Another Couple Of Cheaters

I had just opened up my office on the second of January. New Year's had been nice with my brother and his family. They had tried to set me up again with an eligible female and that had even worked out. Much to their chagrin, I didn't want to see her again, but we had sure rung in the new year. She had rung my bells three times, and I had given her at least the same. One of these days I would find a woman to settle down with but for now I was still looking. My brother's wife would say I was gun-shy after my last long-term relationship. She was right of course but I wouldn't admit it to her.

I had one appointment today, but it was a big one. My line of work was private investigations, and I had none other than Patrick "long bomb" Baxter coming in. I had researched Baxter before he came in. Everyone knew he was a retired superstar quarterback from our city's team. Most people also knew about his wife, world-renowned surgeon Kaylee Spencer. Yet I liked to find out more about the people coming in for an appointment.

My research revealed quite a bit. Baxter had taken business in university and while almost winning the Heisman trophy he had graduated with honors. He had not hired a financial advisor to manage the money he made on his massive contracts. He had invested it himself and now had a nice little investment firm of three people. The money they invested was not little however, they did deals in the hundreds of millions.

He seemed like a devoted husband and dad. There were enough photos on the internet of him, his wife, and his two sons to fill a terabyte. A beautiful family living the dream. He and his wife supported many charities in the city and were considered the "power couple." I wasn't digging really deep, but my research showed no hint at all of scandal. It was like some kind of fairy tale love story; I wondered why he wanted to see me.

I liked to work on insurance investigations the most. The police could care less about a stolen car or whatever but sometimes the victim really did. This would lead them to hire me. One time a company had lost a laptop. They reported it stolen and then hired me. They wanted it back badly. I had cart blanche to find it and they doubled my fee, promising to double it again if I found it quick. 22 hours, some arm twisting (almost breaking), and a few bribes later I had their laptop. This is the work I loved but unfortunately, most of my work was on cheating spouses.

This line of work also was not helping me get over my last girlfriend. I had thought she was the one until she proved to me she wasn't. I didn't even need my PI skills or to try very hard to figure it out. She was so blatant about her cheating I just moved out and moved on.

I made the coffee and checked my email while I waited for Baxter. At 10 am on the dot the door opened and in walked Patrick Baxter.

"Good morning Mr. Baxter, my name is Tucker Brown, can I get you a coffee?"

As we shook hands he replied,

"Ah, no thanks I already have my blood pressure up to max, no need to push it higher."

I gave him a polite chuckle and offered him a seat.

"So, let's get to it then, I'm sure you are a busy man what can I do for you, Mr. Baxter?"

"Tucker, you can call me Patrick, I like a guy who gets to it. I need you to investigate my wife, I am certain she is having an affair."

"I don't want to talk myself out of some business but if you are certain why do you need me?"

Patrick ran his hand through his hair,

"I want irrefutable proof. I need it. Then I can enforce the prenup and destroy the cheating slut."

So much for my initial research, the perfect family and no scandal were out the window,

"Ok, I can help you with that, first, you have to tell me what you know. The more I know about your wife, her activities, and who you think she might be cheating with the better. I know you are a former football star and a local celebrity but don't exclude anything. I would rather hear something I already know than have you skip something you think I know but don't."

Patrick took a deep breath, he now looked very sad, like he was about to tell the tale of how his mean parents took his birthday and Christmas away the same year.

"Yes, I am a local celb, former star QB. That made me very rich and very wary of women's intentions towards me. I never had a high school sweetheart or serious girlfriend in college. I was focused on football and getting a degree. Sure, I didn't lack for female companionship if you know what I mean, but nothing serious. Then I met Kaylee Spencer at a hospital fundraising gala ten years ago.

She was stunning, she literally took my breath away when I first saw her. I figured it was destiny for me to be with her. When I introduced myself to her it seemed like she felt the same way. We spent the night together and have been inseparable ever since. Well not quite, in the last six months we have been separated a lot.

She is an amazing surgeon but has always put me and then our boys first. My work is more flexible so I take care of a lot of the household stuff so she can concentrate on saving lives. Yet everything was great until about six months ago. Then what I'm sure you've heard a million times happened. More hours at work, distracted at home, sex drying up etc. I'm positive it is the new anesthesiologist at the hospital. They work together all the time, and my sources tell me they are very friendly with one another."

So far this seemed pretty straightforward,

"So as best as you know she spends her time at the hospital or at home?"

"Ya, mostly the hospital but I have gone a few times to surprise her for lunch and she hasn't been there. Obviously phoning her at work is impossible most of the time. She returns my texts about the same as before, but they are way less flirty and loving."

"Anything else you can think of? A Christmas party 'incident' or she has started being a bad mom, anything like that."

"No, they don't have functions like that, they only seem to lead to trouble. When she is around and engaged she's a good enough mom, she's just never engaged with us."

I then asked him all the standard questions, including address, phone numbers hers and his, her car type and license plate, etc... He gave me a deposit for my fee.

"Ok Patrick I will get right on this, I should have an initial report for you in about two weeks. You are a financial guy, so I won't tell you about protecting your money and such, I suspect you already have a great lawyer too."

"Ha, yes Tucker I have retained the biggest divorce shark in the city. Yes, I have all those standard boxes ticket for spouses about to separate or divorce. I'm not in a super rush for your report but I do want her served at Marcelo's on Valentine's Day."

"Marcelo's wow, that no doubt will make a stir. It also will be cheaper and more effective than a billboard for spreading the news you two are finished."

He looked sad, even sadder than before,

"Marcelo's is our place, our first date, were I proposed, and every Valentine's Day since. I book it a year in advance."

What more could be said after that depression remark? We shook hands, he left, and I went to work. First off I called my computer geek buddy Alex. He does all my deep-dive work. He is very good at what he does making my job so much easier. While he was hacking computers and the like I went to go do some surveillance recon.

I found Patrick's wife's car at the hospital and put a tracker on it. I then went to the neighborhood where they lived. Nice house, or should I say mansion. Then I had to get back for a new 1 o'clock appointment.

During the following week, I had my info from Alex. Nothing on her cell phone or email. Her credit card showed the lunches with the anesthesiologist, I would confirm that this was the case. His name was Parker Dixon and was single with plenty of girls on the go. Wednesday was lunch day with Kaylee, Monday and Friday were with Alisha and Lynn, respectively. Lunch even with a kiss or two was not enough proof, however, yet it was a start. The credit card bills showed a hotel sometimes on Wednesday after lunch. Maybe next week I will get lucky.

The next week was another Wednesday lunch for Kaylee and Parker. They went back to the hospital afterward. I knew they didn't really need a hotel to do the dirty. There were plenty of places in a big hospital to get together for people with access. There is always the chance of discovery, however, hence hotels sometimes. Regardless I had enough for a preliminary report on the next Monday. Monday didn't work for Patrick, so we made it Tuesday.

Patrick Baxter showed up at exactly 10 am for his appointment. He didn't look good; he looked like he was trying to hold it together. He didn't seem like the guy to break down in front of someone else, especially a virtual stranger like me, but...

"Good morning Patrick, blood pressure still maxed out?"

I was trying to be funny, and he gave me a crooked smile.

"Yes I'll pass on the coffee, what do you have for me Tucker?"

I gave him some pictures to view,

"There is nothing that will guarantee your prenup conditions yet but as you can see we have a start. There is her guy Parker Dixon with her at a restaurant on the last two Wednesdays. Her financials show some of the lunches, they must take turns paying. They also show some Wednesday afternoon hotel rooms."

A scowl spread across his face,

"The bitch! I knew it, I just knew it! I'm sure that's what she's going to be up to this coming Saturday a hotel with this asshole Parker."

"Why do you say that Patrick?"

"She told me yesterday she has an operation scheduled for Saturday afternoon. In ten years, she has done a handful of operations on Saturday, and they were all emergency call-ins. She never has had an operation scheduled on Saturday, the hospital does them Monday to Friday. The bitch, the worst of it is that we also don't have the kids on Saturday. Her parents are taking them from Saturday until Sunday afternoon, so we have a date for lunch on Saturday after we drop them off. I was hoping maybe I was wrong about her and after lunch, we could reconnect at home with no kids, but I guess I was right. Kaylee is cheating on me. She's going to connect on Saturday alright but not with me!"

I felt for the guy but I needed the details so I could do my job.

"So, when and where is lunch? I will follow her after you guys are done. If she is hooking up with this Parker guy she won't go to the hospital but a hotel instead, or maybe his place."

With a dark smile on his face Patrick gave me the details, Rock Lobster at 12:30 Saturday.

I pulled into the parking lot of Rock Lobster at 12:30 on Saturday, Patrick and his wife's cars were parked side by side across from me. I noticed that parked next to me was a cute girl, d good-looking woman really, sitting in her car. She gave me a noncommittal glance and went back to her phone. I sipped my coffee and watched the restaurant and surreptitiously her. At 1:40 Kaylee exited the restaurant, followed closely by Patrick. A kiss on the cheek for Patrick and Kaylee got in her car. Patrick got in his car. Kaylee backed up first and I let her go. I had the tracker, and I wanted to see something first.

Bingo! The woman beside me followed Patrick. Interesting, maybe Patrick is a football player, investor, and an actor? Not to jump to conclusions but it sure looked like someone was following him. Probably his wife hired a PI to catch him cheating. Another couple of cheaters, unfortunately, this was not unusual. Kind of silly really, both fooling around and trying to fuck over the other through the prenup. Why not just call it quits and move on, much simpler and cheaper. Too bad for the kids. Oh well not my problem, I am getting paid to catch Kaylee, so I followed the tracker.

Shocker, she was headed to the Empress Hotel. It was a favorite of well-heeled cheaters; I knew the manager. She let me know the room number, it was pretty easy after that. I waited for them to call room service. Sure, enough they called for room service, and I was on delivery.

The micro camera/recorder was on the wall across from the room. Leaving the door open, I maneuvered the cart and moved the chairs so that they would be in full view of the lens. They were in hotel robes looking like they spent the afternoon having sex. I wished them bon appetite and left. Parker even tipped me, ha!

I waited in the lobby for them to come back down. It was about 7 pm when the elevator opened and out came the two love birds. They pretended not to know one another as they left for the parking lot. They were parked side by side and I recorded the scorching hot goodbye kiss.

Patrick had recorded her statements about the scheduled surgery. Alex had given me the logs from the hospital's unused operating rooms for Saturday. Coupled with what I had on film the whole thing was a slam dunk for Patrick. I let him know that I had what he wanted. We agreed to meet up the following Wednesday.

I then got to thinking about what Patrick was up to that day and the good-looking woman I had seen following him. I gave Alex a call and once he had her license plate number I had a name, Kelly Nadeau. I then asked him to do a deep dive on her. Much to my surprise he laughed,

"Why don't you just ask her yourself? She asked me four hours ago for a deep dive on you. Yes, I work for more people than you. Apparently you two are working on the same couple. Maybe you would make a great couple? I'll send you the info by Monday."

Interesting.

On Monday I finished my report for Patrick and then read the report on Kelly Nadeau. Alex included pictures and her measurements. She was a very nice-looking brunette. The usual upbringing in the burbs. Parents are still alive in the city, as well as a sister. She was a former city cop; her last job was in the drug squad. Her fiancé was a fellow cop but a bad one and she ended up busting him in a big joint operation with the state cops. She left the police shortly after that and opened up a PI office. No kids, no apparent boy or girl friends.

I compared this to what she probably found out about me. Hopefully, he gave her some flattering pictures of me. I would say I was a pretty good-looking guy with dirty blonde hair. Born and raised in a western state, I joined the Army out of high school. Became a Military Policeman and worked in CID. Left the army and set up shop in this town. Serious relationship once but ended due to her infidelity. No kids, no apparent girl, or boyfriends.

To be honest both of us were pretty boring.

On Wednesday I gave Patrick the information. He seemed pretty upbeat for a guy who just received the information that would end his marriage. We settled up the bill and I moved on to other work.

Then on February 13th, I received a call from Patrick,

"Hi Tucker how goes the investigating?"

"Not too bad Patrick how's the blood pressure?"

After laughing he got to the point of his call,

"I'm sure you're busy so I was wondering if you had any Valentine's Day plans?"

It now was my turn to laugh, that was a hard no. I actually was thinking about watching the local news station's website after supper to watch the Patrick/Kaylee fireworks at Marcelo's but that didn't count. Not that I would tell him that regardless.

"Nope no plans at all, If I remember correctly you have big plans, a divorce serving at Marcelo's."

"Well actually Tucker me and Kaylee we are trying to reconcile. We both did something stupid but figured out that we didn't want a divorce."

"Wow, how did that come about? I thought you were going to surprise her at supper tomorrow?"

"It was her parents. Someone tipped them off to Kaylee's cheating and when they confronted her she showed them the evidence on me. Ya, I was cheating too, but you probably know that already. So, her parents got us together and had an intervention. I got to tell you I almost really screwed up the best thing that ever happened to me, Kaylee tells me the same thing. So, the grandparents have the kids for the week, and we are flying to a Caribbean Island to see if we can do some healing."

I must admit I was a bit shocked. It seemed like such a done deal,

"Well congratulations, in this business you can get pretty jaded, but I really hope things work for you both."

"So, Tucker the reason for my call was to ask you if you want my reservation for Marcelo's, obviously I can't use it, maybe you have someone you can take?."

I thought about it,

"That would be great Patrick I will make a call and text you back to confirm but I want to take the reservation."

We said our goodbyes and then I opened up my file on Kelly Nadeau. Armed with her office number I gave her a call.

"Hello Kelly, this is kind of out of the blue I know but it is Tucker Brown calling. We sort of worked on the same investigation recently and I was wondering if you were free tomorrow?"

There was a pregnant silence,

"Tucker Brown, interesting. Sso are you now going to ask me out to Marcelo's for Valentine's Day?"

Wow, how did she know that?

"You must be clairvoyant, yes that is why I am calling."

She seemed to stifle a giggle,

"I'm not clairvoyant really, but Kaylee Spencer just phoned me telling me that her husband had offered you their reservation as they were going away for Valentines. I guess not only are they a couple of cheaters, but they are matchmakers too."

I didn't stifle my laugh,

"Apparently you are right, it seems a mutual friend of ours also might be playing matchmaker, so is that a yes for Marcelo's tomorrow?"

"Yes Tucker, looking forward to it, I'll see you there at 6."

I texted Patrick my thanks for the reservation and sent me back a "good luck" with a bunch of thumbs-up emojis. I just stared at the phone for a while after that. I didn't want to get too excited, but this could very possibly be my best Valentine's ever.

(What happens at this Valentine's date and after is up to your conjecture but just might become a story for another Valentine's Contest.)

Thank you for reading, don't forget to vote.

Jill