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“What’s happened, Jenn?” Caren asked, keeping her voice gentle. “Why did you need to speak with Kayleigh? With us?”
The woman’s gaze dropped to her lap, and Kayleigh saw her take a deep breath.
“I’m sorry.” She lifted her head and met Kayleigh’s gaze directly. “I… I was desperate, and I didn’t realize…” Pausing, she exhaled heavily. “I didn’t think it through, and I know it was wrong.”
“Are you telling us that what you said about Wilder wasn’t true?”
“Yes,” Jenn whispered. “It was all a lie.”
Though Kayleigh had known it was, hearing the woman admit it brought a rush of relief. It was over. The nightmare Wilder had been mired in was over.
“Why?” Caren prodded gently. “Why did you feel you had to do this?”
She lifted her hands and gripped the edge of the table. “I was desperate to keep my job.”
“But why would you have lost your job? Have you done something to put it at risk?”
Jenn gave a quick shake of her head. “Liz let a few of us know that she was going to have to lay off at least one person. Since I was one of the last people hired, I figured it was pretty likely that I’d be let go, and I just… couldn’t let that happen. I went to Liz and asked her if there was anything I could do to improve my chances of not being laid off.”
“And she told you to say what you did about Wilder?” Caren asked.
“Yes.”
Kayleigh drew in a sharp breath at the revelation. Liz had set all this up? Pain lanced through her. Liz was supposed to be her friend. Why would she have done something like that?
“Did she say why?” Caren asked.
“No. I asked her, and she said that all I needed to worry about was being convincing.”
“Why did you decide to come to us today?”
“I knew it wasn’t right,” Jenn said. “I thought I was okay with doing it because I was so desperate to keep my job in order to provide for my son. But all weekend, I’ve just felt sick. Every time I looked at my son, all I could think about was what if something like this happened to him.” Jenn swallowed audibly. “I couldn’t keep going with the lies.”
The relief over Wilder’s exoneration had been replaced by hurt and anger over what Liz had done. Kayleigh had wanted to know why Jenn had done what she had, and now she had that answer. Unfortunately, thewhyhadn’t been completely answered, since now she wanted to know Liz’s motivation.
Not that anything Liz said could justify what she’d done.
“Ms. Halverson, I really am sorry for what I did. If you think it would be appropriate, I would like to apologize to Wilder as well.”
“I’ll have to talk to him and see if he’s okay with that,” Kayleigh told her. “Thank you for coming clean about this and explaining what happened.”
The woman’s head dipped. “It was the least I could do.”
“Was there anything more you wanted to share with us?” Caren asked.
“No. That’s everything.”
“Then you’re free to go. We’ll be in contact with you to follow up on everything that has evolved. Please don’t mention anything to Liz about our conversation here today.”
“I won’t. Thank you for your time.” The woman got up from the table and hurried from the room.
“Well,” Caren said once it was just the four of them. “That was unexpected.”
“I’ll take care of preparing her termination papers,” Stephanie said.
“No.” Kayleigh hadn’t been sure how she felt about the woman until that moment. “We’re not firing her.”
“You’re not?” Hudson asked. “Her behavior warrants firing. There’s no reason to allow her to keep her job.”
