Ch 1-10

Summary

Matt Duncan was a devoted husband. His wife was his world. That was until he discovered the love of his life was having an affair with her personal trainer. The humiliation from her betrayal caused something inside Matt to snap. To Matt, she had crossed a line from which there was no going back. Using experiences gained from a long career in the FBI, he devised a foolproof plan to kill his unfaithful wife and frame her lover. With his vast knowledge of the criminal mind and crime scenes, he was certain he would literally get away with murder. It would be the perfect crime. Or would it…? He needed everything to go to plan, for it to succeed. But Matt would soon learn that even the most careful and thorough planning, could not account for everything.

Chapter 1

Alicia Duncan leaned her elbows on the balcony of her beach front home. Her brief, diamond-white bikini and shoulder length blonde hair conspired to accentuate her all-over golden tan; the result of regular west coast sun exposure, not sprays or bottles.

While patiently waiting for her husband, Matt, to return from the kitchen with their fresh drink refills, she watched the fiery sunset and the late afternoon beach activity on the sands below their two- story home.

Saturday had been scorching hot, so their elevated balcony overlooking La Jolla Shores beach was the perfect location to relax with a cold drink and enjoy the gentle sea-side breeze.

With a fresh drink in each hand Matt paused briefly before sliding open the glass patio door leading out to the rear balcony.

He took a moment to regard his beautiful wife, who faced away from him, watching the sunset. Despite his wife being the love of his life, his firm expression was one of questioning uncertainty.

Alicia was an incredibly beautiful woman with stunning model-like features that belied her thirty-two years. In the five years they had been married, he had never before had cause to question his wife’s trust. As far as he knew, they shared a mutual trust and infatuation of each other.

But to Matt, something changed in Alicia around the time her personal trainer, Calvin, resigned and was replaced by her new trainer, Jason.

Matt’s mouth straightened at his growing doubt. He took one last approving look at his alluring wife before sliding the patio door open with an elbow.

The rhythmic sounds of breaking waves and the warm late afternoon summer breeze welcomed him as he stepped out onto their elevated balcony.

‘Magnificent isn’t it?’ Matt said of the golden sunset over the vast expanse of ocean.

‘Glorious,’ Alicia said, scanning the fiery orange glow. ‘It’s so pretty. It’s such a shame it has to go away each night.’

She accepted her recharged glass of champagne from Matt. Her other hand hovered underneath the glass, as if to catch any spillage.

Matt offered his Corona’s long neck. ‘Cheers Hun,’ he said.

‘Cheers,’ she replied with a smile, accepting the toast with a clink of her champagne flute.

Following a sip of their drinks, they both leaned their elbows on the balcony handrail to take in the last of the fading sunset.

‘So…’ Matt said, then sneaked in a quick sip for courage. ‘Tell me about this new trainer of yours…this Jason character.’

‘What do you want to know?’

‘Who he is…? Where’s he from…? You know, that kind of stuff.’

Alicia glanced at Matt and smiled. She took a sip while holding her smiling eyes on Matt. ‘Don’t tell me you’re jealous of my new personal trainer…?’ She said with a teasing tone.

Matt shrugged. ‘No. It’s just that…Well, if he’s going to be holding one-on-one training sessions with you every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday…I think I should know a little more about him. I knew Calvin fairly well…but this guy…’ Matt shrugged, as his voice trailed off.

Alicia grinned at her husband. ‘I suppose I’d ask the same questions, if the situation was reversed.’ She took a sip before leaning back onto her elbows.

‘Well…’ she began. Her focus was out towards their darkening beachfront vista, as she spoke. ’He is twenty-five. African American. Single. He said he was born in Pittsburgh and went to Penn State University.

’He only recently moved to San Diego and lives alone in a rental in Pacific Beach. He has done some catwalk and magazine modelling in the past, but for the last three years he has worked full time as a personal trainer and gym instructor.

‘If I was to compare him to someone so you could get a visual…I’d say he reminds me a little bit of the guy who plays Derek Morgan in the Criminal Minds TV series.’

This comparison was particularly relevant to Matt given they both regularly tuned in to watch the weekly Criminal Minds episodes with interest, due to Matt’s line of work.

‘Shemar Moore…’ Matt said. ‘Shemar Moore plays Derek Morgan.’

Alicia nodded. ‘Not his doppelgänger…but a close look-a-like,’ she said. She grinned at Matt. ‘Enough information for you…?’

‘Bit of a contrast in personal trainers, wouldn’t you say…?’ Matt said.

‘How so…’

‘I mean, Calvin was forty, average looking, married and white. This new guy…from what you tell me…is single, African American and –’

‘Hot…’ Alicia quickly added, with an approving nod. ‘He’s hot…and he knows it too,’ she said. She grinned into her glass, as she took a sip.

Matt curiously watched Alicia sip her champagne. She knew way too much about this new trainer for his liking.

Alicia caught Matt staring at her. ‘What…?’ she said with a smirk. ‘He is…I can’t help it if he has rock-hard abs and a chiseled body to go with his cute looks…’

‘No. I suppose you can’t…’ Matt said. His eyes narrowed. ‘But being “Hot” is important in a trainer, is it?’ Matt said with a deliberate tone of cynicism.

‘Oh, don’t get me wrong, he’s a very good trainer,’ Alicia said. ‘But having a trainer who is easy on the eye is a bit of a bonus, isn’t it?’ Her question was rhetorical.

Matt flicked the stubble on the side of his face as his gazed out over at rolling waves. He had never met this Jason, yet he disliked him immensely.

Moving his extreme jealousy aside, something in his gut kept telling him this guy could not be trusted with his beautiful wife. But now after seeing how she lit up when she spoke of the trainer, he also questioned whether he could trust his beautiful wife with this guy?

Either way this whole personal training arrangement was not something he was happy with. He never had these concerns with Calvin.

Alicia’s “hot” comments particularly resonated with him. So much so he decided he would have to keep a close eye on this relationship.

Matt relaxed on his spacious rear balcony sipping on his coffee, while catching up on recent events from his Sunday morning newspaper. He lifted his eyes to Alicia when she stepped out onto the balcony, wearing her training workout clothes.

‘I’m heading out now, Hun,’ she said with a pleasant smile.

A smile of approval illuminated his face, as he regarded his wife. Matt loved how fit she looked, dressed in her body hugging active wear.

With the tight body tone of a professional dancer, her black ¾ length compression tights firmly hugged every inch of her shapely hips, butt and legs.

Her skin-tight fluorescent pink sports bra top contoured to her ample breasts and proudly exposed her flat, golden tanned stomach. White low cut ankle socks and runners completed the very sexy sporty ensemble.

Alicia moved over and stood between Matt’s legs. He responded by cupping his hands around her tight butt, while she kissed him good-bye.

‘Have a good time,’ he said, as she stepped away from him.

Alicia glanced back over her shoulder at Matt as she walked, probably to check he was still watching her; of course he was.

After all these years together he remained enamored by her beauty and alluring sex appeal.

Matt watched her disappear through the door and into the house. Once she was out of view his smile instantly wiped. He was not comfortable with her training with this new guy.

Being a trained investigator who made a living by reading people with something to hide, he was getting a read from Alicia.

Was it his jealousy, or was something going on between Alicia and her new younger trainer?

Whatever it was, his reliable gut instinct developed from over fifteen-years in the FBI told him something seemed amiss.

But how could he find out without offending her? Regardless, if there was something going on, he would find out.

The background checks he discreetly ran on Jason came up empty, except for one anomaly. Alicia said Jason rented in Pacific Beach. Matt’s checks discovered Jason actually had a mortgage on the property he lived in.

One thing was for certain, if this new trainer was having an affair with Matt’s wife, it was not going to end well – for the trainer, or Matt’s wife. Matt was a proud man with a huge ego and he would not be humiliated by anyone; not his wife and certainly not this Jason.

It was the end of a long week. The weather was perfect for a work out – not too hot and not too sunny.

Jason decided to hold Friday morning’s training session on the beach, just north of Alicia’s house, towards the optional clothing area of the beach.

Working as a registered nurse at the San Diego County Hospital, Alicia was on a 3pm afternoon shift, so she had the morning free for her one-on-one training with Jason.

The beach was relatively quiet for that time of the day. Despite the overcast sky, the temperature was still pleasantly warm. There were some swimmers, but mostly joggers and people walking along the sand. Some stopped to briefly watch Alicia workout.

It had been tiring for Alicia, but their hour-long training session was coming to the end. Jason put Alicia through a grueling, physical one-on-one workout on the sand.

While Alicia rested her hands on her knees, sucking in deep breaths, Jason slipped on some target mitts and held them up to Alicia. ‘Keep going…you’re nearly finished,’ he said.

When Alicia unfavorably glanced at Jason, he jabbed the mitts towards her. ‘Let’s go…alternating hands into the mitts…you know how it goes.’ Jason punctuated his request by slamming the mitts together twice, like oversized boxing gloves.

Alicia rolled her eyes. She slipped on a pair of target gloves. Jason raised the mitts and Alicia commenced punching them with alternating left and right jabs.

‘Good…good power…Keep going,’ Jason said.

The muscles in Alicia’s well-toned shoulders and back bulged as she pounded into the target mitts.

‘So…’ Jason began. ‘What are your plans for the weekend?’ he casually asked.

Alicia’s eyes flicked from the target mitts to Jason as she panted out her reply. ‘What…You mean…socially?’ she grunted, as she continued to punch the mitts.

‘Of course,’ Jason said. He pushed a mitt forward to meet each punch.

‘Nothing. Why…?’ She completed her last set.

‘Good job…’ Jason lowered the mitts. ‘No reason. Just curious,’ he said. ‘I don’t have any plans either at this stage.’

Alicia removed her water bottle from her sports bag and began rehydrating herself. She wiped her perspiring face with her towel before responding. ‘No, Matt’s away in Los Angeles this weekend. He’s on some sort of joint operation with their LA office.’

Jason nodded in response.

Alicia continued to wipe her face with her towel. Her face screwed up as she pulled at her damp sports top. ‘I am so wet…’ She lifted the skin tight top away from her sweaty skin and released it to snap back in place again.

Jason smirked at her comment. ‘It’s nice to know that I can make you wet,’ he said with a beaming smile that flashed his bright white teeth.

The obvious double entendre was not lost on Alicia. She smiled and placed a flirtatious palm on his chest. ‘Hun, you’ve been making me wet since the first time I saw you,’ she said, then wiped her face on her towel.

Jason flicked a finger at Alicia. ‘Maybe you should just… take it off,’ he said.

Alicia’s eyebrows lifted at his suggestive comment.

Jason gestured to her sports bag. ‘I mean…if you have a change of clothes in your bag, that is,’ he clarified. ‘You could, you know, change out of the sweaty…wet, clothes into something drier.’

Alicia’s eyes dropped to her breasts, in contemplation. ‘You know what…’ she nodded her approval. ‘That’s a good idea,’ she said.

Alicia slipped her fingers under her tight sports top and pulled it out away from her body. Her sizeable, unrestrained breasts fell free beneath the top, as she lifted it over her head.

Jason’s eyes widened. He gulped. He couldn’t take his eyes off the topless beauty before him. Her large nipples jutted out to greet him.

Alicia giggled to herself when she saw Jason staring at her breasts. Standing naked from the waist up, Alicia wrapped her damp sports top in her towel. She gestured to her sports bag. ‘Be a dear and get my white singlet top from my bag there.’

While Jason searched her bag for the top, Alicia peeled down her black ¾ length compression training pants, revealing her stunning body – topless and wearing only a brief, black thong that left little to the imagination.

‘You may as well get my shorts out as well while you’re there,’ she said. She stood with her hands on her hips, waiting.

Jason did a double take when his eyes moved from the bag to Alicia. He held his gaze on her near naked figure, probably for a little too long.

She smiled knowingly. ‘They’re the pink ones there.’ She flicked a finger at her gym bag.

Jason handed Alicia her shorts. A grin emerged when she noticed the bulge trying to poke through his little lemon yellow short-shorts. Jason returned, a slightly embarrassed grin, as he discreetly attempted to adjust himself.

Alicia put on a show. She seductively bent forward at the waist, intentionally causing her large breasts to dangle freely, as she slowly inched up her bright pink shorts, while Jason watched on.

She casually checked Jason was still watching; of course he was. She loved that he continued to favorably examine her body.

She held out her hand. ‘My singlet…’ She pointed to the white singlet top in his hand.

Jason handed her the top and he watched her slip it on.

Ever the consummate exhibitionist, Alicia had put on quite a show for her young trainer and she received the reaction she clearly wanted.

Once she was dressed in dry clothing, Alicia checked the time. She shouldered her sports bag. ‘I’ve got just enough time to shower and grab some lunch before leaving for work,’ she announced.

‘Need a hand…?’ Jason said, with his trade mark grin.

Alicia ignored his comment. She moved closer to Jason and lightly rested a palm flat on Jason’s muscular chest. She kissed him gently on his cheek then smiled at him. ‘I’ll see you for training on Sunday,’ she said.

Jason remained unmoved as he watched her walk away from him, towards her nearby beach front home. Tufts of loose sand kicked up as she trudged along the beach. She didn’t look back.

After watching her way too closely as she walked away from him, he collected his training equipment. Following a glance back in her direction for one last time, he made his way back to his vehicle in the nearby public parking lot.

Chapter 2

For her Saturday morning workout, Alicia chose a ten mile run, where she took in the coastal scenic vistas on offer from the beach, roads and cliff tops.

Her model-like features and athletic physique attracted regular attention from the many surfboard riders and other beach users, as she jogged along the wet sand on her return leg home.

When she arrived at the rear, unfenced beach entrance to her home, she continued running across their small back yard. She finished her workout with a quick sprint, up the external stairs that led to their second floor balcony.

Alicia pressed a button on her watch and noted the time. With hands on her hips and with deep breaths, she paced the balcony for the next few minutes to lower her pulse rate.

Once she caught her breath, she removed her wet, sandy runners and banged the soles together over the side of balcony. She then sat the runners on the hand rail to dry out.

By now her pulse rate had suitably lowered, so she moved inside for a shower.

Matt was away in LA this weekend for his joint operation, so the house was quiet when she slid open the rear sliding door and moved inside.

Revitalized from her morning run and invigorating hot shower, Alicia toweled herself dry then stood naked in front of her mirror brushing her long wet hair.

Once it was knot-free, she blow dried her hair before following her post-shower ritual of applying body lotion and her daily makeup.

With the house to herself she decided to stay naked; a practice she did regularly, even when Matt was home. Matt often said in his approving manner that it was a shame to cover up something so beautiful.

After returning downstairs, she inserted a DVD of Alicia Keys Live in Concert and cranked up the volume. The music boomed at elevated decibels through their surround sound stereo speakers.

Alicia stood in the kitchen singing, dancing and jigging along to her favorite tunes while she prepared some lunch.

As she prepared her sandwich she stopped when she thought she heard something over the blaring music. Her eyes darted like directional radars.

After a brief pause when nothing else was heard, she shrugged it off and returned to finishing her lunch preparation.

This time she heard it again. The front door bell sounded in contrast to the music. She moved to glance down the long polished timber floorboards of the hallway, to the front door.

The silhouette of someone standing at the front door was visible through the opaque glass panel inserts.

Alicia wiped her hands on a tea towel then lobbed it onto the kitchen bench. She lifted a beach towel from the back of a kitchen stool and moved to the front door.

Her right arm pinned the towel against her breasts while the rest of the towel hung loose in front of her.

Alicia opened the front door slightly to peep around at the unexpected visitor. The smiling face of Jason greeted her.

‘Oh, Hi…’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting you…’ She stepped back and opened the door fully, for him to enter.

Jason moved inside. ‘I sent you a text…’ he said. ‘Obviously you didn’t get it.’

‘No, I didn’t hear anything,’ she said as she closed the door.

‘I’m not surprised with that music blaring,’ Jason said. He favorably eyed Alicia as she closed the front door. Her entire naked back was exposed to him.

Still clutching the towel to her front, she brushed passed Jason to move down the hall on her return to the kitchen. ‘Come through,’ she said while providing him with a complete view of her shapely and tanned naked rear, as she walked ahead of him.

Jason followed. His eyes were fixed on her toned butt. Her alluring body was evenly tanned, completely devoid of tan lines.

On the way, Alicia detoured via the lounge to adjust the volume.

After arriving at the kitchen she asked, ‘Can I get you anything… A cold drink…?’

While waiting for Jason to answer, Alicia opened out the towel, passed it around her back, then wrapped it tightly around her body and rolled it into itself.

In doing so, she briefly, but also deliberately, exposed her full-frontal nudity to a captivated Jason.

Jason’s favorable eyes fell to her briefly exposed body. ‘Ah… Maybe a cold shower…,’ he said with an approving grin.

‘Well… I usually walk around naked when I’m at home and I wasn’t expecting visitors today…,’ she said with a suggestive grin.

Jason raised his hands. ‘Hey… I’m not complaining… really,’ he smiled. ‘In fact…I’m all for the naked-walking-around thing myself. Should be more of it I say.’ He held out a hand towards her. ‘So….don’t let me stop you…’ His suggestive smile illuminated his face, highlighted by his bright white teeth.

Alicia grinned back. She loved the tease. ‘I’m good at the moment,’ she said.

While wrapped tightly in her beach towel, Alicia returned to the kitchen preparation bench. ‘Have you had any lunch?’ She gestured to her sandwich. ‘I was just making myself a sandwich when you rang the doorbell.’

Jason leaned his elbows on the back of a stool. ‘No, I’m good, but please continue…’

Alicia finished preparing her chicken salad sandwich. She cut it into halves and placed it onto a small plate. She held up her sandwich plate towards Jason. ‘Are you sure I can’t interest you in any…?’ she asked.

’You definitely can…’ Jason smirked. ‘But I’ll wait until you’ve finished your lunch first…’

‘You are so bad,’ she said. Her flirtatious smile screamed tell me more.

As she walked past Jason on her way to the rear balcony, she gently rested a hand flat on his chest. ‘Coming outside?’ she asked.

She took hold of Jason’s hand and led him out onto their rear, under cover balcony.

When Jason stepped onto the balcony, he moved to the handrail to take in the magnificent elevated coastal vista on offer. ‘Fantastic view,’ he said.

His focus shifted to the Jacuzzi at the north end of the balcony. ‘Wow…you even got a Jacuzzi…’ He made his way over to the hot tub.

Alicia took a bite of her sandwich while she watched Jason move to the hot tub.

Matt and Alicia’s six-person Jacuzzi was cleverly in-built into the balcony deck at floor level, so they could step down into it, rather than climb up onto it.

Being installed this way was not only practical, but it was also aesthetically pleasing, sitting at the end of the balcony. In many ways it was a feature of the balcony.

The jacuzzi water churned from the filtration system. Jason dipped a hand to test the temperature, them nodded his approval. He shook the water from his hand as he returned to Alicia. ‘I bet you’ve had some fun it that…’ he said with a knowing grin.

Alicia leaned back against the balcony hand rail, with her back to the rolling surf, while she ate her sandwich. Jason stood facing her with his arms crossed, as they casually chatted.

Jason’s distracted, hungry eyes regularly moved up and down her sensual, towel-wrapped body.

It eventually got the better of him. ‘Do you know how distracting it is talking to you when you are standing there wearing nothing but a towel…? It is so sexy…’ Jason said.

Alicia kept eating her sandwich, but her eyes said tell me more.

Jason eased the plate from her hands and placed it on the table beside him. She didn’t offer any resistance. He grabbed the top of the towel at the side of her breast. She offered no resistance. She even slightly lifted her arms to the side while she watched his hand. Her eyes, full of expectation, lifted back to him.

’Do you know what would be much better….? Jason said.

Alicia raised her inquisitive eyebrows at him.

‘If we lose this.’ He tugged at the towel. It slowly unwrapped from her body and fell loosely to a heap on the floor. Jason’s approving eyes passed over her naked body.

‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ he said. He moved in and gently kissed her neck and shoulders. Alicia’s eyes closed and her head rocked back, welcoming his soft lips on her skin.

Jason’s lips moved to meet hers. He kissed her quickly once on her lips, before pulling back and staring into her eyes. He then moved in and his next kiss was deep and passionate. He pressed himself against her, while they continued to share a passionate embrace.

He pushed himself back slightly. His eyes fell down to her breasts. Her rosebud, thimble sized nipples were fully engorged, pleading to be touched. He cupped and gently stoked each breast like he was savoring the moment.

Alicia’s head rolled back. She moaned with approving delight at his touch. Jason slowly lowered his head and nibbled on her erect nipples. The sensation seemed to heighten her pleasure.

She grabbed his singlet and quickly dragged it up over his head. Jason obliged by raising his arms. She cupped her hand over his erect penis, gently squeezing and caressing it through his shorts.

Alicia sensually held his gaze while she eased down his shorts, until they fell freely to the floor. She regarded his naked body then took hold of him and stroked him gently.

She slowly lowered herself to kneel in front of him. Jason watched her take him fully in her mouth. She cupped and fondled his manhood as she continued to pleasure him orally.

It wasn’t long before Jason gently assisted Alicia to her feet. He lowered himself onto a chair and Alicia moved to straddle him.

Right there on her outdoor balcony, they shared each other in a fast paced, physical, and at times aggressive lovemaking session.

The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming at the beach, before returning home for more sex – this time in the Jacuzzi. After that, they shared some leisurely sun-baking on the beach — Alicia topless of course — before returning home for more sex.

Alicia was an incredibly beautiful woman, in every way with an insatiable sexual appetite and prowess to match. Her incredibly arousing techniques had the younger Jason continually rising for more.

By the time they retired for the night they had made love five times that afternoon.

When Alicia woke early the next morning she had every intention of participating in her usual Sunday morning one-on-one training with Jason, as planned.

She bounded out of bed and stood in all her nakedness with her hands on her hips as she regarded Jason. He was still tucked up under the duvet.

She playfully nudged him with her foot. ‘Come on coach…’ she said. ‘We’ve got a training session this morning.’

Jason stirred. He glanced up at her through eyes that were narrow slits. ‘Really…? You still want to train…?’ Jason mumbled.

Alicia grabbed the duvet. ‘Sure do,’ she said. She aggressively dragged the covers off him, leaving him lying naked on the bed.

While admiring his young athletic naked body, she momentarily forgotten about training. A hungry smile emerged across her face. She seductively moved to brace herself over him.

While resting on all fours, she moved her mouth lightly and sensually over his naked body, working her way to his groin where she stopped and took him in her mouth.

It didn’t take long for Jason to fully awaken. While lying flat on his back, his eyes were closed and his head was back taking in the enjoyment from her touch.

With everything fully ready, Alicia adjusted herself. She threw a leg over Jason, climbing on top as she guided him into her. Jason could only hang on as she thrust down on him, devouring him underneath her. This morning she was in total control.

Once they were done, Alicia suggested Jason take a shower, while she went down to put the coffee on. Alicia maintained she didn’t function well in the mornings, without her first coffee, although Jason would probably have thought otherwise.

While the coffee percolated, Alicia gathered Jason’s clothes from the rear balcony, and tidied up around the Jacuzzi. When she returned back upstairs and entered the en-suite, it was steamy and warm, like a Turkish bath.

The sight of Jason through the glass shower screen soaping his naked body excited her all the more. She opened the shower door to investigate further. She regarded him with an approving smile.

Jason beckoned her in. ‘Why don’t you join me…’

Alicia accepted his offer. She stepped in and they showered together.

Before long they were passionately embracing, kissing and licking at each other while the caressing sensation of the hot shower rained down on them.

She pushed Jason back against the tiled wall and slowly lowered herself down in front of him.

‘Shit…I don’t think I’ve got anything left…’ Jason said.

Alicia was not to be denied. She proved him wrong as she pleasured him orally once more, taking everything he had to offer, in her mouth.

Chapter 3

Matt’s yawn was long and deep as he cruised along the San Diego freeway. He was so exhausted, his yawns were occurring every two, or three minutes.

He aggressively rubbed at the side of his face, which was more of an action to help him stay awake. The dark rings under his red eyes corroborated the fatigue he felt from being awake for over thirty hours.

The joint operation with their LA office had Matt and his team working through the night, with the expectation to continue late into Sunday afternoon. In fact, Matt had already told Alicia not to expect him home before 6pm tonight.

That was until the operation was called off earlier than expected, due to unforeseen circumstances. Had the operation continued he would have taken the opportunity through the day to grab a power nap or two, but that never eventuated. Instead, he had to drive home on what little sleep he had.

He won’t mention to Alicia how he unwittingly closed his eyes twice during the drive back home to La Jolla Shores.

And he certainly won’t mention how lucky he was the Sunday morning freeway traffic was light when he drifted out of his lane each time, in a semi-conscious state.

The Voigt Drive overpass into San Diego University was a welcoming sight and signaled his 120 mile drive from LA was almost over.

Next came the fast approaching overhead sign informing his exit to La Jolla Village was one mile ahead.

Matt checked his watch. He was on time to catch Alicia and share some breakfast with her, before she left for her Sunday morning training session.

As Matt turned into his long drive, his face tightened at the dark red colored Mustang parked up by the front door of his house. He frowned as his eyes fell to the dashboard clock. Who is visiting this early on a Sunday morning?

Rather than drive around and park in their rear garage, Matt parked beside the Mustang. His eyes never left the mystery vehicle, as he alighted from his car.

After peering inside the locked car for hints as to the owner, Matt checked the engine. It was stone cold. His frowning eyes moved to their front door. He rubbed a hand across the stubble on his chin. I bet it’s that Jason’s vehicle.

He made his way inside. Matt slowly opened the front door and peered in, before stepping inside. Everything was silent. He quietly closed the front door and made his way down the hall, towards the back of the house.

As he passed the foot of the staircase, he stopped to glance upstairs, listening for any tell-tale signs his suspicions were correct. All was quiet.

The smell of toast quickly diverted his attention and pulled him towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty when he arrived, but he could hear voices coming from outside on the balcony.

Matt paused at the back patio door. His face tightened when he saw Alicia sitting on the outdoor setting with a person he assumed to be Jason. They sat beside each other with their backs to him, enjoying a coffee and the view. Alicia was dressed in her usual body hugging workout clothes.

The empty plates and cutlery in front of them suggested he missed the opportunity to share breakfast with his wife; someone already beat him to it.

Matt slowly slid the patio door open. Alicia glanced over a shoulder at the sound of the opening door. Her eyes widened to Matt exiting out onto the balcony.

‘Oh, Hi Hun… You’re home early.’ Alicia slid out from her seat to greet him.

Matt kissed her on the lips and embraced her warmly. ‘Yeah, it was called off early this morning, so they sent us home.’

He moved to the end of the table where he regarded the unknown man sitting on the balcony with his wife.

Alicia must have recognized his questioning expression. ‘Oh, this is Jason, Hun. You know, my new trainer… The one who replaced Calvin.’

Jason greeted Matt with a welcoming smile, but Matt wasn’t fooled.

Matt’s eyes narrowed at Jason. His silent glare bordered on awkward. All he could think of was, did you fuck my wife?

‘Jason is here for my Sunday morning training session,’ Alicia said, probably to break the silence.

Matt’s eyes flicked to Alicia. Bullshit. But what he actually said was, ‘I see…’ He again eyed Jason.

Hearing those words come from her mouth cut deep. Jason hadn’t just arrived. His car’s engine was cold. More than ever, the elephant in the room was becoming obvious to Matt – Jason must’ve stayed the night while he was away in LA.

Jason stood from his chair and extended his hand to Matt. ‘Pleased to meet you, Matt…’ Jason said. He sounded genuine, in a salesman-like way. ‘Alicia has told me so much about you…’ His beaming smile displayed his bright white teeth.

Matt’s six feet eight frame towered over the much shorter Jason by around one foot. His eyes dropped to Jason’s extended hand. He looked Jason in the eye and shook his hand.

‘Jason…’ He nodded once.

Each man exchanged a bone crunching hand shake in a macho display of strength.

While Matt and Jason stared each other down, Alicia interjected. ‘Would you like a coffee, Hun…?’ She placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder.

Matt released his grip, but before he could reply Alicia continued. ‘I’ll go get you one. Have you eaten yet?’ She moved towards the back door, but stopped before entering the house.

‘Actually… What time is it..?’ She checked her watch. ‘I probably won’t have time to make you something to eat…’ She gestured towards Jason.

Matt raised a hand. ‘That’s OK… I’m capable of getting my own breakfast,’ he said to Alicia’s back, as she disappeared from view.

What Matt didn’t know was, Alicia quickly ran upstairs and collected the towels and any other incriminating evidence from their night of forbidden passion.

She quickly adjusted the bed so it appeared as though only her side was slept in, before returning down stairs to pour Matt a coffee.

While she was gone the conversation was strained, with long moments of awkward silence. It was Jason who tried to keep the conversation going. Matt on the other hand, wasn’t interested in small talk with the man he suspected was sleeping with his wife.

When Alicia and Jason left for their training session, Matt ducked upstairs to investigate. He paused at their bedroom door. His focus fell heavily to their bed. It appeared ruffled, but only on Alicia’s side.

He dragged off the duvet and examined the disturbed sheets. Again, they appeared ruffled only on Alicia’s side, with no tell-tale signs on the sheets. Matt rubbed a hand curious across his mouth as he scanned the bedroom.

He moved into the en-suite and flicked on the light. Nothing in there to confirm his suspicions. Matt retreated back into the bedroom. His suspicious eyes again scanned the room.

Before returning down stairs, Matt checked the spare bedrooms, on the off chance Jason may have crashed in one of those beds. Each bed was neatly made.

While he quietly celebrated not finding any incriminating evidence to confirm his wife was fooling around behind his back, something was still not right. Plus, why was Jason’s car engine so cold, if he didn’t stay the night? If he did stay the night, where did he stay? The obvious was not so obvious.

Their bed didn’t appear like two people had slept in it. Also, Jason had never had breakfast here on a Sunday morning, before their workout.

All this thinking and analyzing was taxing. He was still tired from pulling an all-nighter, followed by the long drive home.

With the house to himself for the next hour or two, he decided to use the balcony deck lounge to grab some much needed sleep in the warm, but refreshing outdoor air.

Matt and Alicia savored the opportunity to share a weekday breakfast together, which they took out on the rear balcony.

It was not often their work commencement times were aligned. But on this particular Tuesday, both were due to commence work at 8am.

Rather than run two cars into the city, Matt suggested he drive Alicia to work, and then pick her up afterwards.

He drove right past the hospital on his way, and he would love to have her company on the twenty minute commute each-way. Alicia happily accepted his offer.

The usually vibrant Alicia was noticeably quiet during the trip to work, maybe even a little distant. She spent most of the journey silently gazing out her window.

She reassured Matt it was because she was tired and craved a much needed vacation. But Matt wasn’t so sure. He started to worry she was looking elsewhere.

‘So… How was training with Jason, yesterday…?’ Matt asked, to try and create conversation.

Alicia’s focus remained out her window. ‘It’s going really well. He knows his stuff, which is important… I is to me, anyway…’

‘How long has he been training you now… Three months?’

‘Almost,’ Alicia said. ‘About ten – maybe eleven weeks. So… yeah, close to three months.’ Alicia eyed Matt. ‘Why all the questions about Jason?’

‘Just making conversation, Hun…’ He hated how defensive she was.

During the drive, the conversation seemed a little strained. Alicia was distant for some reason, which was completely out of character for her. She was usually vibrant; full of life and cheek. Her mood only further fueled his growing concerns about the two of them.

After arriving at the Hospital they exchanged a brief good-bye kiss; nothing too passionate, more of a peck. Matt watched with furrowed brow as Alicia exited the vehicle.

He continued to watch her as she closed the car door and peered back at him though the closed window. She smiled and waved before making her way into the hospital.

Matt didn’t drive off right away. He opted to watch her until she was out of sight. Even once she was gone, he still paused while he contemplated the possible causes to her apparent worries. This was the first time he had noticed her like this towards him.

He checked his watch before merging into the flowing traffic, on his way to work.

It had been an uneventful morning for Matt, spent mostly office-bound at his desk attending to his backlog of mounting paperwork.

The day had slowly edged its way to mid-afternoon and Matt took what he believed to be a well-earned break.

Matt and two of his colleagues strolled to their favorite café for a much needed caffeine shot. Trailing along with them was a young rookie experiencing work in an FBI field office for the first time since graduating.

Matt placed his order first — a large caramel latte, then he moved to stand off to the side to wait. He casually leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, monitoring the comings and goings of the busy café.

While he waited, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He retrieved his phone and checked the display. His face lit up. It was a text from Alicia. He opened the message.

“Hi Hun, going to gym after work. Will call u if I need a ride home afterwards.”

For someone as dedicated to a strict fitness routine as she was, this was not unusual. It made sense to Matt.

Their gym in Bay Park was equidistant between work and home, so it avoided her having to go past the gym to their home to get changed, and then head back out to the gym.

Matt’s frowning eyes lifted to the ceiling. Wait…She didn’t have her training clothes with her this morning when I dropped her off at work.

While leaning on the wall Matt thumbed out his reply. “OK. Thanx Hun – I’ll C U 2nite. BTW what will you do for workout clothes…?”

Alicia’s reply was quick. “U know me I have spares at work.”

Matt smiled to himself because he knew that would certainly be the case.

Alicia was the consummate gym junkie. She would definitely have workout clothing everywhere, in case the impulse, or opportunity for a workout presented itself.

“How will you get there?” He typed back.

“Getting a lift with Jen from work. You don’t mind do you?”

“Of course not. Have fun”, he tapped back, then plunged the phone back into his pocket.

The barista caught Matt’s eye. His order was ready. Matt pushed himself away from the wall and collected his order.

After accepting his coffee, Matt gestured to the Rookie standing unsuspectingly to his right.

‘He’s paying…’ Matt said to the checkout waitress. ‘For this one…’ he lifted his coffee. ‘And these two, as well…’ He indicated his two colleagues, both of whom smirked knowingly, as they sipped on their coffees.

As Matt savored his first sip, he noticed the rookie’s stunned expression. ‘Oh, didn’t we tell you, Rodriguez…’ Matt began. He exchanged a sideways glance with his smirking colleagues. ‘Rookies buy the coffees during their first week in the field.’ He lifted his coffee to Rodriguez. ‘Cheers,’ he said, then moved towards the exit.

‘Rookies buy the coffee during their first week in the field…’ his colleague, Brad repeated. ’I must’ve missed that memo.’ He chuckled.

Matt shrugged. ‘Sounded good at the time,’ Matt said.

Matt checked where the rookie was. He caught Brad’s eye, then motioned with his head in the direction of the approaching Rodriguez.

Collective grins emerged at the trailing rookie who was a good ten yards back and carefully trying to steady his coffee out in front of himself, as he jogged to quickly catch up with his team.

Chapter 4

Back in the FBI bullpen, Matt decided to check on the progress of a surveillance operation he was leading.

‘I’m just gonna head upstairs and check in on the Bonaduce matter…’ Matt said to Brad. ‘Why don’t you run through some old cases with Rodriguez… Give him a chance to see what we do, and how we do it. ’

‘OK,’ Brad said.

As Matt departed the bullpen, Rodriguez moved over to Brad’s desk and slid into the chair opposite Brad. He checked over a shoulder. After ensuring Matt had gone from view, he said to Brad, ’Are these rumors about SSA Duncan true…? Rodriguez said.

‘Depends. What have you heard?’ Brad said.

‘Just that he is pretty tough. He doesn’t mess around with crooks and people who cross him…’ Rodriguez said. ‘Bit of a Dirty Harry sort of cop, I hear. Not one to mess with.’

‘You’ve seen the size of him… He’s a friggin’ Grizzly Bear…’ Brad said. ‘Would you like to mess with him?’ His question was rhetorical.

‘But what has he done to earn that sort of reputation?’

Brad held Rodriguez’s questioning gaze. He allowed a few beats to pass, while he considered the question. ‘You want an example…?’

Rodriguez nodded in confirmation.

Brad casually checked over each shoulder. ‘I’ll give you an example…’ Brad said. He leaned in closer to the Rookie. ’We were on a raid down in Chula Vista. Heavy drug trafficking ring. Violent sons of bitches they were…

’There were several teams involved in the raid. Matt’s team…. Which was Our team, secured the rear yard in case anyone did a runner out the back door, when the search team breached the front door.

‘Matt and another colleague hid in the neighbor’s property on the west side, while I hid in the neighbor’s property on the east side, with him…’ Brad jabbed a thumb at Miles, seated nearby.

’When the entry team stormed the front door, one of the suspects burst out the back door carrying an Uzi. He sprayed the back yard with rounds as he ran, presumably in case anyone was waiting.

’We held our position and the suspect went over the back fence, into the rear alley.

’But he didn’t run. He stood there in the back alley with his weapon trained on the rear fence, ready to shoot anyone who came over the fence after him.

‘That’s the sort of shit we were dealing with,’ Brad said. ‘Life was cheap to them. Anyway…’ Brad continued, ’Matt suspected the crook may have been waiting in the alley, so to check his suspicions, he lobbed one of those plastic, molded outdoor chairs over the fence.

’Matt was right. As the chair flew into view, the crook blew it to pieces. He then turned his weapon on the rear fence, where the chair came from. He sprayed it with round after round.

‘At that stage, I had no idea if Matt survived the barrage. While the crook was pre-occupied with killing the fence… I made my way into the lane, leveled my gun at him and when he stopped firing, I shouted at him to drop his weapon. He started to turn towards me so I squeezed off a round…’

Rodriguez’s eyebrows lifted. ‘Did ya get him…?’ He said, riddled with excitement.

‘Actually, the round missed…’ Brad said, with a slight dejected tone. ’But it was close enough and he shit himself. Gave up. Raised his hands. I told him to drop the weapon and kneel with his hands on his head. He did as he was told.

‘When Matt came over the fence, he was pissed.’ Brad shook his head for emphasis. ’Let me tell you. You do not want to piss Matt off…

‘Matt was now eyeballing the mother fucker who tried to make Swiss cheese of him. When Matt questioned the crook, the crook spat in Matt’s face. That was his second mistake. Matt checked the lane way was clear, then shot the crook in the chest… killed him instantly.’

Rodriguez’s mouth fell open.

‘Then he called it in to dispatch to report one of the fleeing offenders was killed during an exchange of gunfire…’ Brad said.

Rodriguez slowly shook his head. ‘Wow…’ He checked over each shoulder, then leaned into Brad. ‘Isn’t that illegal…?’ He said quietly.

‘Isn’t what illegal?’ Brad said.

‘Isn’t that murder…shooting someone like that?’

‘Like what…?’

Rodriguez frowned. He was little slow on the uptake. ‘You said he shot the crook in the—’

‘Exchange of gunfire as the crook was fleeing…’ Brad reiterated firmly. ‘Check the report,’ Brad said. ‘That’s how it went down, OK?’ Brad held a firm glare at Rodriguez.

Rodriguez frowned as he held Brad’s glare. Then the pennies dropped. His eyebrows lifted in realization. He nodded. ‘Gotcha…’ Rodriguez said. ’I understand…”

‘Do you…?’

‘Yep, I got it…’

Brad nodded. ‘Good…’

Brad’s colleague, Miles approached Brad’s desk. He must’ve overheard the war stories. ‘I’ll give you another example, Rookie…’ he said to Rodriguez. He perched one butt cheek on the side of Brad’s desk.

’We had a case a few years back when one of our undercovers was ambushed and killed at a buy. We suspected we had a mole. So Matt decided to wait until we could cut some of the weaker gang members from the heard… You know, get them on their own to find out who the mole was.

’We followed two of them to an industrial area up in San Carlos. They go there to gamble.

’When they left in the early hours of the morning, we pounced. Grabbed both of them and took them down to a derelict building near Pacific Gateway Park. Tied them to a chair, but they refused to talk about who the mole was.

’Told Matt to get fucked… All that sort of shit. Said they’d kill him and fuck his wife… You know, all those sort of threats.

‘Matt smashed one of them across the shins with this huge steel bar…You could hear the bones break…’ Miles cringed before continuing. ’But they still wouldn’t talk.

’Anyway…long story short, these guys wouldn’t tell who the mole was. Said they would be killed if they spoke. Matt told them they would be killed if they didn’t talk.

‘They didn’t believe him. Said Matt was a cop and that he couldn’t do that sort of shit… So Matt blew one of the guy’s brains out, hoping the other would talk. He didn’t. So his brains went up the wall as well. Matt left them there for the rats, insects and wildlife…’

Rodriguez sat opened mouthed. His questioning eyes flicked from Brad to Miles. ‘Is that true…?’ He said.

‘Absolutely…’ Brad said. ‘I was there… But it didn’t happen.’

‘Wouldn’t ballistics trace the rounds to his firearm…?’

‘What firearm…?’

Rodriguez frowned his confusion. ‘The weapon he used to shoot those crooks.’

‘What crooks are you referring to…?’

‘The ones that-’ Rodriguez cut himself off. He grinned to himself. ‘Ah… I get it…’

Brad scoffed. He shook his head at the Rookie’s naivety. ‘He used a burner weapon…’ Brad said. ‘It’ll be rusting in the Pacific somewhere by now…’

Rodriguez shook his head. ‘I guess the rumors are true then,’ he said.

‘You better believe it…’ Brad said. ‘Crooks and anyone else who cross him…’

‘Did you find the mole…?’ Rodriguez asked.

Brad and Miles exchanged a brief glance. Miles responded. ’Believe it or not…it was one you guys…a rookie, who sold us out.’

Rodriguez fell back in his chair. ‘Really…’ he said. ‘That’ll give us genuine Rookies a bad name… so you got him then…?’ Rodriguez said as a question.

‘Oh yeah… we got him,’ Brad said. ‘Got life for it… And rightly so.’

Matt interrupted their chat session when he returned to the bullpen. He summoned his team over to his desk.

He sat perched on the front of his desk with his arms crossed, while he chatted to his gathered team.

As the team’s Supervisory Special Agent, Matt updated them in relation to the latest, ongoing surveillance their field office was conducting on known crime boss, Alphonse Bonaduce.

Their target was suspected of bringing semi-automatic weapons and cocaine shipments into the US and moving them through fences in, and around San Diego.

Matt flicked opened a manila file on his desk and removed a number of ten by eight black and white FBI surveillance photographs of Bonaduce. One-by-one he handed them to his team.

‘Bonaduce and his crew of misfits have been in the FBI cross hairs for several months, but their counter-surveillance is considerably advanced,’ Matt said.

He flicked a finger at one of the photographs held by a team member. ‘Bonaduce is like a Hollywood cliché,’ Matt began. ’He regularly dines in his favorite restaurant in the city. He sits all the way down the very back, often with no-one else in the room.

’There is always one or two body guards located between him and the street, to protect him from unwelcome visitors.

‘His heavies regularly swept the restaurant for bugs, so it was impossible to plant any listening devices in, or around his favorite dining table.’

Matt discussed with the team the progress of their U.C. who was posing as a fence, looking to buy from Bonaduce. But their operative was still yet to make any contact.

Matt noticed the Rookie’s vague expression. ‘You look lost Rodriguez…?’

‘U.C…?’ The rookie said. He passed his puzzled glance across each of the team members.

‘Don’t they teach you anything in that academy…?’ Mat began. ’U.C… Means ‘undercover,’ Matt said. ‘We have an agent working undercover trying to gather evidence against Bonaduce.’

Rodriguez nodded his understanding. ‘Ah…like Donny Brasco,’ the Rookie said. His enthusiastic smile flicked to each of his gathered colleagues, as if seeking recognition for knowing about the 1970s case.

‘I loved that movie,’ he said, oblivious to the derision on the faces of the gathered agents. ‘That movie was one of the reasons why I joined the FBI,’ he proudly announced.

Matt held a stunned gaze on Rodriguez. He frowned then exchanged cynical glances with his grinning colleagues.

Matt slowly shook his head. ‘Operation Donny Brasco… Was over thirty years ago, son,’ Matt said in a condescending tone. ’Times have changed since Pistone infiltrated the Bonanno crime family.

‘We are little more advanced now…and so are the crooks, for that matter,’ he said. ’Plus…our UC isn’t trying to infiltrate any family. He’s trying to pass himself off as an interested buyer, so we can get an understanding of the details relating to the ’what’ and the ‘where’.’

Rodriguez nodded in response.

‘Duncan.’ The voice of their Unit Chief boomed across the open plan office.

Matt glanced over a shoulder to the voice. His Unit Chief, affectionately known as Lew to the crews, bellowed from his office doorway. Matt rolled his eyes.

With his tanned skin and thick silver-grey salon styled hair, their Unit Chief bore a striking resemblance to former US president, Bill Clinton. But it was the Lieutenant’s love of smoking cigars, rather than his Clintonesque appearance that influenced the humorous nickname of “Lewinsky” by the crews.

The unfortunate nickname was a witty reference to the alleged scandalous, late nineties sexual affair between Clinton and government intern, Monica Lewinsky, where it was also alleged that during their affair, a cigar was alleged to have been used as a phallic sex toy, before it was later smoked.

Over time, the nickname shortened to “Lew”, without losing any of its intended humorous inference.

‘We’ve got ears on Bonaduce…’ Lew barked. ‘Can you get back up to Comms now…’ Lew directed. ‘I want you there to monitor what goes down,’ he said, then retreated back into his office.

Before Matt could turn away, Lew’s head poked out through the doorway a second time. ‘Oh…and take the kid with you,’ He flicked a hand in their general direction. ‘Be good experience for him,’ he said, then disappeared back into his office.

Matt’s focus shifted to Rodriguez. ‘You been to Comms before?’

Rodriguez shook his head. ‘No. what is it?’

Matt picked up a file, pushed himself away from his desk and started to move towards the elevators.

‘It’s our communications room – the nerve center,’ he said back over a shoulder. ‘We call it the Comms Room.’ Without looking back Matt said to Rodriguez, ‘you coming… or do you require a more formal invite?’

Rodriguez jumped to his feet and jogged after Matt.

Chapter 5

At the Comms Room, Matt swiped his security pass over a proximity reader. An electronic buzz sounded. Matt shouldered the heavy door open and entered the large room. Rodriguez followed close behind.

The rookie took a typical, first-time glance around. The room was dark and despite the number of staff, it was relatively quiet.

An oversized, wall-mounted screen displayed a large FBI logo over an azure background. It greeted visitors to the darkened room from the opposite wall.

Agents sat at consoles spread throughout the room. Each agent was illuminated by the diffused light radiating from their computer monitors. Most of them appeared oblivious to the visitors’ entry into their domain.

An agent wearing head phones, sitting at one of the consoles along the left wall caught Matt’s wandering eyes. He beckoned Matt over.

Matt tapped a somewhat awestruck Rodriguez on the shoulder and gestured towards the seated agent. ‘This way…’

’We’ve got Bonaduce chatting with our UC in Mickey’s Trattoria on 5th,’ the agent said, as Matt slid into the seat to the agent’s left. Rodriguez slid into the seat to the right. ‘Our guy arrived about five minutes ago’.

The Agent flicked a finger at the head phones on the desk. Matt slipped them on. He then caught the Rookie’s eye and indicated the head phones on the desk, in front of Rodriguez.

Matt listened in on the conversation between Bonaduce and their UC. ‘Is that our UC’s phone we’re listening through, or did you manage to get a Roving Bug on Bonaduce’s cell?’ Matt said.

The console agent shook his head. ‘Nah, they confiscated the UC’s phone after they patted him down, when he arrived. We’re listening through Bonaduce’s phone.’

Matt nodded his understanding.

The console agent gestured to the left side monitor. ‘See that…Bonaduce just received a text message on his cell,’ the Agent said.

Matt read the message that appeared across the screen. It simply read, “He’s clean”.

‘They’ve just run a background check on our UC,’ Matt said to Rodriguez. ‘See that text there…’ he gestured to the screen. ’It was to let Bonaduce know the checks they did on our UC were clean….in other words… he’s not a cop.

‘We knew they would conduct their own background checks, probably through a crooked cop on their payroll, so we created a fake criminal record under an alias, so our UC appeared more credible.’

Rodriguez nodded his understanding. The smile on his face suggested he was clearly impressed by what he was witnessing.

For the next forty-five minutes, all three men listened intently, with remarkable clarity, on the conversation surreptitiously transmitted through Bonaduce’s own cell phone.

The UC had done a remarkable job, firstly by gaining the trust of the Crime Boss, and then, by eliciting valuable information.

Bonaduce openly discussed details relating to the type of shipments the UC wished to purchase, the delivery dates and locations, the highly inflated cost, and how payment would be facilitated. They were able to record everything – all thanks to Bonaduce’s own cell phone.

Once the UC had safely left the restaurant, Matt removed the headphones and dropped them onto the desk. ‘Great job,’ he said. He patted the console operator on the shoulder, then pushed himself up from his chair and stood.

Rodriguez stood from his chair and followed Matt to the Comms Room exit.

‘What now…?’ Rodriguez asked. He tried to keep in step with Matt, as they made their way back to the bullpen.

‘Well… What we just learned will be used in a strike against Bonaduce at the drop off location. We’ll get them at the goods and money exchanges,’ Matt said. ‘It will be a large scale operation, probably involving us, the DEA for the drugs and ATF for the semi-automatics.’

‘Cool. But… how was it we were able to listen in on that conversation so clearly? You said they swept the restaurant for bugs,’

’We installed what we call a Roving Bug, in Bonaduce’s phone. It’s called a bug, but in reality, we don’t actually plant a listening device in the phone. We don’t even need to physically handle his phone to install it.’

Rodriguez nodded. ‘OK…’ he said, without conviction.

’Once installed, we can remotely access his cell phone from anywhere, and listen in via the phone’s inbuilt microphone. If the phone is powered off…we can remotely turn it on, without him knowing.

‘Wow. That’s unbelievable.’

‘Have you ever set the alarm on your cell phone and maybe turned it off to save battery overnight…?’

Rodriguez nodded. ‘All the time…’

’Well…the bug used the phone’s same technology to activate it. Only when we activate the phone remotely, there are no tells. The screen remains blank and the target can still make and receive calls and text messages. He had no idea we’re on the other end.’

Rodriguez slowly shook his head, clearly impressed by the advanced technology.

Matt continued. ‘We can also pinpoint his location via his phone’s inbuilt GPS, whether the GPS is activated in the phone, or not. And…’ he said with emphasis. ‘We can even listen to all his calls and read all his text messages in real time, as he sends and receives them.’

‘So, that’s how we could see the text message Bonaduce received,’ Rodriguez said. ‘Is that shit even legal?’

Matt smirked. ‘Of course. Tested and approved by a District Judge,’ Matt confirmed. ‘Welcome to the twenty-first century, kid.’

When he arrived back at the Bull Pen, Matt’s frowning eyes scanned the empty room. He checked his watch. It was 5.15pm. The unscheduled trip to the Comms Room caused Matt to work beyond his 4pm finish time. The rest of his team had already left for the day.

With him finishing later than expected, Matt decided he would swing by the gym and pick up Alicia on the way home. Her workout would be close to finishing by the time he arrived.

Matt dismissed the Rookie, collected his possessions and signed off for the day.

It took Matt four laps of the Club Fitness gym parking lot before he came across a vehicle reversing from one of the highly sought after parking spaces. It was after all, peak time at the gym.

How narrow are these parking spaces? He grumbled to himself, as he struggled to unfold his six foot eight, solid frame from his vehicle.

Entry to the gym was via a member swipe card. Problem was, Matt kept his gym swipe card in his sports bag. As he was not expecting to work out today, he didn’t have his gym bag with him. Time to improvise.

Matt approached the front desk and casually leaned on his elbows. ‘Hi.’ He smiled to the attractive girl on the front desk. She returned a pleasant smile. ‘I’m just here to pick up wife…’ Matt gestured towards the gym. ‘OK to go through…?’ He asked with raised eyebrows. ‘I won’t be long.’

The reception girl extended a hand towards the gym. ‘Of course…’ she said.

The gym was particularly crowded this evening. Matt made his way to the rows of running machines, which were all occupied by the human equivalent of rats on a running wheel.

After a quick scan of the area, he noticed that none of the ‘rats’ was Alicia. He made his way to the weights floor, which was heavily crowded with huge muscle men – but still no Alicia.

Matt scanned the entire gym floor trying to locate his wife. After rubbing a thoughtful hand across his head, he moved to the group training rooms, in case she was in a pump, or aerobics class. Still no luck.

He considered that she may have finished her workout and was showering.

Matt returned to the front desk and approached a different reception girl to seek her assistance.

‘Can I help you, Sir?’ she asked with a pleasant smile.

‘Yes,’ Matt began. He jabbed a thumb towards the gym. ‘I was supposed to pick up my wife here tonight, but I can’t seem to find her. Can you tell me what time she arrived at the gym today. It’s possible she may have already left.’

‘Certainly sir.’ She tapped on her computer keyboard. ‘What is your wife’s name?’

‘Duncan. Alicia Duncan.’

Matt leaned on an elbow monitoring the gym arrivals and departures while he waited.

The helpful receptionist tapped the details into her computer and examined the screen. Her smiling expression turned to a frown as she read her monitor.

‘‘I’m sorry sir…We don’t have Mrs. Duncan listed as training with us today,’ she said. She gestured to the screen. ‘It says here that she last trained with us… yesterday.’

Deep frown lines formed in Matt’s forehead. ‘Must’ve confused my days, or something…’ he said feeling a little perplexed. ‘OK…thanks for that.’ Matt tapped the counter twice and moved to exit the gym.

During the stroll back to his car, Matt tried to process what just occurred. After he maneuvered himself into the driver’s seat, he revisited the text message he received from Alicia earlier today.

He rubbed a confused hand across his mouth when he re-read the text message. The text definitely said she was going to the gym after work – tonight.

Maybe she had to work back and didn’t get time for her gym workout. He started his car. That’ll be it. He reversed from his parking space.

The luxury seaside residence Matt and Alicia call home was excavated into a hillside and constructed over three levels.

When viewed from the beach, their home was an imposing triple story, seafront residence with a rear balcony across level two. When accessing their home from the street, it gave the impression of being a two-story residence.

Their side-access, three vehicle garage was situated at the rear, on the lower ground level. It was accessed by veering to the right from the long driveway and travelling down the sloping drive that extended down the side of the house, towards the rear yard and the beach below.

Once Matt parked his car in the garage, he made his way upstairs, via the internal staircase. The house was conspicuously quiet. Following a quick search of the downstairs area he moved to the top floor. Maybe she was having a shower. But there was no sign of Alicia being home.

Matt rubbed a hand up the back of his neck. His face tightened with concern over where she was.

He retrieved his phone from his pocket and tapped out a text message to Alicia, to find out her location.

Her response was quick. “About 2 mins away”.

Chapter 6

Matt grabbed himself a beer from the fridge. As he closed the fridge door, he heard a car pull up out front. By the time he walked to the front entry, Alicia was fumbling with the keys to unlock the front door.

When the front door swung open, Alicia turned back towards the drive and waved to someone. A vehicle accelerated away down their drive.

Her face was still beaming from the goodbye smile when she stepped inside the door. She was wearing her usual gym attire. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Matt standing there waiting for her, as he casually sipped on his beer.

‘Oh… Hi Hun. You surprised me,’ she said. She held a shopping bag in each hand.

‘Evening Hun,’ Matt said. ‘So…Who was that?’ He lifted his chin towards the drive, before taking a sip of his beer. He did his best to appear calm, when in reality, he churned inside.

Alicia glanced over her shoulder. ‘Who was that…?’ she repeated.

Matt nodded once. ‘Who was that in the car…?’

‘Oh…ah, that, that was…Jason,’ she said.

Matt noticed her nervous tone.

‘He gave me a ride home from the gym.’ She approached Matt, gave him a greeting kiss on the cheek, then continued through to the kitchen.

‘Via the store, obviously…’ Matt said.

‘Aha… I remembered I needed a few things for dinner tonight,’ she said back over a shoulder. ‘So he was kind enough to detour on the way home. Be a dear and close the front door for me. Thanks Hun…’

Matt’s mind worked overtime. He remained unmoved as he regarded her closely, while she disappeared down the hall into the kitchen. He already knew she wasn’t at the gym today. He needed more answers.

Matt checked the driveway, then closed the front door. As he entered the kitchen, Alicia was unpacking the shopping bags. ‘So, ah… you got a chance to go to the gym after work then…?’

‘Yeah. Yeah, I had a good workout, thanks Hun,’ she said.

‘That’s great,’ Matt said. ‘I noticed you didn’t have your sports bag when you came in.’

Alicia stopped unpacking her groceries and shot a look of surprise at Matt. ‘Oh shoot…’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I left it in Jason’s car…’ She waved a hand. ‘That’s OK… I’ll just get it from him tomorrow, after my one-on-one session.’ She continued unpacking.

Matt leaned his elbows on a stool at the breakfast bar. ‘Gym very busy?’ he asked.

‘Fairly,’ she replied over a shoulder, as she packed some groceries into the pantry.

‘What ah… what exercises did you work on today. Weights, cardio…?’ Matt asked, as he watched how her body language reacted to his questions.

‘Cardio…’ she said. ‘I had a solid cardio workout. It was great… Very relaxing.’ Alicia failed to make eye contact with him. This was not lost on Matt.

I’m sure you did… He was certain she was lying to him. He now had no doubt she had been with Jason. Why else would she lie about going to the gym and why else would Jason bring her home. He decided to let her know of his suspicions and see where it led.

‘I ended up finishing late today,’ Matt began. ‘Had an unexpected matter come up that held me back.’

‘Aha,’ Alicia said with a tone of disinterest, as she started to prepare dinner. ‘That’s a shame you had to work back late,’ she added, clearly misreading where he was going.

‘No. No, I didn’t mind working back. I actually thought it would give me the chance to drive by the gym on the way home and pick you up.’

Alicia froze. ‘Aha,’ she said, unmoved. Her stare was fixed as she waited to hear what came next.

Matt noticed how she tensed up. ‘Yeah…only problem was…when I called in to gym, you weren’t there…’ He monitored her closely.

‘Oh, sorry Hun. I didn’t know you wanted to pick me up. That would’ve been a nice surprise. What time did you get there?’

Typical of an investigator, he wanted to have her tell him what time she left, to see how the timelines fell into place, but he couldn’t make it sound like an interrogation. So, instead he said, ‘just before 5.30, I think it was…’

Alicia nodded. ‘Ah…’ she said. ‘I’d already left by then. I got there just before four…and I left just after five. Then I collected these groceries on the way home.’ She flicked a hand at the empty bags still sitting on the bench.

‘So…you left work early…? Don’t you finish at four…?’

‘Yeah. Yeah. I was owed some time, so I left work a little early to get my gym routine out of the way before dinner.’

Matt carefully considered his next comment. ‘See…that’s what I don’t understand, Hun…’ Matt began. ‘When I couldn’t find you, I checked with the front reception to find out if maybe you had left already’.

‘Ah, that’s right…’ Alicia quickly interjected. ‘I didn’t swipe in, did I?’ she asked rhetorically. ’I ran into Jason in the foyer when I was walking into the gym. We walked in together chatting and I must’ve forgotten to swipe in… I just walked in with him.

‘We both waved to the girl on reception, but I forgot to swipe in.’ She giggled at her carelessness. ‘You know, I never gave it another thought.’ She shrugged it off.

‘OK. Well that explains everything then,’ Matt said. But he was not convinced in the slightest. He continued to monitor her body language, which now appeared more relaxed.

While Alicia prepared dinner, Matt moved out onto the rear balcony to gather his thoughts. He leaned on the handrail while he gazed out in contemplation towards the rolling surf.

In the past, he never had cause to question Alicia’s fidelity, or doubt anything she said. He trusted her implicitly. Even her love of exhibitionism never worried him. As a matter of fact, it actually excited him how she loved to flirt and tease other men, or peacock around in front of a male audience, often in very revealing clothing.

None of that worried him. After all she was hot. Everything about her was gorgeous – but she was his. He was devoted to her, and while he, himself still noticed and admired the occasional beautiful woman, he remained faithful to their marriage. She was his life, and up until recently, he thought he was hers.

His concern over whether his wife was cheating on him was beginning to erode away his trust in her. He hated how jealous he felt about her trainer. If he was being true to himself, he hated Jason. He hated these churning emotions that now pre-occupied his thoughts.

One things was certain. He would not tolerate her screwing around with someone else, while she was married to him. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone else touching her, or for that matter, her touching someone else.

His deep thoughts were broken by Alicia stepping out onto the balcony.

‘What are you doing out here on your own…?’ Alicia said. She moved in beside Matt and handed him a Corona.

Matt accepted the drink. ‘Thanks. Just grabbing some fresh air…’ he said.

‘I’ve got the pasta cooking now, so dinner won’t be long,’ Alicia said. She offered the long neck of her Corona to Matt. ‘Cheers Hun,’ she said.

Matt accepted the toast with a clink of his bottle and took a sip. He returned to view gazing.

On the days that followed, Matt discreetly monitored Alicia’s activities more closely. He took notice of how long she spent at the gym, and how long she spent at her personal training sessions. He even spied on the occasional session.

Basically, he covertly monitored everything she did when she was away from him. Yes, it was true. He had become paranoid and he hated how it made him feel, especially when he could not find anything untoward in her actions.

She still appeared as loving as ever and as interested in him in every way. But his reliable gut told him otherwise.

After several days of closely monitoring Alicia’s movements and interactions, all without cause for alarm, he started to question his suspicions and he decided to tone down his paranoid, Big Brother antics.

In a small way, he had restored some trust back into his wife.

Unless working on special operations, Matt’s hours of duty were Monday to Friday — usually 8am to 4pm. By the time the weekend rolled around, it was a time for him to relax; a time to forget about work and enjoy the many benefits on offer from his seaside lifestyle.

As a shift worker, Alicia was not so fortunate. Occasional weekend work was a necessary evil for a health care worker.

Saturday was Alicia’s turn. She was rostered to start at 3pm, which still gave her time for her morning exercise routine, before breakfast.

Matt sat on the outdoor balcony enjoying a coffee and reading his on-line daily newspaper subscription on his iPad, while Alicia exercised.

He was deep in concentration when Alicia suddenly appeared in view, having ascended the rear balcony stairs, from the back yard, after her run.

Matt smiled in admiration as he regarded his wife. Her hair was wet and brushed back. She wore her very sexy, white thong bikini that only just satisfied common decency laws.

Her towel was draped over a shoulder and she carried her runners. She breathed heavily from her run.

‘Perfect timing,’ Matt said. He gestured to the tray on the table in front of him. ‘I made some breakfast. It’s still hot.’

Alicia smiled when she noticed the tray of crispy bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. ‘Thanks Hun. That looks great. I’m actually famished,’ she said. She slid her towel from her shoulder and removed her running shorts, and training top, which were wrapped up in the towel, and hung them and the towel, over the hand rail.

She slid into the seat opposite Matt and watched him pour her a hot coffee to go with her glass of fresh orange juice.

‘How was the workout?’ Matt said. ‘What did you do this morning?’ Matt sat back and sipped on his coffee.

‘It was beautiful. So peaceful. I went for a five mile run along the coast…’ she began. ‘Then when I came back, I went for a swim around the swimming club’s buoy circuit in the ocean. I think I did about… five laps. I feel so invigorated… So alive.’

Matt smiled in admiration at how much she loved to exercise. ‘You start at three today…?’ Matt said as a question.

Alicia screwed up her face. ‘Unfortunately…yes,’ she said. ‘I hate working afternoon shifts on beautiful days like this…especially weekends. What about you…?’ She served up a plate full of breakfast and offered it to Matt. ‘What are your plans for today?’ she said.

Matt looked over his shoulder towards the surf. ‘I was actually thinking of taking the jet ski out for a run, later.’ He accepted the plate of food.

‘Nice.’ Alicia nodded her approval. ‘I’m so jealous.’ She served up a small plate for herself. ‘I would love to do that today, instead of work…The water was sooo inviting…so flat out the back.’ She glanced past Matt to the vast expanse of ocean beyond.

Matt and Alicia sat together and enjoyed their freshly cooked breakfast and casual conversation, refreshed by a gentle sea breeze and serenaded by the distant peaceful sounds of breaking surf.

Matt finally started to relax. He allowed himself to once again, enjoy his time spent with his beautiful wife.

Chapter 7

After beaching his beloved jet ski on the wet sand directly down from his back yard, Matt jumped off and removed his life jacket, then draped it over the handle bars.

Having seen Alicia off for her afternoon shift, Matt spent the last two hours enjoying the sensation of salt spray in his face and the exhilaration of pushing his powerful jet ski to its limits.

Circuits, wave jumping, speed riding, trick riding – he experienced them all, over and over. He was like a child with a toy.

His restored trust in his wife gave him a new lease on life. His time out on the water had been the most relaxed he had felt for some time. The negativity and suspicions that had plagued and pre-occupied his conscious thoughts were now all, but gone.

Matt trudged his way up the beach through the loose sand, through his back yard to the under house storage room, behind his garage.

After retrieving his quad bike with jet ski trailer attached, he rode it back to the water to load up his jet ski and return it to his storage room.

Once his jet ski was securely stowed away, Matt made his way inside via the external balcony stairs. The physical activity and continual salt water in his face made him parched, so the refrigerator was his first port of call for something – anything cold.

As he strolled across the kitchen Matt noticed the glowing red number “1” flashing at him from his answer machine.

Unfazed, he opened the fridge and retrieved a soda and cracked it open. Such was his thirst, his first drink almost emptied the contents of the can.

Belching loudly, Matt’s focus shifted back to the flashing answering machine. Well…it won’t be Leece… and it won’t be work – they both call me on my cell. Probably a marketing call, he considered. He tapped the PLAY button.

Matt drained the rest of his can and discarded it into the trash, while the machine went through the standard preamble. The voice of the female caller began.

“Hi Alicia…It’s Lucy from work…”

When he realized the call was for Alicia he stopped listening and let the message play out, while he moved to exit out onto the rear balcony.

“…Look, I’m really sorry to bother you at home when you are not well, but I am in a bit of a fix…”

Matt froze on the spot. He frowned. The message continued.

“I need to swap my shift for tomorrow night and you were my last hope. I was intending to chat to you about it when you came in today… but when you called in sick this afternoon, I didn’t know what to do…”

Matt’s face tightened. He glared at the answering machine. What the…? Sick…? His brow furrowed. She wasn’t sick today… He saw her leave for work.

The message continued.

“I sent you a text but you’re probably sleeping. I hate to call you at home, you poor thing, so I thought I would leave you a message because…well…it’s just that I need an answer today, if I am going to swap my shift. If you get this message in time please call me back so we can discuss it. That is…if you are well enough to work tomorrow, of course. Anyway darling, take care of yourself, rest up and maybe we will chat later…Bye.”

Matt’s mouth fell open. He glared at the answering machine while the message played out. He held his glare at it long after the message finished.

He pressed the PLAY button and replayed the message, this time paying particular attention to the date and time information.

Matt’s eyes flicked to the wall clock in the kitchen as the call details were communicated. The message was received at 3.28pm – almost two hours ago.

He ignored the rest of the rambling monotone message and made his way upstairs. He had spent the last two hours out on the ocean, so maybe Alicia was feeling ill and went back to bed.

Matt’s stare was blank when he stood in the open doorway looking at an empty bedroom. He could feel his stomach tightening. The bed was still neatly made from this morning. He rubbed a contemplative hand across his head.

All those feelings of mistrust, all that hatred and jealousy he thought was gone, suddenly flooded back.

Matt returned back downstairs and located his cell phone on the kitchen bench. He stared at the phone’s blank display while he considered his next move. He decided to send her a text. Matt thumbed out a message to see what came back.

“Hi Hun. Just thought I would text to say I enjoyed our time together this morning. BTW Just to make you jealous I had a great jet ski session. Hope work is going well. Looking forward to seeing you tonight. ILU.”

Matt stared at his completed message. His lip curled in a sneer of contempt while his thumb hovered over the SEND button. His thumb hit the button. The message was gone.

He expected the message to be responded to in her usual prompt manner, but that wasn’t the case. Matt paced anxiously for twenty-five minutes before he finally received her belated response.

“Hi Hun. Just saw ur text sorry been busy. Nice re your jet ski. I had fun too this morning. Work sux. Really busy today. Look forward to seeing u when I get home. XXX”

‘FUCK!’ Matt screamed. His whole body tensed. The veins bulged from his temple and forehead. A dull puce hue flooded his face. His focus zoomed in on the words “Work Sux. Really busy today.” He was infuriated.

Matt cocked his arm to pitch his phone in disgust, but something stopped him. His arm fall limp to his side. His shoulders slumped. Matt looked defeated.

‘Are you kidding me?’ He said to no-one, with a disbelieving shake of his head. He collapsed his outstretched arms on the kitchen bench.

Matt didn’t consider himself gullible, but that’s exactly how she made him feel. He was humiliated. She had taken him for a fool. She had played him. She made him think she was working today at 3pm, so she could be with her trainer.

‘Fucking bitch,’ he blurted through gritted teeth. The rage pulsed from him in waves. How could she do this? She was his life.

‘If she’s with that trainer of hers…’ he gritted his teeth. He couldn’t bring himself to even think of Jason’s name. ‘Then we’re through…’ he waved the back of his hand. ‘We’re done,’ he said to no-one.

Even if he wanted to check up on her, he couldn’t remember the address where the trainer lived.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. He raced upstairs and quickly changed into a t-shirt and slipped on a pair of jeans.

Back in the kitchen he scooped up his car keys on his way down the internal stairs to the garage. He was a man on a mission.

The drive to his office appeared quicker than usual. In reality however, he was so focused on what he had to do, he didn’t realize he was travelling about ten miles per hour over the speed limit.

After arriving at his office parking lot, he quickly parked his car and made his way to the Comms Room. He stood in the darkened hub scanning the room in search of a vacant console.

The room’s Shift Supervisor noticed Matt near the entry door and approached him.

‘Hey Duncan. What brings you in here on a weekend? We don’t have any ops on today…do we?’

Matt shook his head. ‘Nah…’ he said apathetically. He continued to scan the room, without making eye contact. He noticed a vacant console on his right and moved towards it. The supervisor followed him.

‘I’ve just received some information in the Sanchez matter,’ Matt said. ‘My CI just gave me the number to a second cell phone Sanchez supposedly uses… so I want to get a roving bug onto it straight away, to confirm if it is his.’

‘What…so your confidential informant even rings you on weekends?’ the Supervisor asked.

‘Weekends…’ Matt scoffed. He frowned. ‘Are you kidding me…Every day’s a weekend to these losers. They wouldn’t know what it was like to work for a living.’

Matt slid into the console chair and logged onto the network. ‘He calls me whenever he has some information… that’s how it works out in the field.’ Matt tone was condescending to the office-based Supervising Agent.

The Supervisor quickly got the message. ‘I’ll ah… leave you to it, then,’ the Supervisor said, as he edged away.

Matt didn’t acknowledge, or respond to the Supervisor’s parting comment. He was so focused on what he had to do.

Within minutes, Matt had added Alicia’s mobile phone number to a current case file, where a roving bug had been approved for installation on the phone of a person of interest he was pursuing.

He diverted the roving bug he placed on Alicia’s cell to his mobile, to prevent anyone who was monitoring Sanchez, from receiving Alicia’s text messages.

Further down the track, once he had obtained the conformation he needed in relation to his wife, he would erase any existence of the additional phone number from the case.

This was who he had become. All activity from Alicia’s phone was now diverted to his cell phone for in-field monitoring. He was set to monitor her calls, text messages and pinpoint her exact whereabouts at any time.

Having successfully – and illegally — loaded the surreptitious Roving bug into Alicia’s cell phone, Matt returned to his vehicle.

He struggled to accept it had come to this. Whether he realized it or not, his anger had transformed him into one of those possessive, jealous husbands, continually obsessed with their wives whereabouts.

His mood was somber as he accessed Alicia’s phone and used its inbuilt GPS to pin point her current location. He needed to know if his suspicions were correct. After all, the trainer was the main focus of his fuming hatred.

Within seconds, he had what he wanted. The indicator pin identified her mobile phone was at 1825 Lawson Avenue in Pacific Beach – Jason’s house.

Matt took a moment to consider his actions, before remotely activating her phone to listen to any conversation she was having. Did he really want to hear what was going on? Was he fully prepared for what he might hear?

He knew he had no choice. The not knowing ate at him. He activated the roving bug on her phone. The silence was deafening. Matt checked his phone and confirmed the two cell phones were connected. He continued to listen in.

Silence.

The growing frustration he felt compounded his suffocating anger. His marriage, as he knew it, was now over, if she was with the trainer.

He wanted to hurt this trainer and hurt him bad. At six feet eight and 285 pounds of muscle, Matt was a behemoth. And a pissed-off Matt was not a person you wanted to mess with. He had learned how to make people disappear, and get away with it.

The tires squealed as he exited from the office parking lot and accelerated to merge with the flowing traffic, on his way to the nearby suburb of Pacific Beach.

Matt glanced to his left, out over the expanse of ocean as he traveled along the freeway. The setting sun melting into the watery horizon reassured him that darkness would soon provide adequate cover for his seek-and-find mission.

Chapter 8

Within fifteen minutes, Matt slowly rolled along Lawson Avenue. He took in his surroundings as he conducted a neighborhood reconnaissance.

Lawson Avenue was a long, wide picturesque residential street with tall palm trees in front of each property. The houses in the area ranged from large affluent properties, to small, single fronted shacks on narrow blocks.

Number 1825 was located on his right. As he approached, he shook his head when he noticed Alicia’s car parked three doors up on the opposite side of the road.

When he arrived at number 1825, he slowed to a stop to examine the house.

The small single fronted, white weatherboard home appeared to be in darkness, except for evidence of an internal light seeping around the sides of a closed blind, on a side window. Jason’s Mustang was parked in the drive.

After conducting a slow drive around the entire neighborhood block, Matt returned to Lawson Avenue. As he arrived, his attention was drawn to the sound of voices emanating through his phone.

Matt parked his vehicle in Lawson Avenue, about 100 yards down from number 1825 to listen more intently. He lifted his phone to his ear.

The sound was clear and sharp. He could hear everything. Flirtatious and suggestive comments were being exchanged. He could then discern the distinctive sound of kissing – passionate kissing, and lots of groaning and moaning.

Matt pounded his fist on the steering wheel when he recognized Alicia’s familiar lovemaking, pleasure screams. Matt’s broad shoulders slumped. His suspicions were confirmed. He had heard what no man wanted to hear. He sat there listening while his wife was being screwed by another man.

He dropped his cell phone onto the passenger seat and buried his face into his hands. He couldn’t listen anymore. His mind was a melting pot of so many emotions. All he wanted to do was kill them both.

Thoughts about discreet ways he could accomplish that, filled his conscious mind. He could burn the house down with them still in it. Or maybe he could burst inside and club them both to death. If he had his disposable firearm, he could simply put a bullet in their heads.

Common sense eventually prevailed. Matt opted to leave the area before he did anything he would regret.

During the short drive home, Matt was at an emotional low. He was devastated by his wife’s betrayal of his trust. To him, it was as though someone had died. She was after all, dead to him, now. He had no intentions of trying to work through this, or forgiving her.

He was humiliated and betrayed. As far as he was concerned, she was now damaged goods. Once excited by her lustful desires, it was these same uncontrollable urges that precipitated the end of their marriage.

Something inside Matt snapped. A Machiavellian side of the once devoted and loving, even infatuated husband, began to surface. His mind plotted the various scenarios that would result in the demise of them both. He literally planned how to get away with murder.

After garaging his car, Matt made his way inside. He went straight for the alcohol. He needed something strong to calm his anger. He drank straight from the Jack Daniels bottle.

He found himself pacing the floor while his mind continued to work overtime. He noticed the message from earlier was still on the answering machine. He quickly deleted it.

By the time the bottle was empty, he had calmed a little.

He was still wide awake when he heard Alicia’s car entering their drive. He didn’t want to confront her, or for that matter, speak to her. He wanted nothing to do with her. He quickly raced upstairs, undressed and slid into bed where he feigned deep sleep.

Normally following an afternoon shift she would suggestively grab and stroke his penis seeking sex before bed – but interestingly, not this night. She was happy to let him sleep.

Matt rose after a sleep-in and enjoyed a leisurely Sunday, mid-morning breakfast on his balcony. His cell phone vibrated on the table. He glanced at the display. It was a text message, but it wasn’t for him. The message he received was a text message from the roving bug in Alicia’s phone. She had just received the text.

Matt read the incoming message. It made his blood boil. It was from her trainer. What he read infuriated him.

“Hi gorgeous. thnx for a great day. I can’t stop thinking about you. Four times in one day and I still want u more. Will I C U 2day?”

Matt’s head slumped. He dropped his cell onto the table in disgust. He buried his face into his hands. How could she do that to him?

His phone vibrated again. Matt snatched up the phone and read the message. It was Alicia’s reply.

“Had fun too. Finish at 3. Will C if I can call in on way home.”

Matt dropped his cell back onto the table, like it burned his hand. He rubbed a hand across forehead. She was happy to ruin what they had for a stray fuck. He slowly shook his head.

The phone vibrated again interrupting his thoughts. He lifted it and read the message, this time from Jason.

“I watched the video of us from yesterday it is soooo hot. It will keep me going until you call in later. XXXX”

Matt rolled his eyes. His head dropped. They even recorded it. Alicia loved to video record their adventurous lovemaking and how watching it back later excited her.

Reading those text messages only fueled his already escalating anger and hatred towards his wife and her new lover.

With the house to himself he found himself continually devising ways he could get rid of them both.

He recalled an FBI case from out east involving a husband, who wanted to kill his wife, where he made it appear like she was the random victim of a serial killer. The husband went on a shooting spree, killing many people, before he killed his wife.

Matt steepled his hands in front of his face. That might just work, he considered. What he wasn’t realizing was, his feelings of betrayal had manifested into an irrational hatred so severe, he was becoming the type of person he was sworn to protect against. He callously thought like the very people he despised, with a passion.

An evil smile filled his face, as he sat alone on his balcony. He had devised what he thought to be the perfect panacea; a way to get rid of both of them.

He could kill his slut of a wife and make it look like she was the random victim of a serial killer – and frame her boyfriend as the serial killer. It was perfect.

But it would require meticulous planning. He needed to know more about this Jason; his interests and movements. He had to make sure Jason didn’t have airtight alibis, if he was to successfully implicate him in the crimes.

It was perfect. All he had to do was set the wheels in motion.

Matt stood at the open fridge door pouring himself a cold drink when Alicia emerged from the internal garage staircase. ‘Hi Hun,’ she said as she entered the kitchen and moved directly towards him for a kiss.

He silently scoffed to himself when he noticed she was dressed in her work uniform.

Matt didn’t want her touching him. He wanted to jam his hand in her face and shove her away, but he couldn’t. If his plan was going to work, he needed her to think she had him fooled. He needed to play the gullible, unsuspecting husband. It was difficult for someone like Matt, but he had to do it.

‘How was work?’ he asked as she approached. He tried to act interested, despite his skin crawling at the sight of her. He glanced sideways at the kitchen clock. It was 4.30pm.

Alicia noticed him check the time. ‘Oh, I got held up at work,’ she said. ‘Had an emergency come in…you know…Had to stay back for an hour or so.’

Matt forced a smile, as he nodded in understanding, knowing full well she had been screwing the trainer for the past hour.

Alicia hovered over the blank answering machine before moving to the fridge. She gestured over a shoulder at the machine. ‘Did you happen to see if I ah…received a message yesterday?’

Matt raised his eyebrows. ‘What…’ he moved to the answering machine display. He flicked a finger at the machine on the kitchen bench. ‘You mean on that…?’

‘Yeah,’ she said, with a puzzled expression. ‘One of the girls from work, Lucy… said she left me a message on my machine yesterday…’

‘OK.’ Matt enjoyed watching her squirm.

‘Oh it was nothing really…’ she said. ‘She just wanted a shift change or something…’

Matt shook his head. ‘Oh, OK…No I didn’t see anything there.’

‘It doesn’t look like the message was saved.’ Alicia stared down at the darkened display on the answering machine. ‘Oh well…’ she shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter. She caught up with me, so we’re all good.’

Matt casually leaned back against the kitchen bench as he watched Alicia fill the coffee machine with water. He took a sip from his drink before asking, ‘How long have you been training with Jason now?’

‘I don’t know…why do you ask?’ She filled the coffee beans canister.

‘Well,’ Matt began. ‘When Calvin was your trainer we had him up here for drinks…we had barbecues with him and we went out for dinner. We haven’t had this new guy over yet.’

Alicia paused from preparing her coffee. ’Do you want him to come over?’ she asked.

‘Sure, why not.’ Matt pushed himself away from the bench and opened the dishwasher door. ‘I think I should at least get to know the guy who spends as much time with my wife as I do…wouldn’t you agree?’ He loaded his empty glass into the top tray of the dishwasher.

Matt checked Alicia’s duty roster held up by magnets on their fridge. ‘What about asking him over for drinks on Saturday night?’ Matt tapped her roster. ‘Works in well…You have this weekend off.’

Alicia shrugged. ‘If you want…I’ll see if he has it free.’

Matt had one stipulation. If Jason chose to accept their invitation, the night was not to end up with them all being naked in the Jacuzzi on their balcony, like most of their casual drinking sessions do.

Alicia agreed to his terms.

Chapter 9

Alicia and Jason both appeared to be enjoying each other’s company during the Saturday night drinks on Matt and Alicia’s balcony.

By contrast, it was incredibly difficult for Matt. He hated the very sight of this man.

Jason was the last person on this earth Matt wanted to spend any time with, but there was method in his madness. He had an ulterior motive for asking Jason over.

As part of his grand plan, Matt needed some DNA evidence from Jason, to plant at his proposed murder scenes. He figured Jason’s fingerprints would be ideal. And the best way to get them would be to lift them from a glass, or a bottle, after his visit to their home. It was perfect.

That was until Alicia served Jason his bottles of beer in a neoprene bottle holder — No fingerprints on the bottles.

Matt put on a brave face throughout the evening. He did his best to appear the most amiable of hosts. He even chose to ignore the furtive glances Alicia and Jason exchanged throughout the night.

They were like two love struck teenagers who couldn’t wait for the parent figure to leave them alone.

Jason took a sip from his drink. His eyes drifted to the Jacuzzi at the north end of the balcony. He lifted his chin at the Jacuzzi. ‘Is that heated…?’ He asked Alicia.

‘Sure is…’ she said. ‘We keep it around 95 to 100 degrees in the cooler evenings. During the day we drop the temperature down a bit, so it is more refreshing.’

Jason took a sip of his drink then pushed himself from his chair and ambled over closer to the Jacuzzi. He stood over the dark blue colored octagonal pool staring in at the sparkling clear water.

As he did so, Matt glared at Alicia. He discreetly shook his head once. Alicia nodded her understanding.

‘Do you need a refill Jason,’ Matt asked. He stood from his chair and approached Jason.

Jason examined what was left of his drink. He emptied the bottle in one gulp. ‘Why not…’ he handed Matt his empty.

‘What about you, Leece…? Same again?’ Matt said.

‘Thanks Hun…’ She smiled at him.

Matt slipped off the bottle holder from Jason’s bottle and dropped it onto the outdoor table, then made his way inside. He would give Jason the refill without the holder, to get that print.

Jason watched Matt disappear inside. Once he was gone, Jason looked to Alicia and grinned. His brilliant white teeth gleamed. He slipped off his t-shirt and dropped it to the floor. ‘Let’s get in…’ he said with an excited tone. He toed off his shoes while he undid the button on his jeans and dropped his fly.

Before he could drop his pants, Alicia firmly said, ‘No…’ She pushed herself from her seat and quickly moved to Jason. She picked up his shirt and firmly pushed it into his chest.

‘Why not…?’ Jason asked. ‘We’re all adults here…’ Jason’s eyes flicked to Matt inside. ‘You didn’t mind it last time,’ he said with a suggestive grin.

Alicia nervously glanced back over a shoulder, to Matt inside the house. ‘No…’ she said firmly, but quietly. ‘It’s not appropriate with Matt here…’ she held a firm glare at Jason.

Jason’s eyes flicked to Matt inside the kitchen. He nodded slowly. ‘OK…’ He accepted t-shirt and slipped it back on. ‘Rain check…?’ he said.

Alicia again checked over a shoulder to Matt. ‘Rain check…’ she nodded.

By the time Matt returned with the fresh refills, Jason and Alicia were seated.

When Matt handed Jason his refill, Alicia took hold of the Corona bottle for Jason and slipped it into Jason’s bottle holder for him, then handed Jason his drink. Matt couldn’t believe she did that.

Jason watched Matt slide into his seat. ‘Cheers…’ he lifted his Corona to Matt.

Matt paused, albeit briefly. He nodded once and slightly lifted his Corona to Jason, in a perfunctory response.

‘This really is a beautiful home you have here,’ Jason said. He directed his comment to Matt.

But it was Alicia who replied. ‘Thank you. We love it.’

Jason held his focus on Matt. It appeared like he was trying to get a rise out of Matt. ‘The FBI wages must be much higher than I thought they were,’ Jason said.

Matt took a sip of his drink. He allowed a few beats to pass. He examined the Corona label on his bottle, as he spoke. ‘Probably more than what a personal trainer makes…’ Matt’s firm glare lifted to Jason.

Jason grinned. He obviously got the rise he wanted. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you, Matt…’ Jason said.

‘You didn’t…’

‘It’s just that…well, this is quite an affluent area of San Diego, and you own a luxury home right on the beach…It couldn’t be cheap,’ Jason said. His eyes remained locked on Matt while he took a sip.

‘Your point…?’ Matt glared at Jason.

Jason adjusted himself in his seat. ‘Oh, there’s no point, Matt…’ Jason said. The trainer was smug. ‘I just noticed that you live in a beautiful luxury home right on the San Diego coastline, so I assumed the FBI must pay pretty well.’

Matt glared at Jason. Jason grinned back at Matt.

Alicia interjected into the testosterone fueled to-and-fro. ‘Actually Jason,’ Alicia began. ‘This home is owned by Matt’s father. He is a very successful businessman in New York City.’

‘You don’t have to explain ourselves to him, Leece…’ Matt said firmly while he glared at Jason.

Alicia smiled at Matt. ‘It’s OK, Hun…’ she said to Matt. ‘This was Matt’s parents’ vacation home. They often moved out here to escape the snow of New York’s winter months.’

Alicia smiled at Matt, then continued. ‘When Matt’s Mom passed away four years back,’ she paused to place a reassuring hand on Matt’s forearm. Her mouth straightened. ’His Dad lost interest in vacationing at this luxurious holiday home. It was no longer the same without his wife of forty years.

’Apart from some occasional summer rentals, this magnificent home sat vacant for most of the year. When we decided to move from New York to the West Coast, Matt’s Dad insisted we move into this house.

‘He said it would give us somewhere to live, it was close to San Diego, where we both worked, and with us living here, it would prevent the house becoming a vacant property overrun by rodents, insects or squatters.’

Matt took a sip of beer. ‘Anything else you want to know about us… Jason…?’ He said, intentionally emphasizing his name. Matt took another sip. ‘Our bank accounts…?’

‘I’m sorry, Matt. I’ve offended you,’ Jason said. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I was only admiring your beautiful home,’ he said.

Matt hated the smug attitude and the sound of the trainer’s voice.

As the night progressed, Matt struggled to gain any real usable insight into who Jason really was, what he liked – apart from other mens’ wives – and what he did in his spare time.

He found Jason very guarded when discussing himself. Often answers to questions were brief and were quickly deflected to a different topic. A skill Matt recognized immediately.

While the men chatted, Alicia volunteered to return to the kitchen and retrieve another round of fresh drinks for everyone, and refresh the nibbles. Matt and Jason remained on the balcony.

Jason stood leaning back against the balcony hand rails with his hands in his pockets, while Matt sat on one of the dining chairs off to the side.

Jason noticed Alicia approaching the rear glass sliding patio door with her hands full of empty bottles. He pushed himself away from the hand rail and moved to quickly slide open the door for Alicia.

Matt smiled to himself as he watched the chivalrous Jason inadvertently place his guiding left hand on the glass panel of the door, while he slid the door open by the handle.

Gothcha. An evil smirk emerged out the side of Matt’s face.

With the time approaching midnight, Jason checked his watch. He placed his near empty bottle onto the outdoor dining table. ‘Well, if we’re going to be working out in the morning…’ he said to Alicia. ‘We’d better get some rest.’

About time… Matt thought.

Jason extended a hand to Matt. ‘Thank you for your hospitality,’ he said.

Matt rose from his chair. Fuck you. You piece of shit, was what Matt thought, as he shook Jason’s hand. What he actually said was a cryptic reply of, ‘It was interesting…’

Jason held Matt’s handshake. ‘I hope I didn’t offend you earlier, Matt,’ Jason said.

Matt waved a hand, then released his grip. ‘Water under the bridge…’ Matt said. He lied.

After seeing Jason off on his way home they retired for the evening. Matt waited until Alicia fell asleep. When her breathing was deep and controlled, he slipped out of bed, grabbed a fingerprint lifting sheet he brought home from work and quietly returned to the balcony.

He located the area on the sliding door where Jason’s fingerprints were. He exhaled heavily onto the glass door. The fog from his breath on the glass briefly identified the fingerprint.

A sinister smile emerged as Matt peeled open the celluloid sheet and placed it over the fingerprints. With a few rubs across the sheet, he peeled it away from the window to examine the quality of the lift. Perfect. He smiled to himself.

Matt re-applied the film to its protective backing and returned upstairs where he hid the celluloid lift in his walk-in wardrobe.

Alicia’s breathing was still deep and controlled when he slipped back into bed. All was in readiness.

Matt laid there staring at the darkened ceiling with his hands clasped behind his head in contemplation. His mind was too active to sleep.

The next step, he considered, was to decide on his suitable targets. He needed to choose the right victim type for his killing spree. His preference would be young, female loner types. When the timing was right, he would leave Jason’s stray fingerprint, strategically placed at one of the crime scenes.

Let’s see you explain your way out that, Jason. Matt smirked to himself. Time to make things happen.

Due to the paucity of personal information gleaned from Jason during last Saturday night’s visit, Matt had no choice but to conduct surveillance on his target, if he wanted to know more about him. In fact, if his plan was going to work, he needed to know more about the personal trainer.

Matt was aware Jason worked as a gym instructor at Bay Park. He was also aware the gym closed nightly at 9pm.

For the next two weeks, when time permitted, from 8.30pm onwards, Matt sat in his car in an obscure corner of the gym parking lot waiting for Jason to leave work. As far as Alicia was aware, Matt’s regular evening absences were due to a case he worked on.

Apart from the two nights a week when Matt followed Jason to his secret rendezvous with Alicia, Jason usually departed the gym shortly before 9pm and almost always with a different young female. He appeared to be giving the girls a ride home.

On each occasion, Jason escorted his female passenger inside her home, where he would remain for an hour or more, before emerging and usually driving home. Matt had no doubt he was screwing all these young women.

To Matt, this was too good to be true. He had his pattern. Jason clearly considered himself a player, so any of these young girls would make the perfect victim for Matt’s staged serial killer murders.

The personal trainer had already done the ground work for him. When discovered, each victim would be traced back to the common denominator – Jason.

For all Matt knew, Jason may already have left his DNA at some of these girls’ houses. But to be sure, Matt still had to leave one incriminating fingerprint at a crime scene, probably on an external window. He would then hide some recent newspaper clippings of the murders in Jason’s house, to add further weight to Jason’s complicity in the murders.

Matt didn’t have the innate predisposition of a serial killer. It was not how he was wired. If anything, he was the polar opposite. So to make this look authentic, he researched mass killers such as Bundy, Gacy et al, so he could ensure the murder scenes resembled that of a narcissistic, or misogynistic killer of young women.

A Bureau serial killer case out east where the killer bound his victims using duct tape, gave him an idea to copycat already recognized serial killer behavior.

Once his murders were considered to be those of a serial killer, it would be referred to FBI jurisdiction. This would allow him to monitor, maybe even steer the investigation towards Jason.

Chapter 10

Saturday morning was overcast and cool. The threatening clouds were an appropriate outlook, given the dark plans Matt had in store.

Alicia and Matt shared their Saturday morning breakfast on their rear balcony before Alicia had to leave for her 8am shift.

‘What are your plans today, Hun?’ Alicia asked as she sipped on her coffee.

Matt lounged back, casually crossing his legs. ‘Not much, actually.’ He lifted his chin to the beach. ‘The weather looks pretty threatening…it might be an indoor day,’ Matt said.

Alicia drained the last of her coffee then stood from her chair. She started to gather the empty dishes.

‘Leave them, Leece…I’ll do that,’ Matt said. ‘You should probably get going.’

Alicia checked her watch. ‘Do you mind…?’

Matt waved a hand. ‘Of course not. Go. Go,’ he said firmly.

Alicia smiled. She moved to kiss him goodbye. ‘Thank you,’ she smiled. ‘I’ll see you tonight, Hun,’ Alicia said then exited from the balcony.

The smile from Matt’s face wiped. His face tightened as he watched her disappear inside the house.

His day was planned long before he woke this morning. With Alicia working until 4pm, at least, today would be the day when he would acquire some of the tools of the trade for his upcoming plan.

It was mid-morning by the time Matt had finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes then showering. He checked his watch. It was time set the wheels in motion.

Matt drove forty miles north to Oceanside, to purchase some duct tape from an obscure little hardware store he found on-line.

His law enforcement experience told him that once the murder victims were found bound by duct tape, any investigator worth his salt would canvass the hardware stores and sellers of duct tape in the area looking for any leads from recent purchases. But they won’t look forty miles away.

So Matt’s guile had him heading out of town, far enough away, to prevent the risk of such inquiries identifying him purchasing duct tape.

He also intentionally chose a smaller, Mom and Dad run store that did not appear to utilize security cameras.

Once the duct tape had been purchased, Matt tore the receipt and discarded it into the roadside trash bin. His next stop was a pharmacy.

Following exfoliating advice received from a pleasant and very helpful young girl at an Oceanside pharmacy, he purchased a pumice stone, grainy exfoliating scrubs and acid based washes before returning to La Jolla Shores. Purchase receipts for all these items were also suitably destroyed.

Matt had it all worked out. First he had to select his victim, which would be difficult. She would essentially be an unfortunate sacrifice for his cause. Then prior to leaving his home to go out and commit his murders, he would shower and aggressively scrub his skin using his recent exfoliating purchases, to remove all dead skin. This would ensure there was no inadvertent skin samples or epithelial evidence left at the scene.

His hair was already shaved short, so it was unlikely he would drop incriminating hair follicles, but he would still aggressively scrub his hair, just to be sure. Except for his face, all skin would be covered by gloves and dark clothing.

Matt obtained some latex gloves and disposable shoe covers from his crime kit at work, to prevent leaving any trace transfer evidence, or shoe prints at his crime scenes.

When he visited his chosen victims, he was confident he could use his FBI profile to bluff his way inside their homes. Once he was satisfied she was alone, he would claim his unsuspecting victim. It all seemed a little too easy, in theory.

Alicia’s rubber soled shoes squeaked on the linoleum flooring as she strolled down the empty hallways of her 4th floor ward.

She had just completed her mid-morning patient rounds from the east wing and was moving around to complete the north wing.

As she passed the 4th floor nurse’s station, Alicia smiled to her colleague, Lucy, who was manning the desk.

Lucy raised a hand towards Alicia. ‘Oh ah, Alicia…’ Lucy called. ‘Got a minute..?’

Alicia turned back to Lucy. ‘Hey Luce. What’s up?’ she asked as she approached the nurses station and leaned on her elbows.

‘Did you hear about the poor girl in room 404…?’ Lucy checked the patient list. ‘Ah…Sarah Sanderson,’ she said. ‘She was only moved to us from ICU early this morning.’

‘Is that the rape victim…?’

Lucy nodded. ‘Yep, that’s her. She told the cops she was raped and strangled in her own home last night.’

‘Yeah, I heard about it at shift hand over this morning,’ Alicia said. ‘Poor thing. It’s horrible.’ She shook a sympathetic head. Alicia glanced in the direction of room 404. ‘I’ll be checking in on her soon,’ she said.

‘She is understandably traumatized by the ordeal,’ Lucy said. ‘Poor thing. I hope she’ll be alright.’

‘They should castrate the bastards when they catch them,’ Alicia said. ‘Sounds like she was lucky to get away?’

‘Her house mate was away on a two-week vacation apparently. She came home and disturbed the offender.’

‘That’s great…’ Alicia said. ‘That means they should have a witness description of the rapist, then…’

Lucy shrugged. ’Don’t know the details, but I think he fled out the back door when he heard the friend coming through the front. I don’t think she got a look at him.

‘Her house mate walked in and found her friend on the floor. Her clothing was ripped off…her hands tied with duct tape…’ She slowly shook her head. ‘It’s just terrible really.’

’Not quite the Welcome Home she was expecting, was it?’ Alicia pushed herself away from the station desk. ‘OK, thanks Luce,’ Alicia said. She continued on her rounds. ‘I’ll keep a check on her this morning,’ she said back over a shoulder.

Room 404 was in darkness when Alicia arrived. The shades were drawn. The fluorescent light behind the bed bulk head bled subtle diffused lighting up the cream colored wall.

Alicia noticed the patient was asleep. She moved alongside the bed to check the patient’s Obs.

Her sympathetic eyes fell to the unconscious patient. The young girl appeared to be around early twenties. Red marks were visible on either side of her neck. Her left cheek had a large swollen contusion. The swelling had partially closed her left eye.

She shook her head in sympathy as she unhooked the blood pressure cuff hanging on the Baxter Pump beside the bed and attached it to the patient’s upper arm. She clipped the O2 Saturation probe to the patient’s finger and activated the machine.

After noting the results, Alicia checked the patient’s temperature using a tympanic ear thermometer, instead of the traditional under-the-tongue thermometer, so as not to disturb the patient’s much needed sleep.

After unwrapping the cuff and returning it to its hook, Alicia moved to the foot of the bed. She checked her watch before updating the chart with the results of her morning Obs.

She curiously flicked through the pages. There was an entry recording how police had already conducted a rape kit on her. Alicia’s gaze lifted back to the sleeping patient. ‘Your poor thing,’ she said quietly, to no-one in particular.

The patient’s chart recorded that preliminary examinations failed to locate any visible signs of bruising, tearing or any other trauma to the vaginal area, which were injuries often consistent in a rape.

Alicia lifted her sympathetic eyes back to the sleeping patient. Her mouth straightened as she regarded the young woman. ‘Good for you…’ she said quietly.’

Alicia returned the chart and moved to exit the room. As she did so, her cell phone vibrated in her uniform front pocket. She stopped in the doorway, just inside the room and removed her cell. She checked the phone’s display. It was a text from Jason.

The Hospital’s strict, no-cell phones on the wards policy, prevented her reading the text as she walked along the hall.

She checked the hallway before returning back into the darkened room, away from door. Following a quick check to confirm the patient was still asleep, she opened the text message.

At their last one-on-one training session, Jason confided in Alicia by telling her how much he loved her. He cleverly tried to plant the seed in her mind for her to start thinking about leaving her husband, for him. Alicia told him she loved the sex, but she loved her husband more.

When Alicia called in to Jason’s place after work yesterday afternoon, he again raised the idea, selling the suggestion like a seasoned salesman. Again, Alicia told Jason she was having fun, but she had no interest in leaving her husband.

Jason’s insistence on the issue eventually caused Alicia to leave his place earlier than expected. She hadn’t spoken to him since she left him last night.

The text read.

“Will I C U 2Nite…on ur way home from work maybe? Also just wondering have U have given any more thought to us being together permanently?”

Alicia shook her head. She made it clear to Jason that she had no intentions of leaving Matt. She lifted her eyes to the ceiling in contemplation before typing out her reply.

“Not sure if I can call in on the way home. Jason I love our time together but I have also made it abundantly clear I have no intentions of leaving Matt. If U can’t accept this maybe we should stop seeing each other.”

Jason’s reply was quick.

“Understand. Sorry. Can’t blame a guy for trying tho.”

Alicia shook a disappointed head when she read the reply. She dropped her cell into her uniform pocket and returned to her rounds.

By mid-morning Monday, while Alicia was completing her nursing rounds, Matt and his team had already commenced their return to the city from an early morning reconnaissance operation.

Unshaven, intentionally unkempt and dressed in scruffy jeans and T-shirts, they traveled to El Cajon just before dawn to conduct inquiries into a large counterfeit operation his team was investigating.

They had unconfirmed information relating to specialized printing plates used in the production of counterfeit US bills. Their task was to gather as much intelligence and information as they could to support the possibility of future raids.

By 10am they had accomplished their covert mission, having acquired sufficient information to confirm their intel was accurate.

Around-the-clock surveillance would be implemented upon their return, to gather the required evidence for a federal search warrant.

Matt felt satisfied by their efforts as they set off on their way back to their office. While driving their black, nondescript SUV through Broadway Heights, he considered there was no hurry to get back to the office.

It was such a beautiful day to be out and about and their stuffy office environment was all that awaited their return.

While sitting stationary at a red stop light, Matt lifted his eyes to his rear vision mirror to check his two back seat passengers.

‘Hey… You know what?’ He said. He checked he had their attention, before shifting his gaze to his front seat passenger, Brad. ‘I don’t know about you guys…but I could kill for a good coffee.’

The response was overwhelmingly unanimous.

Brad gestured to a café up ahead. ‘That one looks as good as any,’ he said. ‘They’ve got outdoor tables, as well.’

It wasn’t long before all four unkempt men emerged from their FBI standard-issue SUV and sat around a small outdoor table at a Broadway Heights café, savoring their much needed caffeine boost.

Despite their early start, the mood among the men was relaxed and jovial. They chatted casually. Each one clearly appreciated the impromptu opportunity to take a break from routine to enjoy a coffee, while basking in the glorious sunshine.

‘Anyone want another…?’ Matt asked. He eyed his colleagues one-by-one. ‘Yeah…?’

After receiving nods to the affirmative, Matt slid a twenty across the table to Brad. With a jab of a thumb towards the café, he said, ‘I’ll buy, if you go and order another round of coffees for everyone, buddy.’

‘Deal…’ Brad scooped up the bill and disappeared inside.

Matt took a sip from what remained of his first coffee, when his cell phone vibrated on the table. All eyes at the table dropped to the vibrating phone doing circles on the table.

‘Surely the office is not looking for us,’ one of the colleagues blurted.

‘I doubt it,’ Matt reassured. He lifted the cell and glanced at the display.

The roving bug in Alicia’s mobile had just alerted him to the text messages Alicia received and sent to Jason. His face tightened when he read the messages.

‘Bad news..?’ one of the colleagues asked.

Matt’s eyes lifted to his colleagues. Both stared back with interest. ‘Huh…oh, no…no…’ Matt shook his head. ‘It’s ah…it’s just a text reminding me of something that I have to attend to later.’ He waved a hand. ‘It’s all good…’ he said before returning to the messages.

Unbelievable. He glared at his cell phone display. It’s bad enough he’s fucking my wife, but now he’s trying to get her to leave me as well.

The contempt he felt for this person compounded exponentially. Keep going, you’re only going to make it easier for me.

He started to question why he was offended by Jason trying to convince Alicia to leave him. As far as he was concerned, she had already made that decision to leave as soon as she started screwing her trainer.

He doubted he could ever feel the same way about her again.

Matt wouldn’t admit it to himself, but despite what had happened, he was still a little impressed by Alicia telling Jason she loved her husband and had no intention of leaving him. But it still didn’t change anything.

When Brad returned from placing the order and slid into his chair, Matt’s frowning focus was still on his cell. ’Everything OK…?′ Brad asked.

Matt slid his cell back onto the table. ‘Nah, I’ve got it covered, thanks,’ he said before draining the last of his tepid first coffee.