Page 23 of The Suit

My father did not rule in my favor, which Murray and Penn found hilarious, and never let me forget.

“Feather Smythe Jones? Maynard still with them?”

I nodded, just as Mary returned with a juice, plus a steaming pot of coffee which she poured into two mugs. “Yeah.”

My father scratched along his cheek as he thought, the cogs in his brain already whirring.

“It’s a questionable practice. Check with your sisters, but from what I recall, FSJ would always take on the clients and cases we refused because they were too close to the line for the firm we wanted to run. If you can’t find any evidence, you need to look harder. Johnson Maynard is a crook.”

“Right, but how are they hiding it? We’re looking for shell companies but that’s a needle in a haystack. We haven’t even found a trail yet.”

“I’ve heard rumors of a division they have which operates off the grid, so it’s completely untraceable to the firm and authorities. They’ll be hiding companies within companies.” He sat back, his eyes lighting up with the level of excitement he’d only ever got with new cases, “It’s quite simple really; same as setting up anything above board, except leaving out a few of the salient details. All you need to do is create a shell company with a fake name and then have another fake company own it. Throw them around the sunnier islands in the Caribbean, maybe a bit of Europe, Switzerland is always a good bet and it makes them next to impossible to find. Plus, if they’ve been really clever, they’ll have bought assets for cash, and have them owned by different companies too. You can create as many as you want.”

I groaned. How the fuck was I going to find this? Even with Cody’s genius level smarts he still needed a starting point, because Johnson Maynard was most certainly not the only person who had a shell company. We wouldn’t even know if we’d found the right ones.

“He’s really doing this to get out of a divorce settlement?” he asked with a level of disdain only a man who’d paid out for several divorces could deliver.

I nodded as I drank my juice.

“Cowardice and greed. Never had a need for it myself, I was always happy to pay your mother what she deserved. Plus, it gets you into a whole heap of trouble with the IRS, DoJ, SEC… you name it, and I don’t need that kind of hassle. We built our firm on honest business, might be a thin line crossed here and there, but we don’t manage anything outright illegal.”

I nodded solemnly. “Thanks, Pa.”

“You’re welcome, my boy.” He leaned over and patted my knee. “You should apply for a temporary restraining order on all the accounts immediately, that’ll buy you some time and also alert the courts to what you’re suspecting.”

“Good idea, I’ll get that done today.” I finished my juice then took a giant slurp of coffee before standing up. “I should go.”

He stood up and hugged me once more. “Okay, make sure you keep me updated on how you’re doing. Let me know if you need me to call in any favors.”

“I will. Thanks, Pa.”

“And give my love to your mother.”

I rolled my eyes. “You could tell her yourself you know.”

“No, she’s happy with Chip. Don’t want to upset the balance there.”

My dad, the secret romantic. For as much as he loved my mother, he loved her happiness more.

“Okay, I love you, Dad. I’ll talk to you later. You want to come and see Rory with me tomorrow afternoon? He’s got a game.”

“Yes, good idea.”

“Okay, see ya.”

I took off and ran through the house to the front where I’d parked, reaching into my pocket to call Diego and update him, when it rang with the Big Guy himself.

“Hey man, I’m just leaving my dad’s place. He said he’s heard rumors FSJ has a team dedicated to siphoning off money for high-net-worth clients, then splitting it across several shell companies. But we need names, which could be fucking anything. I didn’t get to see the sons the other day, but I think we should pay a visit now. You in? I’ll call ahead.”

“Yeah, let me update the Boy Wonder and then I’ll meet you. Text me the address.”

I shot off a text with the details, while he was still on the other end of the line and I could hear him talking to Cody. “Done.”

“Cool, see you in there in an hour.”

I shifted the gears on my McLaren and managed to get from my dad’s place in Greenwich and back into the city to where Mrs. Maynard lived with her sons, before Diego did.

Mrs. Maynard had wanted to keep her kids out of the divorce as much as possible, which I applauded. But after Diego had raised the very valid point they might know something, I petitioned her to let us speak to them, and she’d agreed. Luckily the eldest was home from college.

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