Part 3

Chapter 19: Laying the Groundwork

I arrived home around 9:30 PM and I slipped quietly into the house to see where Megan was. Seeing that she was in the bedroom watching television I went back out to the garage and installed the GPS transceiver in her car.

As soon as I walked into the bedroom Megan turned on me.

"Why were you so rude to Carl?" Megan said.

"When was I rude to him?"

"It was your whole demeanor. You barely spoke to him and then when you left you called him Tredwell instead of Carl," Megan said.

"So? What's the big deal?"

"Calling him by his last name like that is disrespectful."

"I happen to think that his coming to my house to flirt with my wife shows a lack of respect for me."

"What the hell are you talking about? He wasn't flirting with me. We were just talking. Friends do that, you know?"

"Just talking, huh?" I said. Then a falsetto voice I continued. "Oh, Megan is such a good tennis player ... Megan gets better everyday ... Megan will be the best tennis player at the club ... Megan can walk on water..." Then back to my normal voice. "Don't you think he was pouring on the compliments just a little too thick?"

I waited for Megan to respond but she didn't. It looked like she was actually thinking about what I had just said.

"A word to the wise, Megan. You had better pay closer attention to what Trish is up to before it's too late. That is if it is not already too late."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Megan asked.

"Just think about it and in time you will understand," I said. "I am going to my study to read for a while."

"I thought we were going to ... ah ... Didn't you ask me to wait up for you when you left?" Megan said.

"It's hard to think of making love when you are being eaten up by other worries," I said.

"What other worries?" Megan said.

I said, "We'll talk tomorrow," as I walked out of the bedroom closing the door behind me.

Chapter 20: Jacobs and Stargill

Monday morning I was up and out of the house before Megan got out of bed. I just didn't know what to say to her anymore. Until I was ready to confront her I planned to avoid her as much as possible.

I got to work at 7:30 AM and started working on two of the RFPs that were on my desk. The next time I looked at the clock it was lunchtime. I picked up the sandwich I brought from home and went to the break room. Leon Crain and Betty Arnold, Thad's secretary, were sitting in the break room talking when I got there.

"Hey, Warren," Leon said. "Betty and I were just talking about Thad's meeting with Mr. Harris this morning."

Betty looked at me with a big smile on her face. "Mr. Harris gave Mr. Achsole an RFP for Jacobs and Stargill. I heard Mr. Harris tell Mr. Achsole that the contract could be worth over 100 million dollars over the next ten years."

"I don't think I have ever seen an RFP that big come through here before," Leon said.

"I heard Mr. Harris telling Mr. Achsole how important winning this contract would be for the company," Betty continued, "so Mr. Achsole had to make sure that the proposal was done right."

"Get this," Leon said. "Thad told Mr. Harris that he would do it himself to make sure that it was done right."

"I didn't know that Thad ever actually wrote proposals," I said.

Betty started to laugh. "Every time an important RFP comes in Mr. Achsole tells Mr. Harris he will take care of it personally," she said.

"So, what you are saying is that Thad handles all of the important proposals himself?" I asked.

"No. What I am saying is that Mr. Achsole tells Mr. Harris he is writing those proposals but what he is doing is having his proposal writing superstar write the proposals and then Mr. Achsole takes credit for them," Betty said.

"I always knew Thad was an asshole but this proves it beyond any doubt," I said. "So, who is this proposal writing superstar?"

Betty and Leon were both looking at me. "You're kidding, right?" Leon said.

"No. Should I know who it is? Is it you?" I said.

"You must be kidding," Betty said. "You have to know that you're his proposal writing superstar."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Leon said. "You can't tell me you didn't know. You are the one he is always giving the high value opportunities to. He has been living off your talent ever since you got here."

"That fucking son-of-a bitch," I said. "Pardon my language, Betty."

"You really didn't know?" Leon asked.

"I had no idea. I just put my head down and worked," I said. "I guess I've been a little naïve."

"I guess. Jesus, I should have talked to you about this a long time ago," Leon said.

"It's not your fault that I am an idiot. I let this happen. I just wanted to do a good job. I never considered the possibility that Thad Asshole would take advantage of me like that." I said.

"What are you going to do about it?" Betty asked.

"I don't know. I guess I will have to use this to get some leverage over Thad," I said.

When I got back to my desk I logged onto Mace's computer and check the location of Megan's car. It was at the medical center as it should have been. As I stared at the map on my screen I thought about what I had learned at lunch. Thad Asshole had been taking credit for my work. It made me wonder what else he was doing to me. Had he really ever talked to the sales manager about giving me a job? He may not have wanted me promoted out of his department as long as he could take advantage of me. I felt so stupid. How could I not have figured that out myself?

I was still angry over my own stupidity when Betty called me.

"Mr. Achsole wants to see you," she said.

When I got to Thad's office, Betty winked at me as I walked past her desk.

"Oh, good, Butterman you are here," Thad said.

"The name is Butterfield, Thad, but I would prefer that you call me, Warren. Try and get that right from now on."

I almost laughed out loud when I saw the shocked look on Thad's face. I had never before spoken up to him like that. I had always been afraid to say anything because I was worried about losing my job, but not anymore. He wouldn't dare fire me now. He needed me too much.

"Okay, Warren, whatever you want," Thad stuttered. "I have an RFP I need you to work on. This is a big one and I need you to have it back to me by next Wednesday. That gives you a little more than a week to complete the bid."

I took a quick look at the Jacobs and Stargill RFP and asked, "This looks pretty important. Are you sure you want me to work on this?"

"I am giving this to you because I know that you will get it done quickly. I need it back by next Wednesday so I have a couple of days to review it before I submit it to the client on Friday," Thad said. "This is a good opportunity for you, Warren. If we win this proposal it could go a long way toward getting you promoted."

I wanted to reach across the desk and grab the grubby little bastard by his greasy hair and throw him against the wall a few times but instead, I picked up the J&S RFP and said, "I'll do the best I can with it, sir."

"I know you will, Warren."

Back at my desk I quickly read through the RFP. J&S was asking for a ten-year ongoing services contract to cover 600 service stations / convenience stores J&S operated in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. There was nothing complicated about the request other than its size. I quickly broke the RFP into is component parts and sent them out to get costing information. Once that was underway I went back to working on the other proposals that were sitting on my desk. I quickly realized that I was no longer working because I felt pressure to perform. I was now just working to kill time.

At five o'clock Megan called me. I don't know why her call surprised me that day; after all she had called me at work every night at the same time for the last two weeks. Megan actually sounded cheerful on the phone as she told me about her day. Then she asked me if I would like her to get me some Chinese takeout for dinner.

"You can zap it in the microwave when you get home," she said.

"That sounds good. Thanks."

"Warren? You do know that I love you, don't you?"

The question surprised me and I really didn't know what to say. Could she love me if she was having an affair? I guess that is possible, but did I know that she loved me? No, I didn't, but I was not ready to have that conversation yet.

"Of course I do and I love you too," I said.

As soon as I put the phone down I linked to Mace's computer and started tracking Megan's car. It was just after 5:15 PM that Megan's car left the medical center and headed toward home. At 5:35 PM the car stopped at an address on Montgomery Road. The Chinese restaurant we usually go to for take out is located in that area. The car began moving again at 5:55 and arrived at our house at 6:10 PM.

Then, at 7:05 Megan left the house and drove to the southwestern section of Cincinnati to an address on Southacres Drive. I wondered whom Megan could possibly know in that part of town. Southacres was at least twenty miles from our house and I knew that Tredwell lived just a few miles from us. I wrote the address down and kept the link to Mace's computer open as I tried to concentrate on the school RFPs I had on my desk. At 10:30 Megan left the Southacres address and headed home. I had found out where Megan had gone but I still didn't know whom she had gone there to see or what she did while she was there.

When I got home that night I didn't even bother to ask Megan what she had done that evening. I just didn't want to hear any more lies.

Chapter 21: Life Begins to Change

Tuesday morning I was up and out of the house again before Megan got out of bed. I was the first one in the office so I made a pot of coffee. When the coffee was ready I poured myself a cup and sat at my desk. I tried to get into my work but couldn't. I just kept thinking about how my life had turned into the basket of shit.

I could pinpoint the exact day when my marriage started to fall apart. It was the day that Trish and Brandon moved in with us. Trish the bitch was doing everything she could to drive a wedge between Megan and me but Megan didn't even seem to notice. Had Trish somehow brainwashed her? Then there was that spoiled shit Brandon. His mother allowed him to steal from me and then acted like I was being an ogre when I got upset about it.

Since Trish and Brandon came to live with us I had sold the house I loved, moved into a house I didn't want and didn't think we could afford. We joined a country club that I didn't care to belong to and leased a new Lexus for Megan because Trish said that Megan needed to have the proper car to be seen in our neighborhood and at the country club. In addition to all that Trish had already picked out a new man for Megan.

Things had progressed to the point that my marriage was about over. Megan had taken to sneaking around behind my back and lying to me about it and I couldn't help but think that Trish was behind all of my problems. For a brief moment I had a happy fantasy of the good old days when they burned witches at the stake.

I was getting so depressed that I started to think about my career to take my mind off of my marriage. That wasn't much help. My career had turned into just a routine job. I busted my ass trying to get ahead and all the while Thad Asshole was taking credit for my work. One thing Thad did do was to make sure I was well paid. He made sure I wouldn't get promoted out from under him and he also made sure I wouldn't leave thinking I could get more money somewhere else.

Could I really be that stupid? I wondered if I was just too stupid to live. Now that was an interesting thought. For a brief moment I actually considered suicide but then realized that I really didn't want to die, I just wanted to get back control of my life. Once I started thinking about how I would do that I started to feel better.

By noon I had cleared up the RFPs I had on my desk, except for the Jacobs and Stargill request. I was still waiting for the cost information to come back from engineering, procurement, and our subcontractors. I figured to have everything I needed to write the final proposal by Friday. Before going to lunch I called Buck on his cell phone.

"Hey, Butter, how ya doin?"

"If I was doing any better I would have to shoot myself," I said. "Have you got a minute to talk?"

"Sure. I was just heading to the station to file an accident report," Buck said. "What's up?

"Can you check out an address for me? Find out who lives there?"

"So you found out where Megan has been going?"

"Yes."

"Okay, what's the address?"

I gave Buck the Southacres address and he told me he would give me a call when he had the information.

Somehow I managed to keep busy the rest of the day without doing any real work. When Megan called at five o'clock I told her I would be home for dinner. She was surprised but she seemed to be happy that I would be home which puzzled me. If I didn't know that Megan was sneaking out on me while I was working late I would still believe that she loved me as much as she ever did.

When I got home Megan was already there fixing dinner for us and I noticed that there were only two places set at the table.

"We're dining alone tonight?" I said.

"Yes. Trish is at a school function with Brandon tonight."

I wanted to ask if they were both in detention but decided to let it go. Why ruin what might actually be a pleasant evening with Megan.

We had a porterhouse steak with a baked potato and a garden salad. Megan served this with a nice Cabernet and for a while I was able to put all of my problems and concerns away and just enjoy being with my wife.

After dinner Megan put on some music and asked me to dance with her. Holding her in my arms as we danced, I realized that I was still in love with this woman and for the first time in the last few weeks I began to pray that I would be able to save my marriage.

I think it may have been during the third song we were dancing to that I began kissing Megan. There was no reluctance on her part and our passion built quickly. After a few more minutes of dancing and kissing I took Megan's hand and led her into the bedroom.

While Megan was standing by the bed I noticed the stockings she was wearing. I was sure that they were part of a set that included panties and a bra that I bought for her for Valentine's Day a year earlier.

"Are those the stockings I bought for you?"

"Yes."

Are you wearing the panties too?"

Megan took hold of the hem of her skirt and slowly raised it until I could see matching panties. I moved closer to her and dropped to my knees and began to remove her panties. As I slid the panties down her legs I stared at the thick triangle of dark hair that pointed the way to her most intimate area. By the time Megan stepped out of her panties my cock was rock hard. The anger and distrust I had for Megan earlier in the day was gone, replaced by lust. All I wanted was to make love to her. I got up and took her head gently in my hands and pulled her toward me and kissed her softly on the lips. Megan responded by slightly parting her lips and allowing my tongue to touch the inside of her lips. As the kisses became more passionate Megan seemed to melt into my arms.

I picked Megan up and laid her on the bed and then opened her blouse. I opened her bra and began kissing and licking her breasts. As I began to suck on her nipples Megan let out a soft moan and pulled my head tighter against her chest. I slowly worked my way down over her stomach until I reached the top of her skirt. I lifted my head then pulled her skirt up over her hips. I felt the soft, smooth flesh of her thighs against my cheeks as I pressed my face into her pubic hair and inhaled her scent.

I slowly moved down and began running my tongue lightly over her vulva. Starting on the soft flesh just below her mound and going up over her clitoris and onto her pubic mound. As I did this the lips of her pussy separated allowing me to run my tongue around her lips and then pushing it inside her aroused pussy. She tasted fantastic. I couldn't get enough of her sweetness. I continued pleasuring her orally until she had a shuddering orgasm.

After her orgasm I climbed on top of her and slid my cock head between the dripping lips of her excited pussy. As I pushed myself all of the way inside Megan, she said, "I love you."

After that she just made mewing sounds in her throat until she started her second orgasm. Then she started pushing her pelvis up to meet my thrusts.

"Oh, God, that's so good. Ahhhh ... Ohoooo ... Oh yes..." she moaned.

Then as she peaked she just made a deep guttural sound in her throat. No sooner had she finished than my climax began. I emptied a rather large load inside her and rolled onto my back. We didn't speak for a few minutes as we lay there enjoying the afterglow.

The beauty of the moment didn't last very long.

"Warren, I was thinking that maybe it's time for us to start thinking about having a baby," Megan said.

It wasn't that I was against having children; it was just that Megan's timing sucked. She was asking me to consider having a baby with her while I was trying to find out if she was cheating on me. To make matters worse, before I could even begin to respond to Megan's statement the bedroom door opened and Trish just walked in and before she even noticed that we were both laying naked on the bed, she started talking.

"Megan, would it be all right if I borrowed ... Oh, my God."

As Megan and I scrambled to cover up Trish just stood at the door.

"Mom, didn't you think to knock when you saw the door was closed?"

"I didn't think Warren was home," Trish stammered.

"What did you want, mom?"

"It's not important," she said. "I have to go out for a while, I shouldn't be too late."

The door closed and Trish disappeared and along with her the good mood I had been in since I got home from work also disappeared. I certainly wasn't in any mood to be talking about having a baby.

"I have some work to do," I said.

Without another word I got dressed and went to my study and Megan was asleep before I came back to bed.

Chapter 22: Another Long Day

Wednesday morning I went back to my usual routine and had breakfast with Megan. One thing I didn't understand was why Megan always seemed to be happy when I was with her, that is, except when we argued about Trish and Brandon. Thinking back over the last few years, Megan and I didn't really have many arguments and the ones we did have were almost always generated by something Trish or Brandon did. So, why would Megan want to cheat on me? Talking about having a baby doesn't sound like a woman getting ready to dump her husband does it? Something wasn't right about this whole mess. I couldn't figure it out but I was sure I would have the answer very soon.

At work I dug into the pile of school RFPs again and spent the day working on them. At four o'clock that afternoon Buck called me.

"Did you find out who lives at that address?" I asked.

"Sort of."

"What do you mean by sort of?" I said.

"I need to talk to you about this," Buck said. "But it will have to wait till tomorrow. Can you get out of work at five tomorrow?"

"Yes, I can get out at five o'clock. If Asshole doesn't want me to leave, tough shit," I said.

"I'll pick you up in front of your building at five."

"Aren't you going to tell me who lives at that address?"

"Not till we talk. See you tomorrow."

After the call I wondered why Buck wouldn't tell me who lived at the Southacres address. Was it someone we knew? I tried to get back to work but I kept thinking about Buck's call. I was still thinking about the call when Megan called me at five o'clock.

"Any chance you can come home early again tonight. Maybe we could have a repeat of last night," Megan said.

I really didn't feel like working but I didn't feel up to spending an evening with Megan while pretending everything was all right.

"No. We are buried with these school RFPs. I need to stay and work tonight, I said.

"How much longer will this go on?" Megan said.

Given the circumstances, her question struck me as being ironic.

"Not much longer," I said. "It will all be over soon."

"Okay, I'll see you at home then. I love you." Megan said.

I felt my anger build at those words but I held it in.

"Love you too," I said.

I spent the rest of the evening distracting myself with work. It was a little after nine o'clock that I clicked on the link to Mace's computer and checked to see if Megan was at home. The map that appeared on the screen showed that Megan was once again at the Southacres address. For the next few minutes I had difficulty breathing. My stomach was burning and I could hear my pulse throbbing. I had to go to the men's room and splash cold water on my face and do a deep breathing exercise until I calmed down.

When I got back to my desk I tried to get back to work but I couldn't concentrate. Why would Megan hint that she wanted to make love to me and then sneak off to meet her lover? How cold blooded had she become? I thought briefly about not going home at all that night but I ended up going home. The ticking and pinging of Megan's car as I walked through the garage was just a confirmation of what I already knew.

Chapter 23: The House on Southacres Drive

At work, Thursday was a do nothing day. I just wasn't motivated to work. I did get back most of the information I needed for the J&S proposal and I put it in the file for that account and sat at my computer pretending to be busy.

At three o'clock Thad called me.

"How's the J&S proposal coming," he asked.

"No problem. I'll have it done in plenty of time."

"You will you be working late tonight, won't you?" he said

"No."

"No? What do you mean by no?" Thad said. "Everyone in this department is working long hours to clear out the backlog of school RFPs. What makes you special?"

"I haven't been feeling well lately and I am trying to make sure I get enough rest so that I don't come down with something serious. I need to be ready to put the rest of the J&S proposal together."

I could tell this upset Thad but he let it go. "Just make sure you have the J&S proposal on my desk next Wednesday before the end of the day."

"No problem," I said.

At five o'clock I shut down my computer, slipped the J&S file into my briefcase and headed for the door. I noticed that several people looked at me as if I was abandoning the ship but I didn't let that bother me. I knew that I had already submitted twice as many proposals as anyone else in the department so I wasn't about to feel guilty about leaving early. Besides, these people all seemed to know that Thad was screwing me over and no one had bothered to tell me.

Buck was waiting for me at the front door in his squad car. I climbed into the front seat and noticed the serious look on Buck's face.

"Gees, am I under arrest?" I asked, trying to get Buck to smile.

"No, but this is serious business," he said.

Buck pulled out of the parking lot and headed for I-71.

"Where we going?"

"That depends on you," Buck said.

I didn't like the sound of that.

"What's going on Buck? All I want is the name of the person that lives in the house on Southacres," I said.

"Before I tell you what I found out I want to know what you are going to do with this information," he said.

"I don't know," I said. "I haven't thought that far ahead."

"Well, start thinking ahead then."

"Jesus, why are you so pissed at me? What did I do to you?" I said.

"Nothing. You're my best friend and I am just looking out for you. I have to know that you won't do something stupid with the information I give you," Buck said.

"Do something stupid? Like what?"

"Like trying to hurt or kill someone."

I felt as though Buck had punched me in the stomach.

"God damn it, Buck. How long have you known me? Do you really believe I would do something like that?"

"Butter, I know you to be a fair minded and even tempered guy but I have seen a lot of these domestic disputes get way out of hand. People in emotional distress do all sorts of things no one would ever expect them to do. I don't want you to end up dead or in jail because of this."

I was beginning to understand what he was telling me.

"Buck, I promise you that I won't do anything stupid. I already have enough problems without destroying the rest of my life. I just need to find out the truth about what is going on so that I can move on with my life, with or without Megan."

We drove south on I-71 and then went west on 562 to I-75 South. From I-75 we merged onto I-74. We must have driven twenty miles, Buck lecturing me the whole time about keeping my cool no matter what I found out. When we finally stopped I had no idea where we were.

"Where are we?"

"We are on Southacres Drive and that house is the one you are looking for," Buck said as he pointed at a large brick ranch style house on the other side of the street.

"The house belongs to a guy named Preston Matthews. Does that ring a bell?" Buck said.

"No. Never heard the name before. Is that who lives here?"

"Not sure yet. It seems that there is also a Preston Matthews that has a home fifty miles north of Cincinnati. That home is listed in the names of Preston and Karen Matthews. If this is the same Preston Matthews this might be a rental property. Let me go up and see if anyone is in the house. You stay here."

"Okay."

Buck got out of the car and put his hat on. I had seen Buck in uniform several times but this was the first time I had seen him in his cop persona. I watched from the car as Buck rang the doorbell and then knocked on the door. No one answered. Buck peeked in the window and then walked around behind the house before returning to the car.

I got out of the car and waited for Buck on the sidewalk.

"Someone is living there. Today's newspaper was on the porch and the house is furnished. There's patio furniture in the back yard and the lawn was mowed recently. There's a large two-car garage on the side of the house. I looked in through a window. No cars in the garage."

As I stood waiting to hear what Buck suggested we do next a man came out of the house behind us and walked over to where we were standing.

"Looking for Preston?" the man asked.

'Yes, I was hoping to speak with him," Buck said.

"Well, Preston doesn't live here. He has a place up in Springboro. He usually spends a couple of nights a week here, the rest of the time he stays up in Springboro," The man said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Buck said.

"Henry. Henry Midland."

"Well, Mr. Midland, do you know Mr. Matthews?" Buck asked.

"Not very well. He keeps to himself when he's down here. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"No. I am just following up on an accident report. Mr. Matthews was a witness and this was the only address I had for him," Buck said. "So, you say he comes here a couple of times a week. That's kind of strange isn't it? I mean keeping two houses."

"Preston bought this house about five years ago," Henry said. "When he first moved in I went over and introduced myself. He wasn't real friendly but he told me that he and his wife lived up in Springboro and that he bought this place so he would have a place to stay when he had to work late or when he had an early meeting in the morning."

"I would think a condo in the city would make more sense," Buck said.

"Preston is loaded. I don't know what his house in Springboro is like but he paid 750K for this house. He has a cleaning service and a lawn service that come in every week."

"What kind of job does he have that he can throw money around like that?" Buck said.

"I don't know. I think he is the CEO of some corporation in Cincinnati. Between you and me, I think he bought this house so he would have some place to bring his girlfriends," Henry said.

Buck gave me a quick look and then turned back to Henry.

"Really? What makes you think that?"

"Well, Just about every time he spends the night here he has company," Henry said.

"Does he have a lot of girl friends?"

"I don't know how many girl friends he has. I have only noticed one lately," Henry said.

"Oh, so you have seen his girlfriend?"

"No, only her car. She drives a Lexus but the windows are tinted so I have never seen her face. When she comes she pulls right into the garage," Henry said.

Buck gave me another look.

"Does she spend the night?"

"I don't think so, at least not very often. I usually see her arrive between 7:30 and 8:00 and leave between ten and eleven."