The Accidental Detective and other stories Read Online Free Page B

present. They dropped their children at school at 8:30 and Lynette showed up at Sally’s house promptly at 8:45, bearing skim-milk lattes and scones. Lynette’s idea of the perfect day, as it turned out, was to share a quick latte upon arriving, then bury her head between Sally’s legs until 11 A.M. , when she surfaced for the Hot Topics segment on
The View.
Then it was back to devouring Sally, with time-outs for back rubs and baths. Lynette’s large, eager mouth turned out to have its uses. Plus, she asked for only the most token attention in return, which Sally provided largely through a handheld massage tool from the Sharper Image.
    Best of all, Lynette insisted that, as much as she loved Sally, she could never, ever leave Alan, not until the children were grown and out of the house. She warned Sally of this repeatedly, and Sally would nod sadly, resignedly. “I’ll settle for the little bit I can have,” she said, stroking Lynette’s Prince Valiant bob.
    â€œIf Alan ever finds out …” Lynette said glumly.
    â€œHe won’t,” Sally assured her. “Not if we’re careful. There. No—there.” Just as her attention drifted away in conversation, she found it drifting now, floating toward an idea, only to be distracted by Lynette’s insistent touch. Later. She would figure everything out later.
    â€œY OU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ,” Sally told Lynette at the beginning of their third week together, during one of the commercial breaks on
The View.
“Peter found out about us.”
    â€œOhmigod!” Lynette said. “How?”
    â€œI’m not sure. But he knows. He knows everything. He’s threatening to take the children away from me.”
    â€œOhmigod.”
    â€œAnd—” She turned her face to the side, not trusting herself to tell this part. “And he’s threatening to go to Alan.”
    â€œShit.” In her panic, Lynette got up and began putting on her clothes, as if Peter and Alan were outside the door at this very moment.
    â€œHe hasn’t yet,” Sally said quickly. “But he will, if I fight the change in the custody order. He’s given me a week to decide. I give up the children or he goes to Alan.”
    â€œYou can’t tell. You can’t.”
    â€œI don’t want to, but—how can I lose my children?”
    Lynette understood, as only another mother could. They couldn’t tell the truth, but she couldn’t expect Sally to live with the consequences of keeping the secret. Lynette would keep her life while Sally would lose hers. No woman could make peace with such blatant unfairness.
    â€œWould he really do this?”
    â€œHe would. Peter—he’s not the nice man everyone thinks he is. Why do you think we got divorced? And the thing is, if he gets the kids—well, it was one thing for him to do the things he did to me. But if he ever treated Molly or Sam that way …”
    â€œWhat way?”
    â€œI don’t want to talk about it. But if it should happen—I’d have to kill him.”
    â€œThe pervert.” Lynette was at once repelled and fascinated. The dark side of Sally’s life was proving as seductive to her as Sally had been.
    â€œI know. If he had done what he did to a stranger, he’d be in prison for life. But in a marriage, such things are legal. I’m stuck, Lynette. I won’t ruin your life for anything. You told me from the first that this had to be a secret.”
    â€œThere has to be a way …”
    â€œThere isn’t. Not as long as Peter is a free man.”
    â€œNot as long as he’s alive.”
    â€œYou can’t mean—”
    Lynette put a finger to Sally’s lips. These had been the hardest moments to fake, the face-to-face encounters. Kissing was the worst. But it was essential not to flinch, not to let her distaste show. She was so close to getting what she