Page 68 of Reckless Vengeance

She was the best to the guys, and it made me so grateful to have a decent parent in my life.

“We didn’t go, it’s complicated,” I answered, not wanting her to know the Psychos were blaming Rory for his death. She was already worried about our safety, and I didn’t want to add to it.

“Was it dangerous?”

“No, but the crew did a private thing and we decided we’ll go and do something ourselves,” I shrugged, wondering how Tyler was this morning. He’d been devastated about missing the funeral, but then it was like he’d shut that shit down and blocked it all out. Same as Rory.

“If any of you need to talk about it, you know you can talk to me,” she promised. “Or about anything. You know I won’t judge you.”

Lukas stepped back, giving her a nod as he snatched Jensen’s hand before he could change his mind, testing the waters a little.

“Thanks, Josie.”

“Oh, I also have this too. The chief gave it to me.” She handed over a piece of paper to me, making me frown as I read over everything.

“What’s this?”

“That’s a letter from Marla Donovan. It was written not long before she vanished, but it wasn’t labeled correctly in their system when they found it. They were doing an audit of past records while looking for information regarding another case and found it. Obviously, I pulled strings to get a copy of it, so don’t make it too public that you have it, okay? I hope it helps.”

“Thanks, I’ll take it to Rory,” I promised, taking a photo of it with my phone in case it got damaged.

“I have a spa appointment so I’ll be gone for a few hours. I’ll see you later,” she said before heading off, leaving us alone.

“That felt good,” Lukas said firmly, more to himself than to us.

“Did you think Mom wouldn’t accept it?” I asked, and he winced.

“I had some concerns.”

“Understandable, dude,” I said as I patted his arm. “We should get this to Rory.”

“What does it say?” Jensen asked, looking over my shoulder at the note.

He’s never going to let me go. I can’t run with Aurora, but I need to leave before I don’t have the chance. This time when I run, no one will ever find me until I want to be found. I have to pray that Aurora will be okay until I can come back for her. It makes me wonder if Polly was stuck too, or if he genuinely loved her. If you ever find the chance, please check on my sweet girl. I’m sorry things had to end this way, but I’ll see you again one day soon. I love you, Axel. I probably have no right to ask, but please protect her. He’s a fucking monster.

Sending you all my love,

Marla Xx

“A love note?” Jensen questioned, but Lukas shook his head.

“Axel is Marla’s younger brother that died in gang shit when Rory was younger.”

“Considering this was written around the time Marla ran, I don’t think he’s as dead as Rory thinks,” I murmured, folding the paper carefully and putting it in my pocket. “We need to take this to Rory right now. Skeet’s with them too, so maybe he can pass it along to his connections.”

“Who’s Polly?”

“I’m thinking she might be Rory’s bio mom,” I answered as I downed the rest of my coffee before we headed out to Jensen’s car to leave, sitting in the back so Lukas could sit up front.

“Did all their belongings get sold off when they lost the house?” I asked, and Lukas nodded.

“I think so. Mom took us away for the weekend while they cleared the house so we didn’t get spotted near the scandal,” he said with the roll of his eyes. “Rory was sitting in the house in the Heights alone for days until it was sorted. I managed to sneak out to see her on one of the days, and Max hadn’t even left food in the house. I gave her some money, but I didn’t have much on me. I’d stolen it out of a jar at home, just in case.”

“If the cops had the note, why wasn’t an investigation done? It’s obvious that their home life was bad before she vanished,” I scowled, and Jensen sighed.

“Because people cover things up. Skeet thought the cops were hiding something, right?”

“Right, but Max was broke. Who paid them to bury everything about her?” I muttered, racking my brain for answers I knew I didn’t have.