The arrest doesn't happen.
At exactly 6:02 a.m., my phone vibrates against the metal hospital tray with a sound that feels louder than it should. Hospitals are never truly quiet—there's always a distant monitor beeping, wheels squeaking down hallways, someone coughing behind a curtain—but this morning everything feels suspended. Waiting.
I know before I even look that it isn't good news.
Agent Chen.
My chest tightens as I answer. "Please tell me you're calling because he's in custody."
There's a pause. Too long.
"We have a problem."
Damien is awake instantly. I feel it in the way his hand tightens around mine. He doesn't speak. He just listens.
"What kind of problem?" I ask, already bracing.
"Richard's legal team filed an emergency injunction at five this morning. They're challenging the admissibility of key financial evidence. They're claiming improper acquisition—fruit of the poisonous tree."
My mouth goes dry.
"We had warrants," I say. "You walked me through it."
