Enemy In the Room (27 page)

Kristen returned her smile. “Your dad isn’t
boring! He’s terrific.” Kristen held up a hand. “But I’m not here
to defend him. I do know that he loves you very much, however he
may have expressed it. It may have come across as telling you what
to do, but in his mind I suspect that he thinks he’s helping
you.”

Callie frowned and looked at her watch.
“We’ve got to go in a minute. I have to get ready for tonight, and
the traffic will be getting rough soon.”

“OK, I’m almost finished. Listen, Callie,
I’ve enjoyed today. Thank you for showing me around. We did pretty
well.”

Callie looked at the packages and
brightened. “Yes. I’ve had a good time, too. I’m really glad you
came. If you’re ever coming through again, please call me.”

“I certainly will. Listen, tomorrow is
Saturday. Any chance we could spend a little time at the beach? I
ought to try out this new swimsuit.”

“I’m not sure. It depends on how late
tonight goes. But Santa Monica would be good. How about if I call
you around eleven tomorrow?”

“That’ll be great. I hope I’ll see you.”

MONDAY, MAY 23RD

David was seated at his desk early the next
Monday morning, trying to concentrate on managing their projects
but wondering as well what Kristen had found out about Callie.

That morning the news was all about the
latest demonstrations and near-riots in Tehran. He was worried
about Omid and Goli because there were rumors that the opposition
had looted an armory, meaning that the Basiji’s violent tactics
might be met by equal violence in the coming days.

He took out his cell phone and dialed the
number in Estonia; a moment later Omid answered in Tehran, but the
loud noise made David move the phone away.

“Hello,” Omid yelled.

“Omid, it’s your cousin. Are you OK?”

“Cousin? Yes. I thought you were Morad.” A
siren sounded nearby. “I’ve been looking for Morad and Ramin all
day.” There was a loud explosion, and his phone clearly fell to the
ground.

“Omid? Omid?”

A scraping noise and heavy breathing. “Yes.
I have to get across this square. They’re charging us. I’ll call
you later.” And the phone went dead.

David turned and looked out the window. He
called Elizabeth and told her what he had just heard.

“That’s terrible. I hope they’re safe. I’ll
ask Sally if we can pray for Omid and Goli this morning at Bible
study,” she volunteered.

“Yes. Thanks. When I hear more, I’ll let you
know.”

He thought for a minute about praying.
Allah, or God, please protect our family in Tehran
. He did
not know what else to say, so he was silent, thinking about what
Omid must be going through.

Then he turned back to his desk and ran down
his master list of the group’s work in progress. All of them were
in the office that morning except Cheryl, who had flown out to
Kansas City to survey additional telecom sites with a local broker.
Todd would be flying to Minneapolis that afternoon to deliver their
executed lease for office space and to meet with architects to move
forward on the design and pricing of their fit-out.

We actually seem to have our major issues
fairly well contained for the moment. At least until Capital Tower
gets going again, if it does.

Kristen stopped by his door at 8:30, her
large purse over her shoulder. “Hey.” She smiled.

David stood up. “Hey. Glad you’re back. How
are you? Sorry I missed your call yesterday.”

“No problem. I’m fine. Let me put this stuff
down and check my emails. Ten minutes?”

“Sure.”

She returned with a coffee mug and a writing
pad. They moved to his small table by the window.

“You look good,” he commented. “Did you get
some sun?”

She smiled. “Yes. Saturday. With Callie at
the beach.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Tell me about it.”

“In a minute. First, we’re finally all set
in Singapore. The space looks great, and we got a decent deal,
given that the whole world is moving there from Hong Kong. Here’s a
short summary. I signed this letter of intent. The attorneys are
working on the lease now.”

“Kristen, you’ve done a great job on our new
Far Eastern offices. Twice. Thank you for both times.”

She leaned back and took a sip of coffee.
“Let’s just hope Knox doesn’t change his mind again.”

“I don’t think he will this time.”

“Hm. Well, now about Callie. We had a great
time.”

He inched forward. “That’s wonderful. What
did you do?”

“Just girl stuff. Lunch, shopping, the
beach. She’s a complex person. Obviously she has some real
problems. And she’s struggling. A lot of anger towards you right
now.” She took a long sip and set the mug on her lap in front of
her. “But we had a good time. I can’t wait to go back. Do we have
any assignments out there that don’t involve porn movie
facilities?”

“No assignments at all right now. But tell
me about Callie—the movie stuff. What did she say about that?”

“We didn’t talk about it.”

“What?”

She shrugged and put the cup on the table.
“We never talked about what she does. Outside of her acting in
school and working for your brother.”

“But that was the reason you went to see
her!”

“Well, yes. We did talk about you and your
relationship. But the movies just never came up. David, she hardly
knows me. If I’m ever really going to understand her and help her,
she has to trust me—and for real reasons. It’s a guy thing to walk
in and ‘solve problems.’ But women would rather get to know each
other. I genuinely hope I can go back and spend time with her. She
likes to shop and has a better eye than I do for putting the right
stuff together. And I never have time to look for clothes when I’m
here. So maybe if we can start there and get along, eventually
something will come of it.”

“Did you learn
anything
?”

She leaned back again and smiled. “Oh,
definitely. She looks fine, though she’s eating like a horse.
Anyway, she made excuses about being up late to study, and I didn’t
question her. She mentioned Alex, but I didn’t meet him. No
details. She knows some great shops and a wonderful stretch of
beach.”

“But you have no idea when or if she’ll ever
quit making these movies?”

“No, I don’t. But once I earn the right to
be let into that part of her life, I’ll do my best, as I promised,
to help her get out of it. Anyway, isn’t the Senate supposed to
pass President Harper’s reform bill this week, making it illegal
for anyone under twenty-one to participate in creating porn?”

“Yes, but there’s already a long line of
lawsuits ready to challenge the President’s entire package of
reforms as soon as she signs them into law. And to carve ‘homemade’
movies out all together.”

“We regulate the legal age to drive, to
drink, to go to war, to get married—you’d think it would be OK to
move the age to work in porn movies.”

“I know. But others think it’s censorship,
or a loss of human rights.”

“The right to copulate at eighteen for
thousands of guys to watch? I’m sure Jefferson, Washington and the
others were thinking just that when they risked everything they had
to birth our nation.”

“Kristen, don’t get started.”

“I won’t.” She took a sip. “But it’s
your
daughter
who’s caught up in it. And I imagine that USNet is
funding at least some of those lawsuits.”

He looked down. “I don’t know.”

She put her mug on the table and stood up.
“Well, you’re right. No need to get wound up this early on a
beautiful Monday. God’s in charge, not me. I meant what I said
about hoping to go back to visit Callie. She’s a good girl who
needs someone outside her small world whom she can trust. Maybe
I’ll be that person. I don’t know. But we’ll see.”

“What should I do?”

“Now? I don’t think you should do anything
about Alex or their movies except call her, and see her if you can.
Listen to her without pushing her. She already knows exactly how
you feel about Alex. You’ve made your point. So now just be her
father in every other way. And maybe I, or other people, can
reinforce what you’ve told her.”

She started to move toward the door, and he
stood up. “Kristen, in my background, a father has to enforce what
is right, not ignore wrongdoing, especially when it is so gross and
so public.”

She stopped and nodded, then returned to her
chair. He did the same.

Kristen thought for a moment, then spoke.
“Yes. I understand. In my background, a father is supposed to
somehow both enforce what is right
and
give grace whenever
it is needed. We have the story of the prodigal son, but it is
really as much about the father. After his son grossly and publicly
dishonors him, the father still so longs for their relationship
that he runs to meet his returning son, while he is still a far way
off. Your family is from the Middle East, mine isn’t. But I
understand that no older man ever runs for anything, much less to
embrace a wayward son. Jesus tells this story to illustrate the
truth about our God, that He is both lawgiver and grace giver,
requiring right actions but providing love and grace when we fall
short.”

“The Allah of my parents never heard about
love or grace. Instead, he watches what we do, enforces his will,
and keeps score on who obeys and who doesn’t. That’s why I can’t
act with Callie as if nothing has happened.”

“I understand. Left to our own devices we
would never imagine the concept of grace. No other religion ever
has. All of them are based on keeping score and earning your way by
what you do. Win or lose. And that’s what is completely unique
about Christianity—which is why I believe it must be divinely
inspired. If you bring grace into any human situation, it instantly
changes everything. It’s amazing. People are simply overwhelmed by
true grace.”

“It seems like weakness to me. I don’t think
I could or should forgive her, or even talk with her. She’s made
her own bed.”

Kristen smiled. “Actually, true grace and
forgiveness are much harder than paying back. That’s why it changes
everyone. Because it’s from God. He let his son pay the price for
us, and he forgives all who believe. Unconditionally. And runs
towards us, calling our name, even when we are still a far way off.
Imagine that.”

He paused. “It’s impossible for God—Allah—to
be like that. He is all powerful and would never care that much for
us.”

“Maybe not Allah, but God did—two thousand
years ago. And He does every day. No more score-keeping. It’s
amazing. You should check it out.”

“Well, I’ll think about it. Anyway, thank
you. I owe you a lot—both for Callie and for Singapore.”

She turned slightly and smiled. “I had a
chance to say a little bit to Callie about what a good man her
father really is.”

“Thank you. We’ll see. And I just remembered
something: before you get into everything else, you need to know
that the police came by last week to talk with us about Bill
Porter’s disappearance.”

“He’s still missing?”

“Yes.”

Kristen frowned. “That’s not good. Not good
at all.”

“I know. The police were checking with
everyone on his appointment calendar for the previous month. I told
the police about the voicemail he left us, and I pointed out that
other buyers could be just as angry.”

“So, what happens next? Do they have any
leads on where he may be?”

“No. They definitely think he’s dead. I’m
still not convinced. Anyway, they might call you, since you weren’t
here, and I just wanted you to know.”

“OK. Thanks. One thing, David.”

“Yes?”

“I won’t lie over this. We had nothing to do
with whatever might have happened. But if they ask me a straight
question on any aspect of this, I’ll give them a straight
answer.”

He nodded. “Yes. Of course. That’s what I
want you to do. Just wanted you to know.”

“Thanks. I’ll send you an email with the
full report on Singapore.”

“Good. And I’m glad you’re back.”

After Kristen left, David dialed Omid’s
number on his cell phone. Following the connection in Estonia, the
phone in Tehran rang and rang.

“I’m sorry that Stan couldn’t make it
tonight,” Mike Campbell said, as he sipped his double Scotch. He
and Todd were at a table in the bar at one of Minneapolis’s most
exclusive clubs. “But he’ll see you in the morning when we sign the
lease.”

Todd smiled and raised his drink to his old
friend. “No problem.” He lowered his voice. “But I want to talk to
you about the balance of the financing fee.”

“You’ll have earned it as soon as we sign
tomorrow, as we agreed.”

Todd took a long sip. “Good. No, actually,
great! But here’s the thing. I may seem paranoid, Mike, but I don’t
like the paper trail in the islands, or all of our emails and
calls. Can you just give me the second half in cash?”

“Sure. It’ll take a few days.”

“That’s fine. We’ll be getting together
again soon.”

“Listen, Todd, along those lines. We’re
looking at several great development opportunities in Chicago,
Denver and Kansas City, but we need a strong prelease in each case
to get financing. Do you have any requirements coming up in those
cities?”

Todd thought for a moment. “We almost always
have a need in Chicago. And I think Cheryl left this morning for a
telecom requirement in Kansas City. I’ll have to check. But no more
calls or emails. Let’s just communicate about the leases
themselves, and we’ll agree now that I’ll earn this same percent
for new ones in the future, in cash.”

“Well, now that we know that our private
financing system works so well, that sounds fine to me.”

Todd tried not to grin but couldn’t help it.
He looked at his friend. “You mean, this same sort of
arrangement?”