Page 24 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)

“Caleb!” someone calls from downstairs.

I’m about to drop my hand when Caleb snags it, holding it to his cheek. We both exhale.

“Margo? Come down, please.”

I tilt my head. “Angela is here?”

“Is that your case worker?” Caleb lifts an eyebrow, then nods. “She got here when I did. Eli’s dad drove us.”

“That explains the many cars in the driveway, I guess.” I pull away and grab a sweatshirt, carefully zipping it up and heading downstairs.

Before we left the hospital, I got to see Robert. He was intubated and sedated in ICU, and I couldn’t get close, but seeing him through a window was enough. He was in good hands.

Me, on the other hand? Lenora kept worrying the entire way back. She asked me how I was feeling, if I needed anything special at the house, what happened.

What happened, Margo? Who took you?

I already told the detective, and I didn’t have the energy to go through it again. I could sleep for a week.

Three days in the hospital. The detective visited me twice, asking much the same questions. But apparently, they can’t just take witness testimony as fact. There has to be evidence. And so far… nothing.

Plus, Matt Bonner has an alibi.

I didn’t tell Caleb that—mainly because the detective is eager for me to admit it was actually Caleb who took me. It’s odd that the detective has such disdain for him… and such bias.

But who am I to know?

Lenora, Angela, and Eli’s dad—who I’ve managed to only meet once—sit at the kitchen table when Caleb and I come down.

Angela stands, coming over to me. She puts her finger under my chin, lifting my head and inspecting the bandage. “How do you feel?”

“Like…” I shrug. “I don’t know. Fine.”

“Let’s sit,” she suggests.

I wonder if this is the part where they tell me the accident was too much—that I can’t stay. I’ll get a few minutes to pack my bag. At least Caleb will be here to say goodbye.

“Originally, Riley and her mom were going to stay here,” Lenora says. Her eyes are puffy from crying. She stretches her arm across the table, taking my hand. “But… they’re not approved by the county for any sort of fostering. Including respite.”

Respite—temporary housing. A foster’s nightmare. It’s a house you don’t know, with rules you’re unaware, or unfamiliar with, and strangers trying to boss you around.

Angela takes over. “So that wasn’t a possibility, unfortunately. However, the Blacks have actually been approved to take in fosters.”

My gaze shoots over to Eli’s dad.

“You can stay with us,” he says. “Until Robert is out of the hospital. And that leaves Lenora free to stay at the hospital with him.”

Lenora squeezes my hand. “Does that make me a bad mother? Wanting to stay with him?”

Ignoring her responsibilities to stay by his side? Admirable—but maybe, yes, it does shine a certain light on her choices.

I stay silent.

“Is that allowed?” Caleb asks. “The detective—”

“That’s why we wanted to sit down and discuss it,” Angela says. “Yes, you’re a person of interest in the case, but everyone here believes that you didn’t have a hand in it.”

My eyes fill with tears. “Lenora? You believe me?”

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