An uneasy feeling spread through my stomach.
Deputy Reed brought another chair alongside mine.
“Ellie, sweetheart, you haven’t done anything wrong. Could you explain what happened?”
My daughter glanced toward me before answering.
I nodded reassuringly.
“It’s alright, honey.”
She inhaled slowly.
“We stopped where Mason got off.”
Mason was one of her classmates who lived approximately ten minutes from us.
“On Oak Street?” the deputy asked.
Ellie nodded.
“There was a man outside.”
“Can you describe him?”
“He wore a brown jacket.”
“Had you seen him before?”
“No.”
“What did he tell you?”
Ellie turned the water bottle between her fingers.
“He asked Mr. Frank whether I was there.”
My throat suddenly felt tight.
“Did he use your name?”
She nodded.
“He said, ‘Is Ellie Carter on this bus?’”
Deputy Reed carefully noted her statement.
“What happened after Mr. Lawson heard that?”
“He asked the man who he was.”
