Their divorce was a model of modern divorce. Contact between the estranged husband and wife was kept to a minimum. The prenuptial agreement spelled out how the assets of the marriage would be divided. A certified check for the wife's agreed upon settlement awaited the necessary signatures. DNA tests had proven that the husband was not the father of either of the minor children produced during the marriage. Their existence was almost totally ignored during the legal process. A small college fund was the only totem mention of them.
Documents were signed, hands were shaken, and payment was made. The estranged couple bid each other well and left the conference room never to meet again.
This was the end of the seven year marriage of John and Linda Franklin.
John Franklin went home to his new life. The pre-nup had protected the only child he had left, Franklin Enterprises, Inc... John redoubled his commitment to the company and in the next 5 years the business thrived under his management.
In spite of his best efforts John Franklin also found love. He hadn't wanted to love again. In many ways he struggled against the feeling. Donna Davis Franklin had come into his life like a Cajun hurricane. She was beautiful, smart, and fun and everything John could ever ask for in a woman. John had thought he never wanted to love again. Now he never wanted to be away from her.
John and Donna married after dating 4 months. Donna gave birth to William (John's father's name) Emory (Donna's father's name) Franklin exactly one year later. John was ashamed of himself but he had to know. A secret DNA test result indicated that William Emory Franklin was his son with a 99.4% probability.
John sat in the rocking chair holding his sleeping son. He wondered at the miracle of birth. John was amazed at how quickly you can fall in love. He loved William the moment he saw him. As John rocked William he thought back to David and Melissa Franklin. They were the children of Linda Franklin, his ex-wife. John wondered if "ex children" was a word.
He remembered that day over seven years ago. Melissa was only two months old. David was her older brother at 18 months of age. Melissa was sick and the doctors were having a difficult time diagnosing the cause. A battery of tests had been ordered. One of the tests included genetic profiling for the entire family. The results of the tests helped kept Melissa alive but they killed the marriage of John and Linda Franklin.
John remembered reviewing the results with a specialist his lawyer had hired. John was not the biological father of either child. In a surprising twist, David and Melissa had different fathers.
John remembered the pain of the revelations. He had loved Linda and her betrayal hurt him. But the loss of his children struck him to his soul.
John reasoned like all sane modern men should. He recalled the old saying "Living a good life is the best revenge." He knew that is what he had done. If he was still with Linda he would never have found Donna. He wouldn't be here rocking his son William. He was lucky in so many ways.
He had no idea what had happened to Linda or her children. The divorce settlement had been fair but he knew she would have to go back to work. Her parents lived nearby so she and the children had a support system.
For the first time he wondered about her. Had Linda gone back to her lovers? Did they have a good laugh at her cuckold husband? He wondered about how many men Linda had to get tested in order to find her children's fathers. He knew he needed answers to these questions. John didn't understand why but he needed to know the identity of the two men who had fathered their children.
John looked back in time trying to piece together clues as to who these men were. Linda worked until she was pregnant with David. Her workplace seemed to be a good starting point. He also remembered the regular girl's nights with her friends. These two areas were where he would start his search
Linda had worked as a secretary at the law offices of Harrison and Butler LLC. It was a small practice consisting of Ben Harrison and Fred Butler. He remembered Ben as a sixty four year old grandfather. His partner Fred Butler was a bit younger at 50 years of age. Fred was a lifelong bachelor. He is still practicing law, in fact Fred was John's corporate attorney. He couldn't remember their firm having any junior partners.
John set up a meeting with Fred Butler. He didn't know how to start his interrogation so he simply went with the truth. After some small talk John asked his attorney "Do you know of anyone Linda may have had an affair with while working for you"
Fred Butler was taken back by the question. Fred said "Are you accusing me of having an affair with Linda? Also why are you asking now, seven years after your divorce?"
John looked at Fred and asked "Did you have an affair with Linda?"
Fred Butler laughed at the suggestion. He never thought his deception could have been so successful. Fred replied "Linda was a beautiful woman and we enjoyed having her work for us. John dear, you are more my type than Linda."
John was embarrassed by his attorney's announcement. John stuttered "I'm sorry Fred. I never knew."
Fred smiled at his clueless client. "Not every homosexual dresses in drag and becomes a hair dresser. I'm just a regular man who enjoys other regular men."
John regained his composure. He said "Think back for me Fred. Do you remember any other attorneys or maybe clients she might have been a little too friendly with?"
One name came immediately to mind. Fred wondered why he never thought about it, he told John "David Jenkins." We handled all his incorporation papers and all his business when he started Jenkins Mechanical. Linda worked very closely with David. You know they are now married?"
John replied "I didn't know she had remarried. But I it just makes sense, she likes the security of a man."
Fred said "Yes they married 4 years ago. They have 2 children."
John had never met David Jenkins although Franklin Enterprises was Jenkins Mechanical's largest customer. Thinking back he realized he had very little communication with the man who should have been wining and dining him for his business. Now, he had an answer for David's distance. John also knew how to get his revenge if David was one of two men he wanted to find.
John knew he had to be certain before he started his plan. He would need a DNA sample to prove his theory. But how to get a sample was the problem. It proved to be easy in the end.
John drove by Jenkins Mechanical and recognized David Jenkins by the photos he had posted on Facebook. As David approached the front door he threw a coffee cup in to the trash can. Thirty seconds later John was driving to the genetics lab with his sample. Ten days later the results came in. David Jenkins was the father of David Franklin. John was angry when he realized Linda had named the child he had thought was his after her lover.
One down, one to go. Fred Butler hadn't given John any other names. It seemed like Linda's "girl's night out" times were the next area to explore.
John knew that Linda had told him that her girl's group consisted of mainly her high school friends. Linda had a large group of friends from High School, both male and female. He went online and purchased copies of Linda's high school yearbooks for her junior and senior years.
As he looked at Linda's senior picture he thought about how beautiful she was. Linda was in several photos in the year book. There was her senior picture, 4 different club pictures, her field hockey team and three candid photos of her. It seemed the photographer liked her. He wrote down the names of three boys who were in multiple photos with her, James "Jimmy" Jacobs, Phil Hodges and Melvin "Mel" Jones. John had graduated 3 three years earlier and realized Mel was the younger brother of two boys he had gone to school with. Simon Jones, Mel's oldest brother, worked for John as a driver.
Could Mel Jones be the father of Melissa Franklin? It seemed too easy but John knew that often the simplest explanation was the truest. John searched Facebook and found Mel Jones. Mel had moved to Maryland 3 years ago.
John Franklin led the next driver safety meeting. He spoke to the drivers telling them how important they were to the company. He talked about how their driving habits reflected on the whole company. He made his short speech and sat for the rest of the meeting. He watched Simon Jones for the entire meeting. His eyes followed Simon as he finished his doughnut and coffee. Before Simon reached the trash can John stopped him and said hello. After the two men finished catching up John and Simon threw their cups in the trash. They were the last to leave making recovery of Simon's cup very easy.
Ten days later, the results were in. Simon was a blood relative of Melissa Franklin. John knew that Simon Jones was the uncle of Melissa, Mel Jones was her father.
John was proud of his detective skills. He had located both of the men who had cuckolded him. He knew what to do with David Jenkins but didn't know how to get revenge on Mel Jones.
He investigated Mel Jones. Once again Facebook was extremely helpful. Mel was an over the road truck driver based in Brandenburg Maryland. He was single but had many photos of his fiancé on line. He liked to bowl and party. He loved Donald Trump and thought the second amendment was more scared than the bible. His account gave John all the information he needed.
John had a straight forward plan. He would ruin David Jenkins or at least severely cripple his company. As the owner of his own business John knew the effect his company's demise would have on Jenkins. Mel Jones would be handled a little more caveman style.
John had a set weekly meeting with Daniel Smith his production manager. Daniel could be imposing but was a hard worker who knew how to motivate others. Only John knew that Daniel had served five years in prison. Daniel has beaten his wife's lover within an inch of his life.
John asked Daniel to review alternate sources for the services Jenkins Mechanical provided. Daniel wondered out loud as to why John would want to change vendors. He told John "we have always had the internal option to turn to. We would need to hire 5 or 6 techs but the switch would be easy enough. Why make the change Boss?
John was used to feedback from Daniel. The major reason Daniel had been promoted was his ability to give feedback. He wasn't going to try and BS Daniel. John looked at Daniel and said "I don't want to do business with David Jenkins."
"Is that because he married your ex? Boss that is old news." Daniel replied.
