Faithful? Fateful

Janet's job had been to distract her husband until Gail could sneak into John's room. They'd returned to the room not long after, and, as they'd started to doze, Gail had unleashed all her fury on them. Both had been too surprised after their long day and satisfying romp to put up much of an initial fight. The number of stab wounds told the story of just how angry Gail had been about her husband's infidelity. That was the rage she'd tried so hard to project onto me, as her patsy. I didn't want to think any more about how close she'd come to succeeding.

Janet had been persuaded by Gail to kill Larry to 'prove her love.' I just looked on Janet with pity as Gail explained that. More importantly, it had made her a full-blown accomplice, with no hope for much leniency if she'd ever decided to go to the police. The plan had been to get him in the back while he was running to John's room - which they fully expected him to do once he heard all the commotion. But Larry's experience had served him well - not well enough, but I could hardly blame him. He'd gone for his gun first, before heading to the room. He hadn't run down the hallway either; rather, he'd tiptoed. Janet had followed close behind him, saying she was scared, the instrument of death hidden in her right hand behind her back.

Janet, having never using a knife on another human being, had had no idea the thrust needed to penetrate her husband through his clothing. The first wound had only seemed to surprise him. When he'd turned to face Janet, the whole truth - or near enough - had suddenly dawned on him. She'd had the knife poised to strike again. That's when the shot had rung out. A bullet had whizzed past Janet's right ear, and had shattered a framed picture near the top of the stairway. Gail had then come rushing out of John's room, causing Larry to turn again. That's when Janet had stabbed him for the second time, harder. Larry had fired a second round as he'd fallen forward. That bullet had missed Gail, and ended up being the one found by the police.

Larry had endured four more stab wounds to his upper back. Shortly afterward, he'd choked to death on his own blood, with his own wife straddling him.

Gail and Janet had been meticulous in cleaning up the glass from the picture. Ironically, the damaged picture was from one of John and Gail's wedding photos. I'd learned from the PI report they'd replaced it with a larger framed picture from the dining room that covered the smoke-stained wood surrounding the original.

Checking and re-checking to ensure nothing was missed, they'd found my wedding ring on the counter and laughed over the help I'd unknowingly provided.

The pair of lovers had then departed for Janet's home. She'd had a suitcase full of new clothing stashed in their guest bedroom closet.

The fake passport?" I asked. "I'm sure that took a few bucks."

"It did, Tom." She sighed long and hard before reaching for her purse.

"Uh, uh. Don't do it." I waved the gun.

"Easy Tom, just getting my checkbook. How much are we talking here?"

"Fuck you, you dirty whore." I spat. "Do you think I'll make things that easy for you?"

She actually giggled. Gail had the kind of balls her dead husband could have only dreamed about. If I'd kicked her that night, I might've broken my foot.

"Tom, I think you should check on the definition of a whore," she replied, enjoying herself. "That would be Molly, not me. I'm many things, but not that. It doesn't appear that you've come to realize it yet, but I've done you a very big favor.

"You don't strike me as the kind of person who could accept what John and Molly did to you: making you a damned fool and a cuckold. I wasn't at all surprised to learn during the trial that you'd been having them watched for the entire four years. But you must know, she would have raped you in a divorce. You live in a no-fault state, and besides, you were complicit in her infidelity. You were there, remember, right where I wanted you to be. Now, give me a figure."

Just then there was activity at the front door. "Police! Open the door!"

Gail looked at me with fury and disbelief. She shook her head, scolding me like a mother. "You stupid, stupid man," she admonished, "I took away your burden and could have made you very wealthy. Maybe included you with all the fun Janet and I have together. But no, you just had to have a conscience."

"You took away my burden, you foul bitch? You killed my fucking wife, and tried to take my fucking freedom!" I was losing control, and that was what she needed. Gail sprang from her seat, coming at me with a full head of steam. The move shocked me.

"Help, police, in here! Help!" She hollered it in her best acting voice, I might add. At the last second, I regained my composure and fired a slug into her kneecap. As she crumpled to the floor, I fired another that shattered her right collar bone. That one was unintentional. I was aiming at her chest.

Interpol and local authorities entered as I dropped the weapon. Police took in the scene, and yelled at me to get face down on the floor, hands behind my head. I was handcuffed and sat back down in the same chair as paramedics rushed in and attended to Gail. Janet just sat there, stunned, until officers led her into the next room. Other policemen kept entering, and finally I saw one I recognized.

"You okay, Tom?" Inspector Miles Standish asked. "Sorry about the protocol, but you weren't supposed to have a firearm, let alone shoot anyone."

I sneered at the man who'd helped me set this up. "Well, it was a good thing I did. She came right for me. What took you so long?"

I spent the rest of the afternoon at police headquarters giving my statement, which of course was substantiated by the recording from the wire I wore.

The next day, my attorneys served Gail and Janet immediately after their arraignment. We'd been working out the details for months leading up to the confrontation. Wealthy, dishonest people almost never get caught, so I knew I needed to savor this win. There were so many others out there who never got justice.

Both women were extradited to the U.S., prosecuted, and put on trial. Gail, for her part, remained stoic and belligerent. That actually helped my civil suit. As her trial unfolded, her testimony in my case fell apart. Eventually, I was awarded a seven-figure payout, even after the lawyer fees, for the women's part in the deception, my humiliation, and, most importantly, the murder of my wife.

I went back to Europe after the trial, intent on starting a new life and closing this chapter. Eventually, I made my way to the Caribbean, buying a small home on the Turks Islands. I've found myself quite content with the weather, and I have three regular women to share my bed.

Still, on the rare night I find myself alone, I often think of Molly. I think of all we lost, just because she fell for her boss, and then fell heedlessly into his wife's sick, twisted plot for revenge. That saddened me - for us, and for everyone who knew Molly. She didn't deserve that - not in my book anyway.

So, I try to live my life like today could be my last, in honor of my late wife. We certainly would not have stayed together, had she lived. Death having done us part - and her murderer having made me rich - I think I can afford to be charitable. It surely had been a fateful weekend, not just a faithless one.