"Do you know the guy?"
He shook his head.
"If I did, I'd kill him," he said vehemently.
"A nice sweet innocent kid like her." I kept my face impassive.
Love is blind but parents are blinder.
Even a cheater like Amos, with all his knowledge, was no smarter than Joe Doakes in Pomona.
"You talk to her?"
He shook his head again.
"I tried but she won't listen. You know how kids are nowadays.
They learn everything in school; you can't teach them anything.
When she was sixteen, I found a package of Merry Widows in her pocketbook."
He should have stopped her then. He was about three years too late.
She was nineteen now and carried her own brass ring. "Guys like you never learn." "What was I supposed to do?" he asked truculently. "Keep her locked in her room?"
I shook my head. "You could have tried being her father."
"What makes you such an expert?" he snapped. "You won't talk like that after you have kids of your own."
I could have told him. I had a father who was too busy with his own life, too. But I was tired.
I got to my feet.
"What about the money?" he asked anxiously.
"I’ll give it to you," I said. A feeling of disgust suddenly came up in me.
What did I need guys like this around me for?
They were like leeches. Once they got into you, they never let go. "As a matter of fact, I'll give you twenty-five thousand."
An expression of surprised relief flooded across his face.
"You will, Jonas?" I nodded.
"On one condition."
For the first time, caution came into his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"I want your resignation."
"From Winthrop Aircraft?" His voice was incredulous.
"From Cord Aircraft," I said pointedly.
The color began to drain from his face.
"But- but I started the company. I know everything about it.
I was just planning a new plane that the Army will sure as hell go for- "
"Take the money, Amos," I said coldly. "You've had it."
I started for the elevator. I stepped inside and the boy closed the doors in his face.
"Going up, Mr. Cord?" he asked.
I stared at him.
That was a stupid question. What other way was there to go?
"All the way," I said wearily.
Monica was lying across the bed in the tops of my pajamas, half asleep.
She opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Everything go all right?"
I nodded.
She watched me as I threw my shirt across a chair. "What did Daddy want?"
I stepped out of my trousers and caught the pajama bottoms she threw at me.
"He just turned in his resignation," I said, kicking off my shorts and getting into the pajamas.
She sat up in bed, her brown eyes widening in surprise.
"He did?"
I nodded.
"I wonder why?"
I looked at her. "He said it had something to do with you. That he wanted more time to be your father."