Rob didn’t seem to notice. “I’m not. The file does, or it suggests she could be, which is why I’ve been trying to talk with the judge. To study the people closest to her. Someone inside must feel . . . I don’t know, sickened by all of this?” His voice grew more distant. “I can’t believe killing Tami was part of the original plan. She stumbled in and . . .”

His words crashed together as he spoke. He drifted from one idea to another as if he needed to race to get all his theories out. She wondered if his grief had manifested into something almost delusional.

“I think the group is expanding, which means even more people will die,” he said.

That sounded like a leap. “How do you know that?”

“Her. She’s been visiting Retta.” He grabbed his phone and flipped through the stored photos until he got to what looked like a woman standing outside of a gate. “Jessa Hall.”

Oh, come on. Speaking of fellow law school students who would trample over anyone who got in the way of her capturing the spotlight. Jessa rose to the top of the sludge pile. “Why does messed-up garbage always come back to Jessa?”

“If I’m right, you’ll soon see bad press about her.”

“Not surprising.” The way Jessa lived, the corners she cut, a bad end was all but guaranteed. Gabby had predicted that years ago.

“If that public attention immediately shifts from negative to positive, you know she’s in the group. It means she gave in and joined up,” he said, reinforcing his own theory.

Gabby regretted not ordering coffee. She needed caffeine to get through this. “I’m happy to jump on the anti-Jessa bandwagon. Honestly, I’ve been on that ride for a long time, but you don’t have any evidence. All you have is theories. And loss, and for that part I’m really sorry.”

He shoved the stack of files closer to her. “These are for you. Review them.”

There had to be twenty files, maybe more. “I don’t have time for this.”

Rob’s manic arguing and attempting to convince slowed long enough for him to lean back in his chair. “If they came for you through your daughter, do you really have a choice?”

Chapter Thirty
Jessa

The office visit Jessa dreaded happened an hour after Faith left. Covington walked in and shut the door behind him. He held a file and didn’t give her eye contact. That could only mean more bad news.

She tried to launch an offensive strike. “I’m guessing you’ve heard. But you should know—”

“Detective Schone had some questions for me about your work activities.”

Not what Jessa expected. She almost hated to ask for more information but did anyway. “What did you say to her?”

Covington finally looked at Jessa. “Tell me how concerned I should be about your behavior.”

Uh . . . “Not at all.”