The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2

by Latrivia S. Nelson

  “Leo, I set my fee and that’s what I expect to get paid. I don’t provide service any differently to my clients. I’ll give you the best I’ve got to give. But we’re facing an uphill battle and you doing coke in the bathroom of a strip club doesn’t help your case.”

  Leo paused. “What?”

  “They have photos of you doing what appears to be cocaine in a strip club,” the lawyer said, disgusted. “That’s why you don’t have visitation right now. And don’t be surprised if a part of the process before going to court includes you submitting to a drug test. I can almost guarantee that order will be coming next.”

  Leo had done coke with a couple of guys over the last few weeks, but only one had come around recently. It had to be that fucker, Jake.

  “You’re my lawyer. What happens if it was coke,” he said, looking at his watch. He was going to be late in two minutes.

  “If it was coke, then your case just became that much weaker, Mr. Tabor,” the lawyer said rolling his eyes. “Was it coke?”

  Leo knew that it was quite possible that his lawyer would report all of this back to the Riley’s. And he couldn’t afford that. “No, it wasn’t coke. It was Adderall. I snort it to make it take effect quicker. I’ve been on ADD meds for years.”

  The lawyer knew it was a very good possibility that he was lying. “Even if that were the case, you were still abusing a controlled substance in the bathroom of a strip club.”

  “If I had to choose between cocaine and Adderall as a story, I’d pick the fucking Adderall,” Leo said to the lawyer. “I’ve never had a DUI. I’ve never been admitted to any facility for drug use. Get creative and I’ll focus on how to handle the drug test.”

  “If there is something that you need to tell me, Leo, now’s the time,” the lawyer said, hitting his pen on his desk.

  “As a matter of fact there is. I’m late, so I need to talk to you later. Just have your secretary send me the email of whatever questions I have to fill out.”

  “I need them back in 30 days to get what you want done.”

  “You’ll have them,” Leo said, hanging up the phone. What a joke.

  ***

  Richard Clemmons had been a lawyer for over 20 years. And while his small firm had only been marginally successful, he never had come to work one day and not felt like he had done at least one thing to make the world a better place and he’d never seen anyone as slimy as Leo Tabor.

  He sat in his office now, looking like a Ken doll, perfectly squared away but a complete mess on the inside. Pushing his tuna sandwich away from him on the desk, he plopped down the other file on Amy Black.

  “I’ve looked through everything, Mr. Tabor. It clearly says that you have a certain amount of time to secure full custody of Cameron Black and legitimize him as your rightful son before I can release these funds to you.”

  Leo felt like the man was speaking gibberish to him. So many words, but not saying shit. He threw up his hand. “How much time?”

  Mr. Clemmons looked the paperwork. From the time of the death, you have exactly 30 months. You are at exactly 27 months and 15 days as of today.” He closed the file. “She made this very simple, sir. And we notified you upon her death per her final wishes that also detailed in this document. If she were to accidentally die, you were to be notified. You would have 30 months or 2 and half years to secure custody. Has this custody battle been going on for two and a half years?”

  “No,” Leo said, throwing his head back. “I was married okay. What am I supposed to do? Go home and tell my wife that my fuck buddy died in a plane crash and I need to stop by Jacksonville and pick up our kid?” He laughed hysterically. “Then my bitch of an ex-wife serves me with papers out of the blue. So, I had no choice. I had to try to seek custody.”

  “For the money,” Mr. Clemmons said, narrowing his gaze on Leo.

  Leo didn’t answer that. “I have two and a half months to secure full custody. If I don’t, what happens to the money?”

  “Quite simply, it goes to someone else.” He didn’t know how much clearer he could be.

  “Who?” Leo asked, sitting up as far as he could in the chair. “The Riley’s? Brett Black? Who?”

  “I’m not at liberty to tell you that,” the lawyer said calmly.

  “Can you give me a fucking hint?” Leo pushed out of the seat and stood up. He paced the room. “How would you feel, Counselor, if $750,000 was at your fingertips and there was nothing you could do about it because of a time crunch from hell?”

  Mr. Clemmons rested his elbows on his desk and looked up at Leo. “I think I would be more concerned about my son.” He motioned over at the photo of his four grown boys and their mother in the frame next to the lamp. Even after being married 22 years to the same woman, he had never cheated, and he never would.

  “Well, if I’m flat broke, I can’t very well take care of him, now can I?” Leo said, rolling his eyes. “I’ll be back here in 75 days for that money.”

  “If you bring me what I need to fulfil the requirements of this document, I will make sure that check is made out for you in the amount of $735,000.”

  Leo’s eyebrows rose. His mouth popped open. “I’m sorry. Did I miss something? What happened to the rest of the money? Did she donate it to charity, request that it be piled up and burned during the next full moon? What? What now?”

  “Surely a man like you understands that I’m not doing this for free. My fee is $15,000 to make sure that Mrs. Black’s demands are met before anyone gets this money.” And after meeting Leo Tabor it was abundantly clear why Amy had gone through all the trouble of making sure some safe guards were in place. This guy was a real piece of work. And in his opinion, he had no business with an impressionable child.

  “Why not get creative and pay yourself a fee of…” Leo shrugged his shoulders as the thought of a number that might change the man’s mind. “…$25,000 to just sign the check over with a copy of the paternity, which already has been established. I’m a match. 99 percent. I’m the father of the fucking kid. What more do you want from me?”

  Mr. Clemmons huffed. “Congratulations, sir. But I won’t be making any other arrangements with Mrs. Black’s money outside of the one that she set up when she came into my office when the child was born.” He pushed back in his old leather chair. “I need a court-ordered judgement identifying you as the father and the primary custodian, guardian, responsible party for Cameron. If I don’t have that in 80 days, I cut a check to someone else.” He raised his hand in protest of any additional outbursts from Leo. “Again, I cannot and will not disclose who the secondary party is. You can assume all you’d like but I won’t help with that. I have a job to do and you are not my client. Amy Black is my client.”

  “And she’s dead!” Leo said, throwing up his hands. “So who cares what she wants?”

  “Well, she paid me $15,000 to care,” Mr. Clemmons said, glad that he could tell this man to screw himself without actually saying the words.

  Leo shook his head in disgust. “You lawyers are blood suckers, you know that?”

  “So I’ve heard, Mr. Tabor.” Mr. Clemmons pointed his pen. “The door is behind you, sir. Have a good day.”

  ***

  Early in the afternoon, Gavin walked into the Hellhound to find it nearly empty. Music boomed and the strobe lights were on as normal but there were very few patrons. Scanning the room, he saw Amber in the corner on some old horny guy’s lap rubbing in his hair and whispering in his ear. The bouncer was by the door looking around the room making sure there was no trouble brewing, and Daisy was at the bar cleaning up and getting ready for tonight.

  As soon as she saw him, her shoulders slumped. Trying to look busy, she went to the other side as he took a seat by three men who were laughing and talking. He nodded at them. “How are you doing?” he asked them.

  “Good. How about you?” one of the man said, finding it odd that the guy went out of his way to speak.

  “Doing good.” Gavin eyed their tattoos and the
ir dress. They were military. Good.

  “What are you having?” Daisy asked mechanically.

  Gavin didn’t expect much more from her. He hadn’t called Daisy once since they had hooked up, even though she had called him.

  “Can I talk to you?” he asked, biting his lip. He watched her move in jerky motions, obviously uncomfortable by his presence.

  “I’m working,” she said, bending down to tend to the back of the bar. “Do you want a drink or what?”

  “I want to talk to you,” Gavin said in an even tone. “Please.”

  She rose up and looked at him. “Do you want a drink or not?”

  “Give me a Jack and Coke,” he said, pulling out his wallet.

  She fixed the drink quickly, without her normal flare or flirting. Bringing the drink over to him, she slammed it on the bar. “Are you starting a tab?”

  Gavin reached out for her hand. “I just want to talk to you.”

  “About what?” she asked, heart pounding in her chest. He looked even better today than he had looked the night that she met him. Was that even possible? How was that fair?

  He looked around the club. “Is there somewhere we can go privately for just a moment?”

  “No,” she said emphatically.

  “This is a strip club. There has to be somewhere private.” He scrubbed a hand across his face. It was hard enough to come here, but he didn’t know if he could beg her all day. This was either going to happen or not. His eyes pleaded with her to try to be reasonable but he was seconds away from turning around and leaving out the door. “I’m not trying to waste your time. I’ll be brief.”

  Daisy’s angry glare cooled a bit. “You’ve got five minutes.”

  “That’s all I need,” he said, getting up from the bar.

  “Leann, watch the bar for me,” Daisy said to the waitress who was passing by. She threw the towel over her shoulder and motioned for him.

  Gavin followed Daisy into the private rooms illuminated by red lights in the back of the club. Music was piped into the rooms over a sound system, but it was still low enough to talk.

  Pulling the black sheer curtains to one of the smaller rooms with a love seat and ottoman, she turned to him with folded arms. “Hurry up, I don’t want to get in trouble.”

  Gavin stepped closer to her. “My name is James Gavin. I’m a private detective. I’m here on a case investigating Leo Tabor in a paternity suit where he’s trying to take one of my friend’s son away from him.”

  Daisy unfolded her arms. “Okay. So what does that have to do with me?”

  “Nothing,” Gavin said honestly. “But you wanted to know who I was, and I felt like I owed you that.”

  Daisy looked down at the floor. “Do you live here? Will I ever see you again?”

  “Probably not.” Gavin grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him.

  She inhaled the sexy scent of his cologne and thought about their night together. Wanting to melt into his chest, she looked up at him with watery eyes. “Then what is this about?”

  “This is about me not being an asshole. You shared your body with me, and you didn’t even get a nice meeting you.” He felt horrible about that or at least he wanted to. “But it wasn’t you.”

  “It’s not you. It’s me? Really, Gavin?” She couldn’t believe he was about to use that excuse.

  “It’s not you; it’s everything. It’s PTSD. It’s my affinity for an allusive lifestyle. It’s my way of not getting hurt, but whatever it is, it’s not you.”

  Daisy knew that he wasn’t lying about himself. This time, she could feel something between them, though it felt awfully like a final separation. Still, she appreciated it. “Do you live here?”

  “No,” he said, rubbing her arm. “I live on the West Coast.”

  “And did you get what you came for?” Her lips pursed together like she wanted to cry.

  “I got as much as I could.” He smiled. “You know, you’re the first woman to ever really call me on my shit. And that was scary for me. But it was sobering at the same time. I never meant to hurt you, and I know that I did. So I came here to say that I’m sorry. I came here for you. This is not about me.”

  Daisy nodded. “You wanted to give me closure.”

  “Yeah,” he said in a near whisper. “Someone should have it. Right?”

  Daisy tried to brush off the crazy idea she had in her head that maybe they could have something special. She’d have to chalk this one up to a lesson learned. Still, she knew that Gavin didn’t have to come clean with her. “I’m glad you came here to see me and do this. It doesn’t stop you from being an asshole, but it’s redeeming.”

  He chuckled. “I’m glad I came too. Trust me, a few years from now when you’re big and successful, you’ll be glad that things didn’t work out between us. I’m a mess.”

  She doubted it. “Is Leo going to get this kid?” God, she couldn’t imagine that mind shaping a young child’s life. He was a horrible person.

  “Not if I can help it, but I need who I really am to stay between us. I’m trusting you with that. And I don’t know what you’ll do with that trust, but a lot of people are depending on it.”

  Daisy rolled her shoulders. “Wow. I was so determined to be angry with you for the rest of my life. It’s sort of disappointing.”

  Gavin smiled. “Well, you are one of the few people that I’ve managed to disappoint by doing the right thing.”

  Daisy moved in closer. “One last kiss.”

  Gavin pulled her chin up. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  As he grazed her lips with his own, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply, feeling even more aroused by the fact that for once, he didn’t have to lie about who he was or for that matter omit who he was to be intimate with a woman.

  “That fucking guy!” a male voice boomed as the door slammed to the entry way of the private rooms.

  “Lower your voice,” Amber warned. “People are working in here.” Her heels clicked on the floor as she followed behind him.

  Gavin stopped kissing Daisy and put his finger over her mouth. “Shh,” he whispered.

  Leo stormed into the room beside them while Amber pulled the curtain. She turned to him and put her hands on her hips. “Now calm down and tell me what’s going on.”

  “What’s going on? That fucking snake attorney Richard Clemmons said that establishing paternity isn’t enough. I have to actually get full custody of the kid before he’ll give me the money.”

  Amber shrugged her shoulders, pulling at her G-string as she did. “Well, you’re one step closer then. That’s supposed to be good news.”

  “No, it’s not good news. I have 75 days. The trial is in 60 days. One continuance could fuck us,” Leo said, sitting on the sectional sofa. “If I don’t have Cameron in my custody on the 75th day then all this shit is for nothing. I will lose that money no matter what. $735,000 minus his fuck-me fee.”

  “So are you going to drop the case?” Amber asked. “What about our plans?”

  Leo rolled his eyes. It was pathetic that she actually thought that he was going to take her with him, but for now, he needed to continue the façade. “Your plans. My plans. None of it matters if I don’t get this kid. The family lawyer says that the case could go on for months. So potentially, I could end up with this kid and no money.” That was something he just couldn’t do. Hell, he didn’t want the kids that he already had.

  “So are you just going to quit?” Amber didn’t know how long she could support him. It was breaking her financially and physically. She had to work double shifts now to keep him and his lifestyle going, but he had promised he would pay her back every penny plus a brand new life.

  “No, of course not, I’m not just going to quit. I have to see this through until the 75th day. I also have to quit coke completely. He says there might be a drug test because of the pictures.” He growled and slammed his fist into his hands. “If I get my hands on that motherfucker, Jake, I’m going to rip his soul
from his useless body.”

  “What does Jake have to do with anything?” Amber asked confused.

  “He’s a plant. I knew it. I should have gone with my gut. He turned in photos of me doing lines in the bathroom. There is no telling what else he has.” Throwing his head back on the sofa, he covered his eyes with his hands. “That crazy bitch Sharon is intent on seeing this thing through. She’s willing to pay for a lawyer for months or years, if that’s what it takes. I mean, do I look like I need a fucking kid right now?”

  Gavin looked down at Daisy as they listened on. “Go back to the bar,” he whispered to her. There was no way that he wanted her caught up in this. So, no matter what he had to ensure that Leo could never come back here to this place. It was the only way Daisy would be safe.

  “What about you?” she mouthed.

  “Go,” he said, pulling the curtain open. “Be quiet.” He pushed her out of the door.

  Amber sat down beside Leo. “You just have to try as long as you can. At least until the 75 days are over.” She rubbed his back, her shiny fake bracelets jingled as she did. “Baby, we can do this.” They had to do this, or he had to go.

  “Can we?” Leo moved his hands and looked at her. “If you see that motherfucker around here. You let me know.”

  “Jake? He’s here,” Amber said, head tilted. “Or at least he was here.”

  “Here in the club?” Leo asked, sitting up. Was she the dumbest woman on the earth or did she just try to pretend to be?

  “Yeah, I saw him talking to Daisy, but I think they left.”

  Leo jumped up. “Are you sure that they left?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Of course, she didn’t know. She didn’t know anything but how to shake her ass and give blow jobs. Leo snatched open the curtain. “If he’s here, I’m going to fuck him up.” Stepping out in the hallway, he was met by Gavin who was standing in the middle of the hall.

  “Looking for me?” Gavin asked, sucking his teeth.