Sky Rockets in Flight

Erica bit her lip. She still wanted to help. "Well, I'll just walk down and see how things are going. Maybe they're wrapping up."

He looked dubious.

"Just a peek."

"All right but don't get yourself in trouble."

She grinned. "I won't."

Erica frowned as she approached. The solid wooden sliding door separating the sunroom from the hall was pulled close. She paused outside and listened. A faint moan reached her ears.

Someone's hurt. She reached for the handle to pull the door open. Her fingers had just made contact with the brass fixture when another, more insidious possibility occurred. Her eyes widened. No. They couldn't be.

It was all she could do to slide open the door a sliver without making a sound. The moment she did, the racket from within grew tenfold. Erica gazed inside and wished she hadn't.

Nadine Blanton hunched over one of the settees. Her stylish skirt was thrown over her back. Black panties dangled from one bare foot. John Dekker stood behind her, his pants around his ankles. He pumped his hips back and forth and his erect cock, shiny with her juices, hammered in and out of her glistening pussy. Nadine engaged in a series of low-volume moans while Dekker grunted behind her.

Erica stood, transfixed and sickened. All she could think of were of Amanda waiting for her husband to dismiss their driver back to them, unaware her husband was jeopardizing her being on time for a medical appointment so he could break off a piece in his slut ... and of Edward, who would come home and kiss his wife, not knowing she'd had another man's cock in her just a few hours before. She was appalled to see that they hadn't even worn a condom.

Nadine's fingers splayed against the glass of the solarium. They're doing right in front of the window. Erica grimaced. Monday. The groundskeepers are off today. Nobody moving around the backyard to see them. Erica saw that Nadine was leaving fingerprints on the glass, which is something she knew she would have to clean up. For some perverse reason, the thought brought a trickle of annoyance, the incongruity of which nearly caused her to laugh.

The rise of the lover's cries stirred Erica to action. The two sounded as if they were about to finish and she had the terrifying realization that she might be spotted. The two were angled slightly away from the door but if Dekker turned his head, he would see her. Sudden fear gripped Erica; being fired might be the least of her problems. Was Dekker the violent type? How might he react? Even if nothing physical happened, it would be her word—the side of a working-class servant—against theirs, the side of the wealthy elite. Erica had no illusion how that movie would end.

She slid the door shut. There was a little thud as the wood connected but the lovers were either too loud or oblivious, as their cries continued unabated. Erica stole back up the hallway as quietly as she could.

Peter had been leaning against the counter, looking at his phone when she came in. At the sight of Erica's distressed face, his own smile faded to a serious expression. "Erica? What is it?"

"Peter ... they ..."

"What?"

She took a deep breath. "Dekker's got Nadine bent over the couch, fucking out what little brains she has left."

"What?" He surged out of his slumped position to fully standing. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wish I was, Peter. I didn't watch long because I didn't want them to get caught but I know what I saw."

"That fucker! How can he do this to Amanda, especially with all she's going through? She's a wonderful person. She doesn't deserve this!"

"I know." Erica wrapped her arms around her torso. She thought of Edward Blanton and a great surge of empathy consumed her. "Edward's a good guy and great boss. Even if I think she's a psycho, he just adores Nadine. This is going to break his heart."

Peter stared at the wall for a moment. "Erica, you can't tell him."

She scowled. "What are you talking about? I'm not letting that—"

He held up his hand. "I'm not talking about either of them getting away with it. But right now, it's just your word against theirs. You didn't take a picture with your phone or anything, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I thought that if they caught me watching, no one would believe me and I'd get fired, so I fled." She glanced in the direction of the solarium. "It's too risky to go back and get one now."

"I agree." He stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. Peter's gaze never left hers. "I'm with you, Erica. We're going to get them but we're going to be safe about it, okay? You just lay low and bide your time. Act oblivious around her. Can you do that?"

Erica nodded. "I think so."

"I mean, you didn't like her anyway so this shouldn't change a whole lot. Just keep your eyes and ears open. I'll do the same. Let me think about this. We'll take care of them together." Peter released her, yanked his wallet from his pocket, and handed her a card. "Call me in a day or two and we'll brainstorm about how we do this."

"I'll do that. In the meantime, you better get moving."

He glanced at his watch. "Yeah. At least I don't feel bad about leaving him this time. Call me."

Peter turned to go but Erica laid a hand on his arm. He looked at her. She smiled, leaned in, and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

He returned her grin and hurried out the front door.

Erica straightened the kitchen, keeping one eye on the time. It was almost one o'clock when she heard voices in the hall. Nadine and Dekker passed by the front door to the kitchen en route to the entry. She heard the front door open, a muffled curse, and hurried footsteps coming closer. She concentrated on scrubbing one of the pans.

Nadine stepped into the kitchen with Dekker on her heels. "Erica? Did you see John's driver? Did he say anything to you?"

She briefly considered saying she hadn't seen Peter but the security cameras would show he had come into the house. Erica said, "Uh, he came in to use the restroom. We only said hello but he said he couldn't stay, said something about an appointment."

Dekker grimaced. "Amanda, that's right. Nadine, can you call me a cab?"

"Of course. Erica, take care of it."

Nadine escorted Dekker from the room. Erica sighed and reached for the house phone.

#

Her cell chirped. Erica glanced at it and smiled to herself. It was Peter calling. She checked the timer on the elliptical and saw that she had five more minutes of her hour-long cardio workout to go.

Ah, screw it. She glided to a halt and picked up her phone. "Hi, Peter."

"Hey. How you doing?"

"Just in the workout room at my apartment complex, finishing up my routine." She dismounted the machine and headed for the stairs. "All sweaty now, so it's time for a long hot shower. I think I'll just stand under it for a while and let the water cascade over me."

Peter was silent for a second. "That's quite a visual. You really know how to throw a guy off his prepared speech."

Erica giggled again. She realized she was doing it a lot more since she and Peter had started their project they'd dubbed Operation Bust-the-Jerks. They'd been comparing notes every few days and whether they dug up something to use against Nadine and John, she found herself looking to speaking to him more and more each time. "Well, I certainly don't mean to be a distraction from your mission."

He barked a laugh. "My ass, you don't mean it. It's okay, I don't mind the image."

She blushed. "Well, good, because I don't have anything for us."

They'd been watching the adulterous pair for weeks without garnering any evidence. They'd tried to eavesdrop on conversations with their phones in record mode but had come up with nothing. When Erica floated the idea of trying to break into John's or Nadine's phone to look for incriminating texts or planting tracking software, Peter vetoed the idea. Being fired aside, he said doing that could result in potential criminal charges and she was forced to admit he was probably correct. On Erica's end, Nadine had a few unexplained absences where Erica thought she might be sneaking off to meet John, but they were all away from the house. Peter reported about the same, during hours when he was diving Amanda to her appointments. Erica had grown increasingly disappointed and had been second-guessing their strategy. She wondered often if they should have just told Edward and Amanda, and let the chips fall where they may.

At the same time, she'd been able to spend more time with Peter. They got together one or two evenings a week at her apartment, to compare notes. Inevitably, their conversations drifted from the disappointments of not finding anything about Nadine and John to conversations about themselves ... which slowly tapered off as they looked at each other. Then one would cough or look away and try to return them to business. Each time it happened, Erica flushed and fidgeted, pressing her thighs together. She tried to wear out her vibrator after every one of Peter's visits.

His next words brought her back to the present. "Anyway, I called because I might have something for us."

Thoughts of teasing Peter fell to the side. Trying not too sound to eager, Erica said, "Oh, really? What?"

"Do you know anything about the Shrub Foundation's plans for Memorial Day?"

Erica was painfully aware of Nadine's plan to arrange a massive benefit party as a fund-raiser for the Foundation. She'd planned on hosting it at the house and had gone haywire setting up the event. Big movers and shakers from the Los Angeles social elite had been invited. Nadine had even secured attendance from one of the bigwigs from a prestigious national organization that built homes for low-income families, on the basis of joining forces in the local area. It was being talked about as one of the biggest events of the year.

As a result, Nadine had almost lost her mind. Suddenly, nothing in the house was good enough. Nothing was clean enough. Erica had been forced to work with three new temp workers to get the place clean. She pitied the groundskeeping crew, half of whom had been fired and replaced for "failure to follow directions," or whatever the hell Nadine came up with on the spot. The woman's pre-event mania was wearing the last of Erica's patience to a nub.

All that went through Erica's mind in a flash. She clenched her teeth. "Yeah, I know all about it."

"She's driving you crazy, right?"

"Batshit insane."

Peter laughed. "Well, she's been talking to John about it. He's involved in all the planning. I guess by working with his boss's wife, he can look plugged into process."

"That's not all he's plugged into," Erica grumbled.

"I overheard them chatting about it today. I guess they're planning on doing a video montage at the benefit for everyone to get weepy-eyed over—you know, the standard tug-at-the-heartstrings bull about building houses, planting trees, et cetera. They're going to have it running on a loop on a big screen the duration of the party."

"Okay?"

He said, "Well, I was just thinking ... how do you think it would go if we replaced that footage with something more interesting?"

"What are you getting at?"

"John proposed to Nadine that they sneak off and fuck in the middle of the benefit. 'The ultimate thrill,' he called it, to do it while all their guests were nearby. Nadine agreed, said they'd be able to enjoy their 'afternoon delight' even more if they were doing it while, and I quote, 'the suckers are emptying their wallets.' "

Erica shook her head. "Could they really be so stupid, to risk that?"

"I think so, yeah. They're too arrogant to believe they'll get caught. Nadine told John she could screw him right in front of her husband and he'd never know. Then she said something about an old garden house. Called it their love-nest. You know what she means?"

"Yes, the house at the far end of the gardens. It's a guest house Edward fixed up a year or so ago. It's a nice little cottage. They put visitors there sometimes." She thought about it. "Yeah, it's on the far side of the house from where they're doing the benefit. So, what's your plan?"

"I have a ... well, 'friend' is a strong word. An acquaintance, I suppose. Anyway, this guy's a computer whiz. He's an expert at setting up cameras for, ahem, blackmailing people. Usually catches them in shady business deals. Anyway, he can wire the whole place so we can shunt the feed to the big screens and show everyone what's happening. I asked him and he said it would be easy and take no time at all."

"How expensive would that be?"

"He doesn't even want money, just to be able to keep a copy of the footage." Distaste entered Peter's tone. "When he found out the target was Nadine Blanton, he said he could sell it for more than we could ever pay him."

Erica's lip curled. "He sounds like a lovely gent."

"He's not, but no matter. Here's the best part," Peter said. She could almost hear his grin over the phone. "This guy's also able to lay his hands on some ... other illegal stuff. In this case, event-grade fireworks. He said that if we can get him on the grounds, he can rig something for us that when it goes off, will scare the shit out of them. They'll come running out, right in front of everyone. Trust me, I've seen some of the stuff he plays with. They'll think the place is being bombed by the Air Force."

"You run with a rough crowd, Peter."

"Comes with being a driver. I can't honestly say whether or not I've driven people in the mob but I've certainly worked for some guys who know how to fracture a law or two. Anyway, I saved this guy's bacon once and he owes me one."

"How'd you do that?"

"I'll tell you over breakfast someday."

Erica frowned. He reached her apartment and let herself in. "This sounds super-complicated."

"I know. It sounds like something some wild plan made up by some crazy writer with too much time on their hands. But I think it will work."

She wavered, then shrugged to herself. "Oh, what the hell. I'm in. What do you need from me?"

"Lemme call my guy. I'll need you to get him on the grounds the day before to set everything up. Something else may come up before then but otherwise, just stand there and look pretty."

"I can do that." Erica smiled. "You really think we can do this, don't you?"

"I think so." His voice lost some of its jocularity. "Erica, I want to try. I don't want to keep watching them get away with this. I mean, if you think we would be better off just trying to film them and hand the film over to Edward and Amanda, we can do that instead. That way, we wouldn't embarrass them in public."

Erica pondered that. She didn't want to humiliate her boss and Mrs. Dekker-Wallace. She thought the embarrassment of being cheated on would be hard enough, let alone if it happened in front of everyone. "I don't know. I mean, maybe if they knew it was coming—"

She halted. A smile formed as the genesis of an idea took hold. "Peter, you didn't happen to record that conversation between them, did you?"

"Of course, just as we discussed."

"Video?"

"Yes."

"Perfect." Erica felt a surge of excitement. "Here's what we're going to do."

She outlined her plan to him. When she was done, Peter said, "That's good. Do you think they'll go for it?"

"I think Edward will. Amanda? You tell me."

"I think I can convince her. Yeah, I like this." He paused. "That's quite a big brain you got there."

"Good." Erica grinned. A slight tremble entered her voice. "If it works out, you can show your appreciation for my big brain, and all my other parts."

Peter whistled. "If I didn't know better, Erica, I'd swear you were propositioning me."

"You don't know better, because that's exactly what I'm doing." She cleared her throat. "Plan to get together tomorrow. I want to work out all the fine details and make this happen, so I can see this appreciation."

#

Eric watched the swirling fete from the bay window of the solarium. Two hundred of Los Angeles's concerned citizens circled the lawn and the erected tents, rubbing elbows and swapping anecdotes. The light hum of conversation drifted through the open doors at the end of the hall, as did the soft music that accompanied the promotional video playing on a loop on the giant screen. She wondered at the effectiveness of something like that; the video should have been played once, after the guests had a few drinks in them and the Shrub Foundation could give an impassioned speech. Then the recording could be played while everyone's attention was focused and have the maximum pull on both their heartstrings and wallets. As it was, the video had been played over and over to the point the guests ignored it.

She laughed to herself. When did you become an expert on public relations? Maybe it's just common sense. Or maybe you're finding fault with everything Nadine does now.

Erica watched Julie Hastings flirt and cavort with the media tech—a skinny young man barely older than her son—they'd hired to run the big screen. Hastings draped her arm over the man's neck and rubbed her store-bought chest up against him before they disappeared. Even from the distance, Erica could clearly see his hand on her ass.

Christ, are any of these people faithful?

The object of her disdain appeared from the crowd, her arm linked through Edward's. Though it was eleven in the morning and the benefit had only been underway for an hour, she had a weave to her step that Erica recognized: the mistress of the house was already quite tipsy.

By contrast, Edward wore a wooden smile as he moved at his wife's side. His back ramrod-straight, Edward nodded to their guests but said little. Erica wondered what he was thinking.

The noise of footfalls in the hallway drew her attention. She stepped out of the solarium and escorted the woman to the restroom and waited to see if she needed anything before taking her back. She checked to make things were still clean and then returned to her vigil.

Just as she reached the window, her cell chirped. Peter's text read, Targets on the move.

She took a deep breath. Here we go.

Erica left the mansion and made a beeline for the tent where the audio and video equipment for the big screen was housed. She caught Edward's eye on her. Erica gave him a quick nod, which he returned. Edward then strode to John's wife Amanda. She frowned but nodded, and signaled to several people standing nearby. The small party marched away, Amanda with the aid of a cane while Edward supported her on one side. On the other was a mountain of a man in a suit and sunglasses.

Erica's heart went out to the two betrayed spouses. This is going to be very hard on both of them. Thank God they have each other and their families to lean on.

The small tent holding the A/V equipment was crowded with consoles covered in knobs and switches. Cables spooled on the manicured grass like a pile of spaghetti. Through the mesh window, she had a perfect view of the big screen.

Erica withdrew the folded sheet from her pants pocket, opened it, and recited the words twice. Her hands shook and she tried to stay calm.

Her phone buzzed again. Another text. They're in. Eyes in and on the house. Welcoming committee in position.

Erica peered at the center console and found the knob Peter had pointed out. It was labeled "V/SRC." The indicator pointed to the number "1."

I'm glad he showed this to me, I would have never figured it out.

The microphone was where she expected it. She placed her hand on the next dial, labeled "A/SRC." She flipped it from "1" to "2." In an instant, the music emanating from the speakers vanished. She flipped the V/SRC dial to "2" as well. The video disappeared, replaced by a drifting camera pointing at a small bungalow surrounded by beds of flowers and trimmed hedges. Even as Erica switched over, the image bounced and waved before steadying.