Dark Shadows

Collin played along and laughed politely saying, "I hear you. We 'poor folk' don't have a lot of fun, either. Not for a lack of things we'd like to do, but..."

He rubbed his thumb and fingers together indicating he meant money and Lisa smiled.

"Yeah, it's crazy how when you're young and poor you can't do the things you want. Then you get older and have money and..."

She stopped talking when she realized she still couldn't have fun because Michael wanted to know where she'd been, what she'd done, who'd she'd done it with, and God forbid she spend money he hadn't given her while doing it.

Collin rescued her by jumping in and taking over the conversation.

"I enjoy things like hiking and bike riding. I've learned to deal with the cold and even though I don't love it, I really enjoy being outdoors—my chosen future profession aside—and both of those are basically free after any initial expenses like a backpack or the bike. Do you enjoy either of those?"

"Oh, no. I don't get out too much. I have an exercise room at home and I spend quite a bit of time in there so yes, I like doing physical stuff, I just don't do any hiking or bicycle riding."

"I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way," Collin began, "but it's pretty obvious you take very good care of yourself."

And there was that...feeling...again. She didn't say anything or even smile. She just sat there looking at him and...feeling.

"Was that inappropriate?" he asked not sure what to make of her reaction.

"What? Oh. Um...no. Not at all. It was actually very nice of you to say that. It would be nice to hear my husband..."

Collin thought she might be close to getting emotional again so he abruptly changed the subject.

"Listen. If you ever feel like giving hiking a try, just let me know. There are a ton of great trails around here. The Seattle area is crazy expensive, but within an hour's drive we have some of the most amazing nature anywhere in the country and well, my current motto is 'free is better than cheap'."

Lisa laughed at his silliness then said, "Oh, right. Yes. Yes, we do have a lot of beautiful scenery."

As she spoke, the 'feeling' washed over her yet again when she thought about being out on some nature trail walking next to or...maybe even holding hands with this very handsome young man.

"Anyway, we should probably get back to work, don't you think?" he said finishing his sandwich.

Lisa had only taken two bites and felt stuffed.

"Maybe I'll save this for later," she said wrapping the rest of her sandwich up.

"Ah-hah! Now I know why you have such a great figure. Exercise and an extreme low-calorie diet." He smiled and emphasize the word 'extreme' dragging it out as he said it.

Lisa laughed again and told Collin, "I can't remember the last time I had so much...fun."

Collin smiled back and wanted to say, "If that's true, then you need to get out more," but was sure it would sound offensive even though that was the last thing on his mind.

Instead he said, "I'm really glad. You deserve to have a good time. Even if it's just hanging out with yours truly at a fast food joint."

"I...kind of like hanging out with you," she said before quickly changing the subject.

"So what's next?" Lisa asked wishing she hadn't said what she'd just said yet not wanting the good time she was having to end.

"I'd like to check out your former brother-in-law's phone calls, too. If your husband really is repeating his actions, there might just be a connection. Can I get his number, please?"

It wasn't crowded so they stayed at Subway while Collin got his laptop back out. Lisa gave him Ken's phone number, and within a few minutes he was nodding his head.

"Look here," he said. At Starbucks, he'd been seated closer to her while at Subway he was across the table making it hard to show her what he felt she needed to see.

"Do you mind?" he said pointing to the space beside her.

"Oh, no. Not at all," she told him as she scooted closer to the wall to let him in.

He sat next to her and when their arms brushed against the other's there was that feeling again. Perhaps it was the added physical contact as slight as it had been, but something was definitely different this time. That 'feeling' was even stronger than before.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to bump you."

"Oh, that's okay," she said sweetly. "So...what are we looking at?"

She found herself moving closer to him than she needed to in order to see the screen, but Collin either didn't notice or didn't mind.

"See these calls I've highlighted in red? Those are all calls to this same Elena woman. And unlike your husband's phone, I have his calls going back for several years. He must be a...very discriminating gentleman."

Lisa wanted to burst out laughing but managed to contain it. She playfully jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and said, "That's in comparison to my husband who is still just a plain old 'discriminating' gentleman, right?"

She was being playful, but it still made Collin feel bad for having said that. He turned his head toward her and found himself just inches from her very pretty face as he said very quietly, "I truly don't get it. You're...so...beautiful, Lisa."

There was an electric charge building between them and Lisa felt like it was ready to explode as he stared into her eyes. He was close enough she could tell exactly what he'd had on his sandwich as his warm breath touched her skin. Then in a start, she pulled back when she remembered she'd asked for red onions on her sandwich.

She covered her mouth and said, "Oh, my goodness. I need a toothbrush...bad!"

Whatever Lisa had been feeling before, Collin was now feeling himself. He told himself he had to be imagining it for several obvious reasons and yet he now knew for certain he'd felt it.

"Oh, right. The onions," he said when her words finally registered. "I honestly didn't notice."

"How could you not?" she asked still holding her hand over her mouth.

"I uh...I think maybe I was distracted by something," he said his voice trailing off as their eyes met again. When they did, Lisa knew he meant her eyes and there was that feeling yet again.

"Okay, so...what do all these calls tell us?" she asked afraid to go any further down the road of distractions.

"Oh, yeah. The phone calls. I can't be 100% sure, but I'd bet good money—if I had any to bet—that both brothers are both involved with the sultry Slavic ladies of the night."

"Bastard," Lisa said quietly.

"Me?" Collin asked hoping his quip about the escorts being sultry hadn't offended her.

"No. God, no!" Lisa said. "My husband. And my ex-brother in law."

She backed up as far as she could then turned toward him still covering her mouth.

"I want to catch him in the act."

"If he's still being...discriminating...that can be arranged," Collin assured her.

"How do we do it?" Lisa asked finally lowering her hand.

"First thing is to find out what phone this Elena woman uses to call her girls then correlate that with calls from your husband. If he has a favorite girl..."

Collin glanced at Lisa then quickly said, "Sorry, but that's probably the case. Guys tend to stick with someone who um...meets their needs. Anyway, once we know her number we can figure out when and where they meet. I can also put a tracking device on your husband's car and keep tabs on everywhere he goes to include when he goes to meet this woman—or...women. Lastly, if he has a favorite motel room—people tend to be creatures of habit—I can put in a camera so small no one but another security guy like myself would ever notice it."

"Collin, this has to be costing you a lot of money," Lisa said.

"No, just time," he told her. "I already have the equipment. Once I open my business and start growing it I'll need more cameras, more computers, and more help. But for now, my only expense is time and well, I kind of like spending mine with you."

He didn't apologize for being forward or 'untoward' this time. He just stared into her eyes again.

"Yeah. I...I do, too," she said very quietly. "But...I really should be getting home. It's...it's not smart to be away too long. He always seems to know when I'm gone and if I'm out too long it...well, it can be rather unpleasant."

Collin didn't move even though Lisa reached for her purse.

"He's got surveillance equipment in your house," he said flatly. "He's monitoring you."

"What? No! Michael would never..."

Suddenly it all made sense. How else could he possibly always call shortly after she'd been out of the house when he was on the road for days at a time? Even worse, how could she not have figured this out months or even years before? She knew the answer. Fear could be a very powerful motivator to remain silent or ignorant or...

"I could sweep your home and remove them or at least let you know where they are," Collin told her.

"But he'd see you and if he knew there was another man in the house he'd..."

Lisa shivered when she thought about his reaction.

"No problem. We'll just cut the power to the entire house. It won't take me that long and he'll assume it was a normal outage."

"But you can't remove them or turn them off or he'll know," Lisa said her 'paranoia gland' swelling with fresh blood.

"No, but you'll know for sure he's monitoring you, and you'll know where the cameras are."

"You're sure he won't see you?" she asked again.

"Not unless he comes home at the very time I'm in the house. Is that possible?"

"No. He's in Los Angeles all week," she told him. "Or at least that's what he told me."

Collin rechecked his recent phone calls and they all had either 213 or 310 area codes.

"I think we'll be fine," he told her. "I'll take you back to where you parked at Starbucks then follow you to your place."

It took over an hour to get to Lisa's because the noontime traffic was horrendous. Along with the cost of living it was one of the other drawbacks of life in the Seattle area.

When they finally arrived, Collin parked well down the street then walked up the sidewalk then checked carefully for any hint of surveillance on the exterior of the home before walking into the garage where Lisa was waiting for him.

"Okay, the outside appears to be clean. Can you please go in and turn off the power? There should be a 'main' switch at the top of your breaker box. Just flip that and we're all set."

The box was in the laundry room and it took her less than a minute to turn off the power then let Collin know 'the coast was clear.'

He pulled out a very bright Tac-Light flashlight and said, "Let's start in here and work our way through the house. If your husband is watching you, he's almost certainly put cameras in the most obvious places."

Collin smiled then said, "You ready?"

Within two minutes, he pointed to something in an upper shelf in a kitchen cabinet with clear glass panels.

"That's one," he said.

Lisa's blood ran cold when she saw it. It was so small it was almost unnoticeable to her even after Collin pointed it out.

"They're supposed to blend in like that. Were they too obvious it wouldn't make much sense to install them, right?" he said with another smile.

He found a second camera inside a knickknack in the living room. It was also tiny but had a wide-angle lens allowing the observer to see the entire room.

There was a third in the master bedroom and that one in particular angered Lisa to the point where she was shaking.

"That...asshole," she muttered. "He's out screwing other women but worried sick I might be doing something similar at home."

They were back out in the garage less than 20 minutes later discussing what they found. The power was back on and Michael would assume it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"The rest of the house is clean. Again, I wouldn't advise removing the cameras or even covering them up as that would only arouse suspicion. Besides, other than the fact that he's watching you, there's nothing for him to see."

"No kidding," Lisa said sardonically. "Nothing goes on in this house. Ever."

Collin felt truly bad for her but knew there was nothing he could do to change that part of her life. He could however, help her catch this prick of a husband in the act making it possible for her to move on with her life and he fully intended to do just that.

"I need some additional computing power to hack into a database so I'm heading back to my office. You know, the one jam packed with the spare computer parts laying around everywhere."

"I am so sorry for having thought that," Lisa said feeling rather foolish.

"Don't be," Collin assured her. "I'm just glad I can help out."

"I can't even put into words how grateful I am for everything you're doing," Lisa told him sincerely. "I...I just want this to be over."

"We'll catch him. I can promise you that. And while I can't promise you this, I'm reasonably sure it won't take that long."

They stood there just looking at one another and when it got uncomfortable Collin said, "This probably isn't any of my business, but do you have a lawyer? I'm pretty sure you're going to need one before too long."

"Good point. Yes, I do, only he's my husband's attorney so perhaps I should find someone who has no ties or loyalty to Michael, huh?"

"That's what I'd do. Let him or her know what you suspect, what we're doing, and what you want the attorney to do once we have proof."

Lisa thanked him then just before he walked away Collin said, "Lisa? I don't want to make this more difficult than it already is, but have you thought about what it's going to be like to...you know... actually see your husband doing whatever it is he does with these women?"

"Oh, God," she said while shaking her head. "No. I hadn't gotten that far. I wanted proof, I just never stopped to think what the proof might look like."

She forced a smile then told him, "Well, I now have an image burned into my brain, so perhaps actually seeing it won't come as quite as big a shock."

"You're a very brave woman, Lisa. And again, I'm really sorry you're being put through this."

Collin looked toward the street and said, "Okay. Let me get to work and I'll call you when I know something."

As he turned to leave, Lisa reached for his arm and when she touched it Collin stopped immediately.

"I...I wish their was some way I could repay you for this. I mean, something more than just writing positive reviews or telling my friends what great work you do."

Collin turned toward and said, "I would love to have dinner with you sometime. When you're free and single, that is."

Lisa found herself unable to speak. Secretly, that was the very response she'd hoped to hear and yet hearing him say it caught her so off guard it took her aback.

She stared at until Collin felt uncomfortable.

"No? Okay, I just thought I'd ask. After all, I don't think it's any big secret I'm very attracted to you and the more I learn about you, the more I find myself wanting to get to know you better," he said.

Lisa finally found her voice and said, "Are you talking about...a date?"

Collin smiled and said, "Honestly? Yes. But maybe I'm putting the cart way ahead of the horse. You're still married and you probably don't feel anything similar about me. Perhaps I'm just overly optimistic. Or...hopeful?"

He stepped away again when Lisa's hand shot out a second time. This time her hand found his and when Collin turned back, she stood on her toes and softly kissed him on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss, but it also wasn't a peck. It was more of an answer than anything else.

"So...does that mean you'll think about it?" he said with a smile as he looked into her eyes.

"Yes," she said very quietly. She'd hoped he wouldn't be upset with her or ask her what she thought she was doing and as his hand slowly moved away from hers, she felt a kind of sadness and emptiness. It didn't make sense to her, but she suddenly felt...lonely; more lonely than she'd ever felt when Michael was away.

Neither of them said anything else. Collin just turned and walked away making his way back down the sidewalk to his older, rough-looking Ford Taurus.

"What just happened?" Lisa said to herself out loud as she watched him drive by and wave. She waved back and felt her heart flicker again as he did before finally going back inside now aware that her every move was being watched.

"Bastard," she hissed as she thought about the cameras recording her from the time she walked in until she went to bed and even while she slept. That thought was so disturbing and so...creepy...she wondered whether or not she would even be able to get to sleep in her own bed that night.

A few hours later, her phone chimed indicating an incoming text, and the noise startled her to the point of flinching. It was from Michael and her blood turned to ice when she read it.

"Hey, beautiful! Someone told me the power went out for a while today in our area. Any truth to that? Hope everything's okay. Anything new going on? Same old, same old here. Endless meetings with potential clients, lots of promises, and even a few sales. Hey, maybe we can try and find you some really nice leather pants or maybe even an entire outfit! You know what you'd also look great in, baby? Latex. We should try that sometime! Okay. Gotta run. Just making sure my girl is safe and sound. See you in a few days! M."

"You make me sick," she said quietly as she set the phone back down. The only time Michael ever even hinted about anything physical anymore was when it involved something that turned him on. She knew he had a thing for leather clothing, but this latex thing was something new. Lisa couldn't help but wonder if one of these Slavic beauties wore some kind of kinky costume for him while they did it.

Lisa shivered as she tried to keep her imagination from running wild. Then again, if he was screwing other women, her imagination was more than likely too tame if it was wrong in either direction. God only knew what her husband might be into with women who were paid to make a man's fantasies come true.

The following morning, Lisa was laying in bed at 9:30am exhausted and groggy when she realized she'd received another text around 9 o'clock. She forced one eye open and peeked at her phone. When she realized this one was from Collin, her reaction couldn't have been more different than when the sender was Michael. She was suddenly wide awake as she sat up straight as her heart began to beat quickly. Her spirits soared just seeing his name. She opened it and began reading.

"I was up most of the night—-working (although I have to admit I found it hard not to think about what happened just before I left)—and I think I've got all the information we'll need, but I don't want to say anything more in a text. Could we perhaps meet at my office (such as it it) around noon? Collin."

Seconds later Lisa replied with, "Yes. I'll be there at twelve. And thank you—again. Lisa."

She wanted to talk about what had happened because she knew she needed to apologize. Lisa could only imagine what he thought of her after that. A woman her age, a woman who's husband is almost certainly cheating on her making her feel desperate, just up and kisses someone helping her out for free. Her jubilation over the text was short lived as she promptly began castigating herself for being so foolish. She knew full well that loneliness and desperation weren't excuses for acting the fool. They just made the fool look more foolish.

She felt much better after a hot shower, and evidently the internal scolding didn't take as she found herself debating for an inordinately long time about what to wear. She certainly didn't need to show up wearing one of the many dresses she considered. Nor did this kind of meeting call for a skirt let alone high heels. Jeans and tee-shirt would be fine. A blouse would be a little dressy but still very acceptable.