Page 37 of Vendetta
The scar was angry and jagged, a brutal, uneven loop of damaged skin wrapping around the base of his throat.No clean line, no surgical precision.Just the mark of something vicious and rushed, the kind of wound meant to silence.
A couple of the Hounds swore under their breath.One of them, one of the twins, sat back like he’d just been punched.
Vendetta let them have a long look.Then he pulled the hoodie back up and sat down.“I’m still here.They think I’m dead.They told the MC I ran off, went nomad.”
Beast gave a low whistle.Snow slowly shook his head.
“I went dark.I hid out and tracked what I could.I waited.I didn’t know how far it went, how deep Sinister Skin had their claws in the Cottonmouths.”
He paused, his gaze flicking briefly toward Outcast, then back down to the table.
“And then I ran into him,” Vendetta said, jerking his chin toward Outcast.“He was trying to get his old lady back from Louisville.And that kind of loyalty?That kind of grit to walk into the fire and drag someone out?That reminded me what I’d lost… and what I needed to do.”
He looked around the table again, more steel in his voice now.“I stopped hiding after that.Figured if the Cottonmouths were too far gone to fix, maybe they could still be shut down.”
Vendetta paused, glancing briefly in the direction of the spare room where Dylan was resting.
“I came back to Oak Grove under another name.And that’s where I met Dylan working as a waitress atNed’s.I didn’t know who she was at first.But then I found out she was Eli Crizer’s niece.And she was caught right in the middle of all this shit.”He let out a breath, slow and deliberate.“I was gonna finish this job myself.Collect proof and try and break the network from the inside.But Eli?He offered his own fucking niece to one of those SS pricks like she was just another girl to sell.”
A dark ripple moved through the room.
“I had to pull her out because she’s a target now, so I need her kept safe.And I need help taking Eli and these fuckers down and breaking whatever pipeline Sinister Skin’s building in Oak Grove.Especially since all of you managed to shut that shit down in Mercy.”
Vendetta looked Razor dead in the eye.“I came here because I knew you’d remember what they tried to do in Mercy.And I’m betting you’d rather end this on our terms than wait for the war to come back to your door.”
Razor’s gaze didn’t leave Vendetta.“So, you’re asking us to go to war with a rival chapter and a cartel-run operation.For a town we don’t run and for a girl who carries their president’s blood.”
Vendetta didn’t flinch.“I’m not asking you to fight my war.I’m asking you to help me finish the one they started.If you don’t, this shit spreads.They’ll come back to Mercy, and they’ll hit you hard.But you already know that.”
There was a beat of silence.
“We’re still here after the shit they pulled here in Mercy,” Outcast said slowly.“You’re still here after what they did to you.We’re patched in different clubs, sure, but it seems like we’re on the same side of this.”
Vendetta looked at him, surprised.
Snow nodded.“Hell, we ran the Mafia out of here.I sure as fuck don’t want them back here again.Emily’s just got the new bakery off the ground.”
One of the twins nodded.
Player wore a wide grin.“Getting rid of Crizer and that bunch over there in Oak Grove?I’m game.”
Vendetta wasn’t surprised by that.
Razor gave a slight nod, then looked around the table.“Let’s hear what Vendetta’s got planned.”
“I appreciate the time,” Vendetta started, his voice steady.
“Start talking,” Razor said.
“Sinister Skin’s in Oak Grove.Deep.They’re not just pushing product as hard as they’re pushing people.They’re trafficking, mostly teenage girls and younger women.They’re slick, routing through temporary safe houses, hiding behind fake medical shipments.One of the hubs is a medical supply warehouse calledINeeda,” Vendetta said.“I took a job there as a courier and started noticing things… deliveries that didn’t make sense, shell routes, manifests with missing destinations.They were using it as a front to cover their tracks.Drugs, weapons, even medical sedatives were being funneled through.It gave me a window into how deep the operation ran, and how far they were willing to go to keep it quiet.”
A couple of Hounds muttered curses.Beast cracked his knuckles.
Vendetta nodded grimly.“And Eli Crizer, he’s in bed with them.Not just tolerating it.He and the Cottonmouths loyal to him are helping him run it.Half his table’s turned.The other half’s too scared or too paid off to stop it.”
Outcast leaned forward.“How long?”
“A few months now,” Vendetta said.
