Treacherous Secrets novel Chapter 1

The phone buzzed. A forwarded message was coming through from that cheating son-of-a-bitch's phone. The spyware worked. He would never get a private message that didn't get sent to this phone again.

Emily Jenkins and Sonja Rodriquez, Emily's housekeeper and friend, jumped when they heard the sliding glass door to the patio open. The two women had been finishing their lunch when Carol Butler, Emily's cousin-in-law breezed out onto the patio.

"Carol," Emily said. "You realize I gave you a key to the house for emergencies only."

"This is an emergency," Carol said. She flopped down in the chair between Emily and Sonja at the table. "Can you get me one of these, Sonja?" She pointed to Sonja's margarita.

"Of course, Mrs. Butler," Sonja said and got up from the table. She picked up Emily's glass, "I'll refresh yours as well, Mrs. Jenkins." Sonja rolled her eyes as she walked away and Emily almost laughed out loud.Sonja only called Emily "Mrs. Jenkins" when Carol or Emily's husband, Kenton was around. Both were sticklers about not having relationships with staff.

Sonja returned with the margaritas. She placed one in front of Carol with a slight bow and the other in front of Emily. "I'm going to go clean something. Call me if you need me," Sonja said and went back into the house.

Carol looked over her glass at Emily, "You really shouldn't associate with the help."

"She is more of a friend than the help," Emily said. "She keeps me sane now that Kenton is gone all the time."

Taking a sip of her margarita and moaning, Carol said, "She does make the most amazing margaritas. I wish she would give me the recipe."

"Her mother swore her to secrecy. I don't even think she has given it to her own children," Emily said. "So what was the emergency that required you to use the key to the house?"

"Your cousin is having an affair," Carol stated and took another sip of the margarita.

Emily rolled her eyes. "So what's happened this time to make you think he's having an affair?""He's hired that slut Ashley from Knoxville and is moving her to Nashville," Carol said, slamming her glass down and sloshing margarita onto the table.

"The one you thought he was having an affair with last year?"

"The very one," she growled. "He swears she's gay but they have been texting each other nonstop for over a year."

"Weren't they working together on this deal with the property Morgan Chase Investments is trying to buy just outside Knoxville?"

"I guess," Carol said. She flipped a strand of her platinum blond hair away from her face. "He got a text from her just a few hours ago that said that she couldn't wait to see him tonight and that she hoped they would get to be alone. Now, tell me that doesn't sound like he's having an affair."

"How do you know that he got a text from her? Are you going through his phone?" Emily asked.

"No," Carol said, "I have a tracking service on his phone."

"What?" Emily sat up straighter.

Carol shrugged. "I had it put on there a few months ago when he started going back to Knoxville a lot."

"So how does that work?" Emily asked. She had heard about people using tracking services but had never known anyone crazy enough to do it.

"I get a notification every time he gets a text, and then I can read what the text says," Carol said nonchalantly and took a drink of her margarita.

Sonja came out of the house with a pitcher of margaritas and a dishrag. She wiped up the margarita Carol had spilled and set the pitcher on the table. "Can I get you ladies anything else?" she asked.

"Thanks, Sonja," Emily said. "We're good for now." She handed Sonja the grocery list the two of them had been working on earlier. "Please look that over and make sure I didn't forget anything."

"Right away," Sonja said and rushed back into the house. She, too, was used to Kenton changing plans. Sonja and her husband, Fernando, who was the groundskeeper, had worked for Kenton for several years before Emily and he had married.

"I guess I will need your help after all," Emily said to Carol.

"It must be so annoying, Kenton changing plans like this."

"It is, but I've gotten used to it," Emily said. "It has become my job to be prepared to put together a party at the drop of a hat."

"Well, it's similar to what you did as an administrative assistant," Carol said.

"True, but I got paid to be an administrative assistant," Emily said.

With a sweeping gesture at the opulence surrounding them, Carol said, "You don't think living with all the things you have isn't pay? Just imagine it all being taken away."

Emily hadn't thought of things that way, but she supposed it was true. She would never have been able to afford this home with the huge pool, the gardens, the three-car garage, and all just on the salary of an administrative assistant.

Emily had been working at Morgan Investments when she met Kenton Jenkins. Kenton was one of the senior brokers and very charismatic. He had swept Emily off her feet shortly after she had started working for the firm. They had a whirlwind romance with Kenton asking her to marry him after only nine months of dating. Emily had been so infatuated with him that she hadn't hesitated to say yes. That was six years ago, and a lot had changed.

Kenton's boss, Walter Chase, who had bought out Morgan Investments and renamed the company Morgan Chase Investments, was not supposed to be at tonight's party, but Emily decided she better call Kenton just to make sure. Walter would only drink champagne, and she wanted to make sure they had his favorite brand. She took her phone out of her pocket, and was about to text Kenton, when he walked through the patio door.

He gave Emily and Carol his million watt smile as he strode out onto the patio. The sun glinted off his short-cropped blond hair and he ran his fingers through the little flipped bit on his forehead. His bright blue eyes sparkled as he strode toward them. "Carol," he said, "Lovely to see you." He bent down from his six foot height and kissed Carol on the cheek.