Who’s the dead one now? Derrick thought as the memory faded.
Cooper returned to Lexie, who was still sitting patiently as her owner had commanded. He held a handful of envelopes. One—larger than the others—caught Derrick’s attention. It had his brother’s return address on it. Cooper walked a safe distance from the highway and opened it. He slid its contents onto his hand: the silver and leather bracelet. Derrick watched as Cooper took a deep breath and closed his hand around the band. He stood there for a brief moment and then pulled a note out of the envelope. Derrick read over his shoulder.
Cooper,
The funeral director gave this to me. He said he had been instructed by my mother to remove it. He had tried to give it to Mother, but she told him she didn’t want it. So, he came to me wit
