"They'll ask you first if the notebook is authentic," Reagan said, pacing a tight line in front of the boardroom doors at seven fifty-five, tablet clutched to her chest like a shield. "Then they'll ask if it's admissible. Then they'll ask if it matters, because half this board has known Julian Vane longer than they've known you, Sterling, and old loyalty doesn't die just because the evidence says it should."

"It'll matter." Sterling's voice was steady despite the hollows under his eyes, three sleepless nights catching up to him all at once. "Handwriting analysis confirmed it's my father's. The DA's office has a copy. Whatever the board decides this morning,...