Page 26 of Possessive Mechanic

“So the cops show up to our office one day, show a warrant, and move toward the elevators. Thing is we were coming back from lunch, so we saw them when they went through the building security. They already said they were looking for us. We didn’t know about the money laundering at the time, just the engineering problem. We ducked behind a pillar when we heard our names, came up with a super quick strategy, and went up to our desks. By that night Axel’s name was on the news for all the charges. Engineering plus the white collar crime.”

“But he…he tried to stop you.”

“Correct. And he didn’t even know about the money stuff. But what he did know is what I told him a few days prior. I’d just got the news I was going to be a father. Axel insisted on taking the full rap, all the charges. I got a slap on the wrist, but I never served time. Not one day. Thanks to him.”

“You’re kidding me?”

Dad just shakes his head. I look at Axel who raises his eyebrows and nothing more as he listens intently but continues to just watch the cars fly by in a blur.

“Why didn’t the press bring it up yesterday? The connection?”

“It happened out of state, a long time ago. We live in a twenty-four-hour news cycle. Aeronautics isn’t the sexiest thing to report on. People in the industry know, but that’s it. But those same people in our field also know we’re good at what we do. We learned from our mistakes and the owners of that company later went to prison themselves, for other things. So after that more suspicions started to be raised that maybe the owners were behind it, and not Axel and me. Not to mention I was always more of the face of everything Axel and I did. He was the brains.”

Something hits me out of the blue. “When you used to disappear for hours at a time on Sundays, where did you really go?”

Dad smiles. “You should be an investigative journalist,” he compliments. “I went to prison, to run my plans by Axel. He knew the day he got out I was going to give him the money to do whatever he wanted.”

“That’s how he got the money so quickly when he was set free.”

“It was always there, waiting for him. Fifty percent of Astrid Aeronautics was always his. No one ever knew. No one. Just the three of us now.”

“But wait. According to Ronny, you’re going to Brazil to avoid extradition?”

“It’s not quite that easy, but yeah.”

“What for? For trying to buy the votes of the other board members?”

Out of nowhere, Axel speaks. “Because he took out a big loan from the company to set up my garage.”

“Which is why the board members think you’re stealing money and why the I.R.S. is after you.”

“Correct,” my dad says. “Like always I messed it up. But also like always, Axel is here to step in and clean everything up.”

“By taking down Ronny?”

Dad nods. “And with Ronny gone we’ve got a few days to redo the books, correctly with I.R.S. compliance, so the loan to Axel looks more legit and less like a separate line of business.”

“This fell into place perfectly.”

“Because Axel saved you. If he hadn’t, we’d be having a much, much, much different conversation.”

Leaning over, I hug Axel.

“Can you not do that in front of me?” Dad asks.

“You don’t approve?” I ask.

“It’s not whether I approve or not, it’s just that…I need some time to process what the hell is going on.”

“Why did you punch Axel when you arrived at the garage, Dad?”

“Like I said, it’s all still a shock. I’m a logical guy though, an engineer, so trying to take emotion out of it I see how it works. The same reasons I trust Axel with everything I’ve got is the same reason you’re attracted to him. The guy’s the full package. He’s loyal to a fault, as you just learned. How can I stand in the way of that?”

“And why would you?” Axel asks.

“I’m still her dad, buddy,” Dad says.

A second passes and then we all start laughing. Together. Safe. Alive. In a better place than where we started this morning, despite that almost not being even remotely close to the case.

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