Before he could respond, the taller man turned to me.
"Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Carlson, and these are my colleagues. Would you mind coming into my office so we can talk?"
I nodded and entered, only to see Dunn standing in the corner, frowning.
The room was already crowded, with Carlson and another officer inside, when Carlson motioned toward the door.
"Send him in."
The door opened again, and Leo entered.
The moment I saw his face, I went pale.
My son looked terrified.
His eyes darted from the men... to me... and then back to the men.
"Mom?" he said, his voice already shaking.
I rushed to him. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here."
But he didn't relax.
“I didn’t mean to cause trouble,” he said quickly. “I know I shouldn’t have. I won’t do it again, I swear.”
My heart broke at those words.
“You should have thought of that sooner,” Dunn muttered.
Harris frowned, but before I could respond, Leo’s panic set in.
“I’m sorry! I will never disobey orders like that again. I promise! Mom! Please don’t let them take me away. I just wanted my best friend to be part of normal things!”
Tears streamed down his face.
I immediately pulled him close, holding him tight.
“No one is going to get you anywhere,” I said, my voice shaking. “Do you hear me? No one!”
“Serves him right for stressing us out like that,” Dunn added, making the situation even worse.
“That’s not fair! What is this? You’re scaring him!”
At that point, Carlson's expression softened.
"I'm so sorry, young man. We didn't mean to scare you. We're not here to take you anywhere against your will, and certainly not to punish you for what you did for Sam."
I felt Leo's grip loosen slightly.
"We're here to pay tribute to your bravery."
I blinked.
"What?!" Dunn protested, but no one paid attention.
"There's someone else here who wants to speak to you," Carlson added.
Before I could respond, the other officer reopened the door.
And everything changed.
A woman came in, and I recognized her immediately.
"Sally?" I said, confused. "What's going on?"
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