“Not relevant.” Gabe sounded so sure of that.
Stella paced a little. Shuffled around, as if assessing him. Eyeing him. “Aren’t you an irritating little bastard.”
“The name-calling isn’t necessary.” If Gabe was nervous or worried he hid it well.
I expected hostility from Stella, and she delivered. Hanna’s sarcasm was new and much appreciated. But if they hoped to scare this guy or trip him up, it looked like they were the ones who’d misread the situation. He was a young man on a mission. That was the most annoying type of young man. And the most dangerous.
“My point is that there are facts the three of you might want to confirm...” His traveling gaze landed on Hanna. “Or deny.”
What the hell was that?I couldn’t ask but I wanted to.
I remembered Hanna and that day years ago. The way she held the bloody knife. Her face, pale and filled with fear.
Stella flipped back into solid, sure therapist mode. “The will says whatever it says. We didn’t write it, so—”
“I also know all three of you were there at the house on the day the family went missing.” He rushed out the words, then stopped, as if waiting for us to react.
How many bombshells did he plan to launch?
Hanna jumped in on behalf of all of us. “Your information is incorrect.”
This Gabe guy had the nerve to smile. “You’re saying you weren’t there? Not any of you? Is that your official response?”
Throughout the conversation, Stella shifted. She’d moved until she stood next to Hanna. The three of us formed a wall. An unsteady one on my end, but a joint force. No more going it alone. The Tanner family mystery impacted all of us. We agreed on that without saying a word.
“What are you hoping to get here? Why all the subterfuge and threats?” The sharp edge to Stella’s tone had subsided but not by much.
“I’m being honest.” Gabe managed to say the words as if he believed them.
Hanna snorted. “The texting stunt suggests otherwise.”
“Look, this doesn’t have to be painful.” His expression looked more smug than resigned. “There are third parties involved. Xavier’s theories. Children who could get hurt as the secrets leech out without sympathetic framing from you three.”
Stella ignored what seemed to be a reference to her daughter and focused on the more practical issue. “Did he hire you? I can’t imagine why Xavier would do that and surely can’t see him trusting some Anderson Cooper wannabe to do the deed, but is that what you’re claiming?”
“People want to know what happened back then. The scrutiny is going to get more intense. My job is to collect information and try to decipher it.”
Stella didn’t even blink. “How do you know anything about that day? Are you from here? Did you hear rumors about the three of us and you’re running with them?”
He shook his head. “I have my sources.”
“Who?” I asked because any whispers connecting us to that day had to stop.
“I’m not relying on speculation. I have facts.” But he didn’t offer more.
“Bullshit,” Stella shot back, not letting him get the last word. “What are you, twenty-four or -five? Younger?”
“Stella.” Hanna sighed, clearly not happy about being stuck in the role of peacemaker. “He made his pitch. We responded. Now we can all move on.”
“I can’t ignore attempted extortion.” Stella wasn’t backingdown. Her healthy ego surged with full force. “I’m an active participant in the court system. I know the judges. All the players. My ex-husband and I are on very friendly terms and he’s a prominent attorney.”
That’s not what I’d heard about the current state of their relationship, but I appreciated Stella’s guard dog routine too much to stop her.
Gabe didn’t look the least bit intimidated. “Are you saying you have information you’d pay to hide?”
She walked right into that. So much for that big doctorate degree she liked to throw around to win arguments.
“Okay, enough.” Hanna took a deep breath. “We’re done here.”
