“Are you Brandon Parker?” Detective Vance asked.

Brandon flinched.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“You need to come with us for questioning,” the detective said. “You are not under arrest yet, but you are a person of interest in this fraud investigation.”

Brandon stood up slowly, his knees shaking.

He looked like a child who had been caught stealing.

“I didn’t know,” Brandon stammered. “They told me they handled it. They said the money was ours.”

“Save it for the station, kid,” the detective said.

The officers began to lead my parents out of the room.

The lightning flashed outside again, followed by a deafening crash of thunder.

The rain poured against the windowpane.

In the hallway, my mother kept crying out my name.

“Ava, please! Stop them! We are your parents!”

I stood by the dining table and did not follow them.

The front door closed, cutting off her screams.

The house became suddenly, strangely quiet.

The only sound was the ticking of the mantel clock and the falling rain.

Arthur stood up and adjusted his suit jacket.

He reached into his leather briefcase.