Sunshine’s in the Dark

Logan

           Sometimes I wonder why I even bother, I mean yes, my security software is revolutionizing the world of government security and black ops programs around the world. Yes, I create it so that I can make large sums of money as well as allow companies and governments worldwide keep their information safe from hackers. However, I now have people who can go, and hand hold a company and train the staff on how it works and what it can do for them. Except this newest client has the potential to become a billion-dollar client and that is the reason my happy ass boarded the jet in the first place. The only good thing about this trip is that I was able to get two weeks’ worth of training done in one week and still be able to make it home to celebrate my twelve-year anniversary with my wife.

I let my driver take my bags as I slide into the backseat and promptly take out my phone and check my emails for the day. Roger gets everything settled and we pull away from the airstrip just as the sun is crests the horizon giving the area a purple orange glow.

“This trip seemed shorter than you thought, hey boss?” Roger says softly as he navigates the early morning traffic.

“Thank God for that, I now am able to surprise the wife and be home for our anniversary.” I check the time and see that she won’t need to be up for at least a couple of hours. Then I check to make sure my flower delivery is still on time, it is.

“I sure she will be happy to have you home.” He smiles at me through the review mirror.

“Indeed,” I say with a chuckle and remembering how irritated that I would not be home, she was so upset she wouldn’t even travel with me to the airport. I can’t wait to wake her up and surprise her.

Twenty minutes after landing Roger is pulling through the gates of our home and stops in front of the main doors. I hop out and take my bags and wish him well and then I make my way into the large two-story foyer and gently and as quietly as possible drop my keys in the bowl on the side table. Leaving my suitcase by the door I slowly step into the main living area. A large crash greets my ears once there and immediately take my phone out and switch on the video, I state the date and time in case I need it for the police report later.

I follow the noises toward the kitchen door and when I slowly open the door camera at the ready, I am frozen in place. There is my wife bent over our kitchen island being plowed from behind by my best friend/CFO of my fucking company. WTF! Is all I can think, I stand there in stunned silence as they continue rutting like animals. Finally, after what feels like forever, I slowly back out the room unnoticed and slump my way back to the front door. Only then do I stop recording, and text my driver to come back and meet me at the end of the driveway. My next text is to my friend and lawyer Chet, I send him a copy of the video I just made and ask that he revoke any and all access that Bret has and that he also starts the divorce paperwork. I am already at the end of the drive waiting for Roger to return when my phone rings.

“What the Fuck!” Chet practically screams into the phone.

Holding the phone away from my ear and sigh, before I answer, “That is my Happy Anniversary, Welcome home.” I deadpan.

“Holy shit. Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you, or bail money?” He huffs out in a rush.

“No, I am already outside waiting for Roger to round the corner and then I will be in the office in a half hour.” I sigh again “What a fucking way to end a productive trip. Shit, I don’t even know what the hell happened.”

“Did you say anything at all?” He asks softly. “I mean, I was only able to stomach about a second of that video and it looks to last for a good two minutes.” He states flatly.

“No, I just left, I…Fuckkkk!” I roar as Roger pulls up to the curb next to me. I toss my suitcase into the backseat and hop in before he can even unbuckle his seatbelt.

“To the office” I bark out.

“Yes sir,” he says with a nod and pulls away.

“Hey, Logan, I will meet you at the office and I already texted Phil and he is revoking all Bret’s access and will meet you at the door.” He says in a huff and ends the call.

I close my eyes and all I see is my wife of twelve years being plowed from behind by my best friend of twenty years. My mind races to so many what if’s, and how long has this been going on? “Fuck” I mumble to myself.

“You okay sir?” Roger asks carefully from the front seat.

“No, Roger I am not.” I sigh out, “I just walked in on my wife with someone.”

“Oh shit, I am sorry sir.” He expels on a heavy breath.

“Thanks.” I say back, not sure what more can be said.

The rest of the drive is done in silence and I use the time to close my eyes and breath. In no time at all we are pulling into the private garage of my building. I hop out and bring my suitcase up my private elevator to my office, thankfully it is still way to early for any of the staff to be at their desks. As the doors to the elevator open, I see Phil my head of building security standing there with a box in his hands and Chet standing next to him.

“Morning boss.” Phil states

“Morning Phil, thank you for being so efficient with this early morning task.” I state gruffly.

“That is what I am here for sir.” He states

“Let me just drop this off in the office and we can get started.” I state as I roll my way to my office at the end of the short hallway. After I dump off my suitcase in the corner by my seating area, I stride out to where Chet and Phil are quietly chatting away. “Let’s get this over with.” I gruff out and march down the other end of the hall toward Bret’s office.

Phil uses his all key to open the door and together Chet, Phil and I pack up everything personal of his and Phil takes it with him when he leaves.

“Chet, I am going to need to find a new place to live.” I say softly as I look around and my eyes land on the computer and I boot it up. Enter in my credentials and shoot off an email to tech support to comb over all the files and bring me a report by noon.

“On it, I will call my relator and see what we can find you on short notice.” He states as he looks down at his phone and types like crazy.

“Good, now were you able to print a copy of the prenup her parents had us sign all those years ago? And is it still in effect?” I ask as I stride toward the door.

Chet looks up with a giant grin and nods. “Oh yeah, and with the way they wrote it, she cannot touch anything you earned during the marriage because she was unfaithful.” He states and continues as we walk back to my office. “See Old Man Walters was so worried about you wanting their fortune that he made an ironclad clause about infidelity, it states that no matter ‘Who’ is at fault, would get nothing at the dissolution of the marriage.”

“Really?”

“Really, He was so worried about you cheating on his little princess, that no matter how long the marriage lasted, the infidelity clause was an absolute. Non-negotiable.” He proudly states. “She is out, she will not be able to touch anything other than her daddy’s money.”

“Good. Although, she can have the house. I never want to step foot in that place again.” I cringe at the thought. “I will have movers pack up what I want and take it to my new place.”

He nods and takes the seat across from my desk. It is the first time this morning that I notice he is in jeans and t-shirt. Chet and I have known each other since freshmen year of college, we hit it off right away being that we were among the only two over 6’8” at the time. Me with my lanky frame, yes, I have since filled out nicely thanks to his help in the gym and hiking. He has always been a force of nature and when he chose law school, I knew that was a great fit for him. As for me, I started my company, this company and brought both him and Bret on when I needed the help.

Now I have not only lost my wife, but a best friend as well. “Fuck, can this day get any worse?” I sigh as I boot up my computer. The phone on my desk rings, “Yeah.” I chirp into the receiver.

“Ah, Mr. Marshall, we found some rather disturbing items on Mr. Nolan’s computer.” The hesitant male voice on the other end states.

“What kind of disturbing items?” I all but bellow into the phone causing Chet to sit up straighter.

“Well sir, it would appear that Mr. Nolan has been slowing skimming money off several key accounts and moving it to an offshore account in his name and a..” he trails off.

“And who?” I yell into the phone.

“Ah, well, Mrs. Marshall sir.” He stammers out.

“What the FUCK!” I yell and get to my feet. Chet jumps up and puts the call on speaker so that he can now hear the male voice stammer out his apologies. “I want all of this saved and documented. I also want the police called as soon as Bret shows his mug here.”

“Hey, before you hang up, I want all of your files copied and emailed to me.” Chet manages to stay calm and collected when he asks his question.

“Yes sir,” he answers quickly, and you can hear the frantic sound of fingers flying over a keyboard. “Done.” He states in a rush.

My email pings, I take my seat and open it up and sure enough there is all the shady deals leading back more than two years. Two fucking years, that he has been stealing for me and the company. Not just stealing but no doubt that is the start of his and my soon to be ex-wife have been fucking. “Shit!” I breath out.

Chet rounds the desk and looks at my screen and runs his fingers through his hair as he too says, “Fuck man.” He looks at the phone and thanks the tech and tells him to keep looking and see if he can find anything else out. But I have all but tuned him out as I continue to scroll through Bret’s emails now between him and the bitch. Fuck me walking, I truly had no fucking clue that they were doing this. Shit, is this somehow my fault?

Chet looks at me and shakes his head and says, “No, this is not your fault.” He points at the screen and then back at the door. “They are grown as adult who know better.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say, “However—

“No, However, that asshole and shank who shall never be named again.” He states so calmly that it is almost freighting. “Will not get anymore of your time. Fuck them. They made their bed and now the law is going to let them lie it.”

I nod my agreement before I state, “What do you need me to do? Because I want to get out of here for a few days and clear my head.”

“I will need your signature on the divorce decree.” He states as he strides over to the pile of papers he left on his chair and slides them to me.

He opens the folder and has little flags everywhere I need to sign or initial. It takes all of ten minutes to get everything done, just as my cell phone rings. I look down at it and it is Bret, I look at the clock on my desk and see that it is his normal working hours. Chet smiles and nods. I put the phone on speaker and say, “What!”.

“What the fuck man, why the hell is my badge not working to get into the garage. I called Phil and he buzzed me in and now I have half the security staff standing outside my car.” He exclaims.

I merely took the video I filmed earlier and sent it to him via text message and hung up. Then I called Phil and said, “Hey Phil, what is our ETA on local PD?” I listened as he told me it was about two minutes out. I thanked him and hung up.

Chet’s phone rang and it was Bret, he shook his head and place him on speaker, and I stayed quiet. “Hey man, what’s up?” Chet says in a nonchalant voice.

“Have you spoke to Logan yet this morning?” he sounded nervous.

“Yeah, and man did you screw the pooch. I mean fuck man…Vivian.” Chet shakes his head and continues,

“Dude, that is so not right.”

“It’s not what it looks like, fuck. She is a snake and I had no choice.” He speaks quickly, “I mean fuck this is all fucked up.” He sighs. “Shit, what should I do?” he truly does sound like a scared child.

Chet sighs and says, “Do what Phil tells you to do and I will send a friend to take you statement and see what we can do. But fuck man, this all looks so bad.”

“Thanks man, I will do that.” He puffs out on a shaky breath, “Hey if you see or talk to Logan, tell him I am sorry.” With that he ends the call.

I pull up the surveillance cameras in the private garage and see that Bret is stepping out of his car and being promptly arrested by local PD and lead away. I am not sure what to feel or think, I mean fuck this shit is just so fucked up. I look at Chet who is typing away at his phone and say, “Do you think he is telling the truth?” I just want to hold on to one good thing, just fucking one.

“I don’t know, in truth, I don’t fucking care.” He looks up at me with a clear stone-cold look. “He has been doing this for over two years, he could have come clean at any point and we would have helped him.” He says harshly, “But no, he chose this and now that he is caught, he is trying to sing a different tune, fuck him.”

“You're right,” I answer while shaking my head. He was right, he really was. I stand and pace the length of my office and just shake my head. I need to get out of here, I feel like I am ready to explode.

“Why don’t you go to your cabin for a few days, let things settle here a bit, you can work remotely, and I can handle grunt work for a bit.” He says on a sigh and strides to the door but turns back and give me a cheesy grin. “Just think, now we can go fishing next month without any guilt.” He chuckles to himself as he leaves closing the door behind him.

I turn and stare at the mountains in the distance out my floor to ceiling widows and sigh a heavy sigh. My phone pings, turning to look at a new message from my…no from Vivian. It is an "I love you and miss you, Happy Anniversary baby" text. I scoff, shake my head and debate whether I should send her a copy of the video I took today, or should I just wait and let the Chet handle it. I decide that I will ignore her and let Chet handle it. I grab my bag and call my driver on my way to elevator to have him pick me up out back and away from the shitstorm that is happening out front.