January did not arrive like a month. It came as a verdict walking ahead of its time. The city was cold that week, but the chill Lynda felt had nothing to do with the weather. It was the kind of cold that forms inside when you know your choices have crossed the line of no return. The first hearings had begun quietly, shielded from the public, but nothing stays hidden for long when money begins to move differently.

Lynda woke up early in her rented room. The place was small, painted in cream, ...