The Guardian Angel

Thank you, Candace.

My last submission “The Perfect Wife” was turned down. I fear that this one will also be rejected, so I have ‘auto-censored’ the torture part at the end of this short story. I leave it to the imaginations of my readers. Your feedback will be most welcomed.

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James Sanders, 29 years old, entered the bar and only wanted to have a couple of drinks after another exhausting day. There were a few empty tables. He sat down at one nearer to the door and glanced at his watch, it was 17.30. He would drive to his hotel afterwards, take a shower and dine at the Chinese restaurant across the street. Once back to his room, he would call his wife Nancy as he has been doing these past three days. He missed her a lot and leaving her alone in Buffalo for business trips has never been easy.

They met after college, dated and married three years ago. She was a financial planner and worked in the Buffalo branch of a Fortune 500 company dealing with insurance and investment. Both earned good money. They have their own house in the coolest neighborhood of the city. Nancy managed their finances and their nest egg has been growing above expectation. These last two months she has been constantly after him to think about a baby. James had a few projects and promised her that in a couple of months they would start a family.

Being a computer engineer, he was in Albany, NY, at a client warehouse to test a system he had designed and developed. “Thank God we are almost done.” He told himself. “Tomorrow afternoon I’m driving back home and we’ll fuck like rabbits.” He smiled and could feel a bulge in his pant. “When we start our family, I will have to travel less and delegate the tasks to others.”

A man suddenly stood in front of his table, taking him out of his thoughts. The man was around sixty-years-old, with short grey hair and well built. “May I?” He asked James, and without waiting for a response he sat opposite him. At the same time the waitress came to their table.

“Two rum and cokes with a slice of lemon in each please.” The man ordered. James sat there bewildered. He was going to order the same. It was his favorite drink.

“Oh, excuse me.” The man turned to James. “My name is Alexander and my friends call me Al.” He reached out to him. “A few calls me The Great, but I don’t like it.”

“What can I do for you, Mr. Alexander?” James asked.

“Please call me Al, like your father did.”

“You knew my father?” James almost jumped from his chair.

“Henry Sanders and I served together in the army.”

“He died when I was five.”

“I know, James.” Al smiled.

“He was killed in an ambush in the Middle East. I was too young at that time. I don’t recall him that much but my mom has kept all his pictures to remind me of him.”

The waitress came with their drinks.

“Like father, like son.” Al raised his glass after the waitress walked away. “Your dad also liked to drink rum and coke.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, he always had a bottle hidden somewhere. Till now I can’t figure out how he succeeded to conceal it from our higher grades.”

“We were told that he died as a hero.”

“He has always been a hero. It was late evening and while returning to our camp from a patrol tour, we were ambushed by the enemy. He sacrificed himself for us.” Al mopped his eyes. “In fact, he died in my arms.” Al continued. “Before he left this world, he made me promise to look after his family.” He gulped down his rum and beckoned the waitress. “Three months later I was shot and the bullet passed through my body, a few millimeters from my heart.” Al continued.

“You were lucky.”

“Yes, I was.”

The waitress came with two more rum and cokes.

“I was air lifted to Israel for my surgery. Afterwards I was discharged from the army and flew back to Alabama. I went through some therapy. When I was back on my feet, I searched for your mom and you. I found out that she moved closer to her parents in Maine. I flew to Bangor where I met your late grandparents. They told me that she met an English businessman and got married. He took both of you to London.” Al sipped his drink. “I was glad to hear that she found someone and moved on with her life.”

“After my stepfather passed away in a car accident, we returned to the States.” James said.

“I know, you were eighteen, just finished high school.” Al noted.

James looked at Al straight in the eyes, he was puzzled.

“I have a few things to tell you.” Al looked around. “Why don’t we walk to the park. It’s a better place to talk.”

Both men finished their drinks, Al threw some money on the table and they walked out. Washington Park was one block away. They sat near the Moses Memorial Fountain.

“When I returned home from Bangor,” Al looked in the distance, as if reliving these moments. “I started searching for work. Soon afterwards two guys came to see me, they were like the men in black. They were from a newly formed government organization. They were recruiting veterans with special aptitudes. They were building up a team with specific training to do things that others would refuse.”

“Dirty things?” James frowned.

“Exactly. Unfortunately, I can’t disclose anything further. I was sent on missions across the world. Whenever I was in England or continental Europe, I made it a must to go and check discreetly on you and your mum.”

“Your promise to my dad?”

“Yes, son. When I came to know that your step father was banging his young secretary...”

“What? He was cheating on mum?” James was shocked.

“Yes James, and your mum didn’t know. He was even planning to divorce her and kick both of you out without a penny.”

James looked down, shaking the head. “I always thought that he loved mum.”

“This was where I had to intervene. The day he was going to meet his attorney for the divorce, I made sure that he could not attend the appointment.”

‘You mean...” James had a horrible look on his face. “The accident was not an accident.”

“I told you, we do dirty jobs.” Al inhaled deeply. “Your mum did a great thing though, she sold everything including the business, took the money and returned here.”

“It’s hard to believe.”

“I know, son. You started college a couple of months after you arrived. Your mum then met a widower through an arranged meeting. His first wife died of cancer, no kids.”

“Did you check on him as well?”

“Of course, I did. He is a very good man and he loves your mother. I’m glad for her.”

“Me too.”

“Have you ever tried to search for the person who sent you pictures of your then girlfriend Sandra getting fucked by your so called two best friends?” Al asked with a smile.

“It was you!” James held his face with his two hands. He was thunderstruck. “I always thought it was someone at college who did not want to get involved.”

“You acted like a man when you kicked her out, even after her pleading and crying. And you cut off all contact with the two assholes.”

“The reason I left during the break and stayed at mum’s place the whole time. I didn’t want to see their faces again.”

“Do you know what happened to them?”

“Yes, the two assholes got beaten by some delinquents and Sandra dropped out of college.... No way, you didn’t?”

“After you left, it was an opportunity to do what I wanted to do. No one would question you as you were thousands of miles away. One evening when your two friends were coming out of a bar, my friend and I beat them to death. One lost his two testicles and the other one would use a wheelchair till he dies. According to the police report, it was a group of young delinquents who beat them up.”

“And Sandra?”

“Since I knew that she liked to get fucked by various dicks at the same time, I organized a gangbang party for her with some strangers. Short story, weeks later she was tested positive with a couple of STD’s. I made sure that the whole campus knew about it. She dropped out and fled to California. The last time I checked on her, she was still seeing a shrink.”

“Waoh! Incredible.”

“No one messes with Henry Sanders’ family.” Al almost yelled.

“Tell me Al, why have you come here between missions to tell me all of these?” James asked.

“I’ve been checking on you.”

“Come on Al, you won’t find anything on me. I don’t cheat, I don’t lie, I have a simple life, I don’t bribe people for contracts. I respect everybody, whatever their skin color, their ethnicity or where they come from. Racist chants will never come out from my mouth. I’m satisfied with what I do and what I bring home at the end of month.”

“I know, and Henry would have been proud of you.”

“So?”

“After college you met Nancy at a party, you dated and got married three years ago. She works in a financial institution. No kid till now. Nancy is doing her best to convince you about starting a family and you are waiting a little bit due to some important projects.”

“I’m impressed.”

“By the way, I came to your wedding ceremony at the church.”

“Really?”

“I was sitting completely at the back. Now you know who gave you the envelope without a name on it.”

“It was you? My goodness! For the last three years I have been trying to figure out who gave me that much money as a wedding gift.”

“It was very easy for me to slide it in your pocket without you knowing.”

“Thank you, Al.”

“You’re welcome, son. Now tell me, what do you know about Thomas Smith?”

“Thomas Smith?” James frowned. “All I know is that, he is my wife’s new manager and he started six months ago.”

“Thomas Smith used to work at the head office.” Al turned serious. “He was married and the father of one child. He was also fucking his secretary. The husband found out, filed for divorce, sent video copies to Thomas’ wife and sued the company for alienation of affection. The matter didn’t go to court, there was negotiation between the lawyers and the husband received a considerable chunk of money. Thomas’ wife divorced him, got custody of their child and sent him to the cleaners.”

“How come he is still working for the company?” James asked.

“Thomas is the corporate chairman’s nephew, practically untouchable. A new management position was created in their Buffalo branch and he got transferred.”

“Is he bad news?”

“Yes James. He’s been fucking your wife for four months.”

“What? It can’t be. Nancy would never do such things; she would never cheat on me.” James was almost crying.

“I’ve been checking on her for two months...”

“You’ve known about it for two months,” James cut in, “and now you inform me?”

“Please calm down, James. In our profession, planning plays an important role. I had to wait for your next business trip to start ‘Operation Cheaters’.”

“You have a name for it!” Lashed out James.

“Listen to what I have to say, they have been fucking in motels and sometimes in your bed when you were working late. We have wired your house, we have video recordings. Don’t worry, whenever you were at home, we switched everything off. From what I can see, she was never coerced or blackmailed.”

Al removed his android, pressed on a video file and handed it to James. “This is a recording from last night. Please don’t throw away my phone through anger.”

James recognized his bedroom. Nancy, dressed in her white wedding gown, was on all four with Thomas ploughing her pussy from behind.

“Whose pussy is this?” He asked

“Yours, Tom.” Nancy moaned.

“When will your wimp husband decide about a baby?”

“Soon lover, I’m working on it. Yes, fuck me, don’t stop.”

“It will be my seed which will grow in your womb.” Thomas thrust his dick hard in her pussy.

“It will be your child, baby. I’ll see to it.”

“All your children will be mine; do you understand?”

“Yes, my love. What are you doing, don’t remove your dick, please?”

“Now, I will take what only belongs to me.” He spit on her butthole, placed the tip of his dick at the orifice and slowly pushed inside.

“Yes, it belongs to you and only you. No one has ever touched it, not even the wimp.”

A heartbroken James could watch no more. He handed the phone to Al and started crying. Al switched it off and put it into his pocket.

“Crying won’t solve anything.”

James dried his tears.

“You can use the recordings and divorce your slut wife.” Al continued.

“You said you knew my father well.”

“Very well indeed.”

“What would he have done in such a situation?”

“You want to know?”

“Yes.”

“He would have cut both of them into small pieces and throw the bits into the river to feed the fish.”

“How dirty is your dirty job?” James asked without looking at Al.

“Very dirty. What do have in mind?”

“I want them to suffer in front of me till they die.” James clenched his teeth.

“I knew it.” Al jumped with joy. James sat there, confused.

“I made a bet with my fellow friends about your reaction and we have already been prepared.”

‘I don’t understand.” James frowned.

“Let’s go. You follow me in your car. I will explain everything afterwards.”

James followed Al to an abandoned building outside of the city.

“Come, let’s go inside, but don’t make any noise.” Al instructed.

Al lead James to the creepy basement. He put a finger to his lips for James to stay quiet and opened a door. Inside the room James found Nancy and Thomas sitting on the floor, both naked, tied, gagged and blindfolded. There was a guy standing in a corner. He was all muscle and short hair. He nodded at James.

Al pulled James outside the room and closed the door. “We took them during the night while they were sleeping.” Al whispered. “I took a suitcase and filled it with some of her personal belongings. I also took her wallet and her passport. My friend took Thomas’ car and drove to his place and took a suitcase full of his belongings. His car has been given to a mechanic who is transforming it into spare parts. The operation was swift and discreet.”

Al held James’ arm. “Now you’ll have to decide if you want to go forward or not. We brought our tools. We can still drop them in the middle of nowhere. They will have a lot of explaining to do to the authorities.”

“I meant what I said.” James looked around and found an old chair that was upside down. He took it, opened the door and sit in front of the two lovers. Al nodded at the guy. The latter removed the blindfolds and walked out of the room. Panic could be read on their faces when they saw James sitting in front of them.

“Never underestimate a wimp.” James yelled at them.

With their pleading eyes, they wanted to say something, but couldn’t.

“You wanted to give your lover a baby.” James addressed a crying Nancy. “You just needed to divorce me and marry him. As simple as that. But you wanted to have the wimp raise your lover’s kids. Now you will have to pay.” He yelled.

He approached Thomas. “You took something that belongs to me, now I will take something that belongs to you ... your life.”

Thomas was trembling in fear.

James sat down in front of them. “I will see that you get the maximum pain. I want both of you to bleed. I want you to regret everything you did to me. I want you to curse yourselves. And above all, I want to be the last face you see before you die.”

The guy walked into the room with a huge wooden box. He placed it on the floor between James and the lovers.

“Kill your enemies before they kill you.” James said with a smile and opened the box. Nancy looked inside and fainted. Thomas tried to struggle, but couldn’t.

“We’ll start with you lover-boy.”

Two hours later Al accompanied James to his car. “Don’t forget to do exactly what I told you. Calling everybody and before the night is over, you call the police. They will tell you to wait twenty-four hours etc. Memorize the script well and nothing will happen to you. You have a great alibi. The authorities will easily believe that they have eloped together. We will bury the bodies, or rather the human pieces three states from here after cleaning everything here.”

“I will have to play my role.”

“Of course, you will.”

“When will we meet again?” James asked.

“When everything has settled down, I’ll come and pay you a visit. I’ll bring a bottle of rum.”

Both men laughed.

“Now go and have dinner. Don’t forget to give a huge tip. The waitress should remember your face.” Al added.

James got into his car and sped away.

Epilogue

It’s already been a year since the last time James saw Nancy and her lover. He did exactly what Al told him. When he reached home, he called everyone to inquire about Nancy. He filed a missing person’s report. Under torture, Nancy had given her credit card pin number and her email password. She also stated that some of their colleagues and managers were aware of their dalliance.

Al made sure that one of his female friends used the credit card several times in every state till Dallas, creating a trail for the police to search. There she used free Wi-Fi in a mall to open Nancy’s email and send a message to James, explaining that she fell in love with Thomas Smith and that they have been fucking for the last four months, and that everyone at work, at every level, knew about it. They decided to elope and live their future together, and not to search for them.

The police, at various times, called James to the precinct. He stuck to his script. He had a solid alibi and without the bodies, they let him go. Six months after Nancy was “gone”, a detective knocked on James’ door.

“We have followed the path your wife took, and found that she stopped at gas stations and convenience stores where there are no cameras. Do you have any idea why?” The detective asked.

“I have never done this trip, I’m sorry I can’t answer your question.” James replied.

“I have another question,” the detective seemed perplexed. “We have gone through all your bank accounts and other financial documents, why has your wife left all the money? She didn’t even take half of it, except for some expenses on her way to Dallas?”

“This question, you should ask the bitch herself.” James almost yelled.

The detective excused himself and left. The police never contacted James again.

Since he was still married, James cashed all the joint investment certificates and re-invested them under his name only. He opened a new bank account and transferred all the money. In the meantime, he had sued the financial company where the lovers worked. His lawyer told him that his case was very weak as there was no evidence, only an email from Nancy. He threatened to make public Thomas Smith’s past at the head office. Quietly the company settled for two million dollars out of court.

Now he could file for abandonment. In three months, he would be free. He has been dating various women and he knew that he would eventually find his other half.