“Well, I have wanted to go out on my own for a while now. But I can’t see how I could possibly do that. I have to get established in a strange city, that could take years.”
“More good news. I am a mid-level manager in a company, Perfect Project Planning. I have a certain amount of latitude, the owners don’t pay attention to what I do, only how much I make. I can offer you a job. Some of what you do would be for Perfect, some of what you do would be for Betrayed Husbands Anonymous, but paid by Perfect, and some of what you do would be for yourself and paid by Perfect.”
“Chuck, being honest, I don’t want to get involved in criminal activity. The guy I saw the other day wanted his wife to die in a foreign brothel. I can’t say whether she deserves such a fate, but I can’t be the one to condemn her to it.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. Our part of the victors has nothing to do with anything illegal. Well, that’s not 100% true. Your wish was that people got STDs; it turns out they did. If someone did something to cause that, I suspect it is a crime.”
“That I could live with. One way it might happen is to hang out at a free clinic and offer some pretty young thing a wad of cash to payback what her cheating boy friend did to her. Who’s she going to tell and what would she say?”
“Exactly.” Chuck looked like he was going to add his usual, disclaimer, but he let it go. “I have been informed that you are a guy who can put a plan together. If you come and work for Perfect, you will have resources to help you. If you are asked to do something you are not comfortable with, decline. I will be your boss; I guarantee I will support you.”
“How much time can I devote to my new business?”
“At first, for the first three months, 10 hours a week plus anything over 40. Then, a quarter of 20 hours, then 30. I can’t predict, nor can you how successful your new endeavor will be. You may want to break away from Perfect or stay in some sort of profit-sharing arrangement. You and I will work that out.”
“So you will own some part of my business?” I didn’t like that.
“No. Unless, you want to remain a part of Perfect Planning. If you do, we will work something out. If we can’t, you can go your separate way.”
“Why would I stay?”
“Two reasons. First, you might enjoy helping guys like yourself, who have been betrayed but have no way to exact revenge. Second, Perfect provide a wide range of client services. You might prefer doing that work.”
“Several possibilities, I like that.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I have another story for you.” Chuck sat forward; it was clear he liked the story he was about to tell. “You may remember hearing about a guy who found his brother fucking his wife. He lost his wife, his children were being turned against him, and his father sided with the brother. The poor guy just wanted his dad to see he’d been wronged.”
“Sure, I remember.”
“There little business is pretty nice. Worth about 5 to 6 million. Dad got an offer of $11 million, providing the business stood up to a private audit. Of course, he greedily agreed. The auditor said the business was too risky and pointed out nearly $500,000 in embezzled funds.”