Hybrid (3 page)

The lean figure looked Erik up and down and then smiled. “I trust everything went well?”

Erik nodded and placed the ten bills from his hand on the counter next to him. “Thanks for giving me the extra time to wrap this up, Jeff. We're square for last month and this month now.”

“I know you, Erik, and I know you're always true to your word.”

When business in his diner had slowed two years ago, Jeff had let Erik use the back room in addition to a small one-bedroom apartment behind the restaurant. Erik paid him a modest amount in rent, and used the back room as a base of operations for his business. Erik helped cleaning dishes and sweeping during business and closing hours as thanks for paying such a small rent. Real estate, like everything else in Hopedale, was pricey, far too pricey for the investigator's limited finances.

Erik took his leather jacket off the coat rack and headed for the door.

“Make sure you're back for the dinner crowd!” Jeff barked in his motherly tone. “I could really use the extra help tonight.”

“Yes, Mom,” Erik replied as he made his way out the door.

* * * *

Erik pulled his truck into the long driveway at the wealthier end of Hopedale. He always felt uncomfortable in this area, but his ex-wife and daughter were doing well here and his daughter received all the things he was unable to give her. He walked up the meticulously laid brick walk and rang the doorbell. A young girl opened the door and her eyes immediately lit up when she saw him.

“Daddy!” She screamed with delight as she jumped into his arms.

“Hey, Munchkin!” he answered as she settled into his arms. “Where's Mommy?”

“She's out back with Ricky. They have company. Some goofy business people.” The little girl rolled her eyes upward.

“Brianna!” a voice interrupted. “You know better than to talk like that.”

Brianna giggled as she jumped down from her father's arms and headed out into the back yard.

“Hello, Margaret,” Erik began. “You're looking beautiful, as always.” He tried his best to sound pleasant.

“You still look.... “She paused, letting her eyes study him. “Blue collar, as always.” She finished with a small tone of contempt in her voice.

Erik felt a quick pang of hurt at her remark. Margaret was never happy with his trade, or the amount of money he earned. He was sincerely glad she finally got what she wanted. She seemed truly happy, and looked upon him as her biggest mistake.

“Easy,” he said as he put his hands up. “I didn't come here to start an argument.” He reached into his wallet. “I have the support payment for this month and next month.” Erik pulled out six hundred dollars and handed it to her. He put his still-flush wallet back into his pocket and looked at Margaret.

“Where did you come across this much cash on such a short notice? The last time we spoke you didn't have two nickels to rub together.” She studied the crisp bills.

“I just finished a case; that money was part of a bonus from my employer. You know I've been working a case for the last three weeks.”

“Doing what?” she asked sarcastically. “Finding missing poodles?”

“No, I really can't discuss it,” he answered evasively, deliberately ignoring the venom in her tone.

“Please!” she commented. “You're just so important that you're working on secret cases now. I find that difficult to believe.”

“What's the matter with you?” Erik said louder than he intended. He let her know she hurt him; she seemed to revel in that. “I didn't come here looking for a fight. Why are you treating me this way? I haven't done anything!”

“Is everything okay, darling?” a voice asked, thick with contempt.

“Everything is fine, Richard,” Erik spat with equal loathing.

Richard walked up to Erik and stared at him momentarily. “Oh, it's you.” He looked at Margaret. “I gather you've told him our intentions.”

Erik noticed that Margaret's face suddenly became red and she looked uncomfortable.

“Richard, go back to our guests. I'll be with you shortly,” she whispered.

Richard, however, did not leave. “No, I should be here when you tell him. I want to see the look on his face,” he insisted.

Margaret looked into Erik's eyes, and he saw the fear. He sensed something was coming—something big. He could read it in her body language, all the subtle physical indications of discomfort. He could feel his ex-wife's emotions, her sudden panic and anxiety.

“Richard wants to start proceedings to adopt Brianna,” Margaret began. “His attorneys will be mailing you a form to sign over your paternal rights. Before you say anything or go on a tirade, you can see her anytime you want instead of what the old court decree says,” Margaret announced softly, not looking up from the ground. “Richard really wants us to be a family.”

“No,” Erik said in a soft, deadly voice. He looked at Richard with hate-filled eyes. “You have my wife, you already have my daughter under your roof; the first one you can keep, but you'll never be Brianna's father. I'm her father. Me, Erik Knight, and I won't give that up, not for anything.”

* * * *

“No one is asking you to give that up,” Margaret began. “Biologically, you are her father, but face it Erik, you're rarely here. Richard, for all practical purposes, is Brianna's father. She's been with us for the past seven years. I wanted to talk with you about this at a more convenient time.”

She gave her husband an annoying glance. “But now that it's out in the open, I'll say my piece. Brianna deserves a father that's home every night, someone that can provide her with the finer things of life, giving her the opportunities that you simply can't. She doesn't need someone who's only around every other weekend or off at all hours of the night playing Sherlock Holmes, or whatever it is you call what you do.” Margaret paused, studying her ex-husband.

She could see the fury building up within him, she had been with Erik long enough to know that there were limits to his tolerance. Deep down, she knew doing this would emotionally cripple him. She had crushed his spirit when she filed for divorce, this would be the finishing blow.

Erik's shoulders slumped and his face tilted slightly as he considered his response. He looked sharply into her eyes, and she could see the blazing intensity that burned there. “You two are really something, you know that? Your high-priced lawyers set the terms for my visitations after you smeared my reputation. I'd love to spend more time with Brianna; only you two have seen to it that I can't. I'm surprised I'm not in jail, thanks to the smear campaign you pulled at the divorce hearing.

“As it stands, I get two weekends and four nights a month. In the six years that this arrangement has been going on, I've never missed my visitation. For God's sake, Margaret, she's all I have left. You've got everything you ever wanted; don't take the one thing I have left away from me,” he said in a soft whisper. “Have you discussed this with our daughter? Is this something that she wants?”

“What she wants or doesn't want is irrelevant,” Richard broke in. “It's time for us to become a real family, and quite frankly, you're getting in the way of that. Brianna mistakenly puts you on a pedestal. She doesn't understand you like I do. You have no real future; you're a blue collar PI with no real clientele and no real experience. How long do you think you can earn a living doing surveillance and security work? You need a plan, only you're not smart enough to realize that. No one wants an investigator who works out of the back room of a low-brow diner,” Richard said with a self-righteous tone.

“My personal finances are my business,” Erik replied darkly. “Unlike you, I don't make money off the misery of others, you slum lord. I've already checked you out, and I know all about you. You inherited everything you have. You've earned nothing. You make money off real estate law on property that should be condemned and you pillage land with your shady development and mining operations across the country. I may not have much, but what I have I've achieved on my own.

“As for my office space, I like where I am. I like to associate with a better class of people than I'm associating with now. I'm accessible to people. I don't hide myself in an ivory tower eighty stories above the ground, or surround myself with black iron fences and gates. I'm not afraid of regular people like you seem to be.”

“Spoken like the true riffraff that you are.” Richard's face adopted a smug look. “Mr. Knight, you barely make enough money to get by, you have no real address and you have no place for your daughter to call home. My attorneys could do this in court, but I don't think that is in the child's best interest.

“If you don't want to abide by our wishes, I'll see you in court. I have enough power and influence to see that you lose all rights to your daughter. Plus, I'll personally see to it that you never have another client for your ragtag business. I buried you once before, don't force me to do it again,” Richard added with an unmistakable loathing in his voice. “Do we understand each other?”

Margaret groaned inwardly, she knew her husband had just made a critical mistake. Threatening Erik was not going to solve anything, except make him furious. She could see the intensity burning inside her ex-husband. She knew Erik would respond, most likely with force.

Erik responded to the threat as his ex-wife predicted. Moving with astonishing speed, he grabbed Richard by the lapel of his Italian jacket and lifted him a foot off the floor.

“Listen to me; I don't care what you try, or how many lawyers you have. You'll never, ever take my baby girl from me. Furthermore, I don't care who you are; never threaten me again. If you cross me, I'll deal with you on my terms this time, my way, and I promise you, you won't like it. Do we understand each other?”

Richard nodded, as his legs dangled in the air helplessly. With a mighty heave, Erik tossed Richard ten feet down the marble foyer. The man landed in a heap, sliding another ten feet and crashing into a large potted fern.

Richard picked himself up and charged Erik like a wild Rhino. Erik timed his counter with deadly precision, redirecting Richard's charge into the solid oak front door. Erik grabbed his stunned opponent by the back of his jacket and forcefully threw him back to the floor, pinning the Richard down easily with an arm lock. Erik applied pressure until Richard yelped in agony. Erik let up on the pressure and allowed Richard to return to his feet.

“Next time, rich boy, I won't be so forgiving,” Erik whispered.

“Stop it!” Margaret screamed as Richard prepared for another assault. “This won't solve anything! Richard, clean yourself up and go back to our guests.” She gestured toward the door.

Richard glared angrily at Erik. “This isn't over, Knight. Not by a long shot.”

“For your sake, it had better be. Any time you want to continue, you know where I am,” Erik remarked with hate-filled venom.

“Both of you, knock it off!” Margaret screamed. She looked at Erik. “Must it always end in fisticuffs with you?” She turned her attention to her husband. “And you! Must you act like such a pompous ass? Why must you always torment him? He's a trained fighter. You're not going to win that kind of brawl with him.”

Richard brushed himself off, mumbling as he limped back to their guests. Margaret turned toward her ex-husband. She saw that his look of anger was now replaced by one of shock and actual hurt. She really didn't hate him personally, she realized, just what he chose to do with his life. Deep down, she knew she was to blame for a great many things that went wrong during their two-year marriage. All of a sudden, she felt pity for the man standing in front of her.

“I'm sorry, Erik. I wanted to tell you under different circumstances. Sometimes Richard can be a little condescending, but his heart is in the right place and he really does love her.”

“I'm sure he does, but can't he love her without adopting her?”

“Of course he can, but he's got this whole family thing right now. We'll discuss it later. I promise.”

“I just don't want to go through what I went through seven years ago,” Erik replied.

“That was a mistake. I swear I didn't know he took it to that end. I won't let that happen, I promise. We've both had enough hurt.”

Erik nodded. “On that point, we can both agree.”

She hesitated momentarily. “Erik, I shouldn't have been such a bitch earlier. You didn't have that coming. I'm really happy your work is picking up. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been snapping at everyone lately.”

Erik seemed startled by this sudden change in her tone. “Well, no harm no foul,” he responded lightly. “I'm sorry about the ruckus here. It shouldn't have happened. You better get back to your company. I'll see you Friday night to pick up the munchkin.”

Margaret nodded silently, watching Erik turn away and head down the long brick walkway. She stared at the now crumpled bills in her hand and did something totally unexpected.

“Erik, take this and show our daughter a great time.” She balled up the bills and casually tossed them toward him. She quickly closed the door, knowing the act she just committed was pure charity and could possibly embarrass him. She watched through the stained glass as he picked up the crumpled bills.

He looked toward the house and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”

Margaret stood at the door and watched him as he drove out of their driveway and out of their gated community.

* * * *

Erik had made his bank deposit and paid the remainder of his overdue bills from his bonus. It was very rare that a client paid a bonus of fifty percent of a total contract. He had enough money now to get him through the next three months—four if he was very careful. Money matters still weighed heavy on his mind as he entered the dojo for his Saturday workout.

There had to be a way he could drum up more business. Erik absently threw kicks and punches into a 100-pound heavy bag as he mentally ran through his options. He had thought about joining the police force, but he was already too old. He could move his agency into a city like Boston or Worcester, possibly join a law firm like Denton, Ross and Priscoli. That would guarantee him fat paychecks every month and more than enough money for him to pay his bills and provide for his daughter.