And they had all stood there watching.
Mrs. Hernandez from two houses down suddenly stepped forward.
“I saw everything,” she said quietly.
Then another neighbor spoke.
“So did I.”
A third raised his hand.
“I recorded part of it.”
Lisa’s face lost what little color remained.
The confidence she had worn all evening disappeared completely.
Because the crowd she always counted on had finally stopped protecting her.
As the police cars pulled away, carrying Chief Miller’s daughter in the back seat, the neighborhood fell into an uneasy silence.
Meanwhile, I drove away.
Eli sat quietly beside me.
Neither of us spoke for several minutes.
The sun was beginning to set.
Orange light stretched across the road ahead.
