Chapter 8 - THE COMPLAINT AGAINST OFFICER PARKER
Michael was placed on administrative leave.
He surrendered his badge.
He surrendered his service weapon.
He drove home in an ordinary car instead of the police cruiser Ethan recognized from the street.
Ethan watched from the window.
“Did I make Dad lose his job?”
Rebecca knelt beside him.
“No.”
“If I hadn’t kicked the ball—”
“No.”
She interrupted him firmly.
“Adults made choices after an accident. Those choices are not your fault.”
Michael entered carrying a cardboard box.
Inside were photographs from his desk, a spare uniform shirt and the framed drawing Ethan made when he joined the department.
A stick-figure officer stood beside a small boy.
Above them, Ethan had written:
MY DAD PROTECTS PEOPLE.
Michael placed the drawing on the kitchen counter.
“The investigation is temporary.”
Ethan looked at the empty place where his badge usually rested.
“Did they believe Madison?”
“They are deciding what the evidence shows.”
“What if the evidence is gone?”
Michael thought about the missing two seconds.
“Then people still have to tell the truth.”
At school, Ethan was called to the principal’s office.
Madison had filed a complaint claiming he had a history of aggression.
Ava sat beside her mother.
A small layer of makeup covered the fading mark on her cheek.
Principal Aaron Hale asked Ethan what happened.
Ethan described the accident.
Ava stared at the floor.
“Did Ethan kick the ball at you?” the principal asked.
Madison answered for her.
“Yes.”
“I asked Ava.”
Ava looked at her mother.
Madison’s hand tightened around her shoulder.
“Yes,” Ava whispered.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“That’s not true.”
Madison turned toward the principal.
“You see how aggressive he becomes when challenged.”
Ethan stopped speaking.
Anything he said could be used to confirm her story.
The principal suspended him from the school soccer team until the investigation ended.
Outside the office, Ava caught Ethan’s eye.
For one moment, the arrogance disappeared.
There was guilt beneath it.
Then Madison pulled her away.
That evening, Ethan found an unsigned message inside his school account.
I KNOW IT BOUNCED.
May you like
I’M SORRY.
Before he could show Michael, the message disappeared.
