The Fidelity Files (Jennifer Hunter #1)(8)

The transition was relatively seamless. A new phone number because of a long-awaited promotion and, as a result, a new company cell phone. Long hours and lots of traveling because of high-profile clients and a demanding boss. Nondisclosure on the details of my work because of confidentiality agreements. It really did make a very good cover.

I guess that makes me some kind of "double agent." Leading a double life: the one I know about, and the one that everyone else knows about. I would tell my family and friends what I do, but there's no way they would ever understand. My friend Sophie would call me a home wrecker and my friend Zo? would probably never be able to look at me the same way again.

They just wouldn't be able to see it how I see it.

They'd see me as a woman who knowingly flirts with married men and then breaks up relationships. Ruins families. Tears people apart.

The way everyone would see it.

But to me, that's just the surface. When you dig deeper, there's so much more. But I guess to really understand it the way I do, you'd have to know what I know. You'd have to have seen what I've seen.

And that's why I keep it to myself.

Plus, anonymity is what allows me to do what I do so well.

Some people might wonder how I'm even able to go through with it every single time. How can I be so objective? So far removed?

And how can I not want them to pass?

Well, the answer is simple: It's not about what I want.

If you asked anyone on the street if they wanted crime to no longer exist, they would probably say, "Sure, doesn't everybody?" But that still doesn't change the fact that it does.

The same goes for infidelity. It is what it is. It's out there. I can sit around wishing it didn't exist all day long, but that's certainly not going to change anything. Or I can get out there and reveal the fact that it does exist. And hopefully make a difference.

The way I see it: I've already changed over two hundred people's lives. And I'm proud of that.

Doubt can wreak havoc in a relationship. Insecurity can torment your life. And in the end, most people just want to know for sure.

More than two hundred women have been offered the truth about their relationships. About the ones they love. And as far as I'm concerned, that's better than living in the dark.

It's better than living in denial.

Because aren't we all just living in denial? Infidelity is all around us. It's the topic of our talk shows, on the covers of our magazines, at the center of our political scandals. But it doesn't seem like anyone's doing anything about it. Except complaining and pointing fingers.

Well, my fingers are getting tired. I'd rather do something about it.

Raymond Jacobs was the kind of assignment that makes me feel good about what I do. Ashlyn definitely wasn't the first girl he'd ever cheated with (or intended to cheat with), but now, at least, I could fly back to L.A. knowing that she would probably be the last.

And that's what allows me to sleep at night.



"I'M TOTALLY freaking out!" My best friend Sophie's voice came loudly and frantically through my Bluetooth headset as I was driving home from LAX.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm losing him. I can tell," she said with an exasperated sigh.

Sophie has a tendency to overreact. It's rooted in her insecurities, and as a result, she has a hard time trusting men. She's constantly afraid they'll walk out on her. Probably because all of them have.

"You're not losing him," I reassured her patiently. "What happened?"

"He's not coming," she said simply.

"What do you mean, he's not coming?"

"I mean, he was supposed to fly out this weekend, remember? You were supposed to finally meet him. And now he's got some stupid work thing!"

"Well, you can't blame him for that," I told her. "Work is work."

Sophie and Eric had been dating long distance for the past eight months. He was a third-year resident at a hospital in Chicago, and because of his crazy schedule he would usually just pay for Sophie to fly there. The few times he had come to Los Angeles I was away on "business." And even though I had never met him, I could tell by the way she talked about him that he was crazy about her.

Eric was different from all the rest of them. I can't say how I knew that; it was just a feeling I had. And I've learned to trust those instincts without reservation. I just wished I could convince Sophie to do the same. Whenever she falls into one of her panic spirals, I want to sit her down and tell her that I've seen plenty of men who were on the verge of straying, and Eric is definitely not one of them. He didn't exhibit any of the signs of a cheater. And I, of all people, know the signs. But that would probably require a much longer explanation, one I wasn't prepared to give her. So I usually just resorted to more traditional methods of calming her down.

"All I know is once they start canceling dates, that's when it starts to go downhill," she said in a hopeless tone.

"Sophie," I began warningly, "this isn't a 'date.' He lives in Chicago, you talk on the phone at least twice a day, and you've seen him every other weekend for eight months! I think you can safely say that you're past 'dating.'"

"But I really wanted you to meet him... finally."