Page 138 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

“I have to tell you something.”

She sits up, her hand landing on top of mine. “What is it?”

“Detective Masters came along while you were sleeping.”

“Unconscious,” she interrupts. “I mean, I fell unconscious from… the memories, or whatever. I was overwhelmed.”

“I thought sleeping was a delicate way to put it.”

She smiles. “Yeah, okay. What did he want?”

“He was hoping to speak to you but ended up talking to your mom. Did you know?”

She twists in her seat to stare at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see she’s shocked. Mouth open, eyebrows raised.

“He came to tell us that he heard something about Whitney.”

“Tell me,” she demands.

“Her parents received a ransom note.”

“Holy shit,” she whispers. “They…”

I glance at her, but she’s gone completely still.

“Skylar?”

She shakes her head.

A bad feeling takes root in my stomach. I was fourteen when she went missing. Old enough to know that there was an investigation, and that, after a week of her being gone, she was probably dead. I lived with that. I thought the girl next door would turn up in a body bag.

“My parents never struggled with money before,” she whispers. “And then I came back, and I had to stay in the hospital, I think? And Dr. Penn’s visits were only half covered by insurance. They were always arguing about money, and savings, and…”

“What are you saying?” I’ve got a death grip on the wheel now.

“I’m saying… I think my parents received a ransom demand.” She’s white as a ghost.

I pull the car over, slamming it into ‘park.’ A ransom would mean…

Of course she was taken.

There was never a question of it. She was missing, and not of her own free will.

Just as fast, she hops out and takes a few steps into the snow, then bends over and vomits. I jump out and race around, catching her before her knees give out. She pushes her hair back and wipes her mouth.

“Sorry,” she says. “Wasn’t ready for that realization.”

I help her back into the car and hand her the water bottle from my bag. She swishes and spits it out onto the asphalt, then closes her door. She shoves a piece of gum in her mouth and chews furiously.

I join her back in the car, and we both face forward. “So, a ransom.”

“It makes sense,” she says. “Why I was let go so close to home. Maybe they thought I could find my way.”

I nod slowly, but inside, my stomach twists. “They knew where you lived?”

She picks at her fingernails. “I don’t know.”

“Okay. It’s okay. I mean…”

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