Page 111 of The Book of Luke

Page turn. HE’S OUT OF THE ROOM?

I nodded, spine stiffening, as Melange mouthed, “Stay cool.”

“I just saw the episode where the wife’s cousin visits for the insurance convention…”

A MAKEUP ARTIST ON MASON DIXON WORKED THE LAST TWO SEASONS OF BEVERLY BLONDE. SHE SHOWED ME A PHOTO YESTERDAY FROM LAST YEAR’S WRAP PARTY.

The party where Barnes met Shawn. Melange held up a blown-up printed photo. A redheaded lady posed with three buxom blondes under pink lights. Behind them Melange had drawn arrows pointing into the background, where I saw…

Greta, in profile.

Barnes, with his arm around…

“And the cousin reveals the wife’s boss had slept with her husband!”

Troy.

Troy’s hand on Barnes’ neck, his head inches from Barnes’ ear.

And Barnes’ hand, barely visible, resting on Troy’s white-denim ass.

“The boss hired the wife to ‘single white female’ her!” Jenny was almost manic now.

“Yeah,” I finally uttered. “I didn’t see that coming either…”

Melange frantically scribbled on the notepad, her words a messy loop of tornados.

GET OUT!! IT’S BEEN A TRAP THE WHOLE TIME!!!!

My mind raced, the puppet who’d just noticed translucent strings tethered to his limbs.

Who lured me onto a TV program with people gunning to humiliate me?

Who dispatched a shirtless porn star to console me that first night?

Who did Shawn overhear saying the hotel cameras were gone in Shanghai?

Who brought Barnes immediately after?

AndBarnes.

Barnes would never do his own dirty work. Not when he could connive someone into doing it for him. I was living proof of that. He actually had wanted me here as long as possible—to milk the most unflattering behavior from me on camera—all the while looking like he was fighting to win me back. Barnes had shepherded me here specifically so Troy could annihilate me and then broadcast it in time for both a custody verdict and November sweeps.

“Luke, wasn’t that the best part? When the wife finallyleavesthe damn house?”

THEY WILLNEVER LET YOU WIN THAT MONEY!!!!!

Maybe not. Maybe they would rip my reputation and my heart to shreds before this was all finished. But I’d come too far to go down alone. “Actually, Jen, my favorite part was when she blew up the house with him still in it.”

I nodded gratefully to Melange. I later learned that without a phone number for Jenny, she had rushed to DC on a red-eye the second she found out, relying on the address I’d given her for those stuffed armadillos. “Jen, tell the kids I love them… and I’ll be home soon.”

Jenny’s eyes widened as I ended the call, the screen freezing on her gasp.

“That was quicker than normal,” Troy said coldly.

I inflated a smile I prayed would suffice. “Once the kids get outside, it’s a lost cause.”

“I wouldn’t know.”