That Makes Two of Us novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: The Signing

On Friday I told Colton I had found her.

It was nine in the morning in his office, and I said it standing up.

"Her name is Lenore Finlay," I said. "She lives in a rented room in Dundalk. She'll meet you at two."

He stared at me for a very long time.

"You found her in four days."

"I told you I was good."

"Where?"

"A tax record. A bad address. Luck."

He came around the desk.

"Is she angry?"

"She's practical," I said, and hated myself.

He nodded slowly. "Where?"

"Dennis Cobb's office. He volunteered a notary."

"Dennis volunteered."

"Yes."

Something crossed his face and was gone.

"Then I'll be there," he said.

The conference room at Cobb and Associates had a table long enough to land a plane on.

Dennis sat at one end with a folder and his gold watch.

Valerie sat to his left, hands folded, in a pale blue suit.

A notary in a navy dress waited in the corner with her stamp and her ink pad.

And at the middle of the table, with her hands in her lap, sat the actress in a grey cardigan.

She looked exactly like a woman you could pay to hate someone.

I took the chair at the foot of the table, next to Colton.

"Ms. Finlay," Dennis said smoothly. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course," the actress said, in a thin, wounded voice.

"You understand the purpose."

"I'm here to end it."

"Do you have counsel?"

"I don't need counsel," she said bitterly. "I need it over."

Valerie lowered her eyes.

It was a good performance.

I would have believed it, if I hadn't been the one it was about.

Dennis slid the divorce papers across the table.

"Mr. Thayne, you sign first. Then Ms. Finlay. The notary will witness."

The pen lay in front of Colton, a heavy black one.

He picked it up and turned it between his fingers.

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