Retta stared at her, as if assessing how much information to provide. “We have members, in law enforcement and laboratories, with the power to impact the formal justice system. Scientists, forensic experts, and others who are sympathetic to our cause. Some judges who will make certain rulings or assist in jury selection in a nontraditional way.”

Jesus. That suggested large numbers of people who could be activated to serve the group’s will. A conspiracy that extended into different disciplines.

Jessa weighed the cons of taking a position. Answer wrong and . . . Hell, she didn’t want to think about the consequences. “If I knew someone was guilty, I wouldn’t, in this parallel system, let a technical violation of the law keep a person from being punished.”

Retta frowned. “Tepid.”

“I prefer to think of the strategy as careful.”

“In this case, the same thing.” Before Jessa could respond to that, Retta moved on. “Could you vote to pressure witnesses, pay them off, or even find witnesses you needed to prove your case?”

She knew the answer Retta wanted now and gave it to her. “Yes.”

“Could you, if you saw no other way, look at someone who had engaged in a series of horrible acts, and say that they had forfeited their right to freedom?”

Jessa thought about Darren and his threats. About some of those case files Retta provided, all filled with abusive men. Killers. Pedophiles. The facts made the answer very easy. “Yes.”

“Could you vote that they forfeited the right to continue their behavior?”

Such careful wording. All the blame fell to the person accused of acting in a certain way. No mitigating circumstances, no questions about fairness or evidence. That leap, huge . . . daunting, tested her resolve. “You mean kill someone? How is that possible?”

“Again, we have people who assist us. Others, for specific acts for which we don’t have a resource, are contacted through sources, are paid, and never know who handed down the sentence or why.”

Hired killers. Could she really mean that? This was more than evening the playing field and eliminating technicalities. This hubris allowed for death sentences. Sitting in judgment of other humans and deciding their fate based on information in a file.

Jessa needed to know more. “But if these other sources get caught—”

“They don’t.”

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?”