Page 139 of Wicked Promises

“Margo—”

“Ms. Wolfe,” Detective Masters says, seemingly taking over the phone call. “You weren’t supposed to go in there.”

“She needed someone to talk to.” I glance at Claire.

She waves the gun at me. “What do they want?”

“Can you tell us if anyone is hurt?” Masters asks.

“No. Caleb and I are okay.”

“We just want to resolve this peacefully.”

“What is hesaying?” Claire snaps.

My temper is fraying. “If you wanted to know, you should’ve answered the damn phone.”

She comes over and snatches it, shoving me away. In the years we lived together, she never laid a hand on me. Now it’s twice.

I go to Caleb, immediately ripping at the tape on his wrists. It’s useless. She wound it around so thick, I’d need scissors to break through it.

“You okay?” He leans his forehead to mine. “You shouldn’t have come in here.”

“Don’t.” I glare at him. “If something happened to you?—”

His taped hands come up and grab the front of my shirt, hauling me to him.

He slams his lips against mine, fast and furious.

When he pulls away a second later, I narrow my eyes. “That better not have been your way of saying?—”

“Margo,” Claire says.

Caleb’s grip slips from my shirt, and I straighten.

I raise my eyebrow. The phone is back on the wall, and she saunters toward us. My attention goes to the gun, which she’s slowly raising in my direction.

“Step away from Caleb,” she orders. “He isn’t yours anymore.”

“Like hell,” I mutter.

She slaps me.

My head whips to the side, pain exploding across my cheek and jaw. She justhitme.

“You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you,” she says. “Maybe I just should and get it over with.”

She cocks the safety, and my heart stops.

And then Caleb is between us. His closeness forces me to step back, and we keep going until my hip hits one of the counters.

“Always the freaking knight in shining armor,” Claire says. “Saving her again?”

“Saving you,” he answers. “How do you expect to walk out of here if you shoot either of us?”

Her eyes round.

“Besides, we were having a conversation. Remember?” He rolls his shoulders. “How did they know Hanna was my mom’s kid?”