Chapter 5
The investigation began quietly.
That was not what I wanted.
I wanted uniforms at Patricia’s door.
I wanted Colin arrested in the hotel lobby.
I wanted Holly walked out of the plant in front of every employee who had sent us sympathy cards.
Instead, investigators preserved accounts, requested records, reviewed medical files, and coordinated between jurisdictions.
Truth required patience after deception had already consumed months.
The plant’s insurer assigned a special-investigations unit.
The state workers’ compensation fraud division opened a case.
Local police reviewed the theft from our joint accounts.
Federal investigators became involved after bank transfers crossed state lines and false invoices traveled electronically.
Colin’s original injury was genuine.
Medical records showed severe swelling and substantial temporary impairment.
During the first ten weeks, he could not walk.
His early claim had not been fraudulent.
The fraud began with recovery.
Physical therapy notes from the rehabilitation center documented voluntary movement returning in both legs.
At week eleven, Colin stood for twenty-two seconds with assistance.
At week thirteen, he took six steps inside parallel bars.
At week sixteen, he walked thirty feet using a walker.
Those records never reached the insurer.
A release form sent to the rehabilitation center contained my electronic signature limiting disclosure to earlier treatment dates.
I had not signed it.
Colin transferred to a private home-therapy provider called Tidewater Neuro Mobility.
The company submitted records stating he remained nonambulatory.
Tidewater existed only on paper.
Its registered manager was Patricia.
Its clinical director was a physical therapist named Aaron Vale, who had lost a hospital position for falsifying treatment hours.
Aaron visited Patricia’s house twice.
He billed forty-eight sessions.
Colin strengthened himself using equipment in Patricia’s basement while Aaron created notes describing “passive range of motion” and “continued inability to bear weight.”
A hidden camera in the basement recorded Colin walking on a treadmill.
Patricia installed the camera for security and forgot the footage uploaded to a storage account subpoenaed during the investigation.
Her own system showed my husband relearning to run.
By the time Lily saw him, Colin could walk several miles and lift moderate weight.
He still had pain.
Numbness in one foot.
Occasional weakness after exertion.
Those symptoms were real.
They did not make him paralyzed.
The specialized wheelchair had been rented.
The custom van never existed.
The “home-health aides” were Patricia’s housekeeper and a neighbor who received small payments to sign forms.
The nutritional products were ordinary protein powder marked up by four hundred percent.
Catheter supplies were purchased once, then billed monthly.
Patricia’s home-modification invoices included a ramp and bathroom renovation completed years before Colin’s accident.
Harbor Mobility Care received $92,000 from our family accounts.
Another $67,000 came from temporary disability benefits and reimbursement claims.
From there, money moved to a North Carolina account controlled by Holly.
The account name:
Harbor Renewal Holdings.
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The phrase sounded almost spiritual.
In reality, it held funds intended for a house where my husband planned to begin another life.
