Page 16 of Midnight Torment

It was his turn to laugh. “No, I mean he knows enough people to ensure she never works anywhere in London again. Honestly, do you think that we just drive around killing people?”

My gaze dropped because that was what I thought. He chuckled and shook his head, a grin forming on his mouth that transformed him from sourly asshole to handsome stranger.

Kerri rapped on the open door. “Your first client is here.” She fixed Flynn with another death stare before she left.

“Wow, She really doesn’t like me,” he muttered. “Someone needs to remove that woman’s butt plug before she vomits it out.”

I was definitely warming to Flynn since I now had a companion who disliked Gargamel too. Cassandra always said I was too harsh on her, but no matter what I did was wrong. I bought her flowers and was told off for spending too much money. I brought lunch in for us, and she left it in the fridge and ate her ham sandwich. She just hated me for no reason.

I’d given up trying to win her approval. The only person she seemed genuinely afraid of or charmed by was Jordan. She just tended to stare at him as if he was a snake about to pounce.

My first client entered the room and my day began. Flynn sat and pretended to take notes, but when I looked at the pad on his lap, he’d drawn a racing car. It was as well I took my own notes during meetings.

Client number two arrived and filled me in on her tale of woe since we last met. Her husband wasn’t disputing custody of the children, he was happy to pay maintenance as long as she took care of them fulltime. He had agreed to see them the day after their birthday to avoid a diary clash, or on an appointed day over the Christmas break. The items of most importance on his agenda was his house, car collection, and the dog. He didn’t ask for anything else.

“Why would he not want to fight for his children?” my client Maryanne demanded from Flynn.

He shot a wide-eyed look in my direction. “At a guess, he doesn’t like them.”

I could have slapped him for his answer. Maryanne started to cry, waving her hankie in the air as if it was a flag of surrender.

She nodded at Flynn. “I knew it, the bastard was never there for any of their birthday parties. He always had a business trip he needed to go on.” She paused and her eyes narrowed into slits. “With his secretary.”

“Well, you did want full custody of the children,” I said in an attempt to calm her down.

“That was before he didn’t want them. Why should I be left to raise his spawn all by myself?” She turned to Flynn again. “Why does he want the dog and not his children?”

“Because dogs give you unconditional love and never question your actions. Children need your time and never shut up. They expect you to wipe their asses and kiss their bruises.” His nose wrinkled in disgust at the image he created. “Dogs lick their own asses and never mention their bruises.”

“Yes,” Maryanne agreed. “I trained that dog, he should stay with me. What about the house and his cars?”

Flynn held his hand out and I placed the dossier in it of all the makes and models of the vehicles. They were nice and shiny in the photographs, but you could only drive one car at a time. He whistled lowly, a slow grin forming on his mouth.

“And what is he proposing you receive?” Flynn asked.

I handed him another piece of paper.

“Yes, that’s bullshit. That car there is worth that and more to the right buyer.” He pointed at the offensive car in question. “You need to go back and tell him to fuck off. If you want, I’ll take a look at the cars and give you a proper estimate.”

“What do you know about cars?” I queried, raising an eyebrow to reinforce my question.

He shrugged. “I’m in a racing team, and I know the different between body work and what’s under the bonnet. That’s where the real value of a car is.” He placed the paperwork on the table. “Let me put it this way for you, if this divorce was a tiara, he’s giving you the gold and keeping all the diamonds.”

“What do you suggest?” Maryanne demanded.

He shrugged one shoulder. “Liquidate the assets and divide them fifty-fifty. He’s been storing his cash in cars. He probably has a vault in the basement of the house filled with other assets.”

Maryanne straightened her shoulders. “He was having an affair for years. I want half of everything.”

“You only wanted the children,” I replied.

“And now I want revenge. He never drove those cars, and now it’s beginning to make sense. I gave him the best years of my life, and now he can pay me for them.”

I could strangle Flynn. No, I should get Jordan to kick his ass because he’s just given me a huge amount of work that was never asked for at the beginning of this process.

“Okay, if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. Just remember that you asked for this change in the middle of the divorce settlement.” I pushed the notes I’d been making across for her to sign. I learnt my lesson a long time ago to ensure that I documented everything and that the client agreed to it all on paper.

“Congratulations, Flynn, you’ve just been employed as a forensic assessor to go and establish the value of each of those vehicles. I’ll have another assessor accompany you to determine the value of anything else in the house.” I turned my attention to Maryanne. “I believe you still have the key and are entitled to let anyone you want into the property?”

---