“I told you from the beginning Jessa didn’t belong in the Foundation. I begged you to listen to me because I feared this would happen. Not exactly this, but a bad ending.” Faith’s firm voice faltered for a second before regaining strength. “She didn’t have a strict internal code. She was a survivor but not a believer.”

“The entire group made the decision to begin the membership process, not just me.”

“I voted against her membership twice and only relented on the third and final vote because you asked me to, as a favor.” Faith shook her head. “Lie to Earl, to yourself, but not to me. You wanted her in the group. You liked how much she worshipped you. You knew you could control her. That she would have given you a guaranteed vote. You wanted her to trust you more than she trusted me.”

“Your memory is very selective. Your vote was your choice, unless you’re saying you worshipped me and wanted to please me, too.”

“Is this really what you want to talk about?” Faith asked. “Because I can think of—”

“No.” Retta rushed on before Faith could launch into an argument that would eat up all their spare time before the other women arrived. “It’s the ease with which you ignored the vote of the group and sent Trent after Jessa.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “And, being your lapdog, Trent immediately called you to tattle on me.”

Retta was ready for that move. “But not before he killed her. On your order. You didn’t have the authority. You overstepped the will of the group.”

Faith leaned back in the chair, clearly not intimidated by Retta’s stature. “Funny you should argue that, since I got the idea to use Foundation assets and resources to solve a problem from you.”

Retta noticed Faith wouldn’t deal with her decision about Jessa head-on. She’d compartmentalized her order, separating it out from her love for her friend. Retta worried that mix of deflection and denial would backfire on Faith at some point. Sentencing a man based on his heinous acts was a very different thing from ordering a murder of someone you loved.

“You might remember we also had a vote about Baines Fielding. Months ago, but we did, and you lost. You couldn’t prove your accusations about him killing his sister and being a possible danger to Gabby and the brother-in-law,” Faith said. “The group’s decision was to watch him but do nothing.”

“I remember.”

“But then he killed himself, which we both know is not what really happened.” Faith stopped, as if waiting for a longer rebuttal that never came. “That choice started all of this, Retta.”