“I understand,” Bec assured her.
“They suspected my uncle was the one who took me. He was my uncle by marriage, and my aunt was divorcing him. He hated our family and knew how much my aunt doted on me, so he took me to make them suffer. For two days, he beat and molested me until he heard sirens one night. Thinking he’d been found, he slammed my head into the concrete floor and took off, leaving me for dead.”
“But you didn’t die,” Bec said, taking her hands across the table and holding them tightly. “You’re a survivor.”
“I’m lucky to be this functional, according to the doctors. I spent over six months in the hospital learning how to do just the basic things like sit up, walk and eat. Once I was released, we tried to get back to the business of living, but it was hard on my parents, both emotionally and financially. My dad took a new job working on an oil rig where he made a lot of money but was gone more than he was home. He died in a work-related accident that set us up for life, but it broke my mother. She was never the same, and when she was diagnosed with cancer when I was fourteen, she refused treatment. Said there was no point in fighting it.”
“Oh, Iris,” Bec said with a sigh, but she just shrugged her shoulder.
“I didn’t know how to convince her that I was worth fighting for when I was the reason her entire life had fallen apart.”
“No,” Bec said firmly. “Your uncle was the reason her life fell apart. You were an innocent victim, just the same as her and your father.”
“That’s what my aunt tried to help me understand, too, once I went to live with her at fifteen. Different aunt, not the one he was married to.” Bec nodded her understanding. “Anyway, she took care of me and made sure I got through a technical program for coding, then set me up with my first apartment and job. It wasn’t long after that when she passed away. That was when the struggles kicked in, and I learned just how much people judged those who were different. I was so lucky the day I met Mina.”
“How did you meet her?” Bec asked, taking another bite of her sandwich. She was glad the heaviness of her childhood story was behind them. Iris had told someone she trusted about what happened, and now Bec had to ensure she understood that her opinion of her hadn’t changed.
“Mina was at the doctor with Hannah Grace one day when I walked in looking for a job. I was desperate to find something. I got a small stipend from the money left from my dad’s settlement, but it wasn’t enough to live on, and I’d been evicted from my apartment. The brain injury made it difficult to work somewhere if there were too many people in the same room or where I had to facethe public. It limited what I could do and made finding work that paid a living wage extremely difficult.”
“That’s understandable. You probably would have qualified for disability?”
“Maybe, but my skills were second to none in the right situation.”
“I can’t argue with you there,” Bec agreed with a wink.
“Mina overheard me asking the receptionist about a job, and when she said they didn’t have anything, I got sort of upset. Not like yelling or anything, but I started crying and tried to run out. And, well, we both know I shouldn’t run.”
Bec chuckled and nodded, her heart breaking for this woman who had overcome so much in life only to suffer even more injustices.
“Mina helped me up, sat me in a chair and then handed me her card. She asked me if I had any experience in cybersecurity work.” She paused and looked around the room before she leaned in and whispered, “I lied to her.”
Bec gasped in feigned horror. “Iris Knowles lied about something? That was teasing, by the way.”
Iris smiled. “I figured that out because your voice has a different lilt when you tease.”
“Really?” she asked, and Iris nodded. “I never knew that. I learned something new about myself today. Thank you.”
She squeezed Iris’s hands as she started speaking again. “It wasn’t an outright lie. I knew how to do the job but had no experience besides my initial training.”
“Ah, that’s what we call inflating the résumé. Everyone does it,” Bec said with a wink. “Go on.”
“That’s pretty much the whole story. Mina found out I’d been evicted and was living in a hotel with all my belongings in my car. She told me to follow her back to Secure Inc. and gave me a room for the night. The next day, she hired me as one of their digital private investigators. Once she learned my skillset, I transitioned into doing more and more coding and hacking as we set up websites for clients. I still do some digital PI work when the need arises.”
“The first time I met you, I knew you were a spectacular woman, and everything you told me solidified that opinion. Thank you for sharing your story with me, Iris. It means everything to me that you trust me with it. I won’t let you down.”
She lifted her head to hold her gaze. “You’re not like, I don’t know, disappointed or put off by any of it?”
Bec shook her head immediately, standing and walking to her, straddling her legs as she lowered herself to her lap. “Why would I be disappointed or put off? What you went through was horrific and the result of the kidnapping has changed your life, but it also shaped you into the woman you are today.”
“Not everyone thinks that’s so great,” she whispered, not making eye contact until Bec tipped her chin back to face her.
“Look around you, Iris. Everyone you work with thinks you’re great. They love you. So much that when Selina was treating my arm, she gave me the third degree and then threatened bodily harm if I hurt you.”
“Your voice didn’t change there, which means you weren’t teasing about her threatening you, right?”
Bec shook her head. “I wasn’t. She was dead seriouswhen she said it. My point is that the only person who hasn’t embraced your greatness is you. Do I understand why? Yes. Do I understand that accepting yourself will be difficult or even impossible? Yes. Do I hope you’ll one day believe that you matter to so many people and deserve happiness? Also, yes. You deserve to be happy, Iris. When you can grab even a moment of it, do it. I promise it’s worth the little bit of fear you’ll feel in doing it.”
“For the first time in my life, I want to try,” she admitted, smiling as she stared at their joined hands. “You’ve shown me that happiness comes in places you least expect.” Then Iris lifted her head and held her gaze long enough to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear that had fallen from her braid in the shower.
