Dominic turned back to the table, his gaze landing on the black burner phone.

“Judge Whitmore is the key to her protection,” he said.

“He blocks every investigation, dismisses every complaint.”

“If I try to use the local courts, my mother will know before the paperwork is even filed.”

“Then what is the alternative?” I asked.

Dominic looked at Marco.

“Do we still have the ledger from the offshore accounts?”

“Yes,” Marco said, finally looking up from his laptop.

“The digital copies are encrypted on the server, and I have the physical drive in my coat.”

“And Hale’s medical records?” Dominic asked.

“She mailed a duplicate set of the original birth and custody coercion documents to a private P.O. box last week,” Marco said.

“I picked them up this afternoon.”

Dominic turned to me, his expression hardening.

“I am not going to Whitmore,” he said.

“And I am not going to the state police.”

“I am going to deliver the financial records of my mother’s bribes directly to the federal prosecutors.”

“The Southern District handles corruption cases that even Whitmore cannot touch.”