Law or Justice, Pt. 02

When he was done after two days of establishing what really happened, the judge looked at the demoralized prosecuting attorney Goddard and simply said, "Well counselor?"

Goddard rose to his feet, buttoned his suitcoat and in the immortal words of Jim Trotter III said, "Your honor, the state would like to dismiss all charges." Every cop but one attending the trial jumped to their feet and cheered. The lone exception was Captain Paul Brennan who was trying to make his way out the back door when two detectives from his squad confronted him. "Paul Brennan, you are under arrest for the murder of Abby Moncrief. You have the right to remain silent..."

Nine months earlier, acting on his gut instinct and investing $25,000.00 of his own money Carl Danvers had set out on a mission to free his innocent client AND help the cops bring the real killer to justice. He and his team had tirelessly followed every lead possible. The looked under every rock possible until they discovered Abby and Captain Paul were having an affair. As it turned out, Abby was feeling the weight of guilt and had confided in her piece of shit lover she was going to come clean with her husband. Two days later, she was dead, having never told her husband she had lost her way and was a lying cheat.

Danvers own wife Mandy had given him every reason to hate cheaters. He knew of one six-month affair that had ended a few months earlier when her Latin lover up and disappeared one day without a word. However, Mandy was nothing if not unfaithful, so she began seeing another guy within weeks.

Some scumbag from the Dallas area named Nick Santos had caught Mandy's eye. Tall good looking but a mile wide and an inch deep when it came to brains. Danvers knew what he had to do and carefully executed his plan. He had given her time to come to her senses after her fist tryst, but now that the pattern was established, he put his plan in motion. He confronted Santos and his wife in a hotel room. Santos knocked him to the ground and ran away like the pussy he was. Carl let him go, knowing the piece of trash's fate was already sealed.

However, Danver's wife had played the, "I'll take the kids and destroy you financially in the divorce" route. Carl wasn't sure why his wife was both unrepentant and so stupid at the same time. She knew her husband was smart, but clearly, she underestimated him. Nick Santos was gone too. But he hadn't disappeared. He'd been found dead from a drug overdose in a hotel room in Minneapolis. If Mandy was half as smart as she was horny, she may have suspected something, but it turned out she was about as dumb as a rock.

During the trial Carl had continued to put the pieces of the puzzle together for dealing with his cheating bride. He'd hired a divorce attorney once his wife decided to file and asked him to just drag it out for a while. Danvers was living in a nice apartment about two blocks from his office and had their three kids every weekend. He adored his children and they him. It wasn't that they didn't love their mom, but fortunately they had each inherited some of their daddy's brains and they knew instinctively he was a good and solid man.

They were young, now 8, 10 and 13 but they knew it appeared to be over between their parents. They cried, but they also had a solid foundation and, in their dad's case, a rock-solid parent. They would survive the storm. Carl was certain with the right love and direction they'd be OK. It was time to put the final part of his plan in motion.

Carl called Mandy five days after the trial on a Tuesday. She at least had the decency to complement him on his victory. Carl intentionally sounded a bit tired and asked Mandy if she could come by the office for a face to face, no attorney's just the two of them. Not being the sharpest pencil in the box, Mandy deduced Carl was about to cave and give her everything she and her shark lawyer had demanded. She agreed to the meeting which was set for Friday afternoon at four when all the partners and most of the associates would be already heading out for the weekend.

When she arrived, she sauntered into his office with all the confidence of Joe Namath a few days before Super Bowl III. Self-assured she plopped down in the easy chair as Carl stood leaning against his desk. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost...

"So, Mandy, I thought it would be best if the two of us brought some closure to our negotiations in the divorce. I assume you're ready to get on with your life. I know I am."

"Sure Carl," Mandy smirked, "Just sign the petition my lawyer gave you and we can go our separate ways."

"Sorry Mandy, but that is never going to happen. I thought I'd do you the courtesy of telling you face to face what is going to happen in the next thirty minutes."

"Fuck you Carl" Mandy spat. "I can't believe you brought me here to waste my time." She rose to leave.

"Sit the fuck down Mandy," Carl replied in an even tone that sent a chill down her spine, but she tried to keep what she thought was the upper hand.

"And if I don't cucky, what are you going to do about it?"

At that moment a panel behind Carl's desk opened and a very well-dressed Asian man stepped into the office. He came and stood about five feet from Mandy, between her and the door.

"If you don't, I'll turn you over to my associate Mr. Bando. He is very good at his craft." Mr. Bando perused Mandy stoically. That sent another chill down her spine.

"Ha" Mandy replied trying to sound brave, but she sat back down. "OK, I'll play your silly game for a few minutes. So, what is going to happen Mr. Danvers?"

"I'm going to give you two options Mandy and you will choose one of them. Option one... You take a trip out of town for the next six months and you work for a friend of mine in New York City. My associate, who will remain nameless, owns several businesses, one of which is high end prostitutes. Since you love to fuck around so much, you can make a few bucks spreading your slut legs."

Mandy looked incredulous. "Why on earth would I do such a vile thing?"

"Funny you think fucking for money is vile but betraying those you claim to love by sleeping around is OK. You have one fucked up sense of right and wrong bitch. The reason you'll do this is two-fold. First, because I'm demanding payment from you for the pain and suffering you've caused me. Secondly you owe for the pain it is and will cause our children. You don't get to play the whore and then walk away with half of my possessions and primary custody of our children. For six months you will be a paid prostitute and fuck whomever your pimp tells you to fuck in whatever manner she says." Mandy's eyebrow arched.

"Yes, that's right, your handler will be a woman. I insisted upon that with my colleague. He found that amusing.

"Your life for the next six months will be in her hands. I'm told you will have no fewer than six 'dates' per week. Some are older men, some are younger. Several are significantly overweight and enjoy angry sex. Some will be in groups and others will be solo. None of your cheating holes will be off limits and I'm led to believe some of my friend's clients have some very kinky notions of pleasure.

"At the end of the six months, if the STDs don't get you, you will return to Dallas, sign the divorce papers I've drawn up and we will then part company. You will get to see the children two Saturdays per month and two weeks out of the summer. After one year, if they want more time with you, I won't deny them."

Mandy was trembling now because even she was smart enough to know Carl was deadly serious. "You're crazy! Several people saw me come in today and two of my friends know I'm here. I thought you were so smart, but you'd never get away with this."

Carl said nothing but looked at Bando. As he moved toward Mandy, she flinched. The Asian calmly took a phone out of his pocket, clicked a couple of keys, and handed the phone to Mandy. For the next five minutes she watched and listened to the death of Nick Santos. She was beyond mortified.

When it was over a woman appeared from the same hidden paneled door from which Bando had emerged. She was the same body shape as Mandy. She had the same color hair and complexion. She wore the identical outfit Mandy had on. She stood silently as Carl continued.

"My dear cheating wife, everyone who saw you arrive will see you leave just as you came in. Your friends will be called, and they will hear your voice tell them everything is OK, and you're headed out to dinner with Jim, your newest fuck toy buddy. If they are questioned, they will say exactly that, because that is what they will believe. Veronica here is a very accomplished impersonator and I have no doubt she will be convincing."

Mandy realized her options were shrinking by the moment. Her husband truly was a genius, and she should have been much more cautious.

"You said there two options. What is the other? If I refuse to become a whore Mr. Bando here sticks a needle in me and I'm dead in a matter of moments?"

"I'd never allow you to be that lucky Mandy. If you refuse, Mr. Bando does stick a needle in you, but you don't die. You'll wake up in a foreign country. Maybe Mexico, perhaps Brazil or even Ukraine where you will live and work in a local whore house until you die."

"You can't be serious!" Mandy exclaimed, her clammy hands beginning to shake.

"I'm deadly serious cunt." Carl replied with such an evil looks she had to divert her eyes.

"You crushed my heart Mandy, and you've destroyed our family all for cheap sex. As I said, you don't get to walk away. No way on God's green earth I let you feel a small prick and then drift off to the other side never experiencing the type of pain you've caused. You don't get off that easy.

"If you refuse option one, Mr. Bando will sedate you and you'll wake up in a very dark place where you will be used and then thrown away. You'll never see your children again. In time, you will only be a vague memory to them. You'll never see a graduation, wedding, or birth of a grandchild if you think I'm bluffing and force me to use option two.

"Don't believe for one second, I won't. The Dallas PD will poke around for a while asking questions and doing a bit of an investigation. They will see you were here then left. Your friends will talk of their last conversation with you and how you seemed perfectly fine. Boy toy will testify you called and cancelled dinner. No one, least of all me, will ever be prosecuted for your disappearance since no foul play will ever be proved. In short, all of us will get on with our lives.

"But not you Mandy. Nobody will look for you, nobody will come to your rescue. You'll be all alone getting fucked 8-10 times per day by some of the filthiest people around. You won't live two years in that setting. The STDs will get you long before then and there will be no doctor's care, no medical assistance. Just you dying in some back alley somewhere completely alone. All you will have will be the memory of what you had and how you pissed it all away to die a whore' death."

To say Mandy was shell-shocked would be an understatement. She'd walked in so confident, sure she would enjoy rubbing Carl's nose in her adultery, betrayal and getting at least half of every penny he earned. She had entered a proud strong woman but was now realizing the adage "Pride goes before a fall" was way too close to home.

She was desperately trying to think of a way out and her eyes gave her away.

"Mr. Bandos, it would appear my soon to be ex-wife will be taking option number two. Please dispose of this trash so I can conclude my business and go home to my kids."

As Bandos reached for the kit that held the syringe Mandy realized she'd lost.

"No, I'll take option one," she said just above a whisper.

"I'm sorry Mandy," Carl replied, "I couldn't hear you."

She wanted to glare at him, spit in his face, maybe even slap him, but any fight in her was gone. Option two made her freeze with fear.

"I'll take option one, do my six months and return to Dallas."

"That's the first intelligent decision you've made in a long time Mandy," was all Carl said before she felt the needle enter her neck.

Epilogue:

Mandy woke up in New Jersey and did her six months work. She was surprisingly compliant and made the best of her situation. Her handler, known only to her as Myra, was fair and didn't abuse her. At first, she hated men using her for their pleasure. She was their slut, their fuck toy to play with as they pleased and many of them had vivid imaginations when it came to sex. At least once a week she endured two or three partners at a time. Many nights she would cry herself to sleep feeling the cheapness of what she had become to pay for her blatant infidelity.

As time went on, she became accustomed to her work and put the best face she could on a paying her debt. As it turned out many of her John's gave her nice gifts and often tipped her very well. Two even proposed marriage. It was hard and she continually felt deep shame, but she realized her challenges were nothing compared to what option two would have meant. Somehow she had avoided some of the nastier STDs.

She returned to Dallas, perhaps not a changed woman, but certainly not the selfish bitch she had been upon her departure. Her children were cautious, but glad to see her. They warmed up to her over the next few months and much of what they had was restored. Carl kept his word about her time with them. She didn't touch another man for over five years and sold most of her trinkets to a local pawn shop. She eventually began tentatively dating.

Carl had been correct. With his carefully crafted cover story, the cops didn't look too hard and when she returned, she told the story Myra demanded she memorize and stick to. Right before she left New York Myra said, "Mandy, we'll keep close tabs on you. One false move, one attempt to tell the authorities what has happened, and you'll wake up in option two."

Mandy decided discretion was the better part of wisdom and kept to her cover story of a long-term stint in rehab. She had changed so much, the story seemed perfectly logical to everyone.

Carl got on with his life and continued a very successful legal career. He never remarried. The scars were just too deep. He did however, meet a wonderful woman named Liz who delighted in being close with him on his terms.