Page 85 of The Me I Left Behind

“What good would that do?”

Julia gave a shrug. “That Cadillac SUV is worth a lot of money. I’m sure we could use it as a bargaining chip. Especially if it’s paid for.”

“Pretty sure it is. But why would we need to hide it? If the locks are changed, he can’t get to it, anyway.”

“At least we can honestly say it’s not on the premises. Maybe you thought he took it the last time he was here? Maybe it’s in long-term parking after all?”

Maggie wondered if they should go down that road, though. “I’m not sure I want to fuck with him, Julia. He’s good at playing games. Me? Not so much.”

Julia laughed again. “Sweetheart, playing games and fucking with people’s heads ismyforte. Let me worry about that. I won’t let him get anywhere near you or the kids.”

“Ican’tget the kids involved.”

Julia nodded. “I know. Are they okay?”

“They arejustokay. Not fantastic, to be sure—but okay.” She didn’t want to get into the Carol story of last night. Not yet, anyway. Thank God, the girl had come in at a decent hour—but she was off again early that morning. Maggie had no clue if she was in school or skipping. The only thing she knew for certain was that Logan had honked that damn horn too early.

“Good. That’s something.” She reached for the handle of her bag and turned. “Tell me more in the car. Ready?”

Maggie smiled. “Definitely.”

“Good. Then let’s go. The sooner we get these papers filed, the better.”

She stayedin the car while Julia filed the petition.

When she returned, Maggie asked her about the next steps.

“The papers need to be served to Max. Since he is in Australia, there are some extra hoops to jump through. If they can catch him in the states, say if he returns for work, they can simply hand them to him. If not, they’ll work through the Australian law and courts. I gave them all the information I had about where Max was, his business, and the like. They are going to let me know what comes next, but it’s going to take a while. In the meantime, we wait.”

“No.” Maggie shook her head. “I can’t just sit around and wait. I have things to do.”

“Like?”

“Figure out how I’m going to live without money, and maybe a home.”

“I don’t think it will come to that, Mags, but if they can’t find him to serve him, he could push it until then. I will reach out to his attorney this afternoon to let him know we have filed.”

“Good.”

Julia studied her. “So, howareyou sitting for money?”

Her head fell back against the headrest and Maggie closed her eyes. “Not good. The one credit card I have is kaput, as you know. The bank has cut me off, too. As you also know. I have maybe a few hundred dollars stashed back. That’s it.”

Nodding, Julia screwed up her mouth, apparently thinking. “My fear is that it’s going to take time for Max to get served, and in the interim, he’s going to do whatever he damn well wants to do. Let me think about this.”

“Sure. I will, too.”

“Back to your house now?”

“Maybe.” Something still nagged at her from earlier. “Just thinking, but… What if we had a place to stash Max’s SUV?”

Julia twisted back, staring. “Do you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What are you thinking?”

Was her idea stupid? Might as well put it out there. “Max has a storage unit somewhere. Not sure how big or if the Escalade would fit in it, though. When he took down my art studio and made it his office, he said he put everything in storage. Now, that could have been a lie. I don’t know. But I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately because Chloe and I are turning the office into a studio again, and I want my easel. But I have no clue where the storage facility is.”

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