My Husband Fucked Me Over Ch. 12

"Is this true? Ransom knew there was video surveillance on your house?" Barbara asked.

"Sure. It was part of the contract we signed with the Tafts. They got to surveil us so that they could be sure Ransom didn't try to put his baby where only Robert could until I gave him two children. He didn't know it had infrared capabilities in addition to regular vision. He used to think if he turned off the light, no one would see what he was doing. He might not have known that they turned the surveillance back on after our little incident last week. But he knew it was possible."

"Was that a guess, saying yours was the final stop for Zack because he could get arrested?" Mark asked.

"Zack might have had his own reasons for the order in which he broke into the houses, but you might want to float the idea to him to see if Ransom did request a precise order of break ins. If he suspected that Ransom set him up so he'd get arrested after he did all of Ransom's dirty work and Ransom wouldn't have to pay him, it might be all he needs to nudge him into squealing, especially now, when you tell him Ransom can't afford to pay him anyway."

The two detectives looked at each other and smiled. I liked that smile. That was a screw Ransom smile if I ever saw one.

"I hope this helps you clear up your crimes. I've got to go see my insurance agent. Have fun with your information."

I called the guards and had them meet me at the jail entrance. Since it was nearly noon and I was starving, I took them out to lunch before heading to my insurance agent.

"Is your husband going to be charged with Attempted Murder?" Quentin, the guy in charge asked.

"Don't know. There's some possibilities, some cracks in the wall, but there's no proof yet. I know he did it though. I'm convinced. Just out of curiosity, were any of you guys involved in the video surveillance of my house?"

The youngest, but by young, I meant high twenties raised a hand. His name was Mike.

"Did you ever get a good show while you were watching?"

"Once. You with the girlfriend, showering. That was a pretty good show. I also saw your husband with one of his paramours."

"Was it the neighbor, or the other one?"

"The neighbor. How come you guys are still friends?"

"Because by that time, I didn't care what my husband did, and I felt sorry for her considering she was risking her marriage to a nice guy and losing her child because she was lonely, and he sweet-talked her into doing something stupid. God knows he could be persuasive sometimes. He almost got the babysitter to bang him, by saying I didn't care if he was having sex with other people. I didn't, but obviously, she didn't know the whole story, and she actually asked me if I was okay with it beforehand. I told her she could do what she wanted, but she was risking STD's and she'd only be one of many. She decided the risk wasn't worth it. It did open the door to us getting together once I realized I could enjoy sex with a woman."

"Are you in love with her?"

"I'm in like with her. I'm not sure I'm in love with anyone at the moment, at least, not anyone I can enter into a permanent relationship with."

"Are you available to date?"

I laughed. "You want to know if a woman carrying another man's child is available to date?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Well, I do want to give Robert and Penelope another child, for one. I may have obligated myself to give one to another couple as well. That's a lot of competition for my sexual favors, and a lot of babies for the next few years."

"I didn't realize. Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. I have to admit I'm flattered. I just don't think I'm what you're looking for."

"Well, except for the sexual favors thing, I think you are. I know a lot about you from watching you, and I was impressed with what I saw. You're a good mother."

"Thanks. What's guard duty like for you guys?"

"Mostly boring," Quentin said. "Like today, there's a lot of sitting around waiting for people to conduct their business."

"I'm assuming one of you has to drive my car when we go pick it up?"

"Ernst. He's the best driver. Hopefully, he won't wreck your car," Quentin said.

"Ah, the quiet one." Ernst smiled. He seemed to be in his lower thirties. "Is that why he's driving us around today."

"That, plus we're the better shots."

"Who takes over driving the SUV when he's driving my car?"

"That would be me," Mike said. "Second best driver, second best shot."

I finished up my burger and drink.

"We need to get going. I have an appointment at 1:30," I said. I got up, and they all got up with me."

I gave Ernst the address of my insurance agent in Lehigh Acres and we headed out. While we drove, I called my obstetrician and set up an appointment with her for Thursday. Then I texted Pen and told her what time the appointment was for, and to tell Emma when it was.

She texted back. We've got a surprise for you when you get here.

A nice surprise, I hope.

Yes. 💋

Good. I hate the other kind.

It took me roughly an hour to get Becky added to my car insurance and remove Ransom as a beneficiary from any life insurance policies on me or Emma. We went to my house and picked up my car. Zack had been stopped before he could steal any of my stuff, but they'd had to replace the locks on the back door. I could still get in the front. I went inside to look around. The end of my first set of dreams. I had a new set of dreams now, and it didn't include this house. I was a little sad about it. Not the house so much, but the end of the dreams.

I'd have to get rid of this place, but I'd need to get anything important out of it first. Another appointment, more help, a real estate agent. It's a good thing I had friends. I wasn't sure if I could do it by myself anymore. I felt tired. A lot was probably due to the baby, but some of it was for all the rest. Dreams didn't die without taking a little of yourself with them.

I was also hanging on to a lot of hatred at the moment. That wasn't good either. It was draining, but I didn't know if I could let go of it. Even though it seemed to be working out, Ransom had turned my life upside down and inside out. I'd loved him for over five years. Now, I felt like I was getting an ulcer every time I thought about him.

Mike put a hand on my arm, snapping me out of my reverie. "You need help with anything?"

"Not really. Not right now. Just regretting some of the choices I've made in my life and wondering if I should have been smarter. Wondering how to get rid of this supercharged battery of hate I'm carrying around at the moment."

"Physical activity helps."

I patted my stomach. "And yet, I'm less capable of physical activity than at any point since my daughter was born."

"Get a heavy bag and pound shit out of it."

"Yeah, if I tape a photo of my husband's face on it, it might help a lot."

Mike laughed. I got my spare set of keys and gave them to Ernst. He didn't leave until we were ready to follow him. I was quiet on the way back to Naples, wondering what I was going to tell Emma about her father.

******

We stopped for groceries before we got back, buying lots since we were feeding so many at the moment. Ernst didn't stop, but the other two were with me. I used my new debit card to make the purchases. When I got home, Mike and Quentin helped me bring in the groceries. I helped Stephanie put everything away.

"Stephanie, I'd like you to make a list of all the chores that you need to do every day. Divide them into roughly three equal groups. Each day, Bonnie and I will take one of the lists and do whatever is on it. The next day, we'll take one of the other lists, and do those chores. That way, no one will get stuck with all of the real crappy jobs, like the bathrooms. By dividing it up, we should get everything done more quickly, and you can spend some time doing things you like. I don't want to be a burden on you, or anyone else. I mean to help out as much as I can. When Bonnie goes home, we can take the items on one of the lists and add it to the other two. I want to help."

"Sam, you're pregnant."

"Not so pregnant that I'm not going to work out. If I can work out, I can clean."

"I'm getting paid to work here; you aren't."

"You're paid to clean up after five people, not ten, and I'm not going to be a freeloader. If I were home, I'd be doing this stuff there. Besides, you've looked after Emma lots of times, much of the time when you'd normally be done for the day. It doesn't hurt me to work a little and it's a good example to my daughter. She shouldn't expect a free lunch."

"Fine, I'll put together the lists. For now, Pen has eagerly been waiting for you to get home. She's down by the water with Bonnie and the kids."

I didn't bother changing. I went outside and the kids were building another sandcastle together under the watchful eyes of Pen and Bonnie. Emma saw me first.

"Mommy, look at our sandcastle. I think this one is the best one yet."

The two women looked behind them, seeing me. Pen smiled at me. I could see the love in her eyes.

"I see that. It's so big. I'll bet a fairy princess would love living in that castle."

"Uh-huh. Did you talk to Daddy?"

"I did."

"What did he say?"

"It's not what he said, it's what he didn't say. Come sit beside me for a minute."

I sat down next to Pen and patted the sand next to me. Emma got up and sat down next to me. I put my arm around her. Billy came and sat next to Bonnie.

I asked. "Why did you hit Billy?"

"I didn't hit Billy."

"I'm sure you hit Billy. Why did you do it?"

"Mom, I never hit Billy. Ask Billy. He'll tell you."

I hugged her. "I know you didn't hit Billy, honey, because you're a very good girl. I was trying to make a point. Knowing you hadn't hit Billy, you immediately told me you never hit him. Most people will say they didn't do something if they're accused of doing something they didn't do. I asked you why you hit Billy, and you immediately told me you didn't. Now, it's possible that you might even lie if you'd really hit Billy, because you know that you might be in trouble if you did hit him, so if I asked you why you hit Billy, being scared I might be angry, you might say you didn't hit Billy. Whether you had or hadn't hit him, you would normally say, 'I didn't hit Billy'. I know you didn't, and I'm glad you're not the sort of person who would lie to me. That's important. You should take responsibility if you do something bad.

"When I saw your father, I asked him why he tried to kill me. Do you know what he said?"

"He said he didn't do it?" Emma asked, hopefully.

"If he was innocent, that's what he should have said, just like you did. Your father didn't say that. He didn't say anything. Now, knowing that he would be in big trouble if he admitted that he tried to kill me, and could get sent to prison for the rest of his life, I wouldn't be surprised if your father wouldn't admit it; that he'd lie and say he didn't. Your father has done a lot of bad things, so he is the kind of person who might lie to protect himself. So either way, I expected him to say he didn't. I expected him to say he didn't do it if he was innocent, or that he didn't do it even if he'd done it but was lying because he was afraid to admit it. Either way, he would have told me that he didn't do it. When he didn't say anything; when he didn't say he was innocent, I knew he'd promised to pay someone to kill me. He wasn't ready to admit he did it, but he also knew there was no point in saying he was innocent, because I would know it was a lie. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"That you believe Daddy was trying to kill us." Emma was teary eyed. She understood what I was trying to say.

"I don't know if he was trying to kill you. Right now, only your Daddy knows for sure if he wanted you dead. But he did want to kill me, and he was reckless enough that the man hired to kill me, might have killed you by accident. That might not be his intent, but it could happen by accident if the person he hired wasn't very good at killing people. Honey, your father is a very, very bad person. Even if it was only me he tried to kill, he's a bad person. I want your father to go to prison for the rest of his life, for him to die in prison."

The tears started to flow down her cheeks. I wiped her face and kissed her.

"Additionally, another man just released from jail broke into our house, Edith's house, and Billy's house. Your father has reason to want to hurt all of those people, me, Edith, Bill, and Bonnie. The police are questioning the man who broke into all three houses. So far, all he's saying is that the houses were empty so he thought he could steal from them, but the fact that he chose those three houses to break into, the houses of people your father is angry at, is very suspicious to me. I think he might have been paid to break into those houses, and kill whoever he found there, because your father didn't know we were all staying here.

"Now, those people had to be paid, or at least, promised to be paid. You father still had some of the money he stole from Pen's charities, and if I died while he was still married to me, he would have gotten the money I got from Robert and Pen to have a baby for them, and money from life insurance policies that we had. That was the only money he had to pay someone since he's in jail and not working. We've given all of my money to Robert and Pen, and changed yours and my life insurance, so even if we die, your Daddy wouldn't get any money. The money he had stolen and kept hidden, we know where it is, and it's going to be taken back. Your father no longer has enough money to pay someone to kill us. I believe that we won't have to worry in the future about someone being paid to hurt us because that would cost a lot of money that he doesn't have. Hopefully, that means we'll be safe from now on. It may take a few more days to be sure, but I'm pretty sure that we no longer have to worry about someone trying to kill us. But there's a benefit to us from what happened, even though it was a bad experience to go through. Do you know what that is?"

"Unh-unh."

"I no longer have to wait until I have a divorce before we move in with Robert and Pen. We're going to move in and live with them now, forever and ever. Robert can be your Daddy now, all the time, and Pen can be your Maman. We'll stay here and I'll give Robert and Pen another baby, besides the one I'm already having for them, so you'll get another brother or sister. That's the good news. We'll have to arrange to get the things that we want to keep from our house in Lehigh Acres and bring it here. All of your toys and clothes, anything you want to have, we'll bring here. It may take a few weeks, but all of our important things, will come here with us. Bill and Bonnie and Billy will stay here for a little while, until we're sure that they're safe, but even after we move here. Bonnie wants to exercise with me at least once a week, and she'll bring Billy with her, so you get to keep him as a friend and can come to the beach and build more sandcastles. That's good too, right?"

"Un-huh." She sniffed.

"I talked to your father's parents, your grandparents, Grandpa Randall and Grandma Beverly, this morning. They now believe your father tried to kill me, and they won't talk to him anymore. They're ashamed of their son, and what he's tried to do to me and possibly to you. They know Ransom might have been responsible for their granddaughter, you, to be killed or injured, and that's something even a parent can't forgive. What that means is, that everything your father did; lying, cheating, stealing, hurting me, trying to kill me, has cost him everything he had in this world. It's cost him his parents, his wife, his child, his freedom, and all of his money. He has nothing left. He is paying a very steep price for his crimes and his sins. That should be a lesson to you and everyone else. If you don't do the right things, you can lose everything.

"Your grandparents would like to speak to you tonight, to tell you how sorry they are for what your Daddy has done, and to hope that they can still remain a part of your life. I think you should talk to them."

"Are they bad parents. Is that why Daddy is bad?"

"I don't think so. I think if they were bad people, everyone would know by now. Their biggest mistake is that they knew there was something wrong with their son and they didn't tell me before I married him. They thought I was a good person, and I could help their son be a good person too. But some people are born without a conscience. They don't see the world as good or bad, right or wrong. They look at everything by what it means to them, how it will benefit them.

"So when your father wanted money, he thought, 'They have money, I can take it from them.' He didn't think if taking money was good or bad, only that someone else had it, and he didn't, so he took it. He didn't look at making babies with another woman as bad, or that it would hurt other people. He thought, 'I want to make babies with her, she wants to make babies with me. Who cares if Bill is hurt or Mommy is hurt. I'm going to do what I want to do, right or wrong.' Your father could only think of himself, and not how his actions hurt other people. He didn't care if he hurt other people, as long as he got what he wanted. Instead of working for what he wanted, he chose to take it from other people. If he couldn't get what he wanted by merely taking it, he'd hurt them to get something he wanted. There was no right or wrong to him, only that they have it and I want it. Do you understand?"

"I think so. Will I turn out like Daddy?"

"Oh, angel, I don't think so. As far as I can tell, you have a very good understanding of right and wrong. You try to help people, not hurt them. You don't take things that don't belong to you. You give, not take. You understand that we need to work together to build sandcastles, that you can't build a big one all by yourself, but if you work together, you can build bigger and better sandcastles. You don't cling to things, you share your things. You cling to people, because they're far more important than things are. You're about the bestest child I know." I laughed, hugging her.

"If we'd continued living with Daddy, and he'd had a chance to raise you to be like him, I might worry you could end up like him, but instead, we'll be living with Pen and Robert, and they're nothing like your Daddy. Pen works hard to make sure that the poor, the sick, and the orphans of this world are taken care of. She gives of her time, money and effort to help others. Robert and Pen are willing to share their riches with others, they don't hoard it for themselves. Their home is the type of home that I'd want you to grow up in. I know that you will grow up knowing the difference between right and wrong, good or bad, no matter what happened to me. I'm not worried about you growing up to be like your father is."

"Not to mention you have the best Mom that I ever met," Pen said. "I hope I can be as good of a mother as she is. I learn something new about being a good mother every day."

I smiled at Pen and squeezed her hand.

"Is Bonnie a bad person because she tried to make babies with Daddy?"

Oh-oh. Unintended consequences. Bonnie stepped up though.

"I hope I'm not a bad person, but I did a bad thing. I forgot for a little while that I could hurt other people by what I did. I didn't want to hurt them, but I only thought about myself. I was selfish, and I hurt the people that I love, people who never did anything bad to me. I hurt my husband, and my son. I hurt your mother, but more than anything, I almost hurt myself, because I almost lost everyone that I love and hold dear.

"But even adults can make mistakes. I was punished for my mistake. Bill almost left me, which would have hurt me so much. But what's also important is learning from your mistakes, and not to make the same ones. I know I'll never make that same mistake again, and thankfully, Bill and your mother were able to forgive me, and in the process of making a mistake, I learned a valuable lesson. I try to pay attention to how other people will feel if I do something. By doing that, I hope that I won't make any other mistakes that hurt other people. We're not all good, all the time, but hopefully, we're not so bad that we can't be forgiven when we're not perfect."