“Who was that dear?” Mom sounded worried. She heard the defensive tone of Dad’s voice, even if the words were too low to make out.

“That detective guy. He gave us these.” He waved the envelope. “I’m faxing them to Mr. Crawford.”

“What are they?”

“Just legal documents, dear. He’ll need them.”

“Okay.” Mom sounded tired.

I couldn’t take any more of this either. I went up to my room, grabbed my ipod, and told Mom and Dad I was going out.

“No, honey. If that man is out there watching us, I don’t want you leaving.” Dad put a stop to my escape.

“What?! He’s gone Dad! You saw him leave, right?”

“I don’t think he’s a real detective, hon. I think he’s shady. This whole thing is shady. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” Dad looked tired and sad and angry all at once, but I knew it wasn’t at me.

“I just want to get out of here! I can’t take it! It’s so unfair! And I’m tired of babysitting Devon while you guys ‘take care of things’!” I exploded.

“Oh, honey!” Mom ran over to hug me, and I started to cry.