When someone dies mysteriously during a Psych experiment, Rhiannon becomes enmeshed in a conspiracy that includes both the survivors and the killer.
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Short on cash, Rhiannon...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
HINDSIGHT BIAS
( — the tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one's ability to have foreseen how something turned out. )
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RHIANNON CAN'T EVEN SAY SHE'S SHOCKED.
It's what her parents always do—they threaten and they go to great lengths to get what they want, regardless of what they have to do. The only time they switched their MO was when Rhiannon double-crossed them, even accidentally, but they did what they did to protect the family name and the company. Saying they had voluntarily screwed themselves over was something they'd easily get over when compared to letting the truth get out.
After all, no one would cut them any slack if they knew their own daughter was responsible for their downfall, regardless of how short-lived it was.
Therefore, it's no surprise to know they're here and Rhiannon can guess what they want to do and why. If there's anything the Fords are known for, it's for their predictability; in a business like the one they run, in an empire like the one they have built, knowing who you can count on will always put you at an advantage and they pride themselves on being consistent with what they put out on the market.
There's also the happy coincidence of Rhiannon just so happening to be their daughter.
They're here for her, obviously, ready to turn the focus of January 14th's events against Crowcrest (and, therefore, against the people who run it for not having been able to properly protect their faculty and, most importantly, their students) and pretend like they've always given a damn. They simply chose the tough love approach as a one-time thing.
The participants are all staring at her as if she was a crime scene, while all she wants to do is scream and yell at them they're the ones who killed someone and are expecting everyone else to simply obey and follow their meticulous plan. Their meticulous plan, however, has flaws—all it would take for it to crumble would simply be one person.
Rhiannon could easily be that person. It would mean she'd be doing what's right for the justice system and for all the innocent people who can be spared, but it was Matteo who asked her to lie in the first place.
She doesn't know what weighs more on the scale—her innocence or her guilt.
Jude begins to straighten himself, ready to stand up. "I'll—"
"—stay here," Rhiannon completes, and Jude begrudgingly returns to his seat, arms firmly crossed in front of his chest. He still hands her his knit scarf, which had been swung over the arm of the couch, and she carefully wraps it around her neck, knowing just how prone to falling ill she is. "It shouldn't take long."
