\u201cWhat\u2019s your name, son?\u201d he asked softly.\u201cEthan.\u201d\u201cI\u2019m Officer Daniel Brooks.\u201dEthan gave a small nod, but his eyes stayed fixed on the fresh mound of dirt.\u201cShe\u2019s not in there,\u201d he said again, steadier now. \u201cI know it.\u201dBrooks lowered himself to Ethan\u2019s level. \u201cWhy do you believe that?\u201dEthan swallowed. \u201cBecause she called me.\u201dThe words lingered between them.rooks kept his expression neutral. Grief can make children imagine things.\u201cWhen did she call?\u201dTwo nights after the funeral. It was a private number. I picked up because I thought it was Dad.\u201dBrooks felt a flicker of unease. \u201cWhat did she say?\u201dEthan\u2019s lip trembled. \u201cShe said, \u2018It\u2019s Mom. Don\u2019t trust anyone. I love you.\u2019 Then it disconnected.\u201dThe officer\u2019s pulse quickened. \u201cDid you tell your father?\u201dEthan shook his head. \u201cHe\u2019s not my real dad. He married Mom three years ago.\u201dThat detail settled heavily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere is he now?\u201d\u201cAt home. He told me to stop coming here. Said I was embarrassing him.\u201dBrooks glanced at the grave. \u201cWho identified your mom after the crash?\u201d\u201cI don\u2019t know. They said the car burned.\u201dire.Closed casket.No viewing.Brooks reached for his radio. \u201cDispatch, verify a fatal vehicle fire. Female, early thirties. Name: Laura Mitchell. Buried two weeks ago.\u201dStatic crackled.Copy. Stand by.\u201dEthan\u2019s breathing quickened. \u201cI told you. She\u2019s not there.\u201dMinutes dragged. Then the radio came alive again.Officer Brooks, records show identification was made by the husband. No dental confirmation. Cause listed as vehicle fire. Case closed.\u201dBrooks\u2019 jaw tightened.No dental confirmation.
Identified only by the husband.He looked at the shovel leaning beside the headstone. \u201cWho put that there?\u201d\u201cI did,\u201d Ethan admitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWhat\u2019s your name, son?\u201d he asked softly.\u201cEthan.\u201d\u201cI\u2019m Officer Daniel Brooks.\u201dEthan gave a small nod, but his eyes stayed fixed on the fresh mound of dirt.\u201cShe\u2019s not in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"views":87,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41067,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41065\/revisions\/41067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinbr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}