Chapter 11

Belle's cell phone rang causing Jeffrey to pull away from her and let go of his hold on her hips. Timing is everything, she thought. She frantically tried to pull the phone out of the pocket of her coat, that she had hung over the bedpost. The interruption was what she needed to regain some semblance of control.

When she answered the phone she was surprised to hear that it was Richard Ericson, the P.I. He said that he would continue to tail David for the next day and a quarter but had enough information to form a conclusion already. She got the impression that his findings were those that he didn't think would please her. In her mind it meant that there was proof that David was cheating on her.

She hung up the phone and stood looking dumbfounded at the blueprints spread out on the bed in front of her. The phone call hadn't taken long but in those few short moments she had forgotten that Jeffrey was still in the room with her. That was until he touched her shoulder to get her attention. His touch caused her to jump slightly in surprise.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," she said trying to forget the phone call. "Now, where were we?"

"What ever that nothing was sure has you rattled. Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's no need. I'm fine. Now, where were we?"

"We're done with this house, Belle. Why don't we go to the hotel and get ready for dinner? We have about two hours before our reservation."

"Okay," she replied mindlessly.

A little over an hour and a shower later, Belle was sitting on the sleigh bed at the charming bed & breakfast. When Jeffrey mentioned a hotel she had thought he meant a large chain hotel but when they pulled up to the beautiful Federal Style B & B she was stunned.

There were only four suites in the whole bed & breakfast. Jeffrey gave her the option of choosing her suite and she selected the one on the upper floor, leaving him one on the first floor. Perhaps it was the view that persuaded her. It was a beautiful suite with a sitting room separated from the bedroom with a fireplace and all the quintessential style one would find in a New England bed & breakfast. The place overlooked a nearby bay and seemed to be within walking distance of the main street which was quaint with brick sidewalks and black lampposts. It was a beautiful town.

Her hair was fixed and her makeup was applied, all she had to do was slip into her dress and heels before dinner. Clad only in her black satin thong and lace topped thigh high stockings the silence of the room was deafening to her. With a little more idle time on her hands she decided to call David. She didn't know what to expect or if he would even answer his cell phone but for some reason she felt she had to.

The phone rang and rang. Just before the voice mail picked up a breathless David answered.

"David Hunter."

"David, it's Belle."

"Hello, honey How is your trip going?"

Interesting, she thought, his caller ID should have told him it was me and yet he seemed to not know.

"Quick and good. You sound out of breath. Did I interrupt something?"

"Not really. I just finished my workout."

"Oh," she replied flatly, not fully believing his excuse.

"What are you doing this evening?"

"I'm getting ready to head to dinner in about twenty minutes. What do you have planned?"

"My plans include some Chinese take-out and my laptop which means work, work and more work." He laughed. It shouldn't seem out of the ordinary to her because she knew that it was his usual routine.

"Sounds lonely."

"Well, you're not here so I am lonely, sweetie."

"Isn't that sweet of you to say," she replied in a sickeningly sweet voice to hide the bitter taste in her mouth. Standing up she had begun to pace and her brow was arched. Was he really doing what he said he was doing or was he just a fantastic liar?

"It's the truth. I should let you go since you have to go to dinner soon. Have a good evening. Give me a call later if you get the chance. You know how to reach me."

"I do. Have a nice evening."

"I love you."

"I love you too, David."

The phone call was short and abrupt. Sure he had managed to call her sweetie, say "I love you" and say he was lonely without her but she couldn't help but sense something was going on. Pretty soon she would have tangible proof whether her gut instinct was correct or if she was just displacing her guilt into anger at David. The phone call had only eaten up a short time so she still had about five minutes before she needed to put her dress on. After digging in her bags she found the slip of paper that Jeffrey had given her with the detective's name and number on it. It was important for her to know a bit more of what specifics he had found out in the course of the day.

With her cell phone open again she quickly dialed the detective's number.

"Hello."

"Hello, Mr. Ericson. This is Annabelle Daescher. You had alluded to the fact that you had some information that you gathered about David's actions. I'm very curious as to what you found."

"Ah, yes. Ms. Daescher, I usually don't like to tell clients information like this over the phone."

"I understand but I'm in Massachusetts on business and find that the not knowing is eating away at me. Would you mind filling me in over the phone? I feel I have to know now or I might burst."

"If you insist."

"I insist."

"All right then." He then took a deep breath as if he planned to say a long list of things and needed the extra oxygen to say it all. " I have photographs of David entering a woman's home. They hugged and kissed each other at the door of her home and then he disappeared inside for a few hours. I couldn't get any good surveillance once he was inside, I'm afraid. Usually I can but the windows were all blocked by blinds. I found that to be suspicious. But when he emerged he wasn't wearing a shirt and actually drove back to his house to change before heading back into his office. After some research I learned that the woman's name is Judy Donovan."

"Judy? You're kidding. She's married to one of David's clients. I can't believe it Judy? Really? What the..." she exclaimed and left the statement hang. She was in disbelief.

"That's not all I have."

"There's more?"

"Yes. He had a handful of appointments today. A striking young woman visited him at the end of the day. They left and went to a bar and had a few drinks. Now they didn't kiss or anything but she kept touching his arm. I found out her name as well. It seems her name is Olivia Thompson, the daughter of the hotel tycoon. She accompanied him to his home and went inside for a few hours. Again the windows were blocked, I'm embarrassed to say. I rarely have such difficulties with surveillance inside but I did today. I'm not sure what all occurred inside but when she entered the house her hair was up in a twist but when she exited her hair was down."

She gasped. Olivia David hadn't mentioned her visit. What was she doing with him? Were they involved or was she telling him about her and Jeffrey?

"But does that all mean he is having an affair? It all sounds suspect, very suspect but it doesn't sound like you have concrete proof."

"That's why I plan to continue tailing him while you're away. I've been doing this for twelve years. I have found that when a client suspects something more often than not their suspicions are correct. This type of behavior isn't concrete proof, but I believe something is going on with one, if not both, of those women. I'm not willing to say for sure just yet."

"I'm in shock. I suppose I suspected, like you said. But hearing that I might be correct is surprising."

"I know Ms. Daescher. It's the part of my job that never gets easy. I don't like telling my clients that their significant other is cheating but it's still better than living in the dark. If you would like to call me tomorrow evening to get a status report, please feel free."

"I'll do that. Is this time all right?" she asked while glancing at the clock on the hotel night-stand.

"It's fine."

"Okay then. Thank you for being honest with me. I appreciate your help. I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Bye."

"Okay, bye."

The room was suddenly eerily silent and she sat clutching her cell phone. So it seemed David was up to something more than just errands. She felt a clenching in her stomach and yet a feeling of relief that she hadn't been the only one. What seemed odd to her was that upon hearing that her fiancé might be cheating on her the first reaction was relief. What kind of horrible woman was she?

Glancing at the clock again she realized that she was a few minutes behind schedule and had to hurry to meet Jeffrey downstairs. There was no time to process the information she had learned. It was her own fault for calling with little time to fully digest it all and she knew it. Sure you would think she would see the forest for the trees and yet she still didn't fully believe it. So she would have to try to put it all in the back of her mind.

She quickly dressed, grabbed her clutch purse and threw the room key inside. Turning this way and that she surveyed her profile. The short black dress hugged every delicious curve of her body and the slit up the side almost exposed the lace at the top of her thigh-high. The back dipped down so low that she almost couldn't wear the thong. There was no doubt that the items on the menu wouldn't be the only mouth-watering morsel this evening.