She understood feeling defeated, but this was not a guy who deserved her empathy. His behavior snarled him in the very public disaster now unfolding around him. “You’re a fraud. You faked your sources for stories. You lied to your bosses. Worse, you’re a conspiracy clown who believes school shootings are fake and—”

“No, listen.” He took a step closer and only stopped when she held up her key chain. “None of what you’ve heard about me is true. I’m being set up.”

“There’s probably a better argument to convince me you’re not dangerous or delusional.” She angled her body so she could get to the front door and keep him on the outside of it. “Excuse me.”

“They’ll find out, you know.”

She stopped moving and fidgeting and trying to race away and faced him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Nothing about him suggested he was out of it or invested in wild stories. He looked like every other guy in the neighborhood. He wore jeans and a blazer and running shoes, completely what she’d expect in the Bethesda area . . . but maybe that was the scary thing about conspiracy theorists. They were far too easy to take seriously, at least at first.

“The group,” he said.

“What group? Do you hear yourself?” She tried to reason with him, even though she knew that was useless. He wasn’t rational, no matter what he looked like. “I know you were some big-time reporter, and then . . . I don’t know. Something happened, I guess?” She kept her voice calm. Aimed at being supportive but in a we don’t even know each other kind of way. “You should talk to someone. Get help.”

He rested his hand on the roof of her car. “You need me.”

Too close. Adrenaline pumped through her. “I really don’t.”

“I have information about your ex-husband’s death,” he said in an almost manic rush.

“Right.” But Gabby hated the way her heartbeat ticked up. He’d hit on the one subject that refused to leave her mind, but she couldn’t let him know about her interest. He was too much of a wild card. “Did you tell the police?”

“They won’t believe me.”

She could feel her body deflate. “I can’t say I blame them. That seems to be a problem you created.”

“Not me. The group.” He shook his head, looking as lost as he sounded. “If you dig too much or get close, they close in.”

She saw a man watching them a few cars away. She wanted everyone’s attention now, because this had crossed a line into batshit territory. “You have ten seconds to leave, or I’m going to scream and keep screaming until you leave me alone.”