PART 6

That afternoon, Austin decided to tell his parents.

He asked Wyatt to wait outside the Murphy house and asked me to remain across the street.

I agreed, though every instinct in me wanted to follow him to the door.

Elaine Murphy opened it.

She was a soft-spoken woman who ran a garden center and always sent home more tomato seedlings than anyone needed.

Her husband, Peter, taught music at a nearby community college.