Page 99 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)

Hope flares inside my chest. And hope? It’s a dangerous thing. It can lift you up and drop you when you least expect it.

So I shove the hope away and remain cautious. Lenora and Robert both start to ask questions when I walk back in, but they’re silenced by the detective’s reappearance.

We go to the dining room. My painting of Caleb is on the floor in the corner, but he makes no comment about it.

“Okay,” he says once we’ve sat. “Let’s hear it.”

“You know I lived with my parents in the Asher guest house. My mom and his dad were having an affair, which apparently everyone knew except me and…” I shake my head. “I was upstairs in Caleb’s room one day—before I found out about the affair—and I heard Mrs. Asher talking to someone.”

“Someone. How old were you?”

I wince. “I had just turned ten.”

“Okay, so, we’re dealing with unreliable memory.”

“Yeah… I didn’t know who she was talking to, but I remember the guy was upset about what she was asking him to do. She said she was paying him enough. I mentioned it to Caleb, and he told me it was Tobias. That’s how, when Caleb and I ran into Tobias in the city in October, Tobias knew Caleb.” I pause and suck in a deep breath.

“So you’ve established a relationship between your dad’s lawyer and the Ashers. Go on.”

“Why would he have a car in the city? Does he drive it a lot?”

The detective smiles. “You’re asking the right questions, at least. And I’m going to humor you.” He flips through his notebook. “I talked to Mr. Hutchins myself. He said the car was stored in a garage, and he was planning on a Sunday drive to visit family when he noticed it missing.”

I grunt. “It’s too neat. He reports it missing mere hours before it’s involved in my…”

“Or it’s good timing, and we avoided a lot of hassle because he did notice.”

“You’re supposed to be humoring me.”

He sighs. “Margo, I’ll humor you as far as logic will allow. But reaching for pieces of facts to make them fit your theory is bad detective work.”

Like you did with Caleb? I bite my tongue instead of spitting out that accusation.

“Okay, okay.” I bite my lip. “You don’t find it fishy that there’s a link from Matt to Lydia, and then also a link from Lydia to Tobias?”

“Matt, who allegedly kidnapped—”

“He did take me, Detective.”

His eyes bore into mine, then he nods. “Okay. I agree, there’s a connection there.”

“Aha!” I lean back in my chair. “Now what?”

“Is that your whole theory?”

I raise my eyebrow. “Honestly? Yeah. I have no idea who Unknown is, just that they’re probably my age. Which means they’re someone who knows Lydia—and maybe Matt—and goes to Emery-Rose.”

“Matt Bonner went to Emery-Rose,” Robert says from the doorway.

I jump.

“He transferred, but I suspect he knows quite a few kids at your school. Still friends, even.” Robert frowns. “Sorry, that’s unhelpful.”

“Quite all right,” Masters says. “How are you feeling?”

He lets out a small chuckle. “Like someone scraped through my insides with a blade. I’ll be fine in due time.”

“You’re welcome to join us.” The detective motions to a chair. “You knew Matt?”

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