Chapter 8 - The Settlement
The insurer sued.
Not me personally at first.
They filed to reopen aspects of the settlement based on alleged fraud in factual representations.
My attorney fought.
I had not knowingly lied.
I had memory impairment.
I relied on Brent.
Engineering defect still existed.
The litigation frightened me.
Could I lose the money I needed for lifetime care?
Maya brought in insurance counsel, Samuel Price.
He explained:
“Do not panic. The carrier may seek allocation or recovery from wrongdoers if fraud affected settlement. You are not automatically stripped of legitimate compensation.”
Brent had listed himself as spouse representative in communications.
He repeatedly told investigators:
No argument.
Not present in loft.
Called 911 immediately.
All false.
The insurer’s focus shifted toward him.
Good.
The settlement account audit found more.
$287,400 to B.C. Development.
$63,000 for a boat titled solely to Brent.
I had never seen the boat.
It was stored at a marina two counties away.
$24,000 transferred to Allison? No. Better not implicate unnecessarily. Let's say to construction vendors.
$39,000 toward Brent’s tax debt.
No permission.
He had authority to pay household expenses, not self loan hundreds of thousands.
A forensic accountant classified approximately $356,000 in disputed personal/business transfers.
Some might be marital expenses.
Most looked improper.
The civil divorce case froze remaining assets.
Yes.
Divorce.
I filed one week after the yard.
Brent’s lawyer sent message:
He is devastated.
I did not care.
He wants reconciliation.
No.
He says the party was a prank taken too far.
I sent no response beyond legal.
Then his lawyer argued my live stream showed I was calculating.
That line almost amused me.
Yes.
I was calculating enough to document danger.
Not enough to make him tie me to a car.
The criminal prosecutor, Dana Mercer, charged Brent with:
Felony assault causing injury to a vulnerable adult? Need state-specific maybe Iowa dependent adult? Let's avoid exact statutory labels. Use aggravated assault, unlawful restraint/false imprisonment, domestic abuse assault, financial exploitation counts later.
Prosecutor did not charge attempted murder.
Despite my angry line in the yard:
“You wanted an audience for my murder.”
Evidence did not prove intent to kill.
The car moved slowly.
Distance limited.
Still dangerous.
Still criminal.
But accurate charges mattered.
Brent posted bond under strict conditions:
No contact with me.
Stay away from Cedar Hollow.
No witness contact.
GPS monitoring.
Surrender firearms.
He moved to his brother’s apartment.
Three days later, Allison received a text from an unknown number:
You ruined everything.
She gave it to police.
The number traced to a prepaid phone purchased by Kevin.
Kevin claimed Brent asked him to buy it weeks earlier for job sites.
Could not prove Brent sent message.
Yet.
Then Allison remembered something else.
Brent used a cloud messaging app on office computer.
Digital forensic review later found the outgoing draft:
A: You ruined everything. Keep your mouth shut about the fall.
Not sent from work account? He likely typed and copied. Enough.
Bond violation investigation.
Brent was remanded temporarily pending hearing.
He was losing access to the people he relied on.
I should have felt safer.
Instead, nightmares got worse.
In dreams, I could move my legs.
That was the cruel part.
I would stand.
Run.
Then wake and remember.
Dr. Erin Walsh referred me to trauma therapist Dr. Naomi Greene.
I told her:
“I want to know if he pushed me.”
She said:
“What changes if you know?”
“Everything.”
“What changes if you never know?”
I hated that.
Because she was right.
I might never get certainty.
Then Detective Hall called.
“Rachel, we found something on Brent’s phone backup.”
“What?”
“A photo.”
Taken forty minutes before my fall.
The loft railing.
One section visibly bent outward.
And in the corner of the photo, my hand was holding a wrench.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t know.”
May you like
Brent’s lawyer claimed I had been working on the railing myself.
For the first time, evidence seemed capable of helping him.
