CHAPTER THREE
Emily
I couldn’t even begin to describe the flurry of emotions I felt as I held the envelope in my hand. All this time, the key to Julie’s disappearance could have been under the floorboards in my bedroom. I opened up the envelope carefully.
Age had made it delicate, but inside was a handwritten letter. It was Julie’s handwriting. I took a deep breath and began to read.
Emily,
I’m so sorry. I don’t expect you to understand why I’m leaving. But I need to. You know how our parents are. I can’t handle the pressure anymore.
I’m not going to tell you where I’m going. If I did, Mom and Dad would stop at nothing to get that information from you. But Evan will be with me. I’ll be safe, I promise. I hope one day you get out too and we can find each other again.
I love you, little sis. Take care of yourself.
Julie
I checked the envelope for something else-- anything else. But aside from that letter, it was empty.
Bryce was looking at me expectantly. I glanced up at him, not sure what I could say. “She wasn’t kidnapped,” I said. “She ran away with her boyfriend.” I frowned. “But none of this makes sense. Evan kept showing up to school as if nothing had happened. And we never hid messages or anything in our floorboards, so why would she put it there?” And why wouldn’t Evan tell me? Sure, we had only met a few times, but why didn’t he tell me my sister was safe?
“We can find out,” Bryce said. “I promise.”
I nodded. “We’ll have to start with her old boyfriend. Evan. He used to live in that crappy apartment building on Fifth Avenue.”
Bryce nodded. “I’ll let Chase know. He’ll track him down.”
“Chase?”
“The president of the Hell’s Renegades.”
“Oh.” I watched as Bryce pulled out his phone and dialed a number. It was hard to believe this was my childhood friend. Sure, he had always been a bad boy. But now he seemed calmer and a lot surer of himself. His manner was authoritative as if he was used to taking control of everything around him.
When we were growing up, Bryce was always a smart ass. He was constantly getting in trouble at school and in middle school, he started skipping school. Most of the students were terrified of him although he rarely got into fights. He always claimed he did what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to fight back when he got attacked. Luckily that didn’t happen often.
And that was true. Up to a point. He grew up terrified of his father. I never asked for specifics and Bryce was never forthcoming, but every time he even thought of his dad, he got scared and would usually shut the conversation down.
That was no longer the case. Right now, it didn’t look like anything could scare him.
After he hung up the phone, he fixed me with a stern look. “How are you doing?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I think I’m all right. This is the first time in years I’ve had any hope of her being alive.”
Bryce smiled at me. “We’ll find her, Emily. I promise.”
I bit my lip. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Bryce.”
He fixed me with a stern glare. “I never break a promise. You know that.”
A shiver went down my spine.
“While Chase tracks down Evan, do you want to go back to your old house? You might be able to find more clues.”
My stomach twisted in knots at the thought of it. I didn’t exactly have a lot of happy memories there. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face it, even if my parents weren’t there anymore.
“Not yet,” I said. “I can’t go back there yet.”
“No problem,” he said. “Let’s get you settled in, and you can relax a little before we think of our next move.”