Priya nodded.
“Victor changed tactics after Daniel’s d/e/@/th. Instead of forcing a foreclosure, he gained Evelyn’s trust.”
“And Marcus?” I asked.
“He offered Marcus a faster route.”
The answer hurt more than I expected.
My son had not created the entire plan.
But he had willingly joined it.
Priya connected one of the drives to her computer.
Most files were encrypted.
One folder opened automatically.
It contained audio recordings.
Daniel’s voice came through first.
Then Victor’s.
The recording was dated eleven years earlier.
“You’re making a mistake,” Victor said.
“The mistake was trusting you,” Daniel replied.
“You can’t prove anything.”
“I don’t need to prove everything. Only enough.”
“You think the county will listen to a farmer?”
“They’ll listen when thirty farmers speak together.”
There was a long pause.
Then Victor said, “You won’t reach thirty.”
The recording ended.
