The Currency of Time Ch. 01

She moved closer and I stood up involuntarily, instinct telling me to watch out. She stared up into my eyes and said, "Could I see your driver's license?"

"What?"

"I think you're really 50 and passing for 25. With a lot of surgery, I think you could pass."

I put my hands on her hips to move her back and froze. She saw it and smiled.

"I guess I could try to be as 'respectable' as you, but I'd really have to work at it. I've been hearing stories about you and your exploits - stories I wasn't supposed to hear about - for years. How many women have you gotten pregnant and your daddy had to pay off to have abortions? How many 'girlfriends'? So, how many? One hundred? Two hundred?"

"Who knows? Who cares?"

"Exactly. I've fucked – maybe – 50 guys. I like to fuck gangs of them at one time. But I'm a slut, and you're just a red blooded, all American boy."

"Yeah. I didn't make the rules. Letting yourself be drugged, pulling trains...you're a slut."

"I get tested regularly and my guys use condoms. You ever get yourself tested?"

I looked at her face reddening in anger, the crimson of her lips and thought of her lying in a bed while cocks entered all of her holes in a rhythmic fucking and felt myself getting hard. I didn't let it bother me. It was like sitting in a hotel room with a porn star having seen her getting massively fucked. It was just a natural male reaction.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I get tested regularly even though I always use condoms since I grew up and developed a few smarts. I haven't gotten anyone pregnant in years, since my father beat some sense into me."

"You ever think about all those little McCarthys who might be running around now if your daddy hadn't been so quick to pay for abortions? Or if you'd been man enough to accept responsibility for your wandering dick? You ever think about what it would be like to play daddy, if any part of you was grown up except your dick?"

"Somehow those words of wisdom ring hollow falling from the lips of a whore still dripping cum."

A small smile played on those ruby red lips and somehow that pissed me off even more.

"Ooohh, I think maybe I hit a nerve, Mr. McCarthy. You ever think about them in the long hours of the night? Women are supposed to be the ones haunted by the ghosts of children who will never be born. Men don't care about that. Not real men. You're not – SENSITIVE – are you? It's okay. I'll keep your secret from your drinking buddies.

"No, I'm not sensitive. How many abortions have you had?"

An expression came and went so quickly on her face that I couldn't identify it.

"However many I've had, that's my business."

She was right. It was her business. And this conversation was deeper and more raw than I had ever had with a woman. I preferred my women light and air headed and their only interest in depth was how deep I could bury myself in them. All I'd been doing was a favor for an old man who'd been good to me and my father. All I needed to do was make sure she was in good shape physically and get her home.

Which I did an hour later. There was a parking area behind the main house between it and a series of guest cottages for special visitors and partying. A series of pools of varying sizes dotted the landscape between the cottages. It was near 1 a.m. and older types were in bed and the younger were still out partying.

She approached the nearest pool. It was relatively small, maybe10 yards long and five across, but it was at least 20 feet deep with frescos and a few small statuary scattered across the bottom.

"It is so fucking hot. Let's go in, McCarthy."

"Sorry ma'am. Not dressed for it and I'm ready to head to bed."

"You are sooooo old to be so young."

She threw me a look of challenge that if she had appealed to me at all, would have had me stripping down and in the pool. Fortunately, she didn't.

She stripped out of her top, slid off the bra that covered those small breasts topped with what looked like Maraschino cherries, pulled her dress down and followed with a thong like dental floss, revealing that, as I'd thought, she was a true redhead.

"Your loss," she said, laughing, then turning and diving into the pool.

She came up dripping and glistening in the lights over the pool. I found myself regretting that she wasn't my type.

"You sure?"

Jesus, but she was hot. If she'd only had more by way of tits. But...

The more I thought about it the more I realized I couldn't leave her out here alone. For all I knew, she had other guys she could call and hook up with. And then we'd be right back where we started. Not to mention that my name would be shit with Lancaster after he'd asked me to watch out for his baby girl and I'd lost her after learning what she was up to.

She splashed me. And then splashed me again. After the third time I slipped off my shoes and dove in after her. I didn't strip because there was no way in hell I wanted anybody coming out and finding me naked and frolicking with the boss's daughter. Not that I couldn't explain what was going on, but still...

Naturally she slipped out and up the far side of the pool. She leaned over the side of the pool and taunted me. Damned if her breasts didn't appear a lot more succulent dripping water off the hard tips.

"Why don't you try to come up and catch me, McCarthy? You're a grown man and I'm just a little girl."

I just stared at her, treading water in the center of the pool, my drenched clothes dragging and forcing me to tread with a lot more effort than I would have otherwise. She stood there shimmying which made her slim body shake in fascinating ways.

"What's the matter? Those big muscles might be nice for attracting certain kind of bimbos, but it makes it hard to move quickly, doesn't it. You're a behemoth, but quick little mammals can run rings around a big dinosaur like you, can't they? You couldn't catch me if you tried."

She expected me to try to climb out and then as soon as I had dragged my waterlogged clothes and body out, to dive back in and keep the game going. I surprised her by staying where I was.

"No sense of adventure, McCarthy? You like those big soft cows that throw themselves and their udders at you? Not used to dealing with anybody but bimbos? Well, I think I'll slip away before you can get out, call some friends and find a party. And you can explain to my daddy why you let me slip away when he sent you to keep me on the straight and narrow."

I looked into her beautiful eyes in that face set off by wild red hair and wished she was about ten years older. When she grew up, small tits or not, she'd probably be the kind of woman that got under your skin. But now she was just a pain in the ass.

"I'm not chasing you, Deirdre. If you want to jump back in and engage in some water games, I'm up for it. If you want to run off somewhere and fuck the night away, go for it. I'll tell your daddy what's going on and let him worry about you. If he wants to fire me, let him. I won't lack for work."

"You're no fun, McCarthy. I'll give you another chance, just to be fair."

She dove in and circled me like a silver, red-haired fish, laughing at me until I reached out when she came too close, grabbed a wrist and brought her to me. She fussed, but I put my arm around her waist, grabbed the ladder into the water and hauled myself out. I carried her under my arm toward the main house while she kicked, scratched, hollered and called me all kinds of bad names.

I stomped into the main house, squishing as I went, a red haired harridan screaming and hollering 'rape', 'kidnapping' and 'call the police'."

Butlers and maids and security men started swarming and when the first two big men grabbed me to force me to release her, I let her go. Many of the people here knew me, but she was the Lady of the Manor.

She was talking to a couple of the maids and getting ready to get out when Orion Lancaster, dressed in a evening gown worth more than most working men would earn in a year and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, walked in.

"What the hell is going on out here, Michael?"

"Daddy, he manhandled me and he's going to tell you a bunch of lies. Don't believe him."

"Michael?"

"Can we talk privately? And have your men hold onto Deirdre."

When we walked into a library, he turned to me and said, "talk to me."

I told him the story and I could see the pain and shock in his eyes. She might think of herself as a grown woman, but she was still his little girl.

"Honestly, Mr. Lancaster, if she was just partying and screwing around, I wasn't planning on telling you. She's not doing anything that a lot of girls her age aren't. But what she's doing is dangerous. They're playing with date rape drugs and probably worse. Like I told the guys who were planning on partying with her, people make mistakes. Sometimes drugged women never wake up. It's dangerous for her to keep going on the way she's going."

"You swear you're telling me the truth?"

"On my father's grave."

Two security men brought her into the library. She had a hard time raising her eyes to meet his, but when she did I could see that she was his daughter. The same iron will, the same strength.

"I suppose he's filled your head with lies, daddy? And you believe him without hearing me out?"

"Tell me the truth."

She lowered her eyes again and then raised them.

"Alright. I was partying. I wish I could tell you I'm still your virginal 12-year-old daughter, but I can't. People grow up. I like sex. And I like men."

"You play games where you let these 'friends' of yours drug you into unconsciousness and then rape you?"

She stared daggers at me.

"It isn't rape. It's consensual. It's...a fantasy. No one gets hurt. I date nice guys, students and sons of people running empires almost as big as yours."

He stared at her and I was glad I didn't have children. Nobody to break my heart.

"Do you always use condoms – in these games?"

"Mostly."

The look on his face changed.

"So not only do you take a chance of dying by taking untested drugs, you risk AIDS and God knows what else."

She refused to answer him.

He walked over to her and cupped her face in his hands.

"You're the only thing I have left of your mother. You will inherit a fortune and a major company when I die. And you're willing to throw all that away for...a few thrills in the bedroom?"

"I'm young. And it didn't have to be this way. You could have let Julian stay with me. He loved me and I loved him. I wouldn't be doing all this if you hadn't scared him away, if you'd let me pick my own man."

He tightened his grip on her face and she winced.

"The piece of shit made you kill your own child so I wouldn't know what was going on. He got a 16-year-old girl he was supposed to be tutoring pregnant. And I didn't have to scare him away. I offered him a flat million to dump you and go away and he was gone before the ink was dry on my check."

"He left because he knew you'd kill him if he didn't go."

"It doesn't matter. You're on complete lockdown. Security will accompany you everywhere you go, whether it's to the bathroom or to the movies or back to classes. You will be drug tested every day."

"You can't do that. I'm over 18, an adult. You can't keep me here against my will. I have rights."

"I can Baker Act you for up to 60 days, maybe longer, after drug tests confirm that you're a threat to yourself. I can get a friendly judge to commit you for six months for treatment and therapy at a private mental facility. There won't be any days at the beach, movies, barhopping where you'll be going. Choose. You can stay here and follow my rules and you'll be tutored by a fat old grandmother, or as God is my judge, I'll lock you up for as long as I can."

"You would do that to me?"

"To keep you alive, yes."

I barely had time to get my hands up before a whirlwind of nails and teeth descended on me. Fortunately, I outweighed her by a hundred pounds and it wasn't hard to keep her off me. The two security guys pulled her off me.

When they'd removed her, Lancaster looked at me and said, "I know she's royally pissed right now, but she'll get over it. Thank you."

"It made for an interesting Friday night, anyway."

I thought about making a late night run by some of my favorite spots and seeing if I could bag something for the night, but I wound up showering and hitting the bed. Somehow, I had the feeling that anybody I found would be just plain dull compared to what I'd already experienced.

Time passed. Another Friday. I had just flown in from Miami after four days of sniffing around rumors of an undiscovered oil field close enough to flood Miami Beach with oil if things went wrong, but it appeared to be just another of those will-of-the-wisp rumors that made the oil business funny, if frustrating.

I had managed one too-short, session with a very bilingual Cuban who was able to tell me what she wanted in two languages. I'd had about 12 hours sleep in 96 hours and I was living on coffee. My bed looked very inviting.

I was sacked into my condo on the Lancaster estate when I heard the knock at the door.

"Go away. I'm off the clock."

The knocking resumed. I'd kept in contact with Orion so I doubted it was from him. I opened the door. Deirdre stood flanked by two attractive women who attempted to play down the fact that they were carrying, but it was obvious. They looked to my eye like female cops, so they had to be security.

"Yes?"

"We apologize for disturbing you, Mr. McCarthy, but Ms. Lancaster insisted on seeing you, the shorter blonde said. It was clear that this wasn't the most fun assignment they'd ever had.

"What do you want?"

"I apologize for trying to gouge your eyes out the last time we were together."

"Feeling bad about that now?"

"A little. Can we put that behind us?"

"Why?"

"I need a favor."

"I know I shouldn't ask, but what?"

"Can we go out and get a drink at Jax Beach. They've got some really cool bands playing there tonight."

"Are you insane? You think I'll take the chance of taking you out and losing you?"

"I give you my word, I won't try to run."

"That counts for a lot."

"Please."

She examined the two women and said, "Nobody who takes me out has any idea about music after 1995 and they have no sense of fun at all. It's more fun staying in and reading."

I looked at the security women..

"This is okay with Mr. Lancaster?"

"He said he trusted you."

I could barely keep my eyes open and the bed looked so inviting. I never could figure out why I said yes, but I am sure that that was the start of the collapse of my life.

We drove down from St. Augustine on US 1. The closer we got to Jax Beach, the heavier the traffic got. When we approached the Beach community, it took 30 minutes to get through four blocks of partiers. I found a spot after paying a guy $50 for his spot in one of the walkways to the Beach. We were only two blocks down from a row of four bars and night spots, each one offering an array of bands.

I didn't hold onto Deirdre but she didn't bolt. I just kept an eye on her. We walked into the first bar which didn't have standing room only; it was more like breathing room only. You couldn't avoid getting a contact high by taking deep breaths.

After three beers and two runs by bands I'd never heard of, but which weren't too bad, Deirdre leaned over and said, "I have to go pee."

She made her slinky way through the crowd. I watched her enter the bathroom. I dropped a few 20s on the bar to settle our bill and made my way outside. I walked around to the back and walked back up the alley that ran the entire block. I passed four or five drug deals but when I got hard looks I just returned them and the buyers and sellers returned to their business.

I came to the back of the bar we'd been in. A tall shaggy blonde guy looked at me and must have recognized me. He raised his hands and made what he thought was a karate stance.

"Go away. She's not going to be available tonight."

"If you don't get your ass out of this alley, I'm going to hurt you."

I stepped into him and hit him as hard as I could in the nose. I felt a satisfying crunch and he fell to his knees. He held his nose and cried. Being hit hard in the nose when you're not used to it hurts. I grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet and sent him on his way. I stepped to one side and waited.

A couple of minutes later, a brunette in a miniskirt slipped out the door looking around. I stepped up behind her.

"Hi, Deirdre. Your friend is gone."

As I spoke I snapped a handcuff on one wrist and the other on my left wrist.

"What? McCarthy? What are you doing?"

She looked down at her wrist and exploded.

"Handcuffs? Handcuffs!"

"You wanted a night out. Now you can have it and I don't have to worry about you slipping off."

"How?"

"You forget I'm older than you and I've hit a lot of bars, including this one. I know that that bathroom has an exit to the alley. I've used it. It wasn't hard to figure out what you planned. Were you really that damned sex starved you were going to sneak out to another orgy? With that zero?"

"No, believe it or not. He thought we were going to have sex, but probably not. I just wanted to get away from you and have one night to have fun without feeling like I'm a prisoner under observation. Now I expect you're going to drag me back home and narc on me to my father."

"Why?"

"Handcuffs. That makes it pretty obvious."

"It's up to you. We can go home, or we can listen to some more bands, have some drinks. I wouldn't mind that. But, like I said, it's up to you."

"The handcuffs stay on?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

We went back in and drank, listened to bands bad and good, she talked me out onto the dance floor and while we were dancing she flung her arms up high enough for everyone to see the handcuffs. It took a while for people to notice, but after a while there were cheers and laughing and the dancers started to clear a space around us.

"I need me a pair of those," I heard, and there were more comments of that general nature.

We kept dancing, drinking and moving from bar to bar. Finally at 4 a.m. when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, I had to tell her, "I'm all in. We've got to go, or you'll have to carry me out."

She didn't object and within a half hour we were back on the estate. I called ahead and the two blonde security women were waiting as I drove up to my condo. I unsnapped the handcuffs.

"That was fun." Deirdre said. Her hair was swirled around her face, her face flushed, lips redder than crimson.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Now get out so I can get some sleep."

"Okay, but first..."

She reached over and placed her lips on mine. It was a soft, tentative kiss, but it made her seem like a different person for a moment. Then she opened the door and went to the security women. I got out and went into my condo and barely made the bed. I didn't bother undressing. I think I was awake for a half second after my head hit my pillow.

But even in that instant, I had a sudden bad feeling. Things had changed, and even if I wasn't quite sure how, I knew it couldn't end well.

I didn't see her for two weeks. I thought about her once in a while, and when I did I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about her. I was back in Jacksonville on a Saturday morning and at loose ends. I had no work, no plans. I drove out to St. Augustine Beach and walked the dunes. I felt oddly restless but I didn't know what I wanted to do.

I drove back to the Lancaster estate. I had a great dinner, ribs that literally melted in my mouth, roasted asparagus and the best crab cakes ever made. Lancaster had never spared any expense in making sure, if you were on his estate, your tummy was going to be happy no matter how the rest of you felt.