Chapter 3

I made all my calls to help June along a little. Still hard to believe the feelings I had for her. Damn, man, I hardly knew this woman, but I had to help her out. Raising two kids on a limited income, one parent families, I hated that. A kid should have a chance in life. I watched my mother cry for too many years trying to get us what we needed. I felt that same feeling when I was with June. The, "I'll do anything for my kids," she shouldn't have to and now life will be better for her. I always liked helping good people, but despised the ones who used people. I had that type to deal with now.

I watched the tape of them in the motel again. You could tell by their actions that this wasn't their first time together, which wouldn't have made any difference anyway. I knew that from the time she told me she wasn't really pregnant that something was in the works.

I made a copy of the tape and took it to my lawyers. I had more than one lawyer. They all agreed that the marriage issue could be resolved rather quickly with this kind of evidence. After reading our pre-nuptial they asked if she had anything on me to counter-sue. I told them not unless playing cards in the motel counted. I did tell them about the few touches and a couple of kisses that they saw. Again, it was just their word against mine and wasn't all that bad anyway. It didn't reach the point of cheating as stated in our document.

They asked me about suing the three people who were trying to defraud me of money. I told my lawyers that they didn't have anything I wanted and as for the woman, I didn't want her name mentioned. If it wasn't for her, I would have never known about the plan to appropriate money from me. Of course I knew but wanted to keep June and her family out of it.

I told the lawyers what I wanted and to draw up the papers as soon as possible. I would be back in a few hours to pick them up. When I went back to pick up the papers the lawyers told me that I was being very fair under the circumstances. They said they could get the marriage annulled quicker than going through the divorce. I took both sets of documents with me and headed out the door.

I did something that I very rarely do. I went to the Marcus Company. Most of the people knew me by name but very few had ever met me. I walked up to the receptionist and asked to speak to the company president. She tried to hold back a laugh and asked if I had an appointment.

I don't always dress in suit and tie. I prefer the casual look and that's how I was dressed. A nice polo shirt and a pair of dockers pants.

I handed her one of my gold cards but it didn't mean anything to her. "I suggest you go back and hand him this card. I'm almost sure he'll want to see me."

She started to say something to me but looked back at the card wondering why it would get me in to see the president of a company. She wasn't sure what to do and got up and went back to the president's office. She wasn't gone a minute when she and the president of the company came out in a hurry. "Mr. Rhine, sorry to keep you waiting so long. Please come back to my office," he said. He then turned to the receptionist and said, "Marla, we do not want to be disturbed."

She said, "Yes sir," and looked back at the card. I could see her brain working as she mouthed the words, Randy R. It must have struck her. I was Randy Rhine, a most important customer. I did all the trucking for this firm; of course, she had no idea I was also a major stockholder of this company.

"Jim, I have a problem with a couple of your employees. I need to talk to them at once. I would like to use your office. I'll give you a little rundown on them. Most people don't know that Shelby is my wife of about six months. Her boyfriend is Chuck Woody, one of your managers. Basically, they were trying to set me up but I caught them in the act. So we will be getting an annulment or divorce very soon. Depending on the circumstances I might like to see them transferred to the West Virginia branch. To the best of my knowledge they are employees with good work records and you can't just transfer them for no reason. I'm hoping to convince them to ask for the transfer. Do you have any problems with that?"

"No, Mr. Rhine..."

"Please call me Randy, Jim," I asked.

"Well, Randy, I can probably transfer Shelby since she does secretarial work, but Chuck is a department head. They are much harder to replace and, I hate to say it, but he does a good job for us," he replied.

"Let me talk to them and see where we stand. I'll do my best to try and not upset your apple cart," I responded.

Jim informed Marla to page both Chuck and Shelby and have them sent up to his office. He then left and said he would return in about an hour. He had two meetings to attend. I thanked him for his time and told him I would remember the favor he just did for me. Statements like that mean a lot and I would always take care of people who helped me out. My reputation among the elite was important. Honesty with these people was paramount.

I was sitting behind Jim's desk when Chuck and Shelby came in.

"Randy, what are you doing here?" inquired Shelby.

"Chuck, please close the door and both of you take a seat. Shelby, we have a problem or at least a dilemma on our hands. You and your boyfriend here were trying to defraud me of money."

"No, it's not true, Randy. Please let..."

"Please be quiet and let me continue. You will have a chance to explain later. I know that you and Mr. Woody have been friends for a number of years. You tried to set me up and defraud me of a half million dollars."

"You can't prove anything," said Chuck. "You're bluffing. You can't prove anything and if you divorce Shelby, we'll get a half..."

"You'll get nothing. You see, I have a video of you two at the motel."

Chuck interrupted me. "Bullshit, you had the room with the tape in it. I know. I had it set up."

I turned on the video recorder which showed Chuck and Shelby fucking.

"Where did you get that?" asked Chuck.

"Now do you think the courts would believe my tape, or the one you have of us playing cards and having a glass of wine?" I asked.

Shelby was getting nervous. I looked at her directly while I spoke to her.

"Shelby, we can make this easy or very difficult. My lawyers have drawn up a number of choices. I can charge you both with fraud charges and we can all go to court and fight it out. Or we could..."

Chuck interrupted me again. "You won't go to court. You don't like the limelight. The publicity would hurt your image. You would never take us to court."

"Shut the fuck up! I'm tired of listening to your damn bullshit. You're dead wrong if you think I wouldn't take you to court and get your ass thrown in jail, and not lose a damn day's sleep over it. Now, I was saying, Shelby, we are getting divorced; I think you are well aware of that. We can use our pre-nuptial agreement and you go with whatever you had brought into the marriage which is basically nothing. You can take all your personal things that you have bought and the gifts I have bought for you." She was sitting there in tears. I almost felt sorry for her.

I looked over at Chuck. "Chuck, I was thinking of giving you a quarter million dollars to move to West Virginia and work there."

"What? Me? A quarter million? Hell, yes, I'll take it."

"There's a catch. Shelby will be staying here. Do you still want to go?"

"Hell, yes, I'll take the money and run," said Chuck, smiling.

Shelby looked at Chuck. "What about us, Chuck? You said you loved me. You're the one that had me marry Randy and then try to defraud him."

"It was business, baby. It was fun while it lasted. We had good sex together, but we're talking about a quarter of a million dollars. Sorry, baby, but it was just business. Where do I sign?"

I wanted for Shelby to see what a prick Chuck was. "What do you think of your lover now, Shelby?"

"I hate the bastard. He did nothing but use me. He set this shit up and I get tossed out on my ear and he gets the money. It just isn't fair."

"Shelby, you were my wife even though it was for a short time. I have a counter offer for you. Instead of giving the West Virginia job to Chuck, I'll see that you get it, along with the money. Only there are a couple of stipulations. You can't go with Chuck and you have to sign an annulment paper that says our marriage never existed. It's your choice."

"I get the job, the quarter million dollars and all my stuff. What about my BMW?"

"You can have it also. When you sign these papers, we will never have been considered married. I will personally rent you a moving van to take all your belongings to West Virginia.

Chuck yelled out, "What about me? What do I get?"

"You get to keep your job here, unless we ever hear of you trying to pull a stunt like this again, in which case you will be sent to prison or wind up dead. If we ever hear you spreading a rumor about Shelby, June or myself, you will be out on your ear. Now I suggest you get back to work. Oh, wait one minute." I paged Marla and asked her to send Bruce up to the office.

"Shelby, you go home and pack your things. You better consider yourself very lucky. Instead of going to jail, or not getting anything, you get another chance. Also not getting tied down to a loser. You have a chance to start over. Now go on with your life. You have that second chance."

She looked over at Chuck. "You fucking bastard, I never want to see you again," she said as she left the office.

A giant of a man walked through the doors. Around 6'6" and 325 lbs. "Chuck, I think you may have seen Bruce around. He's the head security guard for the Marcus Company. He has orders to keep his eyes on you to make sure you don't make waves here. If you do, he has orders to take care of business. We won't go into what that entails, hopefully it won't be necessary."

"Thank you for coming up Bruce," I said.

"No problem sir, anytime," he answered as he left the office.

"One last thing, Chuck. I wanted you out of here but Jim saved your ass. You make sure you do a hell of a good job here; I don't want Jim thinking he made the wrong decision. By the way, you would have never gotten the money. I just wanted Shelby to see the type of person you are. Now I suggest you get back to work."

When Jim got back, I explained all that transpired and offered to take him and his wife out to dinner. He accepted and we met up a couple of hours later for dinner. I made reservations at the restaurant that Shelby had used. I loved their lobster. Jim and his wife were good people. I liked doing things for good people. I did think about June while we were eating. It would have been nice to have her there with me. After dinner I headed home.

Shelby had her stuffed packed up and was gone even before I got home. I left her a check on the counter. I ended up giving her three hundred thousand dollars. Most people would probably think I'm nuts for giving her anything but I wanted her to try and turn her life around.

Within the month the annulment came through. I checked with Jim at the Marcus Company and he said that Shelby was settled in and her supervisors were impressed with her. I figure her looks had a lot to do with that, but at least she was doing good. It was the last I had ever heard about her.

Jim said Chuck was doing a decent job. Whenever Bruce made his rounds and smiled at him, he looked nervous. It looked like it all might work out okay.

Time to face the music. I went over to by sister Barb's house. She was having a birthday party for my fourteen year old niece. My other sister Brenda was there with her family along with my brother Joe and his family. I was the only one not married now and without kids. I was a good uncle though.

Barb looked at me and asked, "Where's your little teeny... I'm sorry, where is Shelby?" she asked.

"We're no longer together. I had the marriage annulled. It was final last week." I didn't give them all the facts. I didn't want to implicate June.

Brenda said, "Wise decision, big brother. We invited Shelby to every family event and she never came. I guess she really didn't want to be part of the family. Where did she go?"

"She transferred to an office in West Virginia. I think it was a good move for her."

"What did it cost you, Randy?" Joe asked.

"I gave her a little for the road and to get started on a new life. The amount isn't important," I replied.

Brenda asked me if I was going to her husband's fortieth birthday bash that was a little over two months away. I told her I wouldn't miss it for anything. They were having a big pool party and BBQ. They told me I could bring a date as long as she was an adult. I told them that my life with Shelby was over so they could find something else to kid me about.

Barb mentioned that her daughter Sherry had to get her tonsils out on Friday. She asked if I would mind coming and sitting with her while she waited during the surgery. Her husband was a truck driver and would be on the road. He was going to take the day off but she convinced him that tonsil removal wasn't that bad. I promised I'd be there.

I headed to the hospital on Friday. My niece was being prepped. I told her everything would be fine and I would buy her a gallon of ice cream, whatever she wanted but without nuts. "Thank you, Uncle Randy. You know I like chocolate."

"Then chocolate it will be," I answered.

I headed out to the waiting area with Barb. We would probably be there for about two hours, counting recovery time.

While we were sitting there talking, I watched as they brought a young boy in. He was in an auto accident. Behind him rushing down the corridor was a woman; it was June. I jumped up and went to her.

"June, what happened?" Of course she was a nervous wreck.

"My son, Barry, had an accident. God, I hope he's alright. He's a new driver, being only sixteen, and turned the steering wheel to avoid hitting a dog and ran into a ditch. I know he hurt his leg. The paramedics said they wouldn't know how badly until they take x-rays. Randy, I need to thank you for all you've done for me but I don't have time right now. Please excuse me while I find out about my son."

She quickly went to her son's room. It was so nice to see her; too bad the circumstances didn't give us a chance to talk. I sure hoped her son would be alright. He looked more shook up than anything. I had to get back to Barb.

"Who was that?" asked Barb.

"A woman I know. Her son was just in a car accident. I guess he hurt his leg. I think he'll be alright. I think I'll check on him before we leave," I replied.

Barb and I talked about different things until Sherry came out of recovery. We went in to see her; she looked groggy from being drugged up. They brought her in a Popsicle to help cool down her throat. When she was eventually ready to go I handed her twenty dollars for her chocolate ice cream that I promised her. She whispered thank you to me and I gave her a kiss on the forehead. I decided to see if June was still there so I walked to Barry's room.

Barry was sitting up watching the television.

"Hi, Barry. My name is Randy. I'm a friend of your mother's."

"I'm sorry, sir, she went back to work. She won't be back for a couple of hours," he said.

"How's your leg?" I asked.

"The doctor said that I was lucky, it's just a sprain. It should be normal in a few days. Everything else is just scrapes and cuts."

"So are you going home today?"

"The doctor said he was going to keep me till morning. They gave me a lot of drugs and wanted to make sure I don't have any reactions to them. I'll tell mom you stopped by. It was nice of you to do so."

I gave him one of my private cards with my personal cell phone number on it. "Barry, would you give this card to your mom and ask her to call me?" I asked.

"Sir, what's this about? I'm sorry but it is my mom and I try to look after her."