9. Murray
The office was empty, the last of my staff having left around half an hour ago.
I stood looking out at the water through the large window in my office.
The sea was calm today, though as soon as London and I had left the guest house, I received a call from Andy who coordinated with the crews.
The Ghillie Du, the boat Laird captained, had abruptly lost engine power on its way back from the Outer Hebrides.
Despite the fact he and his sister Taran had come into a lot of money after discovering a valuable antique in their mother’s belongings, Laird hadn’t given up the day job.
Laird used to work one of my salmon fishing crews but now he captained a crew that brought back creels of nephrops, langoustines, crab, and lobster.
Sometimes they were out there for days, hauling in our less commercial but lucrative shellfish catch.
The Leth Sholas Lifeboat Service had gone out to rescue them and tow the boat back.
Everyone was okay, but I’d left London at her bungalow to pack while I went into the office.
The Ghillie Du was now anchored in the harbor, and Laird’s haul was unloaded and put onto another boat to be taken to my refrigeration and freezer storage facility on the east coast of the island.
There it would be shipped off in quantities to our multiple buyers.
And we’d booked a mechanic to look at the boat first thing tomorrow.
As soon as that problem was dealt with, I’d attached a photo of my marriage certificate in an email to my solicitor, Andrea.
I’d been texting Kelly back and forth and I didn’t know if she was pretending to be excited about the prospect of having London come live with us or if she truly was happy about it.
They barely knew each other. If it wasn’t for Kelly, I’d probably have no reservations about this deal I’d made with London.
I could live with wanting a woman I couldn’t have. With lying to the authorities.
But having Kelly be part of this ever-growing complication that was my failed marriage to her mother left my stomach in constant knots.
London had told me she’d be at my place at seven.
I was delaying going home, but I knew I needed to make a move.
My phone rang, vibrating on my desk, and I turned to answer it. It was Andrea.
“So … your new wife. That been going on long?” Andrea asked without preamble, her suspicion obvious.
“We’ve been seeing each other in secret. Small-town life, you know. Didn’t want anyone to be in our business.” The lie fell surprisingly easily from my tongue. “But with everything going on, we didn’t see any point in delaying the inevitable.”
“How romantic,” Andrea mocked. “Fine, fine. As long as you understand the severity of what you’ve done.
Anyway … you are officially out from under Jill.
Her solicitor has been notified, and you can cancel her so-called salary effective immediately.
Of course, you still need to pay child support, but once we get sole custody, we can cancel those payments too. ”
“She’ll hold tight to Kelly just for that alone.”
“Then you better hurry up with that evidence. Anything from your PI?”
I’d texted Rick, the private investigator I’d hired, that morning, but he said Jill hadn’t left the house since he’d shown up. He had snapped photos of a couple of shifty-looking guys coming to and from the house. That had made my gut clench with impotent anger.
“Nothing significant yet.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll have something soon. But the fact that you’re now married could help our case. As long as your new bride doesn’t have any skeletons in the closet.”
“Her parents work at a prestigious New York hospital as a top neurosurgeon and cardiothoracic surgeon. She grew up on the West Side and went to an elite private school. She graduated from a top culinary school, worked as a sous chef in a starred restaurant in Manhattan, and now works as the chef at a B and B here on the island. She bakes pastries and cakes and sells them in an honesty box, donating half of the proceeds to our local charity.”
“Perfect.” I heard Andrea’s smile. “That’s perfect, Murray. She looks very good on paper.”
And even better in real life.
Fuck, marrying London might have been the most masochistic thing I’d done since I’d married Jill. Just for entirely different reasons.
“Anyway, thanks for sorting that all out, Andrea. I’ll let you know as soon as I have any news from the PI so you can apply for that emergency order.”
We hung up and I left the office, locking it behind me even though it was very unlikely there would be a break-in, and headed for home. It was the first time since Jill had left that I went home with a feeling of trepidation hanging over me.