He's Nothing but a Man

I smiled and said. "public slander!"

"Oh, shit," Helen said, "You're going to sue for everything she has."

"Wouldn't you?" I asked.

"Yes, because that's the only way you can clear your name and restore your credibility."

"Even better by getting a court order freezing their funds until my slander suite is done restricts them. It forces them to have to rely on the public defender." I said. "would you like to go into Federal court using a freebee lawyer."

"Well, boss it's going to be an interesting week. If all those who called me follow-through were going to end up with about twenty." Helen said. "Most of the family are basically good honest people. The problem as I pointed out all weekend, they had accepted the lies as the truth. I told them when they went to church on Sunday to ponder over that. The question is, will their own guilt move them to do what they know is right?"

As she headed to her desk she turned and said with an inviting smile. "Boss remember some of us single girls do enjoy spending an early morning fishing."

For the first time in years, I broke out in a laugh. When I left for the day, I said to Helen thanks for putting a smile on my face. Helen was and always would be my rock. I firmly believed if it was not for her, I would not have made through the nightmare of these last five years.

By lunchtime on Thursday, we had twenty four signed and notarized statement all basically saying the same things. My wife in name only had told them all that she had to leave town because I had been sexually abusing my daughters for years and that she had finally found the strength to get out. Adelia had claimed she filed for divorce on those grounds. If any of them had checked the court documents, they would prove for themselves what she had said was false. Some had helped her sneak out of town with her two daughters and had promised Adelia their silence. All admitted to her calling them this last week in an attempt to resolve the past issues. In doing so had admitted that everything she said about me was a lie.

It was my view that Adelia was afraid of losing the new life she had built for herself. She had no remorse or guilt to what she had done. She would have gone on as if nothing had happened if I had not caught her image in the paper. I knew since my daughters had not attempted to contact me that they believed whatever she had told them. The best I could hope for with the facts now coming out was the satisfaction of knowing I might get the feeling that justice for me was won. I had reached the conclusion that as far as my daughters were concerned like most of the family I had been written out of their lives.

Having a name to go on Helen was able to find her current legal address, where they both worked and the address of that location along with their current net worth. She said your appointment with the civil lawyer is at two. Make it clear that Adelia needs to be served before she is charged. Also, remember to tell her that you would like a court order to freeze their assets. Dam I thought to myself Helen your leaving nothing to chance. God have mercy on Adelia if you ever see her in person because you won't.

I came back to the office at four-thirty carrying a chilled bottle of champagne and two long stem glasses. The lawyer Helen had picked out was taking the case. I gave her everything the old court records, the stenographers recording the judge ruling the affidavits all signed along with a copy of the warrant for her arrest. I also brought her the copy I had showing the news article promoting my wife's new life. I made sure she knew everything about the relationship of all three of us and when I had officially met him.

When the lawyer learned of the compliance of the Bank of America, she said we should sue them to for deliberately contributing to the deliberate attempt to destroy a man's life. I said as long as one suite covers the other, I'm game. She smiled and said okay it's on. I smiled in the knowledge that we Americans, in general, will sue over anything.

Helen and I shared the bottle of medium champagne I brought back with me. The 750 ml bottle gave us about two glasses each. We were just sitting and chatting when our phone rang. Helen answered it and mouthed it's the Judge. I turned on the speaker

"Hi, Donald how's it going today," I said.

"All things considered quite good. John, I called to let you know that the FBI is moving ahead for a grand jury against Adelia Lynn Peterson and Ronald Emerson Peterson next Wednesday. They will also be asking for an order to allow them to bring Miranda Peterson into protective custody. Along with an order forcing all to submit to a blood test for DNA." Judge Donald said. "your older daughter is now of legal age and she's beyond their hands.

"Thanks for the info, it is appreciated," I said. "Now about my divorce."

"I will grant it with favorable terms the moment I have her in my court, even if I have to accomplish it by video link," Donald replied. "I'm going to hold her accountable for her conduct before me in a very serious matter."

Helen said after he had hung up. "The judge is going to come down heavy on her, but can he put her in jail?"

"I think the kidnapping charges and any charges related to that will be under the FBI's discretion, but he can rule on the contempt of court charge for failure to appear," I said. "I really have no clue what the law allows him to do about that."

"I guess its wait and see for you again," Helen said with sadness.

"Yes, I have been waiting for over five years a few more weeks isn't going to make much difference. It also gives the attorney I hired a few more days to deal with the court and have her served."

If anyone knew anything, they were not saying anything. The next week went by very quickly. On Thursday morning my lawyer called to inform me that the papers had been served on them well they were at work on Wednesday. She mentioned she had successfully had anything in her names like their bank accounts and assets frozen.

That afternoon Doug Drysdale the FBI agent called me and asked me to stop by St Francis hospital to have blood drawn for a DNA test before six. The sample would be sent to them for testing. I gladly did it.

I was out on the lake fishing for breakfast Saturday morning when my cellphone rang. I looked at the caller it was Hellen.

"You got to go to the office and see the US today newspaper." She said. "It shows Adelia, Ronald, and Miranda being detained by the FBI last night during another social event."

I replied, "I'm on the lake heading for shore. Once I get changed, I will head into the office and check it out."

Curiosity was killing the cat. I had to know what the FBI was going to charge them with. It took me about an hour to get to my office. Helen had been right. But what really got my attention was what the reporter wrote:

Kidnapping we all have a view of what it is. Does it really mean our thoughts are correct? Under federal law, kidnapping is defined as using force, lies or fear to steal or hold an individual captive either by force or by sociological means. In order to benefit from it in some manner. Kidnapping is a felony. The average sentencing is twelve years.

This is just one of the charges facing Adelia and Ronald Peterson because of their conduct after she left Missouri with her children without clearing it with her husband. Who she was divorcing at that time? According to what court records show when she filed was because she no longer loved him.

The Judge issued the bench warrant against her for kidnapping after halting the divorce proceedings because of her failure to appear as ordered. It was our own story about the couple three weeks ago that finally led to her being caught. It is apparent that Adelia used the Masters' name when she got married to Ronald Peterson in a civil ceremony in New York City just a week after she left Missouri.

We have learned that the paper worked filed to have Ronald Peterson legally adopt Amanda and Miranda Masters were fraudulently created and submitted to the court who had approved it. Mr. John Master's signature had been forged. The FBI now believe this was done by the couple so that they could hide the Masters' daughters in plain sight. It seems the couple had worked together in the Bank of America years earlier when they were starting out their prospective careers

Mr. John Masters had tried to get the Bank of America to disclose his wife's whereabouts, but they got a court order in appeals court that allowed them not to. It now painfully appears that Ronald Peterson as a Senior Vice President of the Bank of America was using his authority and power to thwart his wife's first husband's attempts to locate his still legal wife and his children.

We have learned that Mr. John Masters has filed a civil suit for public slander against Adelia Peterson because she had told over twenty of her family and friends that she had left her first husband because she caught him sexually abusing his daughters.

According to local police, they are five years later still getting reports accusing him of being a pedophile. They say this is not true and that Mr. Masters has been forced by the views of society to become a recluse. I asked was it really that bad for John Masters. The police offer responded we still have two open attempted murder cases open because he was the victim. Many believed here that he had killed the three of them and got away with it.

He has also filed suit against Bank of America and its senior Vice President Ronald Peterson for martial interference.

Let's look at it from the victim's side for a moment. Don't you think he deserves justice? I do but what will he get. Nothing because our society doesn't take that into consideration when dealing with criminals. They can voice their opinion but that does not get printed in the media because that don't sell newspapers. Quite often the victim pays the price for years. The criminal ends up with free room and board.

The article was stunning. It had laid out all the facts. I had just refilled my coffee cup when the phone rang. I answered it saying this is Masters' Consulting how may I help you. Turns out it was the southeast Missourian newspaper. I confirmed that what had been written about the whole situation was actually factual. The reporter asked out of curiosity how these last five years had been for me. I told him of the two still open cases of attacks on me by unknown sources. The police were treating both cases as attempted murder. I explained how far the rumors had gone. Then I asked him: how do you view what I went through. He said I would call it a living hell.

It was hard for me to believe the nightmare was ending. My name to a degree was being cleared. I knew that five years had destroyed for good any relationship I had with my daughters. Just like the rumors had done with my own parents and siblings. When this was over, I decided I would sell the business and leave the area for good if the one person I trusted was willing to come with me. Before I left the office, I cut out the article and photographs. Then I scanned them and had hard copies printed. I put them in a legal envelope for the civil lawyer to be used in my case.

Amanda Peterson had been stunned when the FBI took her mother and stepfather into custody after arresting them. Then they had let her younger sister away to another vehicle. She was grateful that one of the agents took her aside and told her as much as she could. Her real parents were not divorced. He had never agreed to her name change or his giving up of custody as her sister and she had been led to believe.

The FBI explained that anything that had his signatures on it was proved not to be his but just a poor attempt of forgery. Her mother was charged with two accounts of parental kidnapping. Her stepfather was charged with kidnapping, aiding and abating the ongoing covering up of a felony. They were both charged with numerous other charges. Miranda would be held in protective custody until DNA proved who her father was since her own mother was still claiming that her current husband was.

Amanda had gone home to pack her clothes. She was now sitting waiting area in the St Louis airport to catch a connector flight to Cape. That was when she noticed the headline on the US today left on the empty seat. Picking it up she read the whole article. By the time she was done, she was crying.

For the hour flight into Cape Amanda kept trying to figure out why her mother had done what she had done to her father. Nothing to her made sense. Sure, her mother had confided in her about Ronald and their online relationship but had never expected it to go anywhere until her mother asked her father for a divorce. She had been sitting on the steps leading up to their bedrooms in their old home while they were talking after dinner over coffee's when she heard her mother tell him that she no longer loved him and wanted a divorce.

Her father had been devastated at the time. Her mother's view was who the fuck cares he's nothing but a man and there are plenty other suckers like him. Now with what the newspaper had disclosed about her Mothers and Ronald's previous relationship it had raised even more questions. As she watched the plane start its descent she wondered if the empty car rental booth at the airport still had a phone.

It was eleven o'clock in the morning. Amanda Peterson was parked outside their old home waiting for the Sherriff departments vehicle to leave. She had been there for over two hours. When suddenly she was blocked in by two unmarked cars. An officer with a gun pulled identified himself and asked her to leave her vehicle with her hands up in the air. She complied.

"Who are you? Why are you watching this place?" the taller officer asked."

"My name is Amanda Peterson. I was waiting for the sheriff's department to leave so I could talk to my father."

"and your father's name?" The officer asked

"John Masters" Amanda replied.

"Oh shit!" the officer said in total shock. "Tom go tell Joanne and Jody to put the coffee on. It's not what we thought. The five of us are going to have to have a very long talk. Miss Peterson, I'm detective Joel Smithers I know your father well. What brought you back here after all this time."

"In part what happened last night and the article in the US today newspaper. I have a copy in the car should I get it."

"Please do. It will help to let me know what you know." Joel said.

After the introduction was made and the coffee poured Detective Joel Smithers read the whole article out loud. Everyone seemed stunned except him.

"You believed my father, didn't you Detective," Amanda said.

"I was one of the few but yes. From the time the rumors started being spread by your mothers extended family about your father, it was already too late. He was stalked, this house was vandalized so much that he had no choice but to sell. I think it was the second time he got hospitalized because he got jumped on from behind that almost finished him off for good was what made him move. We were lucky we got to him before he bled out. Down here the folks wanted to do to him what they believed he had done to all of you. Most believed you were all were dead and that he had done it. Your father in a lot of people's eyes has been a walking dead man. Jody bought this place fairly cheap, but it took till he started bringing the Sherriff's car home for things to settle down."

"You're telling me that it got so bad for my dad that it drove him out," Amanda said. "Where does he live now."

"Yes, a lot of us in the south still have our own views on what justice is. Your dad has got five acres over at Ryder Lake, but it's completely fenced in with electric wire and gated with an electronic lock. In the two years he's lived there outside of his work no one has seen him in town."

"How am I going to get a hold of him." Amanda wondered aloud.

"I think I know how," Tom said. "I'll have dispatch see if his business has an emergency contact. Be right back."

A few minutes later Tom was back. With an address written on a piece of paper.

"Miss Peterson do you know a Hellen Beard," asked Tom?

"She a second cousin of my mother's I believe. Why?" Amanda asked."

"According to our emergency records she is the only one who can get a hold of him twenty-four-seven," Tom said. "I talked to her and she has agreed to talk to you without making any promises. An official fact about Miss Beard that I just heard concerning her. She's tough, hard and cold when anyone comes towards her boss because of a personal nature. I think you should know; Helen protects your father John like a mother hawk does her newborn. If she does not believe you, she will do anything she can to ensure you will never get near him. She's on the way to your father's business right now. She said she will wait for you there." He handed her the address.

Amanda thanked them for their help before she headed off.

"What kind of woman could hate a man so much? To do what Adelia did to John." Jody asked.

"One that blames him for all the things she believed was wrong in her life," answered Joanne.

As soon as the car pulled up beside hers Hellen Beard turned on her audio voice record app on her cellphone and opened the door. To allow Amanda to enter the building.

"The first question I want to be answered Amanda is what was going on around the time of the three of your disappearance and what did you know and learn later?" Helen asked.

"Miranda and I got woke up by our Mother that Saturday morning at four a.m. Dragged out of bed still half asleep. We were told to get dressed to go. We got out to find the car packed with some of our clothing. She told us she was off for a week and we were going on a surprise trip to New York." Amanda said. "That was the first we heard about it."

"So, you had no idea what was really going on according to you." Helen said. "according to what some of the family are saying now they knew of Ronald and your Mothers online relationship, but they felt it was just a friendship."

"Look I caught my mom chatting with Ronald, but I had no clue that they had worked together when we were younger, she told me she had met him at a regional conference and they had become friends" Amanda replied. "We were half an hour down the road when I realized we didn't have our phones. That's when I confronted my mother. Her response was that she had been granted sole custody of us by the courts and we were moving to New York because she had been promoted and transferred on short notice. I now know that was part of a lie, but I had no reason not to believe her."

Helen Beard knew that part of that was true based on what was now being told by others who had opened up to finally admitting that Adelia's children had not known her plans.

"I also asked about our laptops. My mother said the phones were canceled because of the move and she had to pay the balance in full. As for the laptops, the movers were to pack them and ship them when they moved the furniture. We did not know that they were never going to show up" Amanda said. "We did twenty-plus hours driving in two days."

"So, what happened when you got to the outskirts of New York?"

"Mom told Miranda to open her purse and take out her new phone. It had a New York phone number. Until then we didn't even know she had it. Then she had my sister open google maps. It gave us a bunch of directions. What we did not know was that we were being directed to Ronald Peterson's home. We found that out about two hours later.

"He had maneuvered her huge promotion and set it up so that they could be together. The family back here were instructed to dispose of everything but the family pictures which were mailed to us later. As we were unpacking the car my sister and I found the filled out adoption papers." Amanda explained.