“We have the certified off-site backups from the state forensic division,” the officer said.

He turned toward Samuel, who stepped forward to receive the envelope.

“They were retrieved from the secure digital vault an hour before the physical servers at Westbridge were destroyed,” the officer added.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

Across the aisle, Margaret’s face turned a pale, sickly shade of gray.

Her fingers clutched her pearl necklace so tightly the string looked ready to snap.

“Thank you, officer,” Judge Myers said, her eyes locked on the sealed envelope.

Samuel took the envelope, slicing the red tape with a small silver letter opener.

He pulled out a heavy document with a silver state seal and a black flash drive.

“Your Honor, these are the uncorrupted genetic files of the embryo transfer,” Samuel said.

He walked over to the court clerk and handed her the paper documents.

“These files contain the digital signatures of both Dr. Morrison and the lab technicians,” Samuel explained.

He walked back to the podium and inserted the new flash drive into the media player.