Treacherous Secrets novel Chapter 47

"Because Damon wasn't with you all night," Harold said. "After the scene at the bar he came home and you two had what you thought was make-up sex. You passed out, and he left to meet Junior, a.k.a. Frank, at the condo Frank and Kenton shared and Cecelia had proof. She was just waiting for the right time to give out the information."

"Kenton shared a condo with Frank?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, they had a place in a gated community off of Woodmont," Harold said. "It was in Frank's name but we think Kenton provided part of the money to buy it."

"That son-of-a-bitch," Emily growled.

"Yeah, and guess where he got his part of the money?" Janice said, "From unsuspecting investors like Barbara McKinley."

"Oh my God!" Emily said, putting her hand to her mouth. "You mean he's been swindling his investors all along?"

"For at least the past four years," Harold said. "We are still going through the paper work trying to figure out how far back the fraud extends."

Janice said, "Cecelia Chase started looking into Kenton's dealings. When she figured out he was as crooked as she was, she hired him to work with her and her father. With Walter Chase's backing, unbeknownst to him, they put together several dirty property deals."

"What do you mean?" Mario asked. "Didn't they have to provide documentation to the clients about property values and taxes?"

"Yes, all of which can be doctored," Janice said. "Kenton was so charming, especially with the people he was seducing, none of them questioned the information he was giving them." Janice looked at Emily and smiled apologetically. "Kenton did his homework. He researched his victims carefully before approaching them, including you, Emily."

"What?" Emily said, shocked.

"We found files in a storage unit that Cecelia told us about where Kenton kept files on everyone. He looked deep into your background, your relationships, and your family." Janice looked at Harold.

"He had thorough notes about your reactions to different," Harold did air quotes referring to Kenton's exact words, "stimuli."Emily stared at him blankly, not really getting what he was saying, but Mario got it. "You mean, he noted what her reactions were to different things he did so he would know what buttons to push to get her to do what he wanted."

"Exactly," Harold said, pointing to Mario. "That's exactly what he did."

The shock on Emily's face sent waves of sorrow out to everyone in the room. She cried out, jumped and ran out of the room. Mario got up and quickly followed her to the kitchen.

Carol wiped a tear from her cheek. "And what was Damon's role in all this?"

"Mostly, just another of Kenton's victims," Janice said. "He picked up on Damon's homosexuality right away and used it to play him the way he did anyone else he needed or wanted to use."

Carol shook her head sadly, "Poor Emily. How horrible to find out she was a tool all along."

Janice nodded, "It's probably a good thing he's already dead."

"You got that right," Sonja said. She looked at Fernando, who was gritting his teeth. "We've seen him bring a lot of people through this house, but he put on his show for us as well. We had no idea that he was just using her. When they first started living together, he was mostly good to her, but we never suspected what a horrible person he was."

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