The Deadly Caress

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dorian parked his red Audi sports car near the five-car garage. Two policemen were at the front entrance to the house. One had been leaning against the patrol car; now he turned to stare as Dorian slammed his door. He nodded and waved, in a rare display of politeness.

     A dark sedan had pulled up behind him. The wind billowed Dorian's shirt as he walked towards Lionel's car.

     The lawyer stepped out. His gesture seemed sympathetic as his pudgy hand touched Dorian's arm. "I received the message you left with my assistant. What can I say, except, I'm so sorry. Her passing dreadfully saddens me. Jean will be missed by all of us." Lionel Cohen's balding head glistened with perspiration as he stared up at Campbell.

     Dorian shrugged. Missed? He'd been too busy hating his stepmother until now.

     "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner," the lawyer said.

     "I've been out for a couple of hours and just got back myself." Visiting his lover, Garth, in that run-down apartment had been gut-wrenching. Garth's condition was getting worse. His skin was a mass of crusty, red weeping sores and he'd developed a hacking cough.

     "Lionel, I know it's bad timing to ask you this now but I have no choice. I need an advance against my trust fund. Could you arrange it?" He couldn't wait for any inheritance to be released. Garth needed the money for medical treatment as soon as possible.

     "How can you think about money now?" Cohen glared. The wind made his suit jacket flap.

     "It won't bring her back no matter how I feel." How did he feel about his stepmother? He hadn't shed a single tear.

     "Your father." The lawyer shook his head. "He spoiled you. And Jean-"

     "All I want is an advance. Can I have an answer?" Campbell asked.

     "Then it's no."

     "You're in charge of the fund," Dorian said. "It can't be that difficult."

     "I can only follow the instructions your father left. And they forbade the releasing of extra money except in extraordinary circumstances and as far as I can tell this is isn't one."

     "You asshole! You know what I really want the money for, don't you!"

     Cohen reddened. "Why should I? It's of no importance to me."

     "You know it's for Garth. I told you weeks ago he's got AIDS. Jean thought I wanted the money for the Metropolitan Community Church. I couldn't tell her the truth."

     "She would have been horrified had she known, as I am," Cohen said.

     "Both of you blamed Garth for leading me astray. Gay bars and-"

     "Spare me the details."

     "But Garth's been the only one."

     "Have you at least had the sense to have some tests?"

     "I've been given the all clear for now."

     "Thank God," Cohen said.

     "I'll have to go back to have regular checkups for a while yet." Dorian stared at him.

     Lionel wouldn't meet Campbell's gaze. "How can you continue to see... this...this...man? It's unnatural."

     "Unnatural? Open your eyes. They even have gay TV shows. Damned hypocrite. I'll bet you've lost count of how many partners you've had. You've had more women than..." Dorian hesitated, not wanting to say what he really meant. Even though his parent had been dead a year, it still hurt, "my father."

     "How dare you! All that finished five years ago."

     "Yeah. Because your investments nearly bankrupted you. And your health couldn't take it. You didn't even care if the women were married or not. Nothing was sacred."

     "Shut up. If your father were alive today he'd-"

     "Don't give me that crap. Is Felicity Beare a good fuck?"

     "Don't you speak about her like that!"

     "I'll bet that husband of hers would like to know what she does in her spare time." It had been only by chance he'd stumbled upon them a while ago having an intimate tête-à-tête at some restaurant. He'd passed quite close to their table. They'd been so engrossed in each other that they hadn't seen him. The rest had been guesswork.

     Lionel grabbed Dorian by the front of his shirt. "How did you find out?"

     "Hey, you okay?" the officer shouted to Dorian.

     "We're fine," Dorian said.

     "How would it look in the society columns? Wife of major stockholder of Campbell-Beare Pharmaceuticals has affair with the Campbell family lawyer," Dorian said.

     Cohen let go. "If you think you've got me by the balls then you're wrong. I'm going to ask Felicity to marry me."

     "You're not serious are you, after all these years of smorgasbord?"

     "Yes I am." Lionel suddenly seemed very tired and troubled.

     He didn't look like a man who was going to ask the woman he loved to marry him, thought Dorian. "So how about the money for Garth's medical treatment?"

     "I can't help you. Please...stop seeing him."

     "I should have known it was just too much to ask you to be compassionate. Don't tell me who I can see. You're not my father. It's my life." He could see a deep pain in Lionel's eyes, and guessed it was for Jean.

     "I just don't understand. Why can't you pursue what normal men pursue?"

     "I'm different. I can't help it." This man had always been like an uncle to him; but since Garth, their relationship had deteriorated.

     Cohen touched his elbow. "I know a very good psychoanalyst."

     Dorian jerked away. "Oh sure! What's he going to do for me? Help me understand myself?"

     "A few months of therapy and you'll-"

     "What did you get that idea from, the dark ages!"

     "It is possible there were negative influences that made you-"

      He cut in. "People are homosexual because they're born that way. Anyway, I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help. I'm very happy the way I am." He turned away from Cohen, tormented. "It took me years to admit to myself that I was gay."

     "You never dated any girls?"

     Campbell turned back. "Once, but it was a total disaster. " The knowledge of what he was had made him miserable for too many years and he'd finally come out of his hermit-like existence and found a man who loved him.

     "I can give you the number-"

     "Shut up." He needed that money now.

     Dorian saw, in his peripheral vision, the officer making his way to them. "I'm going in."

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