A Conspiracy to Commit...

The room became silent as the three of us sat there quietly, as Jack's words were sinking into our minds where they mixed with all the other factors of this crisis.

"Without wanting to add more to your already overloaded mind, Barry, I must tell you that it is sometimes very difficult for a woman who has gone through a PTR episode to completely return to her former self. It appears that the trauma that triggered the PTR episode has some lasting residual effects.

"Also, it appears that women who find a sense of total fulfillment in this newfound state of mind are never completely the same woman afterwards. The fact that there was a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment in the flip-flop state makes them desire that mental state all the more.

"I have treated about a dozen women over the past ten years who have had PTR episodes. Some of these women had a mild case of this dysfunction, while some had a more extreme case of it. The women with the more extreme dysfunctional episodes never fully recovered. It seemed that even during the periods of their therapy with me, they would have relapses when just minor traumas would trigger new bouts of PTR." It was obvious that Jack had placed Carol in the extreme category.

"Without more personal information to contradict my view, it seems to me that Carol falls into the latter category. It may be that her trauma was more severe due to the compounding facts of her infertility and your long absences from her. The fact that she willingly made that DVD for you to see, where she shamelessly gave oral sex to the man she referred to as her master, makes me think that she will continue to seek that level of sexual arousal and gratification."

What hope is there now for some return to that previous life that Carol and I had shared for the past five years? None? There was no hope in Jack's words, only a dark prognosis that Carol would always have these latent tendencies to become unfaithful whenever her PTR was triggered.

"Carol is presenting a unique case to the both of us. For you, Barry, it is a hard case of marital infidelity that you need to wrestle with. For me, it represents a different flavor, if I might use that word, of the PTR syndrome. The reasons for her flip-flop need to somehow be separated from the other covert aspects of this drama.

"Unless...and this is a big factor: If Carol had no fore-knowledge of the scheme involving GeoTex, her case could be analyzed completely separately from these other conspiracy factors. But, if she knew about the GeoTex scheme and willingly cooperated with the other two men to possibly get you involved with them, then PTR is probably not a major factor in her actions.

"My professional guess is that she was duped into the affair and hasn't a clue about the GeoTex conspiracy. There is a slight chance that I am wrong, but the phone conversation that you have with her might tell us more."

The room became silent as Jack looked long and hard at me. I could not find any words in my mind to form a complete sentence. What he had just told me was that Carol had stepped across the line to Slutsville and that she would never completely return as the wife I once knew.

"So what would you suggest that I say to her when I talk to her on the phone, Jack? Should I be angry? Threaten divorce? Or be sorry that my long absences drove her into another man's arms?" I still hadn't formulated a script in my mind that I would use for that ominous phone call.

"Given what I saw and heard on the video, I would say that your best approach would be for you to be very angry and very demanding of her. Press her to come home immediately. Threaten her with divorce if she doesn't come home." There was a long pause.

"One thing that you must not do, is allow her to try and justify her actions. Every time she tries to say that she couldn't help herself, you must interrupt her and call her a liar. Be hard on her. You saw how her lover talked to her and treated her. Don't give an inch. You must act as though none of this was your fault. Tell her that you have never been unfaithful to her." Another pause.

"You haven't been unfaithful have you, Barry?" He said to me with a sly smile on his face. I guess he wanted me to say no even if I had had an extramarital encounter.

"Of course not, Jack. And that is the truth." I didn't smile back at him.

"Good...all the better. Remember that you must treat her like the wanton slut her lover treats her. She has received a high level of satisfaction from her adulterous actions and the demeaning way her lover treats her. Show her that you can be just as demeaning toward her as her lover is. Calling her a slut several times during the phone call would not be a bad idea.

"Finally, you should pick a spot where she is talking, hopefully pleading with you to try and understand, and you should just hang up on her. No warning, no good bye, just hang up. If she calls back let it go into voice mail." Jack tilted his head in a gesture as if to ask if I understood what he was telling me.

"I think I get the drift of the conversation script that you think would work to keep her off balance. How many times should I demand that she come home?" My mind was writing out the script.

"As many times as the opportunity allows. Turn the conversation around on her. Make her be the defensive person. In her video statement she said, 'I choose to stay with him until he gives me permission to come home to you.' That means that she has placed him in front of you as the person whom she will obey first. You must challenge that control that he has over her. Don't let her off the hook. Remind her that her wedding vow was to 'love, honor and obey' you, not an interloper. If she persists in refusing to come home, that might be the perfect time to hang up on her."

All of the things that Jack was telling me were things that I would normally never have considered doing with Carol. My demands of her were few and trivial at most. I was a loving and generous husband, not a self-serving demanding alpha male.

Still, it was obvious that Carol now responded to a demanding sex partner. If that was what she wanted, I'm sure that I could provide that for her in spades, regardless of my motivation.

Jack then gave me some voice tonal suggestions for the phone conversation. He suggested a very strong voice, no hint of sadness or sorrow. A tough and leathery voice.

"Be continuously demanding of her. Press her hard."

We talked for another half hour and Jack again asked me if I would consider keeping him informed on just how this crisis moved forward and eventually resolved itself, even if that resolution was a divorce. I told him I certainly would be getting back to him.

It was just after 2:00 when Felix and I left Jack's office. Felix told me that he had some items that needed his attention, but he was secretive about what they were. He told me to go back to the hotel and start writing out scripts for the phone call. When he and Josh got back this evening, they would call me and the three of us could critique the script and make any necessary changes.

We drove off in separate directions. During my drive back to the hotel, my mind was mulling over everything that Jack had told me about PTR, in particular the part where he said that Carol was most likely to have an extreme case of PTR. That would mean that even if we tried to make our marriage work without Les and Phil in the picture, she would most likely find another lover when some trauma would trigger another episode for her. By the time I reached the hotel, I still didn't have a clear idea if I wanted to try and make our marriage work or just start the divorce proceedings immediately.

One thing was very sure. I wanted to know all of the details behind this contrived plot by Phil Bogan. If that bastard had a premeditated plan to have someone seduce Carol in order to compromise me at GeoTex, I wanted to bring him down hard and heavy. Part of what I needed to do with Carol was to keep her thinking that divorce was only a threat, and that I hadn't thought things through just yet.

For the next three hours, I wrote page after page of various phone scripts. All of them followed Jack's advice of being firm and demanding. The only part that was missing was Carol's responses to my anger and my demands. If she came back just as hard and willing to go the divorce route, then I might never know the exact motive behind Phil's scheme.

It was after supper, and I was sitting in the hotel room still editing the script. Josh called from his house. Felix was with him. I read several of the finished scripts to them, told them the one I liked the best. For the next fifteen or twenty minutes, we discussed and changed several of the lines of the script. Then I put it aside.

Felix told me that he was doing some deep digging into Phil Bogan's background. He had found a couple of dummy corporations that Phil had set up and might be using for illicit purposes. The IRS would be interested in these.

The news from the Nevada authorities seemed to be quite promising. Although there were no arrest warrants out for Les Snyder, the Las Vegas police felt that they might be able to persuade one of the victimized ladies to file a formal complaint, which would result in an arrest warrant being issued. The police officer would call Josh the next day.

The three of us sounded very tired, so we cut the phone conversation short and said that we would get in contact the next day.

I called Carol one more time. The machine answered. I had a very worried tone of voice as I told her that I was concerned that I had not heard from her over the past several days. Once again, I told her to call me on my cell phone. If I didn't hear from her, I was going to catch the Friday night flight from Boise to Chicago.

*

Chapter 12: The Phone Call

Friday morning came around, and I was dragging tail. The energy that I had yesterday morning was all gone. I felt wrung out. Although I had slept for almost nine hours, fatigue still had a strong hold on my entire body and mind.

The cold water of the shower felt good on my listless body. After my quick shower, I decided to go work out in the exercise area and swim a couple dozen laps. Maybe that would revitalize me. Off to the exercise area I went.

After almost two hours of hard exercising, I returned to my room. Finally, I was all pumped up. The machine and swimming exercises had forced adrenaline into my system and woken up all of my lazy muscles. After getting dressed, I went down to the cafe in the hotel lobby and had a hearty breakfast.

For the rest of the morning, I sat in my hotel room with my laptop. I began to chronicle the entire story of Barry and Carol from the first date till the present. Jack had quizzed me about the way the relationship had developed since we met and then married.

What I had given him were the broad-brush strokes, the main events and the strongest feelings that I could bring to mind. Now, what I wanted to do, in the quiet of my room, was to analyze in more detail all the large as well as the small events of our pre-marriage dating and the five years of married life.

Several hours later, the phone rang as I was deep in thought about the vacation that Carol and I took last year to Grand Cayman Island. The call was from Josh. Things were looking up with the Las Vegas police. He would know more by this evening when we met at his house. He told me to check out of the hotel and to meet at his house around 6:30. The three of us would do a final review of the script and how we wanted the evening to progress.

Josh got to the house first. As promised, he had an armload of Chinese take-out for the three of us. While we were waiting for Felix, I gave Josh a detailed account of the four hour meeting we had with Dr. Lee the day before. As was expected of him, Josh sat back and listened to every detail. He only interrupted once to clarify a statement that Jack had made in the meeting.

Once Felix arrived, rather than continue the discussion, we all sat down at the table and stuffed ourselves with Sweet and Sour Pork, Chicken Chow Mein...lots of vegetables and rice. Once finished with the meal, we retired to the living room and I read them the script that we had agreed upon last evening. No new comments. The final draft was complete.

Then Felix shifted the subject away from the phone call. He told us that he had checked out all of his hidden video cameras. The ones he placed at my house showed Les coming to the front door. He used a key to open the front door and enter the house. He walked around the rooms, checked the fridge and then the DVD player.

He must have been satisfied, because before he left the house, he made a call on his cell phone. "Everything's in order here. Looks exactly the way we left it." Then he hung up and left the house. The time stamp on the video was 11:35 this morning.

We were all nodding our heads knowing now that the ruse that I was still in Boise had not been compromised. Carol, Les and Phil would still think that I would be flying home tonight.

"Also, I have a colleague going to the airport tonight to see if Carol or either of the men show up to see if you actually arrive on the flight from Boise. His instructions are to cause a disturbance that will distract them or have the airport police detain them for questioning." Pause. "He is very, very good at creating this kind of diversion. He'll call me and let me know if anyone was waiting for you at arrival gate."

Josh just sat there, smiling as if he was the cat who had just swallowed the canary. He nodded his head and said: "And now for the icing on the cake. For the past two days I have been talking to the Las Vegas police department. The officer I talked to was a Captain Paterson, and he was very interested in our boy Les. After our initial conversation, we both did some additional checking into Les' background. When I called him this afternoon, he said that he had some good news for me. Instead of Les just being a person-of-interest for the Vegas police, Captain Paterson had convinced the last victim, who Les scammed in Vegas, to file an official complaint so that an arrest warrant could be issued for him. I got a Fax copy of that arrest warrant just before I left the office." There was a definite Cheshire cat grin on Josh's face as he continued.

"All the way over here I've been trying to figure out when and how to arrest Les. I don't want to take him out too early, but I don't want him to fly the coup before we grab his ass.

"Let's go through with our plan for tonight and then see where it gets us. I have a patrol car standing by in Elmwood with orders to arrest Les if I give them a call tonight. This is going to have to be a 'play by the seat of our pants' situation.

"Also, I put a trace on that phone number that Carol gave you. Turns out that it's one of those prepaid phones. We could try to trace where the phone is located but that probably would be the house in Elmwood. Even if it isn't, I think we still have them zeroed in."

It was now almost 8:30. The plane from Boise would have landed. No call from Felix's man on the spot. That would mean that Carol would be somewhere waiting for me to call her. More than likely, Les would be close by.

"It's time to saddle up, guys." Josh said as he looked at me. "Are you ready for this, Barry? That phone call could be traumatic. You're ok about this, aren't you?"

"Not only am I ok with this, but I'm anxious to get it over with. The past several days of hanging out in the wind hasn't done my mental health a lot of good. I don't know where this might lead, but I definitely want this to come to a head."

Both men nodded their heads in agreement as we headed toward the door. Felix drove us in his car. We left Josh's vehicles in his garage.

Once in my house, Felix rigged up a phone tap so that he and Josh could listen to both sides of the conversation with headsets. I would be the one doing the talking. If they had any comments they would write quick notes on pads that they had in front of them.

The clock read 9:15. "I guess the time has finally arrived." I said to them as I picked up the phone and dialed the number Carol had given me.

The phone rang twice. There was a tightness in my chest as I heard her live voice for the first time in over a week.

"Hello, Barry." Her voice was sweet and mellow. Not harsh or abrasive. She was expecting my call. I immediately jumped into my angry aggrieved husband role.

"Goddamn it Carol!!! What's going on here?! I read your note and saw that goddamn porn video you made. What the fuck is going on?!?!" The opening salvo was loud and hard.

"Please calm down, Barry. Let me explain..." Her voice was still calm and mellow. I interrupted her.

"Explain...shit!!! I want you to get your ass over here and talk to me face-to-face, fuck slut!" Another loud burst of cannon fire at her psyche.

"I can't come and see you, Barry... at least not just yet."

"The fuck you can't!!! Now get your ass over here and let's get this out in the open. I won't do it over the phone!!!" Another loud round, delivered convincingly.

"Sir will not give me permission to leave him just yet."

"You tell that queer-ass faggot that I am ordering you to come home. If he wants to try and get a piece of me, just tell me where and when. I'll beat his queer faggot ass to a pulp!" My first direct attack on her lover.

"Barry, please listen..." Her voice now had a sense of urgency in it. I immediately interrupted.

"Fuck listening on the phone! I want you here to tell me to my face. And I better not see that limp-wrist faggot asshole anywhere around here!!" Bang, another broadside.

"I told you that I can't see you just yet. But..." Her voice was becoming strained now as I cut her short once again.

"But, nothing!!! Your marriage vows you said you would love, honor and obey me as your husband. I want you to obey me now. Not that fairy-lipped faggot that you call Sir. I am ordering you to come home right now!!!"

"Barry, please try to understand, I can't..." Her voice was trembling. Now it was time for the last round.

"Fuck you, slut!! Then don't come home!!!" I hung up quickly, not giving her a chance to reply.

Josh and Felix removed their headsets and nodded their heads. "Now the ball is in her court." Josh said as he walked to the fridge and got us all a beer.

As Jack had predicted, the phone rang a minute later. I remember that he also told me not to answer it. It went into voice mail.

"Please Barry, pick up the phone and talk to me." There was a flood of angst in her voice as she tried to speak. "I truly love you, Barry. Don't cut us off short. Please let me explain it all to you. Please."

I could almost visualize her starting to cry as she spoke into the recorder. I wasn't giving her the opportunity to connect with me. It was her turn to twirl in the wind. Carol's voice ended and the phone went silent.

"I think that I should have used the 'D' word before I hung up on her. Maybe that would have put the fear of god into her." I said out loud, taking a big swallow of my beer.

"You did just fine, Barry. The 'D' word was very obvious in your comments to her. I think the statement about love, honor and obey really hit the mark. Her voice changed immediately after you said that to her." Felix added.

"I agree, Barry. There was enough there to put the three of them on notice that you were not just going to roll over and accept this crisis. I imagine that both Les and Phil were tapped into her phone just like we were.

"Your personal attack on Les was just great. I think you should continue that line of attack whenever you talk to her again. Make her think that his sexual orientation is at least questionable. Shake him up also. Having him pissed off at you might be a good thing for us." Josh said as we sat thinking about what must be going on at the other end with Carol and her 'friends'.