Why? The Reason

Melissa was sitting on a couch next to Diane with her husband on his wife's other side.

"Please, Geno," Conrad pleaded. "Let the women go. I'm the one who took the money. I can get it all back for you and more."

"It's no longer about the money," a short heavyset man with a nasty smile said. "It's about honor. You stole from us. That was bad enough. But that bitch got my brother Johnny sent to prison for twenty years."

I was horrified when I saw Geno point his gun at my wife.

"Geno, she didn't do it. I did," Diane said defiantly. "I used her computer to send all the essential information to the government. She didn't have anything to do with it."

"But she complied all the information," Geno said. "Besides, it doesn't matter anyway. She knows too much, and I'm not leaving any loose ends."

"Since you're going to kill us anyway," Conrad spoke up, "do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

"Why not," Geno said with a nasty smile. "I've got a few minutes. I sent one of my men to find out if my assumption is correct."

"What assumption is that?" Conrad asked.

Geno chuckled. "I have to admit that I was surprised when you and your bookkeeper showed up last night. We've been staking this place out for the last few weeks. I figured that eventually, your wife would lead us to you. But then you came back here. There had to be a reason for you to risk coming back to this house. Otherwise, you would have just had your wife meet you someplace. There's something here that you wanted, and your wife couldn't get it for you."

At that moment, another man entered the room.

"You were right, Geno," he said with a smile. "I found a safe hidden in the floor."

"I thought so," Geno's smile widened as he turned to Conrad. "Your problem was that you loved your wife too much. You tried to shield her from what you were doing. You should have trusted her with the combination. But then again, it wouldn't have mattered. We planned to follow her anyway, and she would have led us to you."

Conrad looked over at his wife and sadly sighed. Then he looked back up at Geno. "But why did you go after Melissa? She was just a bookkeeper."

"She was your personal bookkeeper," Geno corrected. "You always treated her more like a daughter than an employee. I figured if nothing else, she would know where all your money was and probably have a good idea how to access it. I also figured that she would know every property you owned, giving us places to search for you. I figured you'd eventually use one or more of those properties."

"But how did you learn that we had informed on your brother?" Diane asked.

"You were very clever how you fed the information to the government," Geno admitted. "Even your husband didn't know that you were the informant at first. Still, it took years and a pile of money to get our hackers to find out the ultimate source of the information."

"I have to compliment you," Geno said with another chuckle. "What are you calling yourself these days -- Conrad Miller? That was pretty smart on your part. You and your wife both had plastic surgery and then reemerged in plain sight as these new billionaires. Only the truth is that most of that wealth is a facade created by you to make you look wealthier than you are. That was a nice touch because I knew you hadn't stolen a billion dollars. What did you get away with -- forty or fifty million?"

"Seventy-eight million," Conrad corrected.

"That much," Geno nodded. "I'm impressed. But you were always the smart one, Jacob, and that's why my brother brought you in. You took our illegal money and converted it into legitimate businesses. Your problem was that you were greedy. You skimmed so much money and hid it in businesses that we knew nothing about. But Johnny finally caught on to your scheme. He was about to eliminate you when your wife ratted him out to the feds. I must admit that it threw me off for a long time. It was only by accident that I stumbled onto your bookkeeper. I was going to grab her and her family. I was going to torture and kill, first her husband and then each girl until she gave you up. Once she spilled her guts, I planned to kill them all. But then she disappeared without a trace. Then I knew there was a mole in my organization. It didn't take long to figure out that it was Kelly and eliminate her."

"Kelly's dead?" Conrad asked with shock and sadness on his face.

"Yes, but I didn't kill her. She jumped from a second-story window, trying to escape from us. Unfortunately, she died on impact, so we couldn't get any information out of her."

"Anyway, after your bookkeeper bolted, it didn't make any sense to grab her family without knowing where she was. So, we had taps put on their phones. It took many months, but that's how we discovered your real name and this location."

"If you knew we were here, why didn't you take us last night?" Conrad asked.

Geno shook his head. "I guess you could say that I outsmarted myself. While we kept watch on this house, I figured you'd need new identifications. I found out who you were using and stopped the new ids from being delivered. My plan was to replace the drivers in the moving vans with my men. But since you hadn't gotten your new identifications, you sent the moving vans away. That's when I decided to make my move anyway, and here, we are - enough talk. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I need the combination to the safe. If you don't give it to me, I'll kill your bookkeeper first, then your wife, and finally, you. Worst case, I'll just cut open the safe."

As I stood hiding just out of sight, it all made sense now. But what to do about it? In a flash of insight, I knew I only had one option.

"Geno, I used to think that there couldn't be a lower piece of shit than your brother," Conrad said with a snarl, "but you proved me wrong."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Geno said with a laugh. "But don't worry, I'll pass your regards on to Johnny. Now it's time to finish this."

All the months of anger, depression, hopelessness faded away. I was still scared shitless, but I knew I had to act. I quickly ran all the instructions on firearms I'd received. Then I looked down at my Ruger to make sure the safety was off. Finally, I took aim at Geno. My instructor had taught me to take out the most immediate threat first and then work your way through the rest.

I knew that I would only have a few seconds to get off my shots, so I had to make each one count. Taking a small breath, I squeezed the trigger. I hit Geno in the middle of the back. He fell forward. Then I shot the man with his gun trained on Melissa, and he went down. I got off another shot, which hit the third man before they began returning fire. One of their bullets caught me on my left side, but I refused to stop shooting. Finally, the fourth and fifth man went down, but I'd been hit again. I felt the bullet slam into my left shoulder. At some point, one of their bullets must have creased my forehead because blood was running down my face.

I stood there staring at Melissa, but I couldn't say anything. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and she started toward me. I remember hearing the wail of police cars before everything went dark.

When I woke up, I knew I was in a hospital, and I remembered everything that had happened. It was dark out, and my room was filled with just me and a bunch of medical equipment. I also realized that I was handcuffed to the bed. I was in pain, so I pushed the button for a nurse. To my surprise, Melissa came bustling into the room along with a policeman.

"Mark," she said in a panicked voice, "are you alright?"

"I just hurt," I said weakly. "I was hoping someone could give me something for the pain."

A nurse appeared seconds later with a syringe. She reached up to an IV and pumped the pain medication into it. The pain began to subside. Melissa moved to my side, and the policeman stood at the foot of my bed.

"Oh, Mark," Melissa was crying now, "I'm so sorry for putting you through all this. I just didn't know what else to do. I knew what Johnny and Geno could do, and I was terrified of what they'd do to you and girls. I wanted desperately to protect you all. I was hoping that Conrad would figure out a way to get Geno and his people off us. But he was as scared as I was. He finally convinced me that the only way to protect you and the girls was for me to tell you that I'd found a lover and divorce you. I almost crumbled when I saw the hurt in your eyes that day."

Melissa started to sob harder. I reached out and took her hand. "You did it to protect the girls and me. And yes, it hurt a lot. I've spent months trying to figure out why you had abandoned us. I was sure that you were gone, but I needed to know why. And I'm sorry. Apparently, it was me that led Geno and his men to you and Conrad."

"No, it wasn't your fault, Mark," Melissa choked out between sobs. "It was all my fault. I was so lonely and missed my family so much that I called each of you even though Conrad had warned me not to. When I found out how much my girls hated me, I wanted to die. Even then, I couldn't tell any of you where I was or what was going on.

Conrad was working feverously to get us new identities and to find us a new place to hide. The moving trucks arrived, but we still didn't have our identification. I had resigned myself that I was probably going to get killed, but at least, my family would be safe."

The pain medication kicked in at that point. I had no idea how long I was out, but the sun was shining when my eyes finally opened. Melissa was asleep in the chair next to my bed, and she was holding my hand. My arm had a large bandage on it, and it ached some. But it was my side that hurt more. Still, the pain wasn't all that bad, so I decided to try to pull myself up in the bed. If you've ever spent any time in a hospital bed, then you know they are the most uncomfortable things. Besides, it wasn't easy trying to move while one of your hands handcuffed to the bed.

My attempt to sit up brought Melissa up out of her chair with alarm on her face. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just trying to get comfortable," I answered with a weak smile.

She fussed over me and finally got me into a more comfortable position. Then she smiled at me and kissed me on the lips. I was totally surprised and very pleased. I thought I'd never feel her lips on mine ever again.

"I do love you with all my heart," she whispered in my ear. "Can you ever forgive me for what I did?"

"Melissa, it must be obvious to you that I still love you," I answered. "I will admit that there were times when everyone was telling me to forget you and move on, that I did think about signing the divorce papers. But after twenty-two years of marriage, I just couldn't do it without knowing why. I'll admit that I thought that you might have taken a lover, but none of it made sense to me. And until I could know for sure that you didn't love me anymore, I couldn't give up."

"Oh, God, what did I ever do to deserve you?" Melissa said, and started to cry again.

When she calmed down again, I told her to take the key to my motel room. Melissa looked totally exhausted, so I told her to get a shower and some sleep. Reluctantly, she agreed. However, getting the policeman on duty to agree to let my wife have my motel key was another story. Finally, a call to his superior shook the key free. I then learned that the District Attorney was trying to decide if I should be charged with having an illegal handgun. Talk about a bunch of bullshit. I had helped take down a major crime organization, and they were upset that I didn't have a New York concealed weapons permit. That's totally fucked up.

When she left, I asked the nurse if she could get my cellphone out of my pants pocket. That was another discussion. Apparently, the police had taken my phone. They finally agreed to allow me to use the hospital phone, and fortunately, I knew both my girl's phone numbers by heart.

I called both Katie and Karla, and I told them the whole story. I left the fact that I was in the hospital until last. That sent both of them over the edge. Over my protests, they both said they were coming to be with me.

Both girls had been distraught when they learned what their mother had been going through. Both were extremely upset with the way they had treated Melissa. I told them not to beat themselves up because I would have said worse if I had gotten the chance.

Ten hours later, Katie arrived at the hospital. She'd been able to catch a flight to LaGuardia Airport and rent a car. She was ashen when she came into my room. Melissa had gone to get a cup of coffee.

"Oh, daddy, are you going to be alright?" she asked as she hugged me gingerly.

"The doctors say I'm going to be fine," I assured her. "In fact, they'll be discharging me tomorrow."

By then, the DA had decided that they weren't going to charge me. However, we had to agree to make ourselves available, at our expense, if they needed either of us to testify.

A few minutes later, Melissa came back into the room. I hadn't told her that the girls were coming. I don't know exactly why I didn't. I guess I was afraid that she might run away again because of what the girls had said to her.

They stared at each other for a few long moments before Katie ran to her mother, and they hugged. All I heard was sobbing as they told each other how sorry they were. Four hours later, Karla arrived, and the scene was repeated. Soon, the three women were clustered around my bed, fussing over me. Finally, the nurse came and got me up to walk around. My wife and two daughters refused to leave my side. At that point, tears were running down my face.

It took a little over six months, but I had gone from the ruins of my marriage to a marriage that will be stronger and more loving than ever before.

Epilog:

In the weeks following the shootout, I learned that Geno died at the scene, as did two of his men. The other two survived surgery and are now facing murder and kidnapping charges. They will likely spend the rest of their lives in jail. Geno's brother Johnny apparently was in on all the planning, so he was also indicted for murder. All three of Conrad's guards died.

I never had the fifteen minutes of fame, thank God. My name was not released to the media. Melissa's name was also not released. Even though Geno and Johnny would never see the outside of a prison, I was concerned about what sort of reach they might still have. The FBI assured me that their organization had been totally smashed. In fact, Conrad Miller and Diane Lingrend had turned state's evidence. They were exposing parts of that criminal organization the feds hadn't discovered yet. In the end, we were not called to testify.

Still, the FBI is many things, and completely trusting them these days is very much in question. Therefore, I insisted that our names be redacted. I even got a court order to seal those records. Yes, I know that if the government wants to unseal them, they will find some way to do it. Hopefully, no one will be that interested.

Conrad and Diane were sentenced to community service. Of course, that was contingent upon them turning over the wealth they had accumulated with illegal money. Much of that money was in bitcoins, and the passwords to get that currency was in the safe. Nevertheless, Conrad and Diane must have had some really damaging information to trade for such a light sentence. I also learned that their two children had been staying with a nanny in Florida. And one other thing that I found amusing was that once Conrad and Diane finished their community service, they left the United States. I'm guessing that they didn't turn over all of the money. And there was nothing the government could do because they had disappeared. We did receive a postcard about a year later from Spain. It simply said, "We're sorry for everything. Thank you."

Having Melissa back home took some adjustment for both of us. I was still harboring lingering resentment for her abandonment. Logically, I understood why she did it, but I was still suffering from the wounds it had inflicted. At the same time, Melissa was suffering from night terrors. She would wake up screaming some nights. People can say what they want about counseling, but it worked for us.

Coming home was a bit of a shock for Melissa. Our house had changed quite a bit while she was gone. All of the repairs that I had been putting off during our marriage had been taken care of. The house had been repainted a different color, and our bedroom was totally redone. Melissa had to get used to the fact that I no longer went to work anymore. Well, that's not exactly right. I now work from my study, making day trades. And since I make my own hours, I take impromptu vacations with Melissa. She loves that.

Melissa was very impressed by how trim I looked and started going to the gym with me in the morning. However, she wasn't interested in Tae Kwan Doe. We don't go every day like I had been. Now we go to the gym three times a week, and I go to Tae Kwan Doe twice a week. Our sex life rekindled in earnest. I guess that both of us realized that we couldn't take anything for granted ever again.

Karla is getting married in three months, and Melissa is deeply involved with the wedding planning. Katie is pregnant and already knows it's going to be a boy. Both girls call virtually every day to check on us.

Karla moved in with us for the first few weeks I was home. Because I was still very tender, I slept in the guest room. Sometime during each night, I would hear my bedroom door open, and Karla would peer in. I know she was just checking on me. However, I was somewhat relieved when Karla finally went back to her apartment. I mean, I love that she was so concerned about me, but I really didn't need another wife. Melissa and I worry about each other too much as it is. And when we started sleeping together again, I'd wake up when I'd feel her reach out to touch me and make sure I was still there. I'm not ashamed to admit that I do the same thing.

At the very beginning of all this, I desperately needed to know why my wife had left me. Now I know. She left me because she loved me.