Page 111 of Wicked Promises

“Caleb,” Mom warned, like she could read my thoughts.

Maybe the ugly truth was written across my face.

“Can you wait outside, please, honey?” She turned to the detective. “I just don’t want him to hear…”

“Understandable, ma’am.” He was an older man with a full head of gray hair and a mustache to match. “My partner can go sit with him outside, if that’s all right?”

His partner was young, bald, and probably as freaked out as I was. He looked pale, and sweat dotted his brow.

“We could both use the fresh air.” The bald guy motioned for me to hop down, and I led the way to the patio furniture outside. “You know the Wolfes well, son?”

I flinched. “I’m not your son.”

He raised his hands in surrender, settling across the table from me. “I meant no offense.”

I thought about it. “Keith is nice. Margo’s my best friend.” I grinned, forgetting the horrors of the house now that we were in the sunshine. “I’m going to marry her.”

He smiled at me. “And Margo’s mom?”

I paused. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to keep the secret that she and Dad were… more than friends. So I decided on, “She and Dad were close.”

He nodded like he knew what I was saying.

“Where is Margo?”

The older detective slid open the door. “Come on, Masters. We’ve got work to do.”

Mom came outside and knelt beside me. “We’re going to go on a little trip, okay? Just while they figure out what happened to Daddy.”

I hadn’t called him Daddy since I was six, but I kept my mouth shut.

She took my hand and led me around the side of the house, putting me in the car. I hadn’t realized the older detective had followed us, but he stopped Mom in front of the car.

I cranked my window down an inch.

“Caleb mentioned Amber Wolfe and your husband being close,” he said.

“Close? They do talk often.” She blinks. It seemed she was coming apart at the seams at a faster rate than before. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Ma’am—”

“My husband wouldn’t cheat on me,” Mom swore. She covered her mouth just before she burst into tears. “He was justmurdered?—”

The detective shuffled backward. He handed her a handkerchief, and she took it, sparing him a smile. I watched in utter disbelief as she dabbed at her eyes, then offered it to him.

He shook his head. “Keep it. Don’t leave town, all right? We’ll be in touch.”

He extended her a business card, and she shoved it into her purse.

She nodded, standing in front of the car until he turned and went back into our house. Then she got in the car and met my eyes in the rearview mirror. “You told them they wereclose?”

I shrugged.

To my surprise, she smiled. “Good. That will set them on the right path.”

Chapter 31

Margo