“I’m Linda, the mayor’s wife. You don’t know me, but I got your number from Bella’s Hair Salon. We need to talk.”
My stomach dropped. “About what?”
“Your husband isn’t on any patrol. He’s with my husband. They’re having an affair.”
“Excuse me?”
“Billy told me he was working late on city council business. Three nights a week. Same nights your husband is supposedly patrolling. I found private messages on his iPad. Photos. Hotel receipts. Followed them…”
A woman holding a digital tablet | Source: Pexels
The room started spinning. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I were. Your husband and mine have been meeting at the Riverside Motel. Room 237. They’ve been there tonight for two hours.”
I don’t remember hanging up. I don’t remember sitting down. The next thing I knew, I was gripping the kitchen counter, shaking.
A startled woman holding her phone against her ear | Source: Midjourney
My phone buzzed again. A text from the same number:
“Meet me in the Riverside Motel parking lot. 20 minutes. Bring your car. We’re catching them tonight. I’ll be in a beige overcoat.”
I stared at the message. This couldn’t be real. James loved me. We had a life together. Two beautiful children. A home. Everything.
But deep down, something clicked. The late nights. The new cologne. The way he’d been distant in bed. The phone calls he’d take in the garage.
“Mommy?”
I spun around. Lily stood in the doorway, clutching her stuffed teddy.
“What’s wrong? You look scared.”
“Nothing, baby. Just grown-up stuff. Go back to bed.”
A little girl holding her teddy bear | Source: Midjourney
The second her door clicked shut, I grabbed my keys, slipped on my sandals, and texted my neighbor, Jen:
“Emergency. Can Zoey and Max stay with you for a bit?”
She replied instantly: “Of course. Bring them over!”
I scooped both kids into their jackets without a full explanation, just a quiet, “You’re going to Jen’s for a little while.” Zoey frowned but didn’t push it. Max was half-asleep in my arms.
I dropped them off, thanked Jen with a smile, and got back in the car.
A woman driving a car | Source: Unsplash
Linda was waiting in the motel parking lot. She looked like me. Same age. Same hollow expression.
“You came,” she said, approaching me.
“I had to know.”
“Room 237 is on the second floor. I have photos from earlier this week.” She handed me her phone. “Brace yourself.”
The first photo showed James and Billy sitting close in a restaurant booth. Too close. The second showed them holding hands. The third…
I handed the phone back. “How long?”
“Three months, maybe four. Billy’s been careless about deleting things. Guess he figured I was too stupid to notice.”
A woman using a phone | Source: Unsplash
“What do we do now?”
Linda’s eyes narrowed. “We go up there. We confront them. And then we destroy their lives the same way they destroyed ours.”
***
Room 237 had a dim light glowing behind cheap curtains. Linda had a spare key card. Don’t ask me how.
“On three,” she whispered.
My heart raced. This was it. The moment that would change everything.
“One.”
I thought about Lily and Max sleeping safely at Jen’s place.
“Two.”
I thought about 11 years of marriage, trust, and love I thought was real.
“Three.”
Linda slid the card and the door clicked open.
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