“You forged her name on a loan application, Brent,” Molly’s voice replied, cool and steady. “You did this to yourself.”

“I did it for the family!” Brent shouted back. “I was protecting our future. Jennifer is going to take half of that money in legal fees, and Tessa won’t have anything left.”

In the recording, Brent took a deep, ragged breath.

“You need to call Tessa right now,” Brent pleaded. “Tell her to fire Jennifer. Tell her I have a private buyer who will handle this quietly. No courts. No police.”

“The police are already involved,” Molly said.

“They don’t have the paperwork yet,” Brent stammered. “If Tessa drops the complaint, the bank will drop the investigation. But she has to do it today.”

“Why today, Brent?” Molly asked.

There was a long silence on the tape, broken only by the sound of a distant car horn.

“Because the guarantees are already active,” Brent said, his voice dropping to a desperate whisper. “I had to use the mansion’s equity pre-approval to secure the leases.”

I looked up at Jennifer.

Jennifer’s face was perfectly still, her eyes locked on my phone.