Chapter 2: The Discovery

Several months went by, and Jenny was able to collect several million dollars after her husband was declared legally dead, along with several thousand others who were known to be in the buildings. There were also millions of dollars in potential class action lawsuits that would eventually be collected.

Although they hadn't been legally married, she and her daughter had lived with him in the same residence for almost fourteen years, and in the eyes of New York law, they were legally married. Stephanie's birth certificate had Joe's name as the declared father, so in any event, she was his legal daughter, and Jenny was her legal guardian.

Sam thought he had clear sailing with Jenny, now that Joe was out of the picture. He constantly tried all kinds of approaches to go out with Jenny, but she was adamant that she did not want to have anything to do with him.

Sam was disappointed with his lack of results in pursuing Jenny. He was working late one night, and tried to see if he could get into Jenny's or Joe's records. Through lots of trial and error; and sheer luck, he was able to track down some of Joe's offshore accounts. He noticed that the numbers for deposits and withdrawals fluctuated. The account information did not match money in or out of the accounts Jenny was using.

Sam did not feel Jenny was responsible for all the activity in all the accounts. He hired a forensic accountant to analyze the figures. The accountant confirmed Sam's suspicions. Sam gave him a credit card and told him to go to Canada and see if they were right.

The accountant returned a few weeks later with photos and addresses. He was able to show that Joe was staying at a small fishing village on the north side Prince Edward Island.

A few days later, Sam called Jenny into his office. "Close the door Jenny." Sam said as she sat down.

Jenny was wearing a dark charcoal pantsuit with faint thin pin-striping through it. Her long hair had two very small braids that started at her temples that were pulled back and connected at the back of her head to hold the rest of her reddish-brown hair so part of it cascaded down her back, and the rest hung down her front to hide her long pearl necklace that wound several times around her neck and stopped at the middle of her breasts. She had high heeled suede boots that went to just below her knees. She played nervously with the triple strands of pearls that hung around her neck to the bottom of her breasts. Her purple silk blouse fit loosely to conceal her breasts and her wire rimmed glasses helped to create a modest image that fit her financial planner image.

Sam had grown envious of Joe's wife during the time they had all been together. He had gotten to know her during a number of social events at the office. He had seen her in her bikini when he had put on some pool parties. He knew that Jenny had been on the college track and cross country teams. She could run a mile under five minutes and the 300m high hurdles in about 33 seconds.

She had excellent muscle tone; her calves (gastrocnemius) were pronounced; her legs tapered back in slightly above her knees; the bicep muscles in her upper legs tapered back as they went to her glutes; her hips were narrow, like a young boy. She had the gait of a leopard. Jenny did not walk like a runway model with her ass sashaying all over the place. She had moderate to small breasts that were her own; not the surgically enhanced ones that seem to be standard issue seen on television actresses. Her skin tone was a healthy tan that highlighted her rippling abs that left men panting.

She hardly looked like a woman old enough to have a fourteen-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Stephanie, who seemed to be an exact clone of her mother. Stephanie was still growing, so her legs were still quite slim, and her breasts were a little smaller. The difference might be that Jenny was much more conservatively dressed and Stephanie had the "little girl" innocent, "Lolita" type of wanton appearance that so many girls her age seemed to have.

Jenny was constantly telling Stephanie to "Go back upstairs and change into something more appropriate for school!" when she appeared at the kitchen table wearing tight Levi cutoffs, high-heeled-leather boots that she had liberated from her mother's closet, and a form-fitting blouse without a bra, tied to expose her bare midriff.

"Jenny; I've been having a crush on you for quite some time. I've probably noticed you since the first day you came into this office. Are you sure that you and I are not ever going to get together?" Sam asked.

Jenny gulped. She knew eventually she would have to deal with this situation. "Sam; we work together. You are a bit of a womanizer and I still haven't got over my husband being gone."

"Jenny, I think there are going to have to be some new rules around here." He said as he tossed an 8 ½" by 11" manila envelope across his table so it slid into her lap.

Jenny was offended by his arrogant behavior. She slowly opened the envelope and shrieked when she realized what she was looking at. There were a dozen pictures of her husband in different changes of clothes. His dyed hair was longer, he had a beard, and she did not recognize the rural setting he was photographed in.

She also had bank statements from accounts in Switzerland and the Bahamas that showed massive amounts of money. The accounts showed small weekly withdrawals. The photocopies of checks showed a signature she recognized. It was not Joe's real name, but she recognized the script style.

Reluctantly, Jenny realized that her husband was actually alive.

"Jenny, you and your husband are involved in criminal activity. He had defrauded the insurance company, his employer and the federal government. He has false passports, and has not paid any taxes on these accounts. As his wife, you are also liable for the same crimes."

Jenny was shaking with the sudden realization that most of what he was saying was basically true. Although she had not knowingly participated in any cover-up, she knew she could easily be convicted in court.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"You've been real uppity with me over the years, and adamant that you will have nothing to do with me. You won't be nice to me willingly, so now I see a chance for us to be friends with benefits.

We can do this in stages. Let's start with your dress. I'm going to take you out to dinner tonight, and I would like to make some suggestions. In fact, let's just go shopping together. I'll pick out the clothes for you to wear tonight. It's close enough to quitting time that we could leave now."

Jenny thought maybe she could humor him a little and maybe this would all go away. Deep down, though, she was afraid it could get a lot uglier.

The couple left the office, went down the elevator, signed out at the front desk, and walked down the street. Sam grabbed her arm and turned her into the Black Rivet. There were a lot of very tasteful looking outfits at the front door and in the display windows.