Chapter 3 - THOMAS REEDJason refused to explain Thomas Reed.
So Amanda found him.
Public records.
Thomas Reed was a private investigator.
Former insurance fraud examiner.
Now working for a firm specializing in “domestic litigation support.”
Amanda showed me the website.
Surveillance.
Asset tracing.
Witness development.
Behavioral documentation.
My stomach twisted.
Jason had hired someone to build a case against me.
How long?
Invoices found later would answer:
Four months.
Thomas had photographed me leaving preschool.
Going to the grocery store.
Meeting Caroline.
Sitting alone in my car after one argument with Jason.
He had documented every time I drank wine at dinner.
Every late pickup.
Every frustrated expression.
Perfectly ordinary moments converted into exhibits.
One report read:
Subject appeared emotionally distressed in parking lot for approximately seventeen minutes.
I remembered the day.
My father had called to tell me his cancer might have returned.
I cried in the car so Owen wouldn't see.
Thomas didn't know.
Or didn't care.
Another:
Subject consumed alcoholic beverage at 7:43 p.m. while child was present in residence.
One glass of red wine with dinner.
Jason had poured it.
I stared at Amanda.
“How does anyone fight this?”
“Context.”
She said.
“Evidence.”
Then:
“Your own records.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I don't have a private investigator following Jason.”
“You don't need symmetry.”
That became a theme.
Jason wanted everything to look mutual.
Two unstable spouses.
Two sides.
But facts didn't require equal wrongdoing.
We started rebuilding my timeline.
School records.
Medical appointments.
Friends.
Texts.
Jason's own messages asking me to do most childcare because he worked late.
Financial statements showing I managed household bills.
Nothing glamorous.
Ordinary competence.
Meanwhile, Thomas Reed learned Jason's plan had exploded publicly.
He contacted his own lawyer.
Then he contacted Amanda.
“He wants to talk.”
“Why?”
“He says he was misled.”
Of course.
Still, we listened through attorneys.
Thomas claimed Jason told him:
“My wife is becoming dangerous and I need objective documentation.”
He believed he was observing possible domestic instability.
Then Jason requested hidden-camera setup inside the house.
Thomas refused.
He said residential recording laws and ethics made him uncomfortable.
Jason found someone else.
Thomas had only advised exterior surveillance.
But then he received a message Sunday morning:
Need footage after Linda triggers confrontation.
That alarmed him.
He replied:
What does triggers mean?
Jason:
Just family stuff.
Then after the towel incident:
Did she react? We need footage tonight.
Thomas said he had not known Jason planned provocation.
He preserved messages.
Useful.
Not heroic.
He had still surveilled me for months based entirely on Jason's story.
Amanda asked:
“Will you provide records?”
Through proper process.
Yes.
Why cooperate?
Jason owed him $18,000.
Sometimes truth emerges for unattractive reasons.
Still truth.
Thomas's files contained one enormous surprise.
Jason wasn't preparing only divorce.
He had asked Thomas to investigate my inheritance.
My father, William Hayes, had created a trust for me and Owen.
Jason knew generally.
He did not know details.
Thomas discovered the trust held about $3.8 million in investments.
Separate property.
Jason could not simply take it.
But if he became Owen's primary custodial parent after divorce, he might try to influence distributions intended for Owen's benefit.
Not automatically control them.
But leverage.
Then Thomas found something stranger.
Jason asked repeatedly whether my father could remove Jason as contingent guardian under the trust.
Thomas wrote:
This is legal question for attorney.
Which attorney?
Jason had one.
I didn't know.
Name:
GREGORY SLOAN
Atlanta family lawyer.
Amanda knew him.
Aggressive.
Experienced.
She called his office.
Sloan refused to discuss confidential representation.
Of course.
But divorce filing answered everything the next morning.
Jason filed first.
Petition alleged:
Marital breakdown.
My “increasing volatility.”
Physical confrontation with Linda.
Concern for Owen's safety.
And one sentence that made my hands shake:
Petitioner believes Respondent intends to abandon the marital residence following the incident.
Amanda smiled grimly.
“He filed before knowing you stayed.”
Timestamp:
11:48 a.m.
Before the towel ever hit my face.
The petition had been prepared in advance.
The “incident” section contained blanks filled later.
He planned the divorce before the provocation.
The filing itself became evidence of premeditation.
Jason had wanted to create the event described by a petition already waiting to be filed.
I looked at Amanda.
“What do we do?”
“We answer.”
No panic.
No revenge.
Answer.
Then she showed me another filing.
Jason requested temporary exclusive use of the house.
Based partly on the claim that I had “already expressed intention to leave.”
But I was still inside.
Sitting at the kitchen table.
When the process server arrived, Jason watched from upstairs.
I accepted the papers.
Signed receipt.
Then looked toward him.
He had wanted me gone after Sunday.
May you like
Instead, I was standing in the foyer being formally served inside the house he claimed I abandoned.
His timing had become his own witness against him.
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