In Silence

CHAPTER 30

The Gavel entered the war room. It had been difficult to get away this Friday evening-he was late. His generals were all in place, assembled around the table. Two held the rapt attention of the others as they complained about the Gavel's leadership and the way he had handled Elaine St. Claire.

One by one they became aware of his presence. Nervous silence fell over them. Guilty silence.

He crossed to his place at the table's head, working to control his anger. He shifted his gaze from one of his detractors to the other. Their discomfort became palpable. "You have a problem, Blue? Hawk?"

Blue faced him boldly. "The situation with the outsider is worsening. We must take action."

"Agreed." He turned his gaze to the other. "Hawk?"

"The handling of St. Claire was a mistake."

Shock rippled through the group. Hawk was the Gavel's biggest supporter. His ally from the beginning. His friend.

Fury took the Gavel's breath. A sense of betrayal. He kept a grip on his emotions. "What should we have done, Hawk? Allowed her to continue to sully the character of this town? To tear at its moral fiber thread by thread? Or allowed her to go to the authorities? Have you forgotten our pledge to one another and this community?"

The other man squirmed under his gaze. "Of course not. But if we'd…taken care of her as we have the others, no one would be the wiser. To have so openly disposed of her-"

"Has sent a message to others like her. We will not be discovered, I promise you that."

Hawk opened his mouth as if to argue, then shut it and sat back, obviously dissatisfied. The Gavel narrowed his eyes. He would speak with him privately; if he determined Hawk a risk, he would be removed from the high council.

"What of the reporter?" Blue asked.

"Avery Chauvin? What of her?"

"She's been talking to the other one. The outsider."

"And asking questions," another supplied. "A lot of questions."

He hesitated, surprised. "She's one of us."

"Was one of us," Blue corrected. "She's been away too long to be trusted. She's become a part of the liberal media."

"That's right," Hawk supplied. "She doesn't understand what we cherish. What we're fighting to save. If she did, she would never have left."

A murmur of agreement-and concern-went around the table. Voices rose.

The Gavel struggled to control his mounting rage. Although he didn't let on, he had begun to have doubts about Avery Chauvin's loyalty as well. He, too, had become aware of her snooping. Nosing around things she didn't-and couldn't-understand.

But he was the leader of this group and he would not be questioned. He had earned that right. If he determined Avery Chauvin represented minimal risk, he expected his generals to fall in line.

He held up a hand. His generals turned their gazes to his. "Must I remind you we are only as strong as our belief in our cause? As our willingness to do whatever is necessary to further that cause?

Or that dissension among our number will be our undoing? Just as it was the undoing of our fellows who came before?"

He paused a moment to let his words sink in. "We are the elite, gentlemen. The best, the most committed. We will not allow-I will not allow-anyone to derail us. Even one of our own sisters."

The generals nodded. The Gavel continued. "Leave everything to me," he said. "Including the reporter."