Steven Granger

"It would make it easier for her, but I've decided to fight screw and nail."

"That's good, screw and nail."

"I've been waiting to use it on someone," I shrugged in admission.

"Do you want the house?" Lisa asked.

"Yes."

"Then I will find a way to get your house for you." She gave my hand a squeeze. For the first time in a while, I felt that there was a chance something good would happen.

Lisa directed me to a hotel in downtown Cincinnati. When we pulled up to the entrance, she slipped me a ten-dollar bill. I palmed it and slipped it to the valet when he gave me the ticket.

The suite we entered made me want to pass out. I had never seen such a luxurious room, not even when Taylor and I had went on our honeymoon.

"What do you make at your mill, Lisa?" I asked. "Do you spin gold or something?"

"Our mills spin yarn, just like the one you work at does."

"Well, you guys must make some good stuff at your other mills, because the one I saw was pretty ordinary."

"The one in Scottsboro? We had to shut that one down. We needed the spare parts and equipment for our plant in Laurel. Were you trying to get a job there?"

"Yeah, actually, I was. Not recently, but... Don't you feel any remorse for those people whose jobs you killed?"

Lisa walked across the room and pulled me around so I was standing toe-to-toe with her. "I guess this is the time where I tell you everything, right?"

"Right."

A smirk. "Steven, the month we shut down that plant, another company created ninety-four comparable jobs in that very same area. Those were technically the same type of job, labor-intensive but at a higher rate of pay. The polymer engineers were left to fend for themselves, they had bigger resumes to back them up."

"Okay?"

"They had eighty takers for those jobs after we closed that plant. Higher pay, better benefits."

"But people still had to make that transition."

"You see me in a different light now, Steven," Lisa sighed.

"Yes, because I see you, or your company, or your family, eliminating a job just like mine. I know almost all of my coworkers, a lot of them are my friends."

"Steven, I don't deserve to be viewed through that lens. Business is business, and that decision was not personal."

"I'm sorry about that. It just sounded so casual, you know?"

"Well, if you want to debate the finer points of that decision, let me know and I'll give Candace a call."

"That won't be necessary."

"So, let's get a shower."

"Together?" I was suddenly bashful.

"Sure."

"Maybe we should like...have a dinner or something before we go hopping into a shower together."

"You're bashful? For as much as you were undressing me with your eyes earlier, now you don't want to see me naked?"

So busted.

"It's just been so long... over twenty-five years."

"Well, I haven't seen a man naked for fifty," Lisa countered. "So, come on."

***

When we emerged from the bathroom in our robes, I spotted a duffle bag that hadn't been in the room before.

"Lima got you some things," Lisa indicated the bag with her free hand.

"Thanks?"

"Let me find a hair tie and you can thank me properly. What do you want to eat?"

"Is there a menu around here?"

"Hold on." Lisa rummaged through her purse and sighed. There was a popping sound, and then a crinkle of plastic. "Help me open this, Steven."

In her hands was a bag of hair ties. It was actually the same size as her purse. "What?"

"Open the bag and tie my end up, and I'll explain."

I pulled the bag open and extracted a lime-green tie. Lisa gave me the end of her braid and I tied it up for her. "Some of my better work," I picked at the braid a little, loosening some of the areas I had gotten too tight.

"Steven, what I did, that magic trick? That's called object translocation. That bag was in a closet at my house, and I called it to me."

"But you couldn't call just one hair tie?" I teased.

"Shut up," she giggled. "I was having trouble concentrating."

"How does it work?"

"Go sit over there," she pointed toward the end of the bed.

I sat on the floor, having to untie the belt on my robe to sit comfortably. Lisa knelt in front of me a moment later. "Put your right hand out, palm up." I complied.

She held out a small vial, tiny cap on the end. "This is pixie dust. Normally, magicians give a light dusting of their food maybe once a week. This helps keep our magic at the ready, so we can use it as easily as taking a breath."

"Gotcha."

She took off the cap, knocking a few grains of the dust into my palm. "Wet a finger from the other hand and pick up the grains with it."

"Must be pretty powerful stuff," I commented.

"Put your finger in your mouth," Lisa ordered.

When I complied, I felt something come alive inside me. Magic. "That is powerful stuff."

"Expensive, too," Lisa chuckled.

"Like how expensive?"

"This vial is about three hundred grams. I could buy you a new car, fully loaded, if the dealership took pixie dust as payment. Around twenty-six thousand dollars."

"How much did I swallow?"

"About fifty bucks," Lisa answered with a smile.

"Could get a good steak dinner with that," I offered. "Speaking of eating."

"What do you want?" Lisa asked.

"You said you were going to get a menu?"

"Steven," Lisa sighed. "I wish they had a menu."

"So you're telling me that they will fix anything I want, at twenty-three hours?"

"I knew I should have had Uma change the hotels," Lisa sighed. "You must think I'm a horrible person, flaunting my money while you are barely scraping by."

"No, I don't," I shook my head. "In the shower, you made me feel like a million bucks."

"Same here," Lisa smiled. "Well, I can't accurately describe what I felt, but that's close enough."

"Thanks. Okay, you show me magic first, then we'll have a steak midnight snack."

"Let's order first," she said.

Lisa placed our order, steak and eggs. She returned to her spot in front of me and took my hand again. "Close your eyes and think of something in your apartment. It can be a picture, candle, any small object."

"How about my toaster?" I asked.

"Start small. The energy you expend retrieving an object is relative to the mass and size of that object."

"So, I can call my car keys, but not the whole car?" I asked.

"Perfect example," Lisa nodded.

"Do I have to know the location of the object?"

"It helps. Don't try to retrieve something you have thrown into the trash, Steven. It may be very unpleasant."

"My universal remote control. It was sitting on my coffee table..."

Pop! My remote appearing in my hand startled me so bad that I immediately dropped it.

"Pretty fun, huh?" Lisa teased.

"How do I send it back?"

"That trick only works one way. Try something else. Not your toiletries, you already have some here. Something, one of many, like my hair ties you were teasing me about."

Cutlery would be too passe. I remembered something useful. In one of many hidey-holes in my apartment there were little silver envelopes with cash in them, about five hundred dollars per. It'd be nice to take Lisa out for a meal.

"I will take care of our expenses," Lisa interrupted my thinking.

"Lisa, at least let me take you out to dinner," I protested. "You don't have to pay for every little thing. I'm not some kind of...sugar baby."

She let out a big laugh. "And I'm not your sugar momma. Keep your money for things like your divorce attorney."

"You'd buy me a car...but not help me with legal fees."

"Correct. Guess why."

"Okay." I'd have to think on that one. "We're going down the road and I get pulled over for speeding."

"I can pay that for you."

"Obviously not murder," I pointed out.

"Don't be so picky. If you didn't actually commit the murder, I can pay for your defense. If you did? Say hello to death row."

"Gotcha. It's the words, they literally mean 'what God has brought together, let no man put asunder?' You answer to an actual god?"

"Well, a goddess, and her name is gaia. One of her rules is that we cannot interfere in the bond between a man and a woman, with very few exceptions."

"So you wouldn't even be able to loan me money to pay a divorce attorney?" I asked.

"Only if you had collateral," Lisa answered. "What did you have to go to Zane for?"

"Settle up my father's accounts, mostly. The car company repo'd his car and the apartment waited thirty whole days before tossing his stuff. Maybe if I hadn't been such an asshole..."

"It's okay," Lisa soothed. "You'll need a probate attorney, and I can help with that."

"Okay. Most of that paperwork is in your car."

"Then call it to you," Lisa prompted.

All of the papers were in a binder, so I put my hands out like I was going to catch it as it fell. A second later, it appeared out of thin air and landed in my hands. "Wow!"

"Are you feeling okay, still?" Lisa asked.

"Just a little light-headed. Maybe just the shock of it."

"Put out your hand," Lisa ordered. I complied. She shook a few more crystals into my palm and I ingested them the same way I had the others. "Better?"

"Yes. I used more energy than I had available?"

"If you would like to get magic lessons, you'll find that you aren't just using powders and potions, you're using your own psychic energy. Your eye has been closed for a half-century, it will need some time to adjust."

"Makes sense," I agreed. "I'll take the lessons."

"Good. Get presentable, food is almost here."

We ate steak and egg dinners at ten past zero hour. The plates went back to the cart, and then we started making sense of all the papers in the binder.

As I already knew, my father didn't have any property other than the contents of his apartment and his car. Lisa was very quiet, sorting the mess of papers into piles, then leafing through them again.

"Steve, it looks like your dad left you the better part of two hundred thousand dollars."

"Say what?"

"Plus there are also notations on the statements saying that he was paying for a safety deposit box. I'm not familiar with this bank, so it's probably a little mom and pop bank. The smaller the bank, the bigger the boxes for the fees, at least that is the rule of thumb."

"I have no idea how to deal with all of this," I admitted.

"Later on in the morning, I'll call one of my attorneys and have them give me a referral. I messenger all that stuff to Zane and have them work on it there. We'll be here in Cincy for two days unless you want to go back to Southstar."

"My next court hearing isn't for three weeks, and I'll call work and let them know I'm taking a couple more days."

"Good. Let's pack this up and go back to bed."

"I hope I don't disappoint you again," I sighed.

"Stevie, you are wowing me, and I'm not lying to you."

Lisa walked toward the bedroom, shedding her robe as she walked. I did the same, then watched her crawl onto the bed. She rolled over and beckoned to me. By the time my body was on top of her, I was hard again. She took my cock and guided me inside her welcoming pussy.

As soon as I was as far in as possible, she latched her foot behind my ass and turned us on our sides. "All good now," she smiled at me.

"Promise me it will get better," I whispered.

"Steven, it is already better. Look." She turned her left arm so I could see her tattoo. "The man who gave this to me said you had gotten yours not an hour previous! Of course a relationship wouldn't have worked for us then, you were still very much in love at that time"

I turned my arm and we moved our arms closer. The way they looked together was almost a mirror image because of how they had been applied. "Heartache is life, I suppose."

"Once your soul is free? There will be little we cannot do together, Steven." She started moving her hips back and forth, sliding me in and out of her. I moved my hand to her hip, feeling the muscles beneath her skin.

Lisa put her hand behind my head, pulling me into a kiss. She teased my mouth open with her tongue, then invaded me with it. Her hips started moving faster and her kissing became more frantic. She let out a squeal into my mouth, her pubis swirling and grinding against my cock.

She flipped me onto my back, grinding and moving back and forth. She pulled her face away from mine, arching her back and letting out a howl. It was long and loud and she made herself hoarse, but she got it out.

Spent, she flopped down on me, still breathing hard. "I'm done, Steven. Have your pleasure now."

It wasn't until she said something that I realized I hadn't done my quick shooter routine that time. I had gotten her to howl. I smiled, because that was enough for the moment.

Lisa wiggled her hips, trying to get my attention. I finally rolled us over so that I was on top. She opened her eyes, looking at me dreamily. "Thank you."

"Stephen, you are so welcome. You cum now."

I stuck one of my knees between her legs, and she opened them for me. I slid fully inside her, then out, then into her again. She turned her head to the side, and I nibbled at the offered ear and moved down to nuzzle her neck. I hummed a higher tone, speeding up my thrusts into her, then a lower tone to signal I was slowing down.

Lisa seemed to like my humming, because she started mimicking my humming. As I got closer to my orgasm, I raised the volume of my hum, Lisa doing the same until we both let out a shout to signal our mutual orgasm. I did keep going, hoping that I could give her another, but she shifted her head to shield her neck. "Enough, Steven. Just hold me now, baby."

"Baby?" I asked as I shifted my leg so we could roll onto our sides. "I'm your baby?"

"And I'm your baby," Lisa hummed.

"You're my baby and I'm your baby. That sounds excellent."

"Excellent," Lisa whispered her agreement.

***

Lisa woke me using the tips of her hair. "We must be going."

"Going where?" I half-asked, half-demanded.

"Do you think I chose Cincy on a whim?"

"Huh?"

"Get up and get dressed," Lisa demanded. "You have fifteen minutes."

I was up and dressed in twelve. The clothes that Lisa's assistant had chosen fit me well.

.

Lisa led me to the entrance of the hotel, I managed to get to her door before the valet. Just because. She set a gps device onto a holder attached to the windshield. "Please, go there."

Please.

I followed the directions to a seemingly run-down warehouse. I didn't bother to ask, I just got out and opened her door.

"Come with," Lisa held out her hand to me.

I clasped her hand and led Lisa to the obvious door. The door opened at my touch, which didn't give me but a second to look for any obvious cameras around. I didn't see any.

The inside of the building was relatively quiet. in fact, I didn't hear any of the city noise I had heard before our entrance.

"Ambient noise blocker," Lisa whispered. "Roll with it, Steven."

"Okay."

We went down a flight of stairs, then two more.

"Miss Frasier, why did you bring a stranger here? Our deal specified..."

"Dirk, our deal is a first. We have had no prior contact, as you know."

"Why do you violate our contract?" The voice demanded.

"A demand of ten thousand euros in bitcoin for producing thirty copies of a PCB warrants a second look. Wouldn't you do the same?"

"I would."

"Give me what I paid for," Lisa demanded.

A woman, carrying a box made of wood, walked out of the blackness in front of me and Lisa. She set the box on a table, similarly unseen, and took a step back. "Go, Steven. See for yourself."

Confused, I walked to the table, but confidently opened the box. There was a printed circuit board on the top, in anti-static wrap. I pulled it out, ignoring every convention on anti-static PCB's.

Next, I pulled out a board which was set in foam in the case, no anti-static wrap surrounding it. I compared one board against the other and found one difference: the first board was an original, the second a copy. I could tell the initial difference by the etchings; while the first board had manufacturer's etchings, the second did not.

"Visually, the boards match,* I announced. "Electronically, I don't know."

"That is fine," Lisa said. "Dirk, store those schematics. If these pan out, I will make you a very rich woman."

"Very well," the voice said.

In silence, I carried the box outside to the rear of the Explorer. I set it inside the cargo area, and the hatch closed behind me. I walked Lisa to her door and helped her inside.

I didn't say anything until we were back in our room. "Why?"

Lisa dropped to the floor, pulling off her shoes and settling into the Lotus position. I did the same. "Steven, I didn't know that you were a mechanic until I did a deep lookup on you."

"Go ahead."

"What did you see when you looked at those printed circuit boards?"

"According to the etchings, those boards match to the computing servers of the Barlœkon series 2000 winding controllers. Those look like pirate boards, Lisa!"

"They are," Lisa nodded.

*Why?" I demanded.

"Because we can't get spare parts from that manufacturer. We used to ask for three or four boards a month, but we cannot compete against a Canadian company's order for ten thousand winders."

"Yeah, I know what happened," I admitted. "My plant has the same problem, but just with the ceramics for now."

"Steven, I am sorry. I was so interested in who you were, I didn't know what you were."

"You didn't see that in my head?" I regretted asking almost immediately. "I forgot, you can't see anything that I'm not consciously thinking about."

"Correct."

"What's next?"

"Cast aluminum pieces, airjets and birotor vanes. Lexington, Kentucky."

"We've already tried to replace the birotor shafts, they are made from an extremely dense stainless alloy US forges can't duplicate."

"Same here," Lisa admitted. "Can we talk about something else?"

I chuckled. "For what I have in mind, you only need one word."

"Yes?"

"Exactly."

Lexington's load, being aluminum pieces, wasn't nearly as heavy as the load from Upper Wilmer. When we got to the hotel that we were going to be occupying for the night, Lisa took the keys from my hand and put them under the passenger side floor mat. I didn't bother to ask why, I was rolling with it.

The next morning, Lisa went to an Explorer of a completely different color, and withdrew a set of keys from under the passenger side floor mat and tossed them to me.

We were heading to our next destination when I just had to ask the question. "Those keys were inside this vehicle all night and you weren't afraid that it could have been stolen?"

"Steven, both vehicles are warded. Even if someone went through the lot trying door handles, if they opened the door they would get the fright of their life. Add to that the fact that they probably wouldn't even know the keys were in the vehicle. If they got past the warding, as some people are immune to magic, found the keys and driven the vehicle away, we have both magical and technological ways to track them down."

"Well, okay."

Lisa chuckled. "Welcome to my world."

***

"That looks very bad, " Lisa admitted, looking at the 'real' entrance to my/Taylor's property. "Rather inhospitable."

"Told you," I quipped.

"Steven, there is an actual path."

"Big enough for a couple of four-wheelers, not a semi tractor-trailer carrying a house."

"Let's go see your house," Lisa said.

"The walk is over a kilometer," I hedged. "Over uneven terrain, and it is almost nightfall."

"Okay, we'll come back in the morning, right?"

"Okay," I relented.

Lisa hadn't driven her vehicle since we had first met. She had joked that she drove like an immortal and it would scare me to death.

"What is your preoccupation with my house?" I finally asked.

"Because I can sense how much it means to you, and I will do my best to get it for you."