— Oh, I understand. I have alerts for everything these days.
She kept talking. And Bill, sitting two tables away with a backup recorder, caught every single admission.
Vince showed up at the condo three nights later. Apparently, the family decided to turn up the heat. Dave heard the roar of a motorcycle in the driveway, then heavy footsteps. But before Vince could even reach the doorbell, a neighbor’s motion-light kicked on, and a dog started barking.
An elderly woman from the unit next door popped her head out:
— It’s one in the morning! I’m calling the cops!
Vince scrambled back to his bike, dropping his helmet in the process. By the time he retrieved it, lights were coming on in three other units. He finally hit the intercom.
— Sarah, it’s Vince. Let’s settle this like family.
Dave signaled everyone to stay silent. Frank hit the record button.
— If you make a scene, Sarah loses, — Vince’s voice was muffled through the speaker. — Andrew’s filing the papers. We have friends in the DA’s office. We can make that “quitclaim” look like whatever we want.
— Go away, — Dave said into the mic, without opening the door.
— Dave, don’t be stupid. I work at the title company. Do you know how easy it is to… “adjust” things in the database? Your daughter’s signature is on the deed. Nobody’s going to find anything if we just play nice.
— Leave, Vince. Before the cops get here.
Vince spat on the pavement, turned, and stomped back to his bike. He tried to look tough, but under the watchful eyes of four angry retirees leaning over their balconies, he just looked like a common thug.
Frank turned off the recorder and looked at Dave. He had the look of a man who’d just been handed a winning lottery ticket.
— He just admitted to a felony in front of witnesses, — Frank said quietly. — The whole building heard him. And that lady next door? I bet she’s already got the police on the line.
Sarah sat on the sofa, holding a waking Nathan. Her hands were still shaking—that fine tremor of someone who’s lived in fear for too long. But there was something new in her eyes. Not terror, but a cold, hard anger. The kind of anger that makes you stand up when everything feels hopeless.
— Dad, — she said, her voice firm. — I’m going to fight them. I don’t care what it takes.
Dave sat next to her, putting his heavy hand on her shoulder. She was so thin, her clothes hanging off her frame.
— You don’t have to do it alone, — he said. — You just have to tell the truth. We’ll handle the rest.
Bill nodded from the corner, checking his tablet.
— Sarah, your job is to get healthy. Nathan needs a mom who’s strong, not a victim. The legal war? That’s our department.
The next morning, Nick called with the news that finally broke the case wide open. He sounded triumphant.
— Mr. Miller, you won’t believe this. Andrew’s neighbor, Mrs. Higgins—she’s this sweet old lady who runs a gardening YouTube channel, “Higgins’ Hedges.” She was filming a tutorial on her balcony the day they kicked Sarah out. She caught the whole thing on camera. Everything.
— What do you mean “everything”?
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