you acquaint yourself with the accounting just in case...”
“Right...” She suspected they both knew this could be the death knell of a marriage.
“I can surveil him, find out how and where he spends his time, ascertain if there’s any inappropriate behavior that would suggest an affair, do a public records search of the woman he’s involved with, that sort of thing. To get started, I just need your husband’s full name and a license plate number. A picture would help. If the car he drives is registered in both your names, you can put a GPS tracker on the car. I can do that with your permission.”
“All right. And yes, the car is registered in both names. How much time will that take?”
“A matter of days, depending on the schedule your husband keeps. But plan on a couple of weeks. That way you won’t get impatient. A retainer and a very brief contract is required. It only states that you’ll pay for my time and expenses and I’ll deliver information to you and only you.”
“What if what we learn is the worst-case scenario? What am I supposed to do?”
“I’m an investigator, Justine. I’m not a marriage counselor. I don’t know the answer to that.”
She took a sip of her tea. “I might be the primary breadwinner, but I’m completely dependent on him.”
Logan didn’t say anything for a moment. “If you have a business card with your email address and cell number, I can send you an attachment with our agency contract. You can also wire me the deposit through this cell number.” He handed her his business card. “You’ll want to stash this card in a secure place. Unless you have a lot of PI business cards already so this one wouldn’t seem suspicious.”
She reached into her purse, pulled out a business card and wrote Scott’s full name on the back. Scott Rush Somersby. She texted a picture of the two of them. They were smiling confidently for the shot. There were pictures like that framed all over their house. So many people thought they were the perfect couple. “Here you go. I don’t remember his license plate number, but it’s a new Escalade, dark blue. I’ll send it to you when I get home.”
“Okay, then I can get started.”
After a quiet moment she said, “Finish your beer. I’m going to finish my tea. And I promised the hostess I’d order some food.”
“You’ll feel better about making a decision after you have the information you need,” he said.
“Oh, I don’t think I’m ever going to feel better about this.”
“Yes, you will,” he said. “If I find what you expect me to find, you’ll want all of the facts before you make a long-term decision.”
“What makes you think I have an expectation of what you’ll find?” she asked.
“You wouldn’t have called me otherwise. And Justine, I doubt you’re as dependent on him as you think.”
* * *
Justine tried to remember when, exactly, she’d given up her individual power. It might’ve been right away, when Scott said, “I’ll take the right side of the bed.” Then he proceeded to give her a list of her advantages to being on the left side. She would be closer to the bathroom, would have the better reading lamp and when he turned on his left side toward her, he could caress her with his right and dominant hand.
He must have forgotten about the dominant hand lately. Or, more like for years. Because he wasn’t ever in the mood anymore. That hadn’t bothered her much, since she worked such long hours and was frequently tired.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized he chose the TV shows, the dinners, the vacations, managed their social life. He told her to take the LSAT. “You’re a good test taker. You always have been. I know you like teaching, but you can make more money in law and I bet you’d like it.”
“Why don’t you take the LSAT. I’ll help you study,” she’d suggested.