The Stolen Child

A Mystery

We piled into Cass' car and drove to Brody's office, circling the parking lot in search of his car.

"Ah, there it is." I pointed to his car as Cass continued to make her way through the lot. She settled on a space near the back of the lot. We could see both Brody's car and the office door. She parked where we wouldn't be easily noticed. Brody wasn't expecting us to be here, so he wouldn't be looking for her vehicle.

"What time does he get off?" Cass moaned as we waited in the car. We had been here for a couple of hours and Cass was quickly losing interest.

"This was your idea." I glanced at her. "You know what, this is stupid. He isn't doing anything but going to work and going out with the guys. Let's just go home."

"Nomie, I'm sorry. We can wait. I'm just bored." She smiled apologetically.

"No. This is stupid. He's just out with the guys at night. I don't know why I was thinking something else was going on. The mission must have been rough. He'll talk to me when the time is right."

"Look, that's him!" Cass shouted. I looked in the direction of her finger to see Brody leaving his office. He was talking on his cellphone, seemingly enjoying the conversation. It was a smile I hadn't seen for a very long time. I sighed as I watched him get into the car, pulling out of the parking lot.

Cass pulled out after him, keeping a safe distance but not letting his car out of our sight.

"Where is he going?" She muttered as we followed him down the freeway. We were going the opposite direction of our house. He had left work about an hour early as well. My phone buzzed in the cup holder beside me. I quickly looked down at it.

"It's Brody." I said as I opened the text. "He says he's going to the bar with the guys again. Will be home late."

"Oh really? What's bar?" Cass said snidely. A tear slipped down my face. This wasn't the bar he usually frequented.

"I…I don't know."

"Noe, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think he's going to the bar with the guys. I don't know of any bar on the outskirts of town." Her voice was laced with regret. "Maybe we should go home."

"No. I need to see where he is going. What is taking up his time. Taking him away from me and our child."

"Look, I didn't think he was actually cheating on you. I thought we'd follow him around a little, then back home. I didn't know, Noe." She apologized.

"I'm glad we followed him. I need to know what is going on. If he really is cheating on me. I have a right to know." I held back the tears that were trying to force their way to the surface. I would not cry again. I had already wasted too many tears crying over this man lately. He didn't deserve any more of my tears.

We followed Brody's car out of town and down the freeway for over an hour.

"I should call Luke. This is going to be a late night." I said as I dialed his number, leaving a message when he didn't answer. We pulled off on an exit before driving for another hour. We had passed through four towns already and I was really curious where he was heading.

"I'll take the next entrance." Cass said as we drove past Brody. He had turned into a subdivision and Cass didn't want to follow directly behind him.

"You can't track his phone, right?" She asked.

"Yeah." I quickly jumped on the website for our cell service and located his phone. I directed Cass to where the website said his phone was.

"His car." She pulled off the road in front of one of the neighboring houses. "Is that him?" I nodded as I watched him strut up to the front door.

"I can't see!" I said frantically as he disappeared from view. I opened the car door and quickly scurried down the street across from the mystery house. Covered by the darkness, I peered around the back of the large suv I stood behind.

The house was beautiful. It was a large stucco house with a tan exterior paint job. The front yard was covered in decorative rocks with a couple of small trees placed here and there. The front porch was lit with the same porch light as the surrounding cookie cutter homes were made with. I watched as a woman with shoulder length dirty blonde hair opened the door. My heart skipped a beat as I watched her throw her arms around his neck. He placed his hands on her tiny waist, pulling her close to him. Their lips met in a passionate kiss before she pulled away, taking hold of his tie and leading him in through her front door. I slid down to the sidewalk as the tears broke through my eyelid walls. I pounded my fist firmly on the concrete as I tried to suck it up. My worst fears were confirmed. Brody was cheating on me.

"So?" Cass asked as she quickly crouched down beside me. "Oh honey!" She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into her body, running her fingers through my hair.

"A woman?" She asked as we held each other on the ground behind a strangers car.

"Yes." I nodded, wiping stray tears off my face as I composed myself.

"I'm so sorry." She cooed.

"I need to get closer. I have to make sure." I said as I stood up.

"Yeah." Cass said, getting up behind me. "Maybe he's meeting another guy and this is his wife."

"No. He kissed her when she answered the door." I said as I crept across the street. Cass hot on my heels.

"He what?"

"Shhhh!" I placed my finger over my mouth to quiet her down as she practically yelled from in front of the mystery woman's house.

"Sorry." Cass whispered as we closed in on the house.

I snuck up under one of the big bay windows at the front of the house. The shades were drawn, but light escaped through them. I tried to peek between the slits in the blinds, desperately trying to see Brody inside the home.

"Noemi." I heard Cass whisper. I pulled myself away from the window to see her motioning for me from around the side of the house. I quickly crept over to her.

"There's a gate." She pointed to the tall wooden fence, the gate ajar. We slipped into the back yard and around the back of the house. The sliding door in the back of the house was open, the screen door was the only divider between us and them. Cass and I hunkered down behind a tree at the back of the small yard. I prayed that they wouldn't come outside. It was a nice, warm night, thankfully. I hadn't brought a jacket and this could have been a miserable stake out if it were cold.

Inside the house I watched as Brody and the mystery woman sat at the dining table. She had prepared a meal and they laughed as they ate her food and drank her fancy red wine. Rage boiled inside me as I watched my husband with this other woman. He was actually enjoying himself. I tried hard to stop myself from brushing right into the house when I watched the beautiful blonde run her toes up Brody's leg. He smiled and took her hand as he sipped the last of the wine from the crystal glass. He placed it on the table with a look of lust in his eyes. She giggled as he pulled her into his arms, planting kisses up and down her neck and burying his nose in her shiny hair. The last straw was when his hand slipped down the front of the low cut, red dress she had on. Anger seared within me as he fondled her large bre.ast right in front of me.

"Let's go." Cass tugged at my shirt, gesturing towards the gate.

"No. Not yet." I composed myself as I watched the couple kiss right before my eyes. I took out my cell phone, snapping a couple of photos.

"Really?" Cass hissed as I clutched my phone.

"Yes. I need evidence."

I continued to watch as the blonde sat in Brody's lap. He rear pushed up against his junk, his hands around her body, massaging her bre.asts. I watched as he kissed up and down her neck as she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed, pointed to the ceiling. Every so often a moan escaped her lips. I watched as his hand wandered down her stomach, creeping up the very short skirt, his fingers dancing between her legs.

The woman got to her feet, spinning around and pressing her chest into Brody's face as she undid the buttons of his shirt. He got up pushing her backwards down the hall and out of sight. I crept out from behind the tree, sneaking up to the porch.

"Noemi!" Cass hissed from behind the tree. "What are you doing?"

"I have to see." I said as I slowly opened the screen door, disappearing inside the house. I opened the camera on my phone and hit the record button. I could hear the woman giggling and moaning from down the hall, ever so often I hear Brody laugh too. I held back tears, composing myself and I slowly made my way down the hall, my phone recording everything in front of me.

I stopped briefly outside of the open bedroom door. I could hear moaning, gasps and laughter from the other side. I leaned my back against the wall as I listened to them.

"Hardy baby, harder!" I heard the woman pant. I bent down and peeked around the door frame, pointing my phone inside the bedroom. I was met with Brody's naked backside pressed up against the bed. His clothes discarded in a pile beside his feet. The woman's red dress hung sloppily off the side of the bed. Her legs propped up against Brody's fit frame. He grunted as he pounded his hips into the woman. She moaned with each thrust, their hips swaying and bouncing together.

"Ugh, Brody." The woman screamed from off the bed. I quickly snapped a couple of photos as I continued to record the pair.

"Brody!" She shrieked as her body convulsed on the bed under my husband. He thrust into her twitching frame a few more times before he tensed up, letting out a moan and flopping down on the bed over the woman.

I leaned back against the wall. Tears freely flowing down my face. How could he do this to me? My heart sunk as I thought about how long this was going on behind my back.

"Baby." I heard the whiny voice of the woman say. "Get me a glass of water, please."

"What about round two?" I heard Brody's gruff voice.

"Water first, then round two." She giggled. I heard Brody stir from on the bed.

"Oh, shoot." I said as I quietly scrambled down the hall and out the door.