Dig Two Graves Ch. 03

But I know it's not a nightmare, at least not one I am sleeping through. I can't get a handle on my emotions. One moment I am in a rage and the next minute I'm crying inside and wondering how I can put my marriage together. Even then, strangely I'm not too affected by Susie's filing for divorce. I already knew I was going to have to prove to her prosecutor's mind that I was innocent. I just didn't realize I was going to have to do it under the added pressure of a divorce petition. Now I wonder if I should even bother. The way I feel now, if she had filed under "Irreconcilable Differences" I may have just walked away from our marriage given what she did to me on Friday night. But her filing under "Adultery" has pissed me off.

Sighing, as bad as things have been lately, I at least have a couple things beginning to turn around and starting to go in the right direction. Getting my car out of the parking garage across from Gambino's office takes almost all of the rest of my cash. Luckily the gas tank is half full! My first stop is the Western Union office where I pick up the ten thousand dollars my Dad had wired to me. I had already picked up my new card at the American Express office when I left the firm. Then it was back to open a new account under my name and deposit nine out of the ten thousand. The other one thousand is making a nice bulge in my wallet.

Now I'm in desperate need of favors, and the first step is to follow Dad's advice. Twenty minutes of driving takes me out of the Dallas downtown area into a small business area near Love field. I park next to an office building which has a sign on the door stating: Bud Green's Investigations. Bud is an old friend of my father's. He worked for my father running the security operations of my Dad's company. When my Dad retired seven years ago, just before Susie and I got married, my Dad helped him start his own investigation firm. In my role as General Counsel for my own firm, I have had needs from time to time for an independent investigator. I called Bud from the start and he's never disappointed me. He's built his firm into a small but highly effective group of investigators. They're quick, reliable, discreet and accurate. Everything a lawyer could ask for. "And do I have a lot to ask for now," I think to myself as I hear the ring tone in my cell. Sitting in my car looking at the Green's front door, I reflect back over all the events that have already happened this morning. Reluctantly I realize Vicky was correct and I need to start another set of wheels in motion. Five minutes later I finish my phone call, and then dial a second number.

"Bud Green's Investigations," I hear Tracy introduce.

"Hi Tracy this is Jake. Any chance Bud is in this morning."

"Oh! Hi Jake! Yes he's in the office this morning. I think he's back in the coffee room flirting with Yolanda again. Just a second and let me see if he's available."

"Jake, how are you doing boy?" I hear Bud's booming voice about ten seconds later.

"Hi Bud, I've been better to be honest. How's Yolanda's coffee?"

"I see Tracy's been tellin' stories again?"

"Well if you can't flirt with your own wife in the coffee room, who can you flirt with?"

I listen to Bud chuckle for a moment. "Bud, I need your help in a big way." I finally manage to speak into the phone.

"Got a sticky one do ya? You know we're hear to help."

"This isn't a corporate investigation. This is personal. And critical."

"I don't like the sounds of that Jake. What can I do to help?"

"Well, for starters I want to jump to the top of your queue and show you some stuff."

"You're always at the top of my queue Jake."

"And I've always appreciated that. When would you have time to meet?"

"I have a feeling this is a "sooner than later" issue Jake. So let's roll our sleeves up and see what kinda mess we're lookin' at."

"You can meet now?"

"Of course! You want to meet at your office or somewhere else?"

"I can meet you at your office."

"Great! When?"

"How about now? I'm out in the parking lot." I look through the windshield at Bud's office and see the Venetian blinds parting. I wave at him.

"What the hell boy!" I hear Bud laugh. "Get that ass in here!"

"On my way," and a few minutes later I'm sitting in front of his desk spilling my guts. I bring Bud up to date, telling him about being confronted Friday night by Susie. I did tell him what happened that night but glossed over as much as he would let me. I mention that she cleaned out our bank account and cancelled my credit cards. I give him an overview of what happened at my firm this morning, and finally all the details about my meeting with Susie and our lawyer.

I watch him as I tell him all this information. I can tell he's in sponge mode. He's leaning forward listening intently to everything I say. Yet he's not judging me, right or wrong.

I finish and we both sit back in our chairs.

"Whadaya have for me?"

I pull out the three manila folders I received from Susie earlier. I sort through them until I get to the affidavit and show it to him.

"Supposedly this is the original. Anything we can do to check out how authentic it is?"

Bud hovers over it, scanning it quickly. Whistling he says, "Boy this doesn't paint you in a very favorable light." He removes the staple holding the two sheets together and using tweezers holds them both up to the window. "On the surface Jake this appears to be genuine, but there's usually a lot under the surface. I'll get my best man to work on these."

"Good. I still have a copy and I hope to talk to Heidi later today."

"You sure that's wise?"

"No, but it's something I need to do. I can't believe for a minute she signed this affidavit."

Bud looks at me for a minute. "Hell Jake, I didn't believe for a minute any of this is true. But remember, it's not what you believe; it's what you can prove. Especially when you're already been judged guilty."

I nod in acknowledgement. I hand in the second folder telling him these contain the negatives to the pictures. I then open the third folder containing the glossies and the copy of affidavit I had originally been given my Susie.

I spread the eight photographs out on his desk. He quickly looks at each one and whistles again. "I can see why she's pissed at you boy."

"It can't be me," I claim. "But I have a confession." Bud's head snaps up to look at me. "I recognize the room these pictures were taken. That's my hotel room a week and a half ago down in Houston."

He sighs. "It doesn't look good Jake. Was your secretary down there too?"

"Yes," I admit.

He resumes looking at the photographs, and then begins to resort them. I move around to his side of the desk so I can see them from the same vantage point.

"Susie said she had one of her forensic experts look at the negatives. Is there anyway to tell if they've been touched up?"

"Depends on how good the forger was. Usually you can tell though."

He bends down over one of the sharper focused pictures and using a magnifying glass, he examines the photograph in detail.

He leans back and grunts. "I'll have the negatives examined closely. But from what I can see, these look pretty authentic. What's worse Jake, the guy in these pictures looks exactly like you. He even has the same birthmark on the side of his neck."

Sighing, "Yeah, that didn't escape my attention either."

"But I can tell you one thing about these photographs."

"What's that?"

"They've been staged."

"Staged? Staged! How do you know that?"

"First of all, I've met your secretary, ok shit, administrative assistant, I can never get use to all these PC titles. Anyway, not only would she never be in an affair, but it would be a cold day in hell before she would allow herself to be photographed having sex."

"Second, you're not that dumb to allow pictures to be taken either."

"Third, take a look at the nightstand on this side of the bed. See the clock and the flip calendar?"

I look at one of the photographs and find both the clock and the calendar. "Yes, I see them. What about them?"

"Noticed that they are turned toward the camera and not the bed? They would be turned toward the bed or at the very least toward the desk on the far side of the room. Also, I've never seen one of those "flip a day at a time" calendars in a hotel room. And even if there were one, it would be on the desk and not the nightstand in clear view of the camera. Do you remember if the hotel had a calendar like that?"

"Now that you mention it, no I don't. But I can't say with certain either way. I don't recall it though."

"That will be easy enough to check out," Bud responds. "Now I got a couple questions for you right off the bat. The calendar says it's January 15^th." He glances at the calendar. "That was a Sunday. When did you check out of the hotel?"

"I checked out the same day, in fact morning of the same day. I had other clients to see in San Antonio and I took a puddle jumper that afternoon. I spent the night at the Marriott downtown and then met with various clients Monday through Friday, when I returned home."

"And your secretary? When did she check out?"

"She checked out on Sunday too, but she flew back here to Dallas. Or at least I think she did."

"Well, it's not good news that she was there in Houston the same time you were, but it is good news to know you check out on Sunday. Now we know for a fact the photographs have been staged."

"How do you know that?"

"The calendar has already been turned to January 15^th. Yet that's the day you checked out. So if that's you in the bed, it had to be Saturday night because you were already in San Antonio by Sunday evening right?"

"Yes, that's right. But I don't see your point."

"Who flips a calendar over the night before? OK, maybe one or two people in the whole world, but most people get up in the morning and then flip the calendar to the next day. This calendar has already been flipped to Sunday, yet you can see by the clock it's 1:30 AM. Did you by any chance flip that calendar ahead to Sunday before you went to bed Saturday night?"

"Hey!" I exclaim. "If I had flipped the calendar, I would have remembered the fucking thing! There's no way I flipped that calendar!"

"So someone did it for ya." Bud grins. "But let's not get too excited yet. It's only suggestive that someone staged this whole thing, it's not proof by itself. There's a lot to check out. By any chance do you remember what time you went to bed Saturday night?

"Let me think ... hmmmm ... I think it was about midnight. All of us had met in the lounge of the hotel to celebrate the business deal we manage to close earlier that day."

"Who was in your group? Your secretary?"

"Actually, she wasn't there celebrating. But that's not a surprise; she's very reserved and would refrain from anything involving a lot of alcohol.

"Where do you think she was?"

"I assume her room, but I really don't know after 9 PM."

"OK. And from what you just told me, it's safe to assume she went by herself?"

"You could knock me over with a feather if otherwise."

"Who was in your group celebrating?"

"Weston, Schmidt and myself."

"Schmidt? That's the guy who has your shorts in a bunch?"

I laugh. "Yeah, the same."

"If you don't like him so much, why celebrate with him?"

"It was more of business obligation. I've never liked the man personally. But he's an excellent VP of Sales. I have to admit he's the main reason the business deal was closed."

"And your little party broke up around midnight?"

"I don't know what time they quit. I was the first to head upstairs around midnight. They were still nursing their drinks."

"How much did you have to drink?"

"Oh gosh, I'm not really sure."

"Were you drunk heading upstairs?"

"I wouldn't say staggering drunk. But definitely past the legal limit if I were to drive. So was Weston, he was hammered."

"What about Schmidt?"

"I don't think so. I remember him buying two rounds, including one for himself. But he declined getting a drink when it was our turn.

"Hmmm," Bud seems to think that over. He raises an eyebrow and offers, "What time did you get up Sunday?"

"Hmmm," I think to myself. "I seem to remember getting up pretty late. Yes I remember now. It was about 9 AM because I was very surprised I slept that late. Even if I go to bed late, I usually still get up around 7 AM."

"Did you have a hangover?"

"I don't remember. Wait, I remember feeling groggy, out-of-sorts. I couldn't see to get going. I went for a run about 9:30, returning around 10:00. I felt a lot better and seemed to have sweated it out. So I was a little hungover."

"Headache?"

"I had a little bit of one. But like I said groggier than anything."

"OK, that's good for starters. But I do want to talk to you later today. I want to know more about your day on Saturday and Sunday. So you need to get me a full timeline for both days. And a full timeline for anyone else that was down there with you."

"Jesus, I'm not sure I can remember it in full detail for myself much less anyone else."

"I don't need to tell you how serious this is. Knowing where all the players were, or at least where they were supposed to be, will help put this puzzle together."

I nod in acknowledgment. "OK Bud, it sounds like a plan. You already know I won't be at my office. Besides I got a couple more important tasks to do. Call me on my cell phone when you're ready?"

"Sure but don't rush off just yet. I got a couple things for you to sign and one of them is important."

I watch as he opens a desk drawer and starts pulling out a few forms. He hands me all of them save one. He nods at what he has handed me, "you give them to Tracy, answer a few of her questions and sign where she tells ya. That'll make it all official." He pauses for a moment and then writes a few things down on the form he still has. He slides the form over to me and tells me to fill out the top part with my name and address. I do as he asks and start to hand the form back over to him.

"Just a minute boy," he says. I look at him expectantly. "You need to sign that one on the bottom. You're giving us permission to go in and bug your house. Audio, video, and the phones. We can't do anything about her cell phone, which would be illegal. But the rest of it, as owner of the house, you have full rights to install surveillance equipment."

"Well, this would have been great Friday night, but it's a day late and a dollar short, don't you think?"

"For Friday yes, but from what you told me it may not be too late for tonight."

Suddenly what he is saying dawns on me. "Surely she still wouldn't be fucking that asshole would she?"

He shrugs. "Would you have predicted Friday evening?"

I shake my head and grind my teeth together. Putting the form on the desk I sign the bottom with a flourish.

"Uh-oh," I say, "We got a couple of small problems. One, there's a TRO against me for coming near the house. There's no way I can you into the house. Two, Susie took my key off me."

"The first thing ain't a problem. You may have a TRO against you, but there ain't one against me or this firm. And I wasn't going to invite you along anyway. You just let us do our jobs. Now about that second one, don't you have a key hidden somewhere? If we have to we can pick the lock but I prefer not to if we don't have to."

"Of course there is!" I exclaim giving myself a slap on the forehead. In the storage shed behind the house, right side, there's a short two by four nailed across two of the studs. Only it's not really nailed that tight. You can grab it and pull it out and on the back side is the key. But that's not enough. One you use the key and enter the house, you'll have thirty seconds to disable the alarm code. I can give you the one I knew but what if she changed it?"

"We'll take our chances on that. I'm guessing she'll believe you'll never try and violate the TRO so she wouldn't have bothered to change the code. But let's be safe instead of sorry. Why don't you make sure you have the alarm company's phone number handy? My man will be talking to you on the phone when he enters. If the code doesn't disable the alarm, you can call them right away and clear the call."

I smile. "That sounds like it will work."

Bud nods and holds out a hand. I shake his hand thankfully, and tell him how thankful I am. "You got a lawyer yet?" He asks.

"That's one of the tasks I have to do yet. I made a call in your parking lot before I came in to set up an appointment."

He nods. "Just remember, any journey looks long before you start. And I think we just took one good first step!"

I thank him again as he walks me to his office door. He just shakes his head and says "No need boy."

I stop for a moment to chat with Tracy on my way out. Once I'm finally in my car I sigh but this time in relief. Bud has saved my bacon in the past with information his firm uncovered. Now I need him to do it again.

Monday 12:12 PM

"Two hours ago I was completely stymied about who to get as a representative," I think to myself. "As a highly respected yet aggressive ADA, Susie is held in high esteem by many in our profession. She also intimidates quite a few of them too. Who would I possibly get?"

"I seem to remember a conversation I had with Susie about a month ago. An old law school boyfriend of hers had just joined a practice in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. Susie told me about how she had caught him cheating on her after we had dated for a while. She immediately broke it off with him and never gave him another chance. I had known him fairly well but when Susie and I started to get more serious, I naturally had to curtail any involvement I had with him."

"I even think he used to do family law, although he's branched out into other disciplines since joining his new firm after re-locating to Dallas-Fort Worth. If anyone could understand the situation I am in, it would be Bill Benner. In addition, I don't think he would be intimidated or fazed by being opposite Susie."

Now, after waiting the past half-hour, I'm being ushered into his office.

"Bill," I greet warmly extending my hand.

"Jake," he replies, shaking my hand with an equally firm grip. "I understand you sweet talked my administrative assistant into me giving you fifteen minutes." He adds with slight smile.

"It wasn't easy either," I respond. "I would definitely keep her around."

He glances at his watch, the subtle message quite clear. "How can I be of service?" He adds.

With as little time as I have, what I can't afford is to beat around the bush. I settle back into the chair and begin to outline all that has transpired the past four days. I let him know everything, from Friday night up to five minutes before I walked into his office.

Several times he visibly reacts to my tale of woe, but most of the time he listens passively yet attentively.

I talk non-stop until I am exhaustingly finished and sit back for his questions.

He looks at me for a moment. "I can't say I envy your position right now," he finally concedes.

"I don't either actually."

"So how can I help?"

"There are only two attorneys I'm aware of in this town that have enough balls to stand up to Susie. Both of them are in this room. I need someone to represent me. I'm hoping that you will agree."

"Jake," he replies. "I would if I could, but I don't do family law anymore."

"I know that. I did a bit of research before I even stopped. But I know you did and that you were very good at it from what I was able to dig up. I'm hoping you got at least one more family law case in you."