Shock and Awe

"What is the other matter, Top?"

"Uh, Ma'am, I really better not say. It's really big and could get a lot of people hurt or even killed if we don't handle it right."

"Jesus, Top. What the hell have you gotten yourself into here? Well, never mind. I'll take your word for it right now."

Jennifer picked up the phone and dialed a number after she looked it up on a small book she kept in her purse. When the phone was answered, she said, "Hey Paul. I have someone here looking for you. Said she went to school with you and wants to pick your brain about a divorce attorney and one that deals in something else... No, she won't say what else. Says her name is Mona Terwilliger. Okay, let me check."

Jennifer looked up from the phone and said, "She says they have an opening tomorrow morning at 0900. She remembers you, but I'm still not going to give you her private number. Do you want the appointment?"

Mona reached for her purse and said, "Let me check please." She called Randy and he agreed they would take the appointment. She said, "Yes, please, Commander."

"Okay. Yeah, Paul. They'll be there. So, when you coming back down here to see us? Uh huh. Okay, See you."

Jennifer hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Mona. She said, "Okay, 0900 tomorrow, Fielding and McCullom, attorneys at law. 2987 S. Primrose Ave, Centerton. Second floor. And First Sergeant? I expect to know ALL about this someday."

Mona smiled and said, "Thank you, Ma'am, for everything. And unless I miss my guess you and everyone in the country will hear about this in a few weeks."

The next morning, Randy, Don and Mona arrived at the attorney's office about ten minutes early. As soon as they walked in, a beautiful woman about their age looked up from her computer terminal. She smiled and said, "Randy. What a surprise! I see you still run around with Mona and Don T. It's good to see you all. Come in and have a seat. We were only expecting Mona, but I assume you're all together? How about some coffee? Chuck's on the phone, but he won't be much longer, I expect."

Paulette wasn't even back with the coffee when a well-dressed middle-aged man came into the waiting room. He smiled and said, "I'm Charles Fielding Jr. You may call me Chuck. I assume you're all together? Paul told me I was to talk about a divorce? Which one of you is getting the divorce?"

Randy raised his hand and said, "That would be me, sir. I'm Randall Thomas, but most people call me Randy."

Paulette came back just then and giggled. She blushed slightly and said, "Yeah, you always were Randy. It got us both in trouble as I remember."

Chuck laughed then, and held his hand out to Randy as he said, "Okay, I know that story. You know Bradley hated you until he died. He never forgot what you and Paul were doing in his barn, and then you had the balls to tell him it wasn't any of his business. Now, you haven't done something else like that to cause this divorce have you?"

Randy blushed and said, "No, sir, but could we discuss this somewhere else please?"

Chuck looked upset and said, "You're quite right, and I'm sorry. This is no place to discuss the past or what you're here to discuss. My apologies, sir."

"No problem. I understand, but we really do need privacy for this."

Chuck turned to Paulette and said, "As soon as Betty gets here, come on in. No. I don't know why, but I think you'd better be in on this from the start. Put the sign on the desk and turn up the volume on the entry bell and ringer. You can do both jobs until Betty's here. She should have been here by now."

The five adjourned to a conference room, and after some small talk to get to know each other slightly they got down to business. Chuck started the ball rolling by saying, "Okay now, Randy. Please explain your problem to me and we'll see what I can do to help you with it."

Randy began telling Chuck about Shirley. He started with her alleged actions in Iraq, then their marriage and what he overheard to make him suspicious she was cheating. He explained how Don and Mona got involved and what they discovered during their investigation of Shirley and Wilson. When he got to the point the Sheriff's involvement became known, Chuck said, "Whoa there. You're trying to tell me the Sheriff, Police Chief AND the Prosecuting Attorney of Potter County are taking protection money from Shirley and this Wilson character? Do you have any proof of your allegation? This is a very serious accusation, you know. Before we can do anything we need more than just your say so."

Randy looked at Mona and she reached for her large bag as she said, "Chuck, we know what you're saying. I have a copy of that recording and a few others if you want to listen to them." She handed a DVD to Chuck. He put it in his notebook computer and turned it so everyone could see.

After the DVD finished playing, a very shaken Chuck leaned back in his chair. He said, "I can't believe this. I've known Lawrence since he moved to the area to practice law, well before he was elected Prosecuting Attorney. I just can't believe he or the Sheriff could be involved in something like this. I recommend your divorce be placed on hold for some time, Randy, until the authorities can complete their own investigation of these allegations. If they can get evidence to prosecute your wife, it could help your case. Besides, we might damage their case against the Sheriff, Chief and Prosecuting Attorney if we go to court now for the divorce. I can help with the divorce and I can get you in contact with people that will help with the other. How much more damaging information do you have, if I may ask?"

After they discussed the case further, Chuck picked up the phone from the conference table and said, "Betty something pretty serious has come up. Please cancel the rest of my appointments for today and reschedule them. Before you do that, though, please call Mark Howard and ask him to come here as soon as he can. Tell him it's extremely important, more important than anything he has on his plate today."

After the phone call, Chuck leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers while he thought. Paulette laid her hand on Randy's forearm and looked at his face. She said, "Randy, I'm so sorry. I know how you must feel. I caught my husband cheating on me several years ago and Uncle Chuck helped me divorce him. I can't imagine how much worse you feel finding out your wife is a whore, also. If you ever need to talk please call me."

The three friends spent until almost one PM discussing the case with Chuck and his friend, Mark Howard, of the FBI. They were ordered to immediately withdraw all their surveillance of the people and to pick up their cameras and recorders if they could do so safely and without letting anyone know they had been there.

It was three months before the investigation reached the phase where Mark would allow Chuck to file the divorce papers for Randy. During that time Slim and Don's farms were cleaned of all their old broken machinery and scrap iron. They worked slowly, and in between other more important tasks. Finally, they were given permission to file the divorce and the friends immediately hit Randy's junk pile to get the cash out of the safe before Shirley either tried to get it and run, or something else happened to it. They waited until they knew she and Wilson were "working," and hit the combine first as they had planned so many months before.

The night they emptied Shirley's safe, the friends met at Don's house to count the money. They worked almost two hours before they were done. After Mona tallied the balance she looked at Randy in shock. She said, "My God, Randy. There's almost $500,000 here. If we didn't make a mistake, there's $487,400. How the hell long has she been doing this? And if she has this much in cash, how much more did she get and spend? Was she EVER true to you? OH! I'm sorry, Randy. I shouldn't have said that."

"No problem, Mona. I've been asking myself the same thing ever since we discovered this mess. I even wonder now if the baby she lost just after we got married was even mine. Thank gosh we never managed to have any kids."

The next afternoon Slim, Don and Randy were working on the scrap metal when Shirley came around the machine shed to see what they were doing. She stopped and stared at the location the old combine had been, then almost ran up to Randy. She was screaming, "Randy, what the hell are you doing? Where's the old combine and the rest of the machinery?"

"We all needed some extra money in this damn economy, so since scrap is going for a good price we've been cleaning up our junk. We've already cleaned Don's and Slim's places and we started on ours yesterday. We're cutting up the large pieces before we haul them to the scrap yard. Why?"

Shirley collapsed on the ground crying. Randy looked down at her and said, "What's the matter with you, Shirl? It's just a bunch of scrap metal for God's sake. What're you crying for?"

"Where did you take it? I really liked that combine. It was the first large machine we bought for the farm. You can't just haul it off."

"Sorry, Shirl. I didn't think you would be so attached to it. It's just a hunk of worn out metal. Hell, it's on its way to the smelter now, I suspect. They loaded it straight onto the train when we took it in yesterday."

Shirley jumped up and slapped Randy, then she screamed, "You Son of a Bitch. How could you get rid of our combine?" She ran around the machine shed and soon they heard a vehicle roar down the driveway.

Randy looked at his friends and smiled as he rubbed his cheek. He said, "Well, that went pretty well, didn't it? Wonder where she's going?" Everyone there laughed, then they returned to work.

Later that night, Shirley still wasn't home. About 8:30 PM, Randy received a phone call from a very distraught Shirley. She was crying and he could barely understand her when she said, "Randy, honey, I'm in jail in Centerton. Could you please come down and post my bond so I can come home?"

"Post your bond? What the hell did you do, Shirley? And how much is the bond?"

"The bond is $10,000. I was arrested for making a public nuisance of myself and failure to leave private property when I was ordered to. Uh, they also said I was resisting arrest."

"What the hell? What were you doing?"

"Nothing. It's all just a misunderstanding. Please hurry." He heard the phone hang up. Randy laughed to himself for a moment, then called the Centerton Police Department to find out what Shirley was arrested for.

The officer Randy spoke to looked up the complaint and told him she was at the salvage yard running around in the stacks of metal screaming about her combine. She refused to leave when ordered to, so was arrested. She was charged with trespassing, public nuisance and resisting arrest.

Randy laughed once again and after the call ended, he called Paulette's cell number. After she answered, he visited for a short time then said, "Say Paulette. If the papers are ready to serve, Chuck can serve them tomorrow. Shirley's in the Centerton city lock up with a $10,000 bond I'm not about to pay. I think it would be a fine time to serve her, don't you?"

The arrests came fast and furious the next day. A federal task force picked up the county sheriff, police chief, prosecuting attorney and a half dozen other senior law enforcement officials beginning about 6 a.m. A little later in the day Wilson was arrested, along with his salesman. Of course, charges were added to those Shirley already faced and her bail was raised; not that it mattered, since no one would even pay the initial bond.

In midafternoon on the day the hammer dropped for many of the local law enforcement officials, Randy received a phone call. When he answered his phone he heard, "Randy? This is Paulette. Mr. Fielding wanted me to phone you and make an appointment to discuss your situation in more detail. Could you come in tomorrow or the next day?"

"Yeah, either day works for me. What time should I be there?"

When Randy entered the reception area of the law firm, this time there was a receptionist in the reception area instead of Paulette. She announced him and a smiling Paulette came out of the office area. She rushed up to Randy and hugged him hello then said, "Randy, it's good to see you again. Come on, please. We're in Mr. Fielding's office today. Do you want coffee, or something else to drink before we get started?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks."

After the greetings and more chitchat with Chuck and Paulette to satisfy the social niceties, Chuck leaned back in his chair. He said, "Randy I understand there was quite a bit of excitement around Potter County yesterday. None of your friends got splattered when the shit hit the fan, did they?"

"No sir, no one that I care about had anything happen to them as far as I know. I know my wife and an old high school acquaintance don't seem to be very happy about the day's outcome though. Why do you ask?"

"Well, since you brought it up, it's your wife and her friend Wilson I wanted to talk about. We can file the divorce petition and serve her now if you want, but I advise you to wait. If she is convicted of almost any of the charges levied against her, the divorce would go much better for you. I suggest a legal separation right now with divorce to follow if and when she is convicted."

"Well, I don't know. Lawyers cost money, you know." Everyone laughed at that before Randy could continue. "As I understand it, if we are married I am legally responsible for her bills. We're in a tight spot right now, and I really can't afford to let her do anything that would drain the bank accounts further."

"I understand, but with the legal separation we can control that problem. We file the separation and make announcements; put a piece in the paper and so forth letting everyone know you are separated and no longer responsible for her debts."

"Okay, if that'll work, I suppose I could wait for the actual divorce. Can you fill me in on what I can expect if we go that route?" They discussed possible outcomes of different courses of action for a while, and Randy decided to wait on the divorce.

When they left the meeting, Randy's stomach growled. He saw it was almost 12:30 and turned to Paulette. He said, "Paulette, would you like to have lunch with me? I skipped breakfast this morning and I'm starving."

Paulette smiled and said, "Yeah, I think I'd like that a lot."

Somewhat to his surprise, the lunch went off wonderfully. It was as if the ensuing nearly 18 years had never happened. They laughed and talked, reminisced and stared into each other's eyes soulfully. Before the appetizer was gone, Paulette was holding hands with Randy or touching his forearm to emphasize points in the conversation.

All at once, Paulette caught sight of the clock on the wall and sat up straight. "Oh no," she said. "It's almost two PM. I'm late. Chuck's going to kill me. Come on, hurry, I have to get back to work."

Randy was slow on the uptake. He was used to taking as long as he wanted to for most of his tasks unless he was at a Guard meeting or had to plant or harvest. He was slightly puzzled for a moment, then he caught on. "Oh, hell, I'm sorry Paul. Come on."

On the way out, Randy caught their waitress and let her know about the rush. She took his credit card and ran the bill as fast as she could while Paulette bounced from foot to foot impatiently."

When they got back to the office, Betty, the receptionist smiled at the panic stricken Paulette as she rushed through the door with Randy following. She said, "Running a little late aren't you Paulette? Mr. Fielding just asked me if I thought we needed to send out a search party for you. You weren't kidnapped or anything were you?"

"No! Nothing like that. I just lost track of time. I'll check in with Mr. Fielding and let him know I'm back. I'm sorry I interrupted your lunch period."

Paulette rushed down the corridor to Mr. Fielding's office. She didn't notice Randy following her. She knocked on the door and stuck her head through it then said, "I'm sorry I got back from lunch late, sir. Randy and I were talking and I lost track of time. I'll stay late this evening to make up for it."

Before Chuck could respond, Randy gently moved Paulette aside and stepped into the office. He said, "No, Paulette. You're not taking the brunt of the blame this time. Listen, Mr. Fielding, it was my fault Paulette got back late. I'm afraid I took longer than I should at lunch and didn't pay enough attention to the clock. Just bill me for the time we spent and let her be, please?"

"You know Mr. Thomas—Randy—when I mentioned meeting you and your friends a couple of weekends ago some of the family warned me I should watch out for you and keep you away from Paulette. I understand this isn't the first time you two have gotten into trouble together, is it?"

Randy's face tightened up and he opened his mouth to say something. He felt Paulette's hand on his arm and looked down at her just as Chuck continued talking. "I'm sorry, Randy. I shouldn't have said that. I meant it as a joke, but I realize it was in poor taste. As for the late return, don't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned, she was having lunch with a client and it was a necessary business meeting. Now, you two relax. We'll keep you informed of the outcome of your case."

All the cases slowly wended their way through the legal system. Finally, after almost three months, Shirley's case was completed. She was convicted of prostitution, criminal trespass and resisting arrest. She was sentenced to six months in jail but was given credit for time served while waiting trial. The remainder of her sentence was suspended with probation for two years. She was acquitted on the charges related to Slick's drug trafficking.

On the day after her sentencing, Shirley was served with divorce papers and that case began its trip through the court system. The case finally came up for a hearing. About the only asset the couple had to split was their farm, and they had minimal equity in it. Of course, there were bank accounts and vehicles but they were not worth a large amount. After hearing the case, the judge made her decision. It could have been worse, much worse, for Randy. The farm was only marginally profitable, netting them about $2,000 per month. Their equity in the land was only $53,746. The Judge ruled Randy had to provide Shirley $500 per month alimony for two years and awarded her 20% of the value of the farm equity. Shirley was almost found in contempt of court when she screamed out, "What? That's not fair. I should get half and he has to pay me more a month to live on. And what about my money... I mean I think he has more money than he said."

"Mrs. Thomas are you telling me there are resources not mentioned in the paperwork submitted to this court? Do you have proof there are other unlisted resources?"

"Uh, no, your Honor I just mean I, uh, we should have more money. He cleaned up the junk in the machine yard and I think there was more money there than he says."

The judge flipped through the papers before her and stopped toward the back. She read for a moment then said, "I see here where this year's income listed to date includes scrap sales to a recycling company. I show the money was deposited to your joint account. I see no reason to question the financials further, Mrs. Thomas. As I stated earlier, the divorce is granted to Mr. Thomas on the grounds of infidelity, and the property settlement remains as I stated. Court is adjourned."

Shirley was crying as Randy and his attorney walked past her chair to exit the room. She glared at Randy and hissed, "You asshole. I think you're cheating me. You stole my money, you prick."

Chuck stopped beside Shirley and her attorney and said, "We will take out a loan against the farm for the agreed settlement amount and send you a cashier's check within the week. I assume you will permit us to also send the support payments in the lump sum?"