The Last Invitation (92)
She didn’t deserve either. Some days she wished he’d let go, yell at her, make her pay for her terrible choices. She didn’t want to be like Jessa and look back with regret, or whatever Jessa felt that made her act as if the hounds of Hell were at her feet.
“Is Kennedy talking to you yet?” He hadn’t broached this subject at all. Until now.
Gabby waded in carefully. She leaned against the sink, hoping it would hold her up if the topic turned on her. “Barely.”
“She’ll come around.”
She almost asked if he had, but she didn’t want to know the answer. “We talk every day. Not about you or what happened. It’s more like school gossip, but it’s something. Baby steps.”
“Speaking of strange things happening over the last few weeks . . .”
Gabby had to laugh. “Interesting segue.”
Liam spun around on the chair to face her. “Earl contacted me. We talked about the bid paperwork you found. I expected him to stomp around and use it to have us disqualified from this project and a bunch of others, but he asked about us teaming up.”
Liam coming clean about Baines’s actions and the enormity of what that could mean for his business sank in right as he mentioned the team thing. “Wait, go back. A merger?”
“Not really. Under Earl’s proposal, we’d combine for one job then see how it goes. Talk about more later.” Liam didn’t sound convinced about the plan. “Apparently, he and Retta bought a place in Florida and plan to spend a lot of time there now that she’s retired and—”
“No!” Gabby didn’t realize she’d screamed the order until she saw Liam’s reaction. “Please don’t do it.”
His eyes widened, and he leaned away from her a bit. “Wow.”
She needed to stay calm and be clear. “Sorry, but you don’t want to get in bed with Earl.”
“Want to tell me why?”
She needed him to hear her. She hadn’t gambled and blackmailed only to have him undo all her hard work by walking into an arrangement with Earl. That man had an agenda, and a ruthless one. “I don’t have a right to ask this, and I normally wouldn’t. Not now. Not when things are uncertain, and you’re barely tolerating me being in your house, but please. No deals with Earl. Be careful around him. He’s . . . a problem.”
He sat there for a few seconds then nodded. “For the record, I like having you in my house.”
She couldn’t go there or handle that. Not right now. Later, yes. They had to deal with all those balled-up, pushed-aside, ignored, and abandoned feelings. But they both had to grieve for Baines first. Be mad at him and miss him.
“I can’t tell you why now, or go into details, but I promise I will soon. I will show you everything, tell it all. But we need distance from all the horrors of the last six weeks. We’ll keep everything I say between us and agree to let it die there because we must.”
“That’s a hell of an ask.”
“I know.” This time she meant it. No more secrets. A lie about liking his tie or not was about as much falsehood as she wanted between them in the future. “Please, just trust me when I ask you to stay away from Earl.”
“You make it sound like he’s dangerous.”
“He is.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
NEW EVIDENCE IN CASE OF MISSING WIFE AND CHILD—Bethesda, MD
The case of Penelope and Delilah Young is back in the news. Police state that the case was never closed, but the discovery of new evidence has given it increased prominence. The type of evidence has not been revealed.
The mother and daughter have been missing for almost four years. While no charges have been filed, Christopher Young has long been considered a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife and daughter, age 6 at the time she went missing.
Prior to their disappearance, Young had been arrested after the police received a 911 call from his wife in the middle of a domestic altercation. The court granted her a protective order, prohibiting Young from having any contact with her and limiting his contact with their daughter to supervised visitation. He filed to dismiss the charges, but his wife and child went missing before the scheduled court date.
The former residence of the Young family has been searched several times over the years, as have the residences of several family members. Young has denied any involvement and insisted that his wife and child are alive. He also accused Faith Rabara, a domestic abuse counselor, of assisting his wife in kidnapping their daughter and leaving the jurisdiction. Rabara has denied the allegations, and no charges were ever brought against her or the charity she runs, Safe Harbor Limited.
Both Young and Rabara have been questioned as recently as this week about the new evidence and case allegations. The investigation is ongoing.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Gabby
Suicide. The official cause of death for Baines. Gabby had been notified this morning by someone other than Detective Melissa Schone, which was good because Gabby didn’t want to see anyone affiliated with the Foundation or the group or whatever the hell the connection was for a very long time.
“Surprise.”
She turned around at the sound of Liam’s voice. He stood in the hallway with two duffel bags at his feet. One looked like his, and the other one looked empty. “I give up. What’s this?”