Page 69 of Reckless Vengeance

It didn’t make sense unless someone else was involved, and I had no idea where to start with that. Half the town was corrupt, it could be anyone.

Skeeter was in a bad mood when we walked into the living room at Tyler’s to find him pacing on the phone. He pointed to the stairs, silently telling us Rory and Tyler were still in bed.

I knew he was probably busy, but I took the piece of paper out and waved it at him.

“Cops gave Mom an old note Marla had written before vanishing. It’s to her brother,” I said, his eyes narrowing.

“I’ll call you back, D.” He hung up and walked over, taking it from my hands to read it. “Axel? Did he have the same last name as Marla?”

“I assume so. He was tied in with gangs, and Rory’s under the impression he was killed as a teenager.”

“Axel fucking Leary,” he repeated almost angrily, handing the note back and typing something on his phone.

“Have you stumbled across him before in your search?” Lukas asked, and Skeeter scoffed.

“No, I couldn’t find anything about Marla having a brother. I was starting to think it was just a family friend that had zero relation to them.”

“Then why the hell do you seem to know the name?” I asked slowly as he glared at his phone for a moment before turning it to show us a prisoner file.

“Because Axel Leary is currently locked up in Fairview Prison. He’s one of Razor’s boys.”

“Shit,” Jensen muttered, just as Rory and Tyler wandered in.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” she asked, and Skeeter actually looked like he was going to keep his mouth shut. I gave him a dirty look and he sighed.

“Cops found a note from your mom that she wrote to her brother before going missing.”

He handed the note to her, and I heard the sharp intake of breath as she ran her finger over the ink.

“It’s her handwriting, but Axel died before she left. I was five, I think. Why would she write him a note?”

“Because Axel’s not dead,” he said before showing her his phone. “Axel Leary, twenty-eight years old, locked up for—” His voice faded before he winced and continued. “Human trafficking. He’s been in there for seven years. Got sentenced to ten.”

“Only ten years for trafficking a fucking person?” Rory sputtered with disgust.

“Depends on the judge or if a deal was made, but yes. Ten years for sex trafficking an adult. He’d be looking at closer to thirty if it was a child.”

“That’s not enough either,” she grumbled, taking his phone and staring at the photo. “What the fuck was he doing getting involved with that? He was always so nice.”

“A nice person doesn’t join the Soldiers or traffic people. For all we know, he’s the one that made her disappear,” Skeeter answered before taking his phone back.

“Maybe he helped her get out?”

“Babe, if this guy helped her get out of town, it was probably by selling her. She could be anywhere if that’s the case. This changes things.”

“It changes nothing,” she spat, sliding the note into her pocket. “She’s out there. I need to visit Axel to talk to him.”

“You need to stay away from that man,” Skeeter warned, blowing out a breath to calm himself. “But I’ll reach out to my guys on the inside and see what I can find out. I’ll visit the fucker myself if I need to.”

“I want to ask him things though. He’s my uncle, Skeet.”

“I know, but he’s not that nice teenager you remember. Right now, the Soldiers are gunning for you, so let me handle it.”

“If you do talk to him, can you ask him why he stopped visiting? Or why he didn’t reach out?” she asked hesitantly, waiting for Skeeter to nod before she dropped down on the couch and lit a cigarette. “And who’s Polly? Is she my bio mom? Holy fuck.”

“I’ll do some digging about Polly too.”

It was a lot to process, so I let her sit alone to think while I turned to Tyler. “You guys have a good night? Didn’t set the kitchen on fire this time?”