But was he?
Was Gene just overthinking it?
He guessed that time would tell.
Basically, when it bit him in the ass.
* * * Blackhawk & Cantrell * * *
Damascus High School
Nine Thirty A.M
They would have been able to tell that there was something being set up for Ivey Slee at the school, even if they hadn’t seen the flyer.
The place was buzzing.
There were cars in the parking lot, and the place had ribbons on just about every pillar or tree that they could find. The blowing pink ribbons in her honor were very telling.
She was loved by her co-workers and students.
Oh, and that she’d be missed.
Greatly.
It was a testament to the kind of person she was, and to the memory she left behind. They dealt with many deaths, and few victims got this kind of celebration of life.
“So, you went to school here?” Gene asked, trying to find anything to get Ethan to open up and have a conversation with him. It had been another silent ride across town, and Gene was still worried.
Only, at his question, Ethan laughed.
Yeah, he’d gone to school here, but it had been remodeled since then. The outside was whitewashed brick, and the irony wasn’t lost on him.
There were now more trees, and the landscaping said one thing.
Pride.
Funny, he’d felt none of that when he went to school here.
“Well, I did for two years. The last two years, I was removed from the rez, and I went to two different schools. I had four foster families from seventeen to eighteen,” he admitted.
The tone was cold, and that meant one thing.
Gene hadn’t meant to tread there.
Really.
Honestly, he’d not put two and two together when he realized Ethan had been taken by CPS. He’d assumed he’d stayed at the same school.
Clearly, he hadn’t.
Ethan didn’t talk about his time in foster care, and that he brought it up, Gene had hit a sore nerve.
That told Gene all he needed to know.
It was time to abort.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you go there.”
