Eenie, Meenie, Miney...

Tom drew back in surprise. "Me? But I haven't done anything," he protested.

"That's right, you haven't done one fucking thing. If you'd kept that slut of yours in line, none of this would have ever happened!"

"Now wait a minute, Rachel. Cece isn't a slut . . ."

"You're defending her?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"Yes - I mean no - I mean . . ."

"You're pathetic!" Rachel screamed at him. "I'll bet everyone where you work is laughing at you behind your back. Before I'm done, the whole town will know what a pathetic cuckold you are. You won't dare show your face. You'll die too, a living death!"

Her venom and anger struck straight to the heart of Tom's feelings of inadequacy, and he recoiled as though she'd hit him with a club.

"You're crazy! None of this is my fault. It was your husband who started all this," he yelled defensively.

She began to laugh in a way that frightened Tom. "My God, she really is crazy," he thought. "There's no telling what she might do!" Hastily he grabbed up the photos and backed away from her until he reached the front door. Then he turned and made a dash for his car. As he drove away, he thought he could still hear Rachel laughing.

When he got back home, Tom was deeply shaken by Rachel's reaction. "I knew she'd be upset, but I never imagined she'd go off the handle that way. There's no telling what she might do now."

A terrifying thought struck him. "What if she knows some of the people at my office? If she starts spreading rumors, I'll never be able to keep working there." He could just picture that obnoxious Harry Williams and what his reaction would be. "He'd never let me hear the end of it," Tom thought. "I've got to do something - but what?"

Finally he decided that the best thing to do was to try to reach Cece and Vince and get them back here as soon as possible. "She's his wife - it's up to him to handle her. And if she goes crazy on him, well, he deserves whatever he gets."

He picked up his cellphone and dialed Cece's phone again, only to get the out-of-service message. Impatiently he waited until her voicemail came on, then left an angry message: "Cece, you and Vince better get back home right away if you don't want more trouble than you're already in. I have pictures of you two, and Rachel knows everything as well. Call me back and let me know you got this message, you cheating bitch!"

When he had finished he went to the liquor cabinet, grabbed the whiskey and returned to the sofa. As he drank from the bottle, his mind kept replaying his encounter with Rachel. The more he thought about it the more fearful he became about what revenge she might take against him. "And I didn't do anything," he thought pathetically.

When he woke up the next morning he had a raging hangover, and he decided to call in sick. But then he began to worry that someone might have overheard him in the conference room. "I have to go in to show them all I'm fine," he thought. After a shower and a breakfast that consisted mostly of aspirin, he somehow managed to get into work.

He was relieved to discover that no one treated him any differently, but that relief was offset by the fact that Cece hadn't returned his call. He wished he had Vince's number, but the only way he knew to get it was to call Rachel, and that was to be avoided at all costs. He thought about calling the convention office, but didn't want to risk starting rumors by leaving an urgent message. He felt boxed in.

When he got home that evening, he found that he'd left the house a mess. There were cushions on the floor and clothing draped over the furniture, and he stumbled over the whiskey bottle as he began to straighten up. He'd even left the kitchen door unlocked when he'd left that morning. "I didn't notice any of this when I left. I must still have been a little drunk," he thought ruefully.

He started to clean up the house, but stopped to make another call to Cece. When he again reached her voicemail, he hung up angrily. "She's obviously ignoring me," he thought. "Well, it doesn't matter if she comes home now or fucks him until the convention is over. All she's doing is postponing the inevitable. Either way, I'm calling a lawyer tomorrow."

Cece

Cece was almost embarrassed. "It's a good thing I don't know anyone here at the convention," she thought. "The way I've been hanging on Vince would make anyone realize something was going on."

Indeed many people had noticed the obvious emotion flowing between the two of them, and several had remarked "what a cute couple they made." Cece fluttered between uneasiness and excitement as she clung to her handsome paramour's arm. "I wish we didn't have to go home at the end of the week," she'd whispered to him several times.

On Thursday evening one of the major textbook companies held a dinner-dance for the attendees, and Cece and Vince enjoyed it thoroughly, dancing until they were too tired to go on, then returning to their table to have more complimentary cocktails. By the time the event ended, both of them were more than a little intoxicated, and that made them even more amorous when they returned to Cece's room.

But when Vince reached for her, Cece dodged clumsily out of his reach. "Wait, Tom," she said somewhat breathlessly. "I've been saving something special for you. Let me go change."

As he lolled on the bed, she ducked into the bathroom, taking her make-up case with her. She'd been keeping the baby-doll set she'd picked up at Victoria's Secret in reserve, and now was the perfect time to bring it out. The top was sheer and black with red embellishments over her pert breasts; the panties were just a thong made of see-through black lace. She started to take off her heels, but decided at the last minute to leave them on because they made her calves look so good.

As she was finishing, she noticed that her purse had tipped over and spilled out her cellphone. When she picked it up, she was shocked to see that it was turned off. "Oh my goodness," she thought, "it's been turned off the whole time I've been here. I've been having so much fun I never even thought about it."

Quickly she turned the phone on and felt a wave of guilt when she saw all the missed calls from Tom. "I better check, just to make sure it isn't an emergency." When she heard his last message, she shrieked.

"Are you okay in there, Cece?" Vince asked anxiously. In answer, Cece opened the bathroom door and wordlessly handed Vince her phone so he could hear the message. Tom's eyes grew wide. "Oh, shit!" he exclaimed. "We are in so much trouble."

Cece slumped down on the bed and began to cry. "I never thought he would find out," she sobbed. "We have to go home right away, Vince."

He cradled her in his arms. "I guess you're right, baby. But we'll have to wait till tomorrow morning - with all we've had to drink, there's no way either of us should be behind the wheel tonight."

She looked at him tearfully. "You're right, but I feel so terrible about this."

"I know, baby, I know," he crooned, holding her and kissing her hair. After a minute or two his kisses slipped down her neck to her ear and shoulder. Suddenly she sat bolt upright, pushing him away.

"What do you think you're doing, Vince?" she demanded.

"Look, baby, we're stuck here tonight and we can't do anything until tomorrow anyway. Besides, you look hot as hell, and this may be the last chance we get for a while."

"I can't believe you!" she said hotly. "Our marriages are probably over, our jobs could be in jeopardy, and all you can think about is sex?"

"I just don't want to waste any chance we have to be together, baby, that's all."

"Well you have no chance at all tonight, mister. I'm sleeping in the other bed, and don't you be creeping over there in the middle of the night, either."

The temperature in the room chilled noticeably.

Vince

It wasn't until early afternoon on Thursday that Vince and Cece managed to start on the drive home. The two of them wound up sleeping much later than they had intended, and both of them had hangovers when they woke. Plenty of coffee and a light brunch helped; then they both had to pack and check out before finally hitting the road.

In the light of day, the enormity of the trouble they were in hit them full force. They chose to order room service for breakfast because Cece couldn't stop crying and she didn't want others to see her. In addition to being certain that her marriage was over, Cece was stricken by remorse at the pain she knew her deceit had caused Tom. She also realized that her husband would also be in agony at the prospect of losing face among his colleagues and their friends. "No matter what happens, we've got to try to keep this quiet - for his sake as well as our own," she told Vince.

Vince did all he could to reassure her. "Tom loves you," he kept repeating. "It will be hard, but he'll forgive you. And even if he doesn't, he can save face by filing under irreconcilable differences, not adultery." Cece knew that Vince was right, but the idea of divorce sent her into another round of weeping.

When she finally calmed a little, she raised her head and asked, "What about Rachel? How is she going to take this?"

Vince looked at her unhappily. "It's going to be very, very hard on her. Her parents went through a painful divorce that left some deep scars." Then his face brightened a little. "But maybe that's a positive thing. If we can get through the initial pain, maybe what happened to her parents will convince Rachel not to demand a divorce."

Then his mood turned deeply serious. "I know that it would be best for Tom and Rachel if we both could avoid divorce. And frankly, it will be a lot better for your career and mine. But the fact is, I don't want to end things with you." He took Cece's hands in his and asked, "How do you feel about that?"

She stared hard at him, then dropped her eyes. "Don't make me answer that question. This is all such a mess and I don't know what's going to happen to any of us. All I know is we have to get home and start dealing with it."

When they wheeled their bags out to the parking lot, Vince came over to Cece's car and said, "I'm going to follow you to your home, baby."

She looked at him in alarm. "You can't do that, Vince, it will make Tom just that much angrier."

"I don't care," he said stubbornly, "I'm going to make sure he doesn't do anything to harm you. If he wants to take a swing at me, that's fine -I deserve it anyway. But I won't let him touch you."

Nothing she could say could dissuade him, so she set out for home apprehensively, with Vince's car right behind her.

Tom

Tom had gone in to work that morning, but when he received a text around noon from Cece saying she was on her way, he took the rest of the day off to go home and await her return. As the hours went by, he grew increasingly agitated. "What the hell is taking her so long?" he fumed. "Did she stop along the way to fuck Vince again?"

As a result he was in a highly emotional state when he saw Cece's car finally pull into the driveway. And when he saw Vince pull in behind her, he was beside himself. He threw open the front door and yelled, "What the hell is he doing here?"

Instead of replying, Vince simply grabbed Cece's bags and walked with her up to the door. "Listen, Tom, I know you're angry with me, and you have every right to be. But I owe it to you to face you like a man, and I owe it to Cece to make sure she doesn't come to any harm because of what I've done."

Tom simply stared at him, so upset that he couldn't think of anything to say. Finally he remembered how public their little scene was and backed away from the door. Warily, Vince and Cece went in and sat down in the living room.

Tom had spent the afternoon rehearsing what he wanted to say to Cece, but now that she was here with Vince he couldn't recall a thing he had planned. Before he could start, Cece spoke up, tears already starting to roll down her cheeks. "Tom, I'm so sorry for what we've done to you. I never wanted to hurt you. The truth is I never believed that you'd find out."

Tom stared at her angrily. "And what is it that you've done exactly that you're sorry for? Oh, maybe it was this!" And with that he tossed the photos from the detective agency onto the coffee table in front of Cece and Vince. Vince turned pale and Cece began to sob.

Tom felt a certain vindication at the pair's obvious distress, but his triumph was short-lived. Vince suddenly spoke up. "Have you showed these pictures to anyone else, Tom?"

Tom had intended to contact an attorney and use the photos as evidence, but the idea of revealing his shame to another person had caused him to hesitate. Now Tom felt defensive, and he spat out, "No, but I'm going to. I just wanted to hear what this slut had to say for herself first." Even to Tom that sounded weak.

Now Vince saw an opportunity. "Listen, Tom, you don't want to do anything hasty. Cece loves you; she doesn't want to lose you. I was the bad guy in all this; I was the one who seduced her. Everybody at those conventions goes wild, and in that sort of environment I took advantage of her. If you forgive her and take her back, you'll have the most loving and faithful wife any man ever had, I promise you. Be angry at me, but show Cece that you still love her."

Tom was thrown off guard. A part of him did indeed want to take Vince's advice because then there would be no exposure, no humiliation. But his emotions from the week were still raw and he found it hard to put those away so easily. "You want me to just forget about those pictures, forget about what you two have been doing all week?" he asked incredulously.

"I know it's a deep wound, and it's going to take a long time to heal completely. But love is the one thing that can heal that kind of wound, and I think you both still love each other very deeply," Vince said.

As he spoke, Cece glanced over at him with a mixture of surprise and admiration. She had never expected Vince to fall on his sword for her and she was filled with gratitude and something more.

Tom too was surprised at Vince's words, and now a new rationalization filled his mind. It wasn't Cece's fault: Vince had seduced her. She'd been weak but had learned her lesson. If they went to counseling and worked things out, everything would be back to normal and no one would ever know.

As those thoughts flashed through his mind, he slowly turned toward Cece. "Do you really feel that way, Cece? Would you promise to be faithful from now on and to go to counseling to work on our marriage? Would you promise never to see Vince again?"

At that last sentence, Cece suddenly darted a look at Vince and then stared at the floor, unable to look at her husband.

Tom understood the implications instantly. "Omigod, he almost had me fooled. You don't love me, you're in love with Vince! That does it, I'm . . ."

At that moment the doorbell rang, and Tom's head jerked around to stare at the door. "Who the hell can that be?" he asked. The doorbell rang again insistently, and Tom went over to shoo the caller away. But when he opened the door, Rachel came bursting into the room, almost knocking Tom down.

All three of them stared at her in shock. Instead of the attractive and well-groomed woman they all knew, the figure that stood before them was a harridan with hair uncombed, clothes askew and a wild expression on her face. "I thought I'd find the three of you plotting against me!" she yelled. "You're all in it together."

Cece was the first to recover. "No, Rachel, you've got it all wrong. Vince and I came here to confess to Tom and beg his forgiveness. Then we were coming to see you."

"You're a liar!" Rachel screamed. "You're just a slut who spread your legs for my husband and who knows how many others!" Suddenly, to their astonishment, she sprang at Cece and hit her in the cheek with her fist, knocking the stunned woman to the floor.

For a moment everyone was paralyzed; then Vince grabbed his wife by the arms and pulled her away from Cece's sprawling figure. Rachel screamed and began trying to hit and claw her husband. When he held her arms securely she kicked him in the shin, causing him to collapse on the floor in pain.

Rachel stood over him, screaming invective. "Do you know what you've done to me? I told you what happened to my mother and my sister, and you cheated on me anyway. But don't think you and your little slut will get away with this. Before I'm through the two of you will never work in education again. Everyone will hear about this - everyone will see those pictures!"

Tom had been too stunned to act, but Rachel's threat to make the photos public spurred him to action. "Rachel," he said soothingly, "let's talk about this. We . . ."

"You!" Rachel screamed at him. "If you had kept your bitch on a leash when she was in heat, she wouldn't have gone sniffing at my husband's crotch. But I guess you just weren't man enough to satisfy her. Well don't worry about me talking. When I get through, everyone in town will be laughing at you. When they go on Google to look up 'cuckold,' your face will be the first thing they see!" she sneered derisively.

She stepped back and put her hands on her hips, swiveling to look at all three of them. "I'm going home now to get some rest. I'll need it because I've got a big day ahead of me: careers to destroy, reputations to ruin, good names to smear." She turned toward Vince. "And don't even think about coming home, husband dear. If you do I'll have the police on you so fast it will make your head spin."

Then she turned on her heel and strode out of the room, slamming the front door behind her. The three remaining people were so stunned that they temporarily forgot their own problems. "Omigod, what was all that?" Cece gasped in disbelief. "I thought she was going to kill me."

"She's going to kill us all, one way or another, unless we stop her," Tom said. Turning to Vince, he said accusingly, "She's your wife - can't you do anything with her?"

In some ways Vince was more shaken than any of them. "You don't understand, I have never seen anything like that before. I knew her history with her parents, but she's never behaved like this. I wonder if she's had some sort of psychotic episode."

"Well, you may not have seen it before, but she was like that when I told her about you and Cece earlier this week," Tom said sullenly.

"You told her about us?" Tom yelled. "Why in the hell did you do that?"

Tom's anger was back in full force. "Well why in the hell did you commit adultery with my wife, you bastard?"

Tempers flared again until finally Tom roared, "I want the two of you out of my house right now. Vince, I don't care where you go, and as for you, Cece . . ." Then he paused and thought better of what he'd been about to say. "No, I don't want the two of you getting together in some motel. Cece, you stay here tonight - I'll find a place to stay and we'll figure things out tomorrow. Vince, I'd better not hear about you trying to sneak over here, or there'll be hell to pay."

With that the three of them split up and went their separate ways, each shaken, each wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Rachel

Exhausted from her meltdown at Tom Maddux's house, Rachel returned home and soon fell asleep on the couch. It was sometime much later that night that she awoke to the sound of footsteps out on her front porch. "I'll bet it's Vince trying to sneak in," she thought, her anger flaring. She rushed to the front door and flung it open. In the faint glow of the street light, the only thing she saw clearly was the muzzle of an automatic pointed at her. "Oh!" she said, and then the 9 mm. round traveling at well over 1200 feet per second blew a hole through her forehead and sent skull fragments and brain tissue spraying into the house. She never felt it, nor did she feel the next three bullets that were fired into her corpse.