Zara ran all the way back to Willowdale, arriving at the guesthouse to find Maya packing frantically.
"Where have you been?" Maya asked, relief flooding her face. "I've been trying to reach you Chen's been captured, and Sasha just called. She says Vance is planning to attack the farmer's meeting at Riverbend church tomorrow morning."
"That's exactly what they want us to think," Zara said, pulling Maya into the room and closing the door. "We need to talk about Clara."
She laid out everything Winston had told her, showing Maya the photograph and financial records. Maya stared at them in disbelief, then pulled up her own files.
"I should have seen it," she said, scrolling through data. "Every lead that went cold, every operation that was compromised it all traces back to information Clara had access to. Even the equipment we're using she approved every purchase, every upgrade."
"Where's Sasha now?" Zara asked.
"At the community center she's organizing transport for the farmers to get to the meeting."
Zara stood up, her mind made up. "We can't let them go to the church. Clara's going to stage an attack there, then use it to justify taking control of all the land."
"But how do we stop it?" Maya asked. "The farmers trust Sasha, they'll follow her anywhere."
"Then we have to give them a reason not to," Zara said. "We need to expose the truth, and we need to do it before tomorrow morning."
They spent the rest of the day gathering every piece of evidence they had footage from the plantation house, financial records, even the message from the unknown number. Maya worked to create a presentation that would be impossible to ignore, while Zara contacted every trusted farmer she'd met, asking them to come to the community center that night.
As dusk fell, farmers began arriving Derrick Morgan with his daughter by his side, Mrs. Campbell carrying a tray of food, dozens of others who'd been too scared to speak up until now.
Sasha arrived a few minutes later, her face lighting up when she saw the crowd. "I'm so glad you all came," she said, moving to the front of the room. "Tomorrow, we stand together at Riverbend we show Vance we won't be intimidated anymore."
"That's not going to happen," Zara said, stepping forward. "Because Vance isn't the one you need to be worried about."
She played the footage from the plantation house first Vance talking about the resort, the corrupt officials, the plan to eliminate anyone who stood in their way. Then she showed the photograph, the financial records, laid out every piece of evidence linking Clara to The Root.
Sasha's face paled, but she stood her ground. "You're lying," she said, but her voice lacked conviction. "Clara's been helping my family for years she saved our farm from foreclosure."
"Because she wanted it for herself!" Zara shot back. "She's been grooming you since you were a child, using your trust to build her empire. Ask yourself why did Vance know exactly where to find us at the plantation house? Why did he know you were working with us?"
Sasha stumbled back, her hands shaking. "I… I don't understand. She said she was helping us."
"People like Clara always say that" Zara said, her voice softening. "But in the end, they only help themselves. We still have a chance to stop this, but we have to work together, and we have to do it now."
Just then, Maya's tablet beeped. She looked at it, her face going white.
"Clara's on her way here," she said. "She's bringing Enzo and a team she says she's here to 'rescue us from Vance's men'."