Chapter One — The Boy in the Smoke
The officer’s words made the room tilt.
Caleb’s mother began crying into a tissue. His father stood stiff beside her, pale and silent.
I gripped the banister. “What do you mean Caleb was there?”
The officer looked at my mom, then at me, as if deciding how much truth a person could survive before breakfast.
“Ten years ago, there was a group of boys playing behind your house,” he said. “They were lighting small fireworks near the back fence. One went through the kitchen window screen.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“No,” I whispered.
The officer continued gently. “At the time, investigators believed it started near the stove. But new evidence came forward last month. Caleb was one of the boys there.”
I felt my scars tighten across my cheek.
“Did he start it?”
Caleb’s father answered before the officer could.
“No. But he saw who did.”
His voice broke.
“And he never told anyone.”
