Page 67 of Vengeance

"He hugged me,” Vengeance said. She felt him tremble. "It was the only time I can remember him doing that." The realization hit them both simultaneously. "If she wasn't dead—” His voice became barely audible. "Then that was all a lie."

Chloe tightened her hold on him. "I'm so sorry.” He slowly wrapped his arms around her, not to comfort her, but to keep himself standing.

"I visited her grave." She closed her eyes. "Every year." The thought made tears sting behind her eyes. He'd mourned a woman who might have been alive the entire time. Or worse, a woman who had abandoned him. She hated that possibility, not because it would hurt Vengeance, but because she could already see him blaming himself for it.

"Don't do that to yourself,” she said. He looked down at her. "I know what you're thinking."

"No, you don't,” he breathed.

"You're wondering why she never came for you." He stared because she had apparently guessed correctly.

"You don't know what happened." He looked away. "I should've looked into her death."

"You were six,” she defended.

"I should've questioned him,” Vengeance insisted.

"You were just a child." Chloe hated how Dante had stolen both of their childhoods from them, but there wasn’t a way that she could change the past. She just wished that Vengeance could see that.

He laughed bitterly. “Doesn’t change the fact that I fucked up,” he said.

The radio crackled again, and Bowie's voice returned. "You still there?"

Vengeance reluctantly stepped away from Chloe. "Yeah."

"We're moving,” Bowie said.

"Already?" Vengeance asked.

"We've got company,” Bowie shouted.

His shoulders stiffened. "Dante?"

"Unknown."

"What about the files?" Vengeance asked.

"We've split them up. If he finds one of us, he won’t get all the information,” Bowie said. Chloe thought that was pretty smart. "If somebody hits one vehicle, the evidence survives." Chloe silently admired Bowie. Even grieving Savage and chasing Dante, he still thought three moves ahead.

"I'll contact you again in forty-eight hours," Bowie said.

"No," Vengeance shouted, surprising her. "That’s too long,” he said.

"We don't have a choice,” Bowie insisted.

"You do,” Vengeance said.

"What?" Bowie asked.

"If you're moving, use the emergency frequency." Static answered back, and Chloe worried that they had lost Bowie’s signal.

"I burned that radio years ago,” Bowie said.

"No, you didn't." Vengeance paused. "You kept it."

Bowie sighed heavily. “Savage always said you were too damn observant."

"Still have the frequency memorized,” Vengeance boasted.