Ethan could.
And if the planted documents were discovered later, they would make Ryan look like the thief.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the cruelty of it.
Derek hadn’t just used my son. He’d used how much Ethan missed his dad to make him keep a secret from me.
Then Ethan told us what was supposed to happen Monday. “He said he’d meet me after school.”
“Why?”
“To see if you’d said yes.”
“Yes to what?”
Ethan looked down. “Taking me to Dad’s storage place.”
I went still.
“You’ve been asking me that all week.”
“He told me to.”
“Why did he want you to go there?”
Ethan hesitated. “He said I had to put Dad’s papers back where they belonged.”
“What if I said no?”
Ethan looked at me. “He said to keep asking until you said yes.”
I looked at the detective.
Now we understood the rest of it.
