A Bend in the Road

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.

"Mom's right, you know--you look terrible."

He pulled the keys from his pocket. "Thanks, sis. I appreciate that."

"Tough semester?"

Brian shrugged. "I'll survive." He opened the trunk and started unloading a bag.

Sarah forced him to put the bag down and reached for his arm. "If you need to talk to me about anything, you know I'm here, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"I'm serious. Even if it's something you don't think you want to tell me."

"Do I really look that bad?" Brian raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Mom thinks you're on drugs."

It was a lie, but it wasn't as though he'd head inside and ask his mother.

"Well, tell her I'm not. I'm just having a tough time adjusting to school. But I'll manage." He cracked a crooked smile. "That's the answer for you, too, by the way."

"Me?"

Brian reached for another bag. "Mom wouldn't think I was using drugs if she caught me smoking pot in the living room. Now, if you'd said that she was worried that my roommates were making things hard for me because I was so much smarter than them, I might have believed you."

Sarah laughed. "You're probably right."

"I'll be fine, really. How are you doing?"

"Pretty well. School will finish up this Friday for me, and I'm looking forward to a few weeks off."

Brian handed Sarah a duffel bag full of dirty clothes. "Teachers need a break, too?"

"We need it more than the kids, if you want to know the truth."

After Brian shut the trunk, he reached for his bags. Sarah glanced over his shoulder to make sure her mom hadn't come out.

"Listen, I know you just got in a little while ago, but can we talk?"

"Sure. This can wait." He set down the bags and leaned against the car. "What's up?"

"It's about Miles. We kind of had an argument today, and it's not something I can talk to Mom about. You know how she is."

"What about?"

"I think I told you the last time he was here that his wife had died a couple of years ago in a hit-and-run. They never caught the guy who did it, and he really had a hard time with that. And then yesterday, new information surfaced and he arrested someone. But it didn't stop at just that. Miles went a little too far. He told me last night that he came close to killing the guy."

Brian looked taken aback, and Sarah quickly shook her head.

"Nothing bad happened in the end--well, not really. No one was actually hurt, but.. ." She crossed her arms, forcing the thought away. "Anyway, he got suspended from the department today for what he did. But that's not what I'm really worried about. To make a long story short, they had to release the guy, and now I don't know what to do. Miles isn't thinking all that clearly, and I'm afraid he might do something that he'll end up regretting."

She paused for a moment, then continued. "I mean, this whole thing is complicated by the fact that there's already a lot of bad blood between Miles and the guy he arrested. Even though Miles was suspended, he's not going to give up. And this guy ... well, he isn't the kind of guy he should be messing with."

"But didn't you just say they had to let the guy go?"

"Yeah, but Miles won't accept that. You should have heard him today. He wouldn't even listen to anything I was saying. Part of me thinks I should call his

boss and let him know what Miles said, but he's already on suspension and I don't want him to get in any more trouble than he's already in. But if I say nothing . . ." She trailed off before meeting her brother's eyes. "What do you think I should do? Wait and see what happens? Or should I call his boss? Or should I stay out of it?"

Brian took a long time before answering. "I guess that comes down to how you feel about him and how far you think he'll go."

Sarah ran a hand through her hair. "That's just it. I love him. I know you didn't get much of a chance to talk to him, but he's made me really happy these last couple of months. And now . . . this whole thing scares me. I don't want to be the one who gets him fired, but at the same time, I'm really worried about what he'll do."

Brian stood without moving for a long moment, thinking.

"You can't let someone innocent go to prison, Sarah," he said finally, looking down at her.

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

"What--you think he'll go after the guy?"

"If it comes to that?" She remembered how Miles had looked at her, his eyes flashing with frustrated rage. "I think he just might."

"You can't let him do that."

"So you think I should call?"

Brian looked grim.

"I don't think you have a choice."

After leaving Sarah's house, Miles spent the next few hours trying to track down Sims. But like Charlie, he had no luck.

He then thought about visiting the Timson compound again, but he held off. Not because he ran out of time, but because he remembered what had happened earlier that morning in Charlie's office.

He didn't have a gun with him anymore.

There was, though, another one at his house.

Later that afternoon, Charlie received two telephone calls. One was from Sims's mother, who asked Charlie why everyone was suddenly interested in her son. When asked what she meant, Sims's mother answered, "Miles Ryan came by today asking the same questions you did."

Charlie frowned as he hung up the phone, angry that Miles had ignored everything they'd talked about this morning.

The second call was from Sarah Andrews.

After she said good-bye, Charlie swiveled his chair toward the window and stared over the parking lot, twirling a pencil.