The Last Invitation (69)

“What are you doing?” Gabby thought about grabbing the toy out of the other woman’s hands but settled for the question.

“We had to be proactive after someone ignored the police tape and came into the house a few weeks ago.” The detective held up a black square. “Can’t be too careful.”

“A camera? What is wrong with you?”

“There’s an easy way to end this, Gabby.” Detective Schone dropped the bear on the desk. “If you agree and point the finger at Liam, all this goes away. You get your money. You get your life back. You might even get this house, depending on how the facts go.”

A devil’s bargain. Her financial well-being in exchange for Liam’s life. Gabby couldn’t believe the detective thought that game would work. “He didn’t do it.”

“This is a simple answer to a complex problem.” The detective leaned against the back of the desk chair, looking calm despite the sick ideas she spewed. “I’m sure Liam can be convinced to confess if it means saving you and Kennedy. Then all those nasty secrets you want to keep hidden, stay hidden. No one knows your business. The dirty laundry doesn’t get dragged out for all to see, dissect, and whisper about.”

Nasty secrets. Gabby didn’t know how she’d missed it before. It seemed so obvious now. “You’re one of them.”

The detective lost her satisfied smirk. “Stay focused.”

“You’re part of the group. You don’t uphold the law. You use your badge and your position to maneuver around it. Manipulate it. Lie, cheat, do whatever twisted act, and then later rationalize it all as being in furtherance of some greater good.” God, it was so clear. Gabby saw it all now. This woman didn’t appear everywhere because this was her jurisdiction. She was there to manage and report back. She acted as Retta Swain’s right hand. “Rob was right. The tentacles are everywhere, even in law enforcement.”

“You sound paranoid, Gabby.” But Detective Schone didn’t sound as confident now. Her voice lacked that calming, almost condescending cadence that telegraphed she was in control.

Gabby hated her. Seethed with hatred of her. “It’s Mrs. Fielding to you. And get out.”

“Sometimes a car accident is just an accident. Sometimes it’s more, and if it is, you should take that as a sign and be careful.”

This bitch. “Clearly threats and killing aren’t beneath you.”

“I’m pointing out that secrets have a way of getting out, even those you think no one else knows. Ugly family secrets.” The detective hesitated, clearly to make her point. “Think about that before you make your final decision.”

The stockpile of evidence against Liam sounded strong, but Gabby now understood how easily evidence and circumstances could be twisted and distorted. She silently apologized to Rob for doubting him and to Tami for having paid such a steep price to find the truth.

The idea of condemning Liam to save herself . . . Never. But Gabby got the message. Comply or her life would explode into a nightmare.

She needed leverage and had an idea where to find it.





Chapter Sixty

Jessa




Jessa’s well-ordered afternoon schedule blew up. She waited until her assistant left her office to unleash on her unwanted visitor. “You can’t be here.”

Gabby didn’t flinch, but she did pace. She walked back and forth in front of Jessa’s desk. “I left messages. When that didn’t work, I hunted down your cell number, and you ignored those calls, too.”

“Some people would take all of that as a hint.”

“I would have gone to your house, but I have no idea where you live these days.”

“That’s a relief.” Jessa tried to maintain the snide volleys because that had become their sole means of communicating, but she messed up and looked at Gabby’s face—pale. Mouth in a line. Rigid muscles. A tiny bit of sympathy crept in. “What happened?”

Gabby dropped into the chair across the desk from Jessa. “Do you know Detective Schone? We talked about her before, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“She’s going after Liam, my brother-in-law.”

Jessa still didn’t understand the reason for the meeting. “Okay.”

“For killing Baines.”

“Oh, shit.” No more shots. This was serious and way out of Jessa’s experience. She reached for a binder where she kept a referral list. “I’m a divorce lawyer, but our firm often pairs with excellent criminal defense—”

“He has a lawyer.”

“Then I don’t understand why you’re here.”

“Retta. The group.”

Jessa leaned back in her chair and prepared to be annoyed. “Not this again.”

“You can stop pretending it doesn’t exist and that you’re not a member or trying to be one.”

Gabby was so sure, and so right, that Jessa wasn’t sure how to react. Gabby took the existence of the group as a given and plowed forward from there. That left little room to maneuver, but Jessa tried to anyway. “This conversation is exhausting.”

“Do you understand what’s happening?” Gabby rested her arms on the desk and leaned in. Unspent energy buzzed around her. “They killed him, for whatever reason. And now Liam could go to jail. He would be ruined. Wrongly imprisoned. And my life . . . well, there are things I don’t want . . . known.”