The projector screen flickered to life, displaying the original transfers — the four-million-dollar bribe routed from Jared’s company straight to Judge Douglas’s private offshore account.

Then the audio filled the room with Jared’s own voice, recorded five years earlier: “It’s done, Preston. Nora’s out of the picture. Just make sure the forensic team matches the dental records to the body we acquired.

Gavin takes the fall, and we’ll have full control of the shipping lanes by the end of the fiscal year.”

Jared looked frantically toward the exit, but the doors were already blocked by four federal marshals.

Within minutes, the handcuffs closed around his wrists. Judge Douglas was stripped of his judicial credentials on the spot and arrested for conspiracy, bribery, and forensic tampering.

The five-year web of corruption that had strangled Gavin’s life collapsed in under fifteen minutes.