The Product Tester

Chapter 9

Ethan tapped his fingers on the arm rest of the couch, glancing at the door for the hundredth time in an hour.

Where is she?

The evening had been full of panic. Mary had vanished, and she hadn't been responding to her phone even when it came time for her diaper change. He'd started to worry that she had gotten in over her head and was in a hospital room somewhere.

Those worries were unrealistic, of course. If anything had gone wrong with her cover, or even her vital signs, the GPS would have kicked in and told Ethan where she was. Mary was fine. He just didn't know where she was.

He'd been about to call Kat and ask her for emergency access to the GPS when he'd gotten a text from Mary, explaining that she'd been held up at work.

What could she possibly be doing?

Glancing at his phone, he moved to the reporting app, checking to ensure he hadn't misread anything.

Mary's diaper was at 37% moisture capacity, which was all well and good, but it had also been soiled more than an hour prior. Ethan couldn't imagine what Mary could possibly be working on that would compel her to stay out past her changing time in a messy diaper, and she was playing coy about what it was that was keeping her.

The door handle rattle, and he all but jumped out of the couch. "Mary?"

The lock clicked and the door opened and Mary stepped inside, setting down her backpack. "I'm ho-mmph!"

Ethan smothered her in a hug, his relief palpable. "I was so worried about you!"

She returned the embrace, but Ethan could almost feel her eyes rolling. "I'm fine, you big softie. I was just following up on a lead to get this cover off, and I couldn't tell you about it."

"You could have told me the general stuff!" Ethan protested, sniffing and wrinkling his nose a little. "You could have been getting shipped off to Canada in the back of a panel van somewhere."

Mary pulled back, shrugging. "Well, I- Wait, why Canada?"

"They've got the second highest kidnappings per capita in the world. I dunno. Have you had dinner? I can make you something."

"Something light would be nice, I'm, uh, not really hungry," Mary said, moving her bag over to the couch. "I don't think you were really that worried, though."

That made Ethan feel a streak of indignation as he walked towards the open kitchen. "Yeah? Why not?"

"If you really wanted to know where I was, why didn't you just check the GPS on the collar?"

"I can't just check it whenever I want, there has to be some sort of-" Ethan frowned, scratching his head. "Hey, wait, how did you know about the GPS?"

"Hah!" Mary grinned, pulling out her laptop. "I knew it!"

...

They shared a dinner of leftovers while the TV chattered in the background, displaying a show that neither of them were really watching.

"So..." Ethan said, unsure exactly how to broach the topic. "I've got some... not great news."

"Wha's that?" Mary asked, in the middle of chewing.

"I have to go into work super early tomorrow. Like... before your morning change, early."

Mary blinked, but she didn't seem as surprised as he'd expected. "Okay. That's not great."

"You'll have to ride with me to work, and then I can change you in the office bathroom," Ethan said. "Or... I guess you could take the bus later if you wanted to sleep in?"