Something Fishy

Masters huddled up with Stan's wife and his family. I escorted my wife to see her lover. Stan was in bad shape. The left side of his face was drooping. He was awake but couldn't speak. Tiffany ran to his side while I stayed at the door. I wanted to throw up when she hugged and kissed him knowing I was in the same room. Tiffany began to ball harder before a nurse came in to tell her to leave. The nurse helped my wife from the room leaving just me and Stan in the room alone.

Stan's eyes got big when he recognized me. He tried to talk but nothing came out. "Stan, you're going to die soon. Before you do, I want you to know that I didn't take your advice. I wasn't a good boy and I didn't accept your idea of a new relationship. Don't worry I am going to tell your wife after you are dead about all the shit you pulled with me and my wife. Before you die, just know that I did this to you. There is nothing that you can do to stop it you motherfucker."

Alarms started going off on the machinery hooked up to Stan. Nurses and doctors came rushing in the room as I stepped out. They kept Stan alive through the weekend but he passed early Monday.

Tiffany was a blubbering mess when she heard the news of her boss passing. Her health was getting worse. I picked up Jenny from daycare and heading home that Monday to find Tiffany in bed.

She confirmed that her lover was gone. Even in her weakened state, her venom was still present. "I guess you're going to gloat now."

"No Tiff, I'm not going to gloat. I not going to pretend I'm upset that he is dead. That motherfucker killed our marriage and he deserves to be dead."

"Our marriage isn't dead and I can't believe you are so cruel about Stan. Nothing I had with him diminished my love for you. I told you it was a means to get ahead, to make us financial set. You knew I would come back to you."

"No Tiff, you're talking complete bullshit. Our marriage is just as dead as your lover Stan. Did you forget that I was in the room when you ran to Stan professing your love for him? Hugging and kissing with your husband in the room."

Tiffany was sobbing hard when I turned to leave the bedroom. She took a turn for the worse by the end of the week. It got so bad I had to take her to the hospital on Friday.

On Saturday morning, her doctor met with me. "Mr. Moss, your wife's organs are shutting down. Her blood is showing an abnormally high level of mercury and another toxin found in fish. Does she eat a lot of sea food, maybe sushi?"

I tried hard to suppress a chuckle. "Yes, she and her boyfriend have been sharing a lot of sushi in the last few months."

"Boyfriend?" The doctor asked quizzically.

"I'm sure you know of him. Stan Cross the man who died here in your hospital just this past Monday. He and my wife had an ongoing affair."

"That explains a lot. Even though he had a stroke, her symptoms are very similar to that of Mr. Cross. I'm afraid that she doesn't have much time left. Her kidneys shut down early this morning. It is just a matter of time now."

The doctor led me to her room. Tiffany was hooked up to several machines looking very weak. Her eyes lit up when I walked in the room. She weakly waved me over.

Her breathing was labored and having a hard time speaking. Tiffany motioned me to come in close. "I'm so sorry Ryan, I now realize how badly I hurt you. The doctor told me I don't have long. I need to hear that you forgive me before I go."

I leaned close to her ear. She had a smile on her face as I started to speak. "My dear wife, I pledged my undying love to you when we took our vows. For better or worse, in sickness and heath, is what I said. At the same time, you pledged to me your love and faithfulness. You broke those vows belittling me and humiliating me. I will never forgive you for what you did to me and our family. I hope that you and your lover burn in hell."

I got up watching a tear run down her cheek. I walked out the door just as the alarms were going off in Tiffany's room. Less than an hour later she was declared dead.

It was hard telling Jenny her mother wasn't coming home. I cried for her not Tiffany. Tiffany tried to end my life as I knew but I got her first.

Apparently, the doctors were convinced that both Stan and Tiffany were the victims of bad sushi. Turning Tiffany's body over to the funeral home told me that there would be no autopsy and no further investigation. No police ever came to question me. I did destroy the extra bottles of creamer and my vials of the toxin at the house. I even retrieved the one-quarter full bottle of creamer at Tiffany's office when I cleared out her belongings.

When I had Tiffany's body cremated, her parents objected. Their religious beliefs discouraged cremation. I didn't care, I wanted the bitch's body destroyed. With her burned up, any lingering evidence would be burned with her.

I should have been satisfied with my deadly revenge on Tiff and Stan but I wasn't done. I gathered up my various recordings and made copies.

My first visit was to Georgia Moss, Stans now widow. The question was, why confront Stan's wife now that he was dead. I wanted to know if she knew and allowed it to happen. My thought was that she did. As open as Stan was there didn't seem to be any way she didn't.

I turned on my pocket recorder when she invited me into her home. "Mrs. Cross, I came here to talk to about your husband and my wife."

She cut me off, "You can stop there Mr. Moss. I knew about my husband and your wife. They were very obvious about it. It wasn't his first but she was his last. I'm sorry about your wife but as you can see, I lost my husband too."

"Thank you Mrs. Cross. I want to be clear here. You knew that your husband seduced my wife and turned her against me and my daughter. By you doing nothing you are just a guilty as he was."

"Wait a minute Mr. Moss, I didn't have any part in my husband's actions."

"I guess we will have to disagree about that Mrs. Cross. The way I see it if you had done something about your husband he may not have felt free to seduce my wife. My child might have a mother right now. The fact that you knew will make me feel better when I go after his estate for the pain and suffering he caused my family."

I got up and walked out of her house with no further discussion. My lawyer told me it was unlikely that we would be successful going after Stan's estate but I didn't care, I wanted retribution.

In addition to the Cross estate, I was going after the firm Stan and Tiffany worked for. With Stan dead, my lawyer thought they wouldn't care about his activities and fight us till the end. That was till I produced a recording of Stan talking to his partner Larry Masters. After my poison plan was underway I had a hard time being civil to Tiffany. After one of my rants, the recorder picked a useful conversation. The recording was of Stan and Larry Masters talking in Tiffany's office. The three were talking about my resistance to their little plan.

Larry was heard on the recording offering his help in enforcing the plan. He tells the other two that he knows cops, prosecutors, and judges who owe him favors. With their help, they would destroy me if I didn't get with their program. My lawyer told me that the recording may not be admissible in court but that didn't stop us from using it.

My lawyer scheduled a meeting with all of the senior partners including Larry Masters. She did not tell them the reason just hinted that it might be about life insurance. I wanted them to be blindsided.

As we were ushered into their conference room each of the seven senior partners gave me their condolences on my wife's passing including Masters. They all believed we wanted to talk to them about Tiffany's life insurance policy that was being held up by the insurance company.

John Hager the managing partner stood up. "Mr. Moss each one of us is very sorry for your loss. We have been made aware of the difficulties you are having getting the insurance company to pay off on the life insurance policy our firm provided for your wife. I'm pleased to tell you we were successful in stepping in to clear the obstacles." Hager slid a check for $500,000 from the insurance company.

I put the check in my pocket, "Thank you, Mr. Hager. That is not why we are here. We are here to give your firm the opportunity to settle a sticky issue before we go public and file suit against each one of you individually and your law firm. You see Mr. Hager your firm was complicit with Mr. Cross in a plot to seduce my wife away from her family and to have me arrested, prosecuted, and jailed."

Hager stood up angrily, "How dare you come in here accuse our firm of such crimes and besmirch the good name of one of our fallen partners. Mr. Moss, we will not sit here and allow you to false allegations."

"Mr. Hager we can leave now but I can assure you that my allegations, as you call them, are true and I have evidence to back them up. I would suggest that you simply ask Mr. Masters if I'm telling the truth."

All eyes turned to Masters, who is squirming in his chair. They appear to be waiting for Masters to shoot down my claims but he stayed quiet. My lawyer hit play on his phone triggering a small portion of the recording of Masters and Cross discussing how they were going to destroy me.

Hager stood up looking at his partners quickly then back to me and my lawyer. "Mr. Moss if you will indulge us, I need to talk privately with my partners."

Thirty minutes later Hager alone stepped in the room. "What are your demands, Mr. Moss?"

"Your firm is going to pay me and my daughter five million dollars or we are going to sue you and the recording I played for you and many others will go public. It is as simple as that. My lawyer tells me that Masters will certainly be disbarred and maybe the rest of you. The fact that they identified specific prosecutors and judges might be a little harmful to your business if you and your partners keep their licenses."

Hager requested two days to confer with his partners about my offer. My lawyer spoke up, "You have two days to agree or it all comes out."

Two days later my lawyer called me. "They've agreed to the five million dollars. I have a proposed agreement I'll send you. As part of the agreement we agreed not to go after Mr. Cross's estate, in exchange they will expel Mr. Masters from the firm citing a moral clause denying him ninety percent of his partnership share."

I agreed and took their money. I signed an agreement that I would not disclose what Mr. Cross and his firm did to me and my family.

One thing Tiffany had right. Her affair made our family financially set. Now I had to start looking for a replacement for my wife and mother to my child.