Jake's Tale Ch. 02

"Sarah, could you please show this lady the photograph Kevin gave you?"

Sarah pulled the photo out of her purse and handed it to the tech.

"Ms. Jacobs, can you please tell me if this photo has been altered in any way?"

The technician pulled out her tools and studied the photo for ten minutes. "Yes, there's one alteration. The man's face, your face I see, was photo-shopped onto the photo. It's a pretty good job of super-imposing, but any professional can see what was done here to make it appear you're the one kissing this woman."

I looked at Sarah and I thought she was going to faint, her face turned ashen.

"Ms. Jacobs, what would it cost me to have you sign a certificate stating your professional opinion that this photo was altered?" I asked.

"The certificate will cost you $300, but if there's any subsequent court appearances to attest to the alterations, that will be billed separately."

"Agreed, please go ahead and give me a certificate. Thanks for your time and expertise." I received the certificate and walked out with Sarah.

Her first words were, "God, I am such a fool. I feel worthless, can you ever forgive me for not trusting you and for being such an idiot? How did you know the photo was altered?"

"First, don't blame yourself for how Kevin played you with the photo. I only knew it was fake because it was my image on the photo, I knew because I never left our house without wearing my wedding ring and I saw something in the background that stirred my memory banks. That photo was taken the day of last summer's company picnic. Kevin was walking around with an expensive digital camera taking pictures most of the day. He must have taken a picture of me kissing you because before our divorce you're the only woman I kissed on the lips. Kevin purposely set up the photo so you couldn't see the woman's face, that way you couldn't follow up with her because it's probably your assistant; she was there with her boyfriend or whatever. Kevin got her to pose in the same spot with her friend and got her in a position to use it for his cropping."

Sarah was shaking head. "Is he really that devious? But of course he is, even now I'm underestimating what a snake he can be. He did all this to ruin our lives."

"Yes he did Sarah, but he's not going to get away with this. Believe me."

I spent the next hour calming her down before putting her on a plane back to Seattle. I made her promise not to tell anyone, not even her analyst, about our discovery. She had to trust it would be handled in a way I needed it done.

Tuesday I had lunch with Jeffery and dinner with Alice. Satisfied they were doing all right, I took a late flight to Los Angeles instead of home to Seattle. Wednesday morning I was in Sarah's brother's office. Tony had taken over their father's trucking business after his retirement. I came unannounced, but his secretary buzzed me in.

"Tony, can I buy you a cup of coffee?" I wanted to get Tony out of his office in case the Feds had the place wired. Call me paranoid, but this was a delicate subject. We walked over to a small diner nearby and sat in a booth.

"Jake, last year I was set to have both of your legs broken, but Sarah convinced me not to do it. She didn't get into particulars, but she admitted you two broke up because she cheated on you. I couldn't believe my little sister could do that, but she said it was true."

"I'm not going to go into particulars either, Tony. But I never cheated on your sister and I never stopped loving her. The reason I'm here relates to your ability to have someone's legs broken. Only it's not just legs this time, it's more serious than that."

I told Tony how his father had intervened over twenty years earlier. I showed him the photograph and the certificate of alteration. Lastly, I told Tony how Kevin had planned to pimp his sister out, but I lied and emphasized Sarah wouldn't have gone through with it, but it was Kevin's plan all the same.

"That son of a bitch." Tony's face turned red and his neck got big. I waited until he calmed down a bit and told him what I wanted. He said he could make that happen with a couple of phone calls.

"Tony, please be careful. I don't want to be talking to some Fed working a sting operation. I don't want to be spending the next decade in jail for solicitation. Make certain I'm talking to the real deal."

Tony promised that this would be handled at the highest levels. We shook hands, he actually gave me a hug and wished me well. "I know it's asking a lot Jake, but please consider giving my little sister another chance."

I flew back to Seattle and took the rest of the week off from work. I went down to the public library and used Linkedin to find Kevin Shearer. He was working for a firm in Portland. I picked up Sarah at work during her lunch hour and we went over to my attorney's office. After one more phone call I drove south to Portland.

Thursday morning I was in the President's office of Kevin's current employer.

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I want you to know what kind of employee you have working for you." I showed the president the altered photo with the technician's signed certification and Sarah's notarized deposition given at my attorney's office stating the photo had been given to her by Kevin Shearer along with his claim it was taken by a detective he had hired to follow me.

The president read through the documents. "I can't divulge personnel issues with you, but I will say these come as no surprise given some of the other complaints I received. I can understand your desire to see this person punished and let's just say sometimes good wins out over bad. Thank you."

The next week Kevin's name disappeared from the company's website of listed officers.

But I wasn't finished with the scumbag. Within a month I was contacted by phone and told to be outside my door at 8:00 pm. I'll admit it was pretty scary. I was downstairs at 8:00 when a car rolled to the curb and the back door opened. I got in and was told to put the ski mask on the seat over my eyes. We drove for a half hour, conducted our business which included how much and how to pay. I gave a special request and was told this would cost a 50% premium. He asked why the special treatment and gave a short summary.

The man chuckled and said, "Sometimes I really enjoy my work, this will be one of those times." He dropped me off a couple blocks from my building. "You'll never hear from me again. The balance is due when the job is finished and on this job you only need to watch the news to know when it happened. You've been vouched for, so I'm not worried about getting paid. Besides, it's been a long time since someone was stupid enough to stiff me." He laughed again, I stepped out of the car and took the ski mask off my head as the car rolled away.

Within a week the deposit was paid and within another two weeks I was reading about a "gruesome" murder in a SeaTac hotel room. It seems one Kevin Shearer was found dead tied to the bed. The police were not releasing the details of how Shearer had died, only that one detective was quoted as saying it was a "brutal way to die."

I knew the details of course. Kevin was found tied face down with a ten inch black dildo stuck up his ass. The killer whispered in his ear "Jake and Sarah say hello." The rubber ball used to quiet his screams eventually slipped down his throat and blocked his air passage. The official cause of death was suffocation.

Sarah and I have been going to couple's counseling with Nancy. It's working, I think we'll be moving back in together soon. The analyst is helping me overcome my anger at Sarah for her betrayal. Can I possibly forgive and forget? That will be important for us to have our life together again.

Equally important is my being able to trust Sarah again. One of the reasons for what happened is Sarah's poor self-esteem. I know I'm not the only husband of a great looking, successful woman who wonders why his wife doesn't believe him when he compliments her beauty, brains and talents. That same woman will believe some virtual stranger whose real agenda is to get in her pants. Nancy has her work cut out for her to assure Sarah doesn't relapse due to self-esteem issues.

It was tough holding back from restarting our physical relations. But a week after Kevin's death we went out to dinner, got a little drunk and went to our old home and made love for the first time in over a year.

The next day I went to visit Janice. I gave her a box full of the sex toys we had shared, these all seemed too intimate to share with another woman, similar to a woman's lingerie. I explained that Sarah and I were trying to find a way to be together and Janice was very understanding. "I knew we were temporary, you never stopped loving Sarah and I'm happy for you."

I knew Janice would react this way, she is a class act, so I handed her another, smaller box I had purchased that morning. Inside was a string of Mikimoto pearls; they'd look good around her long neck. She smiled, her eyes teared; she gave me a hug and kiss before I walked out the door. I left her place thinking to myself, "Some smart man is going to find that woman and spend the rest of his life living in bliss."

That same week I received a letter in the mail. The return address name was Paul Kersey with a New York City address. The postal stamp city was Las Vegas. I opened the envelope and two pages dropped out, one typed, the other hand written.

The type written page read:

I'm breaking protocol because you need to read the letter I found in that asshole's room. When I found and started to follow him, he'd been tailing your wife. It appears I caught up to him just in time. The letter was in an envelope addressed to you. The rest is self-explanatory once you read the letter except it explains why his eyes got so big when I whispered your greeting to him. Don't know what pissed him off more, getting rammed with the ten inch toy or the fact you beat him to the punch.

The hand written letter read:

You stupid cuckold-

Did you think I was going to let you continue to ruin my life without payback? The fact you're reading this letter means your wife has been missing for at least one day already. Don't worry, I'm taking very good care of her. She'll be found in a week or so, but she'll never want sex with you or anyone after I'm done with the bitch.

I'll disappear for a while, I have the resources, but I'll be back after a few years and look up that precious daughter of yours. It should be fun.

Checkmate,

Kevin

If I was having any remorse over having Kevin killed, this letter ended it. Out of curiosity I googled "Paul Kersey" and it turns out to be the name of Charles Bronson's character in the vigilante "Death Wish" movies popular in the 70's. Hell of a sense of humor for a contract killer.

I also had a surprise visit from Sarah's brother. He flew up from LA and offered to pay half the fee for the Shearer job. Tony thanked me for giving it another go with his sister. "Jake, you've been a stand-up guy throughout this whole ordeal and Sarah tells me how hard you're working to put your lives back on track and help her recover. Dad always said you were like a son to him, I understand now why he felt that way. I'm proud to have you as my brother. And I told Sarah not to fuck it up this time."

Tony stayed for dinner and said it all over again at the dinner table. I hope Sarah listens to her big brother. Time will tell, but I think we're going to be OK.

One last thing. I bought Sarah a "Kiss the Cook" apron and introduced her to naked cooking. We're also planning a visit to a nude beach soon. She asked where I came up with such strange ideas and I was very vague. She probably has it figured out, but she agreed and I'm looking forward to it.