Ricky thought he saw tears in Mr. Young’s eyes, but Mr. Young was too big and tough to cry.

“He’s a good man. He’s not going to get in trouble, if that’s what you’re worried about. He did what he thought was right to protect a little boy who was in danger. I’m not going to make you leave here, even though I think it’s the right thing to do. But I need you to look at some pictures and tell us which policeman you saw at your house that day. It’s important. The FBI needs to know, so they can get evidence against him and put him in jail.”

“No one will believe me.”

“I believe you, and Agent Dunning will believe you. Then he will go back and arrest him.”

“I’m not stupid, Mr. Young. I know they can’t just arrest him because of what I say. He’ll say I heard wrong or I made it up and I don’t have any proof of anything. I was hiding in a closet.”

“The FBI is already building a case against the people who killed your family. They are working hard to find the truth and put the killers behind bars. They want you to feel safe again.”

“I am safe. I’m safe here.”

“Okay.”

Ricky frowned. He didn’t know what to do. “All I have to do is talk to him, right?”

“Ricky, if you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to talk. I know what you’re going through. I’ve lost people I care about. You know I was in the Army, right?”

He nodded.

“I lost friends. Good men I loved like brothers. You’ll never be the same. I wasn’t. But we go on because that’s what our fallen brothers and sisters would want us to do. To go on. To get up. To do good. To stand tall. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You have done nothing wrong. You don’t have to tell Agent Dunning anything you don’t want to. But we need you to look at some pictures and tell us who was in your house that day. And it would help if you could tell him what happened.”

“You promise I don’t have to leave if I don’t want to?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”