.”
“People will never freely line up to do this to themselves.”
“Won’t they? You might be surprised.” He looked dead certain.
Lauren frowned. “Okay, what’s the deal with Senator Hickory? You could have picked anyone to talk up your tech around DC. He’s not exactly cutting edge. Why partner with him?”
“He’s…enthusiastic. I like him.”
“You like him?” Lauren bit back a sarcastic reply. “Why did you set up an Ansom manufacturing facility in Iowa?”
Lionel said nothing for a beat. “I believe I just answered that.”
“Hickory? You really set up here because of him?”
“He made a good case for us having a plant out here.”
“Which was what? Iowa isn’t even a technology hub. Not like all your other divisions.”
“I would have thought the people of Iowa would be delighted to have some of the wealth and jobs spread their way. Surely you’re not opposed to that? Especially as an Iowan.”
“I… No.” Damn it, now she was conflicted. Tricky little…
He laughed at her expression.
“Are you paying Hickory?” Lauren tried again. “To be your advocate on Capitol Hill?”
“Why would we need to do that? We set up the plant in his state at his request. We gave him jobs to promote. He’s happy as hell. He doesn’t need money, too.”
“So, you didn’t donate to his campaign?”
“We donate to a lot of campaigns. Ansom believes in supporting anyone who invests their enthusiasm in the future of technology, regardless of which side of the aisle they’re on.”
“This isn’t just any technology. Your company is making chips here that will get shoved inside people. You’re merging the man and machine. It’s sci-fi stuff. And it’s about as controversial as it gets.”
“No one’s forced to use our chips. And you’re not seeing the big picture. MediCache is just one of a variety of ways that we’re streamlining life. That’s our motto, by the way.”
“What about the ethical considerations? Did you even think about what might happen if someone unscrupulous got their hands on your chips? What if some authority finds a way to make them no longer voluntary? Like in prisons? Or foster care? What if we started microchipping people like pets? There are so many ramifications—”
“Great ideas there,” he said, looking thoughtful. “You know, that might be the next step. Turning them into tracking tools instead of storage devices. There might be some demand, with so many lost kiddies and so on. Imagine the market for rich parents with children at risk from kidnapping?”
She blinked. What an atrocious idea.
He laughed at her. “That’s what you wanted me to say, isn’t it? But the real point should be, if people want something, and I can provide it—and it’s not harming anyone—tell me why that’s unethical?”
“The prostitution argument.” Lauren sighed. “And that rarely works out as perfectly in practice as it does in theory. There are always voiceless victims in these things. It’s always an ethical minefield. That’s true for vulnerable people in the sex trade, and vulnerable veterans needing healthcare.”
“Well, that’s your opinion. So tell me…” His voice lowered to conspiratorial. “Did you really get that SmartPay scoop with my daughter, or was it all her hard work?”
“Why would you—?”
“It must burn you up that everyone in DC assumes that you did nothing to earn your award. She’s the star, and what are you? You know, I wanted to know the answer to that when she announced your engagement so…colorfully…so I looked up your career. Can you guess what I found?”
Lauren’s heart sank. Not a whole lot beyond dry reports on root vegetables, grain yields, butter cows, and, later, LA celebrities behaving badly. “You wouldn’t have found anything that revealed who I am as a person.”
“No? Because I found you were a nobody until you met Catherine. But if I’ve misjudged you, do share.”
“I…” Lauren’s mind went blank. How had he homed in on the source of her insecurities so accurately? Was it a family trait?
“Eloquent, as well, I see. Does Catherine just let you use her for stories, is that it? Does she tolerate you for the perks of having someone so…well, perky?” Lionel’s eyes shifted to her chest.
“This is inappropriate.” Lauren’s fingers tightened into balls.
“You’re right.” Lionel leaned forward and tapped the red button on her phone’s screen, p
ausing the recording. He leaned back. “You are an inappropriate choice for Catherine. So, ever been with a man?”
“What? None of your damned business!” She glared at him, fury flooding her, and jumped to her feet. She didn’t care who the hell he was; she didn’t have to put up with—
He chuckled. “I take it by the fact you’re standing now that this little interview is over?” He twirled his finger between the two of them.
Lauren stared. She promptly sat. “This was some sort of juvenile test?”
“And you’ve failed spectacularly. Not exactly big on the mental parry and thrust, are you? And a softball scholarship? I suppose that’s one way to get into college.”
“Are you finished?” Lauren ground her teeth. “Or do I have to show you my 3.7 GPA first?”
“That won’t be necessary.” He spread his hands out on the desk in front of him. “I believe I understand you now. So, Ms. King, it’s like this: I don’t care if my oldest marries a two-headed Hydra or a ball-playing dyke from corn country. It’s my wife who gets hives about who Catherine slides into bed with. And unlike my business partners, I also don’t care a great deal that Catherine’s a journalist. That’s just who she is. And it seems to make her happy.”
Lauren stared at him in surprise. There was no hint of deception on his face.
“I’m a businessman, Ms. King, one of the best. I make money. That’s my bottom line on all things. I have to stay focused. That’s my measure of the man”—he waved his hand at her—“or woman. I was curious about you. Who are you? Are you focused? Do you fold at the first hint of pressure?”
Lauren met his gaze.
“What I see before me is a low-level reporter of average mental agility and limited career prospects who suspects she’s a fraud and has hitched herself to someone far out of her league to get ahead.” He smirked and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Secretly, you probably also can’t believe Catherine likes you, Iowa girl.”
The words felt like a stab to her throat. The sting of vulnerability warred with her rising anger.
Lionel leaned across the table into her space. He winked. “You must be a great lay if she keeps you around in spite of all that.”
As instantly as her fury had arrived, it ebbed away. She could see it clearly now. Lionel was simply goading her to get a rise out of her. What a charming piece of work. She truly pitied his family. Lauren couldn’t imagine growing up with a father as scheming and cold as this.
Lauren regarded him. “I think I understand you now, too. See, I’d wondered why you bothered to talk to me today, especially since you haven’t spoken to Catherine in so long. You say you wanted answers, but it’s all about ego, isn’t it? You love control and being master of your domain. Even now, you hate the way I’m talking to you, like I’m your equal, when you’re probably thinking I’m some hick bug you’d love to squash. Are you working out how to put me in my place right now?”
His eyes became half-lidded, but not before she saw the glint of something dark in them. “You’re hardly worth the effort.”
“That wasn’t a denial.” She paused. “So, back to Catherine. She displeased you, I gather. Didn’t take the family job she was supposed to? Maybe she also didn’t take the shiny husband you’d picked out for her the way her sister did? Or was it something else?”
Lionel didn’t reply.
“Whatever the reason, I’m guessing she didn’t do exactly what you wanted, and you disowned her. Great parenting there, Lionel. Super job.”
His eyes became darker.
“So, here’s what I see. Despite all your bluster, I think you’re secretly proud of Catherine. Maybe, in your head, you claim credit for how smart, talented, and independent she is. Chip off the old block, is she? Must be hell for you that you can’t even boast she’s yours to your cronies who fear her. And besides, you can’t admit to admiring her when you’re still too busy punishing her for her independence.” She tossed him a friendly smile like a grenade. “Am I warm?”
There was a faint jaw clench. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. All I’ll say is what happened with my daughter is a family matter. A matter that’s closed.”
“Ah, family secrets. Well, everyone has those, I guess.” She straightened. “So, let’s talk business, then. You just told me making money is your goal. Top priority. Isn’t that a bit shallow?”
“That’s all my shareholders care about. It’s the American way. And on that score, I am so very patriotic.” He looked amused.
“Are you one of those people who’d cross any line to make more money?”
“What a dangerous question to ask someone. What about you? Are there lines you won’t cross to get a big story?”
“Plenty.”
“So you play it safe. Well then, you won’t go far. You need a killer instinct to win. You need to shatter rules, not stick to them. That lesson’s free.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to get going. I’d say it’s been illuminating, except it hasn’t. You’re exactly what I thought you’d be.”
“And what’s that?”
“My daughter is not hard to work out. She likes you because you’re uncomplicated. Because you don’t judge her the way her mother does. Anyone who checked those two boxes would have her undivided interest, so don’t think you’re special. But most of all she craves loyalty. She’s desperately clinging to the idea you’ll be by her side forever.”
“Like her parents weren’t.”
If Lionel was offended, he didn’t even flicker. “Like any cocker spaniel. And she deserved being terminated from the family because she was disloyal. You think you’re so different. Yet your family would give you hell if you picked anything or anyone over them, wouldn’t they?” He tapped the table with a forefinger. “And rightly so. And that’s what happened with Catherine. She made the wrong choice.”
Lionel thrust out his hand. “So, that’s everything. I wish you well.” His look was all warning. “You’ll need it.”
“Need it?” Lauren frowned. Is he threatening me?
His smile widened at her uncertainty. “Whatever you’re thinking right now is probably right.”
“You can’t do anything to me.” Could he?
“No? You’d be amazed who I know and what I can buy. Your unraveling would amuse me greatly. It’d take, oh, only one day. Goodbye, Ms. King. It hasn’t been a pleasure.”
Lauren shook his hand by rote—predictably, another crushing power play. She sighed inwardly and squeezed back, full force, until he softly grunted and let go. Her softball grip was still on point.
What an asshole. How could a man be so pragmatic about casting his daughter aside?
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Lionel snapped. “My God, you’re really something. You’re about as simple as my daughter’s complicated. And you’re also dead wrong about something…”
He bent over and jabbed the red button on her phone. It lit up and resumed recording. “There’s not a single thing about my oldest daughter that I admire.” He then stood and tapped the recording to off. His face was hard. “Feel free to quote me to her.” Lionel produced a smile that was ice-cold. And with that, he was gone.
It was funny, Lauren thought as she pocketed her phone, for all his front and bravado, she could still see the lie in those words. It was in his eyes and had been from the moment she’d met him. Lionel Ayers might be a top-level scheming bastard, but he had a great deal of pride in his daughter.
Interesting.
Catherine waited anxiously for Lauren to reappear. She knew the drill. Lauren would be as thoroughly interviewed as she interviewed Catherine’s father. If not more so. Whether he saw Lauren as a threat or not would determine how bad the outcome would be.
She spotted her father headed toward a side exit, with two lackeys rushing to join him on either side. Lauren appeared a few moments later, a deep c
rease between her eyebrows.
Catching up to her in the now-empty corridor, Catherine asked, “What did he say?”
“Not a lot. Well, not much on our story. A few riddles about the data-chipping tech being available for the everyman soon. I don’t know his agenda. He seemed to want to figure me out more than give answers.”
“He does that.”
“I’m also pretty sure he threatened me.”
Catherine sucked in a breath. “What did he say?”
“Something about the people he knows and what his money can buy. It’d only take him one day. Blah blah blah. So, is this where he sends the lackeys around to slash our car tires and torch Dad’s house?” Her tone was light, but it contained an edge.
“He’s usually all hot air, no follow-through.” Catherine paused. Usually, but not always.
They started making their way back to the main area where the speeches had been.
“Well, he followed through with you, didn’t he?” Lauren said. “Kicking you out of the family. What did you do?”
“I didn’t back down on something and he took it as a declaration of war.”
“Was it?”
“No. That’s the stupidest part. I was pissed with him for telling me what I should be writing about instead of politics. I was trying to hurt him for being so vicious and insulting to my ambitions, so I lashed out and said whatever wild thought came to mind. It hurt him all right. Our relationship was severed in an instant that day.”
She could still see the flash of white-hot fury that had lit up his eyes. She had never seen him that enraged. It had been terrifying and also strangely freeing. In that moment, they’d both known immediately it was the end. She could stop pretending his relationship with her was anything but dysfunctional, unhealthy, loveless, and little more than a power game.
“That’s sort of a relief.” Lauren bit her lip. “Not because of the hostility between you—I’m sorry about that. It’s just that…” She inhaled. “If your relationship wasn’t solid before, I might have just tanked it anyway. I lost my cool a little and said some smart-ass stuff that pissed him off. Although, to be fair, he started it. He was baiting me a lot.”
