“He’s Timothy’s cousin?” I asked.
“Yep, and according to him, Timothy has a rich sugar daddy.” Mark shook his head and then added, “What’s the likelihood that his sugar daddy isn’t behind the attacks against you? How many rich people can he possibly know?”
“So, Mitch,” Vic said, leaning forward, “who in your circle is gay?”
“Um, no one that I can think of,” I replied as I thought about the big hitters. “He’d have to be a closet case because there’s no one openly gay besides me in my immediate circle.”
“What about the kid you were caught making out with when you were a teenager?” Hammer asked. “That couldn’t have gone over well.”
“Tobias,” I answered. “He was already out so it didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. We used each other to get a rise out of our fathers that night, but it didn’t really work.”
“This Tobias has daddy issues then?” Vic asked.
“He did,” I replied, “but I’m pretty sure they worked their issues out a long time ago. Tobias is married and has two kids with his husband. Hell, he’s a doctor and doesn’t hang in our social circles anymore. I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Who’s his father?” Hammer asked. “There might be something there. We can’t just continue to stop when we come across a road block anymore and assume we answered the question without delving deeper.”
I turned to Mitch and said, “You’ve met Tobias’s father, Todd Basterson.”
“The chairman of the board for Heston’s?” Mark asked with narrowed eyes.
“Yes, and Estelle’s brother,” I explained further. I watched as an angry expression came over Mark’s face at the mention of Estelle’s name. “You’ve seen me interact with Todd on many occasions and did you ever get the impression he hated my guts?”
“No, I didn’t get that impression,” Mark answered, “but, people don’t always stamp their intentions on their foreheads. It makes more sense to pretend to like you and reel you in for the kill.” The cold way Mark spoke gave me chills that were completely opposite than the ones he gave me in the shower. “We’re not dealing with a nice person here, babe. We’re dealing with a ruthless killer who is after money, power, or both.”
“Toss out everything you think you know about the people in your circle and force yourself to look at them with new eyes,” Hammer told me. “Has anyone even registered a beep on your gaydar? Maybe there was a drunken flirtation with you that you just brushed aside because of the alcohol. Or, have you ever caught a guy paying closer attention to another dude than a straight guy would?”
“I’m not sure I have a gaydar,” I answered Hammer honestly. “I didn’t even know that you and Vic were gay.”
“That’s because we’re trained professionals,” Hammer replied with a smug smile.
“Well, it wouldn’t be much different for the rich sugar daddy supporting Timothy,” I answered.
“How so?” Vic asked.
“Having money doesn’t always equal acceptance,” I answered. “The world I live in is filled with old money conservatives who are not accepting of homosexuality. I get looks and I’m certain that remarks are made behind my back. The difference with me is that I don’t give a fuck about them. They need me, not the other way around. Fuck them and their idiotic beliefs. They paint a smile on their faces and shake my hand because they have to, not because they want to. Tobias became a doctor and turned his back on this lifestyle so that he could be truly happy. So,” I shrugged, “there hasn’t been any flirting amongst the men, flagrant or otherwise.”
“Well, fuck.” Vic sounded a bit deflated. “At least we have the name of another person to talk to. You can fucking bet that this Keener guy knows something and we’ll be sure to get the truth out of him.”
“With our boots to his throat, if need be,” Mark growled.
Perhaps I should’ve been concerned about the dangerous tone in Mark’s voice, but I wasn’t. I never worried that he would hurt me, just those who wanted to cause me harm. His overprotectiveness toward me didn’t make me feel less masculine; it made me feel important and cherished – both things I’d gone most of my adult life not experiencing. They were both things I refused to live without going forward.
