“We need to prove that the money she paid to Dr. Sterling came from these accounts.”

“If we can link the withdrawals to Sterling’s private accounts, we have them.”

The hours dragged on, the rain continuing to pour outside.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly, a constant reminder of the fast-approaching deadline.

Every tick felt like a step closer to losing my children.

Nora’s phone buzzed on the table.

She grabbed it quickly and swiped the screen.

“It’s Marcus,” she said, putting the phone on speaker.

“Marcus, what do you have?” Richard asked.

“We’ve bypassed Vale’s firm’s outer firewall,” Marcus’s voice came through the speaker.

He sounded tired but focused.

“He has a secure partition on his home server.”

“It’s heavily encrypted, but it’s active.”

“He’s been transferring files to it late at night.”

“Can you get in?” Richard asked.

“It will take time,” Marcus said. “A few hours, at least.”

“You have until six a.m.,” Richard said.

“Understood,” Marcus replied, and the line went dead.

I looked at the window.

The sky was still pitch black, but the clock now read three in the morning.