Page 109 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“I shouldn’t have done it, not with you in the room,” he said.

CHAPTER50

Hunter

Iaimed the cold, gleaming barrel at Stanley’s bloodshot eye socket, watching as the dim light glinted off the metal as he stood in his living room with its peeling wallpaper and stench of stale cigarette smoke.

The shrill ringtone of my cell phone cut through the silence, echoing eerily in the room until it went to voice mail, only to start ringing again.

“Go ahead, son.” Stanley’s voice was low, the years of nicotine making it rasp.

“Don’t call me that,” I said through clenched teeth.

I yanked my cell from my pocket, prepared to shut the damn thing off.

Until I saw the number.

I’d asked Grayson to help find the courthouse shooter, who was a threat to Luna. If he was calling me, it might be urgent.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Grayson said.

“Is everyone okay? Everyone safe?” I pressed. Anything else would have to wait.

“I found the guy who shot Luna’s father.”

A jolt zapped through my veins, buzzing my fingertips and toes, my finger trembling on the trigger.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Grayson answered. Behind him, there was some kind of low hum.

The gun in my hand lowered a few inches.

“How did you find him?” I managed. Grayson had been gone for a couple of hours. How would he find a shooter that the police had failed to find for days?

“I have some…contacts on the streets,” Grayson said evasively. “You were right. It was a contract killer.”

Another jolt of electricity, this one shooting through my ribs.

“How do you have contacts with people who know contract killers?”

“You won’t believe who this guy claims ordered the hit,” Grayson said, skillfully dodging my question. “This guy says it was Uncle Alexander.”

Stumbling back, I shook my head, desperate for an escape from this nightmare.

One accusation against my uncle could be doubted, but a second? From an independent source? The facts were becoming harder to dispute.

“I punished him for saying it,” Grayson said. “But when I gave the guy some encouragement that was…uncomfortable, he still didn’t change his story.”

Jesus.

“He’s probably lying,” Grayson said. “Although I can’t figure out his motivation. Or why he’d use our uncle’s name, of all things.”

The room seemed to spin, and a cold sweat formed on my brow, every beat of my heart echoing the betrayal.

“I’m starting to think he’s not lying, Grayson.”

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