Illusion of Luck 33

Rebecca tried to ignore the phone, but it just kept ringing. She recognized the ring tone—it was Wendy calling from the office, even though she had been instructed not to.

As soon as she yanked the covers off her head, the sunlight beaming through the slim opening between the curtains hit her in the eye like a laser. “Hello?”

“Just wanted to find out what time you were coming in. Mrs. Smithers has already called to confirm her appointment.”

“But, Wendy—“

“—oh, and that police detective called yesterday. He’s got some more questions for you.”

Yesterday? Yesterday was Sunday. Wasn’t it? “Wendy, what is today?”

“The 27th.”

“No. What day of the week is it?”

Wendy hesitated, and then said, “It’s Tuesday.”

Rebecca had already glanced at her clock radio, but thought it was broken. “It’s 8:25 on Tuesday morning.”

“Yes… What’s the matter, Rebecca?”

“I was asleep for 24 hours. I knew I was tired, but—okay, I’ll be in soon. Thanks, Wendy. Bye.”

Rebecca sat on the side of the bed and checked her cell phone for missed calls and messages. It would have been nice to have one from Sandy. Their upcoming Friday night date seemed a year away.

By now, Greg and Cynthia should be enjoying one heck of an afterglow, she thought. After waiting all that time, their first night must have set the sheets on fire. She imagined what it would be like to get naked with Sandy.

Surely Greg wouldn’t mind a quick call. It would be nice to know for sure that the honeymoon was finally on track—with no more interference from Larry the Loser.

Rebecca located what she thought was Greg’s number in her ‘Dialed Calls’ list and pressed the Send button.

“Hello?”

She must have woken Greg up, she thought. He didn’t sound like himself. “Hey, Greg, this is Rebecca Ranghorn.”

“Oh, yes, Rebecca. Thanks for calling. But, this is not Greg’s number—it’s Cynthia’s.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s me—Barry Undermine. And I will be seeing my darling Cynthia very soon. In fact, I plan to impreg­nate her this very evening.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I’m going to plant my seeds in his garden.” He began to laugh.

“Larry Luzor.” She spit the name into her phone.

He stopped laughing. “How did you know my real name?”

“Oh, I know everything about you. Number one: you’re a coward. Number two: you’re a woman killing, slimy, sorry excuse for a human being. And…that’s it. You’re just a Number One and a Number Two. You’re something people flush down the toilet, Larry. I guess that makes you a potty person. Minus the person, of course.”

“That’s brave talk, coming from a mere woman.”

“You haven’t dealt with this woman. And when you do—you’re gonna be sorry you ever laid a hand on my partner.”

“Candy?”

“Her name was Melanie.”

“Oh, I think Candy is more fitting, since Candy let me lick her all over, and I’m telling right now: she was delicious.”

“You pig!”

“What about you? Did you ever get a lick of Miss Candy?”

“You make me want to barf!”

“I can’t tell you how much fun it was to hump her fine body over and over, and then pop her cute little neck like a chicken bone.”

“Just name the place and I’ll be there. But you won’t, will you? You ain’t got the balls to try that with me.”

“Honey, I will be more than happy to take you on. But first, I’ll have my date with Cynthia. I’m gonna introduce that red­head to the business end of a fourteen year-old hard-on. But, don’t worry—I’ll get back to you.”

“You just leave her alone, or I’ll—“

“—you’ll what? There’s nothing you can do to stop me, so don’t waste your time. And speaking of time—thanks for the wakeup call. Although, it was a little late. It’s already 9:30, and I’ve got a woman to stalk. So, have a nice day, Honey. See you soon.” He kissed into the phone and hung up.

She threw her cell phone at the wall. Chasing Larry around for the past few days had kept her mind off Melanie. Now her heart ached as though she had just found her friend’s lifeless body in that rundown motel room.

Rebecca’s mind wandered to the time she caught Melanie. It happened just a few weeks after they had become partners. At around 8:30 on a Wednesday night, Rebecca was on her way to make Cheating Husband Video No. 37 when she real­ized that her video camera was not in the car. So, she swung by the office to pick it up.

There was light coming from Melanie’s office, so she walked in to turn it off, and was startled to see a hooker sitting at Melanie’s desk.

“What are doing in here?” Rebecca grabbed her cell phone and was about to call the police.

“Rebecca.”

Rebecca was surprised the hooker knew her name.

The woman stood up. “Rebecca, it’s me—Melanie.”

If that coal black hair is a wig, thought Rebecca, it could be her. Man, was she hot! The tight mini-skirt and low-cut blouse accentuated all her nice parts. How could any man with blood in his veins resist her? “Melanie, why in the world are you dressed like that?”

Melanie smiled bashfully. “I’m working.”

“Working? Working the streets?”

“Yeah, sort of. I’m gonna try to pick up a certain husband in a certain bar and take him to a motel.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, a little. But I’ve got to catch this guy. I’ve tried everything else. And the wife is absolutely sure he’s cheating.”

“What makes her so sure?”

“She found a condom in his pants pocket.”

“And?”

“His wife had a hysterectomy two years ago.”

“So, now you’re going to seduce him—and what? Secretly videotape him getting naked with you?”

“Well, yeah.”

Melanie was like a little sister to Rebecca. “Sweetie, please don’t do that. It’s gonna make you feel so dirty, and it could be dangerous. It’s just not worth it.”

“But it’s the only way I can nail him.”

“No. Don’t do it.” It was more of an order than a request.

“Well…okay.”

Rebecca grabbed her camera and left. “Bye. See you in the morning.”

The next morning when Rebecca walked into the office with the donuts, she found Melanie sitting at her desk watching a video on the camera’s LCD screen, smiling. “He’s a goner,” she said, with great satisfaction. “The wife will get everything she wants and deserves.”

Rebecca walked around the desk and watched the video over her shoulder. “You had sex with him? What were you thinking?”

“I got him.”

“Yeah, we’ll it looks like he got you. I don’t understand. How could you degrade yourself like this, Melanie?”

“It’s worth it to catch a cheater.”

“No, it’s not. You’ve turned yourself into a—”

Melanie jumped up from her chair. “—a slut? No, I haven’t. My ex-husband did that.”

“By cheating on you with hookers? How did that make you a bad person?”

“Look, I understand what you’re saying, Rebecca, and I wish I could feel that way about it. But after I went up to Little Rock and met that prostitute, Cherry, and found out he had sex with dozens of women like her, I knew I was just another hooker to him. And it was as though I had slept with all of those women too.”

“That’s crazy, Honey.”

“I know it’s crazy. But I can’t get it out of my head. So, I decided I might as well put it to good use.”

When the husband had seen the video, he agreed to his wife’s divorce terms. The wife never saw it. Once all the paper­work had been signed, Melanie destroyed her little sex tape.

Rebecca had made Melanie promise she would never do it again. But now she thought about all the cases her partner had closed in short order, and knew why. She shuddered to think that her friend got any pleasure from the lurid encounters. If so, she was even more damaged than Rebecca had realized.

But she still didn’t understand how Melanie had hooked up with Larry. Maybe on that particular night, the cheating hus­band was a no-show at the motel. So, she went on the prowl for cheaters and found Larry. Perhaps she saw a wedding ring or a tan ring and decided to see if he’d take the bait.

Rebecca wondered what she could have done differently that might have saved her dear friend.

Her cell phone began to ring. At least it still worked, she thought. She walked over to pick up the pieces and saw that there were only two. The cover had just popped off. “Hello?”

“Hey, Rebecca, it’s Sandy.”

She grinned broadly. “Hi, Sandy.”

“Have you seen Larry’s new chapter?”

“No.”

“I’m afraid we’ve got trouble.”