The Last Invitation (53)
Before Gabby could defend herself or explain that this only amounted to friendly comfort and nothing more, Liam jumped in. “Your mother—”
“Can’t control herself.”
Exhaustion gone, Gabby pushed away from Liam. “Kennedy, stop. Not today.”
“You’re all over each other.”
The disappointment in her daughter’s voice nearly knocked her down. “No, that’s not what’s happening.”
“I can’t stay here.” Kennedy ran out of the room and up the stairs.
Gabby agreed. She needed Kennedy somewhere out of the fray, not in the group’s direct line of fire. But they’d gotten that note to her. Gabby tried to reason it out and come up with the right answer . . . even if it meant risking Kennedy’s hatred.
Chapter Forty-Five
Jessa
Jessa made it back to the office, but she didn’t know how. She’d been told to take a few days off as the Darren fallout cleared up, but today she needed to come in and sign a report the judge had requested from her. The question of her being removed had been settled with Ellie’s admission that the allegations had been a lie. Now every issue had to be included in the record.
Jessa couldn’t concentrate. She sat in her oversized leather desk chair and rocked. A slight movement that calmed the voices screaming in her head.
Rob Greene, gone. He poked around. He compiled information. He convinced Gabby, or, at least, made her believe he wasn’t the conspiracy whacko the press made him out to be.
Now he was dead. Splattered in the street. Run down in what some called an accident. But Retta’s warning kept repeating in Jessa’s head. I doubt he’ll be a problem much longer.
They killed him. She didn’t know for sure, but she knew. He got too close, talked to the wrong people, refused to back down even after they incriminated him and ruined his career.
Alternate justice. Deep down, she understood that might include giving the green light to killing someone, but she’d thought about killing pedophiles freed by rogue juries or serial killers. The worst of the worst. Not some random reporter who walked into the middle of a secret case he didn’t know was being assessed and decided around him. He didn’t deserve the same ending as a man who hated and abused women.
She’d benefitted from the group’s benevolence. Rob Greene had paid for questioning its existence. The juxtaposition of who they were and who protected each of them had her head spinning.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Tried to block any thought about the people who loved Rob. About the pain caused in the name of confidentiality.
Her phone buzzed, and her assistant’s voice came over the line. “You’re needed in the conference room to review and sign.”
Jessa didn’t want to move, wasn’t even sure she could. She’d been late coming in today, trapped by police questions and Gabby’s vacant stare. No one scolded or questioned her about her tardiness. She hadn’t mentioned what she’d witnessed or the halting steps that drove her morning.
How did she explain that she might have caused a man’s murder? She’d talked about him with Retta, drawn the line between him and Gabby. She’d created all of this . . . at least in part.
Her phone buzzed again, and this time she got up without answering. She lumbered down the hall, forcing her legs to move even though the sudden heaviness in her muscles had her shuffling.
She opened the conference room door. It took a few seconds for the scene in front of her to register. Balloons and streamers. Every person who worked at the firm, from the support staff to the new associates to the partners, stood around, holding champagne and smiling.
There was a cake on the table and a banner stretched across the back wall. She tried to focus on it, but her brain kept misfiring.
Covington raised his glass. “Congratulations to Covington, Irving and Bach’s newest partner—Jessa Hall.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Gabby
Gabby made the choice. Kennedy leaving would be safer than staying. Gabby hated that simple truth. Problem was, she didn’t have any steam left to explain the potential danger to a disbelieving and hostile teen. The note found her at school, but Gabby realized the real target of that unveiling was her. Someone wanted Gabby to know they were watching.
Message received.
With Kennedy out of the fray, Gabby thought she might have a chance to figure out how she’d landed in the middle of this mess and, maybe, before anyone else got hurt, make sense of all the things Rob had told her.
Gabby dug deep into a well of patience that bordered on bone-dry. One attempt at being tactful, then she was playing the mom card and handing down a because I said so. “You are not taking the bus.”
“Not Don’t go, Kennedy.” Kennedy used her most obnoxious mimicking voice to deliver that one. “What you’re worried about is me being seen on a bus?”
Oh, child. Gabby wished she were on a bus right now. Anywhere but standing there, engaging in this ridiculous fight. She’d vowed to go easy on Kennedy as she worked her way through the information that had gotten dumped on her . . . but there were limits. “It’s about safety. It’s not safe for you to travel alone.”
“Right.” Liam nodded. “You need to stay here.”