The Fidelity Files (Jennifer Hunter #1)(100)

I thought about calling her back and telling her the truth. But then she'd most definitely ask me to try again. "That's okay," she would say. "He's in town tomorrow night, too; you can just go through with it then."

And if I couldn't go through with it a few hours ago, why in God's name would that change overnight? It wouldn't.

So there went that idea.

I continued to lay in the darkness, trying to talk myself out of the nauseating feeling that was filling my stomach and inching its way up to my throat.

And just then, my phone beeped.

Without moving my upper body, I turned my head and looked over at the nightstand. The backlight had illuminated and the message on the screen was informing me that I had a new e-mail in my in-box.

I stared at it for a good thirty seconds before I finally surrendered and reached for the phone.

I clicked on the e-mail program and my entire face went white with horror.

Staring back at me was an e-mail from Jamie.

And the subject simply read: Fwd:

I bolted upright to a sitting position. This is it, I thought. The e-mail I'd been dreading since our first date. Since he first asked me for my e-mail address so that he could e-mail me during his business trip. The notorious forward that exposed me to the world as the true home wrecker I supposedly was had finally found its way to Jamie's doorstep. Or rather, his in-box.

My heart clenched in my chest as I took a deep breath and clicked on the e-mail. I braced myself for what was sure to come: that familiar link followed by that inevitable "Is this really you?" question, paraphrased depending on my relationship with the sender and their level of doubt that the Jennifer Hunter they knew could ever be mixed up in such a charade.

My Treo seemed to be functioning abnormally slow tonight. "C'mon!" I urged the two-inch screen. But it remained blank. I shook it violently, as if trying to actually jolt the gears into action. Then the screen went black. With a frustrated sigh I tossed it down on the bed and jumped to my feet.

My phone sure picked a hell of a time to freeze, I thought as I sprinted down the hallway to my office.

I opened my laptop and quickly found the same e-mail staring back at me. I clicked on it, secretly hoping that maybe my computer would crash as well or my Internet would go out. Then I wouldn't have to deal with it. I wouldn't have to come face-to-face with what I knew deep down was coming all along.

But it did open. And as soon as it did, my eyes were immediately drawn to the distinctive, underlined blue text that has come to be recognized in all countries as an invitation to click and read more. A link. A signpost leading to a Web address that would be forever known as the Web site that had ruined my life.

My eyes suddenly started to blur and my vision clouded over. I could barely see the link clear enough to actually click on it. Not that I needed to see anything. I knew what was there. I knew what information my eyes would report back to me had they been functioning properly.

Through my hazy vision I managed to place the cursor over the blue, underlined text and press down on the mouse button. My mind immediately began to search for possible stories. Cover-ups. A believable excuse. Something to get me out of this. An evil twin sister. A mad scientist cloning people all over the city and I just happened to be one of them.

Or I could just tell him it was a joke. A prank. People put up fake Web sites all the time to be funny, don't they? April Fools'!...in October.

Yes, I would just sit Jamie down, and with a straight face explain to him that the whole thing was just a...

"Panda cam?" I said aloud, as my eyes refocused on the screen. "What the hell is a panda cam?"

I blinked and looked at it again. On my laptop was a streaming live video of a baby panda walking around his habitat at the San Diego Zoo. Dazedly, I flipped back to the original e-mail.

Underneath the link Jamie had typed in:

Thought you might find this cute.

Can't wait to see you again.

Jamie

I sighed dramatically and fell back against my chair, suddenly feeling like a counter-terrorism agent who had just stopped a nuclear bomb from exploding over the city of Los Angeles. He had sent me a link to a freaking camera that's pointed at an infant Asian bear. That was it! Nothing more.

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as I slowly made my way back to my bed. I laid down and reached under the sea of sheets and blankets until I found Snuffles and tucked him under my chin.

After one more wary glance over at my frozen phone, I drifted off to sleep.



WHEN I woke up in the morning, I knew what I had to do.

I had to cancel my third date with Jamie.

There was no other choice. I couldn't spend the rest of my life running to my computer to see if my life was over every time I heard an e-mail ding. What was next? A heart attack over a link that turns out to be a koala bear mating video? It was obvious that my life was just far too complicated to try to start up a relationship. I had just lied to my best friend about something that could easily affect the rest of her life. Who was I kidding, attempting to date right now?

I sifted through my top nightstand drawer until I located Jamie's business card. I picked it up and stared at the number that was labeled "cell phone" as I unplugged my pink Razor from its charger. Without lifting my eyes from the card, I started dialing.

"Miss Hunter," Marta's voice came hurtling through the room, startling me so much that I dropped the phone on the carpeted floor with a muted thud. I looked up and saw her heavyset frame in the doorway of my bedroom.