Chapter 1

Across the world people are finding themselves faced with tough financial situations, which they never dreamed would be possible in their lifetimes. People are finding themselves with out employment and with no prospects of finding jobs in the near future. Not a day passes that families find themselves losing their homes and their life savings. Banks and other lending institutions have tightly restricted their practices to an extent where most people find it impossible to get help reducing their debts by getting loans. Such is the world in the grips of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

During these hard times there are unscrupulous individuals, who see opportunity and profit from others' misfortune. They are not recognized lenders, neither are they quite loan-sharks, but they recognize that profits can be made by providing financial aid in return for high returns. Often times such aid comes with strings attached, which are a part of the price of a loan.

The following is a tale of one couple faced with financial ruin and homelessness. They are offered a straw to grasp upon, which would allow them to solve their monetary problems, provided they are willing to pay the lender's price. When confronted with ruin or salvation what price would any of us pay? Let us hope that such a choice never happens to us.

David and Debbie Marshall were a very ordinary couple who own a well kept motel in a small town located near a larger city. They worked hard all their lives to follow their dream and own a motel. The have been married for twenty seven years and for over twenty years they have realized their dream, Together they have raised three children, all of whom have left home, married and found lives of their own.

Most of their guests are people who have business in the city but find the metropolitan hotels and motels booked solid, or prefer the more laidback atmosphere of a smaller town for their free time. In the peak time of summer many of the guests are tourists seeking a goodnight's sleep from their driving on the nearby interstate highway.

The downturn in the economy hit David's and Debbie's business very hard. The businessmen and women, which once frequented the motel, were greatly reduced. In addition, David suddenly became ill and had an emergency appendectomy. Like many people the couple did not have insurance, they thought that medical emergencies only happened to other people. Given the reduction in motel guests and the high cost of doctors and the hospital the couple found themselves deep in dept, which was made all the more critical due to the fact their original mortgage to buy their motel was a thirty year loan.

The couple used money, which should have gone to taxes, just to keep up with their bills. Slowly but surely the pair were sinking deeper into debt. They borrowed as much as they could from their children, but the expenses mounted, while the income dwindled. It is not as if they owed an enormous amount of money, it was hardly more than the cost of an expensive SUV, but given their current circumstances their debts were beyond their ability to pay.

The couple tried to refinance their loan, but were rejected. They also tried several other banks to secure a loan without success. Everything that they had worked so hard to obtain was on the verge of vanishing before their eyes.

David Marshall was a man in his mid-fifties and his wife is two years younger than him. David is a heavyset man, having graying black hair, which is slightly receding. He stands five feet eight inches tall and his face, while not handsome, is pleasant. His wife has all the appearance of an ordinary housewife who has had three children during her lifetime. She is little over five feet tall and her whole continence radiates an inner joy of life. Together they are the perfect couple of ordinary, everyday people the likes of which can be seen everywhere in the world.

The weight of the couple's financial troubles has invaded their relationship and their thoughts are tightly focused upon everything they potentially might lose. Their last hope is to get a loan from Financial Group, a company, which is noted for their high interest rates.

"I'm going in to talk to the loan officer at Financial Group this afternoon," David told his wife as they sat in the office of their motel. "They are our last hope."

"Don't worry," Debbie said to him. "We have over twenty years of equity in this place that should count for something."

"I sure hope so," her husband replied. "It is not as if it is a terrible amount of money we need. It is a lot less than this place is worth and we can make the payments easily."

"Well, I hope for the best dear," she said. "I'm going to pray that everything goes our way for once."

"Good," her husband kissed her and squeezed her hand, "I'm going to need all the prayers I can get."

That day, while David was gone, Debbie started up her personal computer and began to message several of her friends who also owned motels asking for advice. Most of her friends could only suggest that she and her husband keep trying to do as they had been doing and wished her good luck. However, one of her friends wrote back asking Debbie to swear to secrecy about what she was about to tell. Debbie and her husband had met her friend and her friend's husband several times of various motel owners' gatherings. Debbie told her friend that she would keep whatever her friend told her a secret.

Once assured, her friend replied that she knew of an "alternative lender" who was willing to finance loans provided the risk was no too great. Debbie told her friend the details about her and her husband's situation. Her friend replied that the amount they owed did not seem outrageous and if the couple could not find other financing; there was someone that might be able to help.

"This is not something I would suggest to anyone," her friend wrote on messenger, "but if everything else fails, keep it in mind. My husband and I got a personal loan from a man who gave us a good interest rate. He is not a real lender and his service do not come without a special price. We were in the exact type of situation that you and your husband are and this man was able to lend us enough money to keep our business going.

"Who is this miracle man?" Debbie replied, "If the loan from Financial Group falls through we will need this person."

"Debbie, first assure me that everything I tell you will be held in the strictest confidence, "her friend replied. "You can never tell a soul, not even your husband what I will tell you."

"Of course," replied Debbie, "all your secrets are safe with me."

"First of all he will examine everything about you and your family," her friend explained, "not only your financial situation. Make no doubt about it he will make sure that you are able to repay the loan, but he will ask for something more. He is no loan-shark and you will find his interest rates, while higher than a bank, affordable."

"This is sounding very promising," Debbie replied, "tell me more."

"He will want to make the final closing of the loan only with you. He calls it negotiating the closing, but it involves a lot more than signing papers. If he approves of the loan he will want to be with you. I am talking about in a sexual way."

"OMH!" Debbie replied, "Do you mean to say you let him have you for the loan? Did your husband know about it?"

"Yes, I know it sounds terrible, but what could I do? We were faced with living on the streets! I know it sounds awful but now we have everything paid with a manageable loan to pay off. I know the whole thing seems terrible, but getting the loan has turned out to be the best thing we could have done. Make no mistake about it, I wish there had been some other way; yet, in the long run it did not hurt my husband's and my relationship."

"I am so sorry that you had to do that," Debbie told her friend, "I don't think I could do what you have done, although I don't blame you. I don't think that this man would find me attractive anyhow. I'm just an ordinary, run of the mill housewife."

"So am I. He will check into every aspect of your life," her friend said, "before he arranges the final closing. He does not accept just anyone to do business with and you may find that he will not give you a loan at all. I hope that you will get a loan from somewhere else, but it all else fails I will give you his e-mail address."

Her friend sent her the man's e-mail address before cautioning her to use it only as a last resort. Her friend explained that her husband had to know and approve of the conditions of the loan before the "final closing" could talk place.

Debbie sat in front of her computer for a long time letting the information she had received from her friend sink into her mind. What her friend had told her was something every instinct she had called out to her to forget everything her friend had told her. No one could possibly be so desperate as to give into a lecher such as her friend had described. That someone would take advantage of a couple's misfortune in such a manner seemed beyond belief. Besides, Debbie viewed herself as a very ordinary woman, someone who was not likely to inspire lust in any man except her husband.

Debbie shook her head and shut down her computer. She tried to free herself from the words of her friend and focused her attitude upon thinking positively about her husband's success at getting a loan from Financial Group. She wanted nothing more than to forget her friend's conversation as she waited for her husband's return.

About an hour later her husband came back and walked up to his wife as she stood behind the main desk of the lobby. She could smell liquor upon his breath when he kissed her and saw a deep sadness in his eyes.

"I struck out, my love," David told her with a husky voice, "Financial didn't want any part of us. The loan officer gave me some song and dance about how a short time ago they would have taken the loan, but now their lending practices have tightened up to an extent where they can't loan us anything. Oh, it was all done in the manner, but it all boiled down to the fact that if we defaulted on the loan they did not want to bother with foreclosing. Imagine, over twenty years of equity in a place like this, which was and can be again a money maker, worthless."

"You've been drinking," his wife accused him, "like is not like you."

"You're right," he admitted. "Financial was our last hope between us and the street. I feel especially bad about all the money the kids gave us that we can never repay now."

"Don't worry we can start over again," Debbie told her husband. "Everything will turnout alright. Everything will turn out in the end."

"Debbie, the only jobs out there are at minimum wage," David replied with sadness in his voice, "and those jobs are going to people a lot younger than you or me. We might just be able to live somewhere in a beaten down trailer. I'm afraid I have failed you."

"David, you could never fail me," Debbie replied, "there is someway out of his mess. I've been talking on the computer to a friend of mine who was in just the same situation as we are now. She said that he isn't a loan shark, but lends money to people like you and me in need."

"Debbie, there are no more saints. This is too good to be true."

"It is our very last hope David," Debbie kissed her husband, "I love you so much. Maybe it is better to be out on the streets, but there might be a man willing to lend us the money we need, if you want me to look into the possibility."

"Every silver lining has a cloud Debbie," David replied. "There are always strings attached to those kinds of deals.

"My friend and her husband were able to get a loan from this man. Maybe I should at least look into what she has told me and see if he would be willing to grant us a loan."

"At this point," David replied, "I believe that I'd agree to almost anything someone offered to give us a loan!"

"I can't say that I'll have any better luck than we have been having so far, but I will get in touch with the man my friend told me about and see if he might be interested in giving us a loan."

"Loan shark or not," said David, "I'd go along with almost any deal at this point, which would keep us off the streets.

"The conditions of the loan might be too much for you to agree to," Debbie said as she kissed her husband, "but I will get more details. I'll send off an e-mail today."

"Well, I will hope that is one way out of our mess, but I don't have much hope of anything." Not too much later that night Debbie sent an e-mail to the address her friend had given her. In her e-mail she detailed her and her husband's need and asked for any financial aid that was possible. She did not expect to get an answer after she described herself and her husband; but, the next day she received a return message asking for more information including a picture of her and her husband. Debbie provided the required information only have hoping to get a reply.

She sat back from her computer and sighed. If only the situation wasn't so desperate she would never consider contacting the man her friend had told her about, a man who was obliviously a lecher and seeking perverse pleasure from taking other men's women. Debbie shook her head and realized that she probably wouldn't comply with the strange terms of the lender. She also felt that her husband would have definite feelings about any "extra" conditions to such a loan.

It was two days later when Debbie finally received a reply to the e-mail, which she had sent. With trembling hands she opened the e-mail and read the message. She was informed that she and her husband had passed the initial review of their financial circumstances. She was instructed on what further information was needed and told that the lender, Mr. Wojinski would soon be coming to the area to personally review the possibly of a loan. The e-mail also stated that provided that all the financial information Debbie had provide turned out to be true a loan was very likely, provided certain conditions, which Mr. Wojinski would explain personally were agreed to by all parties. The e-mail added that Mr. Wojinski would be in their town the next Monday.

Debbie broke into tears as she read the message. A way out of financial trouble seemed just around the bend, but the price of the loan filled her with shame and fear. She knew that she now had to explain what Mr. Wojinski would want in return for the loan. She was faced with a terrible choice of financial ruin or doing something, which went against all her upbringing and instincts. She sat in front of her computer for an hour before she finally resolved to tell her husband.

Later that night, after Debbie and her husband had turned off the vacancy light and retired to bed, Debbie made love to her man. David loved his wife and enjoyed making love to her, but due to the burdens, which lay so heavily upon him, was unable to perform. He kissed and cuddled his wife explaining that he desired her, but due to all the troubles they were facing he couldn't get into the right mood. He apologized for his inability to perform again and again and assured her that everything would be back to normal someday.

"Dave," Debbie told her husband as they hugged each other, "I heard from the man my friend told me about that sometimes gave loans to people in our circumstances. The e-mail said that we might qualify for one of his loans. He will be in town this coming Monday!"

"That's great news!" Her husband smiled and kissed her. "Why have you waited until now to tell me?"

"There are certain conditions, which Mr. Wojinski insists upon that I don't think we will be able to fulfill."

"What kind of conditions?" asked David, "Does he want to become a partner in our business?"

"No, I don't think so," Debbie replied, "but he wants a special price for the loan that I don't think you or I can agree to give him."