Mercenary

"I agree that YOU need more info Junior and I know just the person. Let me see the pictures." That was all the old man said before he took a look. A few minutes later he started writing down something on a piece of paper. "Here, this is a guy you want to speak to; he's a PI, the best in the area. I'll call him; he'll probably want to interview you. The sooner you get rid of her, the better. How's your schedule tomorrow?"

I was somewhat startled by Dad's quick summation. He never asked a single question about how I felt or anything about Paige for that matter. Maybe I was expecting too much, but it was unsettling that he immediately made the leap that my wife of six years was history without any further discussion.

"Once you've started the investigation I'll give Liz Fallon a call. Your wife's lawyer is likely to fold as soon as he knows she represents you."

I'd not thought of calling 'Aunt' Liz. She had been my mother's best friend and she was also closer to Dad than anyone other than his sister. A family court judge for 20 years, she was now in private practice. Aunt Liz was a celebrity of sorts; she was a nationally recognized expert and author on child custody issues. She was also a particularly lethal divorce attorney.

"By the way, how are you set for cash?" he asked.

"I'm OK...I think", I responded. This was the first time I had thought about my finances.

The old man smirked. "You think? We're talking around ten grand Junior. If you haven't thought about it just know it's cheaper to keep her."

"At what price?" I countered sarcastically. "You know when I came over here I just wanted to talk to you. I found all of this out only yesterday. I'm still trying to make sense of it all. You've got me divorced already." I was feeling very tired. It was probably conveyed in the strain in my voice.

"I'm sorry son. There are couples that do survive infidelity. It's not likely to be same afterward, but that's..."

I closed my eyes for a moment. Of course I had thought about divorcing Paige. That one thought kept percolating to the top of my thoughts ever since I saw the pictures. But it was another thing entirely to know that this same idea was shared by my father. That made the possibility very real.

"Now you are patronizing me. We both know that's not me."

He nodded. "No its not, and I'm not trying to patronize you. I was going to ask you if you need some money."

"I can manage this. But thanks for asking. You didn't say anything about the pictures?"

My father never hesitated in his answer. "What can I say? Those two are very comfortable in public junior. I hate to tell you this, but in my opinion this is not a simple friendship, they're lovers. Did you notice the looks and body language of the people around them? Those two were obviously making quite a bit of noise. They weren't concerned with being seen or remembered. By the way, did your friend indicate how long he had observed them?"

"He said they were there at least a couple of hours." I said. "Dad you act as if you expected this."

"I did", my father noted as he got up from his chair and headed for the kitchen, leaving me to ponder that last remark. I heard him place a phone call and then return to his seat minutes later. "You're all set for Thursday morning."

My expression must have alerted him. I was expecting an explanation. Then as if he had forgotten something, he added, "Junior, she lied to you when you asked her about her whereabouts that night. "

"How did you know that?"

"You have your mother's same direct manner, so I know you asked her. Otherwise, you would not have come to see me." That last part was said with a sort of swagger. Then he felt the need to add a further insight.

"She probably said she wasn't at the restaurant then tried to turn the whole thing around by blaming either your paranoia or your insecurities in general. You know, you probably caught her completely off guard. People normally don't expect to get caught. She's guilty. Otherwise, why lie about it? Certainly she's entitled to have a drink with a friend. No, there's obviously more to it than that. I hope you didn't mention you had pictures?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't volunteer any information."

"Good, I didn't think you had. Shame though, this might be something your marriage could survive. Just because she's seen in a restaurant, that act alone would not merit you even thinking about a divorce. If this wasn't Paige I'd advise you to try to work it out, but your wife is a mercenary so there's no point."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, let's skip it, you have other things to worry about."

"No dad, I need to know what you mean. You've never said anything like that before about Paige."

"Haven't I? Remember over a year ago when you told me that she was going back to grad school, and I asked you if this was something you two had talked about? You said that you had and I asked how you were intending to swing it...financially."

"I remember that conversation. It's the fist time you've ever asked me about my finances. Why is that significant otherwise?"

"You said you had money saved up and I asked about Paige's contribution. You dodged my question. Later on you let it slip that she was angry at having to take out loans, particularly if they were going to be in her name, even though you committed to paying the debt for her. Do you recall that conversation?"

I did remember that day with my father. I felt uncomfortable answering his questions then. It was almost like an interrogation. He had no right asking such things about our relationship. Our finances as a family were not a topic for public consumption. I didn't understand at the time that he was trying to make a point.

"What surprised me though was you guys deciding to upgrade your apartment just months after making the commitment to Grad school. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful place son, but I knew it was costing you some significant bucks. I suppose that was Paige's idea?"

I merely shook my head. His read on the situation was unsettling but on point. "I guess in hindsight I look pretty stupid. I just wish I knew why she did this."

"Don't let it get to you. You may never know. When I was on the job I saw a lot of these situations. Granted, I often saw couples at their worst, but in my experience men and women cheat for different reasons. For women it's primarily for one of 3 things: money, emotions or revenge. We'll discount the revenge aspect since you haven't done anything we know of to merit that response. That leaves money or emotions and I'm betting on the money. It's consistent with Paige's past behavior. My guess is that you will find that this guy has considerable money behind him."

"Think about it Junior. You two sat down and planned for over two years Paige's return to school. Then you saved in order to be able to afford her dream. Knowing this, why would she put her marriage, as well as very future at risk for an affair? Paige is no fool; she's not likely to be swept up in her emotions. No. The guy is probably loaded."

I was surprised by Dad's assessment. I wanted to believe that Paige was involved in a one-time fling based on some physical attraction. Strange as it might be, if the relationship were based on the superficial I would have felt better. I never considered that she had consciously planned to betray me. My face must have conveyed my confusion because he continued to elaborate.

"Junior, the woman has not invested one dime in your joint future. She spends all of her money making herself look good. You've been financing her lifestyle your entire marriage, and still she feels an entitlement. But it's not just a matter of her being high maintenance. Many women are high maintenance and their husbands receive as well as they give. Your wife is not that kind... she's a mercenary."

His face got deadly serious as he continued, "However, It's your behavior in the past that tells me your marriage is over."

"What about my behavior?"

"Junior, how did you react when you first saw these pictures?

"I was upset...almost to the point of being physically ill."

"Were you ever angry? Did you feel that someone had taken something from you or were you merely resigned to the fact that she had cheated on you?"

"What's that got to do with it?"

"When this is over I want you to promise me something."

By now I was getting a bit agitated with him. He seemed to be talking around some subject. But he wouldn't come right out and say it. "What?" I asked.

"That you will sit down and talk with someone."

I sat there dumbfounded. Paige cheats on me and the old man wants ME in counseling. However, that was a topic for another time. There were practical problems that had to be worked out. I also had something else to ask.

"Dad, if this doesn't go well I will need to move. Can I room with you? It would probably be for no more than a few months."

"You're welcome anytime. Stay as long as you like. I've got plenty of room and I'd love to have the company. There's just one thing though; I'm thinking of selling the place next spring."

"Oh, I didn't know." I should not have been surprised. A three-story five bedroom house with one occupant was not a situation designed to last. Still, it was the home I knew as a child.

"I've been getting offers for almost a year. The speculators are ripe in this area and they're not even locals. For what they are willing to pay I can pick up a two or three bedroom condo in Society Hill or Rittenhouse Square and still pocket close to a hundred thousand."

"Wow."

"That was my reaction too. You know the gasoline station over at the corner of 12th and Catherine?" I nodded, remembering the place where I filled air in my bike tires when I was a kid.

"The owner has an offer of one and a half mill on the table. He's holding out for an even two."

I shook my head. I'll never understand the psychology of markets. Who would shell out that kind of money for a corner lot or put up $ 400 grand for a row house? Not me, and I had a fondness for the city.

We talked about housing in the area for several more minutes and then settled into a more optimistic discussion of our family. It was good to catch up on the history of my extended clan. I didn't want to admit it, but it was also good to spend some time with my dad too.

Chapter 4: Of Cabbages and Kings

At precisely 9am Thursday I walked into the offices of Hollis and Willows, Private Investigations. As I was signing the registry a large man that I guessed to be in his mid to late fifties came into the lobby.

"Mr. Stuart?" He said, as he locked eyes with me.

"Yes, and you are Mr. Hollis?

He nodded his head while extending his hand. "Pleased to me you. Follow me."

He led me around the corner into a conference room whose door was quickly closed after I was completely inside. The room had a small table with only half a dozen seats. I noted a hidden screen in the ceiling and built in whiteboards on the front wall. This reminded me of my own office. Funny, in a way our businesses were related. We both traded in information.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?" I shook my head and waived off the offer with my hand.

"Well then, I understand that you have a domestic issue you would like us to pursue?"

"I have reason to believe that my wife is cheating on me. The evidence I have is not conclusive. I need verification. Whatever information you can collect will go a long the way in making my case during a probable divorce action."

"You sound pretty sure of this. What leads you to that conclusion?"

I reached in my briefcase and extracted the envelope with the photos of Paige and her 'friend'. I passed them to Hollis.

"The woman in the background is my wife. I don't know the man. These were taken about a week ago in a restaurant on Penn's campus. The photographer was a patron who was attending another gathering. My wife wasn't the intended subject. A friend who recognized my wife persuaded the shooter to take these."

"Well she seems quite comfortable with this person. You have every right to be suspicious."

Sitting back in his seat Hollis shifted his body in the chair that seemed too small to hold his weight.

"I take it that you have not confronted her with what you know or asked for an explanation?"

"Actually I did. She lied about it."

"Hmmm, that's not important. Truth in our business rarely comes out of the mouth of the adulterous party. I also understand that you have never had occasion to use private investigation services before?"

"No sir."

"I don't want to waste your time Mr. Stuart so let me level set you about our firm and what we do. Unlike a number of our competitors, the majority of our caseload is in matters dealing with infidelity. I'd say however, that eight out of every ten clients is a wife seeking evidence against her husband, though we are seeing more men of late."

"Regardless of the gender, you need to understand that the product of our investigations is indelible. We will likely provide you with itineraries, invoices, photographs, and sometimes even video. We work within the law but not all of our materials may be admissible in court. It depends on the manner of acquisition, the action before the court, the judge, etc. "

"Once you've seen this material you can't take it back; you can't simply erase these things from your memory. We produce an irrevocable product. That is why we have this conference Mr. Stuart, to prepare you."

"Depending upon the location of the parties and the amount of detail you want our services for this type of engagement can be in the range of $ 80 to $ 100 per hour per person. In your case we're looking at a fixed price engagement for $ 5,000 that is if...if we decide to take on your case. Our activities are often, but not always, a prelude to a divorce. I'd advise you that marriage counseling is certainly a much less expensive and debilitating alternative."

He paused for a second and looked over the picture again before locking onto my eyes.

"We always look for the "smoking gun". Most of the time it's an easy find, but there are rare times when all we acquire is circumstantial evidence. Either way, if she is fooling around we'll know. But understand, we're not voyeurs and we're not here to settle some vendetta, nor do we care to be provocateurs of any violence that might come as a result of our engagement. Before signing on to a case we like to check out our client. Our reputation is too important for us to be involved in anything that even gives the appearance of being sordid...and our retainer would be $ 2,000."

This was certainly not your standard sales pitch. I felt as if I were being interviewed for the role of client. In another venue I would have been half-way to the door by now. But this man conveyed certain sincerity in his presentation that made me want to be his client.

"I understand Mr. Hollis. If my wife has been cheating on me I only want to be rid of her, nothing more. Personally, I could care less about the man in this. I don't plan on any retaliation against him."

"OK, I hear you. I'll take you at your word, but be prepared to have this conversation again when we've concluded our assignment. Now tell me about your wife."

I then spent the next hour recounting my relationship with Paige almost since from the moment we met. I then brought him up to date with her admission to graduate school and the change in behavior I had seen in recent weeks. I found the very retelling to be quite cathartic. There were parts of this that I had not shared with anyone.

Hollis listened and jotted some notes on a yellow pad. When I concluded he laid down his pen, reared back in his seat and asked, "son are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I'm very sure."

"Let me rephrase that. I'm not talking about the money. From what you've told me this is probably a 3-4 week engagement, given the parties are probably all local and we have leg up on tracking them. I'd like to place some recording devices in your home. We only need your permission to do this but the recordings may not be admissible in court. We might hit pay dirt without having an extensive deployment of manpower."

But again, I'm not only referring to the money. Do you really want to divorce this girl? This might only be a harmless fling. She may already regret her actions. Once you read our report you're not likely to be in a forgiving frame of mind. So I have to ask, do you love her? I normally don't ask but because of how you were referred to us I'm curious.

"I've thought about that question a lot. If I can't trust her it doesn't matter if I love her or not. Love is not what you feel, it's what you do. What life could we build? No, adultery is not negotiable."

"I understand your feelings, but this is all new to you. You've only known about them for a couple of days, actually only 42 hours. You might want to slow things down a bit."

My frown must have been sufficient to counter that suggestion because he then returned to our contract. "My secretary will have some forms for you to complete and she will set the appointment with my associate. I have someone in mind that can start on this assignment immediately. I'll confirm his schedule before you leave. Expect us to meet next to discuss the findings."

With that we shook hands and the meeting ended. As I made my way to my office I felt a strong feeling of regret.

This was my first definitive act since learning of her affair. It was like stepping into a cave and not seeing any light inside. Paige was such a large part of my life. If she had slept with that man our marriage was likely over. But what would it be like living without her?

By the time I reached my cubicle a cloud of depression was descending over me. Was I in too much of a hurry? Maybe I should wait at least another few days. I could call Hollis back and tell him to hold off temporarily.

Noelle slipped her head around the corner as I was adjusting my chair.

"Hi Peter", she said as her smile left upon meeting my eyes. "You look like hell. Even though it's 10:30 I'll bet you haven't had your coffee yet?"

I tried to smile at her but I'm sure she saw through it. There was no point in hiding my apprehension. I didn't know why but I saw value in shielding her from what had happened that morning.

"I haven't had my morning coffee as you've guessed. I've been meeting with a private investigator. "

"Oh...let's take a walk then."

Instead of the company cafeteria, we made our way out of the building. For most of the journey, Noelle was leading the way. The streets were crowded but I was absentmindedly lagging behind. Though unintentional, I happened to focus on her legs.

Unusual for her, she was wearing a mid calf skirt with a slit to mid-thigh. The contrast was very erotic. My boss, my friend, was blessed with two of the shapeliest pair of legs ever to grace a woman. It was a frightening realization, one which brought on an even greater sense of doom, along with a good dose of shame.

She was my friend and I had no right to be evaluating her in that fashion. Would I have this same recoil with other women in my presence? Was this to be the hidden legacy of my marriage? Would I always check out my friends in such an overtly sexual manner? Would I look at all women with such eyes?

We made our way down steps to the subway to the underground concourse. Half a minute later we arrived at open-air coffee shop at the Suburban station train stop. Noelle turned to me and suggested that I get a table while she ordered at the counter.

I noticed the sign indicated this was The New Orleans Experience. I recognized the name immediately. We had used these folks to cater our events for years. I never knew they had an actual restaurant.