Chapter 17 - The Beneficiary
The escrow company's ownership disclosures answered the question no one had thought to ask early enough.
Bellwether Strategic Investments was controlled by a holding company. Gertrude owned most of that company. Patrick held the remaining interest and managed its accounts. Brandon had signed consulting contracts that justified payments to a business his own mother stood to profit from.
"She wasn't rescuing him," I told Marisol. "She was helping him take it."
"Maybe both," Marisol said. "Neither makes it legal."
The auditors found invoices for advice nobody could document receiving. They also found a real investment property that Bellwether had attempted to purchase with the trust money. The deal would have delivered a substantial payment to Gertrude if it closed. Her plan had been to use my estate as capital, put the profits beyond my reach, and leave me with a story about my own instability.
Brandon called from an unfamiliar number that night. I answered only after starting a recording on my own device and telling him I was recording.
"I didn't know Mom owned that much," he said.
"Did you know the consent form was false?"
He breathed into the phone for a long time. "I knew you hadn't signed it. Patrick said we could get your approval later."
"And the kitchen?"
"Mom said you had to be stopped before the trustee meeting. I thought you would sign and we could explain."
"You saw the oil. You locked me in anyway."
"I was scared."
"So was I," I said. "The difference is I didn't make you pay for my fear."
He began to cry. I recognized the sound and felt nothing like the comfort I used to feel when he let himself be vulnerable.
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Before hanging up, Brandon said, "That third-camera clip? I sent it. I kept the original because I knew Patrick would erase everything."
Then he told me where he'd hidden the drive.
