Chapter 6 - The Marriage Brandon Erased
During ordinary background review, Nina found a historical address associated with Brandon.
Another woman appeared beside it.
Erin Wallace.
“Roommate?” I asked.
“That’s Brandon’s explanation.”
Then Nina found a marriage record.
BRANDON MICHAEL COLE
ERIN JOY WALLACE
I stared.
“He told me he’d never been married.”
“Apparently that was false.”
Marriage length:
Eighteen months.
Divorce settlement:
Confidential.
I searched every Cole family photograph I had.
Not one Erin.
No stories.
No jokes.
No old wedding album.
The family had removed a human being.
Then came the property connection.
Erin inherited a lake house from her grandfather.
During her marriage to Brandon, refinancing occurred.
A Cole-controlled company became involved.
Then litigation.
Then divorce.
Pattern.
Property.
Marriage.
Family company.
Brenda.
Brandon.
Nina contacted Erin.
Nothing.
Second letter.
Nothing.
Then a handwritten note arrived.
DO NOT CONTACT ME THROUGH BRANDON’S FAMILY.
IF BRENDA KNOWS YOU FOUND MY NAME, KEEP EVERY ORIGINAL DOCUMENT SOMEWHERE ELSE.
—Erin.
I read it twice.
“She’s scared of Brenda?”
“Or careful.”
Either answer mattered.
Around the same time, Howard finally entered the investigation as more than the quiet man who had watched television while his son humiliated me.
Howard Cole had been a CPA.
Former bank executive.
Manager of Cole Family Holdings.
Signatory on the bridge loan.
Organizer of BCR financing.
The morning after my wedding, he had known the $612,000 wire was scheduled.
He had known the apartment deal depended on my account.
He had known my financial profile was being used.
And while Brandon threw the dishcloth, Howard kept watching television.
Maybe that wasn’t indifference.
Maybe it was confidence.
Everyone in that house assumed I would stay.
That became the first time I realized Brenda was not necessarily the entire machine.
She handled pressure.
Howard handled paper.
Brandon enforced the new domestic role.
May you like
Paige got paid.
Each person had a function.
