I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.

“They are framing him to destroy his credibility before we can get him on the stand,” I said.

“Cassandra is hysterical, Grace. She says this proves her father was the victim of a blackmail scheme by Aaron.”

“And your mother?” I asked, looking out at the dark, rain-swept road.

“She’s already calling the family attorneys,” Ethan said. “She wants us to put out a joint statement distancing ourselves from you and Aaron.”

“Don’t do it, Ethan. It’s a setup.”

“She’s my fiancée, Grace. Her father is in an ICU bed, and now her uncle is being branded a traitor on national television.”

“It’s a cover-up,” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. “The Colonel didn’t have a stroke because of stress. He had a stroke because the guilt was killing him, and Vance knew he was going to break.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

“I have to go,” Ethan said quietly. “Cassandra needs me.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the dashboard, my mind racing through the legal chessboard.