Is That Your Mother-In-Law Under The Bed?

CHAPTER 1

Ellen wasted no time as she sped up the highway in her late model burnt orange Jaguar, keeping a close eye out for law enforcement as she broke every speed limit. I have to get to the hotel before checkout time, she thought to herself. I have to find out if he’s cheating on me. I may be making this trip for nothing, but I have to know for sure.

Ellen Dawson was a beautiful, slender woman in her early thirties. Her long dark hair pulled back into a pony tail set off her big brown eyes. She reached the Kellington Hotel outside of Chicago and drove through the parking lot in search of a parking space. A car left and she hurried to get the space. She parked, then opened the bag on the seat next to her and pulled out a short blonde wig and put it on. She checked herself in the mirror to make sure it was on straight and her own brown hair wasn’t sticking out from under it. Then she reached into the bag and pulled out a large pair of sunglasses and put them on. They covered almost half of her face. “There, nobody will recognize me in this get-up.” She said to herself. She set the car alarm and nonchalantly walked into the hotel. The lobby was large and filled with polished brass hand rails, marble floors and floral arrangements . She didn’t want to draw any attention to herself so she sat down in one of the large overstuffed chairs, opened a magazine and pretended to read. The wait wasn’t very long. The elevator doors opened and a man and a woman stepped out. The man was tall, dark hair, good looking and well dressed in an expensive suit and tie. The woman was of medium height, blonde hair, and to say she was good looking was an understatement. She was wearing a tailored, form fitted grey business suit that fit her form very well. She turned the head of almost every man in the lobby as she strutted across the marble floor. The man was Ellen’s husband, Roger. The woman was a stranger to her.

Ellen and Roger Dawson had been married for over seven years. She always felt she had a good marriage and thought he felt the same. They got along well and she thought they had a pretty normal sex life for a marriage of over 7 years. Roger’s father owned Dawson and Dawson, Attorneys at Law in downtown Chicago and had made Roger the Vice President of the company several years ago with a substantial raise in pay. They had no children, although Ellen had always wanted a child, but Roger’s job took him away from home quite often. It never occurred to Ellen that Roger could be fooling around until she found that note in his jacket pocket this morning.

Roger and the woman walked to the counter and turned in the key then continued to the door, arm in arm. In the parking lot they stopped by her car. Roger unlocked the door, then handed her the keys. Then he leaned over and planted a slight kiss on her lips. Nothing significant, but more like a goodbye kiss. Ellen walked by them, not too close, and used the camera in her cell phone to take a picture of them, the car, and the license plate, then returned to her car. She had just a slight vantage point from her car’s location and watched as the woman got into her car, then drove away.

Ellen felt jealous after watching her husband with this woman, even though once she thought about it, it had looked innocent enough. She had never seen her husband this intimate with another woman before. After several minutes she regained her composure and started her car. She started driving towards home but her mind was not on her driving. She replayed the hotel lobby scene over and over in her mind. Brad and that woman had gotten out of the elevator and turned in the key at the desk. Or was it keys. She hadn’t noticed. Maybe they had turned in the keys to both rooms. His and hers. She wished she had paid better attention to detail. She began reasoning with herself. He’s an attorney, he meets with out of town clients at hotels all the time. It was not an unusual occurrence,. But Ellen seeing it first-hand had never happened before. It was all new to her. She felt alone.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed her mother. “Mom,” she asked, “Are you going to be home for a while?”

“Yes, Ellen. Edith and I will be here all afternoon. Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I just want to come by and talk. I’ll see you in a bit”. Ellen hung up.

Ellen’s mom could tell from Ellen’s voice that something was not quite right. “I wonder if that jerk of a husband has done something to upset her.” She said to her sister, Edith.

“She should be here within a half hour and we’ll find out then. My guess is he has done something.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it at all.” Edna agreed.

“I can’t believe her marriage lasted this long to that jerk.”

“Yeah. Me neither.” Edna agreed.

CHAPTER 2

Ellen’s mother, Edna Barnes was a small attractive woman in her late fifties. She was one of two daughters born to Swedish immigrants who came to this country in 1896. Her sister, Edith Johnson, was just two years older and was also an equally attractive, petite woman. Edith had two children. Her son, Eddie, was single and a police officer in the neighboring town of Hammond and lived close by; and her daughter, Elaine, who lived in California with her husband, Carl, and young daughter, Elizabeth. She only saw her daughter and her family once or twice a year, when one of them would make the trip for a visit.

Ellen was Edna’s only child. The two sisters, Edna and Edith lived in a fairly new double wide mobile home in a senior mobile home park. After their husbands passed away they sold their homes and pooled their money and purchased the home in the park. They loved living together and enjoyed the amenities offered to them by the park.

There was a quick knock on the door and Ellen walked in. She seemed bothered.

“What happened, Ellen?” Her mom asked looking really concerned.

“Oh, mom. I saw Roger with some blonde woman at the Kellington Hotel this morning”. Ellen said.

“You don’t know who the woman was”?

“No. I’ve never seen her before. She was gorgeous. He even kissed her.”

“He kissed her?”

“Yes. In the parking lot before she got in her car.” Ellen said. “It was just a small kiss, but it was still a kiss!”

“Is it possible it could have been a client? And he was kissing her a ‘thank you’ and goodbye kiss?”

“I don’t know, but it really bothered me to see him with her.” “I took pictures with my cell phone for you to see.” Ellen handed her phone to her mother. “Maybe Eddie can run the plate at the police station and we can find out who she is.”

“I’m sure he will, dear.” Edith interjected into the conversation. “Let me write down the number and I’ll go give him a call right now.” Edith wrote down the license plate number and went into the office to make the call.

“Thank you, auntie.” Ellen whispered.

“Well, she certainly is pretty. I’ll say that much for her. Why on earth were you at the Kellington Hotel today, anyway?”

“I was going through Roger’s pockets this morning to take his clothes to the dry cleaners and I found a note written by a woman saying to meet at the hotel last night. So I rushed there this morning to see if he was still there and who she was.” Ellen answered. “I got there just as they were checking out of the hotel.”

“It was probably written by his secretary, dear. Telling him where to meet this client.”

Ellen thought a moment. “I guess that’s possible.”

Edna examined the photos on Ellen’s camera. “Let’s go in and