It was enough to pay for a small, quiet one-bedroom apartment near the county line, and not one dollar more.

On the line labeled Criminal Investigation Testimony, I checked the box for Unconditional Submission of Audit Evidence.

The three-hundred-eighty-thousand-dollar fraud case against Julian would go forward with every receipt, deposit slip and ledger page intact.

I signed my full military name and rank at the bottom of the page, pressing down so hard that the black ink bled through onto the duplicate copy beneath.

I folded the county property release notice into a square and laid it next to my car keys.