The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2 Read online

  “Why?” she sniffled.

  “Because I’m married.”

  There was silence as Amy tried to process what he had just said.

  “You’re married?”

  “Yes. I’m a married man with two kids.”

  “Well, divorce her,” Amy said in a matter of fact tone.

  And honestly, Leo would have, until he found out that Amy was unemployed, she was the daughter of a Baptist preacher and she didn’t even have a junior-college education.

  Unfortunately, Leo Tabor was fucking broke. Student loans. Spoiled wife. Mortgage. Couple car note payments and a two and four year old made his money short.

  But Amy, in her plan for world domination, had thought that the silver bars on his shiny white uniform meant that he was liquid. She also thought that because he didn’t wear a wedding ring, he was available. She was wrong on both accounts. And even if he had been available, Amy wasn’t exactly his family’s type, even if she was his. True, she was good for a romp in the sheets, but she wasn’t the kind of woman he would introduce at the Officer’s Ball or his blue blood, conservative East Coast parents, who were pressuring him to make something of himself.

  So over a few desperate phone calls after the baby was born and paternity was proven, they had come to another more doable agreement.

  ***

  In a pair of extremely short cut-off denim shorts and a bedazzled Victoria Secret tank top, Amy flounced down in the booth seat in front of Leo and threw down her baby bag. “Why in the hell did you pick this shitty little place,” she said, pushing the papers across the table for him to review.

  Small talk between the two of them had ended with the birth of Cameron and they were left in a constant state of conflict.

  Leo remembered when the sound of her voice got him a little excited, but now it was like nails on a chalkboard. “I picked this place because nobody that I know frequents here.”

  “And you couldn’t have found a place closer to Camp Lejeune?” Cameron began to cry and she stopped her rant for a moment to pull out a baby bottle and slip it in his mouth.

  “No, I couldn’t.” He barely looked across at the baby. Cameron was too much of a painful reminder of how stupid he had been. “Is this it?” he asked, picking the papers up. Today, he wore his wedding ring for good measure. He wanted Amy to see it and remember it always, because he would never take it off again.

  She saw the ring immediately, and it was the painful reminder he intended it to be. He sat there all smug and proper, dark brown eyes glaring under heavy, thick black brows and tanned skin with a scowl on his face, ignoring her.

  “Yep, that’s it, lover boy. Now, where’s mine?” Amy asked, nauseated by his faux-arrogance.

  Without taking his eyes off the paper, Leo pushed the envelope across to her. “There it is,” he said, prickly exterior slightly showing. Reading through the paperwork carefully, he finally made eye contact. Clenching the papers in his hand, his mouth curled at the corners. “This says $750,000. I told you $1 million,” he bit out. “And it says that the payment goes to a lawyer’s office?”

  Amy cut her eyes at him. The nerve of his broke ass to question her. “You don’t have to pay child support, because I’m married. You don’t have to shell out medical insurance, because I’m married. You don’t have to get caught by your wife, because I’m married. And on top of that, I’ve got to chip a little more off the poor bastard’s pay to cover your son’s policy. So, don’t be greedy. I could get this policy without him noticing. The other one was more expensive.”

  Leo exhaled his anger. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

  Amy read his papers quickly. “How so?”

  “First, you go and get pregnant and blame me for it. Then you demand a paternity test that I have to pay for. Then you demand a life insurance policy in the event of my death to help you take care of a kid that no one will even know is mine.”

  Amy’s little southern voice was dripping with contempt. “I should be demanding a little some extra,” she snapped. “It’s not my fault that the DNA test came back with you as the father. It’s yours. It’s not all my fault that I got pregnant. It’s half yours. It’s not my fault that you’re broke and can’t provide for the baby that you knocked me up with. It’s yours.”

  Her nagging was starting to remind him of his wife. “Well, I don’t have extra to give. My wife is too much of a succubus for me to have anything more than gas money when I’m done paying bills. Guess you should have picked some other asshole to scam.”

  Amy didn’t really care for his whining. Waving her acrylic nails in his face, she cut him off. “Stop your bellyaching. If all goes as planned, you never have to see me and I never have to see you again. But this policy ensures that if one of us dies, then the baby will be taken care of by the biological parent. It’s only fair.”

  Leo didn’t really feel like getting into what was fair.

  His eye twitched. “Don’t you feel morally bankrupt about letting this man raise the kid knowing that one day he might find out he’s not his.” He eyed Cameron for a minute. Pity. He had two girls at home, even though he and his wife had tried for boys. Now, the only son he had was going to be raised by a viper.

  “So make Brett the beneficiary of your death benefit then,” Amy snapped. “It’s up to you.”

  “Hey, I don’t know the guy.” But he sure felt sorry for him. “I made sure your name is on this, but keep in mind, if I find out you’re lurking around, planning my demise, I’ll end you first.” He pointed his long finger in her direction.

  Amy chuckled at Leo’s paranoia. “Look Lieutenant, you aren’t that important. I just want to make sure Cameron’s got some security, if anything should ever happen to you or me. I don’t have time to be plotting no one’s death.”

  “Anyone’s,” Leo corrected her language. God, had she dropped a few IQ points since the birth?

  “What?” Amy asked.

  He dismissed it. “Nothing,” he said, rolling his tongue over his gums. “It’s not important.”

  Even though Leo was an asshole, he had to admit that the policy was the honorable thing to do. Plus, he knew that he was getting off Scott-free with no child support, no medical insurance and no acknowledgement of Cameron’s birth. Also, she must have trusted him just a little because he could have easily dropped the policy next month, but he’d do the right thing and keep it paid up for 18 years as they had agreed.

  Stuffing the paperwork into his back pocket, he picked up his drink and scoffed the rest of it down as the waitress approached. Throwing his finger up to order another one, he looked over at Cameron again. Strangely, he couldn’t stop eyeing the boy now, even though he wanted to. “So let’s just say that something does happen to you. We won’t be in touch. How will I know that you’ve died?”

  Amy’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “That’s what the lawyer is for dumb shit. He’s in Jacksonville and his information is on the paper I just gave you. He’s got your number and your name and your rank. If anything happens to me, he’ll get in touch with you. And more to your previous point, if I’m murdered, he’ll implicate you.”

  Leo smacked his lips together and pushed back in the booth. “Well, I guess that plan is out.”

  Amy ignored his quip. “Anyway, he’ll let you know that something has happened to me. Then you’ll get a check for $750,000, but there is a cavat.”

  “A what?” Leo asked, nearly spitting across the table.

  “A catch,” she explained.

  “You mean a caveat?” Leo asked, wiping his mouth and raising his brows.

  “Yes, that’s what I mean,” Amy said, irritated. He was such a smart ass now. “The lawyer will receive my death benefit directly from the insurance agency. He will serve as the trustee over my little estate. The money will be signed over to you only after you have been given paternal rights through the courts for Cameron. You don’t get to just collect your money and run off with your wife, leaving him behind with Bre
tt. If you want the money, you have to take him too.”

  “If you die, you want me to adopt your son?” Leo asked, frowning. Was she kidding? Not even $750,000 was worth that.

  “How can you adopt your own son?” Amy sneered. Was he stupid or something?

  How can you not understand how this works? Leo thought to himself. He ran a hand through his jet black hair and scanned the room again for safe measure. “Because you’re married. Because he’s legally Brett’s son.” Leo let out a sigh and gave up on explaining himself. “Just do us a favor and don’t die,” he said, standing up to leave.

  “There’s more,” Amy said, pointing at the chair. “Have a seat.”

  Leo plopped back down. “Make it quick. I’m late.”

  “You only have 30 months, or two and half years from the date of my death to collect the money. After that, it goes to someone else.”

  “What?” Leo said, louder.

  “You can’t just decide to collect out of the blue one day. You have to do it in two and a half years or the deal is off.” She sucked her teeth, proud of herself at that moment.

  “What if the paternity case takes longer than that in the courts?” Leo pointed out. “Sometimes, these things take years.”

  Amy rocked the baby and smirked. “Well, I guess you better not let that happen.”

  Chapter 12

  “Never trust a person who throws a stone and hides their hand. It means that they are a smart coward.”

  - Anonymous

  Being one of those glass-half-full types of people when it came to life in general, Courtney walked into the front entrance of the Jacksonville Mall and felt suddenly like a kid in a candy store. A rush of endorphins released into her system, and she suddenly felt like a thousand-pound weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. This was a dramatic environmental change from the last two weeks of pain and sorrow at the Naval Hospital. People here seemed happy. Life here seemed simple. And although she knew it was strictly cosmetic, she rather liked the change of pace.

  Immediately, she could smell the expensive perfumes, see the brilliant diamonds glittering in the windows, feel the new clothes she’d always wanted on against her skin, and it was all calling her name at the same time, begging to be taken home.

  For the first time ever, she could buy anything in this place that she wanted. Anything. There wasn’t a piece of jewelry, an appliance, an electronic or even a car that she couldn’t swipe on her bank card, when just a few years ago, she was hustling between jobs just to make rent. It almost didn’t seem real.

  She was rich!

  That idea was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. To think that there were some people in this world who had felt this type of power since the day that they were born. And to think there was an even larger population that would never know how it felt, even until the day that they died.

  But swoosh…

  Everything had changed in their lives overnight. She had gone from a military wife with a moderate little nest egg in savings, mostly from the insurance benefit from the military when Brett’s late wife passed, to being a certifiable millionaire.

  A millionaire!

  She had said the word repeatedly to herself in the last twenty-four hours, but it still didn’t feel real – not even when she held the check in her own two hands and counted the zeros.

  Brett didn’t help with grounding her in reality. There was no talk of what dreams were going to be fulfilled or what good he was going to do with his newfound fortune. He hadn’t put the money away in a private account yesterday when the airline gave him the check. He hadn’t sat her down and given her a heavy-handed talking to about what the money was going to be designated for or what they were not going spend it on. He hadn’t even looked at the check more than a couple of times before handing it off to her and offering to “ride up to the bank and deposit it.” Which by the way, stunned the poor bank clerk speechless, and having the branch manager leap out of his chair getting to offer coffee and snacks while the bank called the check in to make sure it was legit.

  It was then in Navy Bank eating lemon cookies and drinking lukewarm coffee, that she knew her life had changed.

  Conversely, it was as if it had not computed in Brett’s head at all that suddenly things had changed for them, for him. After all of his hard work and sacrifice, she thought he would have been absolutely elated by the news, but he had barely blinked.

  But it had resonated for her.

  That check was the promise of security for their financial future.

  And it was a very distinct possibility that this chance would never happen again in their lives. This was their one opportunity to get it right – to live a good life and leave something for their babies.

  But they had to be smart. They would have to resist temptation on every level and think about their future. She had read a good blog entry about it just this morning – stay away from impulse buys.

  Tough but doable.

  So as she gazed around at all the stuff that she could have purchased, she finally adjusted her purse on her shoulder and made a B-line to Foot Locker to buy what she had set out to get in the first place – comfortable shorts for her husband to relax in around the house – and nothing else.

  Determined not to even look at the hot pretzels that were tempting her from behind their glass encasing, she headed through the food court and the crowd of military wives as they sat around on the benches tending to their kids and texting on their cell phones.

  As she rounded the corner headed toward the sports store in view, she felt the distinct buzzing of her cell phone in the bottom of her less-than-organized purse. Her first thought was that Brett had gotten overwhelmed at home with the kids and needed her to come back. Earlier, he had insisted that she get out and go do something normal, while he spent some quality time with the babies alone.

  Digging down past the wallet, keys, make-up and assortment of peppermints, she pulled out her I-Phone and felt herself get a little queasy when she saw the number.

  Her lungs drug in a deep breath as she answered. “Hello.” Exhale.

  “Courtney,” the woman said in a shrill voice, “it’s Sharon Riley.”

  Courtney rolled her eyes in irritation. “I know it’s you, Sharon.”

  “Well, I’ve been trying to reach you non-stop for two weeks to see my grandson.” The arrogance and entitlement in her tone radiated across the phone lines like toxic waste.

  It was enough to make Courtney gag. They did this little song and dance way too often for her taste. Plus, the exaggeration of two weeks was a lie, but she didn’t bother to address it. What was the point?

  Courtney bit her tongue. “I left a message on your home phone two weeks ago that we were away due to a family emergency. I also said that we’d have to reschedule a time for you to see Cameron after we got back home and settled.”

  Sharon pounced immediately. “Well, you could have left him with me,” she snapped, “if you were having a family emergency.”

  Courtney noticed the “if”, as if she were lying, and let out an audible sigh. Lord in heaven knew that she was in no mood to deal with this wretched woman today. “I appreciate the offer, Sharon, but it wasn’t necessary. Thank you. Now, what can I help you with?” There was no question that it was to start shit, but Courtney just wanted to see how much.

  “Is it not clear how you can help me? I want to see my grandson.”

  Courtney raised a brow. Was this where she was supposed to be the angry black woman, because she could do that? A tickle pricked the back of her throat. “It’s not possible to see him right now. I’m sorry. We have a lot going on, but I will let you know when in the next couple of days when we can get together and set a date.” She hated herself for being remotely respectful at that moment, because Sharon deserved everything but that.

  In general she prided herself on poise and elegance, but it was really hard for Courtney to keep her cool, especially with a woman who purposefully tried to bait
her with passive aggressive bullshit. However, a voice that was not her own slipped into the back of her mind. Patience is a virtue. Her mother had taught her better than to be quick at the tongue, although she was good at it. And her mother was a far more refined human being that Sharon Riley.

  Contrariwise, Courtney’s answer was not to Sharon’s liking either, especially considering that the girl sounded so smug about it. How she hated that woman! Just the sight of her, made Sharon ill. “I think we’ve waited perfectly long enough to see Cameron. This is getting ridiculous,” Sharon snarled.

  Courtney took another deep breath. “Well, I’m sorry that our lives inconvenience you, Sharon, but that’s not my problem. I will, however, call you when I can and give you a firm date.” She assumed that the old woman would take that as the last word on the matter, but she was sorely mistaken.

  Sharon closed her leather-bound book and set it on the stand beside her wing-backed chair. “Now you listen to me. We had an agreement with Brett Black that twice a month we could spend time with our grandson. He needs to be with his biological grandparents some of the time, considering that he spends all that time with your parents.”

  Courtney smiled with thoughts of choking the old bitch with her bare hands. “When have we ever not allowed you to see Cameron?” she asked then quickly answered for Sharon. “Never. We’ve always made good on the agreement that my husband made with you, when it was doable. Right now, it’s not doable. So, we’ll call you as soon as it is possible, and you can pick Cameron up then.”

  She thought about telling her that Brett was back at home, maybe that would help her understand why Cameron couldn’t come over, but Brett had explicitly said not to tell the Riley’s one part of his business. Not one part.

  She could hear his voice on the matter. “I explained enough to them when I was married to Amy. Now that that’s over, I don’t owe them shit,” Brett had said a hundred times over. She couldn’t go against him now.

  His son. His rules. His way, as far as Courtney was concerned. The Riley’s’ would just have to make due until Brett was ready to let Cameron visit.