DIVORCE LAWYER - PART 2
"We've got two new clients," Grant informed her.
"Great!" Penny said, smiling. "What can you tell me about them?" she asked.
"One is Bubba and Aileen Akers," Grant replied. "They live in Montana. He's a rancher and owns several hundred thousand acres of land. She comes from money, San Francisco. Her father is a surgeon, fairly well-known. She's suing him for divorce, saying that he's been having sex with her mother."
"Oh, my!" Penny laughed. "That is so crazy. Is it true?" she asked.
"Bubba says that it's entirely true, but that he's been having sex with both of them at the same time since before they got married just over five years ago," Grant replied. "He refuses to give her a dime, insisting that it was their idea to begin with, that he was just being a good sport and going along with them."
"If that's true, she doesn't have much of a case," Penny said.
"We'll see," Grant said. "The devil is always in the details. The other new client is far more interesting. We're representing Mai Li Wang, 38. According to her, her husband, Jimmy Wang, 44, a member of the Singapore government, has embezzled money from her family trust. She comes from old Singaporean money. She's conservatively worth some $20 billion. His background is far murkier. Apparently, according to what she told me when we talked on the phone, he's connected with one of the Hong Kong triads, a kind of mafia, who have been behind his rise in government where he has influence, which probably explains his need for money. She's willing to pay $20 million for the divorce, with a bonus of $30 million if we can expose his corruption and he goes to jail."
"That sounds dangerous and she sounds really pissed off," Penny said.
"It very well could be," Grant agreed. "Hard to blame her if it's true."
"Do you have a plan?" Penny asked.
"Yes, but first we need to go to Texas to meet with Senator Caruthers. We'll probably be there for a day or two. Then we'll fly to Montana, probably be there for 2-3 days, then we'll fly to Singapore," Grant replied. "Once we know more, then we can make some decisions about how to proceed."
"We'll be busy," Penny observed.
"Yes, but we'll be making a shitload of money in the process," Grant said, smiling.
"Is that so important to you?" Penny asked.
"Not as such, no," Grant replied. "What I enjoy is playing the game, and winning, winning big. I've got more money now than I could possibly spend, which is one of the reasons I can afford to be generous with my staff. Nothing would make me happier than to know that I'd enabled every single one of them to retire rich."
Settling into their first-class seats the next morning for their flight to Houston, Penny sighed deeply.
"Something wrong?" Grant asked.
"No, I was just thinking of my new car," Penny replied, smiling.
"It'll still be there when we get back," Grant said, laughing, "but I understand. When I bought my Bacalar, the only thing I wanted to do was drive it. I figured that if I'd paid $2 million for the damned thing, that I should be driving it."
"You could buy 10 of my Mercedes for that," Penny gasped.
"Other than the house and the car, I don't really spend money on things," Grant said. "I don't feel the need. Some people need to feed their egos by constantly buying things. I have what I want and need, there's no sense to just buying things for the sake of it."
"Then what's the point of having all that money?" Penny asked.
"That's just it, there is no real point to it when you've got more than you could ever possibly spend, it's just an indicator of how much of the game I'm winning," Grant replied. "Maybe I'll give it away, or leave it to you. It doesn't really matter."
"Well, I have to say that being able to buy my car with a credit card and knowing that I won't have a problem paying the bill felt great," Penny said. "I've never really had to think about money. I was always in school and you made sure that I had everything that I needed."
"Which pleased me to no end," Grant said, smiling. "I can't begin to tell you how proud you've always made me."
"Maybe you wouldn't think that if you really knew me," Penny said.
"As long as you haven't murdered anyone or hurt anyone deliberately, there's no way that you could ever disappoint me," Grant said.
"What are we going to do in Texas?" Penny asked.
"Try to get them to settle in some fashion," Grant replied. "I don't foresee any real difficulties. The evidence is undeniable, so it's just a matter of finding a way for everyone to save face so that they can move on with their lives. I should warn you about Senator Caruthers, though. She's not what you'd expect. She knows what she wants and she's used to getting her way. For the money that she's going to be paying us, I'll do anything that she asks as long as it's legal. That's one of the things that we're going to find out, what their joint worth is."
"But if she doesn't have any money, how will we get paid?" Penny asked.
"That would be part of the settlement," Grant explained. "Their joint estate has to pay us."
"Why would her husband agree to that?" Penny asked.
"Because I'd expose him to the world if he doesn't," Grant replied, steel in his voice. "I can assure you that the cost of that would be far more than whatever they're going to have to pay me. In essence, they're going to be buying my silence."
"Is that legal?" Penny asked.
"As long as I don't violate attorney-client privilege, yes," Grant replied. "Since I'm not his attorney, there's no privilege to violate with regards to exposing him."
"That is just so crazy," Penny said, shaking her head.
"Isn't it though," Grant agreed, laughing.
Arriving at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, they saw a liveried gentleman holding up a sign with Studder on it.
"I'm Grant Studder," he said.
"Right this way, sir," the man said, leading them out of the airport to a limousine.
It was a 30-minute ride to the Caruthers' estate, and they were shown to adjoining guest rooms, each with an en suite bathroom.
"Senator Caruthers asks that you join her in the sauna," the servant said.
"Sauna?" Penny asked as they followed him.
"Same as the last time I was here," Grant said, sighing. "She says it's for reasons of security. Try not to be too shocked."
"Shocked? Why would I be shocked?" Penny asked.
"You'll see," Grant replied. "You might want to reconsider working with me."