Chapter 4

The interrogation room was lit with harsh white lights that made one's eyes ache.

Dad was brought in.

Mom was taken to a different room.

The gentle lady cop led me to a special kids' room, made for little ones like me.

There was a squishy sofa, bright building blocks, and a whole box full of comic books.

She handed me a bottle of yogurt with a straw already poked in. "Lucas, rest here for a while. Don't be afraid. We are right here with you."

I took the drink, but didn't touch it.

My mind was all tangled up, like a ball of knotted yarn.

Why was that Transformers toy in Dad's suitcase?

Mom was packing Dad's suitcase before he went on his business trip. That part was super clear in my mind.

Back then, I tried to sneak one of my Transformers in, so it could go on an adventure with Dad.

But I looked all over Dad's suitcase and never saw that Transformers with the star on it.

So when did it get in there?

I tried hard to recall.

The last time Dad went on a business trip was back in the spring.

He said he had to go to some city way out there for a super important meeting.

He was gone for a whole week.

During that week, Mom holed up in her room every single day.

She didn't really cook anything, and she barely said a word to me.

I survived on cookies every day.

One night, I woke up hungry and went to find Mom.

I walked up to her bedroom door. It wasn't shut all the way, with a crack left open.

I could hear her inside, talking on the phone in a low voice, and she was crying. "I don't know what to do anymore. He knows. He knows everything.

"No, he won't call the cops. For the sake of Lucas, he can't. He told me to wait for him to come back and deal with it. I'm so scared."

I had no idea what she was talking about back then.

All I knew was that Mom was super sad and really hurting.

I snuck back to my room, hid under my blanket, and acted like I hadn't heard anything.

Now that I thought about it, the "he" Mom was talking about was Dad.

Dad knew. He'd known about the boy all along.

The door to the kids' room swung open.

Edward stepped in, shrugged off his dusty jacket, and underneath he had on a dark blue shirt.

He looked completely worn out, his eyes rimmed with red from exhaustion.

He grabbed a stool and sat down right across from me.

"Lucas, I need to ask you a few more questions. Is that alright?" His voice was rough and tired.

I nodded.

"When did you find that Transformers toy in your dad's suitcase?" Edward asked.

"After Dad came back from his business trip," I said softly.

"Can you tell me exactly which day it was?" Edward asked.

I tried to remember. "The day Dad came back, he seemed really happy. He got me a big remote-control plane.

"We played with it in the living room, but it crashed into the wall and broke. I started crying, and Dad told me he'd fix it.

"He was digging around in the hidden compartment of his suitcase for some tools, and the Transformers toy tumbled out along with them."

My voice grew softer and softer. "I asked Dad why he had that boy's toy. Dad's expression was kind of odd.

"He paused for a long time, then ruffled my hair and told me it was a special gift he bought for me, exactly like that boy's. He drew stars on it himself, hoping I'd be as brave as he was.

"Dad said the boy had gone to a school far away, and it would be a long time before he came back. He told me not to tell Mom, saying it was our secret, between us guys."

I believed him back then.

Because Dad had never lied to me before.

But now I finally understand that Dad lied to me.

The boy didn't really go away to school.

He was here all along, hidden in that cold, dark freezer at home.

Edward clenched his fists so hard that the veins on the back of his hands stood out.

He stayed quiet for so long that I almost thought he'd dozed off.

Then he got up and told the lady cop next to me, "Take care of him."

After that, he walked out with big steps.

I heard him outside, barking orders into his walkie-talkie, his voice icy and full of anger he could hardly hold back. "Re-interrogate William.

"Tell him his seven-year-old son blew his lies wide open. The boy didn't miss a single detail."