Brandon’s voice, detailing his mother’s money laundering and his brother’s covered-up murder, would be exactly what they needed to bypass local authorities.

But I couldn’t press the button yet.

I needed him to be more specific.

I needed him to say the names, the accounts, and the details of the cover-up on the record.

I closed the folder slowly.

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” I asked, stepping back slightly to create distance.

“Because I have nothing to gain by lying to you, Colonel,” Brandon said.

“You have everything to gain,” I said. “You get the money, the company, and the power.”

“And you get justice for your daughter,” Brandon said.

“That’s not justice,” I said. “That’s a transaction.”

“In our world, they are the same thing,” Brandon said.

He stood up from the desk and walked over to the wide window.

The rain was still pelting the glass, casting watery, distorted shadows across his face.

“My mother thinks she can control everything,” he said, looking down at the dark parking lot.

“She has the local police chief in her pocket,” I said.