McGyver

by Candace Blevins

  “I look forward to meeting him. Will he not be spending the holidays with his family?”

  “He’s an orphan. I found him in foster care and paid for him to go to boarding school in middle and high school, and then took care of his college expenses. His best friend is married with a new baby, so he won’t be spending Christmas with them. When I found out Knox planned to work through the holidays, I invited him to enjoy Christmas with us.”

  “As long as no one gets the idea he and I are attending the galas as a couple, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  “He’s seeing someone seriously, and other than your love of running, I don’t believe the two of you have much in common. Other than me, I suppose.”

  “I know I’m not the woman you one day hoped I’d be, but I hope you can still be proud of me, eventually.”

  “I’ve only recently understood the damage I did to your psyche by coddling you and protecting you from life and society. Knox had to learn fiscal responsibility at a young age, while you’ve only recently learned the definition. I’m impressed with the choices you’ve made since you became responsible for paying your bills. The things I’ve insisted you learn, you did so with style, flair, and panache. It’s my own fault that I never considered raising you to be self-sufficient.”

  Iris had no words. She looked out the window and considered how to respond. On the one hand, he’d given her an excuse for being a failure, but on the other, he’d pretty much called her a child. She didn’t think he meant it that way, though. He seemed to be taking responsibility for his part in it.

  Finally, she decided to change the subject. “I’ll need to print a contract for Knox to sign if he’s going to show up in my videos.” Her father had agreed to the parts of the house she could show, and the parts he wanted to keep private, but Knox’s inclusion or exclusion hadn’t been in the negotiations.

  “Let’s assume he won’t want to be in them, and that you’ll need to warn him where and when you’re filming, so he can stay away.”

  Knox was handsome in all the right ways, but he was off. He said the right things, but his movements weren’t exactly in synch with his words, and the tone of voice wasn’t right. Not exactly monotone, and not quite like a robot, but…

  She couldn’t figure it out.

  He was also impeccably dressed in suit pants, a dress shirt, and a tie — in the exact tones and colors currently fashionable in New York. She wondered if he dressed himself or had advisors, but they’d just met, so it would be rude to ask.

  The threesome had a formal dinner in the family dining room, and her dad’s cook outdid himself.

  Iris felt out of her element, which almost never happened. Knox seemed to know everything about her, but she’d only just discovered he existed.

  Knox had gone to Harvard. He'd had the grades and the extracurricular panache to get accepted, and her father had paid his tuition. Her father had wanted him to have real-world experience on his own, so Knox had worked in finance at a bank in Paris a year before coming back to the States to work for her father. He’d also interned for a congressman one summer while at Harvard, and he’d interned at a major hospital another summer. Everything he’d done had been about setting him up to work for Iris’s father.

  She felt as if she needed to say something about their relationship, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Finally, she told them, “I’m happy the two of you have each other.”

  “I kept Knox from you because I didn’t want you to be jealous, but it felt like you could meet him now, Princess. Was I wrong to introduce you?”

  She sat back and met her father’s gaze a few seconds. She focused on being unemotional and cool, which always made him pay more attention to what she was saying. “There’s nothing for me to be jealous of. I’m not interested in running the company, and you’ve known that at least a decade. I think it’s wonderful you helped coach his debate team in high school, and you visited him at Harvard for special events, as a father would. If you’d shorted me to do any of these things, perhaps there would be some hard feelings, but you’ve always been there for me, Daddy. Even when I didn’t really want you to be.”

  She met Knox’s gaze. “I’m sorry if I seem out of sorts. I am a little, but it has more to do with the fact he kept you secret than anything else. I truly am glad the two of you have had each other. It seems you needed a father figure, and Daddy wanted to raise someone and groom them to take over the company. It’s a good fit.”

  Knox looked at her father a second before focusing on Iris again. “I have a mild form of Asperger's Syndrome. It’s likely one of the reasons I was never adopted as a child. Your father saw the possibilities and got me the help I needed. I was seeing the state psychiatrists and psychologists, but he arranged payment and weekly transportation for me to see the right people --- behavioral specialists with a proven track record who focused on helping people like me. My intelligence levels for some things are off the chart, but I had to learn how to behave in social situations. I had to be taught how to pick up on nonverbal cues.”

  “Social situations are easy for me, but anything to do with math is crippling.”

  “I know, and this is why I hope you’ll work for the company in some capacity when your father steps down. Even if you only show up for media events and parties. I can run the numbers, but I’m going to need help handling the people.”

  Iris smiled. “He’s taught you well. Let’s see where life takes me in the next five years. Knowing my father, he has someone waiting in the wings to help you if I don’t step up.” She looked at her father. “You aren’t planning to retire anytime soon, are you? We have, what... at least fifteen years until you step down, yes?”

  “I intend to begin pulling back in the next two or three years, handing bits and pieces of my responsibilities over to others. I don’t intend to step down for another ten years, give or take.”

  Three hours later, Iris walked in to the gala with her father, and Knox entered behind them. Iris went off with a group of her peers, while Knox conversed with her father and his peers. The social elite versus the moneymakers. Though, it was also about generations. Her group had some moneymakers, and her father’s group had a few famous for who they were as opposed to what they did. Still, for the most part, the people making the money were in her father’s circle.

  Knox was only a few years older than her, and he fit in there, but would’ve had problems fitting into her crowd. She wasn’t sure what it meant, if anything, but she needed time to think and absorb it all before she could decide how she really felt about Knox Bannister.

  Chapter 30

  It was a good thing Iris had called Danny to give him a heads up about Knox, because lots of people had the wrong idea about the two of them, despite the fact they were side-by-side less than fifteen minutes the entire evening. She’d talked to Danny briefly before falling asleep, though, and he hadn’t seemed upset, thank goodness.

  Iris woke the next morning, put warm leggings and a thick hoodie on, and went for a run. She was a few miles into it when Knox came running by her. He said hello as he passed her, but he didn’t slow to talk. Other than social situations, was there anything she did better than him?

  The days leading up to Christmas were heavily scheduled, thankfully, so there wasn’t a lot of time where she felt she needed to play host. Though, she was beginning to understand it was possible Knox spent so much time with her father, he felt as if he was playing host to her.

  And maybe it was small of her, but she felt like the odd man out at times. Knox and her father had so much in common, it was hard for her to join their conversations. If she and Knox had been allowed to form a sibling type relationship, it’d be different, but they were both here to visit with her father.

  And Knox lived in Birmingham. Why had it been necessary for him to stay with them the entire five days?

  By the time Iris awakened for Christmas morning, she felt guilty about wishing Knox wasn’t there. It was supposed to be her and
her father, missing her mom. And yet, Knox would’ve been alone if her father hadn’t invited him, and she didn’t want that, either.

  She had the distinct impression her father was tired of hiding Knox, and he wanted his two children to finally meet. Not that they were biological siblings, but her father clearly saw Knox as a son. The child he wished was his, at any rate.

  One of her gifts from her father was a fifty-thousand-dollar shopping spree to New York, complete with the plane ride up and back, and a weekend at a luxury hotel with a car and driver. She’d talk to Clay and see when he could meet her for a fun weekend of shopping and partying. Would Danny want to go? Surely not. He’d be miserable.

  The following morning after breakfast, she was in her room, packing, when Knox stood in the hallway and knocked on her open door.

  She invited him in, and he took one step in, clearly ill at ease. “I’ve so looked forward to meeting you. I mean, for years, I watched you from afar. Maybe I was hoping for too much, but I don’t feel as if our time together was positive.”

  She walked to her seating area and motioned for him to sit with her. She could almost see the wheels turn in his head as he looked at her nonverbal cues, processed them, and then walked towards her.

  “I did some research on Asperger's Syndrome, and I’d like to commend you on the work you’ve obviously done so you can function at this level of society.”

  He lowered his head a second, but seemed to realize what he’d done, so he raised it and met her gaze. “Thank you. I owe your father so much.”

  “I understand his reasoning for keeping us apart, but I don’t think it was the right choice. I should’ve known about you long before now, and that isn’t your fault, I’m just trying to explain why the weekend was awkward. I don’t think it had anything to do with your social challenges.”

  He wasn’t getting it. She tried again. “You and my dad are close, possibly closer than I am to him. You certainly have more in common. You likely see each other every day, while my father and I haven’t seen each other on a daily basis in years. Daddy said you’re dating someone who’s overseas right now. When she returns, perhaps we can arrange a double date. I’d like to get to know you away from my father, but since we’re both dating people, just the two of us could get weird. A double date seems safe.”

  “Yes, this sounds acceptable. I’m glad we had this chance to talk. I hope you have a safe trip back to Chattanooga.”

  He stood as if to go, but Iris motioned for him to sit back down. “What do you do for fun? I mean, I know you train for marathons, but what else do you do when you aren’t working?”

  “I have a pet robotics project. Real world uses. My friends and I are into sci-fi. We play Dungeons and Dragons sometimes, and we engage in other activities I believe you’d refer to as nerdy or geeky. I especially like 3D chess.”

  She smiled. “Well then, you and my boyfriend have something in common. He’s been known to play that with one of his MC brothers.”

  Iris tried not to laugh, because Knox clearly didn’t believe her.

  “Bikers can be geeks, too,” she assured him. “I look forward to introducing you to Danny. He and Brain will probably talk to you for hours about your robotics project. Do you ever wear blue jeans?”

  He shrugged. “I own a pair, but I rarely wear them. Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious. I can look fashionable whether dressed down or up. So far, I’ve only seen you in dress shirts and ties, other than when you’re running. I get the feeling you’re more relaxed in a tie than you would be in comfortable clothes.”

  “Would you be willing to take me shopping? I think it might be good to learn how to dress down while still being fashionable.”

  “Yes, I can certainly do that. If you see a job that you think I could do well as a consultant, as opposed to an employee, will you consider me for it? Not something I’d need to move to Birmingham to do, but something that will get me a little more involved?”

  “This will make your father happy. Yes, I will talk to my assistant about this.” He looked down a few seconds, and then back up. “She guides me in social protocol. I have several assistants, but the lower tier reports to my main assistant. She will be most excellent at keeping an eye out for consulting jobs you’ll excel at.”

  “You handle the math and the strategy, while they help you communicate. Right?”

  “She reminds me to appear and sound more human. She reminds me to care about others, because sometimes the math is the only thing I consider.”

  A dangerous thing for someone who may one day run a health insurance empire. However, if Iris wasn’t willing to step up and take the reins, she had no business trashing the man her father chose.

  She’d just need to make sure his people kept him human. Somehow.

  A quick glance at the clock had her moving towards her door. “I asked Daddy if I could have a few minutes alone with him in his office before I left. If I don’t see you again before I go, I’m glad we finally got to meet, and I look forward to spending some time with you and getting to know you better.”

  He walked out with her and went the other direction at one of the hallways. Awkward, but a handshake would’ve been too formal, and she had the idea that a hug would’ve made him terribly uncomfortable.

  Her father looked up when she entered his office and closed the door.

  “I’m sure your investigator gave you tons of details about the RTMC’s whorehouse. I’d like a copy, please.”

  He sat back in his chair. “Why?’

  “I need to know.” She sat. “Mom made sure I understood the rights and privileges women get in this country, as opposed to the subjugation they experience in others. I can’t stay silent if women are being…” She took a breath. “You taught me to speak out against injustice. You’ve raised me to understand our wealth gives us more responsibility than the average American. We’re obligated to stand up for people without the means to do so themselves. Right?”

  He hit the speakerphone button on his desk phone, touched a speed dial button, and his primary assistant answered before the first ring finished.

  “Good afternoon, Brock.”

  “Please email everything we have on the RTMC to my daughter.”

  “All of it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Of course. I can reach those files from home, so I’ll do it immediately.”

  “Thank you.”

  He disconnected and leaned back again. “I don’t have the things I learned from the chief in writing. He’s of the opinion that if prostitution were legalized and ran as the local bikers handle it, then it would be much better for the women. Off the record, of course. He can’t say anything like that officially.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know much about the profession, other than what I’ve seen on shows, which isn’t likely to be accurate.” How awful it must be to have to resort to selling one’s body.

  “The high dollar escorts charge a thousand or more dollars per hour, and rich men happily pay for their discretion and experience. Not just the sex, but the date. I recognized a few high-priced call girls on the arms of rich old men at the galas. The ability to dress for the event and not embarrass the client, to look as if they belong…” He shrugged. “I understand street whores give blowjobs in dark alleys for ten or twenty dollars. Junkies, I assume. It doesn’t seem right to say the two types of women are in the same profession. My assumption is that the women the RTMC employ fall somewhere in the middle.”

  She started to ask if he’d ever paid for sex, but then decided she didn’t really want to know.

  Iris spent the entire plane ride reading through the documents. A video had been taken as the car drove by the Rolling Thunder Motor Hotel, but it didn’t show much because of the privacy wall and the angle of the driveway. Satellite images on different days of the week and times of day gave a better idea of the building and the activity level. The deed for the property listed the RTMC, set up as a corporation, as the owner. Ot
her tax records were included, and a P&L sheet she was certain was complete bullshit. This was an old motel that’d lost traffic when the interstate was put in decades earlier. The only hope of renting rooms in this location would be if they were a luxury, high end hotel, with perhaps spa services, but that wasn’t the case. Also, while the P&L sheet showed advertising expenses, she couldn’t find it on any of the travel sites online.

  She wouldn’t bring this up with Danny while they celebrated Christmas, but she’d find a time in the following days to broach the subject.

  There had to be an explanation. Her Danny wouldn’t do this. Would he?

  Chapter 31

  Iris had spent hours figuring out what to get Danny for Christmas. He quite literally had everything he wanted — the latest tech gear, the best biker gear, every gaming console known to man, excellent cookware. She’d tried to come up with something he didn’t know he wanted, but hadn’t been able to. Finally, she’d decided to go the consumables route, and had bought him over a hundred name brands of dark craft beer, often more than a half-dozen flavors per name brand. He'd be drinking it for months, trying out new brands and flavors.

  Of course, this wasn’t a small gift she could bring in. It had to be delivered, in many, many, many boxes. She knew he had room for the boxes in his large pantry, else this gift wouldn’t have worked.

  Still, she wanted something else for him to open, so she bought him some denim riding pants, with various other fibers woven in — like Kevlar and Cordura — so they’d hold up during a crash. She also bought him special riding gloves.

  And then laughed when one of her gifts was pants, jacket, boots, and gloves from the same company.

  They’d had sex more times than she could possibly count since she’d arrived the day before — the first time in the foyer of his home, pressed against the wall. The second time, they made it to the bed, but with her leaned over it, not in it.