“You sent him a glitter bomb?” I asked.
“Oh, absolutely,” she said. “Guess what else?”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“There among the glitter were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of little golden penises. And I added a note: ‘Tools for a tool.’”
“So, last week I told you about my greatest humiliation, and you concocted this little plan? This is why you wanted me to teach you about surveillance, isn’t it? So you could capture this beautiful moment.” I wiped an imaginary tear from my eye. “That’s beautiful, Salcedo. If you ever want to be a PI, I’d say you’re a natural.”
She clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Seriously, it was the least I could do since you exposed my date for who he was last week. When you told me your own story, I simply had to.”
“What in the blue hell are you two up to?” asked Havisham.
Salcedo showed her the video, but the bartender frowned. “With that boutonniere, he looks dressed for a wedding.”
“Maybe,” Salcedo said, her eyes darting to one side and then the other.
A laugh burbled forth. Oh, this was too good. Ken had told me to never expect a proposal because he didn’t want to marry and he didn’t want kids. I’d felt the same way, since marriage had never once worked for a woman in my family.Why chance it,I’d thought.
Only,notmarrying hadn’t worked for me, either, now had it? It was almost like the system was rigged against certain people from the start ...
Havisham grimaced. “It’s not wise to mess with people on their wedding day.”
Her reaction sobered me. I still didn’t know what past trauma had caused her vow against marriage, but I now suspected it had something to do with a ruined wedding day.
Salcedo didn’t know anything about Havisham’s history. She must’ve taken the comment personally, because she said, “It’s better than what she did to Tanner,” as she jerked a thumb in my direction.
Havisham’s gaze turned to me. “Dare I ask what you did to Tanner?”
I schooled my face into an expression of innocence. “Why, Havisham. I was in possession of certain knowledge of, say, a certain hidden website, and I shared that information with a certain interested party. Think of it as a public service.”
“Stella found the secret page on his fraternity’s website, the one with the pictures of scantily clad women and the giant bingo board that informed Tanner’s fiancée that he’d been sleeping around on her.”
“Really?” Havisham said over her shoulder as she deftly managed the tap for two beers at once.
“Yeah, wanna know what’s even better?” I asked. “Chelsea, his erstwhile intended, is on the university newspaper staff and wrote a feature on the fiasco, so the fraternity has been suspended. A few of the guys are headed to court.”
Havisham studied me for a moment, her head tilted to one side. “Impressive, Stark. Logical consequences are always more satisfying than random revenge.”
I couldn’t help but preen. “Thank you. It’s true I wanted to avenge Salcedo, but once I saw the scope of what Tanner and his buddies were up to, I knew I had to shut that down.”
“Excuse me,” a woman two seats to my left said. “Did you say you can figure out secret websites?”
I gave her an apologetic look. “Sometimes? I’m not a computer person, per se, but I’m good at following the electronic breadcrumbs people leave behind. Discovering information from social media is more my speed.”
“I will give you fifty dollars right now if you can figure out my husband’s password for this dating site.”
Stunned, I stared at her, taking in her ash-blond hair, stylish glasses, and steely gray eyes.
“Fine. A hundred.”
She picked up a large purse that probably cost more than my monthly rent and dug around in it as she walked to my back corner of the bar. “I know what his username is, but I can’t figure out his password. He’s somehow blocked me, but I know he’s having an affair. When I confronted him about having a profile, he said he was doing research for the marketing firm where he works. Research!”
Finding what she sought, she slapped a Benjamin Franklin down on the bar. Her eyes locked with mine. “All I need is his password. It isn’t one of the ones he’s used in the past—at least not the ones I knew about.”
I looked at the hundred-dollar bill, then back at her. I was about to refuse her money, but it was the look in her eyes that stopped me. Here was a strong woman, a woman probably ten years older than I was, give or take. This was a question of pride.
“I’ll give it a try, but I can’t make any promises. Which site, and what’s his username?”
