All of them unedited, timestamped. Second, we have 12 witnesses who stood up and saluted you Saturday, including a retired Marine Corps colonel. Third, I already spoke with Colonel Whitaker on the phone tonight.

He is willing to testify as an expert witness on MCMAP doctrine and minimum force application free of charge. Whitney did not say anything for a long moment. Then she asked one question. How bad will it get before it gets better?

Diana did not lie to her. Diana never lied to her clients. It will get worse. They will dig up everything.

They will leak it. They will pay people to say things about you. They will call your old commanding officers. They will say you are mentally unstable.

They will say you are dangerous. They will say you have PTSD and lost control. Whitney nodded once.

And then we will go to court and we will win and Tyler Anderson will spend a very long time wishing he had picked a different woman to drag onto his stage. Diana closed her laptop. She stood up.

She buttoned her jacket. I need three things from you, Whitney. Number one, do not give any interviews. Number two, do not respond to any messages from Tyler’s people.

Number three, wear short sleeves to court. Whitney looked at her for a long moment. Why short sleeves? Diana smiled for the first time that night.

Because juries believe what they can see. She walked to the door. She turned back. She gave Whitney one more piece of advice, the most important one.

And Whitney, when you take the stand, do not say anything you have not already said in this kitchen tonight. Not one word. Six weeks later, Coral Bay Superior Court, Courtroom 3, downtown.

The hearing was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Thursday. By 8:30, the public gallery was full. Standing room only. The bailiff turned people away at the door.

Tyler Anderson sat at the plaintiff’s table. He wore a charcoal gray suit. His arm was still in the sling six weeks after the dislocation. His two lawyers sat on either side of him.

Expensive haircuts, expensive watches. At the defendant’s table, Diana Moore sat alone next to Whitney. Whitney wore a simple navy blue blouse, short sleeves. The crescent scar on her right arm was visible to every juror, every reporter, every face in the gallery.

The Bronze Star was pinned over her heart. She had not put it on. Diana had put it on her that morning. Behind her, in the second row of the gallery, sat Colonel Frank Whitaker.

He wore his full dress uniform, service ribbons across his chest. Beside him sat Gunnery Sergeant Dwayne Brooks, also in dress blues. Beside Brooks sat Lisa Brennan and beside her 11 other veterans Whitney had never met.