More story. Things are getting interesting and I'll try and squeeze some sex in the next chapter. Stay with with me and I'll reward you with some very steamy stuff.
Noella's heartbeat was racing when she returned home. After finding the envelopes, she was very distracted and didn't enjoy the remainder of the party so much. Arriving home, she made her way straight to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine, wanting to try and compensate for all the booze she had drunk.
As the coffee machine whirred away, she kicked off her heels and retrieved the letters from her clutch bag. With a mug full of a triple latte she sat at the kitchen bench and picked up the first envelope.
It was nondescript with no clues where it came from except for a return PO Box number from the Cayman Islands. She ripped open the envelope her heart beat racing. She pulled the letter from the envelope and quickly unfolded the letter. She scanned it quickly. It was an invoice to Manta Pty. Ltd. from a bank in the Cayman's for 'banking services', whatever that they mean. Noella checked if there were any references to names or addresses. To her disappointment it was addressed to the 'CFO- Manta Pty. Ltd.' She looked at the account. The invoice was for $2342.
Damn! It doesn't tell me a thing!
She took another long swig of coffee before attacking the second envelope. It like the first, had no distinguishing marks, but the PO Box was different. She opened the letter.
Damn! Another fucking invoice! $3456! What are all these fees for?
This time it was a different, but still in the Caymans. Hoping for a better result she picked up the last envelope and this time she opened it in a more restrained way. Slowly she unfolded the sheet of paper which this time looked like a formal letter..
Thank god it's not an invoice.
Her eyes moved to the addressee box.
My god!
She couldn't believe her eyes.
Mr D. Nicholson
Manta Pty. Ltd.
3/125 Fahrenheit St.
Brighton
Her eyes moved to the body of the letter.
Dear Damien,
Subject: Asset Protection
Here at Parkinson & Smiths we are appreciative of the recent business you have put our way. We would hope to build our relationship for our mutual long term benefit. In light of this we are in the position to offer services at our Cayman Island subsidiary at new discounted rates.
To take advantage of this special offer..............
The letter went on with the usual suck ass bullshit from a business house trying to secure business.
What the hell is Damien doing with 'asset protection' in the Cayman Islands?
Noella sat there trying to make sense of it.
Why and how did Damien have her car taken away. Why would he try and sell her house?
What did he need offshore banks for? Was it a grab motivated by greed, just revenge or was it something bigger?
The numerous cocktails that she had drank that afternoon had removed much of her usual sharpness and so she struggled to make headway with these questions. She grabbed her I-pad and zipped of an e-mail to Steven asking to see him first thing in the morning. She felt guilty for monopolising Steven's time so much, but the ever escalating tide of events in her life gave her little choice.
At ten minutes to nine she bustled into the legal office wearing a sassy looking suit with black and white vertical stripes. She said 'hi' to the receptionist Justine who told her Steven was expecting her in his office. Noella headed straight for the office.
The door was open and she strolled right in.
"Hi Steven."
"Hi Noella. What's happened now?" he asked in a half laugh.
Noella explained that her neighbour has been receiving these letters and she thought it was important for him to see them, as she put the letters on Steven's desk.
"My God!" he exclaimed. "They're for Manta!"
"Look at the last one!" urged Noella.
Steven picked up the third letter and examined it closely.
"Damien? Damien is behind Manta!"
"It looks like it. What would he be doing?"
"Whatever it is, it'll be no good if he's trying to use offshore banks for 'asset protection'! That's just code for tax evasion or stealing!"
"Damien was always a sharp operator. Tax evasion maybe, but stealing?"
"What do you think he was trying to do with your car and your house?"
"Maybe he still feels he has rights over my things? He always treated me like a chattel!"
"Well you can give him the benefit of the doubt if you like, but it looks particularly dodgy to me!"
"If you say it's dodgy I'll believe you."
"I'll give this to my young guns. I'm sure they'll find something."
"Good. I just want to get to the bottom of this so I can get some calmness in my life."
"I can understand that. You haven't had much calmness lately! Now in light of this you need to check all your bank accounts, shareholdings and any other assets you have, to make sure nobody is trying to steal those. Okay?"
"Okay. That gives me a job for today!"
"It sure does. Go to the banks and check that nobody has been added as a signatory and get your broker to check there's been no attempt to transfer your shares into different names."
"Yep I can do that."
