Tracy Hayes, Apprentice PI

Chapter Ten

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tessa demanded, descending the last steps to the hall.

She was thirty-three and looked every bit as amazing as when she'd put herself through med-school by modeling. She had Dad's height and looks, which were as good on a woman as they were on a man, especially with the short pixie cut she favored. I'd always felt like an ugly duckling next to her, and dying my hair auburn only emphasized our differences.

"I could definitely ask the same."

"I asked first." She might have the supermodel looks, but she'd always had the no-nonsense attitude of a doctor, even when we were kids. She expected to be answered. I wanted to sulk. This was not how my plan was supposed to go.

"I was walking the dog and ran out of poop bags," I said, lifting Pippin towards her just as Mrs. Jenkins came from the kitchen with a plastic bag in her hand. She paused when she saw us.

"What's going on?"

"My parents sent my little sister to spy on us."

"They did no such thing. They have absolutely no idea." I'd had no idea Tessa was into women, and our parents wouldn't even be able to imagine it.

"What's with the dog ruse, then?"

"It's not a ruse," I said, indignant.

"You don't own a dog."

"He's not my dog. I found him and I'm taking care of him until I find the owner."

"It's Richard, isn't it?" Mrs. Jenkins said, leaning heavily against the hallway wall. "He's found out about us."

Guilt stabbed in my gut that I couldn't keep from my face, and Tessa was onto me instantly. "Out with it!" She looked angry – and a little frightened. I couldn't remember ever seeing my sister frightened.

My heart fell. This was supposed to be an easy gig. All I had to do was to get the evidence of Mrs. Jenkins' infidelity. I didn't have to care for the whys and whos of it. But this was my sister. I couldn't sell her out and perhaps ruin her chance for happiness in the process.

I'd have to tell everything to Tessa and take my chances with Jackson later. I'd lose my job before I'd even properly begun. That had to be a new record.

I sighed. "I work for a PI. Mr. Jenkins hired us to find out if his wife was having affairs while he was out of town."

"Affairs? Plural?" Mrs. Jenkins was outraged.

"Work for a PI? Since when?" Tessa demanded, claiming my attention.

"Since yesterday. Probably not after this."

"Serves you right for skulking in the bushes."

"I wasn't skulking."

"What are you going to tell him?" Mrs. Jenkins asked what worried her more. I could sympathize, but not much. I was a jilted woman myself.

"Can't you tell your husband? It has to be better than finding out from a PI."

"Can't you just keep quiet?" Tessa retorted.

"That's okay," Mrs. Jenkins sighed. I really should ask her first name, but this didn't seem like a good time to inquire. "I can't go on like this any longer."

"Are you sure?" Tessa asked, wrapping an arm around Mrs. Jenkins' shoulders. She sounded more solicitous that I'd ever heard before. She usually had the curt manners of a surgeon.

"Yes. I just wish I could hurt him the way he hurt me."

I didn't know the details of that, but I knew one thing: "Nothing hurts like seeing the evidence of your spouse's infidelity with your own eyes."