“Excuse me. Faith?”

Don’t do it.

“Gabby, right?” Faith’s smile came and went. Her face remained pale and drawn. “I remember you from some of the parties Jessa used to have with law-school friends.”

Friends . . . Yeah, Gabby let that go. “We’d reconnected recently.”

Faith frowned. “Really?”

Gabby understood the confusion. She’d bet money Jessa hadn’t said a decent thing about her in . . . well, ever. “She didn’t tell you?”

“She had a lot going on. The breakup with Tim. The partnership. The big case that got knocked off course by bad press and then—”

“I’m so sorry.” Gabby regretted the blurting but not the sentiment. “It’s . . .”

“A shock.”

“I just . . .” What did she say next? How did she dip into the truth without revealing it? “Things aren’t quite . . . I’m not sure . . .”

Faith put a comforting hand on Gabby’s arm. “Are you okay?”

“Nothing is what it seems.” Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Donotdoit! “With her death, I mean.”

Faith glanced around before lowering her voice to a whisper. “Gabby?”

Oh, shit. Gabby’s speech picked up speed, matching the dramatic thunder of her heartbeat. “I think you should know the truth. You’re not going to believe it because it’s not believable. It took me a while to . . . well . . . There’s this group of women and they wanted Jessa to join, but . . . I know this sounds impossible, but . . . it’s not.”

“You’re upset. You should stop.”

“I know. I get it. You don’t believe me, and I wouldn’t either if I were you.” Gabby took in a deep breath. “You’ll hear Darren killed her, but he didn’t. They did. Because . . . she . . . she knew too much.”

There. She’d said it in a rambling, stumbling way, but it was out there. Faith could choose to believe her or call her that paranoid woman at the service or whatever. Gabby didn’t care because she’d said the words.

The sick part was that she’d piled her mess on Faith, and a part of Gabby hated that, but this woman had loved Jessa, had been her best friend through everything. She had a right to know Jessa tried to be better. She’d tried to do the right thing. Gabby wasn’t sure if she’d made that clear or not, but she let the conversation sit there. Let Faith have the next word.

Faith let out a labored exhale. “You never learn. I told Retta you couldn’t be trusted to keep quiet, and I was right.”

Chapter Seventy-Eight
Gabby

Gabby’s mouth dropped open. She could feel it hanging there. She’d stumbled through a messy explanation, expecting Faith to pat her on the head and walk away. Not this. Never this.

“So you’re saying . . .” Nope. Gabby’s mind still couldn’t get there. “What exactly are you saying?”