Chapter 101. The Junkie’s Ransom

Beck had been quiet for over an hour, and that alone was enough to put Hayden on edge.

He sat hunched over the dining table, laptop open, sleeves rolled up, jaw tight as his fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard. Pages of sealed records, hospital notes, and juvenile files flickered past the screen.

Myla watched him from the couch, curled into Hayden’s side, her feet tucked beneath her. Jared stood near the window, arms crossed, eyes scanning the dark outside more from habit than necessity.

“Jesus,” Beck muttered. “His childhood was more like a casualty report than a life. The documented abuse,” he continued flatly. “Were extreme neglect and physical. He was beaten with whatever she had on hand. Belts, cables, bottles, and pipes. He ran away when social services wanted to place him in foster homes.”

Then he was quiet for a while. "Found her. Her name is Magda Kowalsky.”

Beck turned the screen toward them. The photo showed a woman with sunk