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they simply sit back and condone his murder?
If their silence was an indication, they accepted their leader's actions without question. Who were they?
she wondered again, disbelieving. Who had he convinced to join his insane cause?
Avery jumped as Matt once again called for order. "A vote, then," he said loudly. "Guilty or not?"
Silence ensued. The seconds ticked past. Avery realized that she was sweating. Holding her breath
though she had no real doubt what the outcome would be.
"It's unanimous then," Matt boomed. "The Seven find Gwen Lancaster and Avery Chauvin guilty of
treason."
CHAPTER 54
Hunter paced the length of the windowless interrogation room. Two CSPD uniforms had retrieved him
from his home that morning. His father had requested they pick him up, they'd said. Bring him in for
questioning. Cooperation hadn't been an option.
They had dumped him here, told him Buddy would be in shortly and left. That had been nearly twelve
hours ago.
He stopped. Moved his gaze over the room. A single table made out of wood. Three chairs, also made
out of wood. They'd been around a while and bore the evidence of each of those years in the form of
cigarette burns, chips, scratches and carvings. He continued his inspection. No fire alarm. No phone.
Reinforced door, locked from the outside.
This was wrong. He had known it was wrong this morning. Had sensed a setup.
The officers had said it was about Avery. She was in trouble. Buddy had said to tell him that.
So he had come. And left Avery on the outside. Alone.
He pivoted and crossed to the door. "This is bullshit!" he shouted and pounded on it. "Charge me or
release me!"
He pressed his ear to the door, swearing at the silence on the other side. He had to get out of here.
Avery was in trouble.
He pounded again. "Hey! I gotta take a piss. Unless you want a mess to clean up, you better get your
asses to this doo "
The door swung open. A pimply-faced officer with big ears stood on the other side, Cherry directly
behind him.
"Cherry?" Hunter said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Dad needs our help. Inside," she ordered the officer, nudging him forward.
With a gun, Hunter saw. A big gun. A .357 Magnum, long barrel. He returned his gaze to hers. "You
really know how to use that?"
"I'm not dignifying that with an answer." She grabbed his arm with her free hand. "Come on, we need to
get out of here."
She pulled him through the door, slamming and locking it behind him. She pocketed the key. The officer
began pounding on the door.
"What the hell's going on?"
"We'll talk in the car." She hurried forward. "Sammy there was manning the station alone, but the patrol
guys are going to be checking in soon."
"What time is it?"
"Eight-thirty."
"I've been locked in that room since early this morning, I need to use the John."
"Make it quick."
She was waiting for him when he emerged moments later. Wordlessly, they went to her car and climbed
in. His mother sat in the back seat. She had been crying: her eyes were red and swollen, her skin blotchy.
She looked on the verge of falling apart.
He glanced over at Cherry. "Somebody better start talking, fast."
Cherry pulled away from the curb. "Dad said if we didn't hear from him by eight, to come and get you."
"Get me? What was I doing there?"
"He wanted you to be somewhere safe. He figured locked up at the CSPD was about as safe as he
could find."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Matt's the one," she said. "And he's got Avery."
CHAPTER 55
"The one?" Hunter moved his gaze between the two women. "What do you mean?"
"The one who killed Elaine St. Claire and Trudy Pruitt." Cherry's voice shook. "He killed Avery's dad as
well. At least, we think so. Dad told us before he went after them."
"I didn't know," Lilah whispered. "I thought...all these years, I thought I killed Sallie Waguespack. And
now " her voice broke " and now I wish I had."
"It's not your fault," Cherry murmured. "You didn't know what he had become, neither did I."
Hunter struggled to come to grips with what they were saying. Struggled not to give in to panic. "What's
he become? I don't understand. What did you have to do with Sallie Waguespack's death?"
Lilah met his eyes. "I better start at the beginning."
She told him about his father's affair, Buddy's lover's pregnancy. About going there to plead for her
husband.
And about what followed.
"Until tonight, I thought I'd killed her. Buddy...he kept that secret from everyone."
"When people began dying, he reasoned the deaths away," Cherry interjected. "He accepted them as
accidents and suicides because...the other was unthinkable.
"Avery forced him to reevaluate," his sister continued. "Her questions. Her unshaking belief that her father
hadn't killed himself. Then, when Trudy Pruitt was killed "
"He was forced to admit what was happening," Hunter said. "That everybody involved in the cover-up
had croaked. Except him."
"And Matt." She flexed her fingers on the steering wheel. "He knew for certain today, when he learned
about Avery's mother's journals. That's why Matt set the house on fire."
"Slow down. Avery's mother journaled "
"Every day since she was a teenager," Lilah said. "Avery called about them the other day, wondering if I
had any idea what happened to her mother's journals. I mentioned the call to Matt."
Cherry took over. "Avery found the journals. Her mother wrote about The Seven. And Sallie
Waguespack being pregnant. Somehow Matt found out and torched her house to destroy the evidence. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]