“Rice isn’t a name I’m familiar with. Do you live around here, Carl?”
“No.”
“Where do you live?”
“San Diego.” Carl decided to cut short the General’s probing into his lineage. “I’m on scholarship.”
“You sound defensive.”
“I’m not,” he said a little too quickly.
“Good. You shouldn’t be. I’m pleased that Vanessa has a friend who hasn’t had everything in life handed to him. St. Martin’s is an excellent school. I wouldn’t have permitted Vanessa to attend if it wasn’t. But many of the students are there because their parents bought their way in. They are spoiled and worthless. You should be proud that your admission was based on merit.”
The General’s speech surprised Carl. He certainly didn’t sound like the ogre Vanessa had made him out to be.
Wingate picked up the pace after a mile, but Carl still had no trouble keeping up. At two miles a stone jetty blocked the beach and the General turned back toward the house. With a half mile to go, Wingate started to sprint. Carl could have outrun the older man easily, but he did not want to race. He sensed that this was some sort of test, but he just matched his pace to the General’s and pretended that they were not competing. They were two hundred meters from the stairs when Carl saw a man in jeans and a plaid shirt walking along the edge of the cliff. The sun shone in Carl’s eyes and he had to look away, but there had been a moment when the man’s body blocked the sun and Carl thought he saw an automatic weapon.
When they reached the stairs the General was gasping but Carl’s breathing was still steady.
Wingate leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. “You’re in good shape, Carl.”
“I work out several hours every day. Running is part of my training.”
“Do you compete for St. Martin’s?”
“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
Carl shrugged. “My studies and karate keep me pretty busy. I don’t have time.”
“What are you doing next year?”
“College, I hope.”
“I assume your grades are high.”
“I’m doing okay.”
“Where are you applying?”
“Cal, some of the other UC schools. Dartmouth is my first choice. But it all depends on scholarships. If I have to I’ll work for a year or two.”
Wingate stood up straight. His breathing was normal again. “Shall we go up? Vanessa should be awake by now.”
Carl found himself drawn to the General. Would Vanessa turn against him if she thought he liked her father? He hoped that Vanessa was still sleeping and wouldn’t see him with Wingate, but he hoped in vain. She was on the terrace dressed in tennis shorts and a light green short-sleeved shirt eating a croissant and sipping coffee.
“Engaged in male bonding?” she asked when the men drew close.
“I asked Carl to join me on my run,” Wingate responded, ignoring her sarcasm. “He tells me that he’s helping you with your schoolwork.”
Vanessa stared at Carl long enough to make him nervous. He fully expected Vanessa to tell her father what they’d done in the guest room all night long.
“I was having trouble with math. Carl’s a whiz. I think I understand it now.”
“Good. I’m going to shower. I’ll see you two later.”
“So, what did you think of the General?” Vanessa asked when her father was out of earshot.
“He’s in good shape for someone his age,” Carl answered noncommittally.
Vanessa laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite you if you say something nice about him. He makes a great first impression, especially with men. Those steely eyes, the firm set of his jaw, his military posture. He’s all man, and you guys eat that up.”
“Really, Vanessa, I was practicing karate. We talked about that and we ran together. He asked me where I live and about school.”
Vanessa leaned forward and took Carl’s jaw in her hand. The touch was electric and ignited his desire.
“You’re red as a beet and I bet I know what you’re thinking.” Carl’s blush deepened. “Why don’t you go up and shower and I’ll join you?”
“With your father in the house?” Carl asked nervously.
“Especially with my father in the house,” she answered, staring viciously into the dark interior of her home.
As they got up, a man walked around the corner of the mansion. He was not the same man Carl had seen patrolling the edge of the cliff. This time there was no question that the man was armed.
“Don’t worry about them,” Vanessa said when she noticed where Carl was looking. “My father always travels with guards. He’s very important. Even Enrique is ex-military, from some South American country my father had dealings with. Probably from some death squad my father helped train.” Carl couldn’t tell if she was kidding. “He’s always armed.”
Carl frowned. He didn’t like the idea of armed men patrolling the grounds. It meant that there was a reason for them to be there. Then Vanessa took his hand and Carl forgot about the guards.
The General left the house shortly after breakfast. While he was gone, Carl and Vanessa alternated between screwing their brains out and lolling on the beach. Wingate returned in the early evening for dinner. He tried to conduct a normal conversation during the meal, but his daughter answered any direct questions tersely and was morosely silent when Carl and her father were speaking. Carl was intensely uncomfortable and was relieved when dinner ended.
The couple went to a movie because the General was having company. The visitors were gone when they returned after midnight. Vanessa spent the night in Carl’s room, which made him very nervous. He imagined the General wrenching open the guest room door and murdering him in bed, but there were no nocturnal incursions and Morris Wingate was gone when they woke up Sunday morning.
Carl was exhausted when Vanessa dropped him off at his apartment on Sunday evening. He went right to sleep and slept through his alarm, arriving late for class for the first time since he’d started at St. Martin’s. Carl hoped he would not run into Sandy Rhodes or Mike Manchester. He lucked out. They weren’t in any of his classes and he only saw them in the hall at a distance. Vanessa told Carl that the boys were telling everyone who asked about their bruises that they’d received their scars while successfully fighting off a gang of bikers in an alley behind a bar.
The first semester of Carl’s senior year was a blur. He wanted to spend every minute he could with Vanessa but explained that he had to keep his grades up if he was going to have a chance at a college scholarship. She understood and never interfered with his studies. When they went to the beach after class, Vanessa had him home by seven. If he stayed at her house on the weekends, she insisted that he bring his books.
At first, Carl dreaded the weekends at the Wingate estate if the General was in residence because there was so much tension between Morris Wingate and his daughter, but he soon began looking forward to Wingate’s appearances. The General was charming and intelligent. He had a wide range of knowledge and seemed to have been everywhere. Carl felt guilty because he didn’t hate Vanessa’s father the way his daughter did. He was careful not to mention his feelings to Vanessa. She must have noticed that Carl and her father got along, but she never said anything to him about it.
Sometimes Carl and the General worked out together. Usually they ran on the beach, but one day Wingate suggested that they spar. He was not in Carl’s league, but he wasn’t bad. Thinking about it later, Carl realized that he should not have been surprised. Wingate was military, and soldiers fight for a living. For the most part, Carl played defense, content to block Wingate’s punches and kicks while occasionally landing a light blow of his own. Carl was sure that the General knew he was holding back, but he couldn’t bring himself to go all-out.
