The dismissal of his case would not mark the end of a war but merely the start of a new battle. There was still much that Gavin needed to do, beginning with the task of eliminating Jack and any other path that might lead back to him. Once again Gavin’s mind turned to war, but this time he thought of the great generals who in the midst of loss and disarray, ignored calls for retreat and instead ordered counterattacks. They understood that opportunity is found in chaos, and that victory belongs to the bold and to those who kept their wits.

Gavin would not fall back. He would not watch as detectives drew a line from Sadie to Jack to him. Gavin would be bold.

At two-thirty, Gavin walked with a guard through the tunnel that led to court. He carried his green folder and secret SIM card with him because he expected them to toss his cell while he was gone. How could they not? Sadie Vauk had been murdered, and no one in the world wanted her dead more than he did. They would know he orchestrated her death. But it’s not what they knew that mattered, but what they could prove. Those were the rules.

The jailer paused outside of the courtroom and asked Gavin to hand over his folder. Pulling the papers out, the jailer shook them as though expecting something nefarious to fall out. Then he checked inside the pockets, a quick glance into each, before returning the papers and the folder to Gavin.

Could they have been any more predictable?

The guard walked him into the courtroom and to the table where Leo Reecey sat waiting.

“Any surprises coming?” he asked Reecey.

“Nothing I know of.”

The door at the rear of the courtroom opened and a somber Andrea Fitch strolled up to her table, looking at neither Reecey nor Gavin. Gavin took that as a good sign. Then Lila came in, but she did not go to counsel table; instead, she took a seat in the back. Gavin contemplated the significance of this subtle change in protocol but decided that it meant nothing.

The hearing began, and the discussion unfolded just as Leo Reecey had thought it would—one after another the State’s arguments fell to the floor. When Andi had exhausted all of her options, the judge called the attorneys back to her chambers. Reecey had predicted this move, telling Gavin that judges often explained a decision in chambers—especially one that might be hard for one of the parties to accept—before stating her ruling from the bench. Reecey also said that Fitch would dismiss the case rather than wait for an adverse ruling. The hearing was playing out exactly as Reecey had said it would, which raised Gavin’s opinion of his lawyer—if only slightly.