Sarah was in the living room with her mother when she saw Miles pull up in front of the house. Since she hadn’t told Maureen anything about recent events, Maureen jumped up from the couch and opened the door, her arms spread wide.  “What a nice surprise!” she cried. “I didn’t expect you to come by!” Miles muttered a greeting as she hugged him but turned down her offer of a cup of coffee. Sarah quickly suggested a walk and reached for her jacket. They were out the door a couple of minutes later. Maureen, misreading the whole thing as “young people in love who wanted to be alone,” practically blushed as she watched them walk away.

They went to the woods where they’d gone with Jonah on Thanksgiving Day. As they walked, Miles didn’t say anything. Instead he formed a fist with his hands tight enough for his fingers to turn white before opening them again.  They sat on a toppled pine tree, overgrown with moss and ivy. Miles was still opening and closing his hands, and Sarah reached for one of them. After a moment, he seemed to relax and their fingers intertwined.  “Bad day, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“Otis?”

Miles snorted. “Otis. Charlie. Harvey. Sims. Everyone.”

“What happened?”

“Charlie let Otis go. Said the case wasn’t strong enough to hold him.”

“Why? I thought there were witnesses?” she said.

“So did I. But I guess the facts aren’t worth a damn in this case.” He picked at the bark on the tree and threw a piece off to the side, disgusted. “Charlie suspended me from duty.”

She squinted, as if she weren’t sure she had heard him correctly. “Excuse me?”

“This morning. That’s why he wanted to talk to me.”

“You’re kidding.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“I don’t understand . . .” She trailed off.

But she did. Deep down, she understood even as she said the words.  He threw another piece of bark. “He said that my behavior was inappropriate during the arrest and that I’m suspended while they look into it. But that’s not all.” He paused, looking straight ahead. “He also said that Otis’s lawyer and Clyde want to file a lawsuit. And to top it off, they might bring charges against me.”

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.

“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.

A minute later, with the pencil broken in half, he turned toward the door and tossed the remains in the garbage.

“Madge?” he bellowed.

She appeared in the doorway.

“Get me Harris. Now.”

She didn’t have to be asked twice. A minute later, Harris was standing in front of the desk.

“I need you to go out to the Timson place. Stay out of sight, but keep an eye on whoever goes in and out of there. If anything looks out of the ordinary—and I meananything —I want you to call. Not just me—I want you to put it out on the radio. I don’t want any trouble out there tonight. None at all, you got me?” Harris swallowed and nodded. He didn’t need to ask whom he was watching for.  After he left, Charlie reached for the phone to call Brenda. He knew then that he, too, was going to be out late.

Nor could he escape the feeling that the whole thing was on the verge of spinning out of control.