Chapter 110
Which certainly explained why Océane had abandoned Esmerée in New York.
Why she still held such animosity towards her daughter.
She had found a way out. Maybe it was a loophole, maybe it was something else.
Then Esmerée had ballsed it up by sticking a knife in her benefactor’s neck.
That was the way Océane explained it anyway.
Poe suspected there was more to it, but he didn’t force the issue. They still needed her help.
Towler pulled into a service station and they took turns to use the facilities.
They bought coffee and doughnuts, fuelled the car, and were back on the road in fifteen minutes.
Towler finished his coffee and threw the empty cup out of the window.
He burped, then said, ‘So, Mrs Porn-McPorny, who put the Wednesday Addams bun in your oven?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You heard. Which sad sack knocked you up?’
Poe hid a smile. Towler wasn’t bothered who he upset or when he upset them. He was very much like Bradshaw in that regard; although for him, upsetting people was half the fun. Bradshaw rarely noticed.
Océane leaned forward and glared at him.
She may as well have glared at one of the Easter Island heads.
Towler didn’t care. He really didn’t like her.
Poe knew why. Towler’s daughter was around the same age as Esmerée.
He couldn’t get his head around the idea of abandoning your own child. It didn’t matter what they had done.
‘I assume it was Vincent du Fuck who forgot to put his rubber on,’ he said. ‘Otherwise he was paying a million quid a year just to stir another man’s porridge.’
Océane sank back in her seat. ‘You’re disgusting,’ she said.
‘And you’ve been rattled more times than a beggar’s tin.’
She scowled.