Chapter 24: Three Turns to Timelessness.

Vincent Virenson.

The courtroom smelled like polished wood, old paper, and stale anxiety. I perched on the edge of the witness stand, chin lifted, eyes scanning the room as if I were surveying a battlefield. Each person present seemed like a pawn, a spectator, or worse, a potential threat.

Judge Friday's gaze fell on me, sharp, deliberate, and perfectly timed—as if he knew the exact moment I might flinch.

“Vincent Valentino Virenson,” he began, ...