Accidents Happen

Of all the bad luck:

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I simply froze and continued listening. Obviously, they had no clue that I was anywhere around, otherwise they sure as hell wouldn't have been having THAT conversation.

"I'm not sure." The woman said. "I really do want that partnership, but I believe that I have earned it on merit."

"Oh, you have." He replied. "But so has Jason. Unfortunately, there is only one slot available this year. Frankly, it's a toss-up right now. All I am offering is to change that into a guarantee."

"I've never cheated on my husband before. I love him, and I don't want to do anything to disrespect him."

"There is no reason to think about disrespecting him. I'm sure that he is a great guy. All I'm saying is that for a few nights 'working late', I can guarantee that junior partnership for you. Keep in mind that comes with not only the prestige of being a partner in one of the best law firms in the state, but there is also a large raise, as well as the annual bonus from the firm's profits. That is not an inconsiderate sum of money. In fact, this year's junior partners will be getting somewhere in the neighborhood of a $100K bonus. Once you get your junior partnership, you can start having your babies without needing to worry about the time off hindering your eventual rise to senior partnership."

"OK. Fine. I guess a couple of times to get me to the partnership is worth it, but you better keep your end of the bargain. I expect that I get full senior partnership by the third opening. I know that there are a couple of junior partners ahead of me, and that it would look suspicious if I jumped them. By the third time, it should be OK." My wife said, destroying our five-year marriage.

I pretty much tuned out to the rest of the conversation, except for the plans they made to drive together in his car to the local Holiday Inn Express the following Wednesday after work. She would leave her car at the office, so If I happened to drive by, I would see her car I the parking lot and see that she was still there.

OK, so how did I hear this? It's simple. My wife, Tara, had been acting a bit off for the last couple of weeks. She was a lawyer in a large and prestigious firm in our state. She had refused to engage in any discussions about her behavior. Being the trusting and honorable husband that I am, I had installed spyware on her cell phone, computer, home phone, and a GPS locater on both her phone and car. I also installed voice activated mini recorders in her car and purse. The one in her purse looked and worked loke a pen, but had the additional digital recorder hidden inside of it. I knew beforehand that they were coming to this particular bar. I took one of the last available booths (that happened to be right next to their booth) and paid the hostess to hold the next booth open for them. I was positioned so that they couldn't see me as they entered the booth. I placed a small sensitive microphone in the lattice between the booths. Yes, I carried a microphone with me. In my line of work, it often came in handy.

At least I knew that she hadn't cheated on me yet. I also knew that she was not happy about cheating on me now as well. Maybe if I could prevent her from this, she would come to her senses. As long as she didn't actually go through with it, we could go to counseling and work it out. I really did love her, and I could forgive her lapse in judgement - but only if she didn't actually go through with it. If she actually fucked him, we were through. Hearing the plans made, I began to form an idea.

OK. So, a few introductions are necessary here. I am Jerry Knewtson. I am 5'11" tall, in good shape and relatively attractive. I keep in shape by running 5-miles every morning and working out in the gym every evening. I am a lawyer with my own private practice. I did the corporate lawyer thing, and I hated it. Working for a law firm, I had to take the cases I was assigned. Most of the clients were sleaze balls that were guilty as hell. I was very successful at getting them off on reduced charges or even Scott free. I finally had to quit or go insane. With my new firm, I could pick and choose my clients. Sure, I was not making as much money, but my conscience was clear, and I slept better at night.

Heather is my wife (at least for now). She is also a lawyer. Instead of criminal defense, she went into corporate law. That is mainly contracts, patents, and HR related issues. She works for a large law firm that represents several different corporations. She had been working her succulent ass off to become a junior partner. She had her eyes on becoming a senior partner in the future. I had tried a couple of times to get her to quit the big firm and join me in my small firm, but she had her eyes on the power, prestige, and money by being a full partner in a big law firm.

I was distant from her over the next few days as I tried to come to grips with the new information that I had uncovered. Yeah, I know that a lot of 'Real Men' will consider me a wimp, but I came to the conclusion that as long as she didn't cross the line of actually cheating on me physically, I could forgive her lapse in judgement and take her back. Yes, the 'Good Book' says that just the thought is the same as the action, but it also states that we are all human and subject to falling. Turn the other cheek, as the saying goes. I figured that if I could prevent her from actually committing the crime, there could be forgiveness.

All those of you that are completely 100% honest with your partner raise your hands. Of course, you're not. Everyone has secrets from their loved ones. Did you tell your mom or dad about that time you were caught smoking behind the bleachers? Did you tell your wife about the time that you were caught fucking the homecoming queen in the locker room? Even shit you didn't get caught for; did you confess? Of course not. Small shit doesn't matter. I didn't tell my wife about a small inheritance that I got on a worthless piece of property from a great aunt that had no children to inherit it. Well, actually I did tell her about the property and the cabin. We even went there together - once. She hated it, so we only stayed about an hour before she demanded that we leave. Actually, I inherited it several years before we even got together. I never did anything with it, because it was almost worthless at the time. The only thing that it had of value was a few old cars that needed to be repaired to even make them worth selling. When we were there together, she never even saw those cars. As far as she knew, they never existed.

"James. I appreciate the dinner, but I'm still not comfortable with this." Heather said as James was driving her back to his condo after a very expensive dinner at the most expensive seafood restaurant in our city.

"I understand that." He stated. "Still, it will, only be a couple of times, and your husband will never kno... WHAT THE FUCK!" he explained as he futilely slammed on his brakes.

It didn't matter. The old pickup had suddenly pulled over in front of him and slammed on their brakes. Reaction times, being what they are. Combined with the bottle of wine that they had drank at dinner, sealed his fate. His car slammed into the back of the pickup that had stopped right in front of him. He watched as the pickup pulled forward about 20 feet, then suddenly backed up at full speed and slammed back into the front of his car - three times - before pulling away and leaving the scene.

Obviously, Heather was late getting home that night. They never made it to the hotel room. Asshole had hit his head on the steering wheel and needed to go to the hospital to stitch up his forehead and be checked for a concussion. When he was released, the blood test that they had pulled as soon as he got to the hospital led him to be arrested for DUI. He was just over the legal limit. She managed to get an Uber from the scene back to the office to pick up her car and come home. Her explanation was that her boss had gotten into a traffic accident on their way back to the office for her to get her car and drive home.

Three weeks later, they were a block away from the motel when a nondescript Hona accord took the corner too wide and crashed into the back wheel and quarter panel of the new Corvette that her boss was had purchased from the insurance settlement. The car was again disabled as the vehicle that hit them continued on and disappeared. Another hit and run. Another hit on his insurance rates.

The third time, they had just left the company parking lot. John was now on his third vehicle, a brand-new Mustang that he was leasing - as he was waiting on the insurance payment for his Corvette that had been totaled in the second 'accident'. They were now hesitating since he had suddenly totaled two cars within the last few months. His history of totaling the higher end vehicles was beginning to catch up to him. The fact that no one was able to substantiate his claims of another vehicle causing the wrecks made him liable. This time, it was a black pickup. It clipped his Mustang right at the rear right tire. It sent him into a skid that ended with the front of the car smashing into the concrete Jersey barriers on the side of the highway. It was a perfectly performed PIT maneuver. Since it happened fairly late in the evening, and they had really no chance to get a good look at the other vehicle, and there were no other witnesses that saw anything, this again went on James' driving record. I can't even imagine what his insurance bill would be at this point. With three major wrecks within a year, would he still have a driver's license?

Apparently, he did. He must be one hell of a lawyer to pull that off. I figured that drastic action was required. I had so far held off the 'Big Gun'. One, I really didn't want to seriously injure my wife. What my goal was, was to prevent her from consummating her deal with the scumbag. I really hoped that if I made their liaisons too difficult, that they would simply call them off. He was a dedicated bastard. I'll give him that. Most guys by this time would have given up, figuring that she was bad luck. Not this guy. OK, I admit that my wife was gorgeous, and a really great piece of ass, but still! She was now costing this prick almost a thousand dollars in increased insurance payments, not to mention at least a hundred thousand dollars spent on new cars.

He was now driving a Ford Focus. That was all that the rental company would give him. The 'Big Gun' that I had mentioned before was a Mack Truck. I had held off on using this, since it would cause severe damage to the occupants of the other vehicles. I had to time it right. In this case, it was timed between the time that he picked up the vehicle and the time that he was supposed to pick up my wife from the office. I didn't want my wife injured as collateral damage.

Unfortunately for me, he was extremely careful while driving. Unfortunately for him, a Mack truck vs. a Ford Focus is not really an even match. By the time he got out of the hospital, the other partners had already voted to give Josh the Junior Partnership based upon merit anyway.

It was two weeks later. I was just about to shut the office down to deal with her personal issues. I had just enough time to get to my great aunt's farm and pick up the unregistered truck that I needed. That's when my PA paged me that I was needed in my office. I tried to postpone, but she insisted that this client needed me to talk to them immediately. I figured that I still had a few minutes, so I agreed.

I sat down at my desk and called my PA to let the client in. A few minutes later, I was shocked to see the founding partner of my wife's law firm walk into my office. He was the founding partner of the most successful law firm in the state, yet he was coming to me, a small one-man law firm for a consultation. WTF? After the brief pleasantries, he got down to business.

"Jerry, I know what is going on." He began. "James was trying to seduce your wife in order to guarantee that she makes a partnership. In reality, he has no say in the decision, but she doesn't know that. She thinks that he, as a full partner, has a say in the matter. In reality, he doesn't. The reality is that Josh will get the partnership, regardless of what happens. Yes, she worked her ass off for it, but Josh did as well. She simply came in second place. It was close, but the numbers are the numbers. Truthfully, she might get there next year or the year after if she keeps up with her current load. While we would love to have her as a full partner, I think that there is a better fit for her that would benefit everyone concerned."

"And what would that be?" I asked intrigued by his statement.

I saw a glint in his eyes as he looked at me. "Actually," He stated. "I think that she would be most beneficial as an outside counsel with a small law firm that we could contract with. We are about to eliminate one of our senior partners for moral turpitude. Of course, there will need to be a buy-out, but it will be much less than what they think it is worth. That will leave a large hole where we will need to contract with another firm to assist us. Obviously, your wife will need to leave our firm, but she could get on with a small firm that we just happen to contract with. There would, of course be a significant severance package, say, a full year's salary? Of course, whatever small firm that we contract with would receive a $1,000,000 retainer for their services. After all, she is already familiar with those cases as well as their principles. This agreement could be worth several tens of millions of dollars for the firm that we contract with."

"And, what would the principal of this law firm be required to do to get such a contract?" I asked.

"Simply to go home and go to sleep in their own bed." He assured me. "I can assure you that your wife has not broken her vows. Tomorrow, she will be encouraged to submit her resignation and join your law firm with a generous salary with the contract with our firm in hand. The asshole that tried to seduce her will be fired with cause and he will be brought up to the ethics board. With the evidence that we have against him, he will be disbarred for life. Since he is actually a full partner, he will need to be bought out, but it will be at a price much, much lower than he will be expecting.

Epilogue:

"Fiji again?" I cried out.

"It was your idea to have this spin board. I just spin it."

For some reason I thought that she had fixed the wheel. After all, we had been going to Fiji for the last five years. We had even bought an island vacation home there, since we had spent significant time on the island. Hell, we were practically natives by now. Our kids were welcomed by the 'natives'. No, they weren't actually natives to the islands, they were all Ex-pats. We fell into an odd bunch that welcomed us. Us, being pretty good lawyers, as well as having the backing of a really big law firm, helped in our acceptance.

Heather and I ended up moving full time to the islands. She joined my small law firm, but with the added income of her former firm, we expanded considerably. We hired a few more interns and associates. Most of the work we were able to do from the islands, be we still needed to occasionally travel back to the states for a week or so.

She finally got her full partnership, but it was with my firm. I really had no choice in that. Our two daughters and one son made that a necessity. Besides, her billable hours to her old firm got that on merit alone. OK, so there was more than a bit of nepotism involved. She was, after all, my wife and legally owned half of the firm.

Epilogue:

It was ten years after that fateful meeting with the founding partner of the law firm that my wife worked for. Since that meeting, our agreement has netted us over 10 million dollars of net income. My wife left the big law firm and joined me in my practice. Between us, we grew OUR firm substantially. We eventually ended up combining our practice with her old company and became senior partners. It had profited us and them substantially. We continually live on the island, and our children now run the law firm. We still see them regularly. We never need to worry about the virtue of our daughters. Before they became too serious, we insisted that they bring the young man home to meet us. One look at our babysitter, and most of them fled as fast as they could. One young man took one look, dropped to one knee and proposed. He stated that if he ever disappointed her, all she needed to do was to tell him, and he would gladly come back to the island and present himself in front of myself and HIM for whatever punishment that was required. So far, they have given me four grandchildren, and HE has babysat for every single one of them. The oldest is now 10-years old, and he scares me. I should mention that our babysitter is a former Special Operations Operator and has taught all our grandchildren most of what he knows. One of our granddaughters seemed to also have bonded with another of the island's residents. When we can't find her, we have learned to go to that woman or her husband to help us get her to appear. I have a feeling that when she grows up, she will become the in-house PI for the firm.

One really odd thing happened about five years after all this started. The asshole had lost his license to practice law and was working as a janitor at a local office building. He no longer drove cars because he ended up having a nervous breakdown every time he tried to get into the driver's seat. Must be some sort of latent mental trauma from a harrowing experience in his past, most likely PTSD. He was riding his bike home from work one evening, when he was hit by a hit-and-run driver. I, of course, had an unassailable alibi. When he was released from the hospital from his injuries, he was placed in a psychiatric hospital. Apparently, every time someone would try to get him to go outside, he became violently hysterical.

Last week, I decided that I needed to finally sell my aunt's property. It turns out that it wasn't entirely worthless after all. Who knew that swamp gas was so in demand? I got an offer from a company that wanted to build a plant to take the swamp gas and turn it into natural gas. It was an offer that I couldn't refuse. Just before closing, I took my wife out to the property to get whatever items that I wanted before they closed and junked everything that was left. I had hired several wreckers to tow all the vehicles that I wanted to keep back to our house. Several of them were classics that would be worth a lot of money if they were fixed up a bit. I did notice my wife looking oddly at a couple of them.

We were three hours into the drive back home before she finally spoke to me.

"You knew all along, didn't you?"

I figured playing dumb was my best option. "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

"Those cars. Several of them have distinct dents on them. I also recognize some of them as the vehicles that crashed into James's car while we were driving to the hotel. That pickup in particular was the first one. I remember that one vividly."

"I don't know what you are talking about, dear. Are you telling me that you were going to cheat on me? Are you saying that the only reason that you didn't actually cheat on me as because your lover got into a traffic accident on the way to the motel room?" I asked.

"Yes, goddamnit! I didn't want to do it, but he promised me a junior partnership!"

"Actually, that wouldn't have happened anyway. Jason already had that locked up. I was just about to pull the trigger on the divorce when Ben Stiller, the founding partner of your old law firm came into my office. He made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. You were dismissed from the firm. You joined me in our firm, and we contracted with them as outside counsel. Since you never actually broke your vows, I could live with it. James is now a destitute recluse that is terrified of leaving his house. He has no money and no life. He can't even afford the nastiest and cheapest prostitute to visit him.