At The Company Party I Took The Microphone And Said You're Probably All Wondering Why Your Boss Told

I sat up straight in bed and looked at the clock on the bedside table it was 2:30 a.m. the T-shirt I wore to bed was soaking wet as it always was when I had the dream I looked over at my wife and she was sound asleep I was relieved that I hadn't awakened her this time I must not have been ranting in my sleep I didn't know what triggered the dream but it was always the same it was a dream clouded version of the memories of an event that took place more than 2 years ago

in the dream I was sitting at the desk in my study sitting on a desk in front of me was a half full bottle of Scotch An Empty Glass and a 38 revolver I would pour myself a full glass of the scotch and drink it down in one large gulp it would always register in my dream that I neither tasted nor felt the effects of the scotch as it went down I would then pick up the gun and open the cylinder to make sure all six Chambers contain alive cartridge then I would say it's full

none missing I want to kill them I want to kill all three of those if I do it I will go to jail no I'll kill myself godamn them the words were not always the same but the idea was thank God the dreams had become much less frequent at first I had one every week and sometimes twice a week but now it was less than once in two months while I was dreaming it seems so real like it was really happening but the reality was that the dream bore very little resemblance to the actual event

there was a bottle of Scotch involved but I was on the sofa in the living room there was a 38 revolver I don't own a gun the threats to kill I don't remember ever making that night I got drunk very drunk and fell asleep on the sofa to make sense of this I have to go back years to begin the story the year 2002 was a bad one the problem started in January with my wife Cathy and me fighting with the city inp ectors over the design of the new home we were planning to build

the inspector had repeatedly rejected our application for a building permit until I finally got an engineer to sign off on our blueprint saying that what we wanted to do was safe and met all current building codes once we finally had the permit the fight began with our contractor to get in to stay on schedule and this lasted until we were able to move into the house in August in addition to the problems getting our house built Cathy and I were kept very busy in our chosen careers my name is Fred open and March 6th of

2002 marked the 6th anniversary for Kathy and me outside of the problems we were having getting our house built things had been going very well for us for my part I had been working for independent investigations Corporation IC in Indianapolis for 8 years IC is not a typical private detective agency we provide Investigative Services to large insurance companies our job was to investigate insurance claims for fraud retrieve stolen property or in any way possible mitigate our clients losses for our services we were paid a percentage of the value of items we recovered or what we

save the insurance companies I am a lead investigator which allows me to pick the cases I want to work on and assign cases to others I can tell you from my experience that this business is quite lucrative I was 30 years old and had just started to find some gray hairs and my otherwise thick head of dark brown hair I have been described as confident I have heard men Des described as handsome sexy hot a hunk or even a wasted suit but me I'm confident whatever the hell that means I'm not movie star handsome or

freak Show ugly my facial features are pretty average except that my nose is a little crooked it was broken in an amateur boxing match when I was in college I have very dark brown eyes at 6' 2 in and 185 lb I have a tall athletic body and I always stand erect my facial expressions seldom give away what I'm thinking Cathy was 29 years old and at 5' 8 in she was the sexiest woman I knew her dark brown hair with red highlights hung in Long curls to her shoulders her eyes were blue with tiny

specks of green in the iris's at 125 lb Cathy was slim but very well proportioned Cathy had the legs of a dancer nicely shaped calves and firm thighs with soft smooth skin Cafe had been the manager of the accounting department at dcnh for 2 years and had 20 accountants reporting to her dcnh were specialists in mergers and Acquisitions and had been having a good run over the last couple of years which meant that Cathy had received some nice year-end bonuses but early in 2002 there had been some problems at the dcnh offices in Indianapolis in

February the manager of the Indianapolis office was fired and replaced by Greg Bartlett Greg was about 5'5 in tall at least 20 lb overweight and nearly bald the hair that remained formed a horseshoe around his head Cathy said that Bartlett was a good manager and when I met him I found him to be likable at the same time Bartlett came to Indianapolis dcnh transferred one of their vice presidents to the office Cathy said that the company decided it was a good idea to spread their VPS around the different cities so that they could visit customers

and help close big deals the vp's name was Jack Hansen and he had moved to Indianapolis from New York Hansen was about 45 years old 6 feet tall with gray hair he was in good physical condition and obviously worked out regularly when I met him he was friendly but he struck me as someone with a roving eye I noticed the way he looked at any woman that passed by as though he was considering if he wanted to bed them he was married but I doubted that would slow him down I had met many men like

him before and I didn't like them either C seemed to think he was great and she said everyone else at dcnh did too she talked about him all the time telling me about all the great ideas he had for driving new business which in the long run would mean more money for her construction of our new house was unscheduled by Summer and the turmoil caused by the management changes at dcnh had settled down according to Cathy business was picking up thanks to Mr Hansen we moved into our new house just outside of Indianapolis in the

second week of August and we loved it on the day we moved in I jokingly told Cathy that I wanted to make love to her at least once in every room in the house Cathy looked around at all of the boxes waiting to be unpacked and then took me by the hand and led me into the kitchen let's get the kitchen out of the way right now Cathy said I had only been joking but the erection I suddenly had was serious we had great amazing sex once we were done she headed off to the bathroom

to clean herself up as she left the room Cathy called back to me we'll do the bedroom tonight and the living room tomorrow now get back to work we did do the bedroom that night but didn't get to the other rooms between our jobs and trying to get our new house settled we didn't have the time or energy to take our sex outside of our bedroom however we did stay in touch so to speak in our bedroom it just seemed that the only time we were able to be together was when we got into bed

at night one night while we were in bed Making Love I be began to discuss starting a family we had had the discussion before and Cathy had said that she wanted to start in the fall so that we would have a summer baby I think it's time you get off your birth control pills and we get you pregnant I said I think we should wait a little longer she said Jack suggested I should wait till next year he told me that I'm in line for a promotion and it might happen by the end of the

year I want to wait until I get the promotion Jack I asked since what are you on a firstname basis with corporate vice presidents we are pretty informal around the office she responded why would you discuss our plans for starting a family with him I was a bit irate about her discussing our personal matters with this guy he asked me if we were planning on having children so I told him we had planned to start this fall that's when he suggested that I wait till next year I wasn't happy about that but I agreed to

wait until January toward the end of the year Cathy and I were both working long hours and we were not spending enough time together we tried to make our weekend special and that helped but our work even began to encroach on our weekends dcnh was trying to win a contract for a large merger opportunity and had Cathy's accounting department tied up working that opportunity as for me I was running three investigations that I needed to close out before the end of the year on the last weekend in November Cathy and I both managed to be

off at the same time and we went went out and did our Christmas shopping at dinner that evening Cathy told me she had some good news it looks like we will close a deal with national pharmaceutical to handle the merger with Keystone pharmaceutical by December 20th she said that means I should get my promotion this year really that's terrific then we can start working to get you pregnant why don't we start tonight can't start tonight I'm still on the pill besides I want to wait a few more months so that I can get settled into

my new job before taking off for maternity leave she said and don't you dare tell anyone that I told you this I could get into a lot of trouble if this got out and it would probably kill the deal with national I was disappointed that Kathy wanted to put off starting a family again but I understood her reasons you know I won't tell anyone I said should I run out Monday and buy stock in National pharmaceutical hell no she said that's insider trading if you do that we could all go to jail I was just

joking I replied I know he can't do anything like that you can count on my discretion I said I know she responded I'm just nervous about this one we are so close I don't want anything to go wrong December is the time for company Christmas parties and our company is no exception our party was on Friday December 6th the party was pretty tame as these things go there were 43 people in attendance counting employees spouses and significant others we had drinks and appetizers and then dinner after dinner there were more drinks music and dancing I

think the main reason our party wasn't all that rockus is that most of the employees of IC are investigators and as such we spend most of our time in the field the employees just don't work all that closely together so we don't know each other all that well I have one close friend at I see his name is Bill Ripley and we have worked together on several cases over the years as for the rest of the team I know who they are but I couldn't tell you their spouses names or how many children they have

we are just not a close-knit group unlike Cathy's crew at dc& Cathy and I sat with Bill and his wife Susan and had a good time despite the low-key party going on around us we partied until midnight and then and Cathy and I went home when we got into the house I led Cathy up to our bedroom once there I pulled her to me and kissed her and then while holding each other I began to kiss and nuzzled her neck which drives her crazy as I did this I couldn't help inhaling her wonderful scent Kathy

asked me to get up then helped me undress and lie down on the bed she climbed on top of me and her confident assertive demeanor caught me off guard oh yeah was all I could manage to say I couldn't believe the way she was speaking to me but she was right I did like it on nights when we knew we would be close she would apply a tiny drop of her cologne and I loved how it blended with her natural scent alone it was enough to re-energize me after a few moments while enjoying Cathy's presence

we shared an intimate Connection in various ways after a few minutes I was fully rejuvenated and we began to share a slow meaningful connection as we moved together we started talking about our plans for a family we both agreed that we wanted two kids two years apart Kathy mentioned she would stop taking her birth control pills in February hoping for a baby the following November she said that if she got the promotion she was expecting a November birth would be ideal for her I wasn't thrilled about waiting that long but I knew it was her

who would go through the pregnancy it was kind of strange but nice to lay there having sex with Cathy while we talked about what we would like to name our baby I loved Cathy with all my heart which made that night very special to me that Saturday things began to change in a disturbing way I had to go into my office for a half day and when I got home Cathy was sitting in the family room staring out the window she didn't look at me as I came in and when I spoke to her she

jumped as though she hadn't even realized I was there it was obvious that something was on her mind and it was bothering her a great deal I wanted to ask her about it but I gave her time and let her decide when she was ready to talk to me I waited until after dinner to press her for an explanation for her depressed mood early in our marriage Cathy and I had made a deal whoever cooked could go relax after the meal while the other did the dishes and clean the kitchen that night caffy cooked dinner

so I loaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen I think we both preferred cooking to cleaning at least I know I did when I was finished in the kitchen I joined Cathy in the family room Cathy and I had always been open with each other and communicated well so I waited for her to tell me what was on her mind when it became apparent to me that she was not going to talk about it I opened the conversation Cathy what's going on it's obvious that something is bothering you I said is there anything I can

do to help Cathy looked at me with sad eyes there is a problem with the national pharmaceutical deal she said it turns out that National Pharmaceuticals president Mr Ben is making some unrealistic demands and if we don't give him what he wants it could cost us the deal if we don't get this contract it will ruin everything it won't ruin everything whatever happens we have each other don't worry so much what's the worst that could happen I asked you don't understand she said if this deal falls apart it will be because of me if that

happens I could lose my job how can it be your fault that the deal falls through I asked you're not in sales I can't tell you anything more I can't talk to anyone outside of dcnh about this the only thing I can say is that I didn't do anything wrong I don't understand I said if you did nothing wrong how can it be your fault I told you I can't talk about this with you she said I could lose my job for telling you as much as I already have you'll just have to let let

me work through this myself Cathy said I wanted to say more but I could tell by the look on her face that the discussion was over on Sunday I hoped that Kathy would be in a better mood but she seemed even more depressed she wouldn't even look at me and any conversation of more than three or four words just wasn't going to happen Monday morning I got up early and fixed breakfast but Cathy didn't eat any of hers she drank her coffee and went to take a shower I busied myself shoveling the snow that had

fallen overnight from the driveway when I came back into the house Kathy was getting ready to leave for work it's only 6:30 why are you leaving so early I asked I have to get ready for some important meetings she said Cathy gave me a brief kiss as she passed me on the way out to the garage Monday morning is trash day in her neighborhood so I had to empty all of the waste baskets and take the trash out to the curb I brought the waste baskets from the second and floor down to the kitchen to

empty them into a trash bag when I dumped the waste basket from our bathroom into the trash bag something fell out and disappeared from sight I tried to find the object for a couple of minutes but eventually gave up I took the trash out put it into a large plastic trash can and rolled it down to the street when I came back into the house I took another quick look around the kitchen to see if I could find the object that had fallen from the waist basket I didn't see anything right away so I went

off to take my shower and get ready for work Cathy's depression didn't seem to have changed so on Monday evening I tried to broach the subject again have things gotten any better at work I asked you know I can't talk to you about this she said I am under a lot of pressure but I will get through it on Wednesday Cathy started to come out of her Funk when I came into the house that evening she greeted me with a kiss and told me she loved me which she hadn't done since Friday night I could

see that she wasn't completely back to normal there was no smile but she didn't have that far away look anymore and didn't seem so preoccupied can you talk about what is going on now or is that conversation still off limits to me I asked I am not supposed to talk to you about this but it looks like we have found a way to make Mr Benson happy she said Jack said that it looks like things should turn out all right after all I could hear some relief in her voice or was it resolved she didn't

smile smile when she told me this so I knew she was still under a lot of stress but hopefully this would all be over soon I don't know why but it always bothered me when Cathy called Hansen by his first name she had told me that it was because things were kept kind of informal around their office but she always referred to Greg Bartlett as Mr Bartlett and Greg was the office manager while Hansen was a VP I guess I just didn't understand that night in bed Kathy wanted me to hold her but she didn't

want to make love I was beginning to feel the weight of the problems that Cathy was dealing with I held Cathy until she fell asleep and then rolled over to my side of the bed and tried to sleep but couldn't after 20 minutes of tossing around in bed I got up and went down to the kitchen for a drink I stood at the island counter in our kitchen drinking my water and looking at our mail for the second time that day when nothing caught my interest I spotted Cathy's briefcase sitting on the chair in front

of the counter I had never invaded Cathy's privacy before but for some reason that night I decided to look inside her briefcase Cathy hadn't locked the case so I sent it on the countertop and opened it there were a lot of papers inside but they didn't hold any answers for me I took Cathy's day planner out and open it I looked through her calendars and notes on Monday Cathy had two meetings with Mr Bartlett the second meeting also included Mr Hansen on Tuesday she had another meeting with Hansen and on Wednesday she met with Hansen

and Mr Benson the president of National Pharmaceuticals I was beginning to see why Cathy was feeling a lot of pressure but I didn't understand why she would be meeting with a customer she was in accounting and had never been part of a negotiating team on any previous deals I wondered if this meant Cathy was going to be moving out of accounting and into sales with her promotion Cathy's planner showed a couple more meetings scheduled with Bartlett and another meeting with Hansen on the morning of December 20th also on the 20th Cathy had written in 10

p.m. followed by a question mark the only thing I found in her planner that was unusual was on her month out of glance calendar for December there were some notations that didn't make sense to me on December 6th Cathy had written started then each day after that was numbered 1 through 14 the number 14 was on Friday December 20th and that date was circled and underlined I wondered if the circle date had something to do with the meeting scheduled with Hansen that day or if it was because that was the day of DC and H's

Christmas party maybe it was circled because that was the day they expected to get Mr Benson to sign the contract I was still puzzled as to why she had numbered the days from December 6th to December 20th from 1 to 14 I knew I was going to have to think about that one for a while I put Cathy's day planner back in the briefcase and closed it when I headed back up to bed the briefcase was back on the chair where I had found it over the next several days Cathy's mood continued to improve but

she remained a little distant in the 8 years I had worked as an investigator I had learned a lot about how to get answers to questions without appearing to interrogate someone by piecing together bits and pieces of things Cathy told me I was able to determine that the 20th seemed to be the critical date if Mr Benson was going to sign a contract with dcnh it would happen that day on Friday December 13th I had managed to close one of the three cases I was working on and I was close to closing an another that

night I stopped after work to have a beer with Bill Ripley to celebrate closing the case we had a couple of beers and talked about the case then I decided to talk to Bill about what I had found in Cathy's day planner without telling him whose planner it was I told him it was from a case I was working on and explained about the days numbered 1 through 14 and that the 20th was circled and underlined Bill looked at me and said sorry buddy but I can't help you it doesn't ring any bells with me

you said the planner belonged to a woman right he asked yes then I suggest you talk to Mary FR Bill said you might need a female perspective to crack this one bill was right a woman's perspective was probably what I needed Mary FR was one of the best investigators at se and was one of only three females in the company I dropped the subject so Bill wouldn't start thinking I was obsessed with this case we had a couple more beers and just talk talked during our conversation I mentioned my dream of someday starting my own

investigative agency if you ever do let me know Bill said I'll come work for you but you'll have to pay me better than I see Bill was laughing as he said that pay you more hell you're already overpaid I said I'm serious Bill said if you ever do decide to go out on your own come talk to me it will probably never happen I said but if I ever do start my own agency you will be the first person I talk to we chatted for a while longer and then I went home it was another

frustrating weekend Cathy was attentive and affectionate but somehow we managed to get through the weekend without having sex Cathy and I hadn't made love for more than a week and it was beginning to disturb me not just because I had been cut off but also because I didn't understand why on Monday morning I told Cathy that I was probably going to have to work late every night to try and wrap up the two cas I was working on you can't work late Friday she said you have to be home in time to get ready for

the party what time do we have to be there I asked the party starts at 8:00 I want to be there no later than 8:30 Cathy replied so you need to be home by 7:00 to get ready okay I'll be home by 7:00 I said I was frustrated and by midweek I was beginning to get angry with Cathy I had closed my second case on Tuesday and took Cathy out to dinner to celebrate but afterward she told me she didn't feel well once again we did not have sex and she put me off again on

Wednesday night it took all of my patience not to blow up at her I knew she was going through a lot at work but there was a limit to how long I was willing to wait I managed to convince myself that everything would be resolved after Friday Cathy would know about the national Pharmaceuticals deal and should also know if she was going to get her motion so I was prepared to be patient at least until Friday on Thursday I had all but closed my last case I would have one chance at a quick resolution of

the case on Friday morning but if that didn't work it would take the rest of the day the problem was that if I didn't catch a break in the morning it was going to be very difficult to get everything done and be home by 7:00 like I promised Kathy that evening at dinner I told Cathy that I was going to have a hard time getting home by 7:00 and she started to angry you promised she said I know I said I am sorry but I am so close I just have to close this tomorrow tom

I could see her anger building Cathy you don't have to wait for me if I'm not here on time go without me I'll get there as soon as I can I should be able to make it by 9:00 I don't want to go without you she said I guess 9:00 will be all right it's just that well I just can't be any later than that I'll do my best to get home by 7:30 if I'm not here in time I'll meet you at the party I said Cathy didn't say any more about it on Friday

morning I got the break I needed in my case I had been assigned to recover some stolen jewelry from a home break-in the merchandise was insured for over a million dollar the perpetrator had contacted the insurance company and offered to sell back the stolen jewelry for $250,000 saving the company $750,000 the insurance company agreed to pay the $250,000 and asked me to handle the transaction it had taken me a while to gain the confidence of the perpetrator so that I could set up a meeting to transfer the money for the jewels once I set up

the meeting I was going to have to go to the insurance company's office to get the money for the exchange the paperwork involved in securing that much money takes a lot of time luckily I had been able to identify the thief and managed to follow him to a coffee shop Friday morning then I called his cell phone to arrange a meeting that afternoon to make the exchange after the call I followed him to an old garage on the west side of town I watched him from across the street as he went into the garage and

opened the trunk of an old car he didn't take anything out of the car he just closed the trunk again and left before leaving the garage he looked around to see if anyone was watching but he didn't see me as soon as he left left I ran across the street to the garage the door was locked with a small padlock which was no match for my tire iron within 5 minutes I had the trunk of the old car opened and found a small Canvas Bag inside the bag contained all of the stolen jewelry I closed

up the garage door as I left and taped a note to the broken padlock which read better luck next time when I got back to my office I contacted the insurance company informed them that I had the stolen jewels and arranged for some someone to pick them up I was feeling pretty pleased with myself I had managed to keep a thief from profiting from his crime save the insurance company a lot of money and earn a nice fee for my company the best part was that the victims got their jewelry back it was a pretty

good day's work I thought as I came out of my office I saw Mary frel talking to another investigator I waited until she finished her conversation and then walked over to her inviting her to have lunch with me Mary Had started at IC 4 years earlier and I had known her most of that time at almost 6 fet tall with short blonde hair and piercing green eyes Mary is both attractive and intimidating which is one of the reasons she is so good at her job are you buying Fred asked I'll pay if you can help

me with something I'm working on I said okay you're on Mary said Mary and I walked across the street to a little sandwich shop where I bought us a couple of pastrami sandwiches and two sodas this must not be that big of a case if this is all you're willing to spend to get information Mary said as we found a table I always liked Mary's sense of humor as we ate I told her about the notations on Cathy's month ataglance calendar without revealing whom I was investigating I explained the days numbered 1 through 14 and

that the 20th was circled and underlined I showed this to Bill Ripley and he suggested that because it was a woman's calendar I should ask a woman to explain it I said does this have any meaning to you Mary was silent for a long time she was almost finished with her sandwich when she began to smile what are you smiling about I asked the numbers she said it took me a while but I think I know what that's about you said that on the 6th she wrote started and that after that the days were numbered

from 1 to 14 and December 20th was number 14 is that right that's right I said and the 20th was circled and underlined I believe that she wrote started on the 6th because that was when her last period started then she counted the 14 days until the day she would probably be most fertile this means today is her most fertile day Mary said this woman is tracking her cycle because she is trying to get pregnant does that make sense to your case I was stunned not only because Mary figured that out so easily but also

because it had never occurred to me I'm I'm not sure but it might make sense in the context of this case I said thanks for the help I guess for the little bit of help I gave you a pastrami sandwich was a fair payment after all Mary said after we finished our lunch Mary and I went back to the office and I spent the rest of the day catching up on paperwork and wondering why Cathy would be tracking her menstrual cycle I couldn't remember when she had her last period I never kept track of her

Cycles I was always surprised when she would tell me that small craft warnings were up when I tried to initiate sex during her period another thing that puzzled me was that Cathy wasn't planning on stopping her birth control pills until at least February so why would she be tracking her cycle could she be tracking this for someone else I was starting to get a tight feeling in my gut I was picking up little bits of information that weren't making sense yet but I had a sense that I needed to get some answers soon one thing

I have learned from my training and experience is to be patient and wait until all the facts are in before jumping to any conclusions if you act too quickly the consequences could be dire I have always been a patient person so I was able to easily adopt that principle I think that is probably why I have been so successful in this business it would be difficult for me but this was definitely a time for patience by 5:00 p.m. I had finished up my work and was ready to head home by the time I got to

my car it was already dark and it looked as though it would start to snow at any time as I drove home through rush hour traffic I was feeling pretty good about myself I had cleared three big cases off the books got an answer to one of my questions about ca's day planner and I was going to be home in plenty of time to take Cathy to her party which I hoped would relieve some of her stress I arrived home at about 5:30 p.m. and parked my car in the driveway I didn't think it made

any sense to put it in the garage if we were going back out again in a little while I walked down to the street to get the mail and then walked up to the front door I hadn't looked into the garage so I didn't know if Cathy was home yet or not I stepped up on the front porch and as I was about to unlock the door I noticed that the front hall light was on I peeed through the small window next to the door to see if Cathy was in sight but she wasn't at

least not immediately I started to move back to unlock the door when I saw movement at the top of the stairs Cathy was coming down the stairs and I was shocked to see that she was completely naked she was carrying something in her hands but I couldn't see what it was at first I leaned back from the window a bit because I didn't want Cathy to see my face and get startled when she reached the bottom step I could see that she was carrying a towel in one hand and a kin of shaving cream in

the other that puzzled me what was she doing with the shaving cream when she stepped off the bottom step Cathy turned to the right and walked into the living room stopping next to a wing chair that was just a few feet inside the room Cathy just stood there as if she had forgotten why she went in there in the first place I couldn't take my eyes off her she looked so beautiful standing there her long dark brown hair hanging in curls over her shoulders her strong but slender back tapering to where it joined her heart-shaped

balm and her beautiful legs I could feel myself becoming erect as I stared at my sexy wife I didn't want to move from that spot but I was afraid she would turn around and see me peering through the window I knew that if I tried to open the door with her standing So Close by it would scare her I decided to go back and come in through the garage at least then she would hear the garage door opening and know I was home I knew I should move but I couldn't resist enjoying the view for

two more minutes in those two minutes my world changed I watched what was happening and then dashed to my car I opened the car door and pushed the button for the garage door opener the door took about 15 seconds to open and then I pulled the car into the garage as I I walked up the steps to the kitchen door I hit the button to close the garage door and waited for it to close before opening the door into the kitchen I figured that should have given Cathy enough warning that I was home as I

stepped into the kitchen I was sure I heard a door closed somewhere else in the house I walked through the kitchen and into the dining room and then the living room there was no sign of Cathy Cathy I'm home I yelled as I started up the stairs as I walked into our bedroom I called Cathy again and this time she answered you're home early that's great I'm in the bathroom getting ready why don't you use the shower in the guest bathroom Cathy said why I'm busy in here she added I pretended that I didn't hear

that and just walked in on her what did you say I asked Cathy was sitting on the side of the bathtub and when I came in she quickly tried to cover herself but not fast enough I told you I was busy in here get out she said what are you doing I asked Cathy gave me a nervous look she had been just about to start shaving when I walked into the bathroom it was supposed to be a surprise she said for whom I asked for you of course I wanted to surprise you when we got

home from the party tonight she said did I ever tell you I wanted you to shave I asked no but I thought that I might she said I don't remember you telling me that you wanted to shave yourself I said I know I never mentioned it but where did you get the idea that I wanted you to shave most certainly not from me I said Cathy was struggling to come up with an answer and I was getting angrier by the second I just thought it would be something different a lot of girls are doing this

now and I thought you might like it Cathy said shouldn't we have discussed this first to at least see how I felt about it I asked maybe but after all it's not that big of a deal it is my body and if I want to shave off my kitty hair that's my decision if we don't like it it will grow back she said she did have a point but I wasn't giving in because there was more going on than what appeared on the surface don't shave it now I said we can discuss it later and

if it is that important to you you can shave it tomorrow the look on Cathy face was more than just anger there was also fear I could understand the anger directed at me but I couldn't understand the fear I'm ready to do it now so why should I have to wait she said because your husband is asking you to wait I replied I don't like bald kitties why is it so important that you do it now I was all set to do it and want to do it now it's my hair and if I want

to shave it off I will she said okay then go ahead and shave but if you do you'll have to go to the party alone I said turning to walk out of the bathroom why are you being so unfair it's just something I want to do so why do you have to make a big deal out of it Cathy asked I'm making a big deal out of this because I don't think you're telling me the truth about why you want to shave your kitty I said you know I like your hair so I know you

weren't thinking of me when you decided to shave yourself if you can't tell me the truth then I will not discuss this any further you can leave it alone and we will go to the party or you can shave it and go to the party by yourself it's your choice Cathy gave a su and look put the razor down and climbed into the shower I showered after caffy and then lounged around in my bathrobe drinking a beer while Cathy put on her makeup Cathy didn't speak to me the whole time we were getting ready to

go I knew she was angry with me so I didn't try to start any conversations as that would only increase my own anger I just tried to watch her serrup iously as she got dressed as angry as Kathy was with me I would have been very surprised if she was dressing that sexy for me unless it was to make me jealous I wondered if she was dressing for someone else next Kathy sat on the edge of the bed and put on a pair of black thigh high stockings as she rolled the stockings up her legs

I wondered if she was aware that I was watching her Cathy didn't seem to acknowledge my presence in the bedroom when she had both stockings pulled up she got off the bed and walked walked to her closet even with everything that was running through my head I still got an erection as I watched Cathy walking away from me she disappeared into her closet and came out a minute later with her black cocktail dress already halfway on she walked into the bathroom as she pulled the dress the rest of the way down and then sat in

front of the mirror to fix her hair when Cathy came out of the bathroom and stood in front of me I could feel my anger melting but I couldn't allow that I was going to need it to stay strong because I still didn't know what lay ahead of me that night at 7:30 I asked Cathy if she was ready to go I'm ready she said you look really hot I said you're going to melt someone's heart tonight Cathy turned to go out the door and said yours I hope I wondered if she meant to melt

my heart or break it we drove the first 15 minutes in silence before Cathy finally spoke I'm sorry about the Shaving thing Cathy said I just thought it was a good idea at the time and I am so nervous about tonight that I guess I just kind of snapped when you gave me a hard time about it no problem I said we can discuss that over the weekend but let's just try to have some fun tonight I was trying to lighten the mood a little the party was being catered at the company's offices in a

large classroom on the first floor as soon as Cathy and I walked in and checked our coats Hansen came over and said hello he then took Cathy aside for a minute I thought I could feel my blood pressure building as I watched them carefully to see if I could pick up on anything they were talking about Cathy nodded her head yes a couple of times and then she shook her head no Hansen seemed to get upset and Cathy became more animated it looked as though their conversation ended when Hansen started to walk away from Cathy

but then he spun around and came back now smiling it looked like he was suggesting something to her and I could tell she wasn't happy about it but she nodded her head yes Hansen laughed with when Cathy came back over to me I asked her what Hansen had wanted the national pharmaceutical deal is closing tonight I have to go to a meeting at 10:00 with Jack and Mr Bartlett if the meeting goes well we'll get the national contract so you'll get your promotion then Cathy said yes if everything works out Cathy added not looking as

happy as she should have if she was getting what she wanted then we can start trying to make a baby I said hoping to get a reaction from her yes we can star our family she said without emotion I wanted to shake her and say what the hell is going on I had a problem in that I was already beginning to get an idea of what was going on and it was up to me to figure out what I was going to do about it as we walked into the big room where the party was

being held Cathy slipped her arm through mine and leaned close to me the room was nicely decorated with several tables around the perimeter a band was set up at one end and there was an area for dancing at the far end of the room they had set up a buffet and an open bar I scanned the room to see who was there I don't know many of the dcnh people well but I'm good at remembering faces I had seen most of these people many times over the last 6 years and had a pretty good idea

of who belonged there and who didn't it didn't take long to spot him he was standing next to the bar by himself maybe 35 years old and about 6 ft tall he appeared to be a fit 175 lb he was dressed in a dark blue double breasted Armani suit and I guessed he would be considered a handsome man I pointed to him and asked Cathy who is that guy standing over there by the bar I don't know she replied but I could tell by her body language that she wasn't being truthful why don't we go

over to the bar and get a drink I suggested there are some of my department members over here that I'd like to say hello to why don't you get us both a drink and I'll wait for you over here she agreed and I made my way to the bar I ordered Cathy a glass of red wine and got myself a beer as I turned to address the arani clad man I said Mr Benson how are you tonight a look of surprise briefly crossed his face how do you know me he asked it's my job I

replied I have to take this wine over to miss alpen and then I'd like to come back and talk to you if you don't mind Mr Benson studied me for a moment I could tell that I worried him but he didn't seem to be afraid of me for a moment I thought he might know who I was but I didn't see how he could it had to be something else about me that was bothering him oh okay I'll be right here he said I took Cathy your drink and said I was going to circulate while

she talked to her friends I don't want you off on me she said I need you to stay close to me tonight I won't be gone long I replied I don't I don't want to sit here and listen to you talk shop with your friends right now Cathy gave me a sad look as I got up from the table but she let me go when I was sure Cathy was no longer paying attention to what I was doing I went back over to Mr Benson my name is Fred I work in security for dc& I

said I just want to make sure there are no problems tonight I guess Mr Hansen has a fun evening planned that's what he tells me Mr Benson said I'm just killing until the fun begins I guess for you that begins around 10:00 I said you seem to know everything Mr Benson said nervously like I said it's my job to know things tonight I am to make sure no one bothers you and that later no one interrupts you if you know what I mean I said with a wink and a sleazy smile I take it you

like brunetts I continued love brunettes especially with long hair he said like Miss Alpin you mean I asked exactly he said returning my sleazy smile I wanted to choke the scum but I couldn't do that I'll bet you like me I said you like them with a lot of hair on their heads but none between their legs right I winked and smiled bald is nice he said laughing I had learned what I needed from him so it was time to move away before I shoved my fist down his smug throat I have to circulate now

got to make sure that no one is here who isn't supposed to be if you have any problems just come find me I'll be around I said muttering profanities under my breath as I walked away when I got back to the other side of the room the band had started to play a man approached Cathy and asked her to dance she very nicely but firmly turned him down and then grabbed my arm dragging me out onto the dance floor before I had a chance to sit down as we danced I kept an eye on Mr

Benson to make sure he wasn't watching us I didn't want him to figure out I was Cathy's husband yet I was still formulating my plans and didn't want them blown before they were even complete I was trying to figure out the last few pieces of the puzzle and it was already 9:30 my nervous stress was causing my stomach to do flips the song ended and I started to move back toward the table where Cathy had been sitting when the band began playing a slow song Kathy pulled me back onto the dance floor and held me

close Kath always liked to dance close to me but it seemed this time she was trying to get inside me she was holding me so tightly that it was uncomfortable at one point during the dance I noticed that Benson was looking at me and seemed to be a little uptight I smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up sign then tried to ignore him I wondered if seeing me dancing with Cathy made him suspicious that I wasn't who I claimed to be but by then I no longer cared when the dance ended we headed

back to the table I was just sting sitting down when I saw great Bartlett approaching us carrying a small package in his hand he pulled Cathy aside whispered something to her and handed her the package before leaving Cathy came back over to the table holding the package behind her back and bent down to speak to me I have to go to the girl's room she said when I looked up at her I could see something in her eyes that made me feel sick don't do it I said don't do what she asked pulling her arm

away from me I grabbed Cathy's arm and held it as I looked into her eyes you know what I'm talking about I know I'm not stupid I know what's going on here stop it now I don't know what you're talking about she said I just have to go to the girl's room Cathy pulled her arm away and I watched her walk away without looking back while she was gone I reviewed what I knew and what I had figured out from the things I had seen for me the problem started the first time Cathy referred to

Mr Hansen as Jack that had bothered me but things didn't start to escalate until the sudden onset of Cathy's depression that's when she told me that the national pharmaceutical deal was in Jeopardy and that if it failed it would be her fault even though she hadn't done anything wrong then there were all the meetings with Bartlett and Hansen and a meeting with the customer Cathy seemed to be tracking her menstrual cycle or somebody's and according to her calendar that night was a fertile night I still couldn't make sense of that because Cathy was still on

the pill then there was the argument we had about her shaving Cathy never told me the truth about why she was going to do that and I never told her what I had seen earlier that evening when I was standing on the porch I had watched her through the window as my world crumbled around me what I saw was Kathy standing nude in her living room I was thinking about how beautiful she was when I saw hand reach out from the chair she was standing next to and touched the left cheek of Cathy's backside I

continued to watch his Cathy turned toward the chair and the man's hand moved around to her front and ran up and down then I found out who the hand belonged to Jack Hansen leaned up from the chair and kissed Cathy I only heard a little of what was said before I went to the garage and opened the door I didn't want to walk into the house with her standing nude in front of another man I couldn't handle that so by opening the garage door I alerted them that I was home and gave them time to

stop what they were doing as I headed upstairs to confront Cathy I peaked out the front door in time to see Hansen scurrying across the street to his car my guess was that Benson had seen Cathy and decided he wanted her making that clear to Hansen she was the deal breaker I further guessed that Benson had demanded that she shave for him I didn't spend much time trying to figure out why all this was happening I only knew that I had to stop it before it went any further the fact that Bartlet and Hansen were

involved made it necessary for me to somehow screw up their plans and try to screw them over in the process the last piece of this puzzle was Cathy's trip to the lady's room I was sure that the package Bartlett had handed Cathy contained shaving cream and a razor Cathy was now in the lady's room shaving so that she could give Benson the perk he had asked for well screw her too it was 9:45 and Cathy hadn't returned to the table yet I was getting tense because I was running out of time I still had not

come up with a clear plan of action so I got up to find Cathy with the idea of physically dragging her out of the building and taking her home to deal with the Fallout later as I started toward the door the band announced that they were taking a break and an idea popped into my head I looked around quickly and noted that Benson Bartlett and Hansen were now all standing together by the bar so I had the audience I wanted I walked over to the band as they were putting their instruments down and spoke to

the lead singer can you leave your mic hot I asked I want to make a few announcements sure no problem he replied handing me his wireless mic it's already hot just flip the switch on the side and you'll be good to go thanks I paced back and forth for a minute trying to think of what I wanted to say then I took a deep breath and turned the microphone on can I have everyone's attention please I started I could see many of the guests turning to look in my direction but there was still a lot

of noise in the room can I have your attention please I repeated the noise began to dwindle down to just a few people talking as I looked around I saw Cathy returning from the lady's room then I looked over at the trio of a-holes Benson Bartlett and Hansen the three of them were looking at me with curious Expressions on their faces can I get everyone's attention the room was Now Quiet Kathy was standing in the doorway staring at me thank you I just want to take a few minutes to talk to all of you on

this special occasion first I wanted to say what a great party this is let's give a round of applause to the people who put this party on for us almost everyone started to applaud and Cathy began walking slowly toward me her expression one of fear I had had a few drinks and was feeling pretty good so I hoped my words would come out right the reason I wanted to talk to you was to share some things that are going on with me and my wonderful wife Kathy I gave Cathy a look and smiled at her

then turned to face the three a-holes standing at the bar I couldn't tell what they were thinking but they didn't look happy first I want to share some good news with all of you Cathy and I are going to have a baby many of the guests began to applaud Cathy's hands went up to cover her face which would have looked like mild embarrassment to anyone who didn't know what was really happening Hansen looked angry Bartlett confused but I couldn't read Benson there is more good news to Cathy told me that she is getting a promotion

tonight because of her work on the national pharmaceutical deal I understand that Cathy Mr Bartlett Mr Hansen and Mr Benson are meeting upstairs tonight to sign the contract isn't that great more Applause oh God please stop I heard Cathy say she had stopped about 10t from me and slowly sat down on the floor a-holes number one and two were livid Benson almost looked amused this evening started off so strangely that I thought I would share it with you when I got home from work tonight I found my loving wife in the bathroom getting ready to

shave and I don't mean her legs or armpits there was some laughter from the crowd but most people were now sitting in stunned silence we had a little argument about it she told me it was supposed to be a surprise for me and I told her not to do it I won that argument or at least I thought I did now I realized that she wasn't shaving for me she was doing it on orders from Jack Cathy was just in the lady's room and I believe she shaved herself while she was in there now all

of you are probably wondering why Jack Hansen would tell Cathy she had to shave her Kitty there was an audible gasp when I said that Cathy was now lying on the floor crying and most of the guests were staring at me as if they were watching a train wreck there were only two a-holes left it looked as though Benson had skipped out Hansen's face was bright red and he was shaking Bartlett was walking toward me as if he thought he could make me stop the reason Cathy shaved her Kitty is because she was to be

a gift to Mr Benson tonight and Mr Benson wanted her Kitty to be hairless it seems that your company management thinks it is good business to encourage its employees to have sex with potential customers to win contracts even if it destroys a marriage now Bartlett was right in front of me and tried to take the microphone from me I pulled the mic away from him and turned it off listen a-hole you try to grab the mic from me again and I'll drop you like a bag of Rocks come to think of it I might do

that anyway Bartlett backed away from me and looked over at Hansen while they looked at each other I turned the mic back on one last thing and this is for Bartlett and Hansen I will be filing a lawsuit against this company for what you did to my marriage and I'm sure I'll get a nice settlement part of that settlement will be that you two a holes and anyone else involved in this mess will be fired good night everybody and enjoy the rest of your party the room was dead silent as I set the mic down

and walked over to where Cathy was lying on the floor I squatted down beside her Kathy she looked up at me with tears running down her cheeks Fred I am so Cathy don't say anything I interrupted do you think you'll get that promotion now I stood up and looked around people were staring at us but when I looked back at them they turned away I looked down at Cathy one last time and then left the room I picked up my coat and was walking across the lobby toward the door when Hansen stepped in front of

me do you have any idea what you've done he asked yes I said I screwed you before you and your cronies could finish screwing my wife I hope I cost you Millions I would hate to think that we all went through this for a few hundred you're going to pay for this Hansen said actually I think you will be the one who pays for this I said along with my lawsuit I'm going to have a discussion with the SEC I think they might be interested in the way this company has been doing business I turned

to leave and Hansen grabbed my arm just a minute I'm not through with you yet he said I brushed his arm away you touch me again and you won't be walking when you leave here tonight I said I could hear him muttering profanities behind my back as I left when I got home I went straight to the liquor cabinet got a bottle of scotch and began to slowly drink myself into Oblivion I believe this was the Genesis of my nightmares I was on my second drink when I spotted something blue sitting in one of the

big potted plants on the kitchen floor I got up to see what it was it was a blue plastic case pretty well hidden under the foliage of the plant I knew what it was as soon as I picked it up and when I opened it I confirmed my suspicion I remembered something dropping out of the bathroom waste basket Monday morning I had looked all over the kitchen for it but never thought to look in the flower pot I went back to the sofa and put the case on the coffee table next to the scotch I

filled my glass and took a big gulp then I picked up the case and opened it again as I stared at it I thought to myself it's full none missing I put the case back down and poured another drink I don't know how long I lasted but I woke up on the sofa in the family room at 9:00 Saturday morning the Scotch bottle was nearly empty my head was pounding and my mouth tasted awful I stood up and felt dizzy for a moment my stomach felt like it was in full Rebellion against me I started

the coffee maker and went off to take a shower when I went upstairs I noted that there was no sign that Cathy had come home I didn't really expect that she would either because she was afraid to face me or because she was pissed that I had screwed everything up at dcnh I wasn't exactly sure if I cared either way the shower helped I felt a little better after two cups of coffee scrambled eggs and toast I sat down on the sofa in the family room trying to think about what my next move should be

it broke my heart to think about how much I had loved Cathy I wondered how she could have done this to us I couldn't believe that her ambition was so strong that she would agree to have sex with a customer to win a deal as if that wasn't bad enough she was willing to shave her Kitty for him too she was willing to do this because Jack Hansen told her to I doubted I would ever be able to forgive her for any of this but I knew that I would have to give her a chance

to explain herself if she wanted that chance I just couldn't walk away without at least hearing what she had to say but I would not pursue her to ask for an explanation I figured that if she didn't feel the need to try and explain her actions to me then I really didn't need to know why the why would only be important if she wanted a second chance with me I couldn't think of anything to do other than wait and see if Cathy tried to contact me I began to wonder where she had spent the night

and then remembered the way she looked when I left the party I felt a little guilty about leaving her on the floor that way I realized that I should have brought her home with me I wasn't too proud of myself but I had been hurt and angry and felt no sympathy for Cathy at the time the more I thought about it the worse I felt and the more I wondered where she was staying I was still sitting on the sofa at 11:00 when the phone rang I assumed it was Cathy calling and debated whether I

should answer I picked up the phone on the sixth ring Mr Alpin yes this is Special Agent Mark Walker of the FBI the voice on the phone said is your wife with you my wife is not home I said I wondered why the FBI would want to talk to Cathy no problem it's you I want to talk to agent Walker said me I asked what's this about I'd rather not discuss this over the phone he said can you come to my office this afternoon I guess so I said where are you located agent Walker gave

me directions to his office and I agreed to meet him there at 2:00 that afternoon after the call I tried to figure out what the FBI would want with me the best I could figure is that it must have something to do with one of the cases I had worked on recently if that was the case why couldn't he tell me what he wanted over the phone over the years I had often had to talk to different law enforcement agencies for cases I was working on and it never bothered me but for some reason this

invitation to talk to the FBI had me a little worried at 1:00 I dressed in jeans and a sweater and headed into town to meet with agent Walker I left my car in the parking garage across the street from the high-rise office building in Downtown Indianapolis which housed the FBI offices I took the elevator up to their seventh floor office and gave my name to the receptionist I'm here to see special agent Walker I said have a seat and I'll let him know you're here she replied I only had to wait 2 minutes before he

came into the lobby to get me unlike the expensive Armani suit he had been wearing the night before special agent Walker was now wearing blue Dockers in a white Oxford shirt with no tie Mr Alpin thanks for coming in he said please follow me I followed him into a conference room as I sat down agent Walker offered me a cup of coffee which I accepted he poured two cups from the coffee maker on a table in the corner and handed one to me he took a sip of his coffee and then sat down across the

table from me should I call you special agent Walker or Mr Benson I asked why don't you try Mark he said and may I address you as Fred Fred will be fine I guess you must be pretty confused right now Mark said yes I am but I think I'm starting to get a picture of what's going on I said I take it you were working undercover as Mr Benson that's right I am counting on your discretion to keep anything I tell you here confidential he said I think you probably know that I am an investigator

myself and understand confidentiality I said I'm still not sure if you're a friend or Foe I hope you can explain all this to me and how my wife got involved in this mess I will tell you what I can and we answer any questions as long as they don't jeopardize our investigation okay I'll listen to what you have to say but I have to tell you that I'm really pissed that my wife was used the way she was this mess has probably ended my marriage I said things may not be as bad as you think

Mark said let me just put you in the picture and then you can ask your questions that's fine with me I said earlier this year the Securities and Exchange Commission contacted did the FBI he started they had received some disturbing information about the business tactics of dcnh from someone inside the company and asked that we investigate the allegations after following up on the information given to us by the SEC we found enough evidence to justify further investigation I can't tell you about our investigations other than to say that it was decided to do some undercover

work Mark got up and began to pace around the room as he talked we found out through our investigation that DC and had been trying to get National pharmaceutical interested in a merger Mr Benson had spoken with one of our agents and indicated that he was concerned with DC's tactics at that point we discovered that no one from dcnh had met Mr Benson so with his cooperation I took on his identity and began negotiating with dcnh I was able to convince Mr Hansen and Mr Bartlett that I was Mr Benson and led them to believe

that I was interested in their ideas for a merger and might be willing to sign a contract for them to handle the merger when they began to drool over the millions of dollars they thought they would make off the deal I started acting reluctant I told them that I wanted to talk to some other firms before making a decision the idea was to see what tactics they would use to try and get me to sign a deal with them so you asked for my wife I said not exactly on my first visits to the offices

of dcnh I was introduced to your wife as I was escorted to the conference room to meet with Bartlett and Hansen I told Hansen that I would really like to talk to Mrs alpen his response was she is quite attractive isn't she I agreed with him but that wasn't why I had asked to see her why did you want to see her I asked I told Hansen that because she was head of the accounting department I wanted to talk to her about the financial condition of the company I was supposedly planning to merge with the

real reason was that your wife was The Insider who contacted the SEC with concerns about how DC and was doing business so Cathy knew that you were working undercover for the FBI I asked no she didn't I couldn't tell her Mark said the information she sent to the SEC indicated that the company's problems involved people higher up in the company than Bartlett and Hansen she had implicated the company president and the CEO I didn't know if I could trust her given that my assignment was investigating Bartlett and Hansen I couldn't be sure she wouldn't blow

my cover to protect them so Cathy had blown the whistle on the company exec I didn't know what that meant to me if she didn't know that Benson was a fake was she planning to have sex with him at the party I had questions I wanted to ask Mark but decided to wait until he finished to see if I would get any answers from what he was telling me as I was saying I had indicated to Hansen that I might back out of the deal so he asked me what it would take to get me

to sign with dcnh I asked him what he had to offer that's when Hansen said I noticed that you thought Cathy Alpin was pretty hot how would you like to get a piece of that I was surprised at that I expected him to offer me a bribe I had to see where this would lead so I told him I might be interested but I didn't commit this next part may be difficult for you to hear but it is important to the story there's nothing you can say that would be any more upsetting than what I

have already been through I said okay then Mark said I waited a few days and then met with Hansen again he asked me if I had thought over his offer I asked him if he meant by his offer that he would arrange it so I could have sex with your wife and he answered in the affirmative I didn't want to act too anxious so I said that I was definitely interested but still wasn't sure if she would be worth it Hansen assured me that she would be worth it and then said she has a bald

Kitty wouldn't you like to screw a bald Kitty so you never suggested that you wanted Cathy to shave I I asked no Mark said since I hadn't planned on having sex with her that thought never entered my mind I still wasn't even sure how Hansen could promise to deliver on his offer so I asked him how he would get a married woman to agree to give herself to me as payment for signing a contract you let me worry about that Hansen said if you want her she's yours bald Kitty and all that son of a

I said who the hell does he think he is he is one sleep e scum sucker the more he talked about me having sex with your wife the more excited he seemed to become I got the feeling that he wanted me to accept his offer for more reasons than just getting me to sign the contract I let him go on for a while and then asked him when he could arrange for me to get together with your wife he immediately said that we would do it during the company Christmas party on the 20th so you

were going to go through with it I said you were going to have sex with my wife just to keep your undercover investigation going no I had no intention of having sex with your wife Mark said first of all it would be unethical for me to do that and second I was almost positive that the room where I was to meet with your wife would have hidden cameras and microphones to record the action this was to be more than just a sexual favor to get me to sign the contract it was also designed to give

them material that could be used to Blackmail me how are you going to get out of it I asked I plan to bulk at the last moment and say that the circumstances were not right then I was going to say that I would be willing to close the deal but that Miss Alpin would have to join me in my hotel room after the party then once I had her alone I was going to identify myself and bring her down here to be interrogated we planned on arresting Bartlett and Hansen today we thought that by this

morning we would have enough evidence to indict them both then last night you walked up to me and introduced yourself and said that you were with security the fact is I knew who you were and I was afraid that you knew what was going on and were a party to it I wasn't sure which side of things you were on until you got up and made your speech oh I said I hope I didn't screw up your investigation but I couldn't stand by and just let my wife give herself to another man as part of

a business deal I understand Mark said and you didn't really do any damage you actually saved me from having to deal with the meeting I was supposed to have with them at 10:00 last night I was able to leave with my cover in t so that I could talk to Hansen again this morning he made me a large cash offer to sign today I told him I would meet him in his office Monday morning and when he hands me the money we will arrest him and shut down the operations of dcnh while we do an

in-depth investigation of every deal they have been involved with for the last 3 years I still don't know where Kathy stands in all this I said your wife was trying to do the right thing by blowing the whistle on the company he said as for her part in the offer made to me I suspect that she was being coerced by Hansen he may be blackmailing her somehow was there any mention of your using a condom I asked yes once I agreed to the deal Hansen made it very clear to me that Cathy insisted that I

would have to wear a condom we wouldn't want to get the poor girl pregnant now would we Hansen said now I knew I was going to have to find Cathy I said I wanted to hear her side of the story she was not completely innocent in this mess but there were extenuating circumstances that is really all I can tell you right now Mark said do you have any more questions not right now good again I have to remind you not to discuss any of this investigation with anyone I would ask that you not tell your

wife anything yet wait until we have Bartlett and Hansen under indictment before you tell her this was all an FBI sting operation that should only be a couple of days from now we want to talk to her then anyway I agreed not to say anything about the investigation and then Mark told me he would call me and let me know when I could tell Cathy about the FBI sting He also mentioned that they would probably want to oppose me to get my side of the story we shook hands and I left the building when I

got home there was a message from Cathy asking me to call her I called the number she left and a woman answered the phone I asked for Cathy who should I say is calling the voice asked tell her it's her husband I said Kathy's voice sounded nervous when she came on the line where have you been she asked I've been calling all day not all day I said I was home until 1:00 this afternoon oh I guess that's about when I started calling you I wasn't going to make this easy for her she was going

to have to show me that she was ready to tell me what was going on so I remained silent Fred can I come home she said this is where you live isn't it I said you should be here now I'll be home in an hour okay I said and hung up I looked at the clock it was already 5:00 I decided to have dinner ready when she got there and then we could talk after dinner I got the dinner started and then went upstairs to prepare for what I felt was going to be the outcome

of our talk I came back downstairs picked up the blue case off the coffee table in the family room and put it in my pocket I made spaghetti and meatballs a salad and then opened a bottle of wine Kathy walked in the door at 6:05 and the dinner was ready when she saw dinner on the table and the open bottle of wine I could see some of the stress leave her face she could see that things were not going to be as bad as she first thought at first we didn't speak we went over and

sat at the table I poured the wine and we started eating after a few minutes of painful silence I asked Cathy where she had spent the night one of my friends took me home after you left I couldn't help but get a little dig in oh you didn't stay for the rest of the party I pretty much ended the party with my speech she said I guess I owe some people apologies for that not you and certainly not Bartlett or Hansen I guess you're right I said I owe you the apology she was about to

say more but I stopped her and said that we would talk after dinner we both became silent again there was really nothing else for the two of us to talk about at that moment after dinner Cathy started to put the dishes into the dishwasher but I stopped her you can clean the kitchen later we need to talk now I said we went into the family room and sat facing each other do you want to just tell me everything or should I start asking questions either way I expect only the truth I said I'll tell you

everything she said I'm sure you know when it started it was the day after your Christmas party Jack called me and told me that this huge deal they were working on with national pharmaceutical was in trouble Jack told me Mr Benson had said he would only sign the contract if I agreed to have sex with him I couldn't believe that he would ask me to do something like that and I was Furious but he told me that this deal was very important to the company and if I went along with it I would be rewarded

handsomely he was talking about a lot of money and a promotion I didn't want to do it but Jack kept putting pressure on me saying that a lot of people were depending on me I told them I would have to think about it they had me so confused and stressed over this that I couldn't think straight when you came home and I looked at you I knew that I could not do that to you Jack and Mr Bartlett kept after me all day Monday trying to get me to agree Mr Hansen said that if this

deal fell through it would be my fault and this they would have to let me go they also said that if I told anyone about what was going on I would be fired I tried to tell you as much as I could I knew that if you knew the whole story you would do something crazy and I would lose my job on Tuesday I told them I would not do it so they told me to think about it again then Mr Hansen told me that the company was missing more than $100,000 and that if there

were an audit it would look like I had been embezzling money from the company for the last few years Jack said I would end up going to jail he told me that if I did what he asked I would get the money he promised in the promotion but if I didn't cooperate there would be an audit and I would be charged with embezzlement in the end I had to agree to do what he wanted Jack and Mr Bartlett talked with me every day to make sure I didn't back out they kept telling me I was

doing the right thing and trying to convince me that you would understand if you knew how important this deal was I had listened passively up to this point but I was getting angry you can't believe that I would ever have thought what you were doing was all right I said you should have told me everything I would have found a way out for you I know Kathy said once I decided to go through with it I felt a little better but I felt so guilty about what I was doing to you you have to understand

that I was terrified of going to jail I had to risk it on Friday Jack called me into his office and told me that Mr Benson wanted me to shave all my pubic hair off off I told him I couldn't do that because he would be angry but Jack said it would be a deal breaker if I didn't shave it off Mr Benson would walk away from the deal Jack told me to shave it off before the party and not let you see it until later then I was to tell you it was meant to

be a surprise he said that if you got mad all I had to do was say that I was sorry and that I would let it grow back the problem was that you came home earlier than expected and caught me getting ready to shave it off so was I right I asked did you shave yourself in the lady's room at the party Cathy looked down at her hands yes Mr Bartlett sent someone to the store to pick up a razor and some shaved cream and I went into the lady's room and shaved myself when I

came back to the party I saw you with the microphone trying to get everyone's attention I was so scared I had no idea what you were up to and I had no idea if there was any way I could stop you I couldn't believe you said that I was pregnant I didn't say you were pregnant I said I said we were going to have a baby you weren't pregnant yet but that was our plan wasn't it well yes but but what are we or aren't we going to start a family I asked yes we are

I will get off my birth control pills tomorrow and then we can start one more question I said did you tell Benson that he would have to use a condom I asked Jack told me he was going to make him use one she said I'm glad he did because it hadn't occurred to me I was so stressed by the whole situation that I wasn't thinking straight anyway you made your little speech and basically ended my career at dcnh and probably killed the deal with national pharmaceutical so essentially what you're telling me is that Bartlett and

Hansen coerced and blackmailed you into agreeing to have sex with Benson to close a business deal they further insisted that you had to fulfill Benson's demand that you shave your pubic hair but I screwed things up by catching you when you were trying to shave even after I told you not to do it you shaved yourself anyway in the end the only reason you didn't end up sleeping with Benson is because I screwed everything up with my little speech does that about some it up yes but I don't blame you for what you did I

understand why you did it she said oh good then you forgive me for trying to keep my wife from sleeping with another man I said sarcastically that's not what I meant I know you had every right to react the way you did and I have no right to be upset with you I am upset with myself I should have told you everything from the start do you think you will ever be able to forgive me Cathy asked that depends I said is that everything have you told me everything I need to know about what has

been going on yes I have told you everything I love you and I can't bear to think that I could lose you because of this mess I got myself into Cathy said well things don't look as bad as they did at first I said and I watched the smile start to come back into Cathy's face I just have a couple of questions I need answered and then we might be able to put this behind us okay what questions I could hear the joy creeping back into her voice I pulled the blue case out of my

pocket and tossed it on the coffee table I found in a trash the other day and it's full you threw away all of your birth control pills last week but you not only didn't tell me about that you tried to make me believe you were still taking them just 5 minutes ago you said you would stop taking them tomorrow can you explain that to me Cathy looked like I had punched her her mouth opened a couple of times but no words came out when she finally spoke I was sure she was lying you're right I

stopped taking my pills she said I was planning to let you get me pregnant and then surprise you I know how much you wanted to start a family so I thought it would be a nice surprise when I told you about it that plan would only have worked if you and I had been having sex but the last time we made love was the day before I stopped taking my pills it's just that I was so upset about what Mr Bartlett and Jack wanted me to do that I wasn't in the mood to have sex

during that time Cathy replied were you aware that last night was the most fertile night of your cycle I asked asked that was another question that stunned her no I wasn't aware of that I had too many other things of my mind to be thinking about that she claimed It just strikes me as odd that you were planning on having sex with Benson last night which happens to be in the middle of your menstrual cycle and it never occurred to you to insist that a condom be used but it did occur to Jack to require

it I said what are you trying to say she asked that I knew I was fertile and was willing to take a chance that I would get pregn I would never do that she said I could tell Cathy was really rattled I was getting tired of playing with her and decided to end the game one more question Cathy I started how long have you been sleeping with that rat scum Hansen what was all she could manage to say no more lies I know that you were keeping track of your menstrual cycle and had marked last

night on your day planner as the day I know that Hansen demanded that Benson would have to wear a om and since I wasn't sleeping with you the only one left is Hansen he wanted to get you pregnant didn't he I looked at Cathy and she started crying and made no attempt to answer me it was Hansen who wanted you shaved not Benson and you did that for him despite me telling you not to do it that shows me that he has more influence over you than I do lest you think I'm just making wild

guesses about this stuff last night when I came home from work I came to the front door and looked in I saw you standing naked in the living room and I saw Hansen playing with your back and then he kissed your stomach the way a man often kisses the stomach of a woman carrying his baby or in this case we'll be carrying it did you think I would be so stupid that you could have his baby and make me think it was mine or were you planning to leave me all along you spent last night

with him didn't you Kathy was weeping loudly as I stood up and left the room when I came back into the kitchen carrying my suitcase Kathy looked up at me when she saw what I was doing she jumped out of her chair and ran to me please don't leave me I love you I don't love Jack I told her I told you he blackmailed me I had no choice but to do what he asked why didn't you just continue taking your birth control pills and lie about it to Jack you certainly didn't have any problems

lying to me I said I think I would have to believe what you told that rat scum more than anything you have told me lately I forgot to tell you last night when I was watching with that jerk I heard you say I love you to him so where does that leave me I asked I don't love him if I am pregnant I will have an abortion I love you please you have to believe me she pleaded no I don't I replied as for the baby don't abort it on my account Cathy collapsed on the

floor crying when I looked back from the garage door she looked the same way she had when I left her at the party the night before I no longer felt any love for her only disgust I hated leaving the house we had worked so hard to build but it held no fond memories for me fortunately we hadn't lived there long enough to build those memories it has been more than 2 years since I walked out on Cathy when I left her I found a furnished apartment and tried to start my life over that's when the

nightmare started I was no longer happy with what I was doing so I quit my job and headed to California once I found a place to live I started my own insurance investigation company I gave Bill Ripley a call and asked him if he would like to be my partner and two months later he joined me when he came out he told me that when Mary foe heard we were starting our own company she asked if we had a job for her Mary moved out here 14 months ago and we started dating 2 months later

after 3 months we moved in together I was surprised that I fell in love again so quickly I was not in a hurry to get married again but I liked having someone I cared about to share my life with I have been able to keep track of my favorite people in Indianapolis through several contacts I still have there including Special Agent Mark Walker it turned out that Cathy had blown the whistle on the company president and the CEO at Jack Hansen's Direction Hansen had them in trouble for the Shady Deals they had been involved in

so that the board of directors would fire them Hansen assumed that he would then become the company president of d dcnh apparently Cathy wasn't lying when she told me she didn't love him she was playing him because he was in love with her she knew that if he got what he wanted she would get anything she wanted Hansen and his wife didn't have any children which he blamed on his wife after I left he tried for more than a month to get Cathy pregnant but wasn't successful with her either it turned out that he was

stal his wife found out about his affair with Cathy and divorced him a month later he was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for his actions at dc& Bartlett also got jail time he will be spending 2 years at a minimum security federal prison Cathy was fired by dcnh and then the company was reorganized and shortly after that bought out by a larger consulting firm the last I heard Cathy was teaching bookkeeping in a community college just outside of Columbus Ohio I try not to think about Cathy the wounds are still too fresh for

me to think of the good times we had I don't miss her which is a good thing marry more than fills the whole Cathy left in my life and that is why I married her now here I sit staring down at her and wondering if I should wake her up not to tell her I had the dream again but to tell her I love her last night Mary told me that whenever I decide I want a baby all I have to do is ask but make sure to get your order in early because you have

to wait 9 months for delivery Mary added I'm thinking of placing my order tomorrow by the way in case you were wondering about dcnh you were right if you were thinking Dewey cheatum and how