“Maren, please,” she begged. “Don’t let them arrest me. Speak to your lawyer. Speak to Voss. There has to be another way.”

Before I could answer, the door to the interrogation room opened with a sharp click.

The duty deputy stepped inside, holding a freshly printed sheet of paper from the station’s fax machine.

“Sheriff,” the deputy said, handing the paper to Miller. “We just got an alert from the state land registry portal.”

Miller took the paper, his eyes scanning the printout.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Dorian Pike,” Miller said, his face hardening. “He just initiated an emergency electronic transfer of the north pasture deed to a shell company registered in Delaware.”

“He’s trying to close the sale tonight,” Voss said, standing up. “He knows Vance was caught.”

On my phone screen, my mother’s head snapped around toward the hallway.

The heavy sound of boot steps echoed through the speaker of my phone as Dorian walked toward her.

“Elena!” Dorian’s voice boomed from the hallway, loud and furious. “Where is the security key for the bank login? Elena!”