Disclaimer: see chapter one

"Nick, is Sofia working today?" she asked.

"She will be later. She was having lunch with a friend today. I don't know how she manages to do everything she does. Detective. Wife. Soon to be mother. Friend."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I need to go," and Catherine turned to walk away.

"Cath, don't forget to take her jacket. She'll probably want it," Nick said as he tossed the jacket to Catherine. "And Catherine, you may want to flip your collar up or wear your hair down. We all know you're taken. Sara doesn't need to mark her territory any more." He winked at her as he made this last comment.

She mumbled something like thanks as she walked into her office and shut the door.

She immediately picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number. "Stokes," said the female voice on the other end of the line.

"Sofia, this is Catherine. We have a problem. I think Sara knows."

"I'm sorry. I'm at lunch with a friend right now, sir. I'll be at the station in a couple of hours. Can we talk about the case then?"

"Is this friend my wife?"

"I'm afraid so. I'll find you as soon as I get back to the station," Sofia said as she shut the phone and turned to the woman having lunch with her.

"Sorry about that, Sara. You remember how it is. You have two or three cases going on at once and everybody wants their piece of you."

"Yeah, I remember that. I don't deal with it directly now, but I do listen to Catherine when she comes home talking about her day. Speaking of her, she's why I asked you to lunch today," Sara said as she put her glass down.

"I don't know why you'd bring me here to talk about Catherine. Are you two having problems?"

"Not yet."

"I'm sorry, Sara. I don't do this socialization thing very well. You'll have to tell me exactly what it is that you want to know."

"Okay, we can do this your way. I want you to explain your relationship with my wife to me."

"My relationship? I'm afraid I don't understand what it is that you're asking me," Sofia said to Sara.

"I'll break this down for you. I saw you two at the party last night. Your hand on her back. The little touches. You whispering in her ear. And then to top it off, I saw you two going at it in the coat room. I was standing there with your husband—in your house—and you're putting moves on my wife! Even if you don't have any respect for your marriage, you should have respect for someone else's."

"Sara, I can explain this."

"I don't really want your explanation. I just have a few questions. First of all, how long has this been going on?"

"We're not having an affair, if that's what you're asking."

"That is not what I was asking. I know you're just a detective, but try to follow the questions here. How long have you and my wife been intimate?"

"We haven't slept together. We flirt. We've done that for years. Before you and her. Before me and Nick. It's always been so innocent."

"I didn't see anything innocent about the mark on her neck last night."

"Are you going to tell Nick about this?"

"I think Nick is the least of your problems right now."