# THOMPSON-HAYES: BLOOD MONEY
## Chapter Thirty — What Lila Testifies
Lila gave her formal testimony on a Monday.
Mia did not go to the federal building. She had no reason to be there — the testimony was part of the FBI's case preparation, not a courtroom proceeding open to the public, and Vance had made clear that Mia's attendance would be both legally irrelevant and personally complicated. Patricia agreed.
She taught instead. Period two and period four — the two classes she taught on Mondays — and she spent both of them on the workshop process, moving around the circle, listening to students read drafts, saying what she heard and what stayed and what she wanted more of.
Marcus Webb read a new draft. It was not the birthday card piece — it was something different, something newer, an
