"I don't know what went on between you and your mother this past weekend, but I've not seen her so happy in a long time," Grant said when Penny arrived at work Monday morning.
"We had a good talk," Penny said. "I think that it helped both of us. We understand one another like we never have before."
"That pleases me to no end," Grant said. "Ready to go to Phoenix tomorrow?" he asked.
"Sure," Penny replied. "What's happened?"
"Mrs. Walker has engaged an attorney and he wants to meet and discuss a settlement," Grant replied.
"Already? What are you going to do?" Penny asked.
"Listen to him, then tell him how it's going to be," Grant said, smiling.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"It's like you're never here anymore," Amy said as she fisted Penny, whose body was arching up as she experienced an intense orgasm as Amy rocked her hand back and forth inside of her.
"God, you make me feel so good," Penny gasped as Amy slid her hand from her pussy, then leaned over and glued her mouth to her, drinking up her flowing juices.
"I'm glad that your life is so exciting," Amy said, crawling up her body to kiss her, letting her taste herself on her mouth and tongue. "And I'm happy whenever you're here."
"Me, too," Penny sighed, kissing her. "It's nice to know that I've always got you to come home to."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I can't believe that I'm actually getting used to this," Penny said with a laugh as their 9am flight to Phoenix took off the next morning.
"It's amazing what you can get used to," Grant said. "And we've got a new case."
"Really? What's it about?" Penny asked.
"Our client is Rose Gold, 48," Grant replied in a lowered voice. "She wants to divorce her husband, Jeremy, 50, who is vehemently against it. They've been married for 30 years and have 2 grown children. Rose comes from old Philadelphia money and Jeremy's a life-long law enforcement officer, third generation of his family to do so, a Pennsylvania Police Academy graduate, currently with the rank of Captain."
"What an odd combination," Penny observed.
"Our client is threatening to bring down the entire Philadelphia police department unless her husband agrees to a quiet divorce with an NDA to prevent him from ever speaking about it," Grant explained.
"What's their problem?" Penny asked.
"It seems that our client's husband suffers from some form of erectile dysfunction," Grant replied. "He can't perform unless he first sees his wife having sex with another man."
"You're not serious?" Penny laughed.
"According to what she told me, he's seen many doctors over the years, including psychologists and psychiatrists," Grant continued. "There is solid documentation of a psychological disorder. There is no medical reason that he can't function other than after watching his wife with other men."
"And our client has gone along with this?" Penny asked.
"Apparently so," Grant replied. "Once or twice a week, our client's husband will come home with a fellow police officer, or more, and watch as they have sex with his wife, after which he does. This has been going on for over 20 years. Many of the officers who enjoyed our client's favors are now very high-ranking police officials, including a couple of police commissioners. Thus, the nature of her threat to bring down the entire police department, as well as her desire to have the divorce concluded quietly."
"What suddenly made her want a divorce after all these years?" Penny asked.
"According to our client, after a recent...session, in which she entertained three police officers simultaneously before her husband, he called her a whore while fucking her in the ass," Grant replied. "She felt insulted because, in her words, she was only doing it for her husband. So, she wants a divorce."
"Oh, my god!" Penny laughed. "How absurd. Can her husband prevent her from divorcing him?" she asked.
"Pennsylvania has some very interesting divorce laws," Grant replied. "The legal grounds for a fault-based divorce are desertion for a year or more, bigamy, adultery, a jail sentence of two years or more for the conviction of any crime, indignities, which would be any continuing conduct which makes the plaintiff 's life unbearable, and cruel treatment which is a danger to the plaintiff's life or health. The only part of that that our client could possibly claim would be the continuing conduct which makes the plaintiff 's life unbearable."
"She's been going along with it for over 20 years and suddenly it's making her life unbearable?" Penny asked. "Surely that won't work."
"Hence her threats to expose everyone," Grant said. "She's got the weaker legal case, but the better power case. Her husband definitely has the stronger legal case. If a plaintiff seeks a divorce by consent, or without consent, the defendant may prevent the divorce from being granted by proving that the parties have not lived separate and apart for at least one year or that the marriage is not irretrievably broken. His contention will most likely be that he's perfectly happy in his marriage and that he's happy to have it continue in its present form. If a divorce is sought on fault grounds, and the defendant proves that the plaintiff is not innocent or injured, or that the facts claimed by the plaintiff are not true, a divorce may not be granted."
"Well, clearly our client isn't innocent or injured," Penny said. "How can we possibly win?"
"By making the powers that be lean on him, if only to protect themselves," Grant replied. "Since it's most likely an open secret what's going on, our client's husband has no fear of embarrassment if things get exposed, and our client is angry enough that she's willing to suffer the embarrassment. She is insulated and protected by her family's money."
"Wow!" Penny said, shaking her head.
"Just something to look forward to," Grant said, sitting back and closing his eyes, not opening them again until the announcement came that they were descending to land at the Phoenix airport.
Don was there to greet them himself when they exited the arrivals hall, leading them to his white Rolls Royce Phantom limousine.
"I was going to invite you to stay at my home, but Betsy has been on the warpath ever since she got served the papers," Don explained, "though she's been quiet the past couple of days, which is never a good sign. I'm sure that she's got something planned."
"Don't worry about it," Grant assured him. "But let me ask you once again, are you willing to threaten her with criminal charges that could land her in jail? You can't make the threat unless you're willing to back it up and see it through."
"If I have to, yes," Don said with a big sigh. "But she'll never let that happen. She'll take the crumbs that I'm willing to throw her rather than go to jail. Would she go to jail?" he asked.
"I think that it would be highly likely," Grant replied.
"Well, you just do what you have to do," Don said. "I just want to keep my dealerships. I don't care about the rest."
The limousine pulled to a stop at The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician, where Don informed him that he had arranged for them to have the same suite. He promised to send the car for them in a couple of hours, enough time for them to have some lunch. The meeting was scheduled for 2pm.
"It will save time if we just order from the room service menu," Grant said when they were ensconced in their suite. "Just order for both of us."
Penny enjoyed the look on Grant's face when the lunch arrived in 20 minutes, Maine lobster quesadillas with Oaxaca and pepper jack cheese, poblano pepper, fresh corn pico de gallo, and cilantro lime crema, Sonoran chili hummus with charred citrus, seasonal crudité, and pita bread, Pacific prawn cocktail with red horseradish and a citrus and herb salad, and an avocado chicken Caesar salad with gem lettuce, brioche croutons, creamy garlic dressing, and parmesan cheese.
"I'm hungry," Penny explained, twisting the top off one of the bottles of San Pellegrino sparkling water that she had ordered.
They had just finished eating and were making sure that they had everything when the front desk called to tell them that their limousine had arrived. Don seemed nervous, and after a relatively short ride, they entered a glass office building and were escorted to the offices of Randy G Mills, Esq., where they got their first look at Mrs. Walker, a short woman, 5'2" tall, with short black hair and steely grey eyes. She was wearing a black skirt that came down to just above her knees and a tight black blouse that emphasized her smaller breasts. Everyone introduced, they were led to a room with a conference table where they sat, declining anything to drink when it was offered.
"My client is willing to consent to a no-contest divorce," Mr. Mills began. "Here is her settlement proffer, sharing the community property equally," he added, sliding a folder of papers across the table to Grant, who took his time looking through them.
"Other than the dealerships, my client will agree to the division of community assets," Grant said, smiling.
"But 30 of those dealerships were established after the marriage," Mr. Mills pointed out. "The pre-nuptial agreement clearly states that any assets accumulated after the commencement of the marriage will be treated as community property."
"Those dealerships were merely extensions of existing dealerships which were owned by Mr. Walker before the marriage took place," Grant said, still smiling. "They are not community property."
"I don't think that the Court will see things in that light," Mr. Mills said.
"I disagree," Grant replied. "The incorporation papers for each of the 30 dealerships established after the marriage specifically state that they are extensions of one of the 20 original dealerships."
"That will never stand up in court," Mr. Mills said.
"I disagree," Grant said, still smiling. "In fact, if this does go to court, I think that the Court will find that Mrs. Walker has attempted to engage in perpetrating a fraud, which is a class 2 felony, punishable by anywhere from 3 to 121/2 years in prison."
"What fraud?" Mr. Mills asked, Betsy Walker sitting stone-faced.
"We will contend that your client has engaged in a conspiracy to acquire my clients' businesses," Grant replied. "Since attempting to gain illegal control of an enterprise falls under the RICO act, which is a class 3 felony, that could result in an additional 2 to 83/4 years imprisonment."
