People sleeping in cars.
People crying.
People angry.
People exhausted.
A hospital, Malcolm later said, was one of the worst places in a city to treat unusual appearance as proof of unusual guilt.
Andre repeated that line at command training.
Chapter 11: Ethan Returns
Six weeks later, Ethan came to Lakeshore alone.
No uniform.
No badge.
Just jeans, a winter jacket, and a face that looked younger without authority attached to it.
He waited near the information desk for almost forty minutes.
Eventually Malcolm came downstairs.
He saw Ethan.
Stopped.
Then walked over.
“You waiting for me?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
Malcolm checked his watch.
“I have eight minutes.”
Ethan nodded.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Do not make this theatrical.”
“Right.”
They sat on a bench near the lobby.
Ethan folded his hands.
“I’m sorry.”
Malcolm waited.
“I kept thinking you were being difficult.”
“Was I?”
Ethan looked embarrassed.
“No.”
“I challenged you.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“I know that now.”
Malcolm looked toward him.
“Do you?”
Ethan breathed slowly.
“I thought every question you asked was you resisting me.”
“And what was I actually doing?”
“Asking why things were happening.”
Malcolm nodded.
Ethan continued.
“I thought if I backed down in front of everyone, I would look weak.”
“Did continuing make you look strong?”
“No.”
Malcolm leaned back.
They sat quietly for several seconds.
Then Malcolm asked why Ethan became an officer.
“My father.”
“Police?”
“Twenty-nine years.”
“Good?”
Ethan smiled sadly.
“The best man I knew.”
“Would he have approved?”
“No.”
“Then remember him before you remember the embarrassment.”
Ethan looked up.