Chapter 1 

We were married for over 20 years now. We met in college and had two years to before we graduated. As soon as we graduated school we got married. She went with an up and coming law firm and I began teaching in high school. I soon found out I did not like the teaching job. The students irritated me to no end. Kids had more money than I did. They would drive to school in new cars or very near new, while I drove a 10-year-old one. I quit the job after 3 years.

I got a job in advertising firm, but as a manintence supervisor. They pay was a little better and work was great. There was something-new going on every day and I could come and go as I wished. Not like the school where you were trapped with the students. My main job was hiring contractors to make changes in the building and to see that they did it right. I had a computer department under me and I loved that. I would bring my machine in and they would make changes and fix it for me, all charged to the firm.

Five years into the job and there was a big shake up. They brought a new C.E.O. in, to straight the company out and get it back in the black. He came to town and I met him in a bar one night. He didn’t mine talking to me because I wasn’t the dead weight he was looking for. If only he knew exactly what I did I would be gone. I found out he left his wife back up north till she could break away. He figured it would take her 6 months to clear her desk before she came down. She was a lawyer like my wife. The two of us hit it rite off. For that 6 months I took him fishing, hunting and all kinds of sporting events. The stuff I did with him was cheap stuff but we were like a couple of kids and had a ball. He would want me to go to big events that he attend but I begged off most of them. They cost a lot of money and I like to save money. He would get all kinds of free tickets for every event there was in town, all free through the firm. Later when his wife came down he would still give me all kinds of tickets. I would pass them on through my friends, some time picking up a few dollars.

I had a buddy, Lance Jackson that I grew up with; he was a detective on the police force. I used to party with him and his buddies a lot. It saved me money on speeding tickets and DWI. They got the best of it because I used to give them free tickets to events. Lance the detective was lucky to have a job because he drank so much, even on the job. But like me, he got by some how. If they knew the shit we did as kids, he would never be on the force.

Chapter 2
It was Saturday, first week in May. The wife and the 15-year-old daughter Patty went shopping and I was in the basement getting some fishing gear ready for the up coming season. My 13 year old daughter came down stairs all most in tears. I asked her what was wrong and she explained that mom got mad at her because when she answered the phone durne the week that she didn’t get the persons name. She said there was just a call for mom and the man would not give his name when she asked for it and hung up. I told her not to worry about it might have been just a salesman. Jane went back upstairs and I went to where the phone box was. Two years ago we had crank calls and I put in a recording device from Radio Shack and caller id. I never told the wife or kids about it because I didn’t want to upset them with it. Nothing ever came of it and eventually forgot about it all together, until now. I looked at last number and it said out of area which meant it was more or less like I said sales, so I went back to cleaning fishing gear.

After lunch I jumped on the computer to check my email. While on the computer I check the sports scores and then tried to shut it down but it locked up on me. Dam AOL it happens a lot but I said I would fix it later. I would have to reinstall AOL. It made me feel important because the rest of the family didn’t know how to fix it and they would have to ask me to do it. I then headed back in the basement doing the fishing gear. Jane came down again saying he called again and didn’t give a name I was going to laugh at her but with the look her face I figured I better not. I told her that some people were rude like that and we can’t get along with everyone so not to worry about it. She started up the stairs and then turned around and said it was strange the man asked for Carolyn. It took me by surprise because no one has called her that since college. This time I walked over to the phone box again and check the number same thing, out of area. I plugged it the phone recorder this time, thinking to my self, Lance would be proud of me, a little detective works.

At 5 PM I got in the car with Jane and head for the mall to pick up mom and Patty. On the way home we decided what we would eat and we picked it up to take it home. After dinner I took the two girls and went to watch a high school baseball game. Carol said she would stay home and just relax while the house is quiet. We got there just as the game started and stayed for the complete game. When we got home Carol seems to be in a funny mood, couldn’t put my finger on it but she wasn’t with it at all. Well you know how a guy thinks, never wake a sleeping dog, and don’t look for trouble. The girls asked if they got any calls and she said no, that she was on the computer all the time. Needless to say we didn’t have sex that night.

Sunday I slept to 10 am. Carol woke me up with a big kiss and hugs; she was all bubbly, complete difference from last night. She said that the kids were up and we would eat in a half-hour. As she was leaving, she turned and said, “the kids are waiting on you to fix the computer, it won’t dial out again”. I told her I would be right down. As I fixed the computer, the kids were standing there arguing about who would use it first. Carol came in to tell us breakfast was on. The kids joke with her about breaking the computer when she used it. She said it worked fine for her when she was on. I looked surprised at her because she wasn’t on it at all. I knew that because I never fixed it since I was on Saturday. Computer was fixed and I forgot about how Carol, could use the computer, when we started to eat.

In the afternoon every one was gone shopping, I was home alone so I headed for the basement for a beer and a little TV. I took a beer out of the refrigerator and figured I better plug the phone in on the bar in case someone called, you couldn’t hear the upstairs phone in the basement. As I did that I remembered about the recorder so I checked it. It was at the end of the tape, which surprised me. I guess I hit the wrong button and it just recorded for an hour straight. So I rewound the tape and started to play it. It was Carol on the tape and the guy who called Saturday that didn’t give his name to Jane. It turned out that he was an old college chum that we went to school with.

Justin Clark was his name and I didn’t remember too much about him, just that I didn’t like him. He was engaged to a cheerleader back then and he would make a lot of passes at my wife when his girl wasn’t around. I didn’t want to listen to the tape, but then he said he was going to come into town and the two of them should get together for dinner, this peaked my interest. Carol never replied to him to his get together, good girl Carol, I thought. Before I knew it, the tape ran out, he had hinted 3 times that they should meet but she never did answer him. I thought carol you are the perfect wife. Then I laughed to my self. Dam her, she never told me about him calling at all. Shit I wonder how much longer they talked and what they finally came up with. Dam now I was pissed. Like all guys when you are pissed you get a beer. I sat down and tried to figure it all out. Shit I said, “she talked to him over an hour, she must be going to meet him or why didn’t she tell me about it?”

When they came home after awhile I asked her who she was talking to so long to on the phone Saturday when we were at the game, I said Lance tried to call me for over a hour and the line was tied up. She replied that she was on the computer, so she said, “I guess that was it”. I knew she wasn’t on the computer because I needed to fix it. So she was lying to me but I didn’t say anything to her. She then said Lance never calls here, he always calls your cell phone. She caught me, I told her he was out and battery died on it and didn’t know my cell phone number but did know house number so he tried that. She asked what he wanted so I told her he wanted to throw a party and wanted me to supply the place. She said he is always partying and laughed it off. Now I had to call Lance to get our stories straight and to bring him into my plot. Dam this would get big if I let it.