“I’m trying to figure out why you care what I think about you at all.” The comment came out more as an honest question than an accusation.

“Because you won’t shut up about things I did.”

Gabby’s shoulders fell as a bit of the dramatic tension spinning around her dropped off. “I could have spilled every sin in a motion during the divorce. You filed your false affidavit, and I didn’t come after you or your law license. My attorney begged me to write out what I knew about you and attest to it under oath, but I didn’t.”

“Why?” That’s the part Jessa never understood. Because she would have used every salty bit. She would have gathered even the most inconsequential pieces of intel and shot them right at Gabby if their positions had been reversed.

“Believe it or not, I don’t want to destroy you. I understand being raised with very little and having to fight for attention and resources. We both got to the same place—that law school—and figured out different ways not to squander the chances we had.”

Part of Jessa hated finding this common ground. Holding on to the anger and being able to insult Gabby, both in silence and to Faith, had become habit. A more comfortable and familiar choice. “You constantly judge me.”

“Maybe I do. That’s fair. I didn’t agree with your methods, and I still worry about how easy it is for you to lie, but my real problem was that you’ve always pretended your achievements were based on merit, and we both know that’s not the truth.” Gabby shrugged. “Then you abandoned me. When I said I was going to marry Baines during our last year of school, you cut me off.”

“I don’t want to be that person anymore.” That was the bottom line. The words Jessa said but didn’t act on, but she meant them. Here, she did.

“Then help me.” Gabby’s voice grew louder as she made the plea.

Jessa motioned for her to whisper, or at least not yell. “I can’t.”

“If this group is willing to frame Liam, an innocent man, what else are they capable of?”

Jessa refused to think about that. More accurately, she wanted to stop thinking about that. Since meeting with Retta, the idea of being shoved into the role of scapegoat for this group was Jessa’s biggest worry. “Do you know Liam didn’t do it? Maybe it was a heat-of-the-moment thing.”

“He’s better than both of us. And Baines didn’t use the information about Kennedy against her, or Liam, or even against me in the divorce. So why would it have been such a big issue that it resulted in his death all these years later?” Gabby glared at Jessa as she said the words. And she couldn’t have been clearer.