Chapter 11: Legal Recourse

Not surprisingly, Peter did not sleep well that night. At 5:30 the next morning he got out of bed and went to the spare bedroom to pound out his frustrations on the stationary bike. He rode for forty minutes then trudged back to the bathroom to take a shower. He was dressed and ready well before seven.

It was too early to leave so he pulled out his wallet and called each credit card company. He canceled each card and requested new ones be sent in his name only. He left open the one card Brandi was most likely to use for her supposed return trip from Clarkson. A thought occurred to him and he called the support number of the last credit card. He selected the option to review recent charges. There were no charges listed on Brandi’s card in the last two days. She did not have a corporate card so she had to use this one for all expenses and then get reimbursed. At a minimum there should have been a gas fill-up somewhere en route to Clarkson, then a hotel, and a few meals. Nothing.

His resolve strengthened as he checked his watch. It was almost 7:30. Too early to go to the bank, but he could not stay inside any longer. He went to a nearby diner for breakfast. He did not feel like eating a full breakfast so he ordered a muffin and a coffee. He tried to take his time by also reading the news on his phone. It was more of the same depressing stories, and this morning, he did not care about any of it.

He paid his bill and arrived at The People’s Bank at precisely 8:00. Before he entered he called his lawyer and said he was coming to his office at 9:00 to start divorce papers. He was then the first one in the bank and had new accounts opened in less than thirty minutes. He transferred all but $100 dollars from his existing savings and checking accounts into the new accounts.

At the lawyer’s office, the receptionist recognized him and told him to enter, he was expected.

“Peter,” said Don Organ, LLC. “I got your message. What happened?”

Peter shook his lawyer’s hand then sat in the offered chair.

“She’s sleeping with someone,” Peter said simply.

“Who? How do you know?”

“His name is Eddie. A friend recognized Brandi with a stranger and followed them to the Baymore hotel. I have video.”

Peter pulled out his phone and played the video he transferred from the thumb drive.

Like Agatha, he only played a minute or two. “There’s over twenty minutes.”

Don rose and went to a file cabinet. He took out a folder and said, “I’ll start right now. Papers should be ready by this afternoon.”

Peter passed Don the thumb drive.

“Here is a copy of the video of her with the guy at the hotel, plus a few still photos.”

Peter then recapped what he had done already this morning. Don warned that taking all the money could be in violation of their previous agreement.

“I know, but that brings me to the last point. Eddie, the guy Brandi is sleeping with, and Brandi herself, are running some kind of scam. They are claiming to be the owners of an out-of-state restaurant chain looking to expand. They claim to need local investors to get everything settled, primarily with the state and local inspectors.”

Peter pulled a final sheet of paper out of jacket pocket and passed it to Don. He had debated about explicitly naming Agatha’s parents, and including the video of Brandi and Don at Agatha’s house, but decided to leave them out. He did not want to complicate his story after the lengths Agatha went to in order to keep their meeting secret.

“Here is all I know. If you can get your investigator on this first thing it may be enough time to get these two before the divorce papers hit the court. Once Brandi knows I know she has been sleeping around, he may spook and disappear.”

“On it,” Don said with a scowl. His parents had lost over twenty thousand dollars to a scammer a few years before and he took it as his mission to destroy any similar souls that he came across.

“Anything else?” Don asked.

“Not for you. I am going to get new locks on the way home and get them installed. I should be ready to serve Brandi papers when she gets home later this afternoon.”

“You sure you want to confront her? I can have Tank there and let him do the dirty work.”

“Thanks, but I feel like I need to do it. Plus, I don’t expect it to be a long conversation.”

“I’ll have Tank on standby. He’ll be nearby. Call if you need him.”

“OK. Call once you have papers ready. She’s due home by mid-afternoon.”

Peter went to a hardware store and bought new locks for the front, back, and garage doors. They were simple to install and he had the job done in the less than an hour. He was surprised to find that they had an easy mechanism to set the locks to use the same key. He also flipped the switch on the garage door panel to disable the garage door from opening with the remote control.

Peter was both running high on adrenaline and exhausted. He sat in the living room and set his phone’s alarm for one hour. He closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes. When his phone’s alarm chimed he was slow to wake and sore from sleeping on his recliner.

He made a pot of coffee and checked his phone. Brandi had texted.

“Home by 3:00.”

The clock on the microwave said 2:33. Peter fidgeted while the coffee finished. His phone rang while he poured a cup.

“Peter? Don. Your papers are ready. I can have Tank drop them off.”

“Perfect. Brandi is due home in about twenty minutes.”

Peter drank his coffee and paced in the living room while watching for Tank. At ten to three a Humvee pulled into the driveway. A man well over six feet tall got out. His shoulders and chest looked like he may have played professional football. There was no mistaking why he got the nickname Tank. Peter left the house and met Tank in the driveway.

“Here are you papers, sir,” said the burly man. “Don said I was to stay nearby.”

“Yeah, I don’t expect trouble, but you never know.”

Tank said, “Get your phone.” He recited his number. “Call or text if I’m needed. When it’s over text and I’ll be on my way.”