Page 28 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

Fifteen

The next morning, Maggie turned into her driveway after dropping the kids off at school, noticing Julia’s SUV parked in front of the house. She pushed the button on her garage door opener, pulled into the two-car garage beside Max’s Escalade, then met Julia outside the house.

“Is that Max’s vehicle?” Julia asked, peering inside.

“It is. He doesn’t like long-term parking at the airport. Good thing, huh? That bill would be astronomical by now.”

Julia snorted. “Hmm.”

Maggie knew that look. Wheels were turning inside her friend’s head. Coupled with that “hmm” comment meant Julia was pondering something.

“You have the keys?” Julia moved into the garage and tried the passenger side door. Locked.

“Sure. There’s a set inside. Why?”

“Glove box. Make and model, registration, and so on…” Julia replied. “Details for later. Assets. Come on, let’s go inside and talk.”

Maggie led the way between the cars and into the mudroom door. She punched the garage door button as they both went inside and moved on into the kitchen.

Julia plopped her paper-heavy leather bag on the granite island top.

“Been thinking. The two-hour drive is good for that. I have some news and some thoughts. But first,” she pulled a file folder out of the bag, “I have papers for you to sign. This will get us started.” She slid the paper-clipped stack toward her.

“Is this the same as we discussed?”

“Pretty much. I also tried to get my two cents in about selling the house, or anything else, but we will see how that goes.”

“What about him paying utilities? The kids’ tuition?”

“I made sure to include that he maintains all support as it was until the divorce is final.”

“Good.”

“Look it over, Mags. Sign when you are ready.” She stood. “I’m heading to the little girl’s room.”

“There’s a powder room off the living room,” Maggie said. “You know where. Right?”

“Yep. Be right back.”

Maggie flipped through the stack of papers, lingering over some of the newer additions.

While she knew she should probably read it all word-for-word, she trusted her friend to no end.

Of course, she needed to understand the exact terms of the filing, but she wouldn’t take time right now to scour the documents. Later.

Bedtime reading, probably.

Julia hustled back into the room. “Well?”

“It’s all fine. Let me find a pen.”

“Here.” Julia plucked one from her bag.

Maggie signed in all the places Julia had marked, then handed the paperwork back to her. “Let’s do it.”

“Great.” She put it all back in the file folder. “Ride along with me. You can point me in the direction of the county clerk’s office.”

“Sure. We’ll be back by one, right? The locksmith is coming then to change the locks.”

“Oh good. This won’t take long.”

“Great.” Maggie paused, watching Julia slide the pen into its little holster inside her bag. “But I’m just curious. What were you thinking earlier about Max’s Escalade?”

Julia laughed. “You really want to know?”

“If it’s that funny, I do.” What is she thinking?

“If Max tries to screw you over with the house, we need to hold that Escalade hostage. Did he buy it or lease?”

Why the fuck didn’t I think of that? “I’m sure he bought it. But seriously, Julia? That’s brilliant.” Her brain was spinning. She did need money. “Could we sell it?”

“Probably not. I’m sure it’s in his name. Right?”

“Oh, I’m positive about that. The registration is probably in the glove box. But the title? Do you think it’s in the papers you have?”

“Maybe. I’ve not gone through everything yet. But we should check around here, too.” Julia exhaled, staring out the window. “Since we can’t sell it… If we only had someplace to stash it. Like I said. Hold it hostage.”

“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 is my forte. Let me worry about that. I won’t let him get anywhere near you or the kids.”

“I can’t get the kids involved.”

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

“They are just okay. 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 stayed in 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, how are you 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. ”

Julia smiled. “Wait. Hold that thought.”

“What?”

She reached into the back floorboard and hoisted her leather bag up between the seats. “I found some old invoices from a couple of storage facilities in Rocky Mount. That definitely piqued my curiosity. I pulled that file and brought it with me and had planned to ask you about them today.”

She flipped through the papers and pulled out two tattered invoices. “They’re several years old, and I haven’t called to see if they are still in business, but I thought we could investigate.”

“Makes me wonder why Max needed two storage units?”

Julia agreed. “Absolutely. Here. You call one and I’ll call the other.”

“Right now?”

She shrugged. “Why not?”

Maggie took the top invoice. “Looks like this one is out off of I-95 near the intersection of Sandy Cross Road.”

She punched in the numbers.

A man answered. “Smart Self Storage. This is Ron Smart.”

“Hi. This is Maggie Oliver. My husband has a unit there, but he’s out of town right now and I can’t get in touch with him. Can you tell me the number of the unit, please?”

“Name again?”

“The account would be under Max Oliver.”

“Just a minute.”

Maggie waited, glancing at Julia, who had her phone to her ear.

“Did you say Oliver?”

“Yes.”

“We have no account under that name.”

Maggie frowned. “Oh, I’m sure it was there. I actually have an old invoice.”

“Maybe he had one here years ago, but not now. The business changed hands. Anything not accounted for after the sale, we sold at auction, especially if he stopped paying the bill. Sorry.”

“Thanks.” Maggie ended the call. Well, there goes my easel….

She looked at Julia, who was staring out the window. “Yes, ma’am,” she heard her say.

Maggie waited, listening.

“Yes, that’s it. Perfect,” Julia continued. “We’ll be there soon. Thanks so much.”

Grinning widely, she faced Maggie. “Bingo!”

“You found it?”

“Yep. Two Gals Storage on Sunset Drive. Pop it into your GPS.” Julia twisted the key in the ignition.

She was almost giddy inside. Hell, she was fucking giddy all over.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to the office of Two Gals and went inside. Maggie stepped up to the counter.

“Hi. We called earlier. Max Oliver’s unit? I’m his wife.”

The woman behind the counter nodded. According to the embroidered name on her denim shirt, her name was Louise. “Of course. May I see your I.D.?”

Maggie handed over her driver’s license. The woman took a quick glance and gave it back. “Unit forty-two. It’s down the row to your left, near the end. You need a key? I understand your husband is out of the country.”