Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage

This story is a far cry from the typical BTB, take a baseball bat to his knees, revenge story. I like a good bat to the knees story, but then I realize I probably wouldn't do well in prison. I often read revenge stories where I wonder about the collateral damage. I read a story about some creep who is dipping his pen in a married ink well and enjoy whatever clever way he gets the punishment he so richly deserves, but then I often wonder what happens to his wife and kids and should they suffer in the process? So, how do you get justice without doing harm to others? I think maybe I found a way.

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It was the day I had dreaded for two weeks. I knew the truth even before I hired the investigator. The marriage had been bankrupted for the last year and impoverished the year before, but like most long-married men I was slow to see the signs. Love and trust become a habit when you've been married for over two decades. When things aren't right, when communication breaks down and the shared experiences you've come to expect slowly evaporate, you reach out and reengage. You try to talk with your spouse, do things together, and be patient and loving while assuming whatever is wrong will work itself out. Eventually, you look around and find yourself more alone than you've ever been even when she is present, and you begin to ask questions.

My wife, Claire Daniels, worked four days each week and had Wednesdays off. Four days each week we got home at about the same time and took turns preparing dinner. There was a time when we cooked together, but it seemed that more and more we each cooked alone. When she would cook, she refused my help. When I would cook, she would busy herself with other things. On Wednesdays she was usually home when I arrived, but I began to realize she was going out and arriving home only a short time ahead of me. Of course, there were plenty of perfectly good reasons for this, but my doubts weighed on me. A married man learns to phrase his concerns as innocent questions if he wants to avoid a pointless fight. Monday through Friday, I'd ask her about her day and increasingly I got cryptic responses without any real information. We were more than just drifting apart; she was pulling away.

Our kids, a boy and a girl, were off at college. That left the two of us to build a new life with fewer obligations and more time together. For some reason, it wasn't working out that way. We weren't together as much as I expected and when we were, she often wasn't entirely there. It was no one thing that clued me in. There were no hushed phone calls, no text messages, and no long hours on the computer. She never kept her phone locked and I confess I checked. I checked her email, too. Our sex life continued as before. She just didn't engage.

What's a husband to do? I saw no value in spyware like miniaturized cameras and audio recorders, no taps on the phone line, no GPS tracker under her car. I figured if she was hiding anything I knew where to look, so I hired a P.I. named Harvey Mattison and told him simply, "She's off doing something on Wednesdays. Find out what it is and don't get caught." That was a Monday. Two days later he knew what she was up to and a week after that he had the video. It cost me less than you might think. They were creatures of habit. The thing that meant they didn't need to be contacting each other was the same thing that made it so easy to get caught.

Every Wednesday she met a man named Bill Alexander at the Best Western off the interstate. They got a meal, took a room, bumped uglies until they were exhausted, and headed for their respective homes. The affair had been going on for two years, which was about what I suspected. How do I know? A small bribe to the office got us a look at their billing records. Bill was gallant and always paid for the room. He could afford it. William Alexander was the owner of one of the largest plumbing companies in the city. He owned a fleet of trucks and a small army of employees. He also had a wife who was slowly dying of multiple myeloma. My heart went out to his wife, but he was a scum bag.

The pro I hired didn't break the news to me until he had the video. He knew I wanted iron clad proof and he didn't trust me not to tip my hand if he told me what he thought. He was right. It was a Thursday morning, the day after he got the video, when my investigator gave me the news. I sat in his office as he briefed me. Then he turned the computer screen in my direction, started the video running, and left me alone with my pain. I want to tell you what I saw, but it would sound sexier than it was. It was just two middle-aged people fucking. They got undressed like an old married couple going to bed for the ten thousandth time. They talked about their week, talked about their kids, talked about the traffic getting there, talked about their lunch just minutes ago, and they talked and talked and talked as they took their time to step out of their shoes, and their clothes, and their middle-aged underwear. They embraced and kissed, rubbed all the necessary places, and fucked like a middle-aged, mildly overweight, couple. They lay together and talked some more, and when he was ready, they fucked again. If they tried to make a living in the porn industry, they'd be living in a dirty one-room apartment and barely scraping by. This movie wasn't going to sell a lot of copies.

That's not to say it wasn't breaking my heart. She might not have been a porn star, but she was my wife for better or worse, forsaking all others, except she wasn't anymore. For the first time in a long time, I finally understood my marriage. She was giving everything to Bill, and I was just an afterthought.

Avoiding her that Thursday night was easier than you might imagine because she'd been avoiding me for two years. Friday was the same and the weekend wasn't much different. For the first time, her indifference benefited me. Monday morning, I sat with a lawyer, Burt Taylor, who specialized in Family Law. What a hell of a thing to call a guy who specializes in tearing apart a family with divorce! He told me my rights and what to expect, and then I told him what I wanted to do. At first, he tried to wave me off. "You don't understand. Suing someone for alienation of affection is a waste of time. They hardly ever go anywhere, there's not much money in it, and it just opens you to public ridicule."

"You don't understand how I want to do it." And with that, I laid it out for him. Have you ever seen a lawyer lean forward and smile? It's like looking into the mouth of a shark that smells blood in the water. He scared even me.

"You do realize if you do this you will never see a dime."

"I know."

"And you will still need to pay my bill." There was that smile again.

"I know."

"Henry, I've had a lot of people sit where you are now. I've watched their lives go up in smoke, watched their savings evaporate, and there's never a damn bit of justice in any of it. If you can pull this off, I might just take your case for fee."

Now I was smiling.

Once the paperwork was ready, both Claire and Bill received registered letters from the law offices of Turner and Taylor. They were told that a situation had arisen that required their attention and could they please attend a meeting on Tuesday afternoon at 10 AM. We chose Tuesday because we were gambling that they wouldn't bother to tell each other about their appointments.

Claire arrived first at 9:50. Bill walked through the door five minutes later. The secretary said that when Bill arrived and they saw each other, the look of panic on their faces was the best part of her entire week. She was in on our plans and tried not to smile as the cheaters took chairs as far apart in the room as was possible. When I arrived promptly at 10 AM they fell into a laughable state of confusion and panic. I just looked at them both and before Claire could ask any questions I said, "We'll just be a moment." With that, I walked into my lawyer's personal office like I owned the place. I don't think that made them feel any better.

A minute later Burt buzzed his secretary who stood up, walked to the office door and said, "Mrs. Daniels, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Taylor will see you now." And with that she opened the door and admitted two very nervous cheaters.

Burt Taylor and I were seated on one side of the conference table with my P.I. The cheaters sat together on the other. Claire tried to speak, but Burt stopped her. "Mrs. Daniels, all will be explained in a moment."

I let my lawyer do the talking for me. "Mrs. Daniels, Mr. Alexander, I want to thank you both for coming today. Obviously, we have things to discuss and my client thought it best that we discuss them together." He looked at me when he said "my client" and that set the tone for the rest of the meeting. "I'm sure you know by now that we are aware of your long-running affair, but just in case you're wondering what we know and what we may not know, we know that the two of you get together every Wednesday at the Best Western by the interstate where you have been conducting a two-year long affair. For obvious reasons, you have kept this from my client and by all appearance, Mr. Alexander, you have kept it from your wife. Is this true?"

The slimeball didn't say a word. He didn't nod. He didn't even blink. He just sat there with his mouth open staring at us.

My lawyer continued. "I'll take that as confirmation." He slid a manila envelope across the table to my wife and said, "Mrs. Daniels, this is a petition for divorce that we are filing in the local court this afternoon. It offers you the standard 50/50 split of all assets, calls for the house to be sold and the assets split, and allows you each to keep your own retirement accounts. A few matters like the ongoing tuition expense of your children's education are spelled out in detail in that your husband is willing to carry the full burden of that expense. Your husband is being generous, Mrs. Daniels, but if you want to fight the divorce, we will change the grounds to adultery and make a public record of your activities. Personally, I don't care either way, but your husband is willing to spare you the embarrassment if you are willing to be reasonable."

"What proof do you have?" That was Bill speaking and the best way to describe the tone of his voice is "confrontational". I guess the shock of being discovered had worn off.

With that, Burt called their attention to the TV screen at the end of the conference table. Harvey clicked the remote and the previous week's video filled the screen. Claire screamed and buried her face in her hands. Bill began to curse. "This is illegal! You can't record us in a room that we paid for! I'll have your license for this!"

"You might wish to consult your lawyer on the specifics of the law, Mr. Alexander, but I assure you it was an honest mistake. Another client of mine had reserved the room the day before and inadvertently left his recording devices in the room. He is very embarrassed about the whole matter. In either event, Mr. Mattison here, who was hired by Mr. Daniels, had one of his agents in the hallway outside your hotel room recording your arrival and departure times. Also, he got a very clear recording of the two of you when you left the room."

With that, Harvey clicked the remote again and showed a short video of my wife and Bill leaving their hotel room and walking down the hallway, Bill's hand firmly on Claire's ass, as Claire said, "You were exceptional today, lover. Same time next week?"

"I feel certain our evidence will stand up in court."

The two cheaters looked positively sick.

"Of course, we don't need to be concerned how the recording was obtained if all we want to do is show it to your wife, Mr. Alexander." With that, Burt Taylor waited. When the look of resignation was evident on Bill's face and his head dropped, we knew that he knew exactly what we had in mind.

Bill said quietly, almost imperceptively, "That's blackmail."

"No, Mr. Alexander, it's revenge. Blackmail requires a quid pro quo. If we show this to your wife, it is purely with the intent to ruin your life."

Burt passed a second manila envelope across the table. "Mr. Alexander, this is a declaration to bring an alienation of affection suit against you charging that you have been having intercourse with my client's wife, thereby drawing her away from her marriage and causing Mr. Daniels untold pain and aggravation."

"Please, you can't do this. My wife isn't well. She has blood cancer and she's already weak. This will kill her. Please, for pity sake, have mercy if not for me then at least for her. She doesn't deserve this."

Burt and I looked at each other as if to silently confer. I nodded.

"Mr. Alexander, my client is an honorable man who does not wish to cause your wife any undue pain. We will wait to file this notice until after she passes. In the meantime, you can keep the notice as a reminder of what is to come."

I leaned across the table. "You better take real good care of her, you worthless shit. You make sure that every day she lives she gets the very best care because the longer she lives the longer you get to keep your money. When she passes, you lose it all."

Bill looked sick, which is just about what I was working for.

All this while, Claire had been silent. She had listened to everything and there were tears in her eyes, but she had not said a word. With the focus moving off Bill, she spoke. "Henry, I am so very sorry. I don't know why I did it. Bill talked me into it and I..."

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that, Claire. This has been going on for two years. Whatever he did to talk you into it the first time, you became a willing participant."

"But, please. The kids were off at college, you were busy with your career, and the new girls at work were so young. I just started feeling old. Bill gave me some excitement, but I see now that was wrong. Let's go home. We can fix this. I promise."

"I don't think so, Claire. Sign the papers. They are very fair. Then you can chase whatever fountain of youth you need."

"Please! Think of the kids. We were supposed to grow old together, Henry."

"Just sign the papers, Claire."

With that, Burt pushed the button to sound the buzzer in the outer office, the door opened, and his secretary escorted Claire and Bill out of the room.

"Are you okay, Henry?" That was Harvey speaking.

"Yeah. That video you got really did something to me. There's no going back."

"You still sure you want to handle Bill this way?" That was Burt speaking.

"Oh, yeah! Like you said, there's no money in an alienation of affection suit. I want something more from him."

"I hope he's smart enough to walk into your trap."

He was. Bill set to work impoverishing himself. He was giving away everything he had, but in name only. He sold his personal truck and tools to his son for one dollar and made him the owner of his company for another. Bill became an employee who never seemed to create savings. He sold his house to his daughter for ten dollars but continued to live there. He wrote two fat checks to his kids and cleaned out his savings. He transferred his 401k to them in much the same way. Of course, it was just a ruse. They would own everything on paper, and he would use his paycheck to buy groceries and pay the taxes while they could shunt him whatever additional money he needed. He positioned himself to be judgement proof if my suit ever came down.

Two years later his wife died. A week after that he was served.

It was de ja vu all over again. Bill was admitted to Burt's office and he was met by the same three of us. However, this time he was smirking. He figured he'd put one over on us.

"Mr. Alexander, we meet again. As we promised two years ago, we have held back on our suit for alienation of affection. Mr. Daniels has divorced his wife because of her infidelity with you and now the stakes are higher. He has lost both her affection and his marriage and it's time to pay the piper."

He just sat there smirking and said, "Good luck."

Harvey started the same video we had shown from two years ago.

"We covered all this before, Mr. Alexander. For two years you carried on a weekly affair with Mr. Daniels' wife, Claire, meeting her at the Best Western by the interstate every Wednesday. Your actions and your craven disregard for my client's marriage tore apart his family. His children now have two parents that live apart. His grandchildren will never know an intact family. The law only allows him to take money in compensation for his pain, so we have set the amount at $300,000. You can pay us now, or we can go into court with a larger amount and drag all of this out into public view."

"Go ahead. Take your best shot. I've got nothing for you to take."

"I wouldn't call it nothing, Mr. Alexander. You have a home and a successful company. We can easily extract the desired amount from those assets alone. Then there is always your retirement account if we need to go that route."

"I don't have any of those things. I sold my company to my son, sold my house to my daughter, and gave them both my retirement account. I'm living hand-to-mouth."

"We could always garner your wages. You are still working and doing the same job running your company."

"I'm running it, but it's not mine. My pinhead son owns it now. If he ran it, he'd just drive it into the ground." He was smirking more now than before.

"You're paying rent on your old house?"

"No. My soft-hearted daughter actually gives me money, but you can't touch that; it's off the books. The kid does whatever I tell her."

"You seem to have enough money for your other affairs."

With that, Harvey clicked the remote again. "Here you are with Sarah Perkins about two months after you ended your affair with Claire Daniels following our last visit two years ago... And here you are with Barbara McNair a year and a half ago... And Janet Clarkson... And Hariet... And..." Bill Alexander had been a busy little fellow in the past two years.

"So? Lonely married women need a little excitement in their boring lives. Tell their husbands. I don't have any money for them, either."

In the typically detached voice of a lawyer, Burt said, "You've been cheating on your wife for the past four years, Mr. Alexander, and all the while she was slowly dying. Don't you have any shame?"

Bill laughed at this remark. "You underestimate me, Mr. Taylor. The world is full of unhappy wives like his." He nodded at me when he said that. "I've had more than that and it's been longer than just four years. I've got what women want. My wife was in no position to check up on me, so I was free to do as I please." Bill was sitting back in his seat feeling pretty good about himself. It was his last proud moment.

The office door flew open, and Bill's son and daughter ran into the room. She was crying and he was looking to fight the old man.

"Daddy, how could you! Mom needed you and you were out cheating on her?"

Well, you can imagine how the next few minutes played out.

"Mom was faithful to you every day of her marriage. She took care of you, fed you, washed your clothes, and cleaned your house! Then when her need was greatest you were off sleeping with other women, other married women no less."

"You think I can't run the company without you? Just watch me! I'll make it bigger than you ever could. Maybe it's time you move out of the office and got back to practicing your trade."

"Mom used to tell me that she and you were going to downsize and give your house to us so we can raise our kids with more room. I just realized that I own that house now. Thanks, dad, it looks like mom's promise came true."