Read They're Watching (2010) for Free Online Page B

impatience.
    "Someone lies once, you know. How am I supposed to believe he went to Iowa?" She was standing quite close. I felt her breath on my face. It smelled faintly of mint toothpaste. It seemed odd to be close enough to a woman to breathe her breath, and it brought home how long Ariana and I had been keeping our distance from each other. "It's hard, isn't it?" she said. "They'll never understand. We were the victims here."
    I balked at the word "victims" but didn't say anything. I was trying to figure out a good segue into asking for Don again.
    "I'm sorry, Patrick. I wish we all didn't have to hate each other now." She spread her arms, her perfect nails flaring. We embraced. She smelled divine--faded perfume, feminine soap, sweat mixed with lotion. Hugging a woman, really hugging her, brought back a flood of sensations--not quite memories, but impressions. Impressions of my wife, of another time. Martinique's muscles were tighter than Ariana's, more compact. I patted her back and let go, but she clutched me another moment. She was trying to hide her face.
    I pulled away. She wiped her nose, looked around self-consciously. "When Don and I got married, I was beautiful."
    "Martinique. You are beautiful."
    "You don't have to say that."
    I knew from experience there was no winning this battle with her. My fingers drummed involuntarily against my forearm.
    "You guys all think because you only value us for what we look like, that's what we value in ourselves. It's kind of pathetic how often you're right." She shook her head, hooked a wisp of hair back over an ear. "I gained so much weight after we got married. It's hard for me. My mom's huge, and my sister . . ." She drew her fingertips along her lids to remove smeared eyeliner. "And Don lost interest in me. He lost his regard for me. And now I understand. Once it's lost, it's lost."
    "Is that true?"
    She looked at me anxiously. "You don't think so?"
    "I hope not."
    And then, abruptly, he was there at her shoulder, nervously cinching his bathrobe. His bare chest was wide and sported a salt-and-pepper scattering of hair. The muscles of my lower back tightened instinctively, pulling me into a harder defensive posture. The air took on a different charge.
    "Martinique," he said firmly, and she withdrew, padding down the hall, casting a glance at me over her shoulder. He waited for the bedroom door to close, and then his big, handsome head bobbed on his thick neck, his eyes darting to my hands. He looked as nervous as I felt, but he wasn't letting on. "What do you want, Patrick?"
    "Sorry to wake you. I know you're tired from your trip." I studied him, looking for some poker tell that he hadn't really been out of town but instead tiptoeing around rooftops with camcorders like a perved-out Santa Claus. "Someone's been surveilling our house. Have you seen anything?"
    "As in watching you?" He looked genuinely confused. "How do you know?"
    I held up the unmarked DVD. "They sent this. And the POV on it seems to be from your roof. Have you had any workers at the house or anything?"
    "Patrick, you're starting to concern me." He put a thick hand on the door, ready to slam if I lunged.
    "Let's skip past this part," I said. "We both know this script. You push the buttons and I'm supposed to respond."
    "I'm not pushing any buttons, but it sure seems like you're responding." He started to swing the door closed.
    I put my hand out, stopped it. Gently.
    I said, "Look, I'm not storming over here making threats. I'm not calling the cops. I just want to ask you, calmly--"
    "The cops now? I don't know what you're trying to set up here, Patrick, but I'm not going for it. I'm gonna shut the door now."
    I removed my hand. Not taking his eyes from mine, he slowly closed the door. I heard the dead bolt clunk, the chain fuss into the catch.
    I walked back home. Locked the front door behind me.
    Ariana was sitting on the couch. Those dark eyes lifted, looking straight at me. And then she raised her hand,