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It's Against the Law Ch. 01

By: laptopwriter



After a few years of marriage it's the little things that get to you; the subtle, little nuances that after a while start you to wondering. 'Why did she say that;'...'Wow, that wasn't the response I expected;'...'There's that look again;' and then there's always the kicker, 'Please, not tonight honey, I'm too tired.' Put them all together and you start to suspect something is amiss in your happy little home. 

Of course no one really wants to admit to discourse in their family life, so to counterbalance the doubt and suspicion, you remind yourself that trust is the cornerstone of any marriage; and if that doesn't work, there's always denial; 'I'm sure she didn't mean it the way it sounded;'...'She must have misunderstood what I said;'...'Maybe she had something in her eye;' and of course...'Yeah, she's had a rough day, maybe tomorrow night.'

Then comes the day...no, it's not really a day, it's a moment, really; then comes the moment when it all falls into place; when you look back on the sarcastic comments, the weird responses to something you said, the nasty looks you caught out of the corner of your eye, and the lack of passion in the bedroom; that's the moment when you look back on all that and say... why didn't I see it before now?

It's right after asking yourself that question that you start to feel the pain of her betrayal; the realization that the woman you love above all else, the person around whom your entire universe revolves, has been unfaithful. 

That's when your stomach muscles tighten up, you gasp for a breath, your heart starts pounding like a drum, you break out in a cold sweat, and your eyes instantly fill with tears.

When the initial shock abates you make the same mistake every guy makes at that point, you ask yourself why. Depression hits like a sludge hammer, you start to feel inferior, like less of a man and you start to blame yourself, torture yourself. 'What did I do wrong;'... 'How did I lose her respect;'... 'How did I lose her love'...'Was I not a good husband;'... 'Was I an inadequate lover?' 

I know all this because I've gone through it, all of it, every thought, every emotion; I felt totally defeated, it was the worst thing I've ever gone through; bar none.

Acting on a tip I received a little earlier in the day, I pulled into the parking lot of the cheap single story motel. Immediately I felt sick to my stomach and fought to keep from vomiting when I saw my wife's Chevy parked in front of one of the rooms. 

I wedged my car between two others in the far corner of the lot and waited; it was during the next twenty minutes that I asked myself every one of those questions, experienced every emotion, and cried as my heart broke apart piece by piece. 

I watched as my lovely wife exited one of the rooms hand in hand with her boss. I picked up my camera from the passenger's seat and started photographing them as they embraced for a parting kiss. 

As a professional photographer I seldom relied on my camera's auto focus but thank God for the capability because there was no way I could capture a sharp image through my tears otherwise. The powerful telephoto lens allowed me to zero in on Jean as she looked amorously into the face of her lover. I don't really know why but I kept snapping away; just reflex I guess. 

After they drove off in separate vehicles all I could do was sit there; why didn't I run up and punch the son-of-a-bitch in the mouth? I was pissed at myself, but the truth was, I was so stunned I didn't even think of it. I sat playing the scene I had just witnessed over and over in my head. If I didn't have the proof sitting beside me I would have questioned my own sanity and thought I was hallucinating. 

I wondered how long it had been going on; were they in love, or was it just a physical thing? Then I realized it didn't matter; my marriage was over. I felt lost; I started shaking all over, that's when the tears really started to pour. I beat the palm of my hand against the steering wheel in frustration. 

I think the last time I sobbed that hard was when I lost my life-long partner. He was a beautiful Doberman Pincer by the name of Brooklyn. He was my protector and constant companion every day of my life until one morning when he didn't wake up. I was ten years old. 

Now what, I wondered as I tried to get control of myself; my mind went to a conversation we had not long ago about starting a family. I was just getting established in my commercial photography venture when we were married so we decided to wait before having kids because we needed Jean's paycheck. 

Since then; however, I've been able to steadily build the business into a six figure income. Since ninety-nine percent of my work is done on location I didn't even need a studio, I worked from my home; in addition to saving money it also gave me some great tax breaks; all and all, we really didn't need Jean's salary any more so we talked about her quitting and becoming a stay-at-home mom. I thought she'd jump at it, but to my surprise she was reluctant saying she needed a little more time to get used to the idea; now after seeing what I just saw I believe she had a different reason for not wanting to quit.

I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, I wanted kids with all my heart but maybe it's better this way, I thought.

About the time I had decided to just go home and confront Jean with the pictures I had just taken, my cell phone rang. I looked at the display and saw it was Jack Northrupe, a longtime friend. Years prior I worked as a staff photographer for one of the largest newspapers in the state; Jack was an investigative reporter, one of the best. He and I worked on several assignments together and have been good friends ever since. 

At first I was going to let it go to voice mail then thought why not take it; I could really use a friend about now.

"Hello," I answered trying to sound normal, evidently unsuccessfully.

"Hi buddy, you okay? You sound a little down, everything alright?"

I hesitated, did I really want to advertise that fact that my wife was cheating on me? Hell, I thought, people are going to find out anyway, it's not the kind of thing you can keep secret for long. 

"Ah...no Jack, actually things are pretty shitty," I said.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Dalton, anything I can do?' he asked.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Jack, I just need someone to talk to."

"Look, I was calling to see if you could meet me for a beer at Plato's Place in a little while anyway; when can you get away?"

"Oh shit," I said just realizing what time it was, "I'm already late; I was supposed to meet a client and take shots of some model homes; he's a real estate developer. Fuck it, I'm going to call and tell him I got deathly ill; it won't be a lie, believe me. I'm going to call him right now and reschedule; I can be at Plato's in twenty minutes," I told him.

"I'll see you there, my friend."

As soon as we hung up I called my client and rescheduled the shoot, he wasn't happy but there was no way I could concentrate on the job anyway. 

Jack was already sitting at the bar when I walked in. He didn't say anything, he probably didn't want to embarrass me, but the first thing he did was look at my eyes, they must have still been red and puffy from crying.

"Why don't you grab a brew then let's go over there," he said pointing at a table in the back of the room, "It's a little more private, you can tell me what's going on."

It was hard to talk about. We both sat in silence for a couple minutes while I tried to decide just how to start.

"I...ah, I had that appointment scheduled today. It wasn't too far from where Jean works and I had some time so I stopped by just before twelve to see if she was free to have lunch. Beverly, one of the girls she works with, told me I had just missed her, she had already left for lunch. When I asked her if she knew where Jean had gone she said she didn't know, but just the way she said it...I don't know, it was a little strange, like she was hiding something."

I stopped talking for a second and took a swig of my beer, I took a deep breath trying to keep from crying again; it's just not easy talking about your wife screwing another man.

"Anyway, like I said, I was getting some weird vibes from her, then on my way out another woman approached me; I'd never seen her before but evidently she didn't like Jean very much because she told me if I wanted to find my wife I should go over to the Holly Hotel on Dempster. At first I thought she meant that was where Jean was eating but then I recognized the name, it was some cheapo little dive; I'd driven past it a million times and knew they didn't have a restaurant. I drove over there, and sure enough, Jean's car was in the lot."

"Oh man, Dalton, I'm sorry; damn, I can't picture Jean cheating on you; no doubt it was her car, huh?"

"It was Jean's car, she has vanity plates on it," I replied.

"Shit, what'd you do?"

"What could I do, I had no idea what room she was in; I parked in the back of the lot where I was pretty sure she wouldn't see me and waited; I was there about twenty minutes when she came out holding hands with Irv Jackson, that's her boss."

"Listen, if this guy is her boss maybe he's coerced her, you know, sleep with me or you're fired; something like that," Jack stated trying to give me hope.

"I doubt it, when I say boss I'm using the term loosely; he's not really her boss; I mean he doesn't have the power to fire her or anything like that. He's an outside sales rep, he travels around selling industrial lighting. When he gets an order he sends it in to the company; Jean fills it and makes sure everything gets shipped."

"God, I just can't believe it, Jean adores you, man. Did you guys have a big fight or something, why would she do that to you?"

"Why? Huh, that's what I've been asking myself, why? To answer your question, no we haven't had any fights, not really; she has been kind of grouchy for the last few months but we haven't really fought about anything."

"So what are you going do?"

"Divorce I guess, I'm sure as hell not going to stay married to woman who doesn't love or respect me."

We both sat in silence for a few minutes before Jack spoke again. "How bad do you want to get back at her?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know; I mean, if it was me I'd want blood, man; I'd want revenge...on him as well as her. I know you got to be hurting big time, but you can't tell me you're not pissed too."

"Well of course I'm pissed," I answered a little annoyed at what I thought was a stupid question. "What are you getting at?"

"Do you have any proof of the affair?"

"Hell yeah...well, not real proof; I got some pictures of them kissing when they came out of the room."

"No, that's not enough, you need enough for probable cause," Jack said.

"Probable cause; I give up, Jack, what the hell are you talking about?" 

"This is Illinois, adultery is illegal in this state my dear friend," he said with a smirk.

"It is?" that was news to me, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely; it's a class 'A' misdemeanor. More than likely they'll never be prosecuted but between you and me we must know thirty or forty cops; I'll bet we can get them arrested and thrown in jail for a day or so; maybe even get the paper to print the story."

Jack looked at me and saw he had my attention.

"Think about it, if they're actually arrested it would be newsworthy; I'll bet you any money I could get the paper to run the story; if you're there with your camera I might even get them to print the art as well; you want a by-line?" he asked with a devilish smile.

With all the agony I had been going through I'd never even thought of revenge but suddenly it was sounding pretty damn good.

"You'll need to get some evidence though. You'll need enough for probable cause."

"Shit, how am I supposed to do that?" I asked forgetting for a moment that I was sitting with one of the best investigative reporters around.

"Does she use a smart phone?" he asked.

"Yeah, exclusively; we don't even have a land line anymore," I responded. 

"Okay, I know they work together but I'll bet they still communicate over the phone; text messages, phone calls, pictures...something. They're not cheap, two, three hundred bucks, but you can go on line and get spyware for her phone. It's a little do-hickey you plug into her phone then download the program; it literally takes seconds. It lets you monitor incoming and outgoing calls, text messages, dates on her calendar, all kinds of stuff. The good ones even turn her phone into a listening device, like a bug. If they're within range you can hear everything they're saying to each other; it even lets you track her with the GPS and you can monitor everything from your computer." 

"Are you kidding; Is that legal?"

"Well, technically no," he thought for a second, "Is her phone in your name or hers?" he asked.

"Mine...well, the company's really; why?"

"Well, you're supposed to tell all parties on the phone that you're recording their conversation but there's a little provision about taping calls that were made for illegal purposes; since adultery is a crime you could argue your phone was being used for unlawful intentions."

"Are you sure; tapping a phone is a federal offence, shit I could wind up in more trouble than either one of them."

Jack thought for a moment before speaking. "Don't worry about it, Dalton; go ahead and get one of those things; when the time comes to bust them you'll make an anonymous tip to me with their room number, I'll contact the police saying I believe the room is being used for criminal acts, that's all."

I thought for a second, "You really think this will work?" 

"Listen, half the cops in Chicago-land owe me a favor, we'll make it work."

I guess I got kind of quiet; I had all the faith in the world in Jack; he wouldn't come up with a scheme like that if he didn't know he could pull it off, but did I really want to do this? He must have been reading my thoughts...

"I know," he said with sympathy, "You're wondering if you really want to get her arrested?" He took a swallow of beer, "That, my friend, is up to you. It's kind of drastic, I know."

I sat nodding my head in agreement with his last statement. 

"Even if you don't have her arrested, I'd still get that spy device and find out just what exactly is going on. Who knows, what you saw might have been perfectly innocent," he said knowing neither of us believed that. 

We didn't talk much longer after that, I had some thinking to do and Jack had to get home to his own wife and kids. I thought about what he said regarding that spy thing for her phone and decided it was a good idea; as unlikely as it was, I prayed he was right about it being innocent...yeah, right!

I didn't waste any time ordering the gizmo Jack talked about. I always carried my laptop with me. Mostly I used it for editing photographs right on location but I could get on the net from anywhere by linking it to my smart phone, which is what I did as soon as I got back in my car. It didn't take very long to find what Jack was talking about, there were a bunch of them out there. I found one that would act as a listening device like he mentioned and paid extra to have it shipped overnight with special instructions for it to be held at the post office for me. 

It was a little strange but I actually felt slightly better after that. One of the emotions I forget to mention before was control, or should I say the lack of it. Finding out your wife is having an affair really makes you see how little control you have over your life, even for guys like me who thought he had things pretty well handled. Now at least I was doing something, I was taking back at least some control. 

All that evening I tried to spend as much time as I could away from Jean. I tried to act normal, but unless you've tried it yourself, you have no idea how hard that is when your whole world is crumbling down around you. 

I went into my office and pretended to be editing shots from some imaginary big shoot I'd had. I waited until I was sure Jean was sound asleep before crawling into bed. Having her body so close to mine was tearing me apart again. I finally drifted off, but not before silently shedding more tears.

The next day I almost blew my first job because I just couldn't concentrate on what I was doing. Even the client asked me if something was wrong. I did the best I could to keep focused then headed to the post office around three. 

I showed my ID to the cute little thing behind the counter and told her they should be holding a package for me; five minutes later she emerged from the back room with it in her hands. I opened it like a kid at Christmas. I read the instructions and downloaded the bug on her phone later that night. I set it up so I could monitor everything from my laptop; it didn't take long to strike pay dirt. 

I had already checked a couple of times first thing in the morning to no avail, but around ten-thirty I saw Irv had sent my wife a text, although she hadn't answered it yet.

Irv: Hey beautiful, I have a pretty light schedule on Friday, you want to get together?

If she said yes that gave me two days to plan; the problem was I didn't know what I was going to do yet. I had just rested my head back against the car seat to think when I heard a phone ring...

"Hello," it was the bastard.

"Hey, it's me; I got your text but I was standing right next to Beverly and couldn't answer," replied my loving wife.

"Hell, Jean, she has to know something by now anyway; she's not dense."

"Yeah, I know," she responded, "but there's no need to rub her nose in it. She even covered for me the other day. She said Dalton was here to take me to lunch day before yesterday; she told him I had already left and she didn't know where I went."

"Well it was probably the truth," he scoffed.

"Yeah, I know; I'm wondering why Dalton didn't say anything about stopping by. He's actually been kind of quiet the last couple of nights too, you don't think he suspects anything? God, it would kill him if he found out about us."

"Hell, Jean, you're the one living with him, not me; what do you think? I haven't seen him since the company picnic a couple months ago, he didn't seem suspicious then, in fact we had a nice conversation about how fast kids grow up these days."

"Yeah I know, he mentioned it when we got home, he said he thought you were a good father."

"Now you're making me feel guilty, damn it; I like your husband."

"Yeah, I think he likes you too. Like you said, maybe I'm just feeling guilty; I got thinking about him coming to take me out to lunch while you and I were together and it just kind of reminded me about what we're really doing; I mean when we first started out it seemed like just harmless fun, but there's no two ways of looking at what we're doing now, we're both cheating on our spouses. Jeez, I don't even want to think what would happen if they ever found out; I don't know about Marge, but it would kill Dalton; I doubt that he would ever forgive me, Irv; we're really playing with fire here."

"Yeah, Marge too; shit she'd probably kick me out of the house for good. Well what do you think, should we cool it for a while?"

There was a long pause on both ends before Jean answered him.

"Actually, I've been kind of snippy the last few months; that could be why he's being so quiet. Every time he opens his mouth lately it seems I'm jumping down his throat, I think I've been using it as a defense mechanism, you know; it's like the closer he and I are as a couple the more guilt I feel, so if I can create some space between us I don't feel quite so guilty. That's not right though, I've got to stop that; Dalton hasn't done anything for me to be mean to him." 


It's Against the Law Ch. 01



"So, what do you think, are we on for Friday or not?" Irv asked her.

"Yeah, let's figure on Friday but maybe we should take a break after that. I need to reconnect with my husband; I really do love the big lug you know," she said.

Dalton heard Irv chuckle on the other end of the phone, "Yeah, I know you do; I love my wife too. Okay, Friday, regular time, then we'll call a truce for a while." 

"Okay," she responded, "Are you coming into the office today?"

"No, not today, I'm booked; I'll be in tomorrow but not till about four," he replied.

The rest of the call was about business. I slowly lowered the cover of my laptop. Friday was only two days away; if I wanted to get them arrested I was going to have to call Jack right away so he had some time to get things arranged. I leaned forward and put my head against the steering wheel to think. There were so many things to consider.

Maybe I could just look the other way, just this once. It sounds like this would be the last time, at least for a while and she did say she loved me. Maybe I could let things cool down for a while then tell Jean I knew about the affair and tell her not to do it again... no, I thought as my anger resurfaced, what the hell am I thinking; I won't spend my life like that, worried, wondering where she is every time she's ten minutes late; bullshit, I couldn't live like that, I won't live like that.

After two days of pondering, my final decision was made in the blink of an eye.

"Hello, is Jack Northrupe there please?" I put a hanky over the phone; I had no idea if it really masked my voice or not but they do it in all the mystery movies so why not.

"Yeah, can I ask who's calling?" the voice on the other end of the line asked.

"No, just tell him I have some information about some illegal activity that will be taking place on Friday."

"Just a minute, Please," he said before hollering to Jack about an anonymous caller on line three.

"This is Jack Northrupe, can I help you?"

"I will not give you my name, Mr. Northrupe, but I wanted to inform you there will be some illegal activity going on in one of the rooms at the Holly Motel on Dempster this Friday around noon."

"I understand," said Jack, "I will have the police there to investigate."

Well, it was done; now all I had to do was live with my decision. I also had to live with Jean for the next two days, how was I going to do that, I wondered?

It sounded like she was planning to be nice to me when she was talking to Irv; she can be very romantic when she wants to be. I pictured her cuddling up to me on the couch, maybe with some wine; once we got into bed there would be no stopping her; she knew my buttons and how to push them; God I was going to miss her I thought as new tears found their way down my face. 

I thought about it for a few minutes then came up with the solution; although I had never done it on short notice before, I did have to go out of town now and then. I had already cancelled everything I had scheduled for the rest of the week. I drove home and packed a bag. I was already checked into a motel several miles from home before hitting speed dial. I had my laptop open and ready to link up to my phone as soon as I was done with the call. 

"Hi honey," she answered sounding as if she was in a good mood, "I was just thinking about you, your ears must have been burning."

"You were," I said trying to sound upbeat. "And what were you thinking?"

"Well, for the last few months things have been kind of crazy at work and I'm afraid I've been taking it out on you, so I'd like to make it up to you. I thought maybe we could check into a nice hotel for the weekend and you and I could engage in two full days and nights of wild, passionate, mind blowing monkey sex; the way I see it, neither of us should be able to walk by Monday," she said laughing.

Under normal circumstances my heart would be pounding away to hear her talk like that, but knowing the full story, it only made me even sadder. I tried using that sadness as an acting tool as I responded, "Honey, I'm sorry to tell you but I won't be around this weekend, I've..."

"Won't be around," she almost screamed, "What do you mean, where are you going?"

"Ah, well I just got an out of town assignment, Honey; sorry, but the money is just too good to pass up, I'm already on my way and won't be back until late Saturday night."

She didn't say anything for a good fifteen or twenty seconds, "Honey, what's going on, this isn't like you," she finally said sounding worried.

I didn't want to blow it now; I'm no actor but I had to put on a real performance. "Nothing's wrong, honey; this just came up," I said trying to make it sound important.

"Can't you postpone it? I was really looking forward to this weekend, babe." 

"Honey, this is a chance to steel a major account from Hubbard's, one of the biggest studios in the city," I said, making it up as I went. "Everything was all set for a big advertising shoot tomorrow down in Logan County but somehow Hubbard screwed up the scheduling and can't make it. It'll cost the client thousands of dollars if it doesn't get done. Somebody recommended me. If I get down there and save the shoot it could mean getting a new client worth a hundred grand a year; Honey, I can't pass that up." 

I heard her sigh then there was a moment of silence before she spoke. "Okay," she said with what sounded like true sadness in her voice, "I understand, I guess we can do it the following weekend."

As soon as we said our goodbye and kissed each other through the phone, I dialed up the Internet and linked it to my laptop. I thought sure she'd contact Irv right away but there was nothing. She must have laid her phone on her desk because when I activated the bugging device I could hear her shuffling papers around.

"Irv just faxed in these purchase orders, he wants you to go through them and make sure we have everything in stock, if not he wants you to call him," I heard a voice say. Then I heard my wife's voice answer.

"Okay, thanks Beverly," I didn't hear any reply, then my wife spoke again. "Beverly, what's the matter; we used to be friends but you haven't said a friendly word to me in months; please, what's going on?"

"Okay, since you asked, I used to think you were a good person; you have a wonderful husband, but you turned you back on him; he deserves better, you're nothing but a slut," she said putting as much venom as she could behind her words.

I heard Jean gasp at the statement; then I thought I heard Beverly walk out of her office; my wife started to cry. I got worried that her co-worker's words had given Jean a sudden shot of morals and she might call off her little tryst; I was waiting for her to call Irv but all she did was weep quietly. 

I continued to monitor my wife's communications to make sure the cops weren't going to raid an empty room on Friday, but the only other talking she did with Irv was on Thursday afternoon when he went into the office. They talked mostly about business; only at the end of their conversation did Jean express her regret for ever starting their affair, but when asked again about the following day, once again she confirm, what they both acknowledged, would be their last rendezvous for a while.

I got no sleep Thursday night at all; I kept asking myself if I was doing the right thing. Maybe with counseling we could put this behind us? Maybe...possibly...what if...I used those words a lot in my thoughts all night long, but as I watched the room lighten from the morning sun, I knew my marriage was over; this was revenge...on him and her; just maybe she'll understand how much she hurt me as they lead her away in cuffs...but then I doubted it, if you haven't gone through it yourself there is no way to understand the kind of grief a person experiences.

At eleven o'clock Friday morning I met with my private little swat team at our predetermined place around the back of the restaurant across the street. Jack was there with Dave Wyland, a sergeant in our local police force and a mutual friend we'd known for many years; with him was another officer who looked familiar but I didn't know by name and a rather husky female officer. Dave made the introductions and told me they had already spoken to the desk clerk. He would put them in room one-thirteen; Dave already had the key card to the room. We would give them about twenty minutes before making the bust. Dave had a complaint form already filled out ready for my signature.

About eleven-thirty a car drove in and a man went to the office, but from across the street I couldn't make a positive ID. He went back to his car and was evidently waiting; sure enough, "Here she comes," I said as I recognized Jean's car driving in. She parked next to the other car and waited for Irv. He got out of his car with a small suitcase and gave Jean a peck on the cheek before they disappeared behind the door of room number one-thirteen. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Dave, "You can still back out."

"Yeah," said Jack, "If you do this there's no turning back, Dalton."

"I know," I said sadly, "I thought about it all night." I felt tears welling up again in my eyes but I was determined not to back down. I set my camera on auto-focus, "Let's get it over with," I said. 

With that we all piled into two squads and pulled into the motel parking lot blocking in both of their cars. "POLICE, WE'RE COMING IN," yelled Dave as he pounded twice on the door with his fist. Almost instantly after that the other officer swiped the key card and they rushed in. 

Jack and I waited until the rest were inside before entering. I saw Irv through the doorway as he jumped from the bed naked as the day he was born; it looked as if he had been straddling Jean's face, most likely getting a blow job. 

"I know what this looks like but it's all consensual," he was screaming, "Honest; Jean tell them I didn't force you, this isn't rape, you've got to believe me," he was talking a mile a minute.

At the same time Jean was freaking out, screaming at Irv to tell her what was going on; that's when I walked in and saw her. She was lying on her back completely naked with her hands stretched over her head and cuffed to the headboard. She was wearing a black leather blindfold that kept her ignorant of what was happening. Her legs were spread apart and tied to the corners of the bed frame; there were clamps biting into her nipples and she had a vibrator strapped to her pussy.

"Irv, please; oh my God, what's going on, Please tell me," she was screaming in hysteria.

Irv was too busy trying to explain the situation to the cops to answer her; he was so caught up in his psychobabble he didn't even realize I was there until I started taking pictures. He saw the flash and turned in my direction looking as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Oh shit," he said finally starting to comprehend what was going on.

"What," pleaded Jean again, "Tell me what's happening, please," Jean was now bawling from fear.

"It's Dalton," he sadly informed her.

"NO!" she screamed, "no, no it can't be...oh God, no!"

By that time Dave and the other male cop moved Irv out of the way so the female officer could get to Jean. "Where are the keys to these?" she asked referring to the cuffs.

"There, on the table," replied Irv with a saddened nod of his head.

As soon as the cuffs were removed, Jean pulled off her blindfold with a look of absolute terror, "No; oh my God, no," she wept putting her hands to her face. She didn't even try to cover herself; I don't know if it was from shock or maybe she just figured it was already too late for that. The woman officer pulled up half a sheet and threw it over her. 

"Irv Jackson, Jean Conrad, I'm placing you both under arrest for adultery," Dave told them.

"Arrest; adultery, wait a minute," Irv yelled, "You can't arrest us for adultery, that's not against the law!"

"I'm afraid it is, and we can, Mr. Jackson. Now put some clothes on," Dave told him bringing him to the pile of men's clothes on the floor. 

While he was getting dressed the female cop went around the foot of the bed untying my wife. I saw Jean's hand moving under the sheet as she removed the nipple clamps and the vibrator herself. 

"Dalton, listen man, I'm sorry, neither of us wanted to hurt you, man, but come-on, please stop this," wailed Irv now with his own tears streaking his face. "Please, think of my family...my kids..."

"You fucking asshole," I shouted as Jack grabbed me to keep me from getting within slugging range, "You sure as hell didn't think about my family, did you; what about my marriage; what about my kids, the ones who will never be born now; you mother fucker I hope they throw your ass in jail and throw away the key," I screamed.

I heard Jean's whimpering break into uncontrollable bawling as the pain I was in became very evident from my outburst. She didn't even try to beg, she already knew it was over. I did hear her repeating how sorry she was over and over between her sobs, but unfortunately it was too little too late...way too late.

Once Irv was dressed they cuffed him and we all went outside so the woman officer could help Jean get dressed. About ten minutes later the door opened and she led my wife out, also in cuffs. 

Our eyes met briefly as they put her in the back of the squad; it was probably a toss-up as to whose face showed the most grief; we both knew it was the end of our dreams and our future together.

"Alright, the show's over," yelled Dave to the small crowd that had gathered, "Go on, everybody go mind you own business." He turned to me as the group of ghouls dispersed, "There's no need for you to come down to the station," he told me, "We already have your complaint."

I sadly nodded my head, "What happens now?" I asked him.

"They'll be processed and held in a cell until later tonight, then they'll be released on their own recognizance but that probably won't be until two or three in the morning. Once it's scheduled, everybody involved will be notified of the court date. I'm sure you'll hear from the D.A., but to tell you the truth, Dalton, I doubt they'll want to prosecute."

"Yeah," I said while trying to keep from choking up in front of everyone, "I figured that. You said she won't get out till two or three; that late, how will she get home?" Funny, with all the thought I gave to the arrest itself, I never thought past it.

"She'll have to call a cab," Dave said. "Normally I'd send a tow truck and impound the vehicles but that would just cost you, not her, so I'm just going to leave both cars here...unless, you'd like to follow us to the station in her car and leave it in our lot; I'm sure Jack would give you a ride back to your car."

"Can you go ahead and just impound his car then?" I asked.

"Yeah, we can do that."

We weren't in the best of neighborhoods and I really didn't want Jean coming back here at two in the morning so that's what we did; Once we were all back at the station Dave showed Jean where her car would be when she got out later that night; again we looked at one another as I walked over to Jack's car, I never saw such sad eyes in my entire life. 

"Dave, I know I'm pushing my luck here, but can I ask you for one more favor?" I asked.

"Sure, Dalton," he countered.

"Can you make sure they aren't released at the same time, I don't want that asshole hitting her up for a ride home?"

"No problem, buddy, I'll make sure he doesn't get out till an hour or two after Jean."

"Thanks...oh, and I won't complain if he's put in a cell with a big black guy named Bubba who just loves to initiate white guys to the prison system," I said with a forced smile.

"I'll see what I can do," Dave said returning my smile.

On the way back to my car I pulled out my cell and made a call.

"Werthington Industries," announced the receptionist.

"Beverly Billings please," I responded.

"One moment please."

"Hello, this Beverly, may I help you?" 

"Beverly, this is Dalton Conrad; I just thought I'd let you know that neither my wife nor Irv Jackson will be coming back to work today; they're both in jail."

"Jail," she said sounding alarmed, "what did they do?"

"You know damn well what they did, and have been doing; adultery is against the law in this state you know...oh, and I wanted to thank you, Beverly, if I ever have knowledge of your husband cheating on you, I'll be sure to keep it from you just like you did me," I said with as much contempt in my voice as I could muster.

"Dalton, I'm..."

I hung up on the bitch; as far as I was concerned, she was a part of my wife's betrayal...fuck her too.

Jack and I stopped for lunch but I wasn't very hungry. I managed about half a burger and a bottle of beer. Jack was a gentleman and never mentioned the bondage scene we had just witnessed, but it was sure playing over and over in my mind; I was totally shocked. Seven years of marriage and I had no idea she was into that kind of stuff.

Jack said I should just get shit-faced and go home with him. As tempting as that sounded I was not going to start feeling sorry for myself; once I started doing that I might never stop. I had a business to run...and a marriage to dissolve; there was just no time for self-pity.

I have no idea how many times I've walked into my house when it was empty, hundreds I would imagine, but that time it was different, it wasn't just empty, it was lonely. It was as if the house itself felt my grief; misery dripped from the walls, and sadness hung in the air like a stifling fog. 

I waded through memories of laughter and good times on my way to the bedroom; by the time I got there my face was covered with streaks of salty remnants from the past. 

I collapsed under the weight of my heavy heart and cried myself to sleep on the same bed that I had shared with the only woman I'd ever loved.

Continued...



It's Against the Law Ch. 02



I tried to open my eyes but they were so caked with dried tears it was difficult to do. I rubbed away some of the crusty residue from my lids and blinked several times trying wash the dried film from my vision. I was still dressed but my body felt cold and clammy; I could feel the damp pillow case under my cheek as I tried to get my bearings. I looked at the clock beside the bed and saw it was four in the morning; I lay there, trying to remember what day it was, it...it was Saturday; that's when everything came flooding back to me and my eyes filled once again with the moisture of despair. 

After several minutes I stumbled toward the washroom to rinse my face. As the cold water slowly brought me back to the living I started to recall more of the events from the day before. It was a little after five o'clock in the afternoon when I hit the mattress; shit, I thought, I just slept for eleven hours; I must have been completely drained emotionally and didn't even realize it. 

I wondered if Jean made it home after being released from jail. She had nowhere else to go at that hour unless she stayed in a motel but I thought I'd made it clear that she should come home; after all, we had the terms of the divorce to discuss, no sense putting it off; if we can act like two civilized people through the weekend and get things hashed out then I can see my attorney on Monday. 

I took a quick shower and threw on some casual clothes. I checked the spare bedroom to see if she was in there but it hadn't been disturbed. I got a little worried but not like I normally would; she was a free agent now, or at least would be soon, it was not my job to worry about her anymore. 

I walked down stairs to start a pot of coffee. As soon as I hit the last stair and turned the corner I saw her lying on the couch. I walked up and looked down on her; I'd never seen her look so bad. Not just her eyes but her entire face was red and puffy; her make-up was badly streaked and had dried in such a way it gave her the look of a very sad clown; her normally soft, auburn hair seemed darker and was matted from tears she shed while laying down, probably in her cell.

My God how I wanted to put my arms around her, smother her with kisses and tell her everything would be okay; instead I steeled in my resolve and continued to the kitchen to make the coffee.

I sat at the head of the table where I could look through the doorway and see her. I think she was having bad dreams because every once in a while her arm would jerk violently or she'd let out with a small yell. 

I was on my third cup and still hadn't had a coherent thought. I needed a distraction; I looked out the window and saw the earliest hint of dawn peaking in. There was a park with a pretty little lake only a few blocks away; I had been there many times but never at sunrise; I grabbed a camera and headed that way on foot, I just needed time to think.

It turned out to be an extremely productive morning. By the time the sun first crested I had already picked out the locations from which to shoot and got several scenic shots of the early morning sun dancing along the water and through the trees. 

About the time I was getting ready to go back home I saw two soccer teams suiting up at the other end of the park. I spent the next hours getting some great actions shots. I gave my card to both coaches and told them if they contacted me I would send them a proof sheet of what I had; between the coaches wanting shots for the team and the individual players wanting shots for themselves, I had no doubt I would make several hundred dollars from the morning's effort.

I was headed out of the park when I saw Judy Anderson, she lived a couple streets away from us; I had heard she was pregnant but hadn't seen her to congratulate her. I guess my information was correct because she was walking behind a baby buggy.

"Judy," I called as I approached, "Congratulations on your gift from God," I said looking into the buggy.

"Hi Dalton, thank you so much," she said proudly. 

"Is it a he or a she?"

"It's a he, Stephen Gregory," she answered, "he'll be three weeks tomorrow."

"He's absolutely beautiful," I said; of course seeing her with her newborn son only reminded me of what I had lost. Even before we were married I dreamed of Jean and I being proud parents, now it didn't look as if that was ever going to happen.

"Judy, the sun is still pretty low, great for portraits, would you like a couple shots of you and Stephen; on the house, no charge?"

"Oh, Dalton, would you?" she asked getting excited. 

"Absolutely, why don't we go over to that tree, you sit at the base of it with him in your arms; is that okay?"

"Anything you say, you're the photographer," she said with even more enthusiasm. 

I picked a nice grassy spot where the sun would shine on her back, highlighting her blond hair and the outer edges of her body. I added just enough flash to even out any harsh shadows and took one of the nicest shots I'd taken in a long time. I got off only two exposures though before little Stephen started to fidget.

"He's probably hungry," his mother said. "I guess we'll have to go home, I'd be too embarrassed to feed him here," she said with a smile.

"Huh, why would you be embarrassed?" I asked not thinking.

"Well I breast feed," she said a little shyly. 

"Oh hell, Judy, there's no one around except for those guys," I motioned at the soccer players, "and they're too far away to see anything; just throw a diaper over you, that's all; I'll take off and give you some privacy," I told her.

"Ah, before you go...I...ah, well..." 

It was very obvious she was wanted to say something but was either too shy or scared to say it. "Yes," I said drawing out the word and trying to joke a little.

"Well, you know what I've always liked?" I shook my head no, "Those pictures of mothers nursing their babies," she finally said. 

"You want a shot nursing little Stephen?" I asked trying not to show my own embarrassment. Judy was younger than Jean and I; maybe twenty-three or twenty-four. She and her husband were practically newlyweds when bought their house a couple years ago. She was stone-cold gorgeous and I was trying to keep from getting a hard-on from just thinking about getting a look at her breasts.

She looked up at me bashfully, "Would you mind?" 

"No, not at all; I'll turn my back until you get ready." I heard her moving around a little.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said.

I tuned around to find Stephen in his mother's arms sucking away. The problem was she had on a big, heavy white nursing bra that killed the mood of the shot. I took a couple of exposures but knew it wasn't what she really wanted.

I just came out and said it, "Judy, your bra is ruining the shot. I know the kind of picture you're looking for, and to be honest, that nursing bra isn't working.

She looked down at it, "Yeah, I see what you mean," she suddenly looked up at me with a shocked face. "You want me to take it off?" she asked sounding surprised.

I just gave a little shrug with my shoulders, "I'm not trying to be a pervert but if you want a natural looking shot the bra has to go," I told her. 

She hesitated but only for a few seconds, "Here," she said offering the baby to me, "Could you hold Stephen while I take it off?" 

I'll tell you what; if someone would have told me when I left the house, that I'd be holding a baby while his good-looking mother was taking her bra off for me, I would have laughed in their face, but there I was, holding this precious little person in my arms while silently praying I would have one of my own someday.

When she was ready I gave the child back to his mother; she pulled him to her breast where the little tyke vigorously started to feed; in the meantime, a warm, yellow glow from the morning sun shown like a halo on the angelic couple. The light penetrating the thin material of her blouse was just enough to accentuate the focal point of the shot...namely, the newborn baby nursing on the soft, round breast containing his mother's milk. 

I couldn't help but feel a sense of wonderment as I looked through the view finder at nature's most amazing gift...the gift of life. As I told Judy after the shots, I'd been a professional photographer for twenty years; I'd taken thousands of photographs, but never had I taken one as beautiful as that.

I asked if she thought her husband would mind if I gave them a framed sixteen-twenty that they could hang; she had tears of joy in her eyes as she thanked me graciously and told me she and her husband would be honored with such a gift. 

On the way back to my house I was absorbed with what I had just witnessed; will I ever be blessed like that, I wondered; will I ever feel the elation of holding my own child? A cold chill came over me as feared to answer. 

When I got back to the house I saw Jean through the patio doors, she turned when she heard me walk in; I could see she had showered but had on no make-up; her face was still a trifle puffy but she looked a little more like my wife than she did earlier. "Hello, Dalton," she said almost breaking down already as she spoke. "I...I drank the rest of the coffee, I'll have more for you in just a couple minutes. Have you had breakfast?" she asked with a voice that was barely audible.

"No, why don't you make us some eggs, then we have to talk," I said walking through the kitchen on the way to my office. I took a few minutes to look through all the shots I'd just taken and arranged them for editing later. Jean was just setting the table when I returned; her whole body was literally trembling.

Except for a few sobs from Jean, breakfast was a pretty quiet affair. When we were done I put the dishes in the washer, poured us more coffee and sat back down.

"Dalton," she started just scarcely being able to talk, "I know..." she started to cry, "oh my God, I'm so very sorry," she blubbered looking down and not being able to look me in the eye, "I'm so, so sorry; please...please tell me, honey, I beg your forgiveness, please; I don't want to lose you; it was stupid, I'm so sorry," she said just before completely breaking down. 

As badly as my heart had been broken, there was still a piece of it that beat just for her; I got up and brought her a box of tissues then stood beside her for a moment; the loving husband in me wanted to hold her, comfort her; but the wounded husband in me, the one bearing so much pain just wouldn't let me; without saying a word I walked back to me seat and watched while she tried to gain some control. 

She knew from my reaction to her plea; she was drying her eyes, "It's not going to happen, is it, there's no chance for us is there?" she asked still looking down.

"I'm afraid not, Jean; I'm sorry; when I first saw you and Irv together I thought I was going to die; I had never been so devastated by anything in my life; I won't say I don't still love you because I do, but it's a crippled love, it can no longer function; I could never make love to the person who has hurt me as deeply as you have."

Still wiping her tears she just nodded her head accepting what she'd already known; the man she loved so entirely wanted out of her life and her out of his.

"I knew when you had us arrested that you were telling me then already that it was over; I was so scared, I didn't even understand what we were being arrested for at first, but when that police woman informed me of my rights and told me what the charges were I knew I had lost the man I love," she whimpered.

I was having a pretty hard time of my own. I had to ask the question but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer. "Why, Jean; damn it we've been so fucking happy together, we were so right for each other, why would you do this to us; what did I do to deserve this?" I said unsuccessfully fighting back tears again. 

"Oh God, Dalton, you didn't do anything to deserve this, absolutely nothing, darling; this was stupidity on my part, it's as simple as that," she said emphatically." You saw me in that motel room; he had me tied up; it was all about the bondage thing, I was curious, that's all, curious and to damn embarrassed to talk to you about it." 

"I don't get it; you were too embarrassed to talk to me but not Irv Peterson; damn it, why would you feel more comfortable talking to him over your own husband, it doesn't make sense? Did he talk you into it?" I'm sure by this time Jean could see the anger building in my face.

"No, he didn't talk me into it...not exactly, but he was already into that kind of thing," she said then changed her mind, "well...not into it exactly, but he fantasized about it; I..." she seemed frustrated by not being able to explain herself, she was fidgeting with a tissue, "Do you remember when Irv and I went to that lighting convention down town?"

"Geez, that was almost a year ago, you guys have doing this since then?" I asked clinching my fist.

She was shaking her head, "No, no...not really..."

I jumped up from the table in anger, "What do you mean, 'not really,' Jean, c'mon, either it did or it didn't?"

She flinched from my outburst, "We had a conversation, that's all, we talked about it but we didn't do anything for several months," she quickly inserted. 

"Irv left me by myself in our booth on the convention floor for a while; I wasn't sure where he was and I had left my phone in the room that he rented as a home base. I was talking to a guy who I thought was a potential client, a big one, but he was asking questions I couldn't answer. I finally asked if he had a couple minutes to wait so I could go up the room and see if Irv was there. When I got into the room Irv was nowhere to be found but his laptop was on the table, so I figured I could get the answers to the guy's questions myself." I finally sat back down in my chair and tried to get ahold of myself as I listened.

"The laptop was in stand-by mode and when I opened it this bondage website popped up. I was stunned at first but when I looked at all the pictures of those women tied up...but then, I don't know, something happened; I'm ashamed to admit it but I got so horny I couldn't believe it; I started clicking on the thumbnails to make the pictures bigger; some of the girls were fully dressed but others were completely naked; they were tied up in all kinds of different poses, a few had pictures of the rope going between the girl's legs, literally right through her pussy, I was just seconds away from starting to rub myself when Irv walked in; his face turned bright red when he realized what I was looking at; I would guess my face was probably just as red." She stopped again when she felt herself losing it; she wiped some new tears away and continued.

"Anyway, I tried to lighten the mood a little; I jokingly asked him if that's what he and Marge did when the kids were asleep? After stammering all over the place he said it was just one of his fantasies but Marge knew nothing about it. I guess I looked a little surprised cause then he said, 'I might as well tell you, I'm just a pervert at heart,' then he chuckled. I let it drop and told him about the guy waiting in our booth. When I came home that night I wanted so bad to talk to you about maybe trying a little bondage but I was so embarrassed I couldn't bring myself to do it. I remembered what Irv said about being a pervert and I didn't want you to think badly of me, so I just tried to forget about it for a while." Her hand was shaking as she took another sip of coffee.

"The problem was, my interest was piqued; I started looking at some bondage sites myself and every time I did my panties would get soaked. I tried to figure out ways I could drop little hints for you, I even thought about leaving my computer like Irv did his, but you would have no reason to look at my computer unless I asked you to and then it would be too obvious; I must have tried to bring up the subject a dozen times but chickened out every time." Jean took another tissue and blew her nose; she was still having a tough time of it. 

"Then one day we were in Irv's office working on some purchase orders and I asked him if he'd ever done any bondage; he told me once, when he was in college; he had gone with a girl for a couple of months who was into it. He said he loved it, but then she dumped him for another guy and he met Marge who was pretty straight laced so he just kept it as a fantasy all these years but that was it. He asked me if you and I did anything like that and I told him no; I said I'd never even thought about any kind of bondage until I saw it on his computer. We talked a little more and he got me to admit I wouldn't mind trying it, just once. He asked me if I discussed it with you; I said no, I was just too embarrassed. He said he had the same problem, 'hell, if I told Marge that I wanted to tie her up she'd probably hit me over the head with a frying pan,' he said with a laugh." She took another sip of coffee and seemed to be calming down a little as she went on.

"That's when Irv came up with his brilliant idea; he said since we were both interested in experimenting, and we were both too shy to talk about it with our spouses, why not try it together. At first I said absolutely not, that would be cheating but he assured me we'd both keep out clothes on. It'd be fun, he said, he'd simply tie me up, at the worst maybe he'd feel my breasts through my blouse just to give me that helpless feeling while giving him the feeling of power at the same time. I again told him no way but he kept after me; finally, after a few weeks of saying no, I gave in and told him okay, but only if we both kept our clothes on." Jean stood up to get another cup of coffee; she held up the pot asking me if I wanted more with a silent gesture. She poured me a cup then went back to telling her story.

"For a long time that's all we did; I kept my clothes on and Irv would tie me up in different positions; sometimes he'd feel my leg or my breast, maybe my ass but we didn't do anything more than that. Then he said he couldn't really tie me the way he wanted with all my clothes and asked me to strip down to my panties and bra. I was so nervous, I knew it was wrong but I got so damned hot whenever he tied me up I thought it would be even hotter if I was half naked. We did it like that for a couple months but Irv was getting a little more aggressive each time. About a month ago he had me hog tied on the bed. He had me blindfolded, and for the first time, had me gagged too. I was completely helpless. That's when Irv reached around and unhooked my bra; he pulled down my arms and completely exposed my breasts; I tried screaming at him to stop but he kept going. Next he pulled my panties down and started fingering me. I was livid, but God help me, at the same time I was more turned on than I'd ever been in my life."

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered wiping her eyes again, "I knew right then we had gone too far and I should stop it but I just couldn't; I made him promise never to force himself inside of me, but even then I wondered what it would be like to be tied up and raped. Last week, when we were done, we talked about a compromise; he would tie me up and force me to give him a blow job; yesterday, he was just telling me to open my mouth when you guys came in; his cock never even touched my lips."

She looked me in the eye for the first time all morning, "I don't suppose that means anything?" she asked, "The fact that he never did penetrate me; we never fucked, Dalton, never," she said hopefully. 

I wished I could give her the answer she was looking for, but unfortunately there was no way. I had to look away as I cleared the escaping tear from my cheek; it was hard to talk, hard to get the words out.

"But from what you've told me, Jean, it would have happened. I mean you started out fully clothed, and what, within four or five months you had progressed to giving him a blow job. You said he'd force you but you know that's a lie; you were play acting, you were going to blow him willingly, fucking him would have been next, Jean; it was just a matter of time, you know it and I know it."




It's Against the Law Ch. 02



She opened her mouth to say something; I assume she was about to assure me that wouldn't have happened but I wasn't buying it. I shook my head and held up my hand simultaneously, "Jean, it doesn't make any difference anyway; I can't forgive what you've done. I know you didn't mean for me to find out, but I did, and the truth is, I've never been so hurt in my entire life. Every time I tried to hold you in my arms or kiss you it would bring back the pain; I'm sorry, babe, but there is just no future left for us."

Once again she broke down and started sobbing; it was tearing my heart out; I had to get out of there. I went upstairs and lay down on the bed; I stared at the ceiling while a few tears trickled down the sides of my face. Imagining my future without Jean was something I never thought I would have to do and it wasn't much fun. I guess I must have lay there fifteen or twenty minute before Jean walked in.

"I'll pack some things and go stay with my folks," she said despondently. "I'm so sorry for what I've, Dalton; I love you with all my heart, please believe that."

I didn't respond at first; in my mind I asked myself how could that be; how could someone hurt the person they love so badly? I took a deep sigh, "I still don't see how you could talk to someone like Irv about sex and not me, your own husband; how can you love me with all your heart as you claim and betray me like that, it just doesn't make sense to me Jean; I'm supposed to be your sex partner, not him."

"It...it was just something I wanted to try; I wasn't even sure I would like it and I just couldn't take the chance...not until I was sure anyway. I thought I'd try it just a little bit and if I liked it, then I'd tell you and see if you'd be open to trying it. The problem was I did like it, but I still couldn't bring myself to talk to you; we had never talked about doing anything like that and I was just so afraid you would think badly of me; it was easier to just keep doing it with Irv; there was no risk that way...at least I didn't think there was. I kept thinking, one of these days I'd muster the courage to tell you about my fantasy, then I would cut it off with Irv..." She started crying again. "Oh my darling, I'm so sorry."

I helped put her bags and a few other items in her car for her; we looked at one another one last time before she pulled out; we both knew it was real, it was truly the end; she said she was sorry one more time, then I watched as she drove away dragging our dreams behind her. 

I felt numb as I walked back inside; I looked around my empty house and fell to my knees bawling like an infant. It must have taken me half an hour or better to cry myself out; it took every ounce of strength I had left, but I finally stood up and made my way to the shower. I hoped it would wash some of my misery away but no such luck. I was just getting dressed when Jack called.

"How are you doing, buddy; is Jean there?"

"No, she left a little while ago for her folks place; she's going to stay with them," I replied. 

I heard him sigh with sadness, "Look, I've got some streaks I'm going grill in the back yard a little later; why don't you come over and help us eat one of them?"

"I appreciate the offer, Jack, but I'm really not in the mood to socialize at the moment," I told him. 

"Dalton, you're going to be looking at some tough times ahead, man; don't block out your friends, that's the worst thing you could do right now; you're going to need all the support you can get, old buddy; believe me. Look, come on over for dinner... a nice big juicy streak, baked potato with sour cream and my salad supreme; you want to talk, we're here to listen; you don't want to talk, that's fine too. What do you say?"

He made a good argument and that steak sounded awfully good, "Alright," I relinquished, "I'll be over in a little while. Oh," I remembered before hanging up, "Is the paper going to run the story?"

"Yeah, it'll be in tomorrow's edition; they're placing it on the front page of the local news section. They even ran the pic you took of Dave putting Irv in the squad. I had them leave off the by-line though; I didn't really think you'd want it."

"Yeah, you're right about that, I appreciate it pal; I should call Jean and warn her," I said.

"Warn her...why?" said Jack, "Shit, let her find out by herself."

I sat a minute thinking over what Jack said. He was probably right, I certainly didn't owe her anything; the problem was, up until a few days ago she was my world. 

"Yeah, I know you're right, Jack; that's what I should do but I can't help feel a little sorry for her; did you see her face when that female cop brought her out of the room in cuffs, God Jack, she was absolutely terrified. As pissed and hurt as I am, I can't just turn off my feelings; I want to punish her but I don't want to destroy her." 

"You do what you think is right, Dalton."

That's what I did; her dad was just helping to bring her things into the house when she picked up. "Hello...Dalton?" she answered tentatively.

"Hi, ah...listen, I have to warn you; I just talked to Jack, there's going to be an article about your arrest in Sunday's paper."

I heard her gasp, "Oh my God, Dalton, you didn't?" Her voice saddened again, "I guess I should have guessed that when I saw Jack there; okay, thanks for letting me know," she said starting to weep. "I can't even imagine how deeply I hurt you for you to strike back at me like this, I don't blame you, I know I deserve it; I'm just so sorry my love; I pray that someday you can forgive me."

That was the last thing she said but I heard her crying again before disconnecting. I was glad she was staying with her parents; at that point I wasn't sure who was hurting the worst, her or me. I guess it didn't make any difference, it wasn't a contest, neither of us would ever be the same after this.

For a while I was able to forget my troubles and had a pleasant evening at Jack's house. His wife, Lynette, is the salt of the earth and his two kids kept me busy playing cops and robbers; of course I was always the robber, three times I got shot and fell to the ground. It felt good being distracted; all I'd thought of for the last four days was Jean's infidelity, the night was a welcome reprieve.

It was a little after ten when I got home. Between getting up at four in the morning, the emotional stress of dealing with Jean, and running around Jack's yard, hiding from his squad of young detectives, I was exhausted. I dragged myself upstairs, got undressed and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning, when I woke up I was facing Jean's side of the bed. My arm was stretched out and I figured I must have been looking for her in my sleep. I wondered if I'd ever get used to that side of the bed being empty.

I started a pot of coffee then ran back upstairs for a shower and to get dressed; by the time I was done the Sunday paper was sitting on my porch; I picked it up, grabbed a cup of morning brew and sat down to see how badly Jack had crucified my wife; I sipped some nectar to steady my nerves then pulled the local section from the paper...there it was, right at the top of the front page; Mr. Magoo couldn't miss it, and right next to the story was a nice clear shot of Irv getting into the back of the squad car; I had to laugh, it was so nice of him to look directly at me as I snapped off the shot.

Couple arrested for adultery

By Jack Northrupe: staff reporter

Arlington Hills: Acting on an anonymous tip, Arlington Hills police arrested Irving Peterson, of Burlington Heights, Friday on charges of alleged adultery. Also arrested was Jean Conrad of Arlington Hills.

"Most people don't even know the law exist," said Sargent David Wyland of the Arlington Hills police department, "Unfortunately for these two, ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law."

The couple was taken to the Arlington Hills police department for arraignment. Illinois is one of twenty-three states where adultery is a crime. The offense is a class 'A' misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of $2500 in fines and up to one year in jail. Currently the Attorney General's office has no comment on the charges, and is unclear at this time, whether they intend to prosecute. 

Well, it certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been; he didn't mention the bondage aspect at all, thank God. I didn't mind exposing Irv for the pervert he was but I didn't want to hurt Jean any more than I had.

I made some breakfast then went into my office to work on Judy's sixteen-twenty print. The shot was so perfect I didn't have to do anything in Photoshop except darken the edges a little to give it a more dramatic appearance. After that I knocked around the house some, washed the car, mowed the lawn...this bachelor crap was for the birds, I was lonely. 

I thought Monday would never come but it finally did. Thank God I had a big photo shoot that kept me busy almost all day; I was packing up my gear about four o'clock when my cell rang. I answered it in my standard business tone.

"Dalton Conrad," I announced.

"Mr. Conrad, this is Belinda Hastings, I work with you wife, I was the woman who told you about the motel," she said.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to her or not. "Yes, Ms. Hastings, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering if we could meet for a drink?" she said, "I thought I'd bring you up to date on what happened here today."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I countered.

"Mr. Conrad, I'm not trying to pick you up or anything like that, Irv Peterson was fired today and I just thought you should know...just in case he tries coming after you or something."

Now, this was different, of course I wanted to hear about Irv getting fired. "Okay, when and where?" I asked. 

"Ah, well I'm just about to leave here; could you meet me at the Dew-Drop-Inn on Mannheim and Touhy in about half an hour?"

"I'll be there," I responded.

She was sitting in a booth along the wall when I walked in. I hadn't notice that day in the office but she was a good looking woman; maybe a little older than Jean and me but very well put together. She smiled when I sat down and motioned for the barmaid. 

I looked up at the girl as she came to the booth and ordered a lite beer before looking back at my unsolicited office spy. "Now, Ms. Hastings, you said Irv was fired?"

"Please, call me Bel, that's what everyone else does."

I nodded my head in approval and she continued.

"Yeah, we had quite a bit of excitement in our little work place today; it started out with Beverly first thing this morning; she went into your wife's office and wanted to make sure she saw the news article about her getting arrested. She had a clipping and set it down on Jean's desk in front of her. I heard Bev say you blamed her for not telling you about the affair; she was pissed at Jean and told her they were no longer friends."

I took a swig of my beer as I listened. 

"Jean went into the washroom after Bev left her office; I think she went in there for a good cry. Everyone in the office knew about the article so nobody disturbed her while she was in there. She had only been back for a few minutes when Irv came busting in; he didn't even bother closing the door, he just started screaming about how her and you... he called you her asshole husband, ruined his life."

I detected a small smile on her face as she took of sip of her white wine before continuing. 

"You should have heard the pile of crap Irv told his wife that night when he got home," she said with a chuckle. "By the way, who gave him the black eye, was that you?" she asked.

"Not me, although I wish it was; it must have happened in jail because he was mark free when they put him in the squad, I've got the pictures to prove it," I remarked. 

"Did you take that picture of him getting in the squad car?"

I nodded my head while taking another swallow of beer.

"So you were there while all of it was happing? Damn, I don't think I could have done that, it had to be excruciating. I guess the fact that it was your picture they printed was at least a small bit of revenge, it'll probably hurt him more than a punch in the eye would have," she said. 

I thought back to the moment I snapped that shot, I remembered hoping it would ruin his life; with a little luck maybe it'll succeed. 

Bel continued, "Anyway, when he got home he told his wife he was car-jacked, I guess that was supposed to explain the eye; he said the car was used in a hold-up; someone called in the license number and the cops hauled him into the station for questioning."

"Gad," I said, "He must have thought all that up when he was in jail." 

"Yeah, most likely; anyway, he told her while he was there they found the car abandoned and impounded it."

I was shaking my head, "it almost sounds believable, doesn't it," I said.

"Yup, and she did believe him," Bel started to chuckle again, "until she saw the picture and read about his arrest in the paper on Sunday, I guess the shit really hit the fan and she tossed him out on his ear."

"It couldn't happen to a nicer guy as far as I'm concerned," I said.

"I agree with you," she snickered, "The thing is, he was yelling so loud Mr. Jacobson came down the hall to see what was going on; you've probably met him, he's in charge of outside and inside sales. He told Irv to quiet down and get into his office; the next I knew Irv was walking out with a box full of his personal things. I don't think it was so much the newspaper article as it was his attitude; I heard them arguing and I think Mr. Jacobson just had enough of him."

"What about Jean, did she get fired too?"

"No, not as far as I know," she replied taking another sip of wine. "But before Irv left he told her he was going to get you. She told him you were a pretty tough guy and he'd do better to stay away from you, but I don't know if he believed her or not, so I thought I'd warn you; you know, to be on the lookout just in case."

"Well I appreciate that, Bel, thank you. I'm not really worried about Irv though, I hope he does try something, I'd love a chance to go for the other eye," I sneered.

"Yeah, as long as he doesn't come at you from behind with baseball bat or something," she replied. 

At first I didn't think it was a good idea even to meet with the woman but I was beginning to like her. I glanced at her hand and saw no rings so maybe she didn't have to get home right away; I really hated eating alone in my kitchen and wondered if she'd have dinner with me. 

"Ah, maybe I should have a bodyguard," I said with a smile, "Would you like the job for the next hour or so; if you watch my back I'll buy dinner."

She took a few seconds to think it over before responding. "That's probably not a good idea," she said disappointing me, "I hold no animosity toward Jean; she made some poor choices...really poor choices and I don't know why because basically I think she's a nice person; at least I always got along with her. Besides that I'm seeing someone; it's serious and I don't want to give anyone ideas."

I told her I understood but I really wasn't trying to start anything romantic, I was just hoping for some company.

She stared at me for another moment, "Promise not to cry in your beer all night?" she asked with a small grin.

"We'll go to a restaurant that doesn't even serve beer," I responded widening her grin a little more.

We really had a pleasant time. I told her about some of my exploits during my newspaper days; she especially liked my story about swapping dirty jokes with the President. I also learned a lot about her; she knew what I was going through because she went through it with her ex-husband five years prior. In her case almost all of her neighbors knew of her husband's affair and never said anything to her. She always wondered if she could have stopped it and possibly saved her marriage if someone would have clued her in. I told her that was exactly why I was pissed at Beverly; yes she was more Jean's friend than mine, but she claimed to be my friend as well.

When I took Bel back to her car she extended her hand to shake when saying goodbye, I didn't even get a peck on the cheek; that was alright though, the last thing I was looking for was another relationship right now; it would be a long time before I was ready for that. 

It was still early, I really hated to go home, I saw Jean in every room; I didn't know what to do with myself until I drove by a theatre advertising the latest James Bond flick on the marque; no one makes you feel so good to be a man like Bond.

The rest of the week was just as lonely as it was in the beginning. On Thursday and Friday nights I went down to Plato's Place for a couple drinks and shot some pool in the back room. I hadn't done that in many years and it showed in my game; I lost a little more than fifty bucks over the two nights. I had been putting off seeing the lawyer, why I don't know, divorce was inevitable; it was just so damn hard to go through with it. 

I decided putting it off was stupid; I would call my attorney first thing Monday morning and get the ball rolling. Again I didn't want Jean blindsided so sometime during the weekend I'd have to call and let her know. I wasn't sure which was going to be harder to do, the actual act of ending my marriage or telling Jean of my intentions; I guessed I'd find out.

First, however, I had something else I had to; Saturday morning I was actually in a decent mood for the first time in a while. On Friday I had stopped by the framer's and picked up my shot of Judy. Every once in a while, one of my corporate clients wants a big shot of their plant or corporate headquarters to hang in the lobby, so I found this guy who does picture framing in his basement at half the cost of the shops. He had done a wonderful job on Judy's portrait; I wished I had a studio so I could hang it up on the wall. After leaving his place I stopped at the drug store for some wrapping paper and a card. 

I didn't have their phone number and couldn't even remember their last name at the moment so I just took a chance and drove over. I saw both cars in their drive so I took my present up the door and rung the bell; I was still a little nervous about the husband, you just never know how someone will react sometimes.

As it was, I had nothing to worry about. His name was Carl and he actually got tears in his eyes when Judy unwrapped her present and he saw what it was. You'd think I had given them a million dollars; neither of them could stop thanking me. They invited me to stay for coffee, and not being one for ever turning down nectar from the God's, I accepted. 

Obviously I didn't know them very well, I think Jean knew them better than I did, but they were really nice people. It turned out Carl was from quite an artistic family; his father was a fairly well known watercolor artist, his sister ran an art gallery down town, and he worked as a graphic artist. Judy was also talented at hand making jewelry. 

We had a lot to talk about, and before I knew it, the morning was gone. As I left to go back home I had no doubt we would become friends. 

During the week I had also received forty-two orders for eight-by-tens from the two soccer teams I shot the Saturday before, so after making some lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon making the prints; at seven-fifty a shot it was well worth my time.

I had just finished that when I got a call from Jack inviting me over for Sunday dinner again; this was turning into a full weekend; of course, the whole time I knew I still had to make a call I didn't want to make; I waited until later that night.

"Hello," I recognized the voice as Jean's mother.

"Hello mom, is Jean there?"

"Oh Dalton, I'm so glad you called, I've never seen Jean so depressed, can she come home?"




It's Against the Law Ch. 02



"No, no, that's not why I'm calling," I hurriedly told her, "I'm afraid that's not going to happen." There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Please, Dalton; you have to forgive her...please, I don't know what she'll do if you don't. She told us everything; she made a mistake, honey, she'll never do it again, I know she won't."

I knew this was going to be a hard call but I wasn't counting on her mother to make it even harder.

"Mom, I'm sorry, I really am; I'm not trying to be a hard-ass here but I just don't see how we could ever make it work after this; I still love her with all my heart, but every time I see her now all I feel is pain; I don't know if that will ever go away," I said sadly. 

She said nothing for almost a minute and I could swear I heard her crying, this was so hard on everyone.

"Jean is upstairs, honey, she left her phone down here; when I saw it was you...well, I was hoping..." She didn't finish her sentence, "I'll go get her," she said.

"Hello," there was the voice I lived to hear for so many years.

"Hi, Jean, how are you?" I said with my heart in my throat. I could hear her struggling on the other end, I knew she was aware of what was coming and it was all she could do to stand there waiting for the curtain to fall.

"Ar...are you," she whimpered slightly before taking a breath, "Are you calling with bad news?" 

"I'm afraid so, Jean; I'm sorry, I love you so much and I always will, but there's just no way we're going to be able to work this out," I told her regrettably, "Every time I saw you it would remind me of the pain, I couldn't live like that, Jean; I just couldn't. Monday I'm going to file, I think it's best we get this over with and get on with our lives."

She had tried to prepare herself for this, I could tell. "Okay," she said in a voice so weak I barely heard her; "I won't fight it, honey, I'm not even getting a lawyer, whatever you feel is fair is fine. Dalton, I love you too, my darling; I will never forgive myself for what I've done to you but I pray that someday you will," she disconnected without another word. 

She didn't sound good, I was genuinely worried; she was really taking it hard. I called the house phone to tell her parents to keep an eye on her. This time her dad answered. I told him about our conversation; he said her mother was upstairs with her and he promised to keep a close watch over her; then he expressed his sorrow as well. He said he understood my decision; under the same circumstances he said he'd do the same thing, but that didn't help the torment everyone was feeling. I agreed. 

Monday morning I called my attorney for an appointment but between his schedule and mine I couldn't get in to see him until Wednesday. 

Jean kept her word; her dad told me she signed the divorce papers without even reading them first. Since there was no way she could keep up with the house payments, I bought her half; Jean took the money and would move into an apartment when she was ready. Even though I made almost ten times the money she did Jean refused any maintenance the judge wanted to give her. 

From that point, all we had to do was wait six months for the final decree; things went along pretty uneventfully for the next three months, then my phone rang...

Continued...



It's Against the Law Ch. 03



Copyright© 2013

Chapter 3

I didn't recognize the number so I answered it in my official business voice.

"Dalton Conrad," I announced.

"Hi, Dalton, this is Judy Anderson, how are you?" she asked in a pleasant tone. 

I felt a little guilty hearing her voice; I had really intended to ask them over for a back yard cookout or something but never got around to it. 

"Hi, Judy, I'm fine, how about you and Carl and little Stephen?" 

"Everyone is doing good," she answered, "Listen, Carl's sister was over last month; she's the one who has the gallery on State Street, Tracy's her name..."

"Yeah, you mentioned her that day when I dropped off the print; did you ever really hang it up?" I asked not meaning to interrupt her. 

"We sure did, it's right on the back wall of our living room, we just love it," she said. 

I was a little surprised; I remembered her as being kind of shy in the park, and although there was absolutely nothing dirty or erotic about the shot, it did show almost her entire left breast as well as a portion of her right. I really thought they would hang it up in their bedroom or maybe the baby's room.

"That's actually why I'm calling," said Judy, "when Tracy saw it she went bonkers, she said she loves the way you captured the innocence of the scene; in fact she suggested we name it, 'Essence Of Innocence.'"

"Wow," I said, "I like that."

"Yeah, we do too, Carl is going to get a little brass plaque with that engraved on it and tack it to the wall under the picture; but there's something else I wanted to ask you; Tracy just called and wanted to know if she could display it in her gallery for a while; she'd give you credit of course; I know you don't normally do that kind of photography so I said I'd have to check and see if you had any objections before I said okay."

"Judy, the photo is yours. It's a present, you can do whatever you wish with it, but to answer your question...no, I have no objections at all, in fact I'm honored," I told her.

"Oh, Dalton, thank you, I was hoping you'd say that. We have received so many compliments on that picture I can't even begin to tell you; Carl and I really want to thank you again, we will cherish it forever," she said with an excitement in her voice.

Up until that call, my days and nights had just run together in one solemn hour after another. What's that adage, 'There's no joy in Mudville?' Well, there was sure no joy in Conrad-ville either, not since I split with my wife ...except for that call. As an industrial photographer I don't get much praise, only money; it was really nice to hear from someone who appreciated my work like that.

Another month passed and things really weren't getting any easier, in fact if anything, things were getting harder. The more routine coming home to an empty house became, the more I hated it. I thought maybe once it was over, once I could start fresh, I might feel better; right now it was a waiting game, it seemed like my whole life was in limbo, but the closer it came to the end of my marriage the more I found myself sitting at the bar in Plato's Place at the end of the day. I've had several friends tell me it's just going to take time; I suppose they're right, but what to do in the meantime?

It was at that bar in Plato's Place that I had a little excitement; short-lived as it was, it broke up the monotony. I had been there about an hour talking to Pete, my favorite bartender, when a guy neither of us had seen before, came in and sat down a couple stools away. He seemed like the sociable type so we struck up some friendly banter until nature called. As we all know, you don't buy beer you just rent it; I excused myself to my new buddy and wandered to the little room where all men hang out now and then. On my way back I noticed Pete talking to Big John, he's the bouncer and was just coming in for his regular night shift. The two looked like they were in the middle of an important conversation when John caught my eye and motioned for me to join them.

"Hi, John," I greeted him, "what's up?" From the look on their faces something was going on. 

"That guy at the bar," Pete said motioning with his head toward my new best buddy.

"Yeah," I said wondering what this was all about.

"When I turned my back and went to the other end of the bar he slipped something in you drink," Pete told me.

"What; are you sure?" 

"Yeah, I saw him in the mirror," said Pete nodding to one of the two mirrors in the corner of the ceiling. From those mirrors the bartender could see anything going on in the bar.

"I never saw that guy before in my life, why would he spike my drink?" I asked rhetorically. 

"That's the sixty-four dollar question," whispered Big John, "Pete and I were just discussing the best way to handle this; we can call the cops, or take him in the men's room and find out ourselves." He looked at me like he wanted me to tell him what to do...so I did.

"I'd like to find out what's going on gentlemen, I vote for a little men's room persuasion." 

"Then let's do it," said Pete. 

The stranger had just glanced over his shoulder in our direction as we all started walking toward him. He tried to make a run for it but Big John was on him before the guy got three steps from his stool. We dragged him into the washroom to, 'talk.' At first he denied drugging my drink, then Big John cracked his knuckles and the guy started singing like a canary. 

It seemed the drug was phenobarbital; when taken with alcohol a person tends to get dizzy and sleepy making the person look very much like he's had too much to drink. My new chum was supposed to watch me and I when I started to exhibit those effects he was going to waltz me out to my car where my old friend Irv Peterson was waiting; it seemed Irv was bent on that revenge he promised. Between the two of them I would have been toast. 

"What do you want to do, Dalton, call the cops?" Pete asked me.

I sighed, "The problem with that is Peterson will just deny it, it's his word against this guy's, nothing will happen and I'll have to keep looking over my shoulder. Nah, I want to end this right here and now," I declared.

None of us knew, or course, if the guy we caught was an asshole buddy of Peterson's or just some guy he hired, but the general consensus was that nobody trusted him, so Big john cuffed him to one of the stalls. We'd hand him over to the cops along with Peterson if everything went right. It was decided I would go stumbling out in the parking lot by myself and hope that Peterson would still have the balls to try something. 

I made it look as real as I could; I stopped and leaned against the door frame on my way out, then stopped and leaned on the fender of a few cars on the way to mine. I saw neither hide nor hair of Peterson and thought he lost his nerve but continued my little charade when I got to my car by fumbling with my key in the door lock. 

Finally I saw the reflection of someone approaching in the side window of my car and turned around while still keeping in character. When I did he stopped about five feet from me; he was standing there holding a knife; not a very big knife, it was a pocket knife with about a four inch blade, but still a knife. I saw the doubt in his face whither as he watched my eyes droop and my body weaving; a big grin stretched across his face as he took his next step, which put him with-in range. I swiftly advanced with my left foot then kicked with my right, catching him in the shin as hard as I could. 

His reaction was typical, the knife dropped as he reached for his leg with both hands bowing down in a forward roll as he hit the pavement. I knelt down putting my knee in his chest and gave him four short right hands to the face. He was already pretty much down for the count, but damn it, this was the guy who ruined my life. I stood and hauled him back up to his feet by his shirt before slamming my fist into his gut. He folded at the waist with a loud groan; I straightened him up and measured him for one more good shot to the jaw; he flew back against my car and slid to the asphalt again. Big John had been watching from the corner of the parking lot in case something went wrong. He called the cops from his cell before dragging me from my intended assailant.

Once again my long standing association with the police played to my advantage; I knew three of the six cops who responded on a first name basis. With Big John as a witness, they arrested Peterson for assault with a deadly weapon. That was no misdemeanor, he wouldn't be getting out on his own recognizance this time; he would have to make bail, and if he couldn't, he would be in jail until his trial. The only thing spoiling my delight at Irv's plight was thinking about his wife and kids; they were innocent victims in the whole thing. 

After giving my statement at the station I went home to soak my hand in some ice; it was throbbing like hell and really swollen; I wasn't even sure I could hold my camera for a while. 

The next day was Saturday; summer was gone and it had turned down right cold over night; I was in the mood for nothing and that's exactly what I did, absolutely nothing. It's really not in my nature to lay around feeling sorry for myself two days in the row though, so Sunday I grabbed a shower, went down to Denny's for breakfast, and headed down town in search of something to do. More than likely I would wind up at Lincoln Park Zoo but I was still open to other suggestions from myself.

I was getting off the expressway when I remembered the art gallery that Carl's sister ran and wondered if they had my photograph displayed. I didn't know the exact address of the place but I knew it was down town and on State Street, it couldn't be that hard to find; I just wondered if it would be open on a Sunday.

As it turned out, I found it with very little trouble and it was open. I was immediately captivated; the place was big and had quite an array of impressive looking artwork on the walls. Right in the middle of the floor stood an easel holding my photo of Judy; hoping to eavesdrop, I joined the couple people standing around looking at it, but they moved away as soon as I walked up. I was about to go look at a couple of watercolors I saw when I heard a female voice behind me.

"It's an amazing photograph, isn't it?"

I turned and almost gasped out loud; standing in front of me was a beautiful, golden haired woman with striking blue eyes and a smile that would melt a glacier. I heard what she said but upon seeing this vision of loveliness, my mind went blank, so I answered the sophisticated lady in suave, James Bond like fashion..."Huh?"

"The photograph," she said again, "It's my sister, I think it's amazing."

Her sister; this was Carl's sister? I retrieved my mind from its maze of dumbfoundedness and actually spoke coherently. "Yes, I agree;" I said deciding to string her along a little; you can't be in the arts without learning some of the artistic colony's psychobabble.

I stood back pretending to ponder the exhibit, "The entire subject has such a fresh, innocent look; I love how the photographer used the low morning sun to highlight the hair; and look how it shines through the fabric of her blouse; it gives the material a translucent look and bathes the focal point of the shot with a warm, lustrous light. I see it was shot with a telephoto, I'm guessing a three hundred millimeter; you can tell by the softness of the background, then the corners of the print were darkened drawing the viewer's eye to the very essence of the shot?"

She looked shocked at my critique; Wow, you're either a photographer, an artist, or a critic," she said stretching out her hand, "I'm Tracy."

"How do you do," I replied shaking her hand gingerly, "I'm Dalton Conrad."

She ferruled her brow for a second; I know she was trying to place the name. "Dalton, that's sounds...you're the photographer," she divulged with a start, "No wonder you knew so much about the shot," she laughed.

"Guilty as charged," I admitted chuckling.

She must have felt the swelling in my hand; still holding it in hers, she turned it over to look, "Yeah, I had a little accident the other night, it's much better than it was," I told her. 

We started talking and I mentioned I saw a couple watercolors I wanted to look at. She gave me a personal guided tour telling me about various artists and who she thought would make it big in the future. We ended our excursion in front of the watercolors I was interested in; turns out they were painted by her father.

"Damn, Carl told me his dad was an artist but I had no idea..." I said letter my words taper off. "Does he still paint?" I asked.

"No, he developed Parkinson's disease a few years ago, that put an end to his career," she said sadly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, he's extremely talented; what a shame he can't share more of it," I said. I looked at the two paintings; I was trying to make up my mind which one to buy; they were both beautiful and just the thought of one hanging on my wall at home raised my spirits a little. I finally picked one.

"I'll take this one," I told my beautiful hostess. 

"Really," she said sounding a little surprised, "I didn't realize you were a buyer."

I smiled; "Well to tell you the truth I just came in to see if you still had my photo but these caught my eye as soon as I walked in. I knew I wouldn't leave here without one of them."

She boxed it up for a safe trip to its new home and I felt really good for the first time in a while. It was funny, every time I'd glance at the painting I'd see Tracy's beautiful face looking back me.

I was in a good mood for several days; of course nothing lasts forever. When I looked at the display of my ringing phone I saw it was Jean calling.

"Hello," I answered in a non-committal type voice.

"Dalton, it's me; I just heard what happened, are you alright?"

At first I thought she was talking about me buying the painting but then I realized what she was talking about, "You mean about your boyfriend attacking me with a knife...yeah, I'm..."

"A knife," she exclaimed, "Oh my God, I didn't hear he had a knife, only that he attacked you."

"Well to be honest it wasn't much of a knife, I think it was an after-thought when he realized his buddy wasn't around; there were supposed to be two of them but we had his friend cuffed to a stall in the bathroom until the cops got there."

I heard her starting to cry, "I'm so sorry, Dalton, this is all my fault," she wept.

I guess things did get better with time. A few months ago it would have torn me apart to hear Jean cry like that; now...well, I won't say it gave me pleasure, but it sure didn't have the same effect on me that it once did. I knew that a lecture from me was probably the last thing she wanted to hear but I didn't care, she was going to get one anyway.

"Actions have consequences, Jean; because you were too shy to speak to your own husband about your sexual fantasies instead of some asshole, two families have been destroyed. Think about it, not only have you and I lost one another, but there's a single mother out there with two teenage boys who now has to tell her sons that their father will be going to prison; have you told HER how sorry you are, you should." I heard her wailing now, "If you remarry, Jean, I hope you've learned your lesson," I said before disconnecting.

Oh well, that was the end of my three day old good mood.

My attitude did pick up again a couple days later when I got a call from Bel. I hadn't spoken to her since our dinner a few months prior; she was nice, not my type, but pleasant to talk to so when she asked if I wanted to have a drink after work I accepted with a smile. This time I beat her there and already had a beer in hand when she walked in.

"Hi, Bel," I greeted her as I stood while she slipped into the booth opposite me. One thing I learned about Bel from our last meeting, she's not big on small talk; she goes right for the jugular. 

"What the hell did you say to Jean the other day; she was still crying the next morning?" was the way she opened our conversation. 

"Ah," I had to think back, "she kept apologizing to me; I told her she should apologize to Irv's wife and kids."

Bel kind of reared back; she was just about to say something when the barmaid interrupted us. She ordered a white wine and waited for the girl to leave before tearing into me again.

"Damn it, Dalton, I know she screwed up...big time, but she is very fragile right now; you bawl her out like that again and you just might destroy her completely," she stated.

"Bel, I'm not trying to destroy anyone...well, maybe Irv, but he's the only one, but she has to take responsibility for her actions."

"She is, Dalton; I'll bet you don't even know what she told the DA, do you?"

"The DA," I questioned, "No, I haven't heard from him yet."

"And you won't. When he decided they were actually going to prosecute her..."

"They did; I didn't know that. The cops said that was highly unlikely; how come I wasn't notified?" I asked; hell she seemed to have all the answers.

"Because it never got that far; Jean was assigned a public defender, he told her to plead not guilty, he said no judge would ever convict her for adultery, but Jean said no; she went to the DA and pled guilty; the judge gave her two hundred hours of community service."

"Bel, how the hell do you know all this?" I had to ask.

"My fiancé is a Cook County cop, he's assigned to the DA's office," she responded.

I glanced at her left hand and noticed the ring for the first time; I knew she didn't have it the last time we saw one another. "I'm sorry for not noticing, Bel; congratulations," I said.

She raised her hand to give me a better look "Thank you," she responded with a big smile.

"I know most of those guys, what's the lucky guy's name?" I asked.

"Dave Quinn."

"Dave?" I responded thinking what a small world it was, "I've known Dave for years."

"I know; as soon as he saw the last name on the arrest report he knew it was you; he didn't know I worked with your wife though until he told me one of his friends was having marital troubles and we started comparing notes." She took her first sip of wine.

"Anyway, my point is...Jean could have most likely gotten off Scott free but she took responsibility like you said. She's trying to atone."

I didn't say anything, just sat there, staring into the glass I was twirling around in my hand and letting her words sink in.

"She still loves you, you know."

I nodded my head, "Yeah, I know; and to some extent I still love her, but we could never be a couple again, the wounds are just too deep," I said.

"I know," she said with a small sigh, "and so does Jean...and she's accepted it, but that doesn't mean you have to keep hurting her, Dalton. God, she cried so hard after hanging up with you the other day we all went into her office trying to calm her down...even Beverly tried to help. She was so upset we all knew she should go home but no one wanted her to drive; Mr. Jacobson came in and told me to drive her home. Dalton, she's a fricken mess. When I got her home I helped her mother put her to bed then sat and talked with her mom and dad for a little while; she was going to call you Monday about the fight but her folks talked her out of it; they know how much you're hurting and were worried about what you'd say to her. Of course she called you the next day anyway." 

"Alright, I won't be so hard on her if we talk again," I promised.

Seeming to be satisfied with my proclamation, she sat back in the booth and stared at me as a small grin appeared across her face; "Now," she said coyly, "Tell me about the fight."

I had to laugh before launching into my soliloquy; I wondered how Irv must feel knowing there were so many people out there who enjoyed hearing about him getting beat up. 




It's Against the Law Ch. 03



I told her the whole story. "Do you know if he's out on bail yet?" I asked Bel.

"No, he's not; and I doubt that he'll be out anytime soon," she said. "The other guy, the one who tried spiking your drink, he's going to testify that Irv paid him to drug you, so Irv is being charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon, for trying to stab you, as well as conspiracy to commit assault and battery. His bond is a hundred thousand dollars and his wife won't sign the papers to put the house up...so, it looks like old Irv boy will be in the clink for a while," she said never losing her smile. "Dave says the DA has a slam-dunk case and he figures Irv will get three to five."

I couldn't care less about Irv but I still felt sorry for his wife and kids. I also couldn't help feel sorry for Jean; as hard as our divorce was on me, it sounded like she was suffering even more. 

A few days after talking with Bel I found myself with a couple hours to kill between jobs; I knew Jean would be at work so I headed over to talk to her parents. She had her own apartment but her folks didn't want her to be alone so they talked her into staying with them a while longer. They pretty much told me what Bel had, she was a mess. She went to work every weekday and came right home afterward; she never stopped for a drink with the girls, never talked to anyone on the phone, or went out for the evening; the only time she left the house on weekends was to go shopping with her mother. 

I asked if there was anything I could do to help, short of taking her back of course, they said no. They were pretty confident; they had finally talked her into going for some grief counseling; between that and their love and support, they thought she'd make it through. They also expressed their regret for her actions and told me they would always love me like a son. That was nice to hear. 

I reminded them that Jean would receive her copy of the final decree in another three weeks; they said they knew. I was happy to hear that they had arranged for her to take a week off from work and were going to take her with them to visit friends in Fort Lauderdale; Jean loved the ocean and the beach; maybe it was just what she needed to kick-start her life again. 

As I left I wondered if I should do the same thing; just make reservations somewhere and go, the problem was I had a full schedule for the next several months, no way could I do it.

On the day our divorce became final I worked like a mad-man trying to keep from thinking about it; after work Jack and some other friends surprised me by dragging me out of the house and to a 'gentlemen's club.' The next thing I remembered was waking up on Jack's couch with his kids playing cowboys and Indians around me...guess who the Indian was."

The following month I received a summons to appear in court as a witness for the prosecution in the matter of The State of Illinois vs. Peterson. The trial only lasted three days; Dave was right, it was a slam-dunk for the DA. Irv was sentenced to three to five years in Danville Correctional Center, a medium security prison.

It was over, I could close the book on that whole chapter of my life now and move on, but how do you do that? I decided a vacation was a good idea; I went home and looked at my schedule again. In addition to scheduling jobs myself, I also had an agency booking work as well; they got twenty percent of anything they listed. Between the two of us, my calendar was full right up to September, several months away; oh well, better late than never, I thought, it'll give me something to look forward to. I blocked that week out and told the agency to do the same; now all I had to do was decide on where to go and what to do; oh well, I had a while to think about it.

Life became pretty drab after that. I'd have a drink with a friend now and then but basically it was get up, go to work, come home and go to bed. I didn't have much of a social life; I hated to even think about jumping into the dating pool again. 

As was the normal for Chicago, one day in spring it was forty-five degrees, the very next day it was eighty-two and summer was upon us. Shit, I thought, Memorial Day is less than two weeks away and I hadn't made any plans. I usually had a backyard party with all our friends and relatives but it was actually Jean who used to organize it. My heart gave a little flutter as I thought of her for the first time in a while; I wondered how she was doing, was she as lonely as I?

I guess my friends had already assumed I wasn't having a party, so by the end of the week I had three invitations for Memorial weekend get togethers. Jack was having a small cookout on Sunday which was great because it left me open to also attend Carl and Judy Anderson's BBQ on Monday. I was hoping that Tracy would be there. When I arrived I recognized a couple of the neighbors but was disappointed not to see Tracy anywhere. I walked around with a beer in my hand talking to a few acquaintances from the neighborhood but felt out of place since everyone had a spouse. 

Finally, for lack of anything else to do I volunteered to be the official griller; that would have been my job if I'd had my own party anyway. Carl readily agreed, so there I was, handing out hamburgers and hot dogs on warmed up buns to the masses. 

I was flipping a new batch of burgers when something landed on my ear; I shook my head and flicked at it with my hand at the same time but it came right back. This time I swatted at it hitting my own ear. I'll be damned if the fricken thing didn't come back. I was about to slap myself silly in an attempt to kill the lousy thing when I heard some laughter behind me. Suddenly my whole day brightened as I turned around to find Tracy standing there with that gorgeous smile and a feather she must have found lying on the ground.

"Hi sailor," she said seductively, "having a little trouble?" She had drawn a small audience who were having a good laugh at my expense but I didn't care, my heart started pounding from just being near her again. 

"Nah, any troubles I have are as light as a feather," I said trying to come up with something clever.

"Ah," she said nodding toward the grill, "You should probably turn the rest of those before they're as black as the charcoal."

"Oh yeah," I said blushing as I turned, "So how do you like yours done?" I asked.

"I'm not fussy, anyone of those will be fine," she replied. 

I picked out the biggest one and a nice warm bun and handed to her. She thanked me and strolled off to find a place to sit. I found Carl and told him I needed a break. I took a burger for myself and found Tracy; "May I?" I asked.

"Please," she said patting the blanket covered ground next to her. "I hope you didn't mind me having a little fun with you but I had to get you back for stringing me along at the gallery that day."

I laughed and assured her it was perfectly okay; it must have been the first time I laughed in months. As the day progressed that one laugh was followed by many more; damn I was having a good time, I think she was as well; we just seemed to click. We talked about art, Photography, dancing, movies, and things we still want to do; one of the things on her future agenda was the Monterey peninsula in northern California. She had been there as a small child with her dad; she remembered the scenery as being breathtaking and vowed she would return someday. 

I was really sorry to see the sun sinking; I wanted that day to last forever. As night fell and the crowd thinned I knew we would be parting ways soon. Should I ask for her number, or just stop in and see her again at the gallery? Damn, I hated being indecisive but I hadn't pursued a woman in many years; in this day and age did guys still ask for a woman's number, or was that too old fashion?

She was getting ready to go and I was stammering all over the place, completely unsure of myself; it must have been obvious because she took pity on me. She reached into her purse, took out a pen and one of her business cards, "This is my cell," she said writing the number on the back of her card, "I really enjoyed myself today; call me if you'd like to go out some time." She handed the card to me and said she was going to say her goodbyes but would see me one more time before leaving.

I did the same thing saying goodbye to the few people I knew and my hosts telling them what a great time I had and thanking them for inviting me. As I shook hands with Carl he leaned in close so no one else could hear, "You're the first guy she's taken an interest in, in a long time," he quietly told me, "Go for it." I smiled and thanked him. 

Tracy and I found each other one more time as we were both about to leave; I walked her to her car; damn, I wanted to kiss her, even just a small one on the cheek, but was scared to death. Once again I think she read my mind; sometimes I imagine that's much like reading a fist grade primer; Tracy stretched up on her tiptoes and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Call me," she said as she backed out of the drive.

It was a four block walk home; at no point did my feet ever touch the ground.

The next day I was about half way through shooting my second assignment for the day when I got a call from Jack. "Hey, pal, got time to stop off for a drink tonight?"

"Jack, these days I've got nothing but time," I responded. 

He was sitting at the bar next to an empty stool when I walked in. "Hi, Pete," I addressed my favorite bartender, "Miller light, please."

"Coming right up," he replied.

"So, buddy, how are things going; how's your love life?" asked Jack.

"Huh, well non-existent right at the moment," I said.

"Man, you got to get back out there, Dalton; sitting home alone every night is for the birds. You're a good looking, successful guy with a great personality; use it, man. What about that girl from the gallery you were telling me about?" He saw the smile spread across my face. "Uh huh, so there is some interest there; have you seen her since that day at the gallery?"

"I saw her yesterday, as a matter of fact. Her brother invited me to a BBQ and she was there. She really is a terrific woman, we talked all day long and never ran out of things to say," I told him.

"Have you asked her out yet?"

"Nah," I said shaking my head, "I'd like too but...oh I don't know, all this stuff with Jean, I guess it's still just too soon to start dating yet."

"Bullshit," said Jack enthusiastically. "Look, I've never had to go through anything like you did but I would imagine it has to be devastating to your self-confidence, it's only natural, but that just means you have to get right back up on the horse and ride."

I didn't say anything; I just let Jack's words soak in; if it was only that easy I thought.

"Does she like Shakespeare?" Jack asked.

"Shakespeare, I don't know, that's one thing we didn't talk about yesterday; why?"

"Well, you like Shakespeare, I know you do."

"Hell yeah, I love it; what are you getting at?" I asked.

Jack pulled four tickets out of his shirt pocket; they were for the play, "Julius Caesar, appearing at the Shakespeare theatre that Friday. "The entertainment columnist gave these to me the other day. I'm not really crazy about it but Lynette is a fan; anyway, I know you love that stuff too. Why don't you call the girl from the gallery and see if she'd like to go; we'll double.

My mind spun around like a top; on the one hand it sounded perfect; on the other hand, what if she said no? I remembered Carl telling me she was interested and she did say to call her; should I take a chance? I looked at the tickets again then at Jack; he had a shit-eaten grin on his face as if he was saying, 'okay, asshole, let's see you talk your way out of this.' 

Shit man, I was going to go for it. I had already programmed Tracy's number and the gallery number into my cell; I pulled it out and dialed.

"Hello," I could hear her smile right through the phone. Suddenly I got nervous again.

"Hi, ah, it's me...ah, I mean, ah Dalton, Dalton Conrad," I finally got out.

"Hi, Dalton, wow, that didn't take long...for you to call me I mean."

That sounded encouraging; I took a deep breath, "Well, I found a subject we didn't talk about yesterday and I...ah, well I was wondering if you liked Shakespeare... you know, Shakespearean plays I mean?"

"Are you kidding; absolutely, I love Shakespeare."

Jack must have heard her because I saw a big grin on his face; my heart started to go pitter-pat. I took another deep breath, "Well a friend of mine has four tickets to Julius Caesar this Friday night; it's at the Shakespeare theatre at Navy Pier; it would be you, me, my friend and his wife; would you be interested?" I asked now holding my breath. If she says no I'm going to die right here on the bar stool, I thought.

"That sounds like fun, I'd love it," she said.

I was waiting for a, 'but,' but it never came. I smiled and nodded my head, indicating her acceptance to Jack. "Fantastic," I said almost a little too exuberant. "It starts at eight..."

"Wait," said Jack poking at me to get my attention.

"Ah, hold on just a second, Tracy," I looked at Jack to see what he wanted.

"What about dinner before the play; could she be ready at six; we can go over to the Little General...do it up right," he said.

Damn, good idea, I thought. "Tracy, could you be ready at six? We can all go out for dinner before the play."

"Most certainly," she happily answered, "What's the attire for the evening?" 

I told her to just dress nice, an evening gown wouldn't be necessary. 

It had been my first actual date in many years. To say I was nervous was an understatement; I was glad Jack volunteered to drive because I'm sure I would have wound up on someone's lawn before the night was out. 

Jack pulled up in front of Tracy's building and I got out to ring the bell, what happened next almost seems like a dream...a wet dream; in fact that's exactly how I would describe Tracy as she stepped outside; a walking wet dream. 

Her silky blond hair hung loosely over her shoulders and softly framed those sparkling blue eyes of hers. The fabric of her short, off the shoulder, blue dress showed just the right amount of cleavage and hugged every curve like a formula one at Indy. She literally took my breath away.

"Tracy, you look absolutely stunning." I said. She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Dalton, I'm glad you called, I'm looking forward to tonight," she said. 

Jack and Lynette got out of the car for the introductions. I had to laugh as we were all getting back in the car, "Put your eyes back in your head," I heard Lynette quietly tell Jack with a playful slap on the arm. 

Dinner was great with lots and laughs and good conversation. Tracy was so gracious, that by the time we were done with our meals, you'd think we'd all been friends for years. I could tell Jack and Lynette felt the same way and really liked her.

The evening had started out being unseasonably warm, but as anyone who's ever been to Chicago's lake front will tell you, it can get chilly in a hear beat. Half way through the play the wind shifted from the north and the temperature must have dropped twenty degrees in five minutes...it was the perfect excuse to show off my gentlemanly qualities. I took my sport coat off and wrapped it around Tracy's shoulders then put my arm around her; she snuggled right into me and we watched the balance of the play while keeping one another warm. I was in pure heaven. 

As the evening was coming to a close, I got the impression Tracy hated to see it end almost as much as I did. It was a little after midnight by the time we got her home. She thanked Jack and Lynette in the car then I walked her to her door. "Thank you, Dalton; I had a really great time tonight," she said with a smile. 

"Does that mean I can call you again?" 

"I'm going to be angry if you don't," she replied. 

As I said, it had been a long time since I'd been on a date; I was also a little self-conscious knowing I had an audience, but I had wanted to kiss her all night and I was going to give it a try. 

My fear must have been obvious as I started to lean forward because Tracy didn't wait; she put her hand behind my head and pulled me into passionate lip-lock. Our tongues mingled as she pushed her hips into me. I must have blushed ten shades of scarlet when I realized she could feel my raging hard-on. 

After the kiss I promised to call her the next day then started back to the car. "Dalton," I turned back as she called out, "Don't forget this," she said removing my sport coat from her shoulders.

"Oh yeah, thanks" I said taking it from her hand.

"You might need it," she said with a knowing smile and a wink. Anyone who heard her would have thought she meant because of the temperature but I knew she meant it would hide the protrusion in my pants. Damn, what a night.

If I was walking on air after the party I was on the moon after Friday night. We had six more dates over the next month; no sex, we were taking it slow and getting to know one another. We had returned to her apartment after a Friday night date when she told me she wanted me to pick her up at the gallery at five o'clock the next day; she said not to make plans for that night but she wouldn't say why. Well, who was I to argue.

I was there at five on the dot; she was just locking the door when I showed up. She invited me in and said she had a couple things to do in the back before we could go and asked if I'd wait just a minute. I walked around looking at the various paintings and was disappointed to see someone bought the other painting of her father's that I liked. I was planning on buying it myself. 

"Dalton, could you come back here and give me a hand, please," I heard her yell from the back room.

"Coming," I responded.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled as I walked through the door; I was shocked, most of my friends were there plus Carl and Judy and a few others whom I didn't know.

"What's going on?" I spluttered.

Tracy walked up me with a great big smile and put her arms around me, "Happy birthday, Dalton," she said before kissing me passionately. 

I had to think, oh yeah, my birthday was the following Monday. "How did you know?" I asked.

"I Googled you, honey, you'd be surprise the information there is on you," she replied. I called Jack and he took care of inviting your friends for me." 

This was too much; Jean had a couple small birthday parties for me when we were married but never a surprise party, never anything like this; I also caught that she called me honey for the first time; I was flabbergasted. Most people just had cards but some even had gifts. I opened them and thanked everyone; Tracy kept hers hidden until last; it was obvious it was a painting but I didn't realize which one until I unwrapped it; it was the other one of her father's that I wanted. I had to literally keep myself from crying I was so overwhelmed. 

The party would have gone on all night but we wanted to make sure everyone was sober when they left so Tracy called an end to it at eight o'clock. I helped clean up after everyone left. As we were finishing up Tracy had another surprise for me, "Dalton, I thought I'd go home with you and help you hang that," she said gesturing toward the painting. "Also, I have Angie opening in the morning so I have all night," she said with a glint in her eye. Angie was her assistant. 

Wow, it was really going to happen; it had been several months since I walked into the gallery and first met Tracy; I remember my heart skipping a beat but I hadn't dared even thinking about becoming involved at that time. Little did I know what the future would hold and that she would make me so happy. 

Once we got to my place we actually did hang the painting, it looked great on the wall along side the other one. That's when I started getting cold feet again; I asked Tracy if she wanted something to drink; I thought I pulled it off as just being polite but I guess it was obvious I was stalling.




It's Against the Law Ch. 03



Tracy looked at me like she was studying my face, "Not ready yet are you?" 

I wasn't sure what she meant, "I'm sorry?" 

"Judy told me about your divorce, I'm sorry; I can only imagine how hard that must be to go through. The closest I got was finding my fiancé was cheating on me a month before our wedding; it devastated me. I've wanted you from the moment you walked into the gallery but I wanted to wait until I thought you'd be ready for that kind of commitment; I thought you were but maybe I was wrong."

I was stunned, I wasn't even aware Judy, or anyone but a few friends and family, knew about my divorce.

"I know it hasn't been that long; if you're uncomfortable with me being here..." 

She let her words hang in the air, I guess she was waiting for me to say something but I was still reeling from her knowing about Jean, "You should probably take me home," she said.

"No, no; please. I'm sorry if I seem apprehensive; it's just...well, you're the first woman in this house since she left; I guess I'm just a little nervous."

She looked at me; I think she was trying to decide on staying or going; she finally smiled, "Did you say something about getting a girl a drink?" 

"Absolutely," I said coming out of my funk, "What would you like?"

"A glass of cold water would be great," she said. 

"Cold water coming up; here," I said motioning to the couch, "Have a seat where you can look at your dad's paintings and I'll be right back."

I went into the kitchen silently cussing myself out; what the hell was I doing? Why were these feelings of inadequacy resurfacing now? I took a deep breath and filled a glass with cold water from the fridge...one more deep breath to muster my courage...

"Here you go," I said handing Tracy the glass.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, "I'm a good listener." 

"No, I appreciate the offer but I'd rather talk about you." We always had so much to talk about on our dates but she never really spoke about herself, personal things I mean. 

She talked a little about her childhood and how much she admired her father and his talent. He gave her the money to start the gallery; of course it was she who made it successful.

"I idolized him," she said, "I still do, his talent, his passion for beauty; It just breaks my heart to see him now. He used to be so happy all the time, always smiling and joking; now he's confined to a wheelchair and he's lost so much control over his hands he can't even hug me anymore."

I saw her fighting a losing battle with the tears welling in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, honey; all this time you haven't really talked about your parents very much and I didn't want to ask because the subject always seemed to make you sad," I said hoping she would let it out, "is your mother still alive?"

Tracy nodded her head yes, "And she still cares for dad, she refuses to put him in a home. It's so hard on her but you can't even talk to her about it; she'll just look at you and say he's her husband and she'll never abandon him." 

That's when a lone tear broke free and trickled down her cheek; she wiped it away, and to my surprise, continued opening herself up to me; she went on and talked about her only two long lasting relationships. Her first was a guy she met in her sophomore year of college; they were exclusive for two years but just grew apart soon after graduation. 

The other was the man with whom she was engaged; he was a real estate whiz-kid who moved quickly into the ranks of big money by selling commercial property; she had fallen for him big-time, and after three years of dating he popped the question; she said she was almost embarrassed to wear the engagement ring because it was so big. She told me it was the happiest time of her life, then disaster hit, she found out he had been having a yearlong affair with his secretary; she was crushed; it had been four years since she broke it off; even after all that time I could see her fighting back tears as she talked about it, and because of that experience, she had been very wary of getting too deeply involved with anyone since. 

"So, now you know my life's story," she said, "sad but true, if you're going to run, now's probably the time to do it?"

I was losing my resolve; less than a year ago, when I filed for divorce, I told myself it would be a long time before I opened my heart to another woman, but there I sat, almost mesmerized as I listened to this Beautiful, strong, confident lady. For the last four years she kept her guard up, protected herself from being hurt again, and yet here she was, dropping her defenses and allowing me inside, trusting me with her vulnerability...could I do the same for her? 

"I'm not going anywhere," I said.

She smiled, leaned in closer, and gave me a tender kiss on the lips. "I have a confession to make," she said as our lips pulled apart, "I think I fell a little in love with you, before we even met."

I must have looked puzzled...only because I was, though; her smile broadened and she went on, "It happened the first time I saw your portrait of Judy. One look and it told me the photographer was kind, compassionate, romantic, and possessed the heart of poet. Now that I know you better I see I was right, but you also have an inner strength that I admire as well, a strength that has allowed you to live through adversity and come out the other side with courage and determination."

"Wow," I said humbly, "You make me sound like some kind of superman."

"Maybe you are," she joked while lightly running her fingers along the inside of my thigh, stopping just short of the tent rising in my pants; she looked me in the eye, "Are you a man of steel?" she asked with a devilish expression.

"Well there is one part of me that might qualify," I returned with that same devilish smile.

She kissed me, our tongues mingled like two dancing fairies. "I just hope you're not faster than a speeding bullet," she said with a laugh as she already started undoing the top button of my shirt. "I've wanted to do this since you first walked into the gallery."

We continued to kiss as she took each button one at a time. I had my eyes closed, lost in the eroticism when I felt her hand gently rub my pectorals; "Umm, nice chest," she whispered. I wondered if she could feel how hard my heart was pounding. 

I took her hand and stood up, I moved behind her as she joined me. I kissed the back of her neck and behind her ear as I reached around and unbuttoned her blouse; as the front of it fell open I discovered she was wearing a bra with the clip in front, I felt the firmness of her breasts as I released them.

She moaned and leaned back, resting her head on my shoulder as I continued to nibble along her beautiful long neck. She reached around with her left hand and slid it between us, feeling my fully expanded manhood. 

"Take me to bed, Dalton," she whispered seductively, "I want you to make love to me," she cooed. 

"C'mon," I told her taking her hand in mine as I led her up stairs. For one brief moment a shard of guilt struck me; the only person I'd ever made love to in that bed was Jean; the thought vanished completely as I took Tracy in my arms; slowly I finished undressing her; as each article of clothing was removed, more of her toned body was revealed; she was magnificent. 

We lay naked on the bed that had been so lonely for many months; her response to my kisses were immediate and exciting as she moaned and writhed under the tender touch of my lips; her breathing quickened, "Oh God," she yelled as I found her wonderful, little love button with my tongue. "Ahhhhhh," she screamed in ecstasy and her body stiffened with her first orgasm. 

I continued my oral assault taking her over the edge two more times. I was so hard I thought my skin with rip in two; I needed to be inside her, that's when I had a terrible thought, I didn't have protection. I wasn't worried about disease; during our conversation I'd learned she hadn't been with anyone in two years and had been checked and given a clean bill of health since then; but as much as I wanted a child, the other person had to want it too.

"Do I need a condom?" I blurted out.

She thrashed her head from side to side, no...on p...pill, she said almost incoherently; she arched her back bringing herself to me for the joining of our two bodies. Her eyes were glassy from the throes of passion as I slipped inside of her.

"Oh yes..." she murmured enthusiastically. She batted her eye lids trying to focus as she reached her arms around my neck and smiled; I slowly slid all the way in and held myself there for a moment; she closed her eyes, "Oh you feel so good," she sighed. I began long, slow strokes; her grip tightened around my neck and I felt her body tighten again as euphoria washed over her for the fourth time. I slowed to a crawl and shortened my strokes until she came down from her high then took it home. 

I felt her about to come again just as I had past the point of no return. I gritted my teeth and strained upward, arching my back, keeping us tightly locked together. I heard Tracy scream as she pulled me down to her breasts, holding me while we both climaxed with unadulterated bliss. 

We lay cuddled together trying to regain some semblance of normal breath; Tracy was the first to regain speech, "Wow," she said still panting some. "Happy birthday, Mr. Kent...or can I call you Clark?"

We both giggled, we were too tired to laugh; "Ms. Anderson, you can call me anything you want," I replied finely being able to speak myself. She spent the night; I can't tell you how fantastic it was to wake up with someone nestled in my arms; especially someone as wonderful as Tracy.

The next morning I was up first; I quietly slipped on my robe and tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen. My plan was to bring her breakfast in bed but she foiled my plot with her presence while I was still scrambling the eggs. 

I caught an image out of the corner of my eye and turned; she was leaning against the door jamb wearing a smile and one of my shirts; I felt my Adam's apple as I swallowed hard...what a sight!

"I hope you don't mind, I didn't bring a robe," she said making the kitchen much hotter than it already was.

"There isn't a male in this world or any other, that would mind seeing you dressed like that," I stammered. I heard her bare feet on the tile floor as she walked behind me; I grinned from ear to ear as she put her arms around my chest and laid her head against my back...God, it had been a long time since feeling that kind of affection.

We finished breakfast then went upstairs and made love some more; when we were both finally spent we showered together and realized we weren't quite as spent as we thought we were; we finally maxed ourselves out just as we ran out of hot water. It was two-thirty in the afternoon before we got dress for the first time all day.

We went out to eat then headed back to my place; damn, I hated to see the day coming to an end. I knew I had to take Tracy home soon; my heart was already starting to ache at just the thought of it. 

The western sky was just starting to glow with pastel colors when I asked if she had time to sit with me on the porch and watch the sunset before leaving. She cuddled up next to me and laid her head on my shoulder as I put my arm around her. For the first few minutes we sat in silence watching the blues, yellows, and oranges blend together in nature's own spectacular light show.

I didn't know It, but we were both deep in our own thoughts. I knew I was falling in love with her. I was going to tell her but she got the first word in.

"Dalton, did you really mean it yesterday when you said I was amazing?"

"Absolutely, Tracy; you're an incredible person." Since she opened the door I was going to lay it on the line. "I know we've only known each other for a few months, but..."

"Yes," she asked looking into my face.

"Well, I ah...I'm... I'm falling in love with you, Tracy."

She just kept staring at me; not frowning, not smiling, just staring. "What if there was something that didn't make me so amazing in your eyes," she finally said, "What if I had a secret that you...ah, well you found perverse or at least not to your liking?" Her face suddenly took on a solemn, almost fearful look.

Continued...



It's Against the Law Ch. 04



She just kept staring at me; not frowning, not smiling, just staring. "What if there was something that didn't make me so amazing in your eyes," she finally said, "What if I had a secret that you...ah, well you found perverse or at least not to your liking?" Her face suddenly took on a solemn, almost fearful look.

I guess I looked surprise; what the hell was she talking about? She didn't wait for the question, she continued. 

"Dalton, I'm falling in love with you as well; but I do have a secret that I'm scared to share because I'm afraid it might end out relationship even before it starts; the thing is, I also know a relationship can't be built on lies."

I could see her starting to tear up; I took my thumb and wiped one away from the corner of her eye. I couldn't imagine this woman having such a terrible secret that it would alter the way I felt about her. I gave her a reassuring smile and kissed her gently. "Whatever this deep down secret is, honey," I said, "I'm sure I can handle it."

She looked scared; cautiously she spoke again. "Well, I'm kind of...ah, I mean, in my business world I'm always the one in charge and sometimes..." she stopped and just looked at me for a few seconds, "Oh hell, I'm just going to say it and pray you don't think I'm some kind of pervert...I like to be tied up... in bed I mean; not all the time but sometimes I like to be tied up and dominated, helpless and unable to stop my lover from ravaging my body anyway he desires," she said abruptly, then stopped to see what my reaction was going to be.

It stunned me, of all things, all that build up; she was so scared, just like my fucking ex-wife...only Tracy actually had the guts to tell me. I knew it was the wrong thing to do; she didn't know the details of what happened with Jean and me, very few did; but I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing.

Tracy looked horrified; she thought I was laughing at her. I quickly put my arms around her and assured her that wasn't the case, then I went on to tell her how Jean was tied up in the motel room when she was arrested and how she was too afraid to talk with me about her bondage fantasies and wound up with Irv instead. I told Tracy, not only didn't I consider her a pervert, but I admired her. I said I appreciated how hard it was for her to reveal that and how much it overwhelmed me to know she trusted me with her secret; if Jean had trusted me like that we'd still be married.

"I'll admit, I've never done anything like that, but if you don't mind putting up with a novice, I'd like to try it," I disclosed. 

Finally...once again she lit up my soul with her smile. God, how I hated the thought of waking up in an empty bed again after that morning, but she had things at home she had to do before opening the gallery the next day; I hadn't thought about it all weekend but I also had to get off to an early start. Birthday or not, when you work for yourself there are no paid holidays; if I didn't work I didn't make any money.

The first thing I did after returning from dropping Tracy off was fire-up my laptop and find some bondage sites. I never was into porno; I just didn't think of sex as a spectator sport, for me it was full contact or nothing, so it didn't really surprise me when I wasn't turned on by the pictures; in fact, what I wound up doing was criticizing the camera techniques; poor, straight-on, single strobe lighting, bad composition, overexposed, underexposed, lousy color saturation; damn, if there's so much money in this stuff how come they can't afford a real photographer? 

I found literally hundreds of sites and started jumping around from one to the other; I found I learned more from reading stories about bondage than I did looking at the pictures. Some of it I considered way over the top and hoped Tracy wasn't interested in going to such extremes, but there was some stuff I thought could be a lot of fun, I even got hard reading about it; hmm, this might work out okay, I thought. 

I wasn't to see Tracy again until the middle of the week so I studied and read about various bondage techniques each night when I got home. By the time Wednesday night rolled around I was pretty sure I knew enough to at least tantalize her taste to be tied up and dominated.

I had a little surprise for her when I got to her apartment; it was in my pocket. She met me at the door with a big kiss and an even bigger smile. God, she felt so good in my arms. 

"Where are we going, honey; is this okay to wear?" she asked turning around so I could see how the pretty little sun dress flared. I told her on the phone we were going out to dinner but I didn't say where.

"Stand still," I told her in a commanding voice. She looked at me a little startled but did what I told her to do. "Don't move," I said walking behind her. I slowly unzipped her dress and pushed it off her shoulders, letting it fall to her feet. 

"What are you..."

"Ah, no talking till I tell you it's okay," I said with a slap to her beautiful, panty clad butt. "Separate your legs" I demanded with another slap to her posterior. 

"Oooh;" she realized what was happening and I could feel her starting to breathe a little heavily. 

I leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "This is what you like, isn't it?" 

"Oh yes," she moaned.

"Yes what?" I said sternly.

"Yes, Sir," she whimpered, catching on right away.

My thumbs found the sides of her panties and I slowly lowered them to her knees. I reached around and felt her slit; God, she was so wet already I couldn't believe it. "What's this?" I taunted, "Are you wet for your master?"

"Oh yes, master," she sighed, "I'm so wet for you, Sir."

"Well you're going to have to wait until we come back from dinner." 

"Oooh no, please Master, can't we stay here, I'll make us something...please," she pleaded.

"Are you arguing with me?" I corrected her.

"No, Sir."

"Good, do you know what this is?" I said pulling a piece of pre-tied rope from my pocket.

"Oh, God, A...ah, crotch rope, Sir?"

"That's right," I said with a big grin, "And you're going to wear it until we come back here tonight."

She closed her eyes as if picturing herself at dinner, feeling the rope between her legs. "Excuse me, Sir; but didn't you say you knew nothing about this kind of thing?"

"Yeah, well I've been doing a little studying the last few nights," I replied with a sinister little smile.

I tied the rope around her waist, making a tiny knot at the small of her back, then strung it between her pussy lips; I measured where it would hit her clit and tied a knot right there so it would constantly tease her little nub; I finished bringing it through her legs and tied it off in front just below her bellybutton. "Okay, you may pull up your panties and put your dress back on now."

I watched as she closed her eyes; her breathing became more ragged and her knees started to give out; she'd had a mini orgasm before being able to pull her panties back up. She had to brace herself by putting her hand on my shoulder while she caught her breath. I swear, I don't think I'd ever seen anyone come so quickly...

Except maybe me if I couldn't control myself. This was a totally new experience for me. I couldn't even explain it, but I was so hard I was afraid I was going to cum in my trousers without even being touched. The tent in my pants didn't go unnoticed by my observant submissive; she had pulled her panties up but had not put her dress back on yet.

"Sir, may I please help you with this?" she asked lightly touching the outside of my zipper.

I almost came right then and there; I hadn't planned on doing anything until after the restaurant but I wasn't expecting to get this excited, I didn't think I'd make it to the car without staining my pants. She was on her knees almost before I relented by demanding a blowjob. 

I couldn't remember coming so fast, so hard, and so much since I was a horny teenager. Now it was my knees that turned to rubber as Tracy submissively accepted every drop of sperm that I fired down her lovely throat.

I was a little wobbly as I stood trying to regain control of my breathing when Tracy, still on her knees in front of me and dressed only in her panties and bra, obediently used her tongue to clean the remnants of my euphoria from my deflating manhood. When she finished, my lovely sub hugged me around the waist and pressed the side of her head against my stomach, "Thank you, Dalton," she said quietly, "You have no idea what this means to me." 

I had to sit down and take a brief rest while she put her dress back on and touched up her make-up. 

We went out to a little Italian place I'd heard about. As he showed us to our table, the maitre' D held the chair for Tracy. I heard a small gasp as she lowered herself down and guessed that the knot in her crotch rope must have slipped over her clit as she sat; she looked over at me with a look of pure lust as I gave her a knowing little smile. 

She was a little quiet as we ate and I was beginning to wondered if she was enjoying herself or not; just about the time I was going to ask she looked at me with a big smile, "I'm not sure I can wait till we get home," she said seductively, "I may just have to crawl under the table and give you another blow job right here before we leave." I guess that answered my question. 

Well, she was able to control herself until we got back but as soon as we walked through the door she turned and attacked me, laying one of the most passionate kisses I've ever had on me. "I hope you're planning on spending the night because there's no way I'm letting you out of here tonight," she said with conviction. 

I hadn't really thought about spending the night but what the hell. We experimented with a few more bondage games, then I made love to her; the sun was actually coming up before we drifted asleep in each other's arms. We only slept about three hours but it was a restful three hours and we were both bright and cheery the next morning.

That night was truly the start of, 'us,' from then on we were a couple; we spent every available moment together. We did a lot role playing with D/s and bondage but we weren't always in the mood for it and most of the time simply made love.

Before we knew it summer was coming to an end. I was looking at my calendar and saw I had nothing scheduled for the first week in September; damn, I'd forgotten all about my plans for a vacation. When I mentioned it to Tracy her eyes lit up, "Let's go on vacation together."

I hadn't even considered it because I didn't think she'd want to close the gallery. 

"I've been training Angie, she's more than capable of running the gallery for a week, what do you say?" she asked getting all excited.

"Where would we go?"

"Monterey."

Obviously I had seen pictures of the coast myself and the thought started my creative juices flowing. "If we went, would you mind if I brought one of my cameras and took some pictures while we were there?" I asked.

"Mind; are you kidding? Honey, that's the whole point; think of what someone with your talent could do with scenery like that."

The next day I booked our flight to Oakland and reserved a car. 

A couple weeks later Tracy gave Angie a few final instructions and we were on our way. By the time we got there it was too late for anything more than dinner and a little play time before getting some sleep but the next day we were headed south on Pacific Coast Highway bright and early. It didn't take long before both of us were captivated with spectacular views of the California coastline.

As soon as I found a place to park I grabbed my camera and shoved an extra battery in my pocket before Tracy and I made our way down to the sea. I was like a kid in a candy store; every time I put the camera to my eye I was able to compose another breathtaking shot. 

Tracy and I spent the entire day doing nothing but photographing the Monterey Peninsula. It wasn't until the sun went down and we lost all our light before we realized we hadn't even had lunch. We found a motel, checked in, showered, and were famished by the time we were seated in a restaurant. We were both still excited about all the photos we'd shot. The next day we packed a lunch before starting out again.

I talked Tracy into modeling in her bikini for some of the photos; when we found a quiet little out of the way cove with no one around, I had to promise the shots would be for my private collection only, before she agreed to lose the bikini. 

When I first saw the magnificent coastline I didn't think anything could rival its splendor, but seeing my woman naked against the prehistoric wonders of nature was truly a spiritual experience; I offered proof of that by showing her how part of my anatomy pointed to the heavens, after which we laid a blanket over the sand and made love to the rhythm of the pounding surf. 

On the fourth day I found an isolated spot that gave me an idea; later that night I told Tracy I had to run out to the store for something and asked her to stay in the motel room while I was gone. She questioned me but didn't argue. I knew where to go and was back in forty minutes with my purchase hidden in my camera bag for the next day. 

Early the next morning we found another fantastic place from which to shoot another gorgeous sunrise; we continued finding and shooting one tremendous seascape after another until a little past noon. We found a quiet little spot not far from the secret destination I spotted the day before. We laid the blanket on the beach and had lunch. Tracy started to rub the bulge in my pants but I wasn't ready for anything too exciting yet, I had other plans. 

"What's the matter, honey; aren't you in the mood?" Tracy asked when I didn't respond like I normally would.

"Oh I'm in the mood, babe; but I have a little surprise waiting for you around the corner," I told her going into my Dom voice.

"I should have known when you went out last night," she said with a chuckle in her voice. I raised one eyebrow and gave her my evil, Snidely Whiplash laugh. 

After lunch we walked around some large boulders and into the box canyon I saw the day before. Growing from the rocky cliff was an old tree, its limbs twisted and contorted over time by ancient seafaring winds. I moved around shooting the majestic area from every angle; when I knew I had what I was looking for I retired my camera to its case and removed the long black piece of silk cloth. 

"I'm sorry babe, but this is where night falls for your pretty eyes," I said as I wrapped the blindfold around her head and tied it in back. I again reached into the case, this time for the rope I had purchased. I walked my lovely submissive under the tree; she gasped with anticipation as I lashed her wrists securely, but not too tightly. I threw the rope over the main branch of the tree and pulled her arms up, extending them far enough over her head to stretch her body taut. I tied the other end to a lower branch. As I viewed my handy work I wondered if nature created this cove for just this purpose.

"She started to moan already as I let my fingers start to explore her insanely seductive flesh. "Shhhhh," I told her, teasing her with kisses under her chin, and down her neck. 

"Oh God," she gasped breathlessly as I undid her top and let it fall to her feet. I had never seen her nipples stand out so far; it made them ridiculously easy to pinch. I let my hands wander as she writhed in delightful torment. "Oh, oh, oh Sir...I, I..."

"No more talking slave," I commanded. I took her breasts in my hand, kneading them and massage them with my fingers; I sucked on her nipples alternating between the two. I slowly removed the bottom of her bikini and watched as she unsuccessfully tried getting away from my hand as it reddened her lovely ass with a series of blows. I felt the incredible heat generated by her pussy as I finger fucked her to two orgasms. 

I was so hard myself I wasn't sure I could wait any longer before getting relief but I wasn't done yet; "Now, stay right here and be a good girl, I'll be right back." I saw a look of sheer terror in her face and I realized she thought I was going to leave her for a moment; "Don't worry, babe, I'm not going anywhere, you just won't feel my hands on you for a couple of minutes." I saw her smile until she heard the shutter of my camera; her face turned back to terror.

"Honey! I mean, Sir; you're not taking pictures of me like this; please no..."

"Hey, hey, hey," I said in a smooth voice, I walked back up to her and gently caressed her naked skin, "Do you trust me...completely trust me?" 

"Yes, of course," she said in a calmer voice.

"Then there shouldn't be an issue," I said taking control again.

"You're right, Sir," she said regaining her smile, "I'm sorry, Sir; I guess I just panicked for a second."

I gently pressed my lips to hers, "I love you, babe, I would never do anything to hurt you," I said. "No one but you or I will ever see these, I promise."

She was completely at ease as I went on to shoot the most erotic photos I'd ever taken or ever hope to take.

After releasing her I threw the blanket down and stripped off my clothes; it was over an hour later before we came up for air.

It was toward the end of our last day when I looked up from my viewfinder and saw Tracy standing on the beach, just staring in one direction; when I looked closer and saw the sadness in her face. 

"Honey, what's the matter?" I was concerned, just minutes before we were laughing and joking, I had no idea what brought on her blues.

"I remember this spot," she said, "This very spot; I stood right here when I was just seven years old and watched my father paint those cliffs over there. He was so young, so strong and full of life back then," she said while trying to fight back tears.

"Where was he set up?" I asked.

"Right here," she indicated by stepping a few steps over, "He had his easel right here. I watched in amazement as he reconstructed God's miraculous creation in watercolors," She leaned her head on my shoulder and started to cry as I put my arm around her. 

I continued to hold her for several minutes until Tracy was feeling better, then stood right where her father stood so many years before and recreated his painting, digitally. 

There was something magical about that spot; I felt it as well. We sat on the beach embraced in each other's arms while watching the sun slip beneath the thunderous waves. Later that night there was no sex, no bondage, no love making; I held her in my arms as she cuddled into me; she needed the love and support of a strong man and I said a silent prayer to the man above thanking him for the opportunity to be that man.

The next day, regrettably, we were homeward bound. It was just a little before noon in Chicago by the time we were pulling out of O'Hare's parking garage. In my pocket were eight flash cards containing more than thirteen hundred photos, Tracy was even more excited than I was at the prospect of editing and selecting the cream of the crop. Because we had anticipated making some very large photographs of some of the shots, I set the camera for the finest quality image it offered; as a result we could not view the photos on my laptop; for these I needed the PC that I had specifically set up for this kind of work. 

We grabbed a quick bite on the way home then almost ran to my office to view some of the shots. I pulled up an extra chair for Tracy and started downloading the first flashcard. Within a minute or so, thumbnails photos started popping up on my twenty-seven inch monitor. 

"Oh my God," Tracy almost screamed in my ear, "Look at this stuff, honey; every one of them is incredible. Oh, how the hell are we supposed to pick one from the other here?" she questioned.

I had to admit, they were pretty damn good; of course it was nature's creation, but I did capture it in all its glory.




It's Against the Law Ch. 04



"I got it," yelled a deliriously happy Tracy as she kissed me on the cheek and threw her arms around my neck, "A one man show!"

"What, what kind of one man show?" 

"YOU, silly; you're going to have a one man show at my gallery; oh God, honey; I'm going to showcase your talent, you'll be the most famous, sought-after photographer in Chicago. We'll pick the best hundred photos, if that's possible; anyway, you print them and I'll frame them. What do you say?" 

Before I could even answer her she thought of something else. 

"Oh, and we can have some hard cover books printed too; we'll put twenty shots in it and you can autograph them; oh, honey; we are going to have the best show this town ever saw. What do you think, babe?"

I watched the metamorphosis in total amazement as my warm, sensitive, sometimes submissive girlfriend made the conversion into the strong, confident business woman I saw when we first met. She grabbed her phone and was already about start the ball rolling when she suddenly stopped; I guess I must have looked a little dubious. I made my money as an industrial and commercial photographer, not shooting seascapes. I wondered if this could somehow have a negative impact on my business.

"I'm sorry, darling, sometimes I get carried away, I didn't really ask you if you'd even be interested in doing this, did I? 

Tracy listened to my concerns and thought for a few minutes.

"Honey, just like you told me on the beach, I love you and would never do anything to hurt you in any way. If this is something you're not comfortable with then we'll forget the whole idea, but please think about it first. Personally, I think it would only enhance your business; in fact, if we did do this I think we should send personal invitations to all your clients so they can see that you're not only talented in one field, but that your talent as a photographer is endless; I believe your clients would respect your work even more than they do now." She ended her pitch by sitting on my lap, putting her arms around my neck and giving me a big sloppy kiss.

She was so confident, what could I say, "How big do you want the prints," I asked with a smile.

"That's my man," she responded, "What's the largest print you and make?"

She really got excited when I told her I could buy paper by the roll and make prints as large as forty-four inches wide. 

Tracy went right to work; she set the date for October fifteenth, it was a Saturday and only five weeks away. Every night she and I would select more shots; I would make various size prints, then she would take them to work the next day and frame them. Of course working at my place well into the evening gave her an excuse to spend the night with me while all this was going on; that was something I was getting extremely used to.

In addition to everything else, Tracy took care of all the advertising, sending out personal invitations, and organizing the gallery; she was a busy woman. 

When I agreed to the show I had my own little surprise in mind; all the preparations for it I made myself without Tracy's knowledge. 

After closing the gallery the Friday before the show, once again, Tracy went into high gear. She enlisted the aid of her brother to help her, Angie, and myself with getting everything ready for the next morning. I asked Carl where Judy was; he told me she was home with the baby but they had a babysitter for Saturday so she'd be there for the first day of the show. We had two pizzas delivered and worked feverishly until everything was ready to go a little before midnight. Since she had been living with me since we returned from California, Tracy followed me home. We should have both been dead tired after all the work but the truth was we were still running on adrenaline. The next day was big day and we knew we needed sleep but we were just so worked up; we needed a way to relax.

All night long Tracy had definitely been in charge giving everyone instructions on just how she wanted everything done for the show; 'no, not there, over there; that goes here; I want that hung over there;'... it was time for me to take back control. 

I got home a few minutes before she did and already had everything ready to be set up; it didn't take long; by the time she walked in I was ready. As soon as she walked into the dark living room she knew something was up.

"Sir?" she quietly inquired.

I activated the wireless remote in my hand; instantly my laptop projector jumped to life, flooding the room with photos of my beautiful, naked slave like an erotic light show. Bigger than life, one image after another quickly flashed against the large screen showing Tracy sensually bound against the majestic backdrop of Monterey Bay. 

I heard her gasp as she saw herself for the first time; her nude shapely body was stretched taught with her arms extended high overhead and reaching for the twisted tree branch that supported her bonds. Her breasts were pulled high on her chest and stood out firm and proud. You could see her pussy glistening in the California sun from her secretions. 

I was waiting behind the door and approached her from behind. "Yes," I stated, "Don't move," I told her as I unzipped her dress. 

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back as I moved my hands across her shoulders. "How did you know," she whispered, "How did you know this was exactly what I needed tonight."

"Shhhh," I shushed her, "No talking, you will do exactly as I say; do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," she whisper again as her breathing got heavier. 

I unhooked her bra and let it drop, the panties were next. I gently pulled her hands behind her and fastened them together with a pair of soft, leather cuffs, then walked her to a kitchen chair I had placed in the middle of the room and facing the sexually charge display flashing across the screen in front of her.

I inserted one of our new toys into her pussy; it was a remote control egg. I was hoping we could use it in public without anyone being the wiser, but even on the low setting, Tracy would have an explosive orgasm within minutes, that made it much too risky to use anywhere but at home. 

I sat her down in the chair with her arms over the back. I then tied her ankles to the legs of the chair. She gasped as I tightened the nipple clamps and played with little chain connecting them. "Now, sweetheart," I said trying to sound menacing, "I'm going to turn the egg on but you are not allowed to cum before sucking me to completion, is that clear?"

"Yes, Master," she said breathlessly.

She gasped as I hit the switch for the egg. She was already squirming as I slipped my iron-like cock between her soft, luscious lips. I knew, as excited as I was, it wouldn't take her long to get me off, but she would still have to concentrate hard to keep herself from coming first.

I didn't time it, but I'm guessing it was less than five minutes before I erupted spewing cum by the bucket load, at least that's the way it felt. Tracy was working hard to stay off her impending euphoria; just as my deflating manhood slipped free from its warm home Tracy screamed with rapture. 

A little weak in the knees myself, I stumbled back and sat on the edge of the couch. I turned the egg off and watched as my love slowly came back from her trip to the land of ecstasy. She opened her eyes but was still breathing hard. A big smile stretched across her beautiful face and she looked at me with love and respect. 

I untied her and took her to bed where we slipped under the sheets for some traditional love making. Within minutes she had me hard as a rock again; for the next two hours we enjoyed one another as only two people in love can. 

The next day I was up an hour before the alarm went off; I was too excited to go back to sleep. I didn't want to disturb Tracy so I gently slipped my arm out from under her and showered in the hall bathroom instead of the master bath. I put my robe on and went down stairs to make coffee. I had only been sitting for a few minutes when Tracy joined me. 

"So, you excited?" she asked standing again in one of my white dress shirts.

"Oh yeah," I said with a smile.

"Not me, you idiot," she said walking over and giving me a kiss, "I mean about your show today," she chuckled.

"Oh that, yeah to tell you the truth, I am excited," I replied. I walked over to the counter and poured her a cup of brew, "here you go gorgeous," I said setting it down on the table, "have some coffee while I make us breakfast."

"How did you know exactly what I needed last night," she inquired sheepishly.

"I don't know, I just knew," I told her. I hadn't really thought about it but she was right, how did I know? I guess the intimacy we shared as a couple had become deeper than I realized, I was in tune with her inner most feelings. Thinking about it brought a smile to my face; I'm pretty sure Tracy thought the same way judging by the big grin on her face as well.

We got to the gallery a good hour before opening; even thought almost everything was done the night before we still had to make coffee, chill the drinking water, and put out some snacks. Angie was right behind us and Carl and Judy showed up a few minutes later.

We opened the doors at nine o'clock and I was shocked at the number of people that were waiting to get in. Almost instantly the gallery was crowded with the ooos and ahhs of impressed on lookers; in the first twenty minutes I had already sold six hundred dollars' worth of prints and autographed two books. By the time I started looking for Tracy's surprise at ten o'clock the gallery was packed. 

I watched intently as the specially equipped SUV pulled up outside the front door; Tracy was busy talking to someone when the large side door of the vehicle opened and a man in a wheelchair was lowered to the sidewalk by an electric lift especially designed for that purpose. I saw Tracy catch the action out of the corner of her eye but didn't realize what was going on until the pretty grey haired lady stepped from the passenger side door and took her place behind the chair; she started pushing the man forward as the driver held the door for them.

"MOM, DAD," she shouted, "OH MY GOD," everyone stopped and looked as Tracy ran to her mother and dad with tears in her eyes, hugging and kissing them both; it was a couple minutes before Tracy's emotions would allow her to talk. "How did you get here?"

"Your nice young man over there arranged it for us," her mother told her. Tracy looked at me with tears of gratitude. About that time Carl and Judy, who were in the back helping with something, came out to see what the commotion was. They too rushed over and welcomed them with hugs and kisses. 

Tracy had talked many times about how she tried to get her dad out of the house but he was self-conscious about his condition and didn't want anyone to see him like that. Tracy came over and put her arm around me while her brother fawned over their parents. "How did you do it; how did you get him to come?"

"It was easy," I replied.

She knew better and gave me a look that told me so.

"Okay, maybe not that easy. I had to do some flirting with you mother first. Once I got her on my side we double-teamed your dad. When I explained that this would be a very special day in the life of his daughter, he relented; after that you couldn't have held him back with an army," I told her.

"I love you," she said reaching up and kissing me on the cheek. She didn't know it yet but I had a couple more surprises to spring before the end of the day.

As the hours passed I grew more and more astonished at the interest generated by my photography. Between Tracy and me, we had printed and framed a hundred and ten shots in various sizes; in addition, she had two-hundred, hard cover coffee-table style books made containing another twenty shots; each book sold for twenty bucks. By three o'clock in the afternoon only sixty books were left and there was already a lot more bare wall seen than this morning.

"Didn't I tell you, honey?" Tracy whispered as she came over and grabbed my arm, "If there's one thing I know it's what people like to hang on their walls."

"I never even imagined anything like this," I said looking around. "I...well, I guess I'm just amazed that people are actually paying this kind of money to have one of my photos hanging on their wall."

Tracy smiled, "I figured everything up; we had about thirty-five thousand dollars' in inventory for the show; we haven't even complete the first day yet and we've sold two-thirds of it. I'm guessing we'll be sold out before the end of the day tomorrow."

I almost felt weak in the knees; of course I was sharing that fifty-fifty with Tracy, but even at that, seventeen grand wasn't half bad, especially when you considered all the fun Tracy and I had putting the whole thing together. I smiled and give her a kiss. "Honey, it's getting late and I imagine your parents are getting tired but there's something I want to do before they go," I told her. She looked curious as I ran into the back room where I had smuggled my surprise in from the back door. I walked back out to the gallery.

"Excuse me everyone," I said raising my voice to get everyone's attention. "I want to thank everyone for coming today and for all the flattering and generous comments you've given me; you really know how to bolster a guy's ego." That got a little chuckle from the crowd.

"I also want to thank the very lovely Tracy Anderson for talking me into doing this and for all the hard work she put into making this a truly memorable event. I also want to thank her assistant, Angie, and her brother, Carl and his lovely wife, Judy for helping as well." Everyone clapped.

"I also want to give a very special thanks to someone, for without them none of this would have been possible, Mr. and Mrs. Todd Anderson. As you..." I had to stop and minute while everyone applauded again.

"I'm sure you have all seen the unbelievably beautiful watercolor paintings for which Mr. Anderson is so famous; well, it was one of his paintings that inspired this entire exhibit and I would like to offer Mr. and Mrs. Anderson a small token of my appreciation."

As I finished my little speech I unwrapped their gift and presented it to Tracy's parents; I knew Mr. Anderson recognized it immediately by the look in his eye and the tear rolling down his cheek. "Oh, darling look, it's just like your painting," Mrs. Anderson said hugging her husband. Unable to speak any longer due to his illness, he rapidly nodded his head in agreement. 

I heard a couple gasps, looked up and saw they came from Tracy and Carl; it had been the first either of them had seen it. It had been my secret project from the moment Tracy stood on the beach with tears in her eyes telling, me about her father painting those cliffs. I made the print during the day when Tracy was at the gallery and gave it to my framer. I picked it up on Friday before the show and smuggled into the shop earlier when Tracy was distracted. What no one knew yet, was that I also had smaller versions done for Tracy and Carl. 

I slipped their driver a fifty to help Mr. and Mrs. Anderson in with the photo once they were home again. After that it seemed like the last couple hours flew by in moments. Tracy tallied up the day before we left; we had done twenty-two thousand dollars the first day. 

After we locked up I suggested we eat down town since we were already there. We found a nice little place on Wacker Dr. and enjoyed dinner while my girl gushed all over me for giving her parents such a wonderful day. She couldn't get over how I snuck that big framed print into her gallery without her knowledge; if she thought that was something...just wait!

"That was good," I mentioned as we walked out of the restaurant, "Listen, it's such a beautiful night and we won't have many more for a while, what do say we stroll down to the lakefront." 

She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed me again; I took that as a yes. We went down by the rocks and watched as the full moon rose from its watery veil and lit a path skipping along the waves and ending at our feet. 

Tracy laid her head on my shoulder as I put my arm around her and pulled her tightly to my side. "I just don't know how I will ever thank you for what you did for dad and mom," she sighed.

Here goes, I thought as I took a deep breath. "Honey, have you ever thought about all the things we've shared since knowing each other?"

"Shared? No... I guess I hadn't really thought about it, why?"

"Well I was thinking the other day, we share a love for art in almost any form; we share a love for Shakespeare, you shared your inner most secrets and desires with me; we shared a vacation..."

She was starting to look at me a little funny, I know she was wondering where all this talk about sharing was leading; I reached in my pocket and brought out a tiny box..."Honey, I have some I want to share with you," she put her hand to her mouth in silent disbelief as I knelt down on one knee, "My darling, Tracy Anderson, I want to share the rest of my life with you," I said presenting her with a ring.

"Oh my God, honey; YES," she almost screamed, "Oh God how I love you, my darling man, yes, yes, yes, I will marry you!"

She leaned down and showered me with hugs, kisses, and tears of joy. I guess you could say it was a day I'll never forget. Later that night was also very memorable, Tracy made sure of it.

Sunday at the gallery was even busier than the day before; Carl and Judy were there again giving us a hand. Thank God Tracy knew to have a catalog printed because by the afternoon we had very few actual prints left and she was now taking orders for more.  

I was talking with client of mine who was telling me he just order a large print for his office when I felt a tap on my shoulder and a familiar voice, "Hello, Dalton."

I turned around and stared right into the big brown eyes of the woman who was once my universe. "Jean," I said a little breathlessly. I often wondered how I'd feel if I ran into her again. I never did hate her; I remember thinking at the time I wished I could; it might have made the pain easier to deal with. Now, seeing her again reminded me of the pain but it wasn't really there anymore; Tracy did a good job of replacing it with love.

"How are doing?" she asked holding out her hand.

"I'm doing well, Jean, how about yourself?"

She smiled a little sheepishly but ignored my question as she looked around a little until her eyes fell on one of the last remaining large photos hanging on the side wall. "I guess you are doing well; this is fantastic, Dalton; your own one man show at a beautiful, down town gallery; when did you start doing stuff like this?"

Just then Tracy came over to give me an update on the sales; she took a hold of my arm and kissed me on the cheek then stretched out her hand to Jean, of course not knowing who she was, "Hello, ma'am, I see you've met the photographer; have you had a chance to look around? I'm sorry but we have very few pieces left; however, we do have catalogs over there on the table and we are taking orders..."

"Ah, honey," I thought I might as well interrupt, she was just wasting her breath anyway; I noticed Jean's face as I started to introduce them, she looked like she was about to be hit by a freight train. "This is Jean, my ex-wife; Jean, this is Tracy, the owner of this beautiful gallery and my fiancée."

It was almost imperceptible but I heard the tiniest gasp from Jean. She looked at Tracy then back at me, "Oh...I, ah...congratulations," she said unsuccessfully trying to force a small smile.

"Thank you," Tracy replied in her usual cheery way. 

I could see the pain in Jean's face; evidently she didn't have anyone in her life yet and I had the distinct feeling she came hoping to rekindle a spark. I saw her eyes glistening with moisture. 




It's Against the Law Ch. 04



"Well, let me go look around and see some of your stuff," she said using that as an excuse to turn away so we wouldn't see her tears. 

I watched as she walked over and stared at one of the large photos we had left; I saw her try and sneak a tissue from her purse and covertly dry her eyes. I felt Tracy tugging on my arm and followed her to the table on the other side of the gallery. 

"She's still in love with you, you know that, right?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I kind of got that impression myself," I said. I looked at Tracy; she had a big heart and I could tell she felt sorry for Jean. "What can I do?" I said answering the non-verbal question she asked with only her eyes. 

"Here," she said picking up the last coffee-table book we had left, "Write something nice in here and give it to her for old time sake." 

I wasn't really sure I wanted to do that, I didn't want to send the wrong signal, but one look into the kind face of my new woman and I knew I could be charitable; hopefully she would take it for what it was, a final parting gift. 

To Jean;

We share a lot of great memories together. I wish you the very best and a future filled with more happy times.

Signed;

Dalton 

"How's that?" I asked showing Tracy what I wrote.

She leaned over and gave me another kiss. "Perfect; you're a good man," she told me, "That's just one of the reasons I love you."

"Coming with me to give it to her?" I asked.

"No, you do it alone; if I went it might not seem genuine."

"Okay," I responded walking toward Jean. She was still staring at the seascape and dabbing her eyes when she thought no one was looking. "Jean," she turned around still trying her best to smile, "Listen, I want you have this; we had a lot of good times together and...well, I just thought you might like it."

She looked surprise as I offered her the book; she pretty much gave up trying to hold the tears back; they were now streaming down her face as she read the inscription. "Thank you, Dalton," she wept, "I sincerely wish nothing but happiness for you and your new bride; I mean that from my heart; I just wish it could have been me," she said starting to break up. She clutched the book to her heart, reached up and gave me a kiss, then made a B-line for the door; that would be the last we would see or hear of Jean for a couple of years.

The following June, Tracy and I were married. My buddy, Jack was my best man; we both stood in front of the minister and watched the most beautiful bride in the world walk next to her father who was being pushed up the aisle by Tracy's brother, Carl. I doubt there was a dry eye in the place; no one knew how much longer Mr. Anderson had and everyone there was just happy that he could be a part of his daughter's wedding. 

For our honeymoon we went back to Monterey Bay; this time, in addition to shooting the most gorgeous spot on earth were wind and surf meet sand, we also came back with several hundred pictures of Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row...more than enough for another show.

Tracy knew what she was talking about when she said that first show would strengthen my business. I no longer had to solicit for new clients, they came looking for me and, 'Dalton's commercial photography,' is no longer a one man business, I had to hire two more photographers, a graphic artist and a secretary. 

Tracy and I continue to experiment with bondage and a little S/M in the bedroom; in fact, it actually became a pretty integral part of our love making. On more than one occasion Tracy went into the gallery with a sore bottom; I especially like coming home after a hard day to find my naked slave waiting for me on her knees with a scotch in her hand, then of course, performing her oral duties while I drink it. Of course this is strictly between us. We do not associate with the D/s life-style crowd, nor do we go to bondage parties, or clubs, and are, and always will be, completely monogamous. 

Epilogue...

It had been three years since the night I proposed to Tracy; a lot has happened since. After coming back from our honeymoon, Tracy put together another show; it did so well that she opened a second gallery in the Northwest suburbs. It's considerably smaller but it's doing very well. She also solicited a publishing company who was happy to produce a book of my photography; it too is doing well. 

Tracy's father succumbed to his illness about a year ago; her mother, bless her heart, took care of him until he took his last breath. Carl and Judy built a little apartment onto the back of their house and moved her in with them. She has her own living room, bedroom, and kitchenette so she can still enjoy some independence and privacy. 

Of course the real news is the birth of the sweetest little child God ever created, our daughter, Taylor. She's six months old now and looks more like her mother every day. 

I know, some of you are asking what ever happened to Jean. Well, I ran into her dad about a year ago, he told me she still worked at Werthington Industries and seemed to be doing well...at least with that part of her life. He admitted he was worried about her though; Jean had signed up with a couple of those on-line dating sites that specialize in the BD/SM life-style. A few times he'd seen her after a date and he could see marks on her body from being tied up and whipped. He said he prayed that she'd meet someone and settle down some day...someone like me, he said.

The other day was so beautiful out that Tracy and I put Taylor in the buggy and went for a long walk. "Dalton?" I heard as we passed by a park bench. Tracy and I both looked over and saw Jean. For a minute I thought she was about to come unglued when she saw Taylor; I knew instantly she thought back to our conversations about starting a family; she didn't even try to mask her expression of regret, but she did manage to hold it together and even asked if she could hold her. We let her do most of the talking while cradling our daughter in her arms. She told us she had been promoted at work and that she was doing well; but although she tried to put on a show of contentment, there was an unmistakable sadness in her eyes. 

As we were getting ready to go Jean spotted the silver choker Tracy was wearing, "Oh Tracy, I love your choker," she said.

"Thank you, it was a gift from Dalton," Tracy said leaning forward so Jean could get a better look. "I'd take it off so you could see it better but there's an inscription inside that I'm afraid is very personal and for my eyes only; besides that it's locked on and only Dalton has the key. 

Suddenly Jean's eyes widened and I knew she recognized it for what it was. "It's locked on?...It's a...a slave collar?" 

Tracy smiled; she knew Jean was into the life-style, only someone who was would know the significance of the choker; she had that devilish little grin of hers as she looked at Jean and quickly raised her eyebrows a couple times, "Come on, master," she said giving me a kiss, we have to get going."

I took Taylor from Jean and laid her in the stroller; we said our goodbyes and continued our walk leaving Jean sitting on the bench. As we left I looked over my shoulder at Jean who still had a shocked look on her face. "You should have asked, Jean; you should have asked," I told her.

The End

Or is it...?