Page 124 of Wicked Promises

“I don’t know.” Her eyes fill with tears. “They wouldn’t tell us anything.”

I glance up and down the street, but it’s quiet. The need to get to her is insane, spiking adrenaline through my system. I could run back to school, but we’re almost two miles out.

“Go,” Theo says, reading my mind.

I yank her door open and slide inside.

She gasps. “What are you doing?”

“They took her to the hospital?”

“Y-yes.”

“Take me there,” I urge. “Please.”

She hits the gas, and I’m thrown back against the seat. I pull my seat belt on and turn toward her, ignoring the guilt I feel at leaving Theo alone. It’s against the rules, but this trumps Coach’s stupid rules.

“Claire. The hospital?”

She blinks, wiping the tears off her cheeks. “She never saw it coming.”

“You didn’t say what happened. Or how.” The car is picking up speed. My stomach is in knots.

The hospital is ten minutes away from here, fifteen at the most.

Where did Margo get hurt? It must’ve been closer to the hospital than here.

When Claire doesn’t answer, I look around the car. It’s clean to the point of newness. Not a speck of dust on the dash or the floor. The fabric mats are free of dirt—except what’s come off from my shoes.

I almost feel bad leaning on her leather seats. Sweat rolls down my chest under my sweatshirt, and my back is soaked.

Who runs in the middle of winter?I can hear Margo’s voice in my head.

“Was it Riley’s car?” I ask. “Did she get in a car accident?—”

Two in one month? What would the odds be on that?

Or maybe it was Unknown. They could’ve taken her. Something more violent, like with a gun?—

Claire glances at me, then away. “You care about her so much. How? She told me how you hated her when she started school.”

I shake my head. “Hate is temporary. Love…”

We pause at the stop sign, and her grip on the wheel flexes.

“Love,” she repeats. Sighs. “That is just… the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

There’s a moment when I think she might be up to something. Left is the hospital, and right… the road to the right goes out of town. Away from Rose Hill and toward the freeway.

“You love her, too.”

When did I become a person who discussedlove? It’s easy to see the way Claire cares. She came all the way out here to find me, after all. Why do that if not for Margo’s sake?

She shakes her head. “A foster sibling’s relationship is complicated. Sometimes I think she hates me. But, as you said—hate is temporary.”

She turns left.

“Lenora and Robert—did they get to the hospital already?” I probe. “How did you find out?”