Page 66 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

Every time I touched the tender skin of my cheek, flashes of that night surged back—the fear, the helplessness. And the relief that Hunter had saved me before it was too late.

“My bodyguards weren’t so lucky. They died trying to protect me.” My chest clenched, especially when I’d heard they had families. Having Hunter fully fund their funeral and make generous donations to their loved ones didn’t take away from the suffering they’d endured.

“Can you believe he got away?” The mayor’s jaw clenched.

“I’m sure Franco will turn up soon.” Wherever Hunter had disposed of his body.

“Not him,” the mayor snarled. “The Vigilante.”

His words were a sword slicing my gut, revealing the brutal truth. The real tragedy to him wasn’t that the murderer—who had killed three innocent bodyguards, tortured me, and almost taken my life, too—had gotten away.

But that theVigilante—who had saved my life—had slipped through his grasp once more.

It was ridiculous to feel hurt.

“I heard about that goddamn stunt the Vigilante pulled at your office.” He tugged at his tie. “You know what a PR nightmare and slap in the face that is to the Justice Department? The Vigilante breaking into the building where we keep criminal records?” Mayor Kepler’s face reddened. “This damn guy.”

A flash of dread coursed through my veins.

I twisted my fingers together.

“When you catch him,” I said, “what do you plan to do with him?”

The mayor’s eyes tightened, his tone clipped. “What do you mean?”

I shifted nervously. “I mean, from a prosecutorial standpoint, once you apprehend him, what are your plans?”

“If I had it my way, we’d put him in front of a firing squad. People like that don’t belong in this world. They’re a deadly virus that needs to be eliminated. Because it’s not just him that’s wreaking havoc. I’m starting to get pop-ups of copycat killers,” he said. “This guy is starting to convince other criminals to take justice into their own hands. If I don’t stop him, the city is going to be infested with these people.”

Life imprisonment was a given with the body count, but there were other things he could do to make a prisoner’s time even more insufferable. Namely, influence the prison he’d be sent to.

Mayor Kepler tilted his head, a ripple of frustration bubbling through his features.

“You’re not having doubts, are you?” His voice, though soft, carried an undercurrent of a threat.

“No,” I lied, the word a stone in my throat.

“Because that would be a big problem,” the mayor snapped. “Your email said you’re convinced the Vigilante is someone you know.”

“I never saidconvinced,” I replied hesitantly.

Veins pulsed on his reddening forehead. “What prompted that email?”

I bit my lip nervously, trying to enter the confession pool at the shallow end.

“Well,” I started, “when the Vigilante confronted me in the ladies’ room, I wondered if perhaps I’d met him before.”

“What made you wonder that?” he asked.

I shrugged. “It was just a…feeling that I got.”

“You have any idea who the Vigilante might be?”

The mayor’s shadow seemed to envelop me, his demanding presence making my heart race, each beat mirroring my moral struggle. This morning, watching the sun rise over Lake Michigan, everything seemed so clear. I had to do this.

The air in the courtroom was thick, clinging to me like a heavy fog while my stomach churned with anxiety. Each beat of my heart sounded like a warning in my ears, a signal of imminent disaster.

Moments with Hunter flashed through my mind. His smile, the feeling of his hand on mine, the look in his eyes when he vowed his protection, and the one when he’d said he loved me.

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