The caller ID showed a Richmond area code, but no name.

She swiped the screen and tapped the speaker icon.

The sound of heavy breathing filled the quiet kitchen, accompanied by the steady slap of windshield wipers in the background.

“I saw you,” Thomas’s voice said, sharp and trembling with anger.

“I saw you holding that phone up through the window when I walked to my truck.”

Caroline did not flinch; she kept her eyes on the spinning digital timer of the call.

“It doesn’t matter what you recorded, Caroline,” Thomas said.

“That’s illegal in Virginia without consent, and my lawyer will have it thrown out before we even set foot in a courtroom.”

“Actually, Virginia is a one-party consent state for recordings,” Caroline said, her voice cool and level.

“I consented to the recording of my own conversation in my grandmother’s house.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, followed by a harsh, bitter laugh.

“You think you’re so smart because you can quote a statute,” Thomas sneered.

“You’re sixteen years old, Caroline.”

“You don’t know anything about how the real world works.”