Page 76 of The Last Invitation

She thought about Gabby and that new article about the break-in at her house. “But if they, say, were in someone’s home and the owner came home, would they attack or even kill the person? Are you okay with that type of collateral damage?”

For a few seconds, Retta just sat there. She didn’t respond or take the question out of a hypothetical and into real life. Tension pounded on them when she finally spoke. “The most important rule—the number one rule—is to protect the group’s work. What we do is bigger than any nonmember or member, even me. That means recognizing the gravity of the work through confidentiality, secrecy, careful selection, studied decisions, and, if needed, personal sacrifice.”

The last sentence hung between them. They wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice her. She could be signing on as potential fodder for their vengeance machine. Their exit strategy.

Jessa asked the one question she had avoided. “Now that I know about the group, about the actions you take, am I a liability?”

Retta didn’t blink. “Nothing is permitted to threaten the group, and that includes you.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Gabby

Gabby stood at Baines’s front door, waiting for a police escort to arrive. She had a key and could walk right in again, but with all the scrutiny she decided to play by the rules. She regretted that decision when she saw Detective Schone get out of the car.

Any other police officer would be fine, but Gabby was not that lucky.

Gabby had come alone because she didn’t think she needed to hire yet another lawyer to handle yet another part of her life. She already had a divorce lawyer bill equivalent to Kennedy’s future college tuition that demanded attention. One was enough. But the idea of dealing with Melissa Schone one-on-one made Gabby rethink that choice.

Neither woman said a word as the detective opened the front door and escorted her inside. Gabby didn’t wait around for idle conversation. She headed for the second floor but barely made it up three stairs before the detective started talking.

“We’ve subpoenaed your divorce attorney’s file and notes.”

Gabby stopped in midstep and looked down at the detective. “Nice try, but all of that is protected by attorney-client privilege.”

“Not if your discussions include information about the commission of a crime.”

“What crime?” Gabby tried to think if anything on the list Kennedy had asked for last night was worth being here.

“Your brother-in-law killing your ex-husband.”

Gabby’s hand tightened on the bannister in a grip that turned her fingers a chalky white. “He didn’t.”

“You’re the one who insisted someone else was in the room.” The detective glanced in the direction of the study. “We investigated and followed the trail to Liam.”

This was the nightmare. She wanted answers, and the police had punished her for it. Worse, they were punishing Liam. “You’re wrong.”

“There was no sign of a break-in here the day Baines died, and the alarm was switched off. You and Liam had keys, as did your daughter, but we’ve ruled her out because she was at school.” Detective Schone smiled. “Well?”

“Thanks for clearing my teen daughter.” Gabby started walking again, determined to get to her daughter’s bedroom and get this visit over with as soon as possible.

Detective Schone followed behind, laying out her case piece by piece. “You claim you didn’t know about the added security. Liam did. The alarm company technician says Liam was here when the system was installed. That would explain why he isn’tseen on the house’s security video. He would have known where the blind spots were.”

“Wait a minute.”

They stood on the landing, facing each other. The accusations piled on top of one another until they built into a sturdy stack. Not devastating, and nothing that shook her faith in Liam, but combined, they had impact.

“Money issues at the company. Baines hiding business dealings from Liam. Liam having a key. Liam knowing where the cameras are. No self-defense wounds on Baines because he likely trusted his brother and didn’t see the attack coming.”

So many coincidences, and all of it circumstantial but compelling. Even Gabby had to admit that. “Liam wouldn’t—”

“Then there’s the sedative illegally obtained and found in Liam’s home, which he would have used to disable you, so you didn’t see him lurking in the room.” The detective’s gaze dipped to Gabby’s arm. “Have you checked? For needle marks? They should have faded by now, but did you back then? Was there a part of you that sensed what really happened in that room?”

Gabby forced her hand to stay at her side. Her ribs still hurt, but she’d checked after the police found the needle. Used her magnifying mirror and contorted and swiveled around until her body ached. Looked in case someone—not Liam—had debilitated her that way. She didn’t see anything.

“Liam was at work when Baines died,” Gabby said. “That destroys your entire theory.”

The detective shook her head. “He wasn’t. He says he had a meeting at a potential warehouse site, but the individual he wassupposed to meet with never showed. We haven’t been able to locate that individual to verify Liam’s account.”

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