Chapters (95)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Video #1
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Video #2
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Video #3
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- The Final Video
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
Haley gets out a little notebook and flips it open. He studies what’s inside for a moment as though he’s alone. An obvious stall meant to unnerve us…and it works.
I’m ready to jump out of my own skin. “What’s going on?” I ask. “Is there news about Chloe? Will you just tell me what happened?”
Haley looks up from the notebook. He seems to be moving in slow motion.
I want to pound the table and demand more. But that’s exactly what he wants to do—put me on edge.
He clears his throat. “Hunter, do you think something happened to Chloe?” he asks. “Do you have something you want to share?”
“No. I just want to know why you’re here. I’ve told you everything three or four times. Did something else happen?”
And then Haley does something he’s never done before, not in all the times he and I have talked.
He starts to read me my rights.
Twenty-Five
Dad’s up so fast he knocks over his chair. He waves his arms like an umpire signaling safe.
“No, no, no, no,” he’s saying. Over and over. No, no, no, no.
But Haley keeps reading me my rights while my heart races like a runaway boulder. This means there’s been a crime. This means something happened to Chloe, right?
What Haley said just moments before comes back to me: Do you have something you want to share?
No, I don’t. I really, truly don’t. But I’d desperately like to know what he knows.
“I’m ending this now,” Dad says, slamming his hand on the table. “And I’m calling our lawyer.”
Haley keeps on going like Dad’s not making a racket, like he’s an actor in a play who has to keep saying his lines even if there’s some guy in the front row talking on his cell phone. When Haley finishes reading me my rights, Dad pulls out his phone and scrolls through, looking for the lawyer’s number.
Haley has turned in his chair and is looking up at Dad. His face is still patient, his skin as smooth as glass. He looks completely untroubled.
“Mr. Gifford?” he says to Dad. “If you heard the rights I just enumerated to your son, then you know you are allowed to have an attorney. I have no problem with that.”
“You shouldn’t. I have to protect my son from the police.”
Haley smiles without much warmth. “I’m a Black man, Mr. Gifford. I understand better than you about sons being protected from the police.”
Dad doesn’t say anything, but he keeps a watchful eye on us both.
Haley goes on. “I just want to ask Hunter something. If he answers that one simple question, there may be no need for this conversation to continue.”
Dad looks like he has the number and is ready to call.