Revenge in Advance - A Sequel

Pat's voice boomed from the speakers.

"Our investigators are the same people who do security checks for government employees who handle top-secret material. They moonlight for us because we pay well. Your wife, her friends and every potential policyholder are thoroughly checked out before they qualify to apply for a policy," Pat's recorded voice said. Bill stopped playback and turned to Oscar.

"Whoever this Pat is, it seems she has some insight into government hiring practices, which indicates she may have government experience. If so, that means we may be able to identify her and track her down. It's true that while the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is responsible for the majority of these checks, sometimes outside contractors are used. We know who those contractors are, so now we have a clue about who to go after. Now, listen to this," Bill said, pressing the play button.

"A husband would have to first get his wife to agree to help him expose us. Then she'd have to refer us to a friend who once trained as an actress, who would have to find three more actresses she was already friends with. It would take experienced professionals to fool us during the screening process.

"Early in our company's history, we accepted policyholders one at a time. But for cost efficiency, we now only take them in groups of four or more, like your wife and her friends. A women's group vacation is also less suspicious than a wife on her own for a few days.

"You can imagine how four women who once acted would raise a red flag. We'd put investigators on the husband of the woman who referred the first one. Even if that didn't uncover anything, we'd take extra steps to protect ourselves. For instance, we might demand cash in advance. It would be hard for the husband to find a way to get money to them that we wouldn't discover. If anything was even slightly off, we'd cancel," Pat's voice said. Bill stopped the audio again.

"Here, this 'Pat' is giving us an idea how we might be able to leverage your wife's predicament. As I said before, she's facing between 50 years and life in prison with no chance of parole. We can offer her a deal - say 25 years - if she turns state's evidence. She'd still be in prison, still be divorced, but she wouldn't be in for life," Bill said. "Now listen to this." Bill pressed play again. Again, Pat's voice came out of the speaker.

"Let's say he did manage to fool us and record our meetings with the wives and husbands. All he could do is put us out of business. When you read Renee's policy, you'll see that all Mutual Marital does is help women create a fantasy, which is never spelled out. And the policy specifically prohibits Renee from doing anything that violates city, state and federal laws," the recorded voice said. Bill stopped playback.

"So, by violating local and federal laws, Renee's policy is in jeopardy," Bill said, pausing for affect.

"How would you like to help us bring this whole thing down?" Bill asked.

"What would I need to do?" Oscar asked.

"That's easy. Just put a bug in your wife's ear, let her know that if she turns state's evidence and helps us bring this outfit down, she won't spend so much time in prison."

"I'm in," Oscar said.

"Good," Bill responded, shaking his friend's hand. "Let's get this paperwork finished and you can go to the jail with our process server and make your pitch. You gotta be strong, and don't let her fool you. Can you do that?"

"Oh, hell yeah," Oscar said. "After what I went through yesterday, you bet I won't fall for her crap."

"Okay," Bill said. "Hang out for a while, go grab a bite to eat and be back in, say, two hours, and let's get it done."

Oscar agreed, and spent the next two hours window shopping. His mind, however, wasn't on the trinkets he checked out in the downtown stores. He made his way back to Bill's office two hours later and met with his friend and the process server.

The two men drove to the jail and was escorted into the visitor's area. Renee was brought out, wearing an orange jumpsuit, looking like she hadn't slept all night. She saw Oscar and immediately ran to him, hoping he would greet her with a hug. He just stood there and looked at her like she was a pile of dog crap on the ground. Renee sank into a chair in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, Oscar, I really didn't want to hurt you. Can't you find it in your heart to forgive me?" she asked.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Oscar said angrily. "You lied to me, schemed and plotted behind my back, conspired to have me kidnapped, humiliated and raped in the ass. Then you tried to murder me. What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asked. "We're over. You didn't kill me, but you tried and you killed our marriage and destroyed our family. I hope it was worth the $1600 you spent. You do realize that money was supposed to be used for our anniversary, right?"

Renee broke down crying, but Oscar wasn't moved. The process server stood next to Oscar and handed Renee a manila envelope.

"You've been served," he said. Renee cried even harder, holding the envelope in her lap.

"We don't have to get divorced," Renee begged. "Please, I'll do anything you want, I'll make it up to you."

"Kinda hard to do when you're going to be in prison for the rest of your life," Oscar said. "Besides, I could never trust you again and I certainly wouldn't ever feel safe around you. Worse yet, I can't trust you around the children. Thank God they're off to camp. It would kill them to see what you've turned into."

Renee broke down even harder as Oscar's words hit her harder than anything else he could have said.

"Look, Renee," Oscar said. "A part of me will always love you, but let's face it, you did this to us. The divorce is happening, but there is a way you can save yourself from spending the rest of your miserable life in prison."

"What's that?" Renee asked through her tears.

"You help us take this Fidelity gang down and in return you may only have to serve 25 years instead of 50 to life," Oscar said. "Talk it over with your defense attorney and let us know. But this is a one-time deal. Accept it now or else."

Renee stopped crying long enough to nod her head.

"Okay," she said. "Are you sure there's nothing left of us?"

"We're done, and that's final. Sign the papers and get them back to us. You'll notice the only thing you get is half of the proceeds from the sale of the house. That's it. The children stay with me, you get minimum supervised visitation and no alimony. Understand that whatever visitation you may get will depend on the prison visiting hours, so you may get to see them an hour a month. Maybe. I'll put your stuff into storage and you can get it after you've served your sentence."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Renee asked. Oscar's face turned red in anger.

"You don't get it, do you?" he asked. "You could have talked to me. Hell, I thought we had a great thing going on. But no, you had to sneak off with your girl friends and let yourself get suckered by a bunch of crazy man-hating bitches. You lied to me. You schemed against me. You plotted to fucking destroy me and let some dominatrix rape me in the fucking ass.

"And that stuff you put in my stew. What the fuck was that? Did you know you had enough in there to kill me in minutes? Did you have any idea what that stuff would do to me? Even if you didn't kill me with it, I'd be a ball-less eunuch. I know that's what you and Pat wanted."

Renee looked shocked at what Oscar had said. How did he know?

"Oh yeah," Oscar said. "I heard your telephone conversation. I heard all about your little 'game plan.' How you wanted me to be, what was it Pat said, yeah, the 'doting, emasculated eunuch you deserve.' What were you planning, Renee? Were you going to bring in other men to cuckold me after you made me an impotent slave?"

Renee started crying again, realizing that Oscar knew - at least in part - what she wanted.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I just thought it might be nice for a change and you never denied me anything before. It was just a bit of harmless fun. I wouldn't have let any of them hurt you, really."

Oscar got up from his seat, shaking his head.

"What do you mean, 'any of them'? Were you already planning to have your fun? You stupid fucking bitch," he snarled. "You deserve whatever you get. But like I said, you have a chance to reduce your jail sentence. If I were you, I'd take it, because I frankly doubt you'd last 50 years in prison.

"That's it. I'm done with you," Oscar said, getting ready to leave.

Renee was still crying when the guards took her back to her cell.

Her trial, which wrapped up shortly after the divorce became final, didn't take very long. It seems that Pat didn't follow through with her promise to get Renee a lawyer, so she ended up with a public defender who really didn't seem to care about his clients.

The jury was shocked as the evidence against her was brought out. They were even more shocked when the DA played them the audio files Oscar provided. Renee's attorney blanched as he heard the audio in open court and seemed at a loss for words when the audio was finished.

Even though Oscar hated the woman he married, he refused to testify against her, letting the audio do the job for him. His concern at this point was the children, who refused to visit their mother. They were already traumatized enough.

It didn't take long for the jury to come back with a guilty verdict on all the charges. The judge was set to sentence her to life in prison, but gave her a break since she wisely chose to turn state's evidence against Fidelity. He gave her 30 years in a maximum security facility with no chance of parole instead.

She broke down crying when the sentence was given and was still bawling as she was led out in chains. She looked back at Oscar and mouthed, "I'm sorry" one last time, but he didn't respond.

Walking out of the courtroom, he met his friend Bill.

"How're ya feeling?" Bill asked.

"I suppose I should be feeling okay," Oscar said. "I'm glad she got what she deserved, but the cost to the children and I makes me wonder if it was all worth it."

Bill understood what Oscar was getting at.

"Oscar," Bill said, "I know this has been hard on you and the kids. Plus, we still haven't been able to nail Fidelity, even though we're a lot closer to it - thanks to you. I've got an idea I want you to seriously consider."

Oscar looked at his friend.

"I want you to come work for us. Help us take these people down. You know at least three other women who went to that resort with Renee. You know their husbands. Help us help them, Oscar. What do you say?" he asked.

"Maybe," Oscar said. "But what about the kids?"

"Well, you're selling the house anyway, right?" Oscar nodded. "Sell the house, take the kids and move into the compound - we have quarters for dads with children and it'll cost you nothing. Plus, we have a school and counselors, in-house child care and all the support a working dad might need. It'd be good for you, good for the kids and it sure would help us take these bastards down for good. You'd even get a hell of a raise and a company car."

Oscar thought about it for about five seconds before responding.

"You got it, my friend. When do I start?" he asked, smiling.

"Consider yourself on the payroll right now," Bill said. "Do what you gotta do at your job, pack up the kids and come on out. We'll get a crew over to pack up your stuff at the house. Welcome aboard, my friend. And remember, it's not a job, it's an adventure."

The end?