Call Me! (12 page)

“Ben, you’re right!” Roy says. “She’s absolutely stunning!”

Ben looks at me and beams. “She is, isn’t she.”

“I’d give a week’s pay to see her naked,” Roy adds, and winks at me.

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” I say.

Ben moves closer to me, as if to protect me.

Roy says, “Trust me, I know Ben’s feelings about that! He’s been raving about you for years! I finally had to come to town and see for myself what all the fuss was about. And now that I’ve seen you in the flesh, I feel I’ve known you forever. Can I call you Honey?”

A reference to my bush.

“I told you Roy was a charmer,” Ben says.

“You did,” I say. Addressing Roy, I add, “Given your history as a charmer, I’d feel more comfortable if you called me Dani, as in Ben’s wife, Dani.”

Ben looks mildly uncomfortable. “Well, I didn’t mean to imply…”

Roy interrupts, “No, of course not! No harm done.” He smiles. “Dani’s clearly onto me! Yes, I may be a charmer, but I know true love when I see it.”

Ben’s face goes from concerned to all smiles. A waitress brings Roy a shot of bourbon, neat. “Keep ’em comin’, Monica,” Roy says, “maybe I’ll give you a car for a tip.”

“If you do, I’ll give you a ride!” she giggles.

Roy looks at me and winks. “What do you suppose Monica means by that?”

We look at her and she giggles again. “Oh dear,” she says.

“Catch me again when we get a table,” he says.

“Will do!” Monica says cheerfully, then flits off to find another flirt.

“They must know you here,” I say.

“Nah. I ordered the drink when I came in. Gave her a fifty.” He looks at me and says, “Women will do anything for cash.”

“Some women,” Ben says.

Roy gives him a smug look. “Well said, Benny Boy.”

He downs it in a single motion, and Ben and I exchange a look.

The hostess finds us in the bar and escorts us to our table. A busboy removes a chair so Roy can park his wheelchair in its place. Our waiter introduces himself and sees we have our drinks, so he tells us the specials and hands us menus. We study them a few minutes. When he comes back, we place our orders.

“What type of work do you do, Roy?” I ask.

“I’m an investor. Businesses, Real estate, horses, you name it. If there’s money in it, I’ll find it!” Then he says, “What about you, Dani? What do
you
do?”

“I’m a housewife.”

Roy laughs. “I know better than that! Our Ben has kept me informed through the years. It must be terribly exciting to be a private investigator.”

“The truth is I get very little work. Most of the time I’m a housewife, and quite content to be one, though I wasn’t aware you and Ben spoke on such a regular basis.”

“I check in with him once or twice a year, though now that I think about it, he never calls me. What’s with
that
, Benny Boy?”

Ben says, “I figure you’re so busy all the time! I’m always afraid I’ll interrupt some high-level business meeting. You’re always in motion. I was just telling Dani, you’re a force of nature!”

Roy says, “Well, thanks, but
you’ve
managed to do something I’ve never accomplished.”

“I can’t imagine what that might be,” Ben says. “You’re wealthy, successful, brilliant…you’ve had a wonderful life.”

“I can’t complain, and thanks for calling me brilliant. But with all my success, I’ve never found true love, and that’s the greatest success of all. I’m truly happy for you!”

“Thank you,” Ben says. “That means a lot to me.”

As Roy looks at me his eyes tear up. I wonder how he does that. Does he keep a cut onion in his pocket and rub his eyes with onion juice when I’m not looking?

He says, “I’m happy for you, too, Dani. Because Ben’s not only my best friend, he’s also the best human being I’ve ever met. Of course, I don’t have to tell
you
how special he is!”

“True,” I say, “But it’s always nice to hear my husband complimented.”

“I’d never do
anything
to hurt him,” Roy adds, holding my gaze.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t. I mean, what type of friend
would
?”

Ben says, “Thanks, Roy. You’ve always been a good friend.”

Monica brings Roy another drink and asks if we’d like something.

“I think we’re good,” Ben says. He and I are still nursing the drinks we ordered before Roy showed up.

“Benny never could hold his liquor,” Roy says. “I could tell you stories, but I wouldn’t want to embarrass my best friend. Not in front of his wife, anyway.”

Ben shows a smile, but it’s a sad one.

I know what’s going on in Ben’s mind. He’s feeling guilty for all the negative remarks he made about Roy. Now he sees Roy’s looks have faded a bit, sees him in a wheelchair, sees him drinking too much. Of course, Roy’s enjoying every moment of Ben’s discomfort, narcissistic bully that he is. And what makes him truly evil is he’s pulled me into his ugly game so I can watch him dismantle my husband’s ego.

What a complete bully he is! I can’t imagine what sort of high he could possibly get by emasculating my husband in front of me. According to Ben it’s been going on since the day they met.

Dinner arrives and we dig in. The men talk to each other about their college days, and I try to remember everything Carter Teague said and did last week, and everything Roy, as Joe Fagin, said and did.

The one thing I keep coming back to is Joe’s final comment:
“This is the best birthday present I ever had!”

At the time I thought he meant I was the first part of the present, like an appetizer to whet his appetite, and having sex with his “wife,” Carter, was the rest of the present. I know some couples watch porn together before having sex, and I figured Carter and Joe had taken this concept to the next level. Perhaps they intended to take it up another notch as well, since they offered me three grand to have sex with them. I wouldn’t have done that for any amount of money, but what if I had? Poor Ben would be even more devastated.

Now I realize Roy’s best birthday present ever was what’s taking place tonight. He’s beaten my husband again, and he’s piling on the compliments so he can pull the rug out from under Ben. He took my husband’s pride and joy, me, and reduced me to a stripper for his pleasure. I had yelled,
“I’m not a whore!”
and he said,
“Maybe not, but you’re certainly a stripper.”

Well, when it comes right down to it, it’s Roy’s word against mine about seeing me naked, and there’s no way Ben would believe such a cock-eyed story if I deny it. Ben knows I was out very late Friday night, and that’s an issue, but on the bright side I destroyed Carter’s cell phone, so there’s no photographic evidence. Even if Roy drags Carter Teague in here, it’ll be my word against theirs. I’ll convince Ben that Roy’s trying to put one over on him. I tell myself if it goes down that way I shouldn’t act defensively. I need to laugh, or roll my eyes like I would if someone were making up a story about me as a joke. Maybe I’ll listen to the whole story, as if spellbound, and say, “Absolutely true. Then I flew back home on my flying unicorn!”

Every now and then, as they’re talking, Roy turns to me and gives me a wink. He’s a disgusting pig of a man, and I hate myself for being a part of his game. I’m convinced he wants to destroy my husband’s faith in me tonight, and I feel sick, cheap and degraded about it. Worse, I feel disloyal to Ben, who’s done nothing worse than brag to his old college roommate about how wonderful his wife is.

After dinner, the moment of truth arrives.

ROY SAYS, “BEN, you’ve never said a word about my wheelchair.”

Ben looks uncomfortable. “Well, I figured you’d explain if you wanted us to know.”

“But weren’t you even concerned for me?”

“Well, of course I am! But I don’t like to intrude.”

Roy stares at Ben, enjoying the fact he’s making him squirm.

I say, “Tell us, Roy. Why are you sitting in that wheelchair tonight?”

Ben gives me an odd look.

Roy pushes the chair back a few feet and stands up.

Ben’s mouth drops.

I clap my hands in a bored, mocking way.

Ben gives me another strange look, and I realize I might be playing right into Roy’s hands. So I say, “I knew he was faking the wheelchair.”

“Really?” Roy says. “Tell us how!”

“Your hands aren’t calloused.”

Roy looks at his hands. Ben says, “See? That’s what makes her a great private eye!”

“Good for you, Dani,” Roy says, none too pleased.

He sits back in the chair and wheels it forward. “The truth is, I’m considering buying the company that makes this particular chair, and I wanted to try it out.”

Ben shakes his head with apparent admiration and says, “Who else would do that? This is why you’re so successful.”

“You might be right,” Roy says. “This particular company’s in Louisville. Do you ever get to Louisville, Ben?”

“Gosh, it’s been a while,” Ben says.

Roy turns to me. “How about you, Dani? Does your work ever take you to Louisville?”

I look him in the eye with a steely stare. “Rarely. Why do you ask?”

He holds my gaze and says, “I was there this past weekend.”

“Did you wheel yourself all the way here from Louisville?”

He laughs. “You’re a saucy little thing, aren’t you! Actually, I had this chair waiting for me at the Westin. I’ve only tested it outside for two blocks, and it wasn’t easy. I admire those who use them all the time.”

I nod. “Me too.”

He says, “Reason I asked about Louisville, I had dinner at Simon Claire’s in the Brundage Hotel. Have you tried it?”

Ben says, “We celebrated our anniversary there last year.”

“Did you get a room and have wild, passionate sex? Please say yes!”

Ben looks at me.

I say, “Would I be telling too much if I said I could hardly walk the next day?”

Ben smiles, relieved.

Roy, all smiles, says, “So. You’re a tiger in bed, are you, Ben?”

Ben shrugs.

Roy says, “Who’d have thought it? Well, good for you guys.”

He hands me his cell phone. “I took some pictures of the place. Is it just the way you remembered?”

A cold chill goes through my veins as I take the phone and see the first picture. It’s a young blonde sitting in the parlor, face turned downward, texting something on her cell phone. The next picture is a close up of a napkin with red lipstick on it with the words
Call Me!
and a cell phone number.

My
cell phone number.

The next four pictures were taken in my hotel room by Carter Teague, who was apparently snapping them from behind me while I was removing my clothes, facing Roy. She caught me in various stages of undress, including my entire naked backside, and sure enough, she even managed to squeeze off a shot of my full frontal nudity before I jumped behind the chair.

It dawns on me if I hadn’t turned on the small lamp behind me, these images would have never been visible. It’s also clear Carter Teague forwarded the pictures to Roy’s phone while I was getting dressed. I destroyed her cell phone, but Roy already had the photos.