“Which is why we brought a great deal more.” And Dan came in with a thick binder and set it in front of Derek — the wire transfers into Brenda’s shell company, the transfers into Derek’s personal account, the fraudulent loan using the forged deed as collateral, every date matched precisely against the period when Gaby had been stripped of her phone and locked out of her own accounts.

Then Sam laid out the threatening text messages.

And then he played Martha’s fifty-two seconds.

Derek watched himself on that screen, and for fifty-two long seconds, no one in the room breathed.

Chapter 13 — When She Was Begging

“That video was recorded illegally,” Derek stammered.

“A judge will decide what’s admissible,” Sam said, unbothered.

Derek stood, demanding his lawyer, and Sam agreed that this was an excellent idea.