Page 85 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“Know what?” I asked.

“You know what I’m talking about,” he said.

I glanced out at the sparse audience, spotting Hunter.

Sean’s gaze hardened. “Eight days, Luna. Not a word since we showed up at Hunter’s. And that doesn’t even include the time I came before that, warning you of my suspicions.”

His words pressed down on me, every syllable a reminder of the weight I’d been carrying, the distance I’d put between us.

“I told you, I was working on my dad’s case, and I didn’t have time for anything else.”

“You could have talked to me for two minutes when I was at Hunter’s place.” Every line on his forehead was etched with hostility.

Lord, I was a terrible friend. Was this how it would be if I chose Hunter’s side? Hunter had asked if I could live with his past crimes, but if I did, I’d be going against my only friend. Could I live with that?

“Do you know who Hunter is?” Sean pressed.

“Why do you think he’s the Vigilante?” I hedged.

“You heard what Detective Rinaldi said.”

“All of which was circumstantial and weak at that.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Sean said, taking one step closer. “Do you know if Hunter is the Windy City Vigilante?”

If.A very telling word. They still didn’t know for sure, thank goodness, but this still felt terrible, staring into the eyes of a friend who had always been good to me.

I wanted to be honest with Sean—he deserved my honesty after all he’d done for me, after being my only friend for years—but honesty sentenced Hunter’s fate.

Sean was a great guy, but he was also someone you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. He could hold a grudge like no other.

Once, Sean’s sister had her college entrance essays stolen, copied, and sold online. When she got her rejection, it came with a big fat accusation that she’d plagiarized her own damn essay. With Sean’s sleuthing skills, he figured out what happened, but by that time, the school had already filled all their seats, and she missed out on her dream college.

So, what did Sean do? Let it go?

No. No, he didn’t. He tracked down the kid who’d stolen it, found out which college the kid was going to, and drove twelve hours to meet with the dean. With all his evidence. But he didn’t stop there.

He created a webpage optimized for search engines, so anytime someone googled the kid’s name, his plagiarism and the deceitful act of selling it online was the first thing you saw. Second thing? Disgraced expulsion from college.

And he still didn’t stop there. He pulled favors from some of the local reporters he’d developed relationships with by that point—Sean was older than his sister and was well on his way to working full-time as a true crime podcaster—and they ran stories in the local news, newspapers, and blogs, further disgracing him.

The guy was ruined. Completely. No other colleges would accept him, no one would hire him, and no one wanted to date him. Sean ensured his life was completely destroyed.

If he found out who Hunter was, Sean would do everything in his power to make his already-ruined life even worse. Serving a life sentence wouldn’t be enough. He’d ensure every prisoner hated the prosecutor even more than they already would, not just to endanger him, but to make him a target of unspeakable acts.

Every. Single. Day.

“Sean, I was the one that told you to hunt the Vigilante. Why would I do that if I were trying to protect him?”

“Maybe you said it before you knew.”

Look at the veins about to pop on his temple. “I’ve never seen you this riled up over a case you’re working.”

“This one’s personal.”

“Yeah, but”—now that I was thinking about it—“you’ve been getting more upset with each case you work on,” I said. “Why?”

A troubled expression crossed Sean’s face, his teeth catching his bottom lip.

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