{"id":30064,"date":"2026-10-04T19:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T19:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=30064"},"modified":"2026-10-04T19:01:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T19:01:06","slug":"part-25-rainers-return-to-the-united-states-forces-sarah-into-public-testimony-and-turns-our-marriage-into-evidence-before-a-courtroom-full-of-strangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=30064","title":{"rendered":"PART 25 \u2013 Rainer\u2019s Return to the United States Forces Sarah Into Public Testimony and Turns Our Marriage Into Evidence Before a Courtroom Full of Strangers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Douglas Rainer arrived in the United States wearing a dark suit and an expression so composed that the news photographs looked almost staged.<\/p>\n<p>He was escorted between federal agents with his hands hidden beneath a coat, which meant the cameras could not clearly show whether he was restrained. Reporters shouted questions about Adrian Vale, Natalie Vale, Northstar, Calvin Rusk, and alleged corruption inside financial investigations.<\/p>\n<p>Rainer answered none of them.<\/p>\n<p>I watched the footage from my apartment.<\/p>\n<p>For years, he had existed only through other people\u2019s memories.<\/p>\n<p>A signature.<\/p>\n<p>A voice on a recording.<\/p>\n<p>A name inside Sarah\u2019s archive.<\/p>\n<p>A figure controlling decisions from behind layers of people willing to do the dangerous work for him.<\/p>\n<p>Now he was simply an aging man stepping into a government vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Human size.<\/p>\n<p>That should have made him less frightening.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I understood something I had not appreciated before.<\/p>\n<p>People did not have to look powerful to ruin lives.<\/p>\n<p>Reynolds called later that afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArraignment tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t asking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may want to reconsider eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSarah will testify at preliminary hearings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLikely within two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you think I should watch?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you should decide whether staying away is actually what you want, rather than what you think you\u2019re supposed to want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That irritated me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve become philosophical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOccupational hazard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I told him I would think about it.<\/p>\n<p>I did.<\/p>\n<p>Too much.<\/p>\n<p>The courtroom represented something I had avoided for years.<\/p>\n<p>Public facts.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah\u2019s crimes had always been technically public, of course. Court documents existed. News reports had mentioned her case.<\/p>\n<p>But most people did not know the details of our marriage.<\/p>\n<p>They did not know how Rainer evaluated me before our wedding.<\/p>\n<p>They did not know Sarah had used our ordinary life as protection.<\/p>\n<p>They did not know the birthday card, the false passport, the archive, Adrian\u2019s watch, Martinez\u2019s warning.<\/p>\n<p>A trial could turn private pain into exhibits.<\/p>\n<p>That thought bothered me more than I expected.<\/p>\n<p>Then Sarah\u2019s attorney called.<\/p>\n<p>I nearly ignored the number.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark, Sarah wanted me to tell you before it becomes public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government intends to introduce portions of her communications involving you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich communications?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMessages with Rainer and Rusk. Possibly references to your marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCover.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWill they show the message where she called me that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word had changed meaning over the years.<\/p>\n<p>It still hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThreats involving you. Her attempts to keep your finances separate. The surveillance photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo strangers get to dissect my marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly material relevant to the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make it feel less invasive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone understood.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah asked, through her attorney, whether I wanted identifying details minimized where legally possible.<\/p>\n<p>That caught me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe asked?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she prefer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me not to answer that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>For once, she had recognized the difference between asking what I wanted and nudging me toward what she thought was best.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUse my name if the government needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd tell her not to distort anything to protect me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the call, I realized my decision was already made.<\/p>\n<p>I would attend.<\/p>\n<p>Not because Sarah wanted me there.<\/p>\n<p>Not because Reynolds suggested it.<\/p>\n<p>Because if strangers were going to hear my life described in evidence, I wanted to hear it too.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing took place on a gray Monday morning.<\/p>\n<p>I sat near the back.<\/p>\n<p>Reynolds saw me when he entered and gave a small nod.<\/p>\n<p>No surprise.<\/p>\n<p>No approval.<\/p>\n<p>Just acknowledgment.<\/p>\n<p>Rainer entered later.<\/p>\n<p>He looked smaller in person than on television.<\/p>\n<p>Neat gray hair.<\/p>\n<p>Pale blue tie.<\/p>\n<p>Careful posture.<\/p>\n<p>He scanned the room once.<\/p>\n<p>His eyes passed over me.<\/p>\n<p>Then returned.<\/p>\n<p>Only for a second.<\/p>\n<p>Recognition.<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>He had possessed a file about me before my wedding.<\/p>\n<p>He probably knew my face better than I knew his.<\/p>\n<p>I felt no fear.<\/p>\n<p>That surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>Anger, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Disgust.<\/p>\n<p>But not fear.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe because the room contained marshals, prosecutors, attorneys, reporters, and a judge.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe because the power dynamic had finally changed.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah entered through another door.<\/p>\n<p>I had seen her on video and in prison.<\/p>\n<p>The courtroom still made her look different.<\/p>\n<p>More exposed.<\/p>\n<p>She wore plain clothing arranged through counsel rather than prison uniform for the appearance.<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes moved toward the government table.<\/p>\n<p>Then she saw me.<\/p>\n<p>Her step changed.<\/p>\n<p>Only slightly.<\/p>\n<p>She did not smile.<\/p>\n<p>Neither did I.<\/p>\n<p>That was enough.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah testified for hours.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor began with Rainer\u2019s recruitment.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah described how legitimate consulting became fake transactions.<\/p>\n<p>How fake transactions became laundering.<\/p>\n<p>How Rainer normalized every step until the criminality was impossible to deny.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you continue?\u201d the prosecutor asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoney at first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No hesitation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd later?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFear of whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Rainer and Mr. Rusk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you profit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSubstantially?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you forced to take that money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The courtroom became silent.<\/p>\n<p>That answer mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah refused to turn herself into a victim who had never chosen anything.<\/p>\n<p>Then came Adrian.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed marriage.<\/p>\n<p>His escape attempt.<\/p>\n<p>His disappearance.<\/p>\n<p>The money placed in an account under Sarah\u2019s alias.<\/p>\n<p>Rainer\u2019s threat.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah\u2019s voice remained controlled.<\/p>\n<p>Only once did it break.<\/p>\n<p>When the prosecutor asked what she believed happened to Adrian after he vanished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believed Calvin killed him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn whose authority?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDouglas Rainer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rainer did not react.<\/p>\n<p>Then the questioning reached me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you later marry?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah said my full name.<\/p>\n<p>Hearing it in court made my skin tighten.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas your husband involved in the organization?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he know about it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd for him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor displayed one of the old surveillance photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Me leaving work.<\/p>\n<p>Another showed Sarah and me outside a restaurant.<\/p>\n<p>Another showed our house.<\/p>\n<p>I watched jurors who had not yet been selected because this was not trial testimony but a preliminary evidentiary hearing. Still, reporters watched.<\/p>\n<p>Strangers watched.<\/p>\n<p>My private life moved across screens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho took these photographs?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe people working for Rusk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo remind me they could reach Mark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever use your marriage to support the appearance of legitimacy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word entered the courtroom like a knife.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah did.<\/p>\n<p>Joint address.<\/p>\n<p>Normal tax filings.<\/p>\n<p>Social appearances.<\/p>\n<p>A spouse with a legitimate career.<\/p>\n<p>No suspicious connections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid your husband know you were using the marriage that way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he consent?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at the floor.<\/p>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>That single word mattered more than all the explanations.<\/p>\n<p>Then the prosecutor introduced the message.<\/p>\n<p>Cover.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened exactly as it had the first time Reynolds showed me.<\/p>\n<p>Rainer\u2019s attorney objected to context.<\/p>\n<p>The judge allowed questioning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you refer to your husband as cover?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause that was how Rusk and Rainer spoke about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you agree with that description?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt first, partly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>She could have softened it.<\/p>\n<p>She did not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd later?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy continue using the word?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I needed them to believe I still thought of him that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause if they understood he mattered to me personally, they could use him more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor showed another document.<\/p>\n<p>Never involve.<\/p>\n<p>My address.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you write this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo keep Mark outside the operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas that successful?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompletely?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Rainer began preparing to frame him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rainer\u2019s attorney objected.<\/p>\n<p>Argument followed.<\/p>\n<p>Documents came in.<\/p>\n<p>Meridian Consulting Group.<\/p>\n<p>My forged signature.<\/p>\n<p>The test deposits.<\/p>\n<p>The timing before the traffic stop.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor asked Sarah when she learned someone was gathering my financial documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA month before the stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI contacted someone I believed might be a clean law-enforcement officer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficer Martinez.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>The story reached the highway.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah described sending information anonymously.<\/p>\n<p>Her fear that Rusk\u2019s organization was monitoring her.<\/p>\n<p>The photograph she gave Martinez.<\/p>\n<p>The instruction involving me.<\/p>\n<p>If Mark is with me, get him away from the house.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor asked why she did not simply tell me.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah was quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Then said, \u201cBecause I kept convincing myself secrecy was protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>She did not look back.<\/p>\n<p>That answer was not for me.<\/p>\n<p>It belonged to the record.<\/p>\n<p>During cross-examination, Rainer\u2019s attorney attacked exactly where I expected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are a convicted criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lied to your husband for years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lied to investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used aliases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou concealed money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou created secret evidence caches.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou expected people to believe whichever version of events benefited you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want a reduced sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy attorney does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want one. I\u2019m not changing my testimony to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A murmur moved through the room.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney pushed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou expect this court to believe you secretly loved your husband while using him as camouflage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor objected to relevance.<\/p>\n<p>The judge allowed limited questioning because motive mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t expect anyone to believe anything about my feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m testifying about what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou called him cover.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou benefited from marrying him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou withheld information that could have protected him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen perhaps the simplest explanation is that he was useful to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah looked toward me for the first time in nearly an hour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer stunned everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Even the attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was useful to me. That is true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was also my husband. Both are true. One does not erase the harm of the other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rainer\u2019s attorney recovered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we are supposed to accept this conveniently complicated explanation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah looked back at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re supposed to look at the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>That was exactly what I had learned.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Not expression.<\/p>\n<p>Not hope.<\/p>\n<p>Not hatred.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney turned to another subject.<\/p>\n<p>But something inside me changed.<\/p>\n<p>Not forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Not trust.<\/p>\n<p>A strange relief.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah was no longer trying to control which version of herself I saw.<\/p>\n<p>She placed the ugliest truth beside the better one and left both standing.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing ended late.<\/p>\n<p>Reporters gathered outside.<\/p>\n<p>I waited in the courthouse corridor until most people left.<\/p>\n<p>Reynolds approached.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk me next week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Sarah appeared with her attorney and an officer.<\/p>\n<p>We were not supposed to speak privately.<\/p>\n<p>We didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>She stopped several feet away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou came.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t think you would.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeither did I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A guard shifted politely.<\/p>\n<p>Time.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry they showed the photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey needed them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you told the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs much as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t say that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay you told the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She was led away.<\/p>\n<p>Outside, cameras flashed when I left.<\/p>\n<p>Someone shouted, \u201cMr. Chen, do you forgive your wife?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ex-wife, technically.<\/p>\n<p>I kept walking.<\/p>\n<p>The question followed me to the car.<\/p>\n<p>Forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone wanted it to be a yes-or-no conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>A final scene.<\/p>\n<p>A verdict.<\/p>\n<p>But I had finally learned that human relationships resisted clean rulings.<\/p>\n<p>That evening, Reynolds called.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe hearing went well for the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRainer\u2019s counsel is considering motions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne more thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I groaned.<\/p>\n<p>He laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou trained me to expect that reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRainer asked to speak with prosecutors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My body tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlea?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSarah\u2019s testimony hurt him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdrian\u2019s recording.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeene.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRusk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRed ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>All the secrets he had spent decades compartmentalizing were finally in one room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two days later, prosecutors learned the answer.<\/p>\n<p>Douglas Rainer wanted a deal.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely for reduced sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>He offered information about people above him.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at Reynolds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Rainer was the top.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did we.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wasn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The organization had another layer.<\/p>\n<p>Not operational.<\/p>\n<p>Financial.<\/p>\n<p>People who had funded it, protected it, and benefited while men like Rainer appeared to lead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNames?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Sarah know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says she suspected there were others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course she did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reynolds hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRainer mentioned one thing specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA fund.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorthstar?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe called it Evergreen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name meant nothing.<\/p>\n<p>But Reynolds\u2019s expression told me investigators recognized it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Evergreen appears in old financial records connected to your great-uncle Henry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I went still.<\/p>\n<p>The past reached backward again.<\/p>\n<p>Before Sarah.<\/p>\n<p>Before Adrian.<\/p>\n<p>Before Rusk.<\/p>\n<p>Before my marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever Rainer had built may not have started with him.<\/p>\n<p>And somehow my family had touched the same network decades before Sarah ever walked into my life.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=30070\">Click here to continue reading: PART 26: Rainer\u2019s Plea Offer Reaches Into My Family\u2019s Past and Reveals That Henry Chen Tried to Expose the Same Network Decades Before Sarah Ever Joined<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Douglas Rainer arrived in the United States wearing a dark suit and an expression so composed that the news photographs looked almost staged. 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