The Fidelity Files (Jennifer Hunter #1)(132)

"I am neither ashamed nor embarrassed by the news that was brought forth by my political opponents. And although I don't believe it should have any effect on my ability to do my job as a representative of the California State Senate, I have decided to withdraw my name from this election's ballot for U.S. representative and focus first and foremost on my family."

"I knew he looked familiar!" I shouted to the empty hotel room.

The man at the podium looked over at the woman standing next to him and smiled adoringly before continuing. "My wife, Sarah, has been very supportive during this somewhat turbulent period of our marriage...."

Wait a minute, I thought, studying the woman in the blue suit. That's not Sarah Miller. Or Austin, or whatever her name is supposed to be.

At least it wasn't the Sarah I had met. And I think I would remember. That strange robotlike woman invited me into her stark, desolate mansion in Topanga Canyon three times! I'm pretty sure I remembered what she looked like. And she didn't look like...

But then I stopped. Suddenly everything was becoming very clear to me. The clouds were parting and the sun was beating down on my head.

That wasn't Daniel's wife that I met.

She was some kind of poser. Or decoy. Possibly a real robot!

And that house! It was fake. I mean, not a fake house, like with cardboard walls that fell down when you leaned on them. But I mean, not really Daniel Austin's house. It was probably just some furnished rental. No wonder it looked like no one lived there. Nobody did!

But then if that wasn't Sarah Austin... Who was it?

I looked back up at the TV, searching for more clues. And then suddenly I remembered something that Daniel had said only a few seconds ago.

"I am neither ashamed nor embarrassed by the news that was brought forth by my political opponents."

"Brought forth by my political opponents"? I repeated aloud, and then gasped.

Oh my God! I'd been used as a political spy! Daniel Austin's enemies must have rented that house, hired that woman, and then paid her to pose as his wife, contact me, and then pay me (in cash!) to prove his unfaithfulness. So my first impression had actually been right on the money. She was hired to play the part of a self-important prim and proper wife of a well-known politician. He just wasn't well-known to me.

Whoever his enemies were, they had obviously been trying to catch him in a cheating scandal. No wonder she insisted I go back out there and try again. No wonder she appeared disappointed with my first round of results. And! No wonder she looked oddly amused when I came back with the news that Daniel was gay.

They must have had a field day with that!

A Republican politician with a dark and dirty gay secret in the closet. Um, hello... can anyone say "jackpot"?

I had heard about stuff like this going on in our "honest" system of government, but I had never thought I would be involved in any way. And although I felt like maybe I should have been outraged, thinking, How dare they use me like that? How dare they involve me unknowingly in their petty little sex scandal?

But there was just no way I could possibly be mad. It was way too cool!

And I couldn't wait to get home and tell John. He would be even more excited. Hell, he'd probably already seen the news and told everyone that he had personally outed a right-wing Republican politician.

In fact, the news had probably already spread across Los Angeles's entire gay network, and half of San Diego's. I watched the screen as the segment came to an end. "...Democratic candidate, Paulson, is still refusing to comment on his sources."



AFTER FOUR standby flights, two middle seats, and three layovers in London, Chicago, and Denver, I finally landed on an LAX runway early Tuesday morning.

And I'd never been more happy to do so in my entire life.

I had called Sophie from the Chicago airport the night before, and after hearing about the series of events, she had insisted on picking me up and taking me home.

"Let's just look on the bright side," Sophie suggested cheerfully after ten minutes of silence in the car on the way home from the airport.

I picked my head up from the headrest and looked at her. "What bright side? I'll give you a million dollars if you can tell me what the bright side is."

Sophie pursed her lips and stared at the road. "Well, there's... um..."

I plopped my head back again. "Exactly."

"There's always a bright side," she insisted. "You just have to look hard enough until you find it."

"You mean you just have to delude yourself long enough until you start to believe it?"

Sophie glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "Haven't we gotten cynical in the last twenty-four hours?"

I closed my eyes. "I've always been cynical. I just hid it well."

Even from myself, I thought.

"So what do you think you'll do now? Are you going to go back to doing the fidelity inspector thing?"

"Don't know," I said vaguely.

And the truth was, I didn't. I had certainly thought about it during my nearly twenty hours of travel time. But I had yet to come up with any solid conclusions. I hadn't quit entirely because of Jamie. Sure, he had been a big part of it. But it was more about what he had made me realize.

That there was more to life than just cheaters.

But now I wasn't so sure.