Free The Boy Who Glowed in the Dark by Orest Stelmach

be the best hockey player ever, was of Ukrainian descent.
    “ The Wayne Gretzky?”
    “What? There’s more than one?”
    “No, I mean, I . . .”
    Luo pretended to listen as he pulled his boomerang out of his knapsack. It was different from the version he’d used to herd reindeer as a child. The wings were made of steel and honed to a sharp edge.
    He slammed the sharp edge across Denys’s left boot, aiming for the line where the toes met the foot.
    A thunk was followed by the sound of metal on metal.
    Denys screamed.
    Luo pulled the boomerang out of his boot. “Steel toe?”
    Denys stood up. Fury and fear crossed his face. “What the hell?”
    Luo pointed the boomerang. “Sit down or I’ll kill you as you stand.”
    “Who are you?”
    “I’m the guy you wouldn’t talk to yesterday. I’m the guy you’re going to talk to today.”
    Denys pretended to seethe some more to prove he wasn’t intimidated. But he was. He knew better than to run or raise his hand to Luo.
    He sat down instead. “Talk about what?”
    “Tell me in your own words what happened last night.”
    Denys repeated the story he’d told the police.
    “I’ve heard all that. Now I need to hear what you didn’t tell the police.”
    “I told the police everything.”
    Luo lifted an old coffee cup from the ground with his left hand. He sliced it in half with a flick of his wrist.
    “I doubt it,” Luo said. “The police can’t be trusted. They just want the case to go away. There was no reason for you to be honest with them. But there are reasons for you to be honest with me. Don’t you think?”
    Melnik’s eyes remained on the boomerang. “There were two of them.”
    “How did they get in?”
    “I don’t know. I was lying in bed listening to music on my headphones. Next thing I knew I heard a scream. I got up and looked out the door and saw two guys with guns. Maybe they conned her into opening the door by saying it was an emergency. Maybe she needed to take out the garbage and they were waiting outside.”
    “What did they look like?”
    “They looked like businessmen. Except one of the men had a ring on his finger. It was gold with a black jewel in the center. In the form of the letter Z .”
    The ring didn’t sound familiar. “Did this ring mean something to you?”
    “Yeah. My mother once showed me a book with a picture of seven men. Actually, it was six men and a woman. All wearing the same ring. She said if a man with that ring ever approached me I was to avoid him at all costs.”
    “What book?”
    “It was a rare book on hunting. It was in the shelves with the others. They took them. The men who killed my mother.”
    “Did your mother say how she came to know about these people?”
    “No. I just assumed they were powerful men. The type of men who could do whatever they wanted. The kind of men you hear about but don’t talk about. At least not out loud.”
    “What did you hear them say to your mother?”
    Melnik appeared surprised. “How did you know I heard something?”
    Luo had no idea if Melnik had heard anything. In his experience, leading questions were the most productive way to uncover secrets. Many people were too anxious or nervous to realize the questions were a trap.
    “You just told me,” Luo said.
    Melnik picked up a pebble. “They asked her about one of Dr. Arkady’s patients.”
    “What patient?”
    “A kid. A couple of years younger than me. His name was Adam Tesla.”
    It was the name Luo had longed to hear. “What did they ask?”
    “I didn’t hear. I ducked into my closet and called the police . ”
    “Did you know Adam Tesla?”
    “I knew who he was. We weren’t friends or anything like that. I used to see him at Dr. Arkady’s office.”
    “Why was he visiting the doctor?”
    “He was getting treated for acute radiation syndrome. Him and the girl.”
    “Girl?” Luo’s pulse picked up. “What girl?”
    “Her name was Eva. I don’t remember her last name. She died. Then Dr.