Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.
Then one of them asked something that made my stomach drop even harder.
“Miss, do you really not know what Caleb has done?”
The officer spoke carefully.
“Our department recently reopened several old reports connected to incidents from years ago to get resolutions. During that process, Caleb admitted he was near your house the night of the fire almost 10 years ago.”
For a second, I couldn’t even process the words.
“What do you mean he was there?”
“Miss, do you really not know.”
The officer took a breath.
“You need to listen to me and try not to stress about it. Caleb witnessed something connected to your house fire when he was nine years old.”
“What kind of something?”
Before the officer could answer, Caleb’s father suddenly spoke.
“He never meant for any of this to happen.”
His voice sounded strained, almost desperate.
“You need to listen to me.”
The officer explained that Caleb’s older brother, Mason, had a history of getting into trouble as a teenager. That night, Caleb secretly followed him on his bike and saw Mason exiting my house shortly before the fire started.
Recently, Caleb finally told his parents part of what he’d seen because Mason was about to be released after serving time for a different crime.
But that morning, Caleb’s parents realized he was gone.
He wasn’t answering calls, and his truck was missing.
Caleb secretly followed him.
After hearing from another parent that Caleb had spent prom night with me, his parents thought perhaps I knew where he was.
Technically, that was true. But after they left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the one place Caleb and the football guys always hung around when they wanted privacy.
The abandoned buildings near the edge of town.
So I lied to my mom and told her I needed fresh air.
Technically, that was true.
