Rock Avery came by Thunder Investigations Monday morning to discuss the fall of Mrs. Nicole Ratcliff.

"Rock?" Kim asked as her eyes travelled up and down his muscular form. "Is that your given name?"

"No," he replied, clearly off his game around Kim, "but Ned Avery isn't exactly a powerful name."

"Ah," she replied. "You could have just told me it was your middle name."

"It actually is my middle name," he replied.

"I know," she said with a small smile. She had looked him up to be sure he was who he said he was. "Your history is quite impressive, actually. I mean, saving all those children…"

"Rock?" Trent came out of his office, saving the poor PI from Kim's attempt at flirting. "I'm Trent Malloy, Carlos' partner. You know, we should really consider working together sometime."

Rock looked over his shoulder at Kim. "You know, I might like that," he said. "And I might be out of a job after this, so I'll consider it."

"Got it!" Carlos said as he came through the door. "You were right, Rock. Nicole was only looking for your car, so once I called her and told her I had gotten rid of you in traffic, she never even noticed me following."

"Misdirection," Rock agreed. "So you got pictures?"

Carlos handed him an envelope. "Listen, I had to confront her. I hope you know that this case was personal to me."

Rock sighed. "What did you do?"

"I asked her why she lied to me and showed her the pictures I took. Turns out she's just a man-eater. She married Ratcliff for the money only. She's had a handful of lovers since."

Rock handed Carlos an envelope. "Ratcliff is a womanizer and a fraud. She signed a prenuptual agreement, and she'll get nothing now that she's been caught cheating."

"But these pictures?" Carlos looked through them. They were of Mr. Ratcliff and a blonde woman, dated two months ago—five weeks before Nicole noticed Rock following her.

"Misdirection," Rock said again. "I'm not saying she deserves his money, but I am saying that he definitely does not deserve it. I took these the day he hired me."

"I'll see that she gets them, and the number of a divorce lawyer," Kim said. She winked at Rock as she took the envelope from Carlos. "You boys are bad!"

Trent returned to Thunder Investigations from his lunch break an hour and a half late and slipped into his office wordlessly. He sat down with a sigh and ran his hands through his already disheveled blonde hair as Carlos came in after him. Trent looked up guiltily.

"You were out for a long lunch, Mr. Responsible," he teased.

"I went with Margo to check out the house," he said tiredly.

"She didn't!" The Hispanic's eyes were wide.

"Didn't what?"

Carlos sat down on the edge of Trent's desk. "She, uh, needed to create a scandal for the undercover work," he paused and lowered his voice, "and I suggested that you and Margo…" he wiggled his eyebrows. "Have an affair, if you know what I mean. In case it was the house being watched."

"What?" Trent yelled as he jumped up from his chair. It was not the reaction his friend expected.

"Easy," Carlos tried to assuage him. "For someone who just got some, you're pretty tense."

"Easy?" Trent repeated. "My girlfriend is using me and you want me to take it easy?"

"Uh-huh," Carlos wasn't convinced. In his mind, it took two to tango, and it was hard to force Trent to do anything against his will. "So what's the real problem? You can't be this mad about a lunchtime rendezvous with Margo."

Trent sighed and sat back down. He wished Carlos didn't know him so well. That wasn't really what was bothering him. "It's just…she doesn't tell me things anymore, like that the house could be bugged, or even about the undercover assignment! She just keeps everything to herself anymore like she's afraid I'll overreact or something."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Carlos prodded.

"How do I tell the woman I love that we have a serious problem without destroying what we have?" Trent asked before scoffing. "I can't believe I'm asking you for relationship advice."

Carlos laughed and his voice was wry. "All relationships have problems, Trent, believe me. Just don't do what I do and let problems be the end. If you love her half as much as you say you do, then you owe it to her—and yourself—to fix this. Talk to her and work through it."

Trent mulled over his friend's advice. "I think you actually get smarter the longer you're single," he quipped.

"Thanks, mano."