CHAPTER 46

A Little Birdie Told Me

I reared back, blinking slowly as I tried to understand why Hector would say such a thing. Joe's done a lot to hurt me over the years, but he wouldn't do that. Especially not after he asked me to marry him. I vigorously shook my head, hoping he'd take his words back, but he just continued staring at me with a pained look on his face. "You're mistaken," I said with more certainty than I felt, denying the niggling doubt in the back of my mind that I always ignored.

"I could not let you marry him without knowing he was worthy," he calmly stated, his eyes never wavering as he waited patiently for me to ask the questions that now plagued me.

I felt an icy chill course through me. "How do you know?" I studied his eyes for the truth. "Did you see him? With who? Where?" Once I started, the questions wouldn't stop. They rolled off my tongue as if they'd been patiently waiting for this moment to arrive.

"He is in Philly, with the mob girl."

Mob girl?

I jumped up, looking down at him as I shook my head in vehement denial. "No, he's not. He's on assignment for the police department." A hot and painful sensation prickled across my skin, replacing the chill I'd felt moments before, branding me as the gullible idiot I was. "Are you telling me he lied about having to work—that he's shacked up with Terry Gilman, right now?"

Hector slowly stood, placing his hand on my arm to comfort me. His mouth twisted as if he was in pain, but he held my gaze, willing me to accept the truth.

"Wait!" The shock was wearing off and I realized I was jumping to conclusions. Joe and Terry often worked together. This was just one of those times. I breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay Hector." I touched his arm to show I wasn't mad. "She provides leads for him sometimes on his cases."

His facial expression didn't change. He covered my hand with his and shook his head in regret. "After you told me of his proposal, I tagged his car with a GPS tracker. The day after Christmas, when you were kidnapped, he was at the same house he is at now. The GPS tracker indicates he spent a week there."

The bottom dropped out of my stomach, but I was still grasping at anything that would make sense of this. "Maybe they were undercover."

"It is her house. He was with her when I called to tell him you were missing. I did not stay with you last night because I followed him and watched her house. This morning, I see them leave together. They were… kissing."

"But… "

His eyes held mine. "There is no case. I checked."

I shook my head, unable to fully comprehend what he was telling me. If it was true, everything Joe told me was a lie… even the marriage proposal. I should have seen it coming. Hector's attitude toward Joe suddenly made sense. "Is this why you've been rude to him?"

"The week before you escaped from the cellar he was with her." His face turned red with rage. "El puto gilipollas (The fucking asshole) does not deserve my respect."

My mouth went dry and I thought I was going to be sick. "He was wi… with her while I was in the… in the cellar?" Durant had told me he saw Joe with a blonde woman. I'd thought he was lying, that he was just trying to get under my skin, but he wasn't. For once, he'd told me the truth.

Hector looked down at his feet as if witnessing the disappointment on my face was too much for him to bear.

I always knew there was a place in Joe's heart for Terry, but an ongoing relationship… with a love nest? How long has this been going on? Did he ever love me? I had questions… lots of questions. I took a cleansing breath and grabbed my coat. "Let's go."

Hector and I had been parked down the street from the mid-size Craftsman bungalow for over an hour, waiting to get a visual on Joe. We were in a 1960's Volkswagen panel van that looked like it was only one step away from being towed to the junkyard when in reality it ran perfectly and was decked out with all the latest high tech equipment on the inside. Even, Joe, a seasoned detective, would have a hard time making us.

The sun had begun its descent, casting shadows over the area like an umbrella of doom. I'd almost convinced myself Hector was mistaken, but I couldn't ignore Joe's SUV parked in the driveway beside Terry's silver BMW. I fidgeted in my seat, never good at waiting. Just when I thought I'd lose my mind, Joe and Terry emerged from the house. We were too far away to hear them, but I didn't miss the way Joe's arm draped low on her hip or how she threw her head back in laughter. As soon as they drove away, Hector and I donned black latex gloves and made our way to the house. He was going to plant surveillance equipment so we could monitor everything from the van.

Just thinking about entering that house made my stomach churn.

In seconds, he had the alarm disabled and we were inside. I heard clicking sounds coming toward us and stopped short, my heart hammering in my chest, and then a large orange blur bounded around the corner.

Bob? He was supposed to be at Mooch's.

The pain in my chest was making it hard to breathe. This was a different kind of betrayal, but it hurt just as bad. Bob was our dog, not hers. He whimpered and I leaned down to scratch his head. After a few minutes, he trotted back to the kitchen like this was his home away from home. A tear slipped down my face splattering on the hardwood floor. I turned away so Hector couldn't witness how deep my pain went, and that's when I noticed the romantic scene in the living room.

Two abandoned wine glasses sat on the coffee table along with a half bottle of wine. Beside that was a framed photo of Joe and Terry taken when they were younger.

They looked… in love.

Hector began setting up the equipment, gallantly pretending he hadn't noticed my anguish. As I walked into the kitchen, Bob raised his head off his plaid dog bed, wagging his tail. He was as clueless as I was.

A black high heeled sandal with the heel separated from the base of the shoe was sitting on the kitchen table. According to the red sole, it was an expensive designer shoe, which explained why a bottle of clear Gorilla Super glue was sitting beside it.

Past the kitchen was a hallway that led to the room I dreaded most. A smothering weight took shape in my chest, crushing me with each step. I could smell the musky scent of sex before I entered the bedroom. Her red negligee was draped across the king size bed and the bedding was in disarray. A sour feeling burned in my stomach when I saw at least half a dozen empty foil packets scattered on the sheets, the carpet, and the nightstand. It looked like they'd had themselves a good old time.

I took in the rest of the room, noticing scented candles adding to the ambiance, most burned down at least halfway. This had been their love nest for longer than I dared to think about.

How many times had he left my bed for hers?

My heart constricted at the thought and tears distorted my vision. My hands itched to pick up the matches and burn this place to the ground.

In the closet, I found Joe's favorite green Henley, the one I bought for his last birthday, innocently hanging among her silky designer pieces. There was also a stack of his shirts, pants, socks, and underwear as well as a pair of tennis shoes on the floor. I turned the light off and stepped out of the closet. An abandoned book lay on the nightstand to the left of the bed and a lone lamp on the other. Joe never read anything for fun, so I knew which side was hers. I picked up the book, noticing it was a popular romantic suspense novel, and laid it back the way it had been. I pulled the drawer open; face cream, hand lotion, and a vibrator were inside. I walked around to the other side. This one had to be Joe's. My chest fluttered with dread as I slowly opened the drawer. There were boxes of condoms, sex toys, and several bottles of oils and lube inside. I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed the drawer, wishing I could go back in time and un-see everything I'd just seen. I barely made it to the upholstered bench at the foot of the bed before my legs gave out. This was more than an occasional screw while undercover. This was a… relationship.

I pulled the engagement ring from the pocket of my jeans, turning it over and over in my hand, watching the light glint off the facets of the diamond. I'd been holding on to it like a talisman, hoping Hector had been wrong and Joe and I would end up laughing about the whole big misunderstanding. Well, I wasn't laughing now. In fact, the longer I sat here, the angrier I became. The lube and oil in his drawer kept tormenting me.

"Are you finished, Angelita?"

I jumped. His voice resonated through the silence, jarring me out of my thoughts. "Yeah," I said, peering up at him through glassy eyes, my voice thick with emotion.

His nostrils flared and the muscles in his jaw flexed. He held his hand out to help me up. As I followed him back through the house, my hand still clutched in his, my eyes landed on the glue sitting on the kitchen table. It was similar in color, size, and shape to the bottles of oil in Joe's drawer. My hand was moving before I consciously decided to make the switch.

Like Joe, I guess I couldn't help myself against temptation.

I picked off the identifiable picture of the gorilla on the label, making it even easier to mistake for the oil, but the words super glue was still clearly visible if you took the time to look. I calmly walked back to the bedroom and dropped the bottle in the drawer. I doubted Joe would be fooled, he normally didn't use oils and lube, or at least not with me. When I turned around, Hector quirked an eyebrow and smirked knowingly at me. It should have made me feel better, but it didn't.

Hector and I were sitting in the back of the van, watching the bank of monitors. An hour later, Joe and Terry returned to the house. The camera Hector planted on the front porch gave us a front row seat as Joe pulled her in for a long kiss. I knew that kiss. It came with a promise of balls to the walls sex. Tears welled in my eyes as the image burned into my brain. My heart. My soul.

As they moved into the house Hector switched to a different screen, allowing us to view the living room, where Joe was currently running his hand under Terry's silk blouse while she moaned and ground her pelvis against his groin. I pulled out my phone, curious to see what Joe would do if I called. Reluctantly, he pulled his lips away from her and checked the screen. His face showed no sign of guilt when he declined my call. It sent a sharp pain straight to my heart. I rubbed my hand over the area, desperately trying to ease the sting.

Hector growled with rage and reached over to hold my trembling hand in his. Our eyes went back to the screen when Joe started backing Terry down the hall toward the bedroom, intermittently kissing her on the way. He stopped at the threshold, turned her around, and smacked her ass. "Get naked; I've got a call to make."

In a flash, she was in his face, eyes blazing. "You're going to call HER?"

He gave her a pointed look that had her storming into the bedroom and slamming the door. He stood there for a moment, and I wasn't sure whether he was going to call me back or go be with her. Finally, he walked back through the house and out onto the front porch. Even though I was watching him and knew he was placing a call, I still jumped when my phone rang.

I cleared my throat, trying to erase the anger from my voice. "Hey, Joe."

His face broke out into a grin. "I only have a minute, Cupcake. I was in an important meeting when you called. They gave us a short break and then I have to get back."

Liar.

I swallowed the sour taste in my mouth and injected a note of happiness in my voice. "Well, I guess it's my good luck they gave you a break because I have something to tell you."

His smile disappeared, replaced with worry and uncertainty. "Are you okay?"

How easily I would have been fooled into believing he cared about me if I wasn't witnessing his deception first-hand.

"I'm fine," I said, pausing to give weight to my next words. "I wanted to tell you that I love you with all my heart and my answer is, YES. I will marry you, Joe." My thumb moved back and forth over the ring I'd just placed on my fourth finger. "I'm wearing the engagement ring as we speak. As of this moment we are officially engaged." I ended my speech with a note of happiness I didn't feel.

I saw a broad smile spread across his face as he fished his keys out of his pocket. My foolish heart cheered. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe we could salvage our relationship. I wasn't innocent. I'd done so many things with Ranger that weren't fair to Joe. I resolved to forget about everything—start with a clean slate—if he'd come home right now.