Page 30 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“Last chance. You talk, or I start removing skin.”

“I hope he kills her,” Franco said.

Well, if Franco Hopkins had any hope of a quick death, he just destroyed it.

“Suit yourself.” I walked over to the array of weapons—knives with serrated edges, pliers cold to the touch, and bolt cutters, their sharp edges promising excruciating pain—rubbing my jaw.

“What are you doing?” Luna asked with a shaky voice. The silence must have been too much for her.

“I bet the bolt cutters snap through bone pretty easily,” I mused, picking them up.

“It doesn’t matter what you do; I won’t spill.”

“You’ve made that clear, Franco.”

I walked over to Luna. “Headphones back on, Little Leopard. And this time, keep them on. You don’t want to hear this.” I shifted them back over her delicate ears.

“Hunter…”

With his wrists tied behind his back, Franco could do nothing but squirm as I positioned his left middle finger between the blades of the weapon. “This is for scaring her.”

I slammed the two handles together, hearing the resounding crack of bone mixed with the howled screams of Franco as his middle finger fell to the floor in the fresh pool of dripping blood.

“You’re fucking crazy!” he shouted.

“Most likely,” I agreed.

Luna squirmed her head against the pole again.

“This…” I grabbed his left thumb between the blades next.

“Don’t do it, man!”

“This is for causing her car accident.”

I let the metal chomp through his bone and snap his thumb clean off.

Again, his screams echoed off the damp walls.

Maybe I’d played my hand too soon to Luna, assuring her I wouldn’t hurt her, because she, once again, disobeyed my command and dislodged her headphones.

“Fine, fine,” Franco cried. “I’ll tell you, just stop!”

I aligned his right middle finger this time, holding the blade against his digit.

“Start talking.”

“Someone hired me to kill her because he doesn’t want her looking into that case against her father.”

“Why?” I demanded.

“Because he knows her father is innocent.”

“How does he know my father is innocent?” Luna asked.

Franco tried to look over his shoulder toward her.

“Uh…he said something about evidence that proves that your father didn’t kill that kid or whatever. But look, the point is, that dude hired me to end her.”

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