Your Love

"What about the chunky slut?" asked the one he'd called John.

"From what I got off of the audio tape, I think she's his secretary. But she was bragging about how much money her husband makes," said the first guy.

The one named Don reached into his pocket and pulled out two bags. "Let's take both of them," he said.

They put one bag over my head and one over John's. John tried to struggle and they hit him over the head. He was out like a light.

They picked me up and carried me somewhere. I could tell that we were in an elevator and then we were outside. I remember being in a vehicle and then we were transferred to a boat. I have no idea how long we were on the boat. Then we went back in a car or truck and finally into a building. We had changed directions so many times that I had no idea where we were.

The next thing I knew they were talking to me.

"Hey, bitch," said one of the guys. "I'm going to hand you a phone I want you to call your husband and tell him that if he ever wants to see you alive again we need some money. I think he can probably come up with twenty grand, right? Make it twenty one. That would be easier to divide three ways."

I knew that Wayne had almost a hundred thousand dollars put away as his share of the cost of the business that he and his colleagues were planning on starting. I also knew that Wayne would pay to get me back.

"Okay," I said.

"And you pops," he said. "You can call your old lady and ask her for the same thing."

"But we don't have that kind of money," whined Wayne. "We have barely any money in savings. We just put three kids through college. I do have a retirement program but I can't touch it before I turn 62. That's three years from now."

"Sucks to be you," said one guy.

"Take him back to the boat and dump him," said the voice I recognized as Don.

I knew that if they killed John, they probably wouldn't let me go either. They couldn't afford witnesses. But even if they did let me go, there would be an investigation. And I didn't want what had happened here to be looked into.

Wayne would believe that we'd been kidnapped. But when I got back he would be so glad that I was safe that I was pretty sure I could convince him to just let it go.

"Don, can I say something?" I asked.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked.

"I want us all to get what we want," I said. "I want to make a deal."

"Start talking, Chunky," he said.

"All you want is the money, right?" I asked.

"Absolutely," he said.

"I'll call home," I said. "You can talk to my husband. If I talk to him he won't be as afraid. He might misunderstand how serious this is. You can ask him to ransom not just me but John as well. But make sure he keeps the police, both here in Jamaica and back in the states out of it."

"Alright, Lady, it's your ass if this doesn't go well," he said. "And I'm not talking about sticking my dick in it."

I dialed the phone he handed me and then handed it back.

* * * * * *

Wayne

Why the hell was this always happening to me? Again I awoke naked and wrapped up in Alyssa. This time she had one leg thrown across my body and one arm wrapped protectively against me. Her pretty head was lying on my chest.

I heard the phone and noticed that her eyes had popped open. "Call from John Jimmy," said the robotic caller ID. I wondered why the hell that bastard would be calling me.

"Hey Wayne," said an unfamiliar voice. "Let me put the little woman on for a second."

The next thing I heard was Josie's voice. "Honey, this isn't a joke," she said. "I'm in trouble. You have to help me. I swear I'll pay you back every cent of it."

The unfamiliar voice came back on the phone. "Wayne, how's your day going?" he asked.

"Actually, it's one of the best days I've ever had," I said.

"Oh boy, I hate to ruin it, but please remember that this is only business. There's nothing personal in it. So let's get started. My associates and I are here in beautiful Jamaica and we have your chubby little wife and her boss/lover... " He paused and there was no sign of shock coming over the phone. Wayne didn't react at all.

"Wayne it sounds as if the news that the two of them are together does not surprise you. Anyway if you would like her back, I'd need for you to wire me forty two thousand dollars first thing tomorrow morning. In all fairness, I have to tell you that only half of that amount is for your wife. She seemed to believe that you would be willing to pay for the return of her lover as well. If not you only need half of the money and I would be perfectly willing to dispose of her boss in a manner that would result in no traces of him ever being found."

I had no idea what to say.

"I realize that this is rather shocking news," he said. "What time is it there in Michigan?"

"It's just past noon here," I said. "And it's a Sunday. I'm not sure I can get the money together before late morning tomorrow. I can't just go to an ATM and pull it out."

"I understand completely," he said. "So let's reset this for twenty four hours from now. First thing in the morning I'll call you again with the name you'll be wiring the money to. I think it best that we use Western Union. And you will explain to the people both at your bank and at the Western Union office that you are buying a boat. That should make them less suspicious. I don't have to tell you that if you contact the police ... Well you'll still get your wife back. But instead of one big fat piece, you'll get hundreds of little fat pieces. I'll call you back later to talk about some very interesting video that you might not want anyone to see. Goodbye, Wayne. You have a pleasant afternoon and get back to what you were doing."

The phone clicked off, leaving me stunned.

"I'm calling the police," said Alyssa.

"No, Lyssa, they might hurt Josie," I said. "The police are always fucking things up."

"Let them," she said. "It won't be our fault. And she cheated on you anyway. Why do you even want her back?"

"We're married," I said.

"Not anymore," she hissed. "There is no way in hell I'll let her hurt you again."

"Maybe it wasn't her fault," I said. "Maybe she was being blackmailed or coerced."

"Maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt," she spat. "Wayne, I love you, but you're an idiot. I am not going to sit here and watch that bitch pull the wool over your eyes any more."

She started grabbing her clothes and got dressed. She grabbed me as she walked by and kissed me. "Call me, dummy," she said.

"I thought your name was Alyssa," I said.

"Ha ha ha," she said. "Wayne, there is nothing I won't do for you. But I care too much about you to watch you do this to yourself. When you get tired of Josie's bullshit, put me at the top of your list okay?"

I knew that I was making a mistake the second she walked out the door.

I started making calls then. I called John's wife, Martha, to tell her what was going on. She asked if she could come over so we could talk about it. And she sounded really pissed over the phone.

When she got there, I was surprised. I'd never seen Martha before but she didn't look the way I expected. She was a thin, bird like woman with a no nonsense demeanor. She had beautiful long gray hair that fell to her shoulders.

"Mr. Brady, are you sure you're not mistaken?" she asked. "Perhaps someone is playing a joke on you."

"You can call me Wayne," I said. "And I wish it was a joke."

"But John isn't in Jamaica," she said. "John is in Florida. He's there with his uncle. They go on this fishing trip a couple of times a year."

I held out the phone to her. "Call him," I said. If he or his uncle answers the phone one of our questions will be answered.

She punched in the number and put the phone on speaker.

"Heyello," said an old sounding voice.

"Uncle Willie, this is Martha. Are you and John catching any fish?" she asked.

"Nope, we ain't catching shit!" he said. "Cuz we ain't fishin'. I ain't seen hide nor hair a that nephew a mine in ... Mebbe eight years."

The look in Martha's eyes told me everything. It told me that she was pissed and that I wanted to stay on her good side. She turned to look at me then.

"Okay what the fuck is going on and start at the beginning," she said. So I did. I told her who I was and who I was married to. I told her about the trip to Jamaica and what I had discovered shortly after Josie left. I showed her the emails and text messages. She stopped me there.

"Can you make copies of these for me?" she asked.

"Why?" I asked. "The texts and emails have nothing to do with the kidnapping."

"No, but they'll be the perfect evidence in my divorce," she said. She tilted her head slightly and looked at me. "Surely you aren't going to try to stay married to her. Haven't you ever heard the expression, "Once a cheater always a cheater?" I nodded.

"Aren't you interested in why this happened?" I asked.

"They were fucking each other for years," she hissed. "Young man do you have a good job?"

"Yes," I said.

"Have you ever beaten your wife?" she asked.

"Of course not," I said.

"Do the two of you engage in relations fairly regularly?" she asked.

"Yep," I said.

"Let the bitch walk," she said. "Don't try to save her. Write the marriage off as a loss. You're a good looking young man. You can replace her with someone else who won't cheat on you. If you were some kind of bum, or mistreated her, it would be different. Let the bitch walk."

I finished telling her about the phone call and the amount of ransom that the kidnappers wanted for Josie and for both. I found out then that although John didn't have any money. His wife could easily afford to pay the ransom. Her father was on the board of directors of the company that John worked for.

She refused to even try to gather even half of the money. She thought the possibility of her doing so was ludicrous. "Why should I bother paying the expense of divorcing him in court and probably having to pay him some type of support when I can let these idiots dispose of him for me for free?" she asked. "Seriously, you should consider doing the same thing. It's a far cheaper and much more efficient way to get rid of a cheating spouse and your sympathy cred among women your age will go through the roof. It's your choice and your money, but I won't pay a fucking dime to get John back."

She gave me a phone number and an email address. "Fax the copies to this number or email them to this address," she said. "It was nice meeting you, young man."

And then she left. She paused in the doorway. "If you speak to John, tell him that if he does somehow survive this situation, not to bother coming home. Tell him he no longer has a home, a family or any children."

I sat down on the sofa and took my head between my hands. The tears started then. I wondered why the hell all of this was happening to me. Somewhere during the wondering a pair of very soft arms wrapped themselves around me.

"I won't let you go through this alone," she said. "But for the record, I agree with the old lady. Let the bitch walk. She got herself into this. She fucked herself into this. She can fuck herself out of it."

"I can't get the money until tomorrow," I said.

"Are you really going to pay for both of them?" she asked.

"I have to," I said. "It's the right thing to do."

"You're going to pay money to save the guy who's fucking your wife behind your back?" she asked shaking her head. I just nodded.

"Okay Boy scout," she said kissing me. "Take me for a drive in that car of yours and then bring me home and take me to bed."

"Alyssa," I said.

"Wayne, if Josie wasn't in your life, is it possible that you and I could be together?"

"No Alyssa," I said. "It wouldn't be right. Your parents would hate me. I'm married to your sister."

"Forget about all of that, Wayne," she said. "Could you and I be together?" I looked at her. I looked into her beautiful eyes and nodded my head.

"I love you Alyssa," I said. "At least as much as I loved what I thought that Josie was, maybe more."

"Let's go for that drive," she said.

I backed the Mustang out of the garage and we drove. We drove and looked at things and tried to forget what I had to do the next day. When it got dark we headed for home. I let Alyssa direct me to a place that she claimed had really great food. We got it to go.

Twenty minutes later, we were eating our meals on the deck under a beautiful moon.

"So how does this play out?" she asked.

"Tomorrow, I pay for your sister and her lover's safe return. They come home. I file for divorce. When the divorce is final, we wait a while and then you and I start dating. Then we have a talk with your parents and if they give us their blessing, we get engaged," I said.

"So you're gonna marry me, knowing what my sister turned out to be?" she asked.

"You're not like her, Alyssa," I said. "Is that okay, with you. I know it sounds like a long time, but I want you to have a chance to back out. You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Honey, if you only knew," she said. "If you only knew how long I've already waited for this."

We went to bed and made slow and wonderful love. We fell asleep in each other's arms. We woke up early on Monday. We made breakfast and sat down on the sofa together. I went to the bank and got cash for the transfer, while Alyssa sat by the phone. When I got back, we waited for a phone call that never came.

At about eleven a.m. Alyssa started unbuttoning our clothes. At a little after noon we were lying on the sofa kissing when the phone finally rang.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Honey," said Josie over the phone. "I just want o remind you that I love you and I will pay you back every dime of the money. I know it was supposed to go for your business."

"Uhm, Wayne, I don't know how I can possibly ever thank you for ..." began John.

"Fuck you, John," I said. "Martha told me to tell you not to bother coming home. She said you have no home, no family and no children."

"Wayne, I know we need to talk," said Josie. "I need to explain and I ..."

"Josie you don't need to explain anything. There's no reason for it," I said.

"Wayne as soon as you sent the money they let us go. We woke up this morning back in our same hotel room. As near as I can figure they took us out for a drive and put us on a boat and brought us back to our same room. They kept us in the dark so we wouldn't know we were back here. As soon as you gave them the money, they vanished," she said. "I'll be on the next plane home, Honey. We'll get through this."

"When did you send the money?" asked Alyssa.

"I didn't," I told her. "You were here the whole time. I have the cash here but no one asked for it. Do you think this was some kind of joke?"

"Honey, I have a funny feeling about this," she said. "Look, don't tell Josie that you didn't pay the money, okay?"

"Why?" I asked.

Before she could answer me, the phone rang again.

"Hello Wayne," said the voice from before. "This is Don. Don Alduck. Do you remember me?"

"Yes," I said. "I got a phone call from my wife. She said you'd already let her go."

"Yes we did," he said. "Our goals have been met. It was never about the money. We were trying to help a friend. Our friend is satisfied beyond belief. Before we go, I have a parting gift for you." He gave me a very long web address. And then he hung up the phone.

* * * * * *

Josie

I got lucky for the first time during the entire trip. I was able to trade my ticket in and move up to an earlier flight home. I couldn't wait to get the fuck out of Jamaica.

I guess that blaming an entire country for what I had done to myself was stupid. The hotel had been beautiful, as had been what little scenery I had seen. The people there, the actual Jamaicans had been very friendly as well.

What had happened to me there had been completely a fuck up of my own doing. The men who had kidnapped us ... I wasn't sure that we had actually been kidnapped anymore ... It seemed more like an elaborate prank.

But whatever it was the men who'd done it had sounded like Americans. Perhaps they were college students doing some sort of fraternity initiation stunt. Except for when they'd clubbed John over the head and he'd asked for that, they had never actually hurt us. They'd also never threatened us.

I was sure that except for the time in the car or truck and the short time on the boat that we had never actually left our room.

I remember going to sleep on the sofa the previous evening and waking up the following morning when the maid came in to clean. She'd even announced herself as she entered the room. I had taken the bag off of my head to find myself in our hotel room and it was spotless.

Our kidnappers had obviously wiped down every trace that they had ever been there.

The names they had used amongst each other were funny. I hadn't picked up on it while we were in their custody. Don Alduck, Mick Emouse and El Merfudd, with his clearly fake Spanish accent, seemed more and more like college students. But they were professional enough to take almost fifty thousand dollars from us.

They had also severely damaged my marriage. During the flight home I had plenty of time to think. I was sure that I could figure a way out of this. Perhaps I could convince Wayne that John and I were being framed by the kidnappers to make it appear that we'd been having an affair.

It kind of made sense. The only proof Wayne had of any affair was the word of three men who's stolen money from him. They were probably doing it to take the attention off of their actual crimes.

Why would I have an affair with a much older man who was far less handsome than my husband? It just didn't seem logical. Yep, when I got home, that would be my position. There had been no affair. It was my word against the word of a gang of thieves. Who would my husband believe?

I was very sure after giving it half of the first flight's duration to think about it.

Wayne's love for me was so thick that you could feel it. Perhaps I had taken it for granted of late, but it was a resource I could exploit. And once I was out of the mess I had made for myself, it was all over. No more long term affairs for this girl. I would especially never do anything this unbalanced or this stupid again.

I had gained nothing from the affair except abuse. John had gotten lots of fresher, younger, wilder pussy than he ever got from his dried up wife. I had gotten chained and beaten and teased. Okay ... I liked it. And okay Wayne would never give me that. He loved me too much.

As I thought about it, I realized that this darker side of me was a part of me. Maybe it was simply the fact that in my relationship with Wayne, I was clearly the dominant personality. Maybe I just occasionally needed someone else to be in charge. Perhaps that was something I could instill in Wayne so I wouldn't need to do something like this again.

But if not, I would keep future flings to one night stands.

I waited around the airport in Chicago for about an hour. It was stupid having to wait an hour for a forty-five minute flight home to Michigan. At least the airport was nice. I got something to eat and took a deep breath.

I went to a pay phone and called Wayne. It was strange. I would have expected him to be awaiting my call. But he never picked up. I left him a message to let him know that I would be at the airport in about an hour and asking him to pick me up. I told him that I loved him and that we had a lot to talk about.

When I got to the airport, I looked around for Wayne but he was nowhere in sight. I was just about to grab a taxi when I spotted my dad. He grabbed one of my bags and pointed me towards the exit.