That couldn’t be true.
Gypsy couldn’t take her eyes off the wall across from her, couldn’t meet the eyes of the woman she called her friend. She could hear the sympathy in Ashley’s voice, the kindness, and knew if she saw pity in her friend’s eyes, then she simply wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“How . . . ? How do you know this?” she asked simply, wondering why she wasn’t vehemently denying her mother’s guilt in this. Why wasn’t she calling Ashley the liar she would have called her at any other time? Why wasn’t she fighting the crime her mother had committed?
“I know because Breeds are much better at hiding listening devices than are image consultants,” Ashley whispered, misery filling her eyes. “Emma, Sharone and I have the recording of your mother discussing this in her home with a male we could not identify. She intends to try again at the next meeting. She believes Breeds are responsible for her son’s death. She believes she will get away with this now, certainly, if she’s caught because of your association with Commander Breaker.”
Gypsy was well aware of Breed Law, just as she was aware of the fact that Jonas Wyatt could have had both her parents arrested for crimes against Breed Law for attempting to bring that device into the meeting. The fact that he hadn’t, and that Ashley was coming to her now, made her wonder just exactly what the director was planning, or what he would want from her at a later date.
“Is that all?” Gypsy asked then, hearing the exhaustion in her voice, the distance.
She had been in this place, inside her own mind, only one other time in her life. The night Mark had died. She had prayed to never find herself there again.
“No, it is not all,” Ashley stated. “Please look at me, Gypsy. Do not hate me for this. I demanded that I be the one to tell you these things because of our friendship. I do not want to lose the unique bond I’ve found with you, my friend. But if I must, to ensure that you are told the truth with the respect I believe you deserve, then I will risk it.”
Gypsy turned to her then, the distance still pulling her back from the situation, though Ashley’s statement forced her to return to reality.
“The respect I deserve?” she asked, confused.
Ashley swallowed tightly, her gray eyes filled with somber regret, though thankfully no pity.
Ashley’s sad little smile actually made her chest ache. “If there is any person in this nation that I know would never betray the Breeds, Gypsy, then I believe that person is you. Whatever the scent of deceit is that Rule detected, and that I have caught a hint of on occasion, I know it is not a desire to hurt or to in anyway see the Breeds harmed. That is not in your nature. You have helped me and Emma so many times during our visits here. You introduced us to friends, to those who have aided us countless times. You deserve to be given this information by a friend. By one who understands the pain you feel when you believe your honor has been betrayed by a loved one.”
“Believe it was betrayed?” Gypsy whispered past the tight ache in her chest.
“I have come to know your mother a bit in the time I’ve been coming to Window Rock,” Ashley reminded her. “Kandy’s sweet shop is a favorite of many Breeds, and many of us have spoken and laughed with her. She is not a cruel or mean person. And I can’t think she would mean the Breeds harm. But an explanation must be forthcoming. To see your mother suffer the public repercussions of her act would destroy Kandy’s store as well as your parents’ business. I believe that is not in the best interests of the Breeds, or in your best interests.”
Breeds weren’t often known for their understatements, but that one was a doozy.
Gypsy found herself nodding, making the action without a conscious decision to do so, still feeling cut off from what was happening around her.