Page 103 of Back in Black

Discussing her? Spine going stiff and straight, Audrey surveyed the once friendly faces of the women she’d considered friends. They looked at her with disapproval, distrust, and animosity.

Rather than be intimidated, Audrey went on the offensive. “What’s going on here, Millie?”

Millie held out her arms to encompass the whole room. “We’ve been talking, and we’ve decided that you have a clear conflict of interest.” She started toward Audrey.

“After all, you insisted that I not break the story on that slutty publicist, even though we all know it would have had a great impact for our cause.”

“That’s nonsense and you know it! How would trashing Gillian Noode have furthered our objectives? She’s not part of the SBC, and she’s not a fighter.”

“No,” Millie agreed. “But Brett Bullman is, right? And still, here you are, all set to defend him, too.”

Audrey clenched her fists. “I trusted you.”

Millie got so close that she bumped into Audrey. “And we all trustedyou. But now that you’re screwing a fighter, you’ve turned your back on us, and our goals!”

Taking a step away to put some space between herself and Millie, Audrey scanned the faces of the other women. A few of them now looked sad for her, but most were nodding in agreement, ready to encourage Millie in her nastiness and aggressive posturing. Never had Audrey encouraged this type of behavior.

Why hadn’t she seen the ugliness of it all before now?

Keeping her voice strong, Audrey addressed them all. “We were never about ruining lives. Our goal was to make others understand the possible hazards to this type of sport. That’s all. Targeting individuals is wrong.”

“Even Drew Black?” Millie sneered.

“Even Drew has the right to honest, fair, and professional treatment.”

Millie almost snapped. She jerked forward to loom over Audrey, her face red, her eyes burning. “After what he did to me?” she screeched. “After how he maligned me for all the world to see?”

Undaunted, Audrey replied, “Mr. Black was unfairly harsh, but this can’t be about getting even with him at all costs. Don’t you see that?”

She tried to talk to the others, but Millie wouldn’t let her. Each time she moved, Millie moved with her, belligerently staying in her face, challenging her with her attitude.

“You’ve chosen sides, Audrey. Accept the consequences.”

“What consequences?”

“You’re out. For good. No one wants a traitor here.”

Audrey sighed, sad for her friend, but done with the group all the same. “Can’t you see that you’re stooping to the very behavior you object to?”

Snatching up Audrey’s arm in a vicious grip, Millie jerked her toward the door. “You don’t know anything. Now get out! We don’t want you here anymore.”

Stunned by Millie’s maliciousness, Audrey glanced over her shoulder and saw varying degrees of shock on every other face. Yet they all just watched. No one said a word in Audrey’s defense.

“Forget it,” Millie said. “The meeting’s over anyway.” She put Audrey outside the door with a vicious shove that nearly knocked her to the ground.

Audrey regained her balance and faced her one-time friend. Something was very, very wrong with Millie. Why had she never seen it before? “You’re out of control.”

“Go to hell, Audrey.” As she started away, she said, “And you can take your boyfriend with you!” With her back already to Audrey, she paused, then looked over her shoulder with a smile. “Unless he gets there before you.”

The way Millie said that, how she looked as if she knew a great secret, set off alarm bells in Audrey’s head. But how could Audrey hurt Brett? He was a man more capable than most, and Millie, though filled with hatred, was no match for his strength.

Head pounding, Audrey went to her car and got in. While she sat there, deciding what to do, the others filed out of the meeting room. Some were solemn, some chatting. Millie outright laughed, as if enlivened by her contemptible attack. Audrey watched them all drive away with a sense of finality. She’d spent years building a group that had morphed from community concern into something ugly and malicious, spearheaded by a fanatic.

She’d never wanted that. But because of her, so many had been hurt.

Sick at heart, Audrey pulled back onto the road. She called Brett again with the same result. He didn’t even want to hear her apology.

Maybe she should go see him, face to face. She had no idea where he’d be this time of the evening, but she could start at his apartment. He couldn’t reject her more hate-fully than her group just had.

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