He turned toward her.
“Who lives there?”
No one answered until my father whispered, “Nathan Cole.”
Amanda spun toward him.
“Dad.”
The name meant nothing to me, but it clearly meant something to Brian.
His mouth tightened.
“Your business partner?” he asked.
Amanda shook her head too quickly.
“Former business partner.”
Brian laughed once, without humor.
“You said you stopped seeing him three years ago.”
Detective Ortiz lifted one hand.
“We are not investigating anyone’s marriage tonight.
We are investigating financial fraud.
Mr.
Wilson, how do you know who occupies the condominium?”
Dad sat down again.
My mother touched his sleeve.
“Frank?”
He looked at her, and something inside him finally collapsed.
“Amanda asked me to deliver documents there,” he said.
“She told me Nathan was helping refinance Highland Drive.”
“How many times?” Ortiz asked.
“Three.
Maybe four.”
“Did you sign documents?”
Dad looked at Amanda before answering.
That glance was all the answer my mother needed.
She removed her hand from his sleeve.
“How many times, Frank?”
He stared at the table.
“I do not know.”
Detective Ortiz asked him to stand and speak with one of the officers in the living room.
Dad obeyed.
For the first time in my life, Amanda did not have him beside her to soften the truth.
Brian picked up the closing photograph.
His hand shook.
“Where did you get Heather’s badge?”
Amanda said nothing.
I knew.
Six months earlier, I had lost an old hospital badge after leaving my parents’ house.
I canceled it the next morning.
Amanda had helped me search the guest room and insisted I must have dropped it at work.
She had been holding it the entire time.
Ortiz asked Amanda to place her purse on the table.
Amanda refused.
The detective explained that the officers had probable cause to seize items connected to the reported identity theft and that a search warrant for her home and electronic devices was being prepared.
At the mention of her phone, Amanda’s composure cracked.
She grabbed the purse and moved toward the kitchen.
The nearest officer stepped into her path.
“Ma’am, put the bag down.”
“Get away from me.”
She tried to pull past him.
The second officer took her arm.
