Coincidence Happens

Todger65 lends his valuable time to edit my writing and I thank him very much.

Coincidence Happens

She cheated and he wants to know why

~~~~~{}~~~~~

Life can be strange. Take coincidences for example. My wife hadn't had sex with me for nine months and I had no idea why. She refused to talk about it, and I resorted to jack-off material for relief. I got tired of looking at the same old contrived porn, and I decided that I needed another form of titillation. My thoughts turned to erotic literature because I thought the imagination element of erotic stories really spoke to me. A simple internet search provided me with a website, I begin to read, and became hooked.

Now, imagine some guy writing for this erotic site has an ongoing affair with his neighbor's wife and this guy decides to write about it. Standard stuff in erotic literature, and nearly always based purely in fiction.

By some strange coincidence I read his story. The writing was crap, and I would normally move on to another story, except he hadn't even tried to disguise anything, including names. He probably thought no one would ever make a connection. I'm sure he never thought that his married lover's husband would read his story. Yeh, coincidence, or in other words, shit happens.

The story was quite detailed in not only the sex acts, but in how they were still ongoing. What he didn't write was how he convinced Miranda to break her vows. The earliest tryst was roughly six months ago. How long it took them to get to that point I didn't know, but I did know that six months ago my wife betrayed our marriage.

I was reading from my pad while Miranda sat across from me on the couch watching some insipid housewife reality show. It amazes me in hindsight how calm I was. I scrolled back to the beginning of the story and got out of my chair. I walked over to Miranda, took the remote from her hand, and shut the television off. I set the pad on her lap and leaned down. I gently held her face with my hands and looked deep into her eyes, "Jack Robinson."

Her eyes gave her away first, then the color left her face, "I know everything Miranda and before our marriage ends, I want to know one thing. Why?"

"I didn't have a choice!"

I took my hands from her face before the shaking was too noticeable, "Yes, you did. You didn't go about your day, then suddenly, out of nowhere, betray your marriage. You didn't think so little of me that in a moment any thought of me and our marriage left your head.

"It's been nearly nine months since you would let me touch you and six months since you started fucking him. The three months in between sure built up to something. Again, I ask you, why?"

Tears were falling from her eyes now, "Don't tell me you don't know! You fucked her first! You betrayed us first!"

I was stunned, "Miranda since the day we met I have never been with anyone else. I've never even held another woman's hand, or kissed another woman, and I damn sure never fucked one."

Miranda grabbed her phone and fiddled with it. She held it up to show me the screen, "What about this?"

The picture was of my co-worker Chasey. At first glance it looked like she was in my arms. My naked back was to the camera and my head was slightly turned toward her, making it easy to see my face. I looked closer at the picture and began to pick out some anomalies. I walked over to the mantle and grabbed one of Miranda's favorite pictures. It was the two of us at the beach in a random shot by the hotel photographer.

I took the picture over and took Miranda's phone from her hand, "Look at me on your phone, then look at this picture. Do you see it?"

It was as obvious as the nose on her face that the beach picture of me was a perfect match for the allegedly naked me on her phone. Why she hadn't figured that out was a mystery to me.

"Now, let's talk about Chasey. Look at the knotty pine paneling behind her head. Don't you find it a bit odd that the seams are at an angle?"

I rotated the phone until the panel seams were vertical, "Well, look at that. She's not lying down, and that look on her face isn't her gasping in ecstasy, she's sitting up laughing. Do you recognize that paneling now? Mack's Pub has that exact paneling. You should know. We used to go there often enough until nine months ago.

"Someone faked this picture, and I'd bet every penny I have that it was Jack Robinson. We'll get to him, but what I want to know now is why you never said anything and never gave me the chance to defend myself. You gave up on me without trying at all."

The shocked look on Miranda's face turned to sorrow and the tears ran down her face. I pointed at the pad I had put on her lap, "Read the story and we'll talk. At this moment I consider our marriage over, but I'm willing to listen. I can't imagine a scenario in which I could forgive you for this so whatever you come up with better be good. I have an errand to run, and I will be back when I get here."

Miranda had entered the numb stage as her situation overwhelmed her, "What are you going to do? Please don't do something that will get you arrested. I'm begging you, please!"

I couldn't help it, "Why? Are you worried something will happen to your lover?"

Her face turned red, "I could care less if that son of a bitch lives or dies. I care about you."

"You sure have an odd way of showing it."

I went to our home computer, pulled up the story, and printed out a copy. I left the house and drove around the block to Jack's house. About nine months ago Miranda and I attended a neighborhood cookout at our new next door neighbor's house. Jack and his wife Debbie attended and I happened to get into a conversation with Debbie. She mentioned that Jack had moved to the night shift, and it seemed like she never saw him when he was awake. He did his sleeping before going to work and Debbie was left to her own devices during the evening. I knew that he would have left home for his shift by this point and that Debbie would be home alone. As much as I hated to hurt her, she needed to know the truth.

I knocked on the door and a nervous Debbie answered, "Jeremy? Jack's at work. You'll have to catch him on the weekend."

I held out the printed story, "Jack isn't who I came to talk to. Please read this, then, if you want, we'll talk. I'm going to sit in my car. If you don't want to talk about it after you read what I gave you, turn off the porch light, and I'll leave."

I turned away from a very confused woman and got comfortable in my car. The story wouldn't take that long to read, but it was going to take her a while to process what she read. I was tinkering with the radio an hour later when a tap on my window made me jump. Debbie was standing in the street. She waived for me to follow her and went back into the house.

I closed the front door and walked into the living room where she sat waiting on the couch. I sat down in a chair across from her and tried to get a read on her. It was obvious that she had been crying and the sadness on her face nearly undid me. She fought to get a grip on her emotions, then looked at me, "Jeremy, are you sure that this isn't some crazy coincidence? Maybe the story is just fiction after all."

I sadly shook my head, "I've already confirmed it with Miranda. Jack gave her a doctored picture that made it look like Chasey and I were having sex. He used a beach picture of me and a picture of Chasey at Mack's to do it. He convinced Miranda that I had cheated on her."

I could tell her thoughts were running at a mile a second. Her brow wrinkled as something occurred to her, and I decided to find out what it was, "Talk to me Debbie. Something's on your mind."

She paused for a moment, and I thought she wasn't going to share. It turned out that she was trying to get her thoughts in order, "About a year ago Jack changed. Something happened that made him a nervous wreck. He tried to hide it, but there was no way he could hide from me. I asked him every way I could think of, but he wouldn't talk about it.

"He usually pays the household bills and I have always been glad to let him. I decided to check our bank account and was shocked when I found that our savings were gone, and our checking account barely had anything in it. When I confronted him about it he broke down and cried. He'd gotten in deep with some gangster types with his gambling.

"I knew he occasionally gambled, but I had no idea how addicted he was. He owed them a ton of money, more money than we had any hope of ever paying back. He became so paranoid he wouldn't sit in the living room because the picture window faced the street. The stress was killing him.

"Then suddenly, nine months ago, his whole demeanor changed. He was smiling again. When I asked him about it he told me that he had things taken care of and we didn't have to worry anymore. I asked him how that could be, and he told me not to sweat the details, just be happy it would soon be over."

I felt a shiver run through my body. Something was definitely not right with this. I needed to talk to Miranda, "Please do me a favor Debbie. Don't say anything to Jack until I have a chance to get to the bottom of this. I have some idea about what is going on, but I need more information before Jack has a chance to cover his tracks."

Debbie's face turned ugly with anger, "As much as I want to confront the son of a bitch, I'd prefer to have the whole story before I divorce his lying, cheating, ass. He hasn't paid any attention to me in months anyway. I doubt he'd notice if I danced naked in the street. Don't take too long though."

I nodded and stood, "I appreciate your patience. I will get to the bottom of this. I let you know as soon as I find out anything."

I left and went back to the house. I began to get a suspicion that Miranda wasn't the willing participant in cheating that I thought she was. When I walked into the house she was still sitting on the couch. It didn't look like she had moved since I left and the look on her face scared me. She seemed almost catatonic, "Miranda?

"Miranda!"

She gave me a startled look and the tears flooded down her face. I sat down beside her on the couch, "Miranda, I just talked to Jack's wife Debbie, and she told me some interesting things. Now I need you to tell me everything. If you hold back, I will know and there will be no saving our marriage."

She looked at me with a glimmer of hope, "I'll tell you everything I swear.

"It all started at the neighborhood barbeque nine months ago. I was wandering around talking to people and I noticed the beautiful garden nook nestled at the back of the property. I went to investigate and was captivated with the little bit of magic they had made. I was sitting on the garden bench enjoying the space when Jack walked over and sat down next to me.

"He started in with some heavy flirting and it made me very uncomfortable. I got up to leave and that's when my world started ending.

"He grabbed my hand and before I could slap his stupid ass, he held up his other hand with his phone, "Miranda, you need to listen to me before you do something stupid. I know about your husband's affair with that girl he works with." That's when he showed me the picture. I was devastated and I guess that's just what he wanted.

"He refused to talk about it that night and insisted that we meet while you were at work so we could talk about it. There was a lot I wanted to know, and I agreed.

"In the beginning he acted like a concerned neighbor that was trying to help me. After a while he started with the flattery, then tried to seduce me. I wasn't interested. As far as I was concerned my husband was cheating on me and the last thing I wanted was sex. Especially sex with a married man.

"Six months ago, he told me that he had no reason to stay quiet. He was going to email the picture to people at your work. If it got around that you were screwing Chasey, you would definitely lose your job. That would make it difficult for you to pay back the gangsters you owed money to.

"He convinced me that you were a gambling addict in deep with some serious criminals. I had decided that I didn't know you at all. If you could cheat on me, then it wasn't too much of a stretch to believe you had a gambling problem. He made it clear that bad things would happen to you if you stopped paying your interest on the money you owed.

"He said that there was one way to ensure you kept your job, and your health. If I agreed to have sex with him, he'd reconsider sending the picture. I felt the walls closing in and agreed. He took me right then and there.

"I don't mean to hurt you Jeremy, but you need to know the truth. I hated it, and I hated him, but after a while I began to like the sex. I didn't really have a choice, and I guess being his sexual hostage excited me after a while. I don't know how long he would have held that picture over my head, but things changed recently.

"He started talking about me having sex with other men. He had some friends that he wanted me to meet, and he got very angry when I refused. Yesterday he came over and told me that if I didn't cooperate, he'd make sure that you lost your job. I told him I would think about it and he left.

"That's the moment I knew I needed to come clean with you. I needed to know if I was sacrificing myself for nothing. You were cheating on me and in trouble with gangsters. I wasn't sure that you cared about me at all anymore, but I needed to give you a chance. As much as you had hurt me, I didn't want you to suffer at their hands.

"I was sitting on the couch with that stupid housewives show on, screwing up my courage to tell you, when you walked over and said his name. My world ended in that moment."

After everything that had happened it wouldn't be surprising if I didn't believe a word she said. Here's the thing though, Miranda is a terrible liar. She is incapable of telling a lie without giving herself away. Lying is so far out of her comfort zone that she can't be convincing when she tries to tell one. She's at heart an honest person.

I put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug, "We've got quite the mess on our hands and we need to tread carefully until I get the whole story. I have my suspicions, but I need more information. One thing I'm going to do right now is talk to Chasey. She needs to know what's hanging over her head."

Fortunately, our company had set up calling trees for us to use in the event of a disaster. Chasey was on mine and I gave her a call. I recognized her voice when she said "Hello?"

"Chasey, Jeremy here. We have a bad situation going on and it affects you. You've been dragged into something that you didn't ask for and I need to explain. Will you meet with me and my wife so we can talk?"

Chasey didn't hesitate, "Sure, where and when?"

"How about my house, right now?"

"I'll be there shortly."

I ended the call and sat waiting with Miranda. I could understand Miranda's vulnerability when it came to Chasey. Chasey is a twenty-four year old beauty that I work closely with. I've always been attracted to her and I knew without a doubt she was attracted to me. She'd made it clear that if I wasn't married, she'd be all over me like a cheap suit. We flirted regularly and I felt guilty enough about that. There was no way that I was going to cheat on Miranda. Chasey became a fun fantasy and a good work friend, and that was all she would ever be.

I didn't know where she lived, but it must be nearby because she arrived within minutes. I greeted her at the door and escorted her into the living room. She saw Miranda's face and sat down next to her, "Oh Miranda, are you alright?"

"No Chasey, I'm not, and I'm afraid you've been dragged into it. A man is blackmailing me and he is using this picture to do it."

Miranda showed Chasey the picture on her phone and Chasey's eyes shot up, followed by a look of total confusion, "That never happened."

"I know now dear. None of this is your fault. Jeremy, please explain all this craziness. I'll add anything I know that you miss."

I knew that she was struggling to keep from breaking down completely, and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about her situation. I told Chasey everything I knew so far.

Chasey was clearly angry, but she also made it clear that she wasn't mad at us, "We need to get to the bottom of this. I suspect the high points will be that Jack is in debt with some gangster types and wanted to use Miranda to pay off some debt. He was planning on offering her to someone for certain.

"I'm sure he got both of our pictures the same way, using his cell phone. You were right next door to the party, and it wouldn't have been hard for him to sneak in while you were tied up next door. He was probably casing your house, looking for something of value, when he saw the picture on the mantle. He'd taken a picture of me at the pub, and it was a matter of a few minutes before he had the two pictures edited together.

"What we don't know is, why Miranda? Why not any other woman, or his own wife? We need to find out his motive for all of this, but that's secondary. Right now, we need to know everything we can about him and what he's up to. I don't for a second think that he's going to give up on his plan. We need intelligence and I know just how to get it."

Wow! I was impressed with her acceptance of the facts we knew, and her ability to get to the root of what we needed, "We're all ears."

Chasey pulled out her phone, "My brother is a private detective. He works primarily for lawyers and he's really good at it. What do you think? Should I call him?"

Well duh! Hell yes, call him, "Miranda? I think we need his help."

She nodded, "Hell yes, call him!"

Chasey placed the call and I served drinks while we waited for her brother Lee to arrive. It was getting late and we were all mentally exhausted, especially Miranda, when Lee arrived. Chasey introduced her older brother and we got down to business. I went over everything we knew with him and his response was immediate, "You couldn't keep me away from this. That son of a bitch used my sister as a weapon and is trying to destroy your lives. I have my suspicions already about Jack's motives based on what you told me.

"We're between cases right now and I have a few guys I can use until a client calls. Let me see how much I can get accomplished before I have to get them back to our bread and butter."

"Regardless, I'll be on this full time until it's finished."

It didn't take that long, it just felt like forever. Miranda and I clung to each other and barely acknowledged the rest of the world. We manufactured an excuse that Miranda had to suddenly leave town to care for her sick aunt. Miranda packed a suitcase and for all anyone knew; I was driving her to the airport.

Our destination was a bit closer to home than that. Chasey had insisted that Miranda stay at her place until Jack was dealt with. Until that day I had no idea how close Chasey lived to us. I could have walked to her house in ten minutes if I walked between a few houses. I hoped that Miranda didn't make connections that didn't exist because of Chasey's proximity.

It was a lonely five days. Miranda was hidden away at Chasey's and I couldn't be seen going near her place. I took a calculated risk dropping Miranda off there in the first place. I wouldn't be seeing my wife again until we dealt with the mother fucker named Jack.

On Friday, five days after he started, Lee had some answers. As we had suspected, Jack was in deep to his bookie. Lee was sitting in my kitchen while Chasey, Miranda, and Debbie were gathered at Chasey's place and were listened in from the phone. Lee continued, "Jack likes to stop for a drink at the Early Drink before he goes home each day. The bar is for people that work nights and want to relax after work. They do a booming morning to evening business."