She had to be careful. Liam appreciated practical solutions. He didn’t go off on wild wanderings. He would have hated her searches and snooping. But Rob Greene had predicted all of this. He’d warned her. Nothing else made sense. Liam hadn’t killed anyone. Hadn’t threatened anyone. She may not have really known what Baines was capable of until it was too late, but she knew Liam. Him being set up was part of a bigger plan. A message to her.

She got it, but she didn’t intend to lie down and take it. They’d gone too far. Liam and Kennedy were off-limits. She’d get the evidence to clear Liam’s name and protect her family. Somehow.

It was time for her to fix her mess.

Chapter Fifty-Four
The Foundation

Most of the Foundation’s meetings centered on reviewing files and discussing actions. The work didn’t leave a lot of room for socializing or enjoying time together. The women came in and sat down, dealt with hard topics, sometimes life-and-death topics, all while locked under a dome of security and trapped in the tension of the moment.

This once-a-year meeting had a different focus—a silent auction. The annual event they used to raise money for their public causes. Truth was they campaigned all year. They had a full-time staff of two, unrelated to the confidential backroom workings of the Sophie Foundation, who, along with volunteers handled the funding and paperwork, regulations and thank-you notes.

All year, the charity pushed an agenda aimed at assisting and, at times, rescuing women and children in danger due to violence and abuse within the home. The silent auction was the charity’s shining moment. A dressy event catering to influential people with fat bank accounts, willing to pay five thousand dollars for a table then vote on various donated items. The event allowed for mingling and talking and check writing and, most important, the honoring of the Foundation’s namesake.

Retta both loved and hated this weekend. She’d vowed long ago not to let Sophie and Claire Kline be forgotten. Not to let the reason for Sophie’s murder—her abusive, mean, pathetic husband, Adam—slip into the quiet safety of history. This event ensured the accumulation of needed funds, but it also prevented anyone from “cleaning up” Adam’s reputation or even mentioning his name without also stating in a full-throated and clear voice that he was a dangerous animal who’d killed his wife and child.

He was not forgiven. His history would not be scrubbed clean, or the edges dulled by the weight of time or insulting explanations. Any attempts at blame-shifting or suggesting Sophie had invited the violence or played a role in her own killing would be squashed and the person voicing the opinion ridiculed.

This year’s auction had one other benefit, and that one related to Jessa.