“So you hid it here?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“It was selfish. I told myself it was safer for one night. Then Ethan saw me. I knew I had made everything worse.”
Before I could respond, a radio crackled outside.
One of the officers hurried toward the front of the house.
Minutes later, they found Darren sitting inside his gray truck two streets away.
The photographs in the bag showed children along the bus route.
Some included addresses.
Others contained handwritten schedules.
The police arrested him before sunset.
Melissa wasn’t arrested, but officers questioned her for hours.
She had withheld evidence and placed my family in danger, even if fear had driven her decisions.
I could understand her terror.
But I couldn’t excuse what she had done.
She never worked for us again.
Before leaving that evening, she knelt in front of Ethan.
“I’m sorry I made you promise,” she said. “Grown-ups should never ask children to keep secrets that make them afraid.”
