An Evening Run

I was on my normal evening run. I love watching the sunset as I came to the final phase of my run. Suddenly, I was flying up over the edge of the road down into a ditch. The landing was abrupt. I lay there and took inventory of my body. I heard a voice.

"Where the hell did he go?" came a gruff male voice

"Is he dead?" a softer female voice.

"As hard as I hit him, he has to be."

The realization slowly sank in, that was my boss and my wife.

I saw stabbing flashlight beams as they scanned the ditch looking for me.

She pleaded, "let's get out of here."

He growled back, "We have to finish him if he is still alive, Just like the son of a bitch to fuck things up for us."

They tried to kill me! I saw a dark depression ahead of me, I crawled into it a and curled up into a ball. I must have passed out, when I woke up I was in agony, I had a broken leg and no telling how many bruises. I knew I couldn't stay there, they would be back, at this stage they had to make sure I was dead. I made a makeshift splint for my leg and started moving. My military survival training kicked in, to avoid capture. After what seemed like hours, I collapsed again and went out.

I awoke to the sound of car doors slamming, it was my boss and the company security chief scouring the ditch I had landed in.

"Are you certain this is where you hit him?"

"Yes, damn it, I was doing near sixty when I hit him, no telling how far he went."

"He could not have survived that, coyotes or wild dogs probably drug him off."

I drifted in and out, finally they gave up in disgust and drove off. I was on the move again. I stumbled into a small stream, I was so thirsty. I found some grubs and berries the next morning, I ate and drank. I dozed and thoughts drifted through my mind. What the fuck happened? I had just retired from the navy two years ago. My wife of 23 years got me a job with an old friend of her dads. Life was good. I never did like the way my boss acted around my wife. He always gave me a smug look when the three of us were together.

I finally managed to hit the highway that ran parallel to the road I was hit on. I came up behind a gas station. I called my sister to come get me and to stay quiet about it. And I slipped back into the bushes behind the station. When my sister arrived, I crawled into her back seat and laid on the floor. We drove to a town almost six hours away and went into a small clinic and had my leg set. She signed me into a long-term stay motel using her name. We talked for hours, I gave her the whole rundown. My sister was a defense lawyer and a darn good one.

She looked at me, "It's the insurance, you know."

It hit me like a ton of bricks, just six months before the company took out a million dollar policy on me, My boss convincing me it was for the protection of the company.

I looked at my sister Eve, "I just don't understand it Jessy was in the car with him, they were in it together."

"Easy, Rob, there are some things you should know about Jesse."

"What? Tell me."

Eve reluctantly began. During your deployments, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence, Strong circumstantial evidence she played around on you. She was seen around town over the years with several men while you were gone."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything?

"Rob, there was no proof, I want going to destroy a marriage with no proof, I'm sorry."

I met my wife Jesse at a singles bar when I was home on leave. I was immediately attracted to her and boldly asked her to dance, we almost did the nasty on the dance floor. I drove her home and got a blowjob on the way, it was love at first swallow. We married four months later, and I left on a cruise right after. I really didn't know her that well, and I guess I still don't. I never questioned her about what happened when I was deployed. My theory was if I didn't trust her, we shouldn't be married. She was not the prettiest woman around, but she just oozed sexy, I loved it.

I was feeling stronger and much better. By some miracle, my only injuries were the broken leg and multiple bruises. I had no proof whatsoever they tried to kill me. Eve had the million-dollar policy cancelled. Then she put her investigator to work. We did a lot of planning and preparation that week. I thought we were ready. Then I borrowed dads WWII pistol and went home, I wasn't going there unarmed.

"Hi Jesse."

I could almost hear the shock in her voice, "Rob?"

"Yeah honey, it's me, I'm home."

We sat and talked, she made coffee and I watched prudently when I was on my second cup I heard the front door open, Jesse jumped up I motioned her to sit, my boss walked in like he owned the place. You could have knocked him over with a light gust of wind. He gave an audible gasp.

I motioned for him to sit, he just glared at me.

"I know you two tried to kill me" I stated bluntly.

He was twice my size and made an aggressive move in my direction. Contrary to popular opinion, all Sailors aren't seals. So, I laid my gun on the table and told him to sit. He sat still glaring at me.

"You can't prove a damn thing." he growled.

"True, I can't prove you tried to kill me."

I slid an envelope over to Jesse, she shook as she opened it, looking at the 8x10 glossies of her and Jack doing the nasty. I slid another over, it contained separation papers.

"I have already signed them, Jesse, all you have to do is sign and get the hell out of my house.

Jack roared and jumped up, "You little shit ill show you who is getting out reaching across the table for me. I was smaller and a hell of a lot faster, I laid the pistol alongside his face and he abruptly sat back down.

I slid an envelope across to him, he pulled out the contents, it was a report from a prestigious accounting firm.

"What the hell is this?" he muttered.

"Well, the condensed version is it reveals your embezzlement from the company, which explains why you needed me dead for the million bucks."

"You, Jesse, sign the damn papers and you and this piece of shit get out of my house."

Jesse managed to get Jack calmed down and out of the house, Jesse signed the papers before she left. I was so glad she didn't try to tell me how sorry she was or that she still loved me. Sadly, I realized she probably never did love me, I was just comfortable.

It was pretty quiet for the longest time. Jess called and came by once to load out some of her stuff. I made sure I let Jacks wife know what was going on, He was never home, and she seemed to like it that way.

Eve called, "Rob, Jesse was just killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing a street on her way to lunch."

"Wow, I would bet she was heavily insured."

Eve called back a couple of days later. "She was insured, but she changed the beneficiary the day before she died."

"Rob! You're a million dollar beneficiary. She must have known that he intended to do her in."

I was speechless. About you six months later They caught the hit-and-run driver that killed Jesse, It was Jacks wife. They apparently had it all planned out. Jack was arrested for murder along with his wife.

After I had a chance to think things over, all I could say was I should have stayed at sea. With all these lessons tucked under my belt, I stepped into the singles bar and looked around. After all, once a sailor, always a sailor.