And then she played the recording.

Brandon’s own voice filled that quiet courtroom. Every credit card you use can be canceled in minutes. A pause, and then: The SUV belongs to my company. And then: Your health insurance comes directly through my business. And finally, ringing off the wood paneling: Where do you think you can possibly go without my money? I watched the judge’s face while it played.

I watched her look, once, at the composed and devoted father in his navy suit, and then back down at the transcript in front of her, and I understood that a recording cannot be talked out of what it heard, and neither, now, could she.

Chapter 16 — Access Is Not Control

When I took the stand, Victoria asked me why my suitcases had been packed three weeks before that evening.

“Because I knew I might one day need to leave safely,” I said, “even though I did not know what my husband was planning for that particular night.