The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2 (26 page)

“Understood,” Jermaine said, throwing Amy’s diary back in the box.  “I really didn’t know she had a kid.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll find married women don’t exactly tell their lovers everything,” Mr. Benson said, standing up. “Good night.” 

“Night,” Jermaine said, hanging up the phone.

Chapter 21

“Everything that is hidden will be brought into the light. Everything that is a secret will be made known.”                 Mark 4:22 (NLV)

Although the military was vast and its personnel numbered nearly 2,000,000, it hadn’t taken much time for Gavin to pull up dirt on Leo Tabor.  In a town as small as Jacksonville, Marines and Navy men not only worked together, they lived among each other, which meant there was a steady flow of gossip.  This came in handy when conducting an unofficial investigation on one of their own.  After a few calls to a couple of Navy men who owed him favors and a few more calls by his team on the West Coast to Annapolis, Gavin had found out everything he could about the man who would be “father.”

None of the information that had come back on Leo was favorable, especially in a court of law.  According to records, he was released on an
Other Than Honorable
discharge from the Navy about eight months ago.  But that wasn’t the juicy part.  According to another officer who used to work with Leo, he received the discharge for screwing his commanding officer’s wife.  The relationship had gone on for about six months without being detected by anyone, but the two got sloppy and were caught by accident at a party given by the Admiral, screwing near the 16
th
hole on the golf course. 

Leo had tried to bribe his way out of being turned in by the MPs who found them and would have been let go on a warning, but then one of the guys recognized the woman.

News of the affair traveled fast, and the Navy Command had to act fast to rid themselves of the shame.  Lieutenant Commander Leo Tabor was removed from his post at Camp Lejeune’s Field Medical Training Battalion and thrown out on his ass by the Navy. 

No surprise that divorce papers followed shortly after.  Evidently, the ex-wife had been the big bread winner.  So proof of his infidelity had cost him his wife, his home and his piggy bank.  With no other experience outside of the military in the medical field and no willingness to return as a failure to the upper East Coast blue blood family of doctors who raised him, he had settled down in Wilmington, NC and was living as a reject.  Word on the street was that he spent his time at a high-end strip club, pimping out some dancer that he lived with and pretending to be some Veteran combat bad ass, when in fact, he had been a dentist by trade.    

So the question Gavin couldn’t answer was why did Leo want Cameron now after all of this time?  Surely he had known about the boy since his birth, maybe even since his conception.  However, he had never been in the boy’s life?  Nothing about his profile said that he cared about being a family man, especially since he didn’t see the young daughters he fathered with his ex-wife, who was a lawyer in Wilmington and a partner at a small, family-owned law firm. 

Gavin knew it had to be about money.  Only Amy didn’t have any, and if she did, it would have gone to Brett upon her death. So what was the angle?  His investigation had led him to ground zero.

Stepping out of his new car in a pair of well-worn jeans, a gray t-shirt and a Cardinals baseball camp, Gavin passed the keys to the young valet and walked into the lit up front entrance of The Hellhound Strip Club. It was packed to capacity on a Saturday night.  The hostess up front greeted him and asked him to take of his hat, but after slipping her a $100 bill, she let him pass.  

Music boomed in his ears.  Strobe lights danced across the main stage.  Drunken men in huddles laughed and drank, while watching the women dance.  Women in short skirts and tied up tank tops carried drinks around on trays through the crowds while others danced nearly naked on the poles strategically placed around the building.  It was definitely a mad house tonight, perfect for reconnaissance.  Glad that he had gotten his PTSD under control before he took this job, he calmly strode through the hordes of people.  This shit would have normally made him insane. But he had learned to deal when he had to. Tonight, he had to.  

With the photo of Leo memorized, he made his way to the bar in the back, the best vantage point to scan the room, and took a seat.  As soon as he did, he caught the attention of Daisy.  She had her eyes locked on the six-foot four giant with the superman smile. Quickly pouring six shots of vodka, she pushed them to the edge of the bar and took a wad of money from a young college boy who was so drunk; he looked like he was going to pass out at any moment. His friends, however, weren’t the least bit more sober. 

Screaming above the music, she made a motion with her hand under her neck. “I’m going to have to cut you off after this,” she said, irritated by having to tend to them for several hours.  College guys were the worst when they were drunk and horny.  She had been hit on like a hundred times by them, each time turning them down with a special little fuck-you face that she had adopted only after starting to work here.

“Cut me off for what? I don’t even have a buzz yet,” the young college guy lied as his friends laughed and bunched around him.   They all gawked at her like she was a piece of fresh meat. 

“Oh, you’ve got a buzz,” she said, rolling her eyes.  Pausing as she counted the money, she looked up at him after realizing he had left a very large tip.   

The patron smiled sheepishly.  He knew that would get her attention. “Just keep them coming, Daisy, and we’ll keep taking care of you.” 

Daisy needed that tip. Tuition was coming due and rent.  And if more tips came from where that last tip came from, then all she had to do was make sure that someone who was less drunk was going to drive the little asshole home.

“Just…” She clenched the money in her hand and denied herself the feelings of guilt or responsibility. “Just slow it down a little okay.”  She looked around to make sure that no one of importance heard her.  She could get yanked for overserving this little shit, but her boss had never called her on it before.  All he cared about was how much money she made at the end of the night. 

The patron winked at her.  “
Slowing
it down,” he said, picking up the shot and downing it as quickly as he could.  Hitting the table, he screamed out. “Bros before hoes!”  His friends loudly repeated, holding up their drinks. 

She rolled her eyes and walked away. 

Walking over to Gavin, she threw her towel over her shoulder and pushed up on the bar in front of him.  “First time here?” she asked, voice raised to fight the booming music that tried to drown her out.  Her eyes traveled the length of his mountainous frame. 

“Is it that obvious?” Gavin asked, giving her his charming smile.  He saw her breasts before he saw her face, and getting a closer look, he knew that it was one of her better selling points in this place.  “Do I stick out or something?”

“No, I just would have remembered your face,” Daisy said, flirting.  But he did sort of stick out.  It was that masculine sensuality that permeated from him like visible pheromones. 

“Really?”  Gavin leaned forward too, muscles bulging in his arms as she did.  His tattoos immediately caught her attention.  After working here for a while, she knew military tats when she saw them.  His looked bad ass.  That only made the tall man sexier. 

“Marine?” she asked.  “Camp Lejeune?”

Gavin frowned. “I get that all the time. No, I’m actually a priest,” he said, seriously.  His eyes glinted with pure sex appeal. 

              Daisy laughed. “A priest?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, licking his deep red lips.  “Want to confess something?  You look like you’ve been a very naughty bartender.”  He refused to look at her breasts.  She’d be expecting that. Instead, he kept his gaze at eye level. 

Daisy laughed again, turned on by the lusty arrogance of the man.  “Maybe I’ll confess later, Marine.” 

Gavin sat back on the bar stool. “So you don’t like Marines?”

“I didn’t say that.”  She wiped off the table. Running a finger behind her ear to push her hair out of the way, she grinned at him.  “What are you having tonight?”

Gavin scanned the bottles behind her on the bar.  “How about a shot of scotch.”   He watched her as she reached for the shot glasses. 
Nice ass
.  A bit young for him though.  He liked his women a little more experienced than his kid sister. 

She came back and poured the shot.  “This one’s on me.”  Smiling as she walked away, she helped another patron.  Standing there with him gazing at her was starting to make her suddenly self-aware. 

Gavin knew that he was in.  Tomorrow when he showed up again,
if he had to
, it would be obvious that he was interested in her and not so obvious that he was actually looking for Leo. 

Just as he downed the shot, he saw Leo come busting out of the bathroom near the back end of the bar and head his way. 
Jack pot.
  Gavin looked away from Leo quickly and signaled at Daisy for another one.  “Hey, sweetheart, can I get another shot?”

“That quick?” she said, bending over behind the bar.  She liked that he called her sweetheart.  Southern charm always got points in her book.  Just maybe, she’d leave him with her number at the end of the night.

“Yeah, I’m going to need another one.  Funny thing. I get nervous when I talk to pretty girls,” Gavin lied. 

Another man approached the bar and was about to sit in the chair beside him, so he quickly pulled it toward him.  Giving the guy a look to go away before Leo approached, he held on to the space territorially until Leo approached.  “Make this one a double,” he said as Leo walked up to the bar.  He pushed the stool away from him. 

“Anyone sitting here?” Leo asked Gavin, standing behind the stool.

Gavin looked at the chair and shrugged. “No dude. You’re good.” He turned his attention back to Daisy, making sure to show special interest now. 

Leo sat down on the seat and followed Gavin’s gaze to the bartender.  “She’s hot, right?” he said it like he had already had a piece of her. 

Gavin shook his head. “Oh yeah. Smoking.”

“Yeah, in this club, they all are.”  Leo tapped the bar.  “Hook me up, Daisy,” he said, looking over at Gavin’s tats.  The one that drew the most attention was the jump wings with an elaborate skull and cross KA-BARs. There were only a few men in the world who could boast that tattoo and unless this guy was a poser, he was a part of a very elite group of Marines. “So you’re Force Recon, huh?”  He wondered if he was sent by Brett Black to spy on him. 
Wouldn’t surprise him. 
Marines stuck together like flies on shit. 

Gavin took his eyes off of Daisy nonchalantly, barely glancing Leo’s way.  “Used to be.  Way back.  Got put out for a bum leg before most of these boys in here started puberty.”  He locked eyes on Leo. “You military?  Have to be if you recognize the tats.”  He smacked his lips.  “Unless you’re a fuck boy.  And let me just say, I’m honored, but not interested.”

Leo laughed, knowing that the guy was kidding about the gay joke.  “Was Navy. I’m out now,” Leo said as Daisy came back to pour both of their drinks.  She made them quickly and then moved on to another group of men waiting on the other end of the bar.

Gavin gave a bleak pause and cleared his throat.  Leaning into Gavin, he narrowed his cold gaze on the man as if he were going to say something very serious.  “Hey.  Seriously. You think she has a boyfriend?  I mean, she’s probably got a boyfriend or something right?  Girls like that don’t normally just stay single a long time.”  He looked back over at Daisy and shook his head.  “I mean, she can’t be single.” 

Leo was thrown off by the stranger’s disinterest in him.  He didn’t even ask about his MOS, which most guys did.  He didn’t ask if he was an officer, which most people did.  He didn’t seem to care about him at all.  Maybe he was being a bit paranoid.  “Not that I know of.  Daisy tends to keep to herself.”

Gavin knocked down another shot and growled.  The spirits burned as they went down his throat. Slamming the shot glass down on the table, he grinned. “Well, I’m definitely interested in her.  Just a little hard to get her attention with all these other
fuckers
in here vying for her attention at every turn.”

“It’s normally a much better atmosphere for talking if you come back during the day.  Plus, they have a buffet,” Leo said, relaxing his shoulders.  Casually, he sipped his drink and watched as his girlfriend came out on stage.

“Well then, I’ll come back again tomorrow,” Gavin said following Leo’s stare to the main stage. 

The DJ reminded the crowd to tip their waitresses before he went into the spiel about the next dancer.  Her short, energetic intro made her sound like she was going to come out on the stage to perform a heart transplant. 

The blonde busty woman pranced out on stage in gold high heels and a gold metallic T-strap bodysuit. Wiping the pole with a towel before she began, she bent over with her rear end facing the audience and dropped to the floor in a split as her song began.

“Damn,” Gavin said, loud enough to get Leo’s attention. “Who the fuck is that?”  His faux interest came across genuine, but in truth, she wasn’t his type.  He didn’t really do blow up dolls. 

Leo felt a tinge of pride by the man’s reaction. “That’s Amber.”

“Does
Amber
have a fucking boyfriend,” Gavin asked with a chuckle.  “Shit, I’d like to power drive that.”

“She’s got a boyfriend, alright,” Leo said, smiling at Gavin. “And to power drive that pussy will cost you more than a Marine’s salary.”  Just in case Gavin was a cop, he added a little something extra. “Trust me. I know. She’s breaking my bank.”