Err on the Side of Violence: Terribly Acronymed Detective Club Series (Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Rachel, Friday

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

Rachel hung up with Joe and called Lauren right away. Lauren picked up and said, "Hey, girl!"

"Lauren, we're in trouble. I love that daughter of yours, but she's fucking us up."

"What? Slow down, what are you talking about?"

"I got a call from Joe just now."

Silence for a moment. Then, "Oh, fuck, what did he say?"

"He said Naomi thought she saw your car parked at our place on Wednesday."

"Shit!"

"I told you that would be a problem."

"Well, what was I going to do, go out and move it while Tej was downstairs?!" Lauren was pissed, but mostly it was her cover for panic.

"I don't know!" Rachel moaned. "I never thought they would come back! Why did I forget to pack those fucking goggles?"

"So, what did you say to him?" Lauren asked.

"I said it couldn't be yours because you were with me, downtown, playing hooky."

"So, you used our relationship, which he knows about, to distract from what was really going on."

"Clever, huh? But then I couldn't let things be and fucked us all for the future."

"What do you mean?"

"I mentioned using Find My Friends to track your phone if he really wanted to know where you were."

"Gee, thanks, Rachel."

"Sorry."

"I guess I'll just have to turn off my phone whenever I'm with both of you," Lauren said. "And won't that look even more suspicious."

"Or we can just stop bringing Al into our fun."

Lauren sighed and said, "Would that be fair to him? And couldn't he then be justified in finding a different sexual partner to make up for losing me? Wouldn't you rather have the devil you know?"

Rachel didn't like Lauren's cynical ploy to have her cake and eat it too. Once again she was asserting dominance by bringing in the spectre of another, unknown and unvetted, woman giving Al her attention, when no such woman likely existed. She countered with, "Or we could all just stop. Joe can drop Joanie, I can drop you, and Al wouldn't need to have anyone."

Silence for a moment. Then, sounding hurt, she asked, "Do you really want that?"

Rachel sighed and said, "No. But we have to be more careful. It's a good thing we disrobed in our bedroom, that our clothes weren't all over the floor downstairs."

"Yes. And good thing my leather jacket and shoes were in your cloak room with the door closed. My jacket's pretty distinct." She sighed and said, "I doubt Joe would want to stop anyway. I think he's enjoying Joanie too much."

"Uh..."

"I think I've been blind, Rachel, wilfully blind. Some detective I am."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just look at last Sunday. He promises me he won't see her because he just saw her the week before. Then, as soon as it becomes possible to see her with no suspicion from Johnny, he sees her, not even considering how I'd feel about it."

"Okay, sure, but do we tell him about every time we're together? Sometimes you can't plan these things. Sometimes the opportunity just presents itself."

"It's more than that, though. I think he started with her as far back as our wedding day."

Rachel couldn't speak for a moment, she was so stunned by the revelation. "What?!"