Page 49 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“Let him go!” I begged.

I kicked the officer’s legs and punched his arms, but he didn’t let me go. Instead, Mom helped hold me back while the officers yanked my dad into a standing position and shoved him in the back of a squad car.

Dad looked over at me through the little window. He tried to smile reassuringly, which broke my heart—that he’d try to make me feel better when he must be scared. His eyes started to shimmer as he mouthed the words, “I love you.”

As one of the two squad cars pulled away, Dad stared at me, at Mom, at the house, and the life that he may never see again. I used to hide behind Daddy’s legs, knowing he’d protect me from anything. But now, he looked vulnerable, shrinking in that cold, mechanical vehicle, and as the car began to take my daddy away from me, the world shattered.

“Don’t go…” I whispered.

When the officer finally set me down, I ran after the squad car, my little legs pounding against the pavement, but I couldn’t keep up with the car.

“Daddy!” I cried.

The harsh wail of the squad car’s siren faded, replaced by the gut-wrenching quiet of our neighborhood. I stood there trembling, struggling to breathe.

What if they never realize they made a mistake? What if they never bring him back?

I thought police officers were supposed to help people. Why are they hurting Daddy?

I balled my little fists and picked up a rock. I threw it as hard as I could at the last place I’d seen the police car—watching as it landed unsatisfyingly on the empty road.

In an instant, my anchor was gone. The world seemed to loom larger, every shadow deeper, making me feel like an insignificant speck in a universe that had suddenly turned dark and unfeeling.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I gazed at the empty road in front of my house, my heart heavy with sorrow too great for my little shoulders to bear.

I promised at that moment that I would do anything to get my father back, and now here it was, the one court date that could change everything for him.

But any second, Hunter was going to contact that judge and jeopardize everything.

I needed to get the hell out of this room before he could do that.

And there was only one way to do it.

I stripped the bed of its sheets, tied the fitted one to the flat one, and secured one end around the ancient headboard that I hoped was sturdy enough to support my weight. The makeshift rope wasn’t long enough to reach the outside courtyard, but it would make my drop a hell of a lot shorter.

With my heart pumping, I grabbed the writing chair, swung it back, and crashed it into the window. Glass shattered outward, a glittering downpour of razor-edged confetti, the high-pitched symphony of destruction echoing in my ears.

In the distance, the rhythmic sound of Lake Michigan’s waves softly crashing against a jagged bluff whispered promises of freedom. The water itself was a deep shade of cobalt, shimmering with reflections of the dawning sun, stretching endlessly until it met a pastel morning sky that was just beginning to light up in hues of pink and orange.

Within seconds, footsteps came running up the grand staircase.

The hole in the window wasn’t big enough for me to get through, so I swung the chair again, cracking against the broken shards.

“Luna!” Hunter snapped from the other side of the door. “Luna?”

Unfurling the sheet rope I’d created, I hurled it through the opening and out into the daylight.

The click of the lock preceded the door swinging open.

Hunter entered, his eyes wide with shock as he watched me grab my rope and launch myself through the jagged window.

Beneath me, the uneven cobblestone was encased by a vibrant border of flowers, whose colors burst with vivid reds, yellows, and purples. Their delicate fragrance—a mix of sweet petals and fresh morning dew—offered a soothing contrast to the metallic tang of blood that had tainted my senses all night.

As I clung to the rope, the fabric was so silky, that I had to tighten my wavering grip. An overwhelming vertigo took hold as the ground loomed closer—a vast expanse of stone—yet I couldn’t help but smile with a wild, triumphant glint that I was free.

But as I ran out of rope and looked down, my stomach plummeted. I was dangling from the edge of the bedsheet, but the stone ground below me was much farther than I thought, a menacing abyss threatening to annihilate me if I jumped.

And the rope…the knot I’d tied loosened as the fabric shifted beneath my sweaty hands.

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