“And then?”
“He said he was my uncle.”
For a moment, I could barely breathe.
Ellie had exactly two uncles.
One resided in Michigan.
The other was my brother, who had spent that entire afternoon working in Columbus.
Neither owned a silver pickup.
Neither usually wore a brown jacket.
And neither would ever approach Ellie’s school bus without contacting me beforehand.
“Sweetheart,” I asked gently, “what did you tell Mr. Frank?”
“He wanted to know if I recognized the man.”
“And what did you answer?”
“I told him no.”
“Good girl.”
Tears began gathering in Ellie’s eyes.
“But he knew my name.”
I carefully moved some hair away from her forehead.
“Knowing your name doesn’t mean he’s someone you know.”
“I know.”
She lowered her eyes.
“He knew my teacher, too.”
Deputy Reed paused his writing.
“What exactly did he say about your teacher?”
“He said he knew I was in Mrs. Benton’s class.”
