“Do you really not know what Caleb has done?”
I stared at him. “What?”
The officer spoke carefully.
“Our department recently reopened several old reports connected to unresolved incidents from years ago. During that process, Caleb admitted he was near your house the night of the fire.”
For a second, the words didn’t make sense.
“What do you mean he was there?”
“He witnessed something connected to your house fire when he was nine years old.”
My mother’s face went pale.
“What kind of something?” I asked.
Before the officer could answer, Caleb’s father spoke, his voice tight and desperate.
“He never meant for any of this to happen.”
The officer explained that Caleb’s older brother, Mason, had gotten into trouble constantly as a teenager. The night of my fire, Caleb had secretly followed him on his bike and saw Mason coming out of my house shortly before the fire started.
Recently, Caleb had finally told his parents part of what he saw because Mason was about to be released after serving time for a different crime.
But that morning, Caleb was gone.
His truck was missing.
He wasn’t answering his phone.
After hearing from another parent that Caleb had spent prom night with me, his parents came to ask if I knew where he might be.
I told them I didn’t.
Technically, that was true.
But after everyone left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the place where Caleb and the football guys always went when they wanted to disappear.
The abandoned buildings near the edge of town.
So I lied to my mother and said I needed fresh air.
Then I grabbed my backpack and took the bus.
Because for the first time since the fire, the truth felt close enough to touch.
And I needed to hear it from Caleb himself.
The old factory site was three blocks from the bus stop. Broken windows. Graffiti. Empty lots. The kind of place teenagers went when they didn’t want adults asking questions.
I spotted a group of football players near one of the buildings.
The second they saw me, their conversation stopped.
A few exchanged looks. One laughed under his breath.
I ignored them and kept walking.
“Have any of you seen Caleb?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then one boy leaned back against the wall and smirked. “Why? Are you his girlfriend now?”
A couple of them laughed.
I should have turned around.
Instead, I lifted my chin.
“I just need to talk to him.”
Most of them looked away. Finally, Drew, another player, sighed.
“He might be at Taylor’s place.”
The others glared at him.
“What?” Drew said. “We all know they’re secretly dating.”
That caught me off guard.
“Taylor with the piercings?” I asked.
He nodded. “Her parents are out of town.”
Twenty minutes later, I stood outside a small blue house and knocked.
Taylor answered in an oversized sweatshirt, her eyes widening when she saw me.
“Cindy?”
“I’m sorry for showing up,” I said quickly, “but the police and Caleb’s parents came to my house this morning looking for him.”
The moment I said Caleb’s name, her expression changed.
Then footsteps sounded behind her.
Caleb appeared in the doorway, exhausted and pale, like he hadn’t slept at all.
“Cindy…”
I folded my arms tightly.
“You were there the night of the fire?”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Caleb stepped outside.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
Hearing him say it out loud made my stomach twist.
“What happened?”
