“No.”
The officer guided me into the kitchen.
The moment Ethan saw me, he ran into my arms.
I held him so tightly that he whimpered.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, immediately loosening my grip. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
His body trembled against mine.
Outside, the second officer opened the canvas bag.
I couldn’t see everything from the kitchen window.
But I saw stacks of photographs.
Several envelopes.
A small silver camera.
Then the officer pulled out a bundle of children’s clothing.
My knees weakened.
Ethan buried his face against my shoulder.
“Mom, I didn’t put it there.”
“I know.”
“Melissa told me not to tell.”
I knelt in front of him.
“What did she tell you, exactly?”
He rubbed his
eyes.
“She said the bag belonged to a bad man. She said he might come back for it.”
I stared at him.
“What bad man?”
“The one who watches the bus.”
For a moment, the kitchen seemed to tilt beneath me.
Ethan continued in a shaky voice.
“He has a gray truck. He takes pictures when kids get off. Jacob saw him too.”
I looked through the window.
Melissa was speaking rapidly to the officers.
She kept pointing toward the bag.
Then toward the street.
A few minutes later, one of the officers entered the kitchen.
“Ma’am, we need to ask your son some questions.”
I stood beside Ethan while the officer crouched down to his level.
Ethan explained that he had seen Melissa hiding the bag two days earlier.
She had caught him near the playhouse and made him promise not to tell me.
“Did she threaten you?” the
officer asked.
Ethan shook his head.
“She said Mom would get scared.”
“Did she tell you what was inside?”
“No.”
The officer glanced at me.
“Your nanny says she took the bag from a man who had been following the school bus.”
I could barely process what I was hearing.
“Why wouldn’t she call the police?”
“She says she planned to.”
“Planned to?”
My voice rose.
“She hid evidence in my son’s playhouse.”
The officer remained calm.
“She also says the man is her older brother.”
