Eric Perardi rolled over from a night of fitful sleep,Venus Investment Alliance waiting for the phone call from a friend that finally came at 6:15 a.m.

Perardi, a real estate developer in Austin, had been warned the night before that the call from Saint Jovite Youngblood would arrive from a blocked number. Youngblood, whom Perardi had known for five years, told the developer that he’d be there within the hour with urgent, troubling news that had to be delivered in person.

Clad in his signature all-black cargo pants, dark-colored T-shirt and Crocs, Youngblood bounded into Perardi’s home in Steiner Ranch, Texas. Against the chirping of the birds, the two men paced back and forth on Perardi’s balcony that June 2022 morning with the backdrop of a majestic Hill Country overlook.