She wasn’t sure how to respond. Nothing seemed appropriate. Miles exhaled sharply and let go of her hand, as if needing space.
“Can you believe that? I bring in the guy who killed my wife, and I get suspended. He goes free, and I’m the one brought up on charges.” He finally turned to face her. “Does that make any sense to you?” “No, it doesn’t,” she answered honestly.
Miles shook his head and turned away again.
“And Charlie-good old Charlie-he’s going along with it all. I used to think he was my friend.”
“He is your friend, Miles. You know that.”
“No, I don’t. Not anymore.”
“So they’re bringing you up on charges?”
Miles shrugged. “They might. Charlie said there’s a chance that he can get Otis and his lawyer to back off. That’s the other reason he suspended me.” Now she was confused.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning, okay? What did Charlie actually say to you?”
Miles repeated the conversation. When he was finished, Sarah reached for his hand again.
“It doesn’t seem like Charlie’s got it in for you. It sounds like he thinks he’s doing what’s best to help you.”
“If he wanted to help, he’d keep Otis in jail.”
“But without Sims, what can he do?”
“He should have filed murder charges anyway. Earl Getlin verified the story-that’s really all he needs, and no judge around here would have let Otis out on bail. I mean, he knows that Sims will turn up eventually. The guy’s not exactly a world traveler; he’s around here someplace. I can probably find him in a couple of hours, and when I do, I’ll get him to sign an affidavit as to what happened. And believe me, he will, after I talk to him.” “But aren’t you on suspension?”
“Don’t start taking Charlie’s side now. I’m not in the mood for that.” “I’m not taking his side, Miles. I just don’t want you to get in more trouble than you’re already in. And Charlie did say that the investigation would probably be reopened.”
He looked over at her. “So you think I should just let the whole thing go?”
“I’m not saying that-”
Miles cut her off. “What are you saying, then? Because it sounds to me like you want me to just step back and hope for the best.” He didn’t wait for a response. “Well, I can’t do that, Sarah. I’ll be damned if Otis gets away without paying for what he did.”
She couldn’t help but remember the night before as he spoke. She wondered when he’d finally realized that she’d left.
“But what happens if Sims doesn’t turn up?” she finally asked. “Or if they don’t think they have enough for a case? Then what will you do?” His eyes narrowed. “Why are you doing this?”
Sarah blanched. “I’m not doing anything…”
“Yeah, you are-you’re questioning everything.”
“I just don’t want you to do anything that you’ll regret later.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She squeezed his hand. “I mean that sometimes, things don’t work out the way we want them to.”
He stared at her for a long moment, his expression hard, his hand lifeless.Cold.
“You don’t think he did it, do you?”
“I’m not talking about Otis now. I’m talking about you.” “AndI’m talking about Otis.” He let go of her hand and stood. “Two people said that Otis practically bragged about killing my wife, and right now he’s probably on his way home. They let him go and you want me to sit back and do nothing. You’ve met him. You’ve seen what kind of guy he is, so I want to know whatyou think about it. Do you think he killed Missy or not?”
Put on the spot, she answered quickly. “I don’t know what to think about any of this.”
Though she spoke the truth, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Nor had it come across the right way. He turned away, unwilling to look at her. “Well, I do,” he said. “I know he did it, and I’m going to find the proof of it, one way or the other. And I don’t care what you think about it. It’s my wife we’re talking about here.”
My wife.
Before she could respond, he turned to leave. Sarah rose and started after him.
“Wait-Miles. Don’t leave.”
Without stopping, he spoke over his shoulder. “Why? So you can get on my case some more?”
“I’m not on your case, Miles. I’m just trying to help.”
He stopped and faced her. “Well, don’t. I don’t need your help. This isn’t your business either.”
She blinked back her surprise, stung by his words. “Of course it’s my business.
I care about you.”
“Then the next time I come because I need you to listen, don’t preach to me.
Just listen, okay?”
With that, he left Sarah in the woods, completely at a loss.
Harvey stepped into Charlie’s office, looking more worn than usual.
“Any luck yet with Sims?”
Charlie shook his head. “Not yet. He’s gone and hidden himself good.”
“You think he’ll turn up?”
“Has to. He can’t go anywhere else. He’s just keeping a low profile for now, but he can’t do that for long.”
Harvey casually closed the door behind him. “I just talked to Thurman Jones,” he said.
“And?”
“He’s still pressing charges, but I don’t think his heart’s in it. I think he’s following Clyde ’s lead with this.”
“So what does that mean?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I get the feeling that he’ll eventually back off. The last thing he wants is to give everyone in the department a reason to do some serious digging when it comes to his client, and he knows that’s exactly what’ll happen if he presses this thing. And besides, he knows it’ll come down to a jury, and they’re far more likely to side with a sheriff than someone with a reputation like Otis’s. Especially when you consider that Miles didn’t fire a shot the whole time he was out there.”
Charlie nodded. “Thanks, Harvey.”
“No problem.”
“I don’t mean for the update.”
“I know what you mean. But you have to make sure Miles is on a leash for a few days until this blows over. If he does something stupid, all bets are off and I’d be forced to file charges.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll talk to him?”
“Yeah. I’ll let him know.”
I just hope he’ll listen.
When Brian arrived home around noontime for Christmas break, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, someone she could talk to. She’d been avoiding her mother’s curious scrutiny all morning. Over sandwiches, Brian talked about school (“It’s okay”), how he thought his grades went (“Okay, I guess”), and how he’d been feeling (“Okay”).
He didn’t look nearly as good as he had the last time she’d seen him. He was pale, with the pallor of someone who seldom ventured outside the library. Though he claimed exhaustion from finals, Sarah wondered how it was really going at school.
Inspecting him closely, she thought he looked almost like someone who’d gotten involved with drugs.
The sad part was, as much as she loved him, it wouldn’t really surprise her if he had. He’d always been sensitive, and now that he was on his own with new stresses, it would be easy to fall prey to something like that. It had happened to someone in her dorm her freshman year, and the girl had reminded her of Brian in a lot of ways. She’d dropped out before the second semester started, and Sarah hadn’t thought about her in years. But now, staring at Brian, she couldn’t escape the fact that he looked exactly the same way the girl had looked. What a day this was turning out to be.
Maureen, of course, fretted about his appearance and kept adding food to his plate.
“I’m not hungry, Mom,” he protested as he pushed away his half-eaten plate, and Maureen finally gave in and brought the plate to the sink, biting her lip. After lunch, Sarah walked out to the car with Brian to help him bring in his things.