You Will Know Vengeance: a Tanto Thriller by W. A. Pepper

Author:W. A. Pepper [W. A. Pepper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hustle Valley Press
Published: 2022-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter forty-three

Something I Can Actually Do

Two minutes had passed in silence as Quidlee’s thoughts warred in his head. His closed eyes and bowed head, along with his bushy eyebrows trying to touch, reminded me of a level of pain I knew all too well.

Silence is key in Bushido life; many a successful warrior took time to plan how to respond to a situation. Quidlee licks his lips, and a noise rolls out of his throat that sounds like air escaping from an inner tube.

“The Memphibians found out where we lived.” Quidlee rubs his palms with his fingernails and spits on the ground. “The sons of bitches didn’t even hurt me . . .”

Bastards like that never do; to get to you, they hurt those around you.

A car alarm in the distance honks several times. I know the question that I must ask, but the words hurt as they slide out of my throat as if they are attached to sandpaper.

“Is Penny still alive?”

He remains silent. Why did I ask that? I didn’t even know the girl. I instantly regret asking, but I want to know. No, I need to know.

“Yeah . . . she is,” he takes a shaky breath. “The assault was a warning . . . they left a note stapled to her forehead.”

Tears choke Quidlee as he bites his cheek, probably hard enough to draw blood.

“She’s no victim,” he says fiercely. “I’ve never known anyone as strong as her, but . . . the doctors found blood and skin cells under her nails that went through several layers of epidermis. Bruises everywhere, broken ribs . . . look, she’s trained in self-defense . . . and she caused some real damage too . . . Penny just couldn’t . . .”

Even the greatest warrior, one who trained and sacrificed every single day, even at their peak performance, could not survive a swarm of attackers.

“I bet she fought hard, Quidlee.” Another car horn in the distance sounds and yet another follows. Houston area traffic is picking up at this point in the day. “What do the Memphibians want?”

Quidlee bites off a hangnail from his thumb and spits it through the fence. At least a little part of him has some freedom outside of this prison.

“I had a backup of the files I’d stashed in a compressed and hidden folder at the local coffee shop where I’d done the job. Until I got them their product back, they were going to make Penny mule for them. That was the day before the Feds busted my ass.”

Who knows how long ago that was? They could’ve killed Penny the day the government made Quidlee disappear.

“She’s posting on her blog,” he says with the first note of hope in his voice. “I can’t access it, of course, but I can see public posts through the dark web. In each picture there’s a clue only I know about. Letting me know she’s not okay, but doing okay, do you get me?”

I nod. Whether Quidlee is in front of them or as far away as Timbuktu, this gang is taking its vengeance.

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