Treacherous Secrets novel Chapter 33

"Clearly they had to hide it," Kim said. "Based on how homophobic you said Walter Chase is. They could never let him suspect that they were sleeping together."

"True," Ashley agreed.

"I'm not really all that surprised about Damon being bisexual, or even gay," Emily said. "He was a little feminine when we were growing up. But, his father was a very manly man. You know a 'Me, Tarzan: You, Jane' kind of guy."

"Yeah, I've met his dad," Ashley agreed, "A real charmer, that one." She rolled her eyes.

Emily nodded. "There is no way Damon could have ever come out as gay or bisexual. His dad would have killed him. That's probably why he decided to get married so young. And honestly, I don't think he married Carol because he loved her, I think he married her because her parents have money."

"I bet Carol was beyond pissed when she found out what was going on between Damon and Kenton," Mario said. "I've only met her a few times, but she seemed very insecure because of Damon not wanting her anymore. I bet she flipped out when Kenton told her Damon was sleeping with him."

"I wonder if she really believed him." Fernando said. Everyone at the table turned to the usually quiet man. "Think about it," he said. "You've been married to this man for years and think he's having affairs with women. Suddenly, he comes home and accuses you of having an affair with his friend. She denies it and says that she heard he was having an affair with the same friend. He either tells her that it was a bunch a crap and just Kenton trying to mess with him or they both say that yes, they did have sex with Kenton, but it was a one-time thing."

"And then they have make up sex so he can prove he's not gay, but he's all pissed off because his supposed best friend did this to him," Ashley said.

"Right, and then he comes here to confront the best friend and punches him in the head causing him to fall into the chair and into the water, but rushes off before he realizes that Kenton is completely unconscious and can't save himself," Emily said.

"That is a very good theory," Ashley said. "I'm sure it's one the police are pursuing. But if that is true, why not just admit it? Why are Carol and Damon covering for each other? We know that Damon was at Twister with Kenton that night. And another thing I don't get is Damon's strange behavior at the funeral."

"Yeah, and going ahead and going to the marathon in Louisville," Kim said. "Who does that when your best friend and lover has just been killed?"

"Well," Mario said, "If he wants to throw the police off, then that would be the thing to do. He and his wife made up, or so she thinks, and so she'll be his alibi, and then he acts like he's going about business as usual because his friend, who had screwed over both him and his wife, deserved to die."

"But wouldn't you think his coldness would make the police suspect him even more?" Kim asked.

Emily sighed and drank more of her margarita. "I don't know. We might even be way off track. It might be someone involved with that land deal in eastern Tennessee. Didn't you say there were a few real whack jobs over there that had threatened to blow the company up?" she asked Ashley.

"Yeah, but I don't think those guys would have killed Kenton like this. They would have caught him out somewhere else and shot him, or beat him to death. It would not have looked like an accident."

Sighing again, Emily motioned for more margarita. "I know that it's going to hit me hard at some point that Kenton is really gone, but right now, I honestly don't miss him."

"I'll drink to that," Sonja said raising her glass and touching Emily's. "He paid us well, but I don't think we would have stayed as long as we have if you hadn't been here."

Fernando nodded. "He was not pleasant to work for even if the pay was good. But once you came, working here became a good thing."

Emily got up and hugged them both. "How about we don't talk about this anymore tonight? Let's eat, drink, and be merry. Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring."