“Happy to. Do your fellow group members know you have a file on each of them? The information in there about Faith and what she did in the Young case to hide that mother and her kid and frame the dad for murder . . . how she lied to the police and the court.” Gabby whistled. “Pretty damning stuff.”

“What do you want?”

Gabby had more to spill first. “Then there’s the files you kept on each of the Foundation votes. You handed down your special kind of justice a lot over the last three years.” When Retta didn’t say anything in response, Gabby continued, “Those folders don’t have names on them, but I doubt it would be hard to connect the fact patterns with some of the mysterious deaths in the area.”

Retta snatched the stick and closed it in her fist. “Congratulations. You played this game smarter than I thought you would. Actually, that’s not true. I’ve always said you were one of my best students.”

Gabby ignored all Retta’s fake sucking up. She’d long ago lost the need to win over people she viewed as teachers and mentors. And she didn’t think of Retta as either anymore.

Gabby stayed focused. She had a list of things she needed Retta to agree to. She’d gone over all of this, made contingency plans, and now it was finally time. “You’re speaking on behalf of the entire Foundation?”

“Yes.”

Gabby didn’t fully believe that, but she pressed on. “To start, my family stays out of all of this, and no one goes near them. Ever.”

“I already agreed to that.”

She did. Faith hadn’t, and that distinction mattered to Gabby. “Darren goes to prison for something he did and not for the murder. Jessa becomes an unsolved murder statistic and gets a shelter or something named after her that you fund. Most important, the Foundation immediately stops its nonpublic, behind-the-scenes pseudo–justice work.”

Retta’s eyes narrowed as she listened. “You’re on dangerous footing.”

“I could say the same about you. See, you don’t know how many copies I have of that or where I have them.” Gabby pointed at Retta’s closed hand. “You should assume I have many copies and that some are being kept by people you would never suspect. People who don’t know what they’re holding.”

“With the group’s resources, we could bury you.”

That was the fear. “Probably, but then I will take you down with me.” Gabby tried to fake a smile, show more confidence than she had. “Are you really willing to take that risk?”

Please say no.

“And if I say yes?” The barking toughness of Retta’s tone had slipped. She talked a good game, but she had to know Gabby would not back down.