Page 103 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

CHAPTER44

Hunter

This didn’t look like the home of a man who had received five million dollars.

It was an eyesore in the pristine neighborhood. Faded yellow paint peeled away in patches, and the wooden porch showed years of neglect. Each window was coated with decades of grime, staring out like the sunken eyes of a cadaver, while the front yard was a chaos of overgrown weeds and thistle.

I stood on the sidewalk, looking at it, dressed in a casual outfit—not donning my Vigilante attire for two reasons. First, there was too much heat on me right now, so if a police officerhadseen me leave my property, no matter how discreet I thought I had been, that would be the end.

Second, the conversation I was about to have with Stanley Weiss had nothing to do with the Vigilante and everything to do with my father. So, I came as myself.

I gripped the handle of my knife in my hoodie pouch—I’d worn this unforgivingly hot top because it concealed my weapon—and glanced around the neighborhood, making sure no one was looking at me. No kids playing outside, no one riding their bikes. Hopefully, that meant I could slip in and out undetected.

As I approached the front porch, movement inside from the front window caught my eye. A male figure stood with his back to the glass, so I couldn’t see if his face matched the one I had looked up online.

A shiver ran down my spine, an uneasy feeling I couldn’t place.

Was it the fact that all his windows were closed despite no sound of air-conditioning on a hot summer day? Was it possible that the people threatening Luna and her father had also come back and threatenedhimand he was now being held hostage?

I scanned around his house for any evidence of another person. And while I saw nothing, there was no guarantee he was alone inside.

Standing a mere ten feet from his front door, so close that one glance over the guy’s shoulder would reveal my position, I watched as he turned.

That’s when I could finally see his face.

It was, in fact, Stanley Weiss.

The only person who could explain what the hell happened around the time of my father’s death. This man held the secrets that had been buried for decades, secrets that had haunted my soul.

It felt surreal that I was finally about to get some answers. And not just about my father’s death, but also, how in the world it connected to Luna’s dad.

I studied him for a few more seconds, watching as he reached down, his hand returning with something metallic.

He brought the barrel to his temple.

My heart stopped.

“No!” I charged up his front porch, nearly tripping in my desperation. Banging my fist on the door, I shouted, “Don’t do it. I need to talk to you, Stanley! I want to talk to you about your son!”

The door was locked, so I continued pounding, praying the mention of his son would make him pause.

“Please!”

Maybe I should go around back, and try to break in. Maybe I should try to break through the window. But before I could do any of those things, the lock clicked, and slowly, the front door creaked open.

CHAPTER45

Hunter

Stanley Weiss stood before me, holding a loaded pistol.

“Do I know you?” Stanley’s voice was as rough as a chain-smoker’s, his skin prematurely wrinkled with deep lines around his sunken eyes, which had an unhealthy yellowish tint to them. Like someone who had abused the bottle for years. The pungent stench of stale tobacco and unwashed sweat hit me, stains saturating the armpits of his worn-out gray T-shirt that accentuated his unnaturally thin shoulder bones.

“I was hoping I could talk to you, sir.” I kept my tone calm, on account of the loaded gun. “I know about your son.”

Not as much as I needed to, but the mention of his dead kid made his eyes flicker with heartbreaking curiosity.

“This about Payne getting killed?”

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