Page 23 of Vendetta
The same network had tried to infiltrate Mercy under a different name.The one that used tattoo shops, clinics, and bars; anything that let them move bodies without drawing attention.Yet, unlike the Cottonmouths of Oak Grove, the Hounds of Hell had held the line and forced the fuckers out of Mercy.That charge had been led by their president, Razor, and Outcast, who Vendetta had helped get back to Mercy safe with his girl.If the Hounds could pull that off, surely to God the Cottonmouths could too.At least the decent ones, if there were any left in that chapter.By now, maybe some of them might be willing to turn on Eli and his corrupt inner circle.
When SS had come to Oak Grove, Eli Crizer had handed them the fucking keys.
After all, they weren’t just moving products anymore.They were movingpeople.He had the paper trail to prove it, as if he needed much.It wasn’t like he was going to the police.He’d seen it with his own eyes when he was still Tank, and he thought he belonged to an MC.He’d seen those young men and women.Hell, he should have done more than try to walk away that day.He’d made it all about getting payback for what was done to him.But how many young lives had been betrayed while he brooded and recovered, while he planned to confront them like their fucking ghost of Christmas past?
And now, Dylan.She hadn’t seen the worst of it yet, but she was intuitive, he’d give her that.She knew something was wrong, just like she knewNed’s was no longer just a bar.And Eli’s silence spoke volumes.
But she still didn’t see Eli for what he really was, had no idea of what her uncle was capable of.Hell, she didn’t know that her cousin, the brute everyone knew as Babyface, was gone.Maybe she didn’t know because she’d been living in Richmond at the time that happened?Put into the ground by his father’s own hand.And if Eli’d had no issue with taking out his own son for whatever the fuck went down there, he would have no qualms about hurting his niece.
If she kept trusting the man who she’d counted on since her mother’s death, she would end up dead like her cousin.Or worse.
What the hell was he going to do to keep her alive?Because whether she knew it or not, she’d become the one thing Vendetta couldn’t afford to lose.When he finished what he’d set out to do here in Oak Grove, Dylan was his.She just didn’t know it yet.No way was he leaving her behind, not when she occupied as many of his thoughts now as his plans for her uncle.
Vendetta was running out of time.Now Dylan was caught up in this.He kept seeing her face from last night.Her tight smile, trembling hands, and that forced calm in her voice when she told him what happened atNed’s.The way she’d described how that rich bastard had looked at her, grabbed her like she was something to own.Vendetta saw the panic behind her eyes, even after she tried to laugh it off.He knew that look from the trafficked girls he saw in the warehouse that day -- the day Tank died.
Vendetta was done watching and waiting.
Flicking the cigarette away, he straightened up and scanned the lot as he moved to his van’s driver’s door.He was done gathering intel.It was time to find the fault lines inside the Cottonmouths; namely the ones who didn’t like what they were seeing, the ones who had nightmares about what they were doing.Someone would crack.And when they did?He’d blow this whole thing wide fucking open.
Climbing into the van, he started the engine.The low rumble rolled through his chest like a war drum.
Time’s up.
* * *
Dylan
She almost didn’t come in.She’d spent half the afternoon before her shift staring at the worn heels of her work boots by the door, seriously considering leaving them there forever.Walking away fromNed’s, from her uncle, from all of it.
Jason had warned her that maybe it was time to get out.He hadn’t said it like a lecture or tried to push her.But the look in his eyes, the weight of his voice when he’d said, “Places like that don’t get better just because good people walk through the door…” That had stuck with her.She knew he was genuinely worried about her.He’d stayed over that night, but he hadn’t asked for anything.She’d needed someone to keep the shadows from creeping in, and he’d done that for her.That mattered a lot more than she’d let herself admit.She’d never known a guy who could just quietly be there for her, even when she knew he was concerned.
Dylan wasn’t sure what to call what was happening between them, but it felt real.It was steady and stronger than anything she’d had in a long time.
Which made walking into the bar again tonight feel like a betrayal; not just of herself but of him.But she still did it.Old habits were hard to break, and she wasn’t ready to face what it meant if she really walked away.Walking away from Oak Grove wouldn’t be as easy this time.She was older now and coming home had come with comfort and happiness she’d never felt in Richmond.Explaining to herself why she still clung to the hope that her uncle wasn’t the man people whispered about when his back was turned wasn’t easy, either.Now he made her nervous.
But she showed up, just like always.Eli didn’t come intoNed’s every night.And if he came back in with that gentleman, she’d get someone else to cover her table.If her uncle got mad or even fired her for that, so be it.At least the decision would be out of her hands.
The second she walked through the back door of the bar, something felt different.The lights were dimmer than usual.The regulars weren’t as rowdy as they normally were.And the silence that followed her entrance wasn’t the good kind.
Peggy was at the bar in her usual spot, wiping down glasses that didn’t need wiping.She looked up when Dylan entered, her smile faltering for just a heartbeat before returning, tight and too bright.“You made it in,” Peggy said, like that was a surprise.
Dylan forced a smile.“Yeah.Barely.”She headed to the back to grab her apron and stash her bag in her locker, but even her footsteps sounded too loud on the warped wood floor.Her gut wasn’t settling.The air felt heavy and too still, like a storm was rolling in.
Out of habit, she checked the roster.No big party tonight.No events.So why did it feel like something was coming?
When Dylan stepped back out front, her uncle was there.Eli stood near the end of the bar, talking low to a man she didn’t recognize.Another tall guy in a sharp jacket and expensive shoes that definitely didn’t belong anywhere near Oak Grove.Just the sight of him had her anxiety escalating.She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she didn’t need to.She recognized that posture, the closed-off body language.Eli didn’t even acknowledge her walking past.
Again.
The stranger, though?He did look at her.No, he watched her, then he smiled, and it wasn’t friendly.
Dylan moved behind the bar, her hands suddenly colder than they normally were.
Peggy leaned in, her voice low.“That guy’s not local.Big money from Nashville maybe?Maybe farther.He came in last week too.”
Dylan nodded slowly, not trusting her voice.Eli caught her eye from across the room and motioned her over.
She went but moved slowly.She didn’t have a good feeling about the entire situation.
