They worked through the night at the library. Nina built a timeline linking the training document to budget spikes, case freezes, and grant renewals. Every line matched. The orphanage was the blueprint for this scheme. Eleven days left. If the vote passed, hundreds of homes would copy this exact pattern.
A café meeting with a retired caseworker turned strange halfway through. “The director is the problem,” he said quickly. “Overzealous.” Nina noticed a woman at the next table, an agency pin on her bag, typing on her phone. The caseworker’s eyes darted. “I said too much,” he muttered, and left abruptly.