Just a Couple Ex's Blindsided (17 page)

Where were they
, she wondered? She was trying to place the background with the fleeting hope that the video was from before they were married. She'd much rather believe her husband than some strangers.

"Our undercover man caught this video at La Fontina Restaurant," the man was saying.

"When?" Nia demanded, drilling her gaze into his. "When was this taken?"

"Several months ago," the woman producer told her.

Then, the man said, "I'm afraid we have more, Mrs. Cooper."

Who was the woman
, Nia wondered? Dan worked a lot, but she'd never thought he could be doing ...

She gasped, because now the screen showed Dan with the woman and they were both getting undressed. It looked as if the video was shot from beyond an open window blind. Tears began burning her eyes.

"That's enough!" a man's voice snapped through the roaring in her brain, as she swayed. "Turn it off. She's seen enough. I won't do your segment if you don't turn it off."

Someone strong steadied her waist and a broad hand clamped over the camcorder, blocking the views of the up and down motions of Dan over the woman.
Sex.
They were having sex.

"Whoa," Jack Andersen said, putting his other hand under Nia Cooper's elbow to hold her upright.

Man, this had been a bad idea. If Mrs. Cooper felt half as shell-shocked as he did, it was no wonder she was about to faint. And he'd seen the entire video of his wife with Mrs. Cooper's husband. Christ, he wondered how the two of them even knew each other. The word and action, “
drinking
,” sped through his thoughts, but he shoved it aside.

"You get the picture they are having an affair," Jack said, bending so he could say it close to Nia Cooper's ear.

She nodded saying, "I don't want to see any more of that."

"What do you think about the fact your husband is having a clandestine affair with his wife, Mrs. Cooper?"

Nia pulled away from Jack’s support, with and exclamation, "Your wife?"

She looked up at Jack with eyes the color of mahogany, making her face appear even more waifish.
Dan Cooper was an idiot
, Jack thought, because his wife was a soft, delicate, and appealing woman. She was very pretty in a natural way.

"Yes, my wife," Jack answered, putting his hand forward to shake her hand, while trying to keep the rage and hurt he felt off his face. He knew he had to be doing a poor job of it as he wondered if a handshake was proper in a situation like this. "I'm Jack Andersen."

Nia Cooper's small hand got lost in his as he gently shook her hand, and unbelievably he heard her say. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Andersen."

That made the hurt he was trying to control ache harder and he knew his pain was reflected on the pale contours of her face.

Moments later, he and Nia were ushered apart from one another, while the producers explained the next phase of the "cheaters sting" as he’d labeled it. He'd been the one to call the show in the first place, because he’d desperately needed a way to discover if his suspicions were true.

Especially after his wife Sadie, kept blaming him and saying he was the one that was crazy. Too his questions, she'd repeatedly said; no she wasn't having an affair; he was just an insecure slob. It was one of the many tactics she’d used to cover her tracks.

Once he got into the television show's official SUV, he could see Nia looked ravaged as she sat crumpled on the far side of the back seat he sat on. The damn camera man had his camera pointed from the front passenger's seat, back towards her.

She looked at him, and whispered, "Do you think this is a good idea ... confronting them?"

Jack saw it then, on the edges of her delicate features ... fear. He silently berated himself, thinking he should have thought about this ... for all he knew Dan Cooper could be a wife beater. This ambush could push him beyond acceptable limits.

Jack scooted toward her, while shoving his hand into the lens of the camera, until he'd pushed it and the guy running it a foot toward the windshield.

"Turn if off now," Jack demanded.

"Mr. Andersen, we need this footage," Shelia said, from the second set of rear seats. She was the female host of the show.

He glared at her. "You'll get enough, just not right now."

"Alright. Alright, Bob, shut if off for a bit. We have time."

Jack let the camera lens go, and he looked down at Nia. "You don't have to go confront them, Mrs. Cooper. I can get you home."

The next phase was to catch his wife and her husband alone at his house, doing what; he did not even want to think about. He'd seen enough on the video... his wife giving another man the sex he’d wanted. The sex he’d practically begged her for. Jack rubbed a rough hand over his face.

Then he felt Nia's soft hand on his forearm. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, reading his pain.

"Just tell me if you want to confront them or not," he said. "I'll back you up."

He could definitely give her that for being so nice to him. Sorry? She had nothing to be sorry for.

Nia thought she'd entered a completely alternate life from the one she'd had, not long ago, leaving the Fabric Barn. Even with video proof, she could hardly believe it, and her mind kept trying to find excuses. Unfortunately, every time she looked at Jack Andersen's face, she saw the truth. How unreal was it to be sitting beside the husband of the woman Dan was screwing.

Tears burned her eyes again, and she felt Jack clamp his hand in support over the top of her hand. That he could give her support — it nearly made her tears fall as she swallowed hard. She felt so bad her husband was ruining his life.

It was worse for women to cheat, wasn't it? People expected men too, but women? Jack had to be as devastated, and she felt him squeezing her hand, at the same time he held his strong, masculine features firm.

She had to know for certain, even if it killed her. She had to know why?

"I think I need to see them," she told Jack, in a quiet voice.

She was close enough that as she looked up at him, she could see how shiny his deep brown eyes were. Unshed tears, like her. For some reason that made her tears fall. Men tried so hard not to cry, she thought.

"I know that I have to see them," he answered, with anger in his voice.

Nia swiped at her tears, looking away from Jack. She wished she had anger like he did to strengthen her resolve. She prayed it would come later, because at the moment all she felt was fear. Fear of losing her husband. Fear that her life was irrevocably changing and she couldn't stop it.

Then, the SUV's were turning down a suburban street she didn't recognize.
How had Dan met Jack's wife in this part of town,
she wondered? The word, "drinking" flickered through her thoughts.

"We're nearly there," Jack said, and she was grateful for the warning, but a type of odd, otherworldly numbness settled over her.

Through the strange numbness she could see more tenseness settling over Jack's features, making them more chiseled. He had a soldier's face ... compelling and strong. She wondered how in the world his wife could ever cheat on him. He was a man's, man. He had to work with his hands or close to it.

Nia looked down at his hand covering hers. It was big and wide.
Not like Dan's
, she thought. Dan had thinner hands, and he never used them for any type of labor. Dan was a financial advisor, but he also prepared peoples taxes, to shorten the gap between those times when his business was slow.

Or ... non-existent
, Nia nearly muttered aloud. It was an old discussion between them, but it had gotten her into working part time at the Fabric Barn. She loved that. Surprised, because she'd never thought she'd enjoy getting out of the house so much.

"It's the light-brown, ranch style house down that cul-de-sac. The one in the middle."

Nia glanced at the house as all the SUV's passed the cul-de-sac.

"We're going to stage a block down," the male producer said, from his seat in the rear of the vehicle. He was using his normal voice at the moment.
No camera
, Nia realized.

The house looked newer and well cared for, in the glimpse she'd gotten of it. She and Dan would never have been able to afford it. She leaned in and up toward Jack's ear.  "He's there," she whispered.

Jack closed the space between them, leaning down, until their heads grazed each other. "You saw his car?" he guessed in a low voice.

She nodded, making their heads touch, as he squeezed the top of her hand. "Damn, somehow even with all the evidence, I just kept hoping."

Pain flared in Nia's chest striking back the numbness.

Jack knew the producers weren't happy by Nia's response. She was more shocked and fragile than she was hopping mad and ready to kick her husband's butt. Yelling confrontations sold shows. But he didn't give a damn about their show. They were only a means to an end.

When he walked up to his house, with the cameras and producers around him, he was centered on one thought.
Do not kill anyone
. He had to control his anger. He knew the show wanted a fight between him and the man balling his wife. But he was here for Sadie. To reveal her lies and backstabbing by the way she always threw it back on him.

She wouldn't be able to do that this time, and he'd be able to reclaim some of his dignity. He wasn't going to mess that up by brawling. Besides, he didn't want to leave an enraged man, which fighting could incite, for dainty Nia Cooper to have to deal with later.

Jack looked back at Nia behind him, with another cameraman and producer latched onto her. He stood at his front door ready to unlock it and go in with a surprise attack. Nia's face was so pale against her shoulder-length, fluffy brown hair. But she tightened her bow-shaped lips and nodded silently, understanding that he was waiting for her.

He quietly unlocked the door and pushed it partway open. They were all supposed to move in quickly, with one camera man just ahead of them, to immortalize the destruction of two marriages.

Jack found them quicker than he anticipated, and it startled him. He had the sickest feeling they'd be in his bed, in the master bedroom, on the far side of the house. But the cameraman motioned that he'd found them, instantaneously, in the empty dining room. Hands pushed Jack forward to the entrance, and he just caught the cheaters becoming aware they were not alone, as bright camera lights blazed across them.

They were on some type of large camping mattress, on the floor. He wondered vaguely where it had come from, as he saw Sadie kneeling on her hands and knees, naked, while Dan Cooper equally naked, fucked his wife from behind.

Jack saw red, slashing his vision for a moment, as Sadie screeched and Dan Cooper cursed. "
Who
the hell are you people? Get out of here!"

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