Page 15 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

He laughed but it quickly died away, probably because he could tell I was serious. "Wait, what?" he said.

"I’m joking. Obviously. He's perfect in every way. I love him more than life itself." And all that nonsense that pet owners liked to spew. Now I had to act like a crazy pet owner on top of acting like I thought my husband was missing. "But he's supposed to be sleeping in his crate right now and strangers excite him."

"You're training him to sleep at certain times?" he asked.

Was that not something dogs did? I laughed. "I just want him to be sleeping. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so worried about my husband. And I think it agitated him and he didn’t sleep either. And now we're both grumpy and sleep-deprived."

"Dogs are smart animals. They can definitely sense their owners’ moods. When did you get him?"

"A few weeks ago."

He nodded. "Puppies need routine. He probably knows your husband is missing too."

"I know. So we're both a mess right now." I pushed my lips to the side and exhaled loudly, trying to look like I was full of despair. If only I could cry on demand. I figured a public breakdown would give me brownie points. "How about that walk?" I asked. I didn't want him to hear any more unexplained noises.

"I don't have time for a walk right now, I need to follow through on a few leads."

Leads? Plural? He wasn't supposed to have any leads, let alone more than one. He was supposed to be bad at this.

"I was up late too going through that box of records you gave us on your husband. There was a number he called every week like clockwork. It wasn't someone on the contact list you provided us. And he didn't have the number saved to his phone. So no name or nickname was provided. But I called the number. 555-218-3564. Does that ring any bells?" He stared at me like he was waiting for me to provide the information that my husband had been hiding.

I shook my head. He was lucky I was a good suburban housewife. Flawless in my etiquette. Or else I would have lacked the necessary patience for this conversation with him. I'd handed over a box of records the other night that had information that I wanted him to find out for me. Give me her name. If I knew it, she'd probably be the one in my basement instead. I hated her almost as much as I hated my stupid husband.

Detective Torres cleared his throat. "That number belongs to a Miss Sophia Tremblay."

I gave him a blank stare. Sophia. Of course her name was something sexy like Sophia Tremblay.

"Do you know her?" he asked.

I didn't know her. But I had a feeling I knew what kind of woman she was. I shook my head. "It doesn't sound familiar."

"I'm sorry to be blunt, but I have a flight I have to catch in a few hours, so I really have to cut to the chase. Ensley, is it possible that your husband was having an affair with this woman?"

"Whaaa...." I put my hand over my mouth because my tone seemed more humorous than surprise. "What?" I said more sternly through my fingers.

"She's our number one suspect right now. I was flying out in her direction for some personal business today anyway, so I'm going to stop by her local precinct."

Did my weird credit card story about California actually somehow pan out? "Flying where? California?"

He shook his head. "Ontario, Canada."

Oh that little piece of shit. He'd gone on a business trip to Ontario two years ago. Two. Freaking. Years. Ago. I'd only found out about his affair a few months ago. I hadn’t realized it had been going on for so long. My eyes started to water. Not with fake acting tears. These were real ones.

"I'm so sorry, Ensley. I hope to have more answers by tomorrow. It's a very real possibility that your husband will be at her place."

I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Or that Sophia will at least know where he is."

One of the tears escaped, running down my cheek. I quickly brushed it away.

"We'll figure this out." He put his hand on my shoulder. "I promise."

He loved making promises he couldn’t keep. I was pretty sure all men did.

Detective Torres let his hand drop from my shoulder. "I do have one more question for you before I head out. What was the last thing you saw your husband wearing?"

I pictured my husband in his work clothes. He looked great in a fitted suit. Handsome. Sophisticated. I swallowed hard when the image shifted and I pictured him in the hotel last night. Sitting at the bar with his leather jacket and jeans. Just as handsome. But in a more rugged way. Is that what he wore around Sophia? The same kind of outfit he role-played in with me? Maybe he didn't even need to role-play with her. Maybe she gave him everything he desired naturally.

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