"The inspector."
"He wasn't supposed to be killed."
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"They wanted to scare him."
"How?"
"Someone was supposed to hit his car."
"With another car?"
"Yes."
"Instead they hit him?"
Jessica nodded.
"He was walking."
Elena covered her mouth.
"Sarah Jennings?"
Jessica hesitated.
"I don't know."
"Marcus Thompson?"
Jessica looked shocked.
"You know about him too?"
"Tenant organizer."
Jessica's shoulders collapsed.
"They know I'm talking."
"How?"
"I met with a detective six months ago."
"What detective?"
"Jameson."
Marcus filed away the name.
"County?"
"City police."
"What happened?"
"Two days later Anthony showed me pictures."
"Of the meeting?"
"Yes."
Jessica's voice cracked.
"Then he showed me pictures of my sisters."
Elena reached across the table and took her hand.
Jessica continued.
"Their school. Bus stop. Volleyball practice."
Marcus's expression became very still.
"What did Anthony say?"
"That tragedies happen in bad neighborhoods."
No one spoke.
"He said if I talked again, maybe people would assume it was gang violence."
Elena's face hardened.
Marcus had seen that look before.
Fear becoming anger.
"How old are your sisters?"
"Sixteen and seventeen."
Marcus looked toward the window.
He needed a moment.
When he turned back, his voice was controlled.
"You said you have records."
Jessica nodded.
"Everything I could save."
"Where?"
"Encrypted drive."
"Not on you?"
"No."
"Good."
"I have emails, texts, transfers, calendar entries, voice memos."
"Voice memos?"
"Anthony dictates reminders."
Marcus almost laughed at the stupidity of powerful men who believed employees were furniture.
Jessica reached into her purse.
Not for a drive.
For a small key.
"Safe deposit box."
She pushed it across the table.
Elena looked at it.
Jessica whispered, "If something happens to me, don't let them erase it."
Marcus did not touch the key.
"Nothing's happening to you."
"You can't promise that."
"No."
He nodded toward Elena.
"But I can promise you're not alone."
Within twenty-four hours, the investigation changed from local to federal.
Patel contacted a state corruption unit.
The state contacted federal investigators.
Jessica's evidence was too broad for one agency.
Possible murder-for-hire.
Racketeering.
Public corruption.
Wire fraud.
Witness intimidation.
Financial crimes.
Marcus and the Desert Kings were told something they hated hearing.
Stop.
Hand over the evidence.
Do not contact suspects.
Do not pursue new witnesses without coordination.
Do not interfere.
Snake nearly exploded.
"We finally find the girl who knows everything and they tell us to sit down?"
Marcus looked at him.
"Yes."
"This is our fight."
"No."
Snake stared.
"They cut your brakes."
"They killed other people's families."
Marcus looked around the room.
"This stopped being about us weeks ago."
That night, Sophie found Marcus sitting alone behind the clubhouse.