Free In Too Deep by Ronica Black Page A

understand. She had her own life now, a good one, even if it didn’t really include her folks.
    Forgiving them had not been an easy task and it had led more to avoidance on her part. She found it hard to sit and talk with them, to listen to how perfect her sisters’ lives were and how perfect their own lives were: her father pampering his classic cars and playing golf, her mother traveling and organizing activities with the grandkids. And then, of course, came the questions about the life she’d chosen to live. Why did she have to become a cop? It was such a masculine job and so unsafe. Why didn’t she quit and stay home and raise a family? Mark made plenty of money to support that.
    She laughed. The light filtering in from the morning sun reflected off her wedding band, drawing her focus away from her parents and onto her fragile marriage. Eyeing the ring, she picked it up and examined it thoughtfully, then returned it to the jewelry bowl on the counter. It clanged around the bowl, ringing in her newfound liberty, then settled in silence in the center. Rubbing her bare finger, she examined it to make sure there were no marks or tan lines. She hadn’t worn the ring for a couple of weeks and yet the bare skin felt soft and smooth, considerably lighter at the absence of the platinum and the ungodly sized diamond. With the first positive feeling of the morning, she smiled and decided to focus on getting ready for the day.
    She started the shower and stepped in, letting the hot water wash away the remnants of the nightmare and the negative thoughts that had accompanied it. Patricia was to pick her up at ten o’clock after a meeting with all the other detectives at the station. Erin could’ve attended, but her sergeant knew she had preparations to see to. After she dressed, she busied herself with what was left of her packing.
    Seeing her large duffel bag next to the front door gave her a sense of freedom. She would need to find her own place soon, especially since she and Mark had plans to sell the house. He hadn’t been to keen on the idea at first, sounding like he was actually attached to their large, empty home in some way. She didn’t understand how he could be, having spent so little time there.
    Restlessly, she wandered into the kitchen and opened the stainless-steel fridge. She wasn’t much of a breakfast person but she still had an hour left to kill, so she pulled out a cold Diet Pepsi, popped the top, and leafed through the mail as she sipped.
    She stopped leafing when she came upon Mark’s credit card statement. She didn’t usually pay it any mind, having seen its contents before. But she was finally tired of ignoring and pretending, the absence of her wedding band insisting upon an honest assessment of her life. She tore open the envelope and pulled out the folded papers. Strangely, Mark had never had the statements sent to his office. It was as if he made no effort to hide his extramarital activities. He knew she opened most of the mail, although had she ever questioned any of the charges, he could easily have said he was entertaining a client.
    She read through this month’s statement feeling fiercely independent and ready to move on alone. The majority of the charges were from Austin, and that didn’t surprise her because they almost always were. But then she came across some charges that completely threw her. They were from baby boutiques, and some were from a baby furniture outlet. She stopped breathing and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Maybe a client of his was having a baby and he wanted to buy them a nice gift.
    The total was almost two thousand dollars. That was one hell of a shower gift. She shook her head and dropped the papers onto the counter. Mark and his mistress were having a baby.
    She covered her mouth and walked like a zombie to the couch. She sat down and stared straight ahead. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. She wanted to scream but she couldn’t. All she could do