Page 29 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“He said someone else hired him to kill you,” I said. “The same person who sent the letter demanding you stop looking into your father’s case. Whoever wants you dead is so worried about that case that they’re willing to kill you for it.”

“We already knew that.” Her voice cracked, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “And he’s probably lying.”

I scratched the side of my temple with the base of my knife.

“He might be.” A momentary pause elapsed while my mind raced. How could he know of the letter’s existence?

“I’m not lying,” Franco said. “I know stuff, man. More than I told you before, but I won’t tell you unless you let me go!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You think you can negotiate in your position?” The blade gleamed. Its sharpness promised swift but painful vengeance as I brought it to his ear in case he forgot it was missing.

“Hunter, stop,” Luna pleaded.

The scent of vengeance clung to the back of my throat.

“Kill me, and her enemy remains free. How will you protect her, then?” Franco barked out.

For a fleeting moment, I imagined what it would be like to record this, to capture his agony and relive it over and over. My grip on the knife tightened, and with a swift, decisive motion, I drove it into his cheek, feeling the resistance before it gave way.

“Stop!” Luna screamed.

“Luna.” Irritation ground against my nerves. “Please be quiet. I’m trying to focus.”

“I won’t be quiet.” The raw desperation in her voice hid behind its firmness. “I will not let you torture someone to death.”

“Fuck you,” Franco said. “I ain’t telling you nothing until you let me go.”

“You’re going to tell me what I want to know, or I will cut off every single finger, every single toe, and I will remove your flesh inch by inch until there’s nothing left of you but bones and muscles.”

His eyes darted around, pupils dilated with raw terror. His Adam’s apple bobbed, a visible swallow betraying his mounting fear amidst the facade of bravado.

Good. I was growing impatient. I wanted to kill this guy already.

“Who hired you?” I demanded.

“Untie me,” Franco said.

I stabbed his arm, making him groan.

“Hunter, don’t do this!” Luna shouted.

“Give me a name.”

“Untie my hands,” Franco shot back.

“Why does he care about the case?”

No answer. I stabbed his hand.

“You’ll bleed to death if you don’t start talking,” I advised. “Why is someone so up in arms about a cold case?”

Franco jerked around in his chair as if his sudden burst of anger had the power to rip through his restraints.

“Is he afraid of getting arrested?” I pressed.

“Fuck you.”

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