Page 7 of Invincible
Thayer followed him into the kitchen, pulling out several pans.Both dogs jumped up as if finding their second wind to sit at her feet.They knew she would “accidentally” drop a few morsels for them while prepping for dinner.
After hanging up, Knox returned to his seat across from Memphis.
“He thinks we need to head to Houston.Start putting out feelers about a shipment.He’s going to contact the local office to see what he can find out.Don’t worry, he knows to keep your name out of it,” Knox added.“Both of ours actually.”
Memphis nodded in agreement for a minute, until Knox’s words sank in.
“Wait, what do you mean by we?”Memphis asked, looking over at Thayer moving around the kitchen as she fixed dinner.When Knox just stared at him, Memphis threw up his hands in consternation.“You can’t be fucking serious.We just got home from our honeymoon.Do you really expect me to run to Texas with you?”
The two men locked eyes in a standoff until Knox threw another small firebomb at Memphis.“Damn it, stop doing that.Fine, but you tell Thayer.I have a life here, you know, I can’t be gone that long,” he said, patting the scorch mark on the front of his shirt.
“So why are you taking my husband away right after we got home?”Thayer asked Knox over dinner that evening.“I understand you might need him to find Mia, but can he not do it from here?”
“I need his help with talking a contact I have in Houston into helping me,” Knox answered, helping himself to seconds.“Can you watch Harry for me while I’m gone?”He looked over at his dog, who had draped himself on Murphy, both dogs curled up in the dog bed.
“Of course, but why do you need Memphis to talk your contact into helping?Isn’t ityourcontact?Are you planning to Taser this one too?”Thayer asked with a smirk.
Knox looked intently at his plate as he continued to shovel food in.
“Knox, what are you not telling us?”Finally reaching out, she grabbed his muscled forearm, stopping his fork on the way to his mouth.With a sigh, he looked up at her.
“I need help, because… I haven’t seen our sister in quite some time.She’s rather… intimidating… so I thought she might need an easier touch to convince,” he mumbled.
“Wait, what?”Memphis said, standing so fast his chair was knocked backward onto the floor.“Why?”he yelled before tackling Knox out of his chair.
Knox had waited years before telling Memphis that they shared the same father.When he had accidentally found out, it had resulted in punches being thrown.
Flipping him over, it didn’t take Knox, who had at least five inches and fifty pounds on him, long to pin him to the floor.
“Is this going to be your response every time you find out about another sibling?”Knox growled.“Because I don’t know how many of us are out there and I don’t really want to still be rolling around on the ground with you when we’re in our seventies.”
When Memphis relaxed, Knox turned him loose, standing up.Pulling him up, they sat their chairs up, retaking their seats.
Thayer had sat watching the entire ordeal with only slight interest since it wasn’t the first time she had seen the two men act like this.She suspected it wouldn’t be the last either.
“How long have you known her?”Memphis asked.
“I found her by accident.You know I went to the University of Houston on a football scholarship since they had a Navy ROTC.The Navy let me defer for six months after graduation to do my student teaching.
“I wound up in the little town of Gladewater that semester teaching high school math.Tyler was one of my students.She won the state powerlifting competition all four years by a substantial margin.I finally put two and two together, got a DNA sample, and had it tested.She doesn’t know though.”
“That’s sort of your modus operandi, isn’t it?Just keep us all in the dark.How many more of us are there?”Memphis asked with a scowl.
“I don’t know.Really, I don’t,” Knox said, holding up his hands, palms out, when Memphis glared at him.“She is exceptionally strong.She’s also a port-certified welder working out of Houston.If she’ll agree to help us, she’ll be our best bet at learning about the container Mia is in.Tyler has access to all of the shipping facilities.”
“You need to go,” Thayer announced, taking Memphis’s hand.“We both know you can’t leave a girl in the hands of kidnappers.You could never live with yourself.”He groaned, knowing once Thayer had made a decision about something, it was hard to change her mind.
“I don’t like you being here by yourself right now,” he answered.
“I’ll be fine.As a matter of fact, the Senate isn’t in session right now.I might see if Dad can come visit for a couple of days.Besides, I’ll have Murphy and Harry to keep me company while you’re gone.”
Leaning over, she gave him a kiss.“It will give me a chance to catch up on my coursework uninterrupted.”When he looked at her in indecision, she added, “It’s important that you go meet your sister.There’s also a scared girl that needs you.”
In resignation, he nodded his head before standing up to clean off the table.
“Good.I’ll make the arrangements so we can leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Knox said, standing to help Memphis.
