Officer Patel sat Ethan down again.
This time, she asked me not to answer for him.
And the rest came out slowly.
The man had approached Ethan four times over two weeks.
He knew real things about Ryan.
He knew Ryan had coached Ethan’s soccer team.
He knew Ryan used to call him Buddy.
He knew about a fishing trip Ryan had promised Ethan someday.
Those weren’t details from an obituary.
Whoever this man was, he had really known my husband.
Two days earlier, he had given Ethan the case.
“He said to hide it somewhere you wouldn’t find it.”
Ethan looked at me nervously.
“He said it was important.”
Then the man stuck the black disc behind his ear and covered it with the skin-colored patch.
He called it their secret key.
“He said not to tell anyone.”
Ethan swallowed.
“Especially you.”
Then he said something else.
