Revenge gnaws at the heart like maggots. Not a day went by when I didn't think about the witch. Or I should say bitch.

Perched on the couch of the Voiceless Rebels hideout, I waited for my brother to come downstairs with whatever new information he discovered. Just when I was about to fall asleep, Emmett woke me up with a phone call close to ten o-clock at night. Adam told me he'd be working overtime, so I stuck his supper in the microwave for him to heat up later.

I knew Adam wouldn't be too pleased to find me gone, but I left a note in case he got back before I did. Something came up in one of their cases and it was urgent. Adam didn't always tell me everything he dealt with at work, but I didn't tell him everything that I do for the Voiceless Rebels either. We both kept secrets from each other. And while I knew that couldn't be healthy in a relationship, I felt like it was for the best. Maybe it's better not to know every little detail about the person you love.

"Great, you're here." Emmett emerged from the staircase, donned in black jogging wear.

Sometimes I forgot how my brother rarely slept. His bloodshot eyes with dark rings made him resemble a tired raccoon.

"Yeah, you woke me up." I pouted. "This better be important."

"Jeez, you're already acting like a grandma. Who goes to sleep this early?" Emmett scoffed.

"Normal people who aren't doped up do," I snapped.

"Someone's cranky." Emmett rolled his eyes. "Remind me not to disrupt your naptime anymore."

Sighing, I reclined back against the couch. "Get to the point already. Tell me why you called me over here so late. Why couldn't this wait until tomorrow?"

"Mal just found Dylan." Emmett grinned. "Thought we could go pay him a visit."

"Seriously? Where is he?" I sprung up from the couch like a yo-yo, ready to collect my coat and boots.

"That strip joint. The Lucky Lady Lounge."

"Can't say that surprises me," I muttered. "Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's go."

"Sure thing. Let me go get Kaz and we'll head out," Emmett said.

My brows furrowed. "You're bringing your boyfriend to a strip club?"

Emmett shrugged. "Sure, why not? He's bi, you know? He'll love it."

"Won't you get jealous?" I asked, shivering at the idea of taking Adam to such a place. I'd be so uncomfortable with it. If he wanted to go there on his own, fine, but I wouldn't be able to sit with him ogling other women like that.

"It's not like he's gonna fuck any of those whores. Kaz loves me. He'd never do something to betray my trust." Something in his glare darkened.

It worried me as my brother hurried back upstairs to fetch Kazimir. Emmett could be possessive sometimes. I hoped he wouldn't get that way with Kazimir. Being with the artist had helped him a lot lately. Kaz made my brother happy. I'd hate for Emmett to ruin one of the few good things left in his life.

💀

The giant, crooked sign of the cartoon stripper shook in the wind. I couldn't help but look around, wondering if my stalker still watched my every movement. Nobody peculiar stuck out to me in the strip club, but the night at the aquarium, nobody did either. Folding my arms across my chest, I shivered.

Big boobs and bouncing butts could be seen everywhere. Emmett and Kaz stuck close beside me as we took in the small crowd that had gathered at the strip club that night. Women danced on poles, wearing the scantiest of clothing possible, while men ogled them from their tables. Some of the guys even ordered drinks and food to enjoy the show presented for them.

Never could I imagine myself in such a position. I hated wearing a swim suit out in public, let alone tight-fitting undies that exposed my butt cheeks. Good for them for having that kind of confidence.

Emmett took the lead and maneuvered through the tight area of tables. Kaz and I kept close behind him. Loud music I couldn't understand blared through the speakers while men whistled and shouted raunchy stuff at the ladies dancing for them.

We found Mal in the back, being entertained by one of the strippers. She shook her giant breasts in his face while he drooled over her. Typical of him. Almost any woman mesmerized him. Even me. His flirting never got him anywhere though. I just wasn't interested in him romantically or sexually.

Mal was a sweet guy. He just got caught up with the wrong people and fell down the rabbit hole filled with drugs, much like Emmett did. I pitied the poor guy sometimes. He just wanted to be loved, like most of us do. I just couldn't reciprocate his feelings.

"Having fun?" Emmett smirked as we came up to his table.

"Hell yeah." Mal's tattooed skull face stretched as he grinned, exposing his yellowish teeth.

Beside me, Kaz blushed bright red as he stared at the young woman who leaned over Mal. Her plump ass was right in our faces, which wasn't a very pleasant experience for me. Emmett made himself comfortable at the table with Mal while the stripper continued her little performance.

"While you guys chill here, we're gonna go up to the bar. Right, Kaz?" I tugged on his arm, breaking his trance from the pretty stripper.

"Y-Yeah, sure."

I shook my head. Men could be too predictable sometimes, even Kaz.

After pulling him away from the stripper, who blew the artist a kiss as we walked away, I scanned the unfamiliar faces for Dylan. A blast of cold air brushed by me as the entry door opened and two men in business suits stepped inside. Neither of them were Dylan. One of the guys seemed nervous, as he clung to the other man like a cub wandering the forest with its mother for the first time. He was kinda cute too and reminded me of Adam, but a lot younger.

"What's the plan here?" Kaz asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "Before Emmett called, I was just gonna sleep. But now that we're here, I feel like we need to find him. Dylan can't do anything to me in a public place and not while Emmett's here either."

"He could be anywhere." Kazimir squinted his eyes, gazing around.

"Let's try asking one of the employees." I motioned to a woman up at the bar. "Just follow my lead, okay?"

Kaz nodded. "Alright."

"Hi, how can I help you folks today?" A petite lady greeted us when we neared the bar. "First time here together?"

"Actually, we're here on official police business." I opened my wallet and quickly shut it before she could see it wasn't an authentic cop ID. "This here is my partner, Kazimir. He doesn't have an official badge, but I could give Sergeant Davidson a quick call right now to verify."

"No need for that. Tell me what I can do for y'all tonight," she said. "We're always very cooperative with police investigations and want to do anything we can to help."

"We're looking for a man named Dylan." I showed her the photo of him on my phone. "We just want to speak to him about an ongoing investigation."

"Oh yes. I know him. He's our new buss-boy," she replied. "Just wait right here. I'll bring him out."

"Thank you."

Once the young woman, who I assumed was a manager, was out of earshot Kaz said, "Oh my God. I can't believe you just did that. You impersonated a police officer."

"No shit, Sherlock." I grinned, proud of my work.

"Where did you get a fake police badge?" Kaz asked. "Can I see it?"

"I don't have one." I pulled my wallet back out and showed him my gym membership card. "You just have to be confident with your lie. You can use whatever props available to make it more convincing. One time, I even convinced a drug addict I was a famous actress. Didn't even question it, and I continued to ramble off a bunch of random shows I played in. She claimed to remember seeing me in all of them."

"That's insane. Sounds like something Emmett would do."

"Well, we learned from the best."

Kaz frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind. Look, here they come."

Dylan froze by the time he got close to us. A dirty white apron wrapped around his waist and his hair probably had enough grease to fry bacon. As he got closer to us, his repulsive body odor assaulted my poor nose. Yikes, that hadn't gotten any better either.

"Come on, we can chat better in the back," I told Dylan.

If he fled, we'd be royally screwed. Sparing a glance at the bodyguards up front, Dylan muttered something under his breath, sparing his boss a half smile before following Kaz and I to the back of the joint. Emmett and Mal both looked up simultaneously as I politely asked the stripper to give us some privacy. Mal dropped his chicken wing on his plate.

"Look who we found," I said. "Park your ass by Emmett, you shithead. Make a scene, and I'll be sure to scream assault. That'll get those scary-looking guards after your pathetic ass."

Putting on a tough act used to be difficult for me. I didn't like using such atrocious language, but Emmett taught me how to intimidate the enemy. Being mixed up in his gang world could be frightening sometimes.

While I did my best to appear intimidating, I knew Dylan wasn't afraid of me. It was the muscle I always had around me and murderous older brother that made him almost crap his pants.

"Heard you swung by the old hair salon." Emmett draped his arm around Dylan like they were old chums. "Thought I made it fucking clear that you better stay away from there. Did you think I was joking?"

"I – I was desperate. I needed coke," Dylan muttered.

"Yeah? That the only thing you stop by for? Sure it wasn't to come check on Everly? You know what I do to dirty fucks like you who try messing with my little sister?" Emmett shifted in his seat a bit before retrieving his switchblade. He directed the pointy tip against Dylan's crotch.

"I didn't do nothing, man. I swear on my momma's grave. I just needed the coke, then I thought better and got the hell outta there. Swear it. Please, man."

"You come to work here so you can some free action?" I asked him. "Bet you grab these women all the time, dontcha?"

"I mean, they asking for it. Ya know? They're shaking their shit all up in our faces," he replied, smirking.

"Is that why you grabbed my ass that day?" I glared down at him, wishing I had the knife in my hand. "Was I just asking for it?"

Dylan licked at his lips, shaking his head suddenly. "I shouldn't have done that. You're just so fucking pretty, I couldn't help myself. Like damn. You know most dealers are ugly skinheads. No pretty gals ever given me drugs before."

I rolled my eyes. "You're a creep, but I don't think you're a killer."

Dylan gaped like a fish out of water. "Killer? Nah, man. I ain't no killer. I swear –"

"You swear on something one more time and you can kiss your left nut goodbye," Emmett warned him.

Dylan cringed, scooting his back all the way against the booth. "I won't. But I'm telling ya, I'm no killer. You got the wrong person."

"He's probably telling the truth," I said. "He's too stupid to be responsible."

"Exactly." Dylan nodded.

After Emmett retracted his knife from the guy's crotch, Dylan let out a breath of relief. I had a feeling he wouldn't show his face around our drug dealing spot for a long time. Emmett's scare tactic proved to be very efficient this time.

"I heard about what happened," Dylan said. "The person who shot you is fucking nuts."

"You know who it was?" I asked.

"Huh? No, I don't know her." Dylan shook his head. "It takes a psycho to do that though. People been talking on the streets bout it. Heard it might've been a cop."

"A cop?" Emmett rubbed his chin. "Male or female?"

"I'm not sure. Just what I heard some buddies mention," Dylan replied. "I dunno how true it is. They could've been bullshitting. They don't like the po-po. I don't either. They fucking corrupt. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them did it. They wanna clean the streets of filth like us. Had one of those pigheads tell me that once."

"Can't say that's a shocker," I muttered.

"Well, thanks for the info. Keep your ass away from the old hair salon," Emmett told him as he reached over for a buffalo wing to munch on.

"No problem." Dylan scratched at his greasy head. White flakes fell on his black work shirt.

"Well, what are you waiting around here for?" Emmett asked him. "We're not sharing our wings with you. Fuck off."

Dylan wasted no time getting away from us. He damn-near ran back to the back kitchen to hide.

"We're back to square one." I sighed, plopping down beside Mal. "Just when we thought we caught a lead."

"You sure it ain't that Dylan guy?" Mal asked. "He could be trying to trick us."

"Honestly, I never suspected him in the first place," I replied. "He showed up at the old hair salon, and I reconsidered it, but I think it really was just a coincidence. Dylan's a dumbass. He wouldn't have the wits about him to pull something like this off."

Mal took a sip of his beer. "You got an idea of who would?"

"Not a damn clue." Raking my hands through my hair, I groaned. "It's so freaking frustrating too. Whoever this bitch is probably gets a kick outta toying with me. If only there was a way to lure her out. She's just been too unpredictable lately. Like with what she did to my poor cats."

"Heard about that. I'm sorry." Mal gently touched my shoulder, then pulled away. A small smile stretched across his tattooed skull face. "I want to catch this bitch too. You don't deserve none of this, Everly. We'll find her. I just know it."

"Thanks, Mal. I'm glad all y'all have my back."

"Well, lookie who it is."

Layla came over to our table.

"Hey girl," I said.

"What brings y'all here?" Layla asked.

"Chasing a failed lead," I replied. "That creep, Dylan works here. Remember, the guy who harassed me when I dealt to him?"

"Oh, yeah. You told me about him. Why do you think he had involvement?" Layla questioned.

"He showed up at the old hair salon a few days ago," I replied.

"Oh shit. Well, you said a failed lead, so you don't think he did anything then?"

I shook my head. "Nah, Dylan's too stupid."

"I'm sure y'all will find the bitch who's tried to kill you. If not, Adam and his crew will," Layla assured me.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Well, I gotta get back to work before the manager chews my ass off. I'll see y'all tomorrow night at the Viper Lounge for Sydney's surprise birthday party," Layla said before walking away.

I'd been so caught up in finding my stalker, I completely forgot about my best friend's birthday party. Before everything went to hell, I bought her presents ahead of time. They still sat in my closet all wrapped up. I felt like such a horrible friend. Sydney had always been there for me, especially after I was shot and miscarried.

We ordered more wings and booze to our table. Getting drunk probably wasn't what I needed, but in that moment, I couldn't care less. I wanted to forget about everything, just for awhile.