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I pulled out a file I had received from the lead investigator and slapped it on the table. “In here is a list of some of your pettier crimes. Check fraud. Shop lifting. I think I saw an attempted breaking and entering. Drugs. So I’m going to put my money on the fact that this was the biggest opportunity you’d ever seen and you thought you could walk away with some serious money.”
“I lost my son three years ago,” she spoke slowly. “How can you say any of this to me?”
I nodded. “I know. I’m sorry about that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child. But you know what that feels like. So why in God’s name would you try to put me through it?” I sat for a minute before I continued. “I’ll write you a check right now. A huge check. You take it and cash it in the morning and then you call the police and tell them you were mistaken. That you were so emotional you made a mistake.”
I pulled out my checkbook. I wrote in the date and her name on the top line.
“But what if he is mine?” She looked at me.
“Martha, we both know that Hunter isn’t yours.”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
“Martha, where is your son?” I pressed.
She sighed. “I don’t know. Really, I don’t. But I think with his father. Maybe in Florida? That’s where he always said he’d take him. He said I had to sober up.” She started to break down, the fierceness from before diminishing, she knew she’d lost. “Are you going to call the police?”
The woman had a hard face. The kind that told the story of her life. I’d seen the same look on my own mother.
“I’m not going to report you. I’m not even going to consider this extortion. This is a gift from me to you.” I made sure there were lots of zeros on the end before tearing it from the book.
I handed it to her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice shaky. “Why would you help?”
“Because. I’d do anything in this world for that kid. I haven’t always been like this. I’ve made mistakes. Maybe more mistakes than you. And I’m trying to help you from making any more. Start over, Martha. Start over. Make your son proud of you.”
She teared up and folded the check, tucking it inside her shirt.
“Thank you,” she whispered and then walked out of the diner.
I sat across from the empty booth and finished drinking my coffee.
When I walked through the door at the loft Julie jumped from the couch. Hunter was asleep with a book across his chest.
“Where have you been?” she questioned me.
“It’s a long story.” I hung up my coat. “But I took care of everything. We don’t have to worry about losing Hunter,” I whispered.
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head. “What happened?”
I took her by the hand and led her to the bedroom so Hunter couldn’t hear us in case he awakened.
I started to explain how I started my day feeling helpless, but ended up taking control. That’s what I did. I controlled the situation.
“The woman who claimed to be Hunter’s birth mother wasn’t his mother. She won’t be bothering us. She’s dropping the claims.”
Julie’s face turned pale. “Oh my God. How did you find out?”
“I went to see her.” I smirked.
The shock was immediately replaced with anger. “And you didn’t tell me?”
Shit. I thought it would make her happy, but I saw the fury in her eyes.
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up or down or whatever roller coaster this is.” I tried to soothe her. “I knew I could handle it,” I explained.
“You drove to see Hunter’s possible mother and didn’t think I could handle the roller coaster?”
