Robert Franklin had had enough. Enough of the bitching and the moaning, enough of the constant put-downs and enough of the humiliation. In short, He'd had enough of his wife!
Over the past few months the phrase "fast-track" had been utilised often in Franklin's house. Fresh out of university, Franklin's young wife, Jennifer had recently embarked on what was sure to be a sparkling career in the police force. Her qualifications and post graduate training had set her well aside from the usual recruits and had ensured that she entered the force immediately at inspector level.
The whole situation had not so much changed his wife's personality, Franklin realised, but more heightened it. Jennifer had always been a bitch, but since her new found high-flying position and the automatic respect that it commanded, she had turned into a super-bitch! But all that was about to change, Franklin thought to himself. At any moment now, one of Jennifer's sergeant's would be arriving and, if the evidence that he had gathered was as good as he had said earlier on the phone, then young Jennifer was about to be put in her place once and for all!
The musical tomes of the door chimes shook Franklin out of his day dream. This would be sergeant Malloy, he thought, as he rose to answer the door.
Sure enough, the large frame of Lee Malloy filled the open doorframe and white teeth, accentuated by dark brown skin smiled back at Franklin. The two men exchanged handshakes and Franklin marvelled at the size of the black officer's hands. Silently he led the police officer into the lounge and they both sat.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Franklin." Malloy started.
"Call me Rob, please."
"Of course. Rob. Things have been a little hectic since your wife...er...I mean Inspector Franklin started at the station. It's completely crazy! She's been throwing her weight around and moving experienced officers from one case to another, introducing time wasting procedures and generally pissing everyone off. Morale is at an all time low and I just knew that something had to be done about it. From what you said on the phone, Mr. ...er...Rob, it seems like you've got much the same problem at home."
"That's absolutely right, Lee. Jennifer has been completely impossible over the last few months. I agree that something has to be done."
For a moment the two men sat in silence, their eyes locked together.
"You mentioned that you might have something that we could use?" Franklin eventually continued.
"I have. But it's a little...er...delicate."
"We are agreed that we have to do something, so you'd better show me."
Malloy reached into his pocket and slowly withdrew a brown envelope. He placed it on the table in front of Franklin.
Rob Franklin's fingers trembled slightly as he picked the envelope up and opened it. The photograph's spilled out onto the table and he looked down at them. Several glossy pictures displayed the unmistakable figure of his wife Jennifer, bare breasted and lowering her head over an unknown man's groin.
"They were taken by the security camera in cell three," Malloy explained quietly. "The man had been arrested for drug supply and, as you can see, they get a lot more graphic."
The hairs on the back of Franklin's neck bristled as he looked through the photographs one by one. They seem to have been taken at one or two minute intervals and, as they progressed, he was forced to look at his wife as she sucked the prisoner to a shattering climax.
"I know it must be difficult," Malloy continued, but I think if you confront her with these photographs she will have no choice but to back off on us all for a while. It may even help things at home as well."
Franklin was about to answer when his words were silenced by the sound of a key in the front door.
"What? I thought she was at the station, Lee?"
"Damn! She was!" Malloy said worriedly. This was not the sort of confrontation that he had been planning. "She must have left early!"
Franklin tried to quickly shuffle the damning photographs back into the envelope, but it was too late. Jennifer had already opened the door and was walking into the lounge.
"What the hell are you doing here, sergeant?" she shouted when she saw Malloy in her home. "I thought I'd posted you to traffic duty!"
"And you should be at work too, you useless shit! She continued at her husband. She glanced down quickly at the scattered pictures. "What are those?"
Franklin took a deep breath. This wasn't how he had planned the confrontation either, but it seemed like it was now or never. He picked the first photograph up and thrust it into Jennifer's face.
"You recognise this?" he shouted at her.
Jennifer Franklin was, for the first time in her life, almost lost for words. Rob and Lee looked at her as her face turned a deathly shade of white.
"Wha...wha..what? Where did you get this?" she stammered.
Robert Franklin was in control, he was calling the shots now.
"Doesn't matter where I got it really, does it? The first fact is that this is you in the photo, and the second fact is that if you're boss found out about it then there would be no more high-flying career for you!"
"Why are you doing this?" Jennifer was beginning to shed fake tears. Franklin had seen this before and knew it was just another tactic to get her own way.
"And you can cut that out for a start!" he cried. "You know why I'm doing this. Why we're doing this," he nodded towards Malloy, "You've been such a bitch to everyone recently. It's about time you were put in your place!"
"What are you going to do?" Jennifer asked with a sharp intake of breath. She wasn't used to being spoken to in this manner.
It was a good question and one that Franklin had not been prepared for. What were they going to do? He and Malloy hadn't got around to discussing that part of the plan.
How the thought even entered his head, Franklin would never really understand. It was just one of those spur of the moment things. A chance comment that could lead anywhere.
