Chapter 8

Luke and Sarah strode up the path to the Fletcher house, or rather mansion, Luke thought to himself, eyeing the large estate with trepidation. He and Sarah had argued over breakfast about how best to approach the newly-married Bree-Anne Fletcher.

He'd wanted to do it alone; so had Sarah. They'd finally settled on doing it together. "The shock value of both of us might stun her into revealing more than she would to either of us alone," Sarah had pointed out, and he'd had to agree.

When he rang the doorbell to announce their visit, he felt Sarah's hand slide into his and squeeze it a little too tight for comfort. "No matter what happens, you're still coming home to me and Jack, right?" she asked in a strained voice.

He wondered why she'd ask something like that now but decided he'd find out soon enough. Before he could answer, the door swung open and a small middle-aged woman in cleaning garb asked, "Can I help you?"

Sarah cleared her throat and beamed a smile at the woman. "Hi there. We're old friends of Bree-Anne and were passing through town. Is she home, by any chance?"

"She's around back in the garden. Please come in and I'll tell her you're here." The woman led them into a warmly decorated living room and then asked, "Who may I tell her is calling?"

"The Johnstons," Sarah said, sending Luke a veiled glance and adding another squeeze to his hand.

When the woman left, Luke decided to snoop around a little. Bree-Anne had obviously married well. The paper had said her husband was the CEO of a local marketing firm. Luke walked around the room, looking at expensive knick-knacks and framed photos of people. His eye caught one and stopped. He picked up the frame of the man and woman and said, "Hey, I know this lady."

Sarah rushed over to look for herself. "You remember her?"

He shook his head. No. It was the lady from the bar and grill, the one who'd tried to pick him up. "I saw her yesterday at the restaurant."

"Well, she used to be blonde and I'm pretty sure she's had a nose job since I last saw her, but that's definitely Bree-Anne," Sarah pointed out.

Luke suddenly got a very bad feeling about this and was tempted to grab Sarah's hand and leave.

"I was wondering if you two were going to show up," a distinctly feminine and British voice said, capturing Luke's attention. He lifted his head and saw the woman from the picture standing in the doorway, not looking the least bit phased to see them in her home.

Sarah pressed closer to Luke, but calmly returned, "Hello Bree-Anne. It's been a long time."

The other woman's eyebrows shot up as she smiled at the comment. She stepped further into the room and said, "Let's not kid each other, Sarah. It hasn't been long enough for either of us. Can I get either of you a drink?"

Luke and Sarah exchanged glances as if to say Is she kidding? Then Luke pointed out, "Your voice is very different than it was yesterday. One might think you were deliberately disguising it from me then."

Bree-Anne laughed. "How true. I have to say I expected you to remember me anyway. After all, we knew each other so intimately at one time. Then again, I suppose you don't remember any of that, do you? Pity."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, even as Luke frowned at the implications.

"Oh Sarah, don't be so bloody stupid," Bree-Anne chided. "Who do you think Luke turned to when he found out you were cheating on him? Of course, that was a long time ago and I am married now. Quite happily, in fact, so if you will please just say what you came to say and leave, I would appreciate it."

Sarah shot Luke a look full of hurt and shock. He wished he could tell her it wasn't true, but hell if he knew if it was or not. His frown turned angry as he focused on the other woman and asked, "Why were you following me yesterday? How do you know about my amnesia?"

She shrugged and took a sip of the drink she'd prepared herself. "The accident made the papers. But I was hardly following you. I just happened to be at the same restaurant as you yesterday. Pure coincidence."

"Yeah, well, I'm starting to think there are no such things as coincidences."

"Suit yourself," she said. "What is the purpose of this lovely visit anyway?"

Luke stepped forward and demanded, "What did you tell me to make me leave Sarah?"

She laughed. "Tell you? Why nothing but the truth. In fact, I think it was what I gave you that finally did the trick. Sorry, Sarah, dear, but I couldn't keep your secrets forever. Dear Luke deserved better. It was quite sad, really, the way you and Riley were cuckolding him behind his back once he was trying to give you a second chance."

"What the hell are you implying?" Sarah demanded angrily.

"Does it really matter anymore? Let's just put it all behind us. Obviously you two have, if you're here together. Or did you try to use Luke's amnesia to hide your dirty affair?"

Sarah moved toward her smug-looking nemesis, with what intent he didn't know, but Luke grabbed her and held her back just to be safe. "You gave me a tape," he pointed out.

Something flickered in Bree-Anne's eyes as if he'd caught her by surprise, finally. "So you have remembered?"

"What tape? What are you talking about?" Sarah asked.

"Tell Sarah about the tape, Bree-Anne. I'm sure she'll find it enlightening to know you were taping her and Riley without their knowledge."

Sarah looked puzzled, but Bree-Anne had regained her composure and simply shrugged. "If I hadn't taped that conversation between them, you would have never known the truth."

So it had been an audio tape, not a video tape as Luke had first suspected. He probed for more details, saying, "I'm sure Riley knew it was being recorded, didn't he? I'm sure he even helped."

Again, Bree-Anne seemed surprised, but she agreed, "Poor Riley. It was his idea, actually. He really thought he was in love with your wife, but even though she was happy enough to carry on an affair, for some reason she didn't want to leave you for him. He wanted to help that along."

"That's a damned lie! And what conversation? What are you talking about?" Sarah demanded. "Luke, I swear I never led Riley on. After that one night, I made it clear I never wanted to see him again. You have to believe me!"

Suddenly Luke remembered. He remembered sitting in his office with Bree-Anne across from him as she pulled a tape out of her purse, looking pained to do so, and gave it to him. He remembered going down to his car for lunch and listening to the tape there.

The tape had been a little muffled, but he'd clearly been able to make out Riley's distinct voice talking and laughing with a woman. A woman who had sounded a lot like Sarah. As he continued to listen to the sounds of obvious lovemaking, he'd grown angrier and angrier, especially when the lovemaking stopped and Riley said, "What do you think Luke would do if he knew we were still seeing each other?"