Daniel was brought into a federal interview room in New York before midnight.

Adrian watched through one-way glass.

His brother looked terrible.

Unshaven.

Sweating.

Terrified.

Not the smug, reckless man Adrian remembered.

A frightened one.

When Daniel saw Adrian enter the room, he laughed bitterly.

“So she finally turned on you too.”

Adrian sat across from him.

“Tell me what happened the night Mom died.”

Daniel’s smile vanished.

“Who talked?”

“Luis.”

Daniel looked toward the door.

“Then I need a lawyer.”

“You should have one.”

“I’m not saying anything.”

Adrian leaned forward.

“You were in her room.”

Silence.

“Vanessa let you into the house.”

Silence.

“Mom said your name before she lost consciousness.”

Daniel’s eyes filled instantly.

That was the first real answer.

Adrian’s voice dropped.

“What did you do?”

Daniel looked down at his hands.

“I asked her for money.”

Adrian closed his eyes.

“Of course you did.”

“I owed people.”

“You always owed people.”

“This was different.”

“How?”

“They weren’t bookies.”

Daniel swallowed.

“They were using the foundation.”

Adrian opened his eyes.

“What?”

Daniel told him.

Months earlier, Evan Rourke had offered to wipe out Daniel’s gambling debt if Daniel helped move money through shell charities.

At first, Daniel thought it was fraud.

Then he realized the transactions were part of something larger.

Payments to private clinics.

Offshore accounts.

Consultants with fake names.

He tried to back out.

Rourke threatened him.

Daniel went to Vanessa.

“She told me she could fix it,” he said.

Adrian’s face hardened.

“And?”

“She said Mom had created the problem by digging into the accounts.”

Mara’s warning echoed in Adrian’s head.

Daniel continued.

“Vanessa brought me to the house that night because she said Mom was ready to make a deal.”

“What deal?”

“She’d cover my debt if I signed a statement saying I moved the charity money alone.”

Adrian stared.

“She wanted you to take the fall.”

Daniel nodded.

“Mom refused.”

“What happened next?”

Daniel’s breathing changed.

“She told Vanessa she was going to the police.”

“And then?”

Daniel’s eyes fixed on the table.

“Vanessa had a small bottle.”

Adrian felt cold.

“What bottle?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did she do with it?”

“She put something in Mom’s tea.”

Adrian stood so fast the chair hit the wall.

Daniel flinched.

“You watched?”

“I didn’t know what it was!”

“You watched her poison our mother?”

“I thought it was something to calm her down!”

Adrian grabbed the edge of the table.

A federal agent stepped closer to the door.

Daniel started crying.

“Mom got dizzy. She tried to stand. She knocked over the lamp. Then she looked at me and said my name.”

Adrian’s voice shook.

“And you left.”

Daniel nodded.

“Vanessa told me if I called anyone, we’d both go to prison.”

Adrian could barely breathe.

Then Daniel said one more thing.

“Evan wasn’t the man running this.”

Adrian looked at him.

“Who was?”

Daniel whispered a name Adrian never expected.

“Frank Delaney.”