She toyed with that, too. But there was nothing to grab on to. “I had pieces of an overheard conversation that he denied and insisted I got wrong. After the fire, I confronted him again, and he said I needed to stop lying or I’d lose Kennedy.” She gulped in a breath, hoping it would calm her, but it didn’t. “Conjecture and theories. His word against mine. There wasn’t any evidence. The police and fire investigator stated there was no foul play. I asked and pushed for a report on the fire then waited for the results. The conclusion came back as a horrible accident.”

Some of the color returned to Liam’s cheeks. “But you knew differently.”

Her phone buzzed again. “I believed, and I still believe, Baines paid someone to kill Natalie. That man in our yard or someone that man knew. I’d never seen him before and not since. Baines denied and tried to use Kennedy against me, but it was too late. I no longer trusted him.”

“You shouldn’t talk about trust.” When his phone buzzed, he looked at it. “It’s Kennedy.”

“What?” Gabby scrambled to grab her cell. The message on the screen made the blood drain from her head.

A reporter called. He knows the truth about Liam being my real dad.

Chapter Sixty-Six
Jessa

After a weekend with Retta and thinking about Retta, Jessa was ready for work on Monday. Today was a big day. Her assistant had marked it off on her calendar for “partner orientation.” Jessa wanted to celebrate, but her mind kept getting dragged back to Retta’s home office.

Jessa had paged through the small notebook she’d stolen several times. It fit in her palm. After repeated tries, she still had no idea what the lines of letters and numbers meant. Some sort of code, clearly, but why?

The bigger problem was the key. Now Jessa had it, when it should be taped to the back of a desk drawer. She had no idea how she was going to return the items without getting caught or when Retta and Earl would notice them missing. The first time had been scary enough. She didn’t welcome a second round of covert stalking.

“With the partner meeting scheduled and associate oversight rules done, we can move to some related issues.” Covington led her from the small conference room where they’d been meeting with the office manager and bookkeeper to the file room.

Jessa was surprised Covington even knew where this room was. He didn’t exactly search out his own supplies and case files. The man had two assistants and everyone at the firm on speed dial to answer to his demands.

“You’re familiar with the client filing codes,” he said.