Heidi shook her head, and her chest began to heave. She took several deep breaths as she struggled to bring her emotions under control.

‘I didn’t have a choice, they forced me into it. I used to smoke some weed with Rod and my twin when we were younger, I wasn’t an angel. But that’s as far as I ever went.’

‘How did they force you?’ Ryder asked.

‘They said I had to take over the job he’d been doing, otherwise they’d never stop looking for him. They were going to kill him if he ever set foot in the place again. I had to work with Rod because we were friends.’ She paused for a bit, breathing heavily. ‘I said I’d do it, and I told my twin to stay away.’

Sterling caught Ryder’s eye.

‘You never thought of going to the police with this information?’ Ryder asked.

‘Are you crazy?’ Heidi shouted suddenly, and Sterling couldn’t help jumping, the attack in the rumpus room still fresh in her mind. ‘You know what happened to Scruffy Freidman, and he used to be one of the enforcers.’

‘Who murdered Freidman?’ Ryder asked.

Heidi shook her head. ‘I’m not telling you that unless I get protection. I’ve told you Garrett’s the ringleader. He worked his way up, and he’s kept me tied to him the whole time.’

‘Why didn’t you tell your older brothers?’ Sterling asked.

Heidi hesitated. The only sound in the room was the hum of the video-recording machine. ‘They never did anything wrong. They always tried to protect me, their little sister.’ Heidi’s voice cracked. ‘And Dan has kids, and though Ethan looks scary, he’s really a big teddy bear.’

‘So, you kept distributing the drugs to keep your twin brother safe?’ said Sterling.

‘In the beginning. Then I was trapped.’

‘Did you ever try getting out?’ Sterling asked.

Heidi shook her head slowly. ‘I was at Rod’s beck and call, terrified I’d be next if I put a foot wrong. That’s how it ends for all of us. It’s just a matter of time.’

Sterling thought back to the time Garrett had come into the hotel and pinched Heidi.

Heidi grabbed her arm, though her eyes were on Garrett as he started talking to Elijah. ‘Don’t do that.’

‘What, stand up to him?’ Sterling couldn’t help saying.

Heidi let go of her arm. ‘Stay out of it,’ she hissed, before going and joining Garrett.

Sterling frowned, the glare of the fluorescent lights making her head ache, but there was a question she needed to ask. ‘So, you were living in fear, tethered to this cruel individual,’ she said, ‘and then your older brothers break the news that they want to sell the property, and share the money between all four of you. It must have seemed like a ticket to freedom.’