"If you men are done eating breakfast caveman-style, let's get to work!" Mandy said, glaring at her nephews and brother-in-laws huddled up around the old grill by the barn. They were tearing into hot, greasy barbecued meat straight off the skewers with their teeth and bare hands without regard for burning their mouth. Watching them, Mandy couldn't help but think her family's men were living proof that evolution sometimes took a few steps backward.
"Mandy, you should try some. It's too damn delicious," Danny said, licking the oil dripping down his hands.
"Junior, don't talk with your mouth full," Mandy scolded, raising an eyebrow at her nephew. Then she turned to Ace, crossing her arms. "Ace, clean yourself up. You're coming with me today."
Before Ace could reply, Dan interjected. "He's coming with me to the sheriff's office." His tone was firm, his jaw clenched. Dan still regretted not being there to face the Rockworths when it mattered, but he was determined to make up for it now—regardless of the consequences.
"Dan, I'm handling this," Mandy shot back, her voice sharp. She pointed a finger at him for emphasis. "You and Alwin need to get those pipelines laid from your ranch to the avocado orchards before those trenches dry up. Don't fight me on this one. I'll get you what you need."
She knew Dan well enough to understand that if she left things to him, he'd handle it the old-fashioned way. And the old-fashioned way would likely land him in lockup alongside the Rockworths. That would be plain stupid. Why complicate things when they could be solved with some common sense?
"What I need," Dan yelled, his face reddening, "is to punch that smug son of a bitch David until I knock out every one of his perfect white teeth for what he and his spawn put our family through!" His fist slammed against the table, making Danny flinch.
Danny, sensing the tension rise, decided it was in his best interest to slip away and head to school early. As for Ace, he just stood there, confused. He couldn't understand why his uncle, father and Mandy got so worked up every time the Rockworths—especially David—were mentioned.
"Alwin, handle your brother," Mandy ignored Dan and asked Alwin to make sure his brother doesn't do something stupid and then turning to Ace she stern reminded, "Ace, what are you still doing here? Clean yourself and get into my car. Now!"
"Mandy, I don't think I'm needed there. Besides, I have school," Ace said, stepping in front of Danny, who was quietly slipping some BBQ into a paper bag planning to sneak off but he was his ride to school, and Ace also needed his car to get to Wesley Winery Resort & Spa and complete the Curse Exorcism Request before someone else beat him to it.
"Like hell you're not," Mandy and Dan said in unison. They exchanged a look, then turned their eyes back to Ace.
Mandy crossed her arms and leaned slightly forward. "I need you there to see me make them squirm helplessly for what they put you and our family through last night," she said in tone simmering with barely restrained fury.
Ace hesitated. As much as he wanted to watch Mandy take down Brook and her family, his priorities lay elsewhere. The Curse Exorcism Request—and the phantom paint curseling's curse core—was far more important right now. Revenge could wait, but the opportunity to secure that core couldn't. He prioritied it so much because it might end up being a lifeline for his family in the future.
"I—" he started to explain, but his father cut him off.
"Son, go with her," Alwin ordered firmly, his eyes locking onto Ace. "If you want to live out here, every act of aggression against you and your family needs to be properly addressed before it escalates in to a tragedy."
Alwin's tone left no room for argument, and Ace felt the weight of the unspoken lesson in his father's words. Family came first—and so did protecting it. He knew that he was doing just that in his way but he was needed here today.
"Fine. If my grades start to slip, don't blame me," Ace muttered, putting up one last, weak protest.
His father shot him a sharp look and countered effortlessly, "Only if you don't blame me when my boots end up on your ass."
"Alright, alright. Let's just get this over with," Ace grumbled, heading to the tap by the barn to wash his hands and mouth. He scrubbed quickly and dried off with a rag hanging nearby before making his way to Mandy's prized dark Starpedo. Sliding into the passenger seat, he buckled up, noticing her setting a course on the map.
As they pulled out, the map destination caught his eye. "Wait... aren't we going to the sheriff's office?" he asked, raising a brow at the route.
"The sheriff's office? Pfft, no way," Mandy said, smirking as she hit the gas, sending the Starpedo roaring down the dirt road. "If I take them there, that bitch Brooke and her family will get off too easily. I've got something much more interesting planned."
Ace glanced at the map again, noting their destination seemed to be a remote area on the outskirts of the town. He couldn't help but feel both intrigued and uneasy about whatever Mandy had in mind. So he used Dame Wasp's help to check Mandy's phone and relay him her findings. Hearing the report, Ace's brow furrowed, and he couldn't hold back his frustration. "Are you kidding me, Mandy? You're going to meet David Rockworth by the fallen bridge alone? How could you be so reckless?"
Mandy, unfazed, waved off his concerns with a flick of her wrist. "How am I alone, exactly? Aren't you coming with me?" she said matter-of-factly, shooting him a quick glance before returning her focus to the road.
Ace ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "What if he brought a gun? What if he's not alone? Or worse, what if he doesn't even show up and sends his hired goons to ambush you instead? What were you thinking agreeing to this? It's not too late—turn the car around." His voice was firm, his worry evident.
The Rockworths were strangers to Ace but after the last night incident he understood them well enough to know that they weren't above dirty tricks, and this plan of Mandy's was teetering on dangerous.
Mandy let out a sharp laugh, her grip on the wheel steady. "Relax, Ace. Nothing like that's gonna happen. David's a pussy compared to the assholes I've dealt with before," she said, her voice brimming with confidence as the car sped along the dusty road.
Ace didn't look convinced, his jaw tightening as he stared out the window, mentally preparing for the worst.
The fallen bridge was part of an old route that had fallen into disuse after a storm caused the bridge to collapse. What was once the busiest path to town had become an abandoned, weed-covered dump—a haven for shady dealings and people up to no good. Ace's worry about Mandy agreeing to meet David there was entirely justified, especially since she was blackmailing him.
Yep, Mandy wasn't exaggerating when she said she'd put Brooke and her family through something far worse than what they did to the Landers last night. By "worse," she meant blackmail—the kind that would make them beg for forgiveness.
After learning Brooke had orchestrated the previous night's incident, Mandy called in a favor from Janice, who connected her with her family's cybersecurity team. Within hours, Mandy had obtained chat and transaction logs between Brooke and the Rural Revival volunteer staff. The messages painted a damning picture, exposing Brooke's role in the scheme.
Of course, Mandy knew she couldn't use the evidence legally—the way she'd obtained it was, well, questionable. Instead, she decided to weaponize it another way. She sent the logs directly to David Rockworth, along with a simple threat: She'd post everything online in five minutes.
David's response came almost immediately. He asked Mandy to meet him at the fallen bridge to "sort things out." But Mandy didn't agree right away. She laid down a condition of her own: he had to bring his daughter, Brooke, with him.
Now, driving toward the outskirts of town, Mandy was cool and confident. Ace, on the other hand, was anything but that as he thought the whole setup felt like a disaster waiting to happen.