A Bend in the Road - By Nicholas Sparks Page 0,102

car careened through a turn. From his vantage point, Brian could see the muscle in Miles’s jaw tensing and relaxing, as if someone were flicking a switch. Miles held the wheel with both hands, and though he seemed to be concentrating on the road, his eyes continually darted to the rearview mirror, where they sometimes caught Brian’s.

Brian could see the anger in his eyes. It was reflected plainly in the mirror, yet at the same time, he saw something else there, something he hadn’t expected. He saw the anguish in Miles’s eyes, and Brian was reminded of the way Miles had looked at Missy’s funeral, trying and failing to make sense of all that had happened. Brian wasn’t sure if the anguish Miles was feeling came from Missy or Sarah, or even both. All he knew was that it didn’t have anything to do with him.

From the corner of his eye, Brian watched the trees whizzing past his window. The road curved, and again Miles took the turn without slowing down. Brian planted his feet; despite that, his body shifted and he slid toward the window. In a few minutes, he knew, they would pass the spot of Missy’s accident.

The Good Shepherd Community Church was located in Pollocksville, and the driver of the church van, Bennie Wiggins, had never had so much as a speeding ticket in his fifty-four years of driving. Though it was a source of pride for Bennie, the reverend would have asked him to drive even if his record hadn’t been so good. Volunteers were hard to find, especially when the weather wasn’t so good, but Bennie was one he could always count on.

On that morning, the reverend had asked Bennie to drive the van to New Bern to pick up the donations of food and clothing that had been collected over the weekend, and Bennie had shown up promptly. He’d driven in, had a cup of coffee and two doughnuts while he waited for others to load the van, then had thanked everyone for their help before getting behind the wheel to head back to the church.

It was a little before ten when he turned onto Madame Moore’s Lane.

He reached for the radio, hoping to find some gospel music to liven up the ride back. Even though the road was slick, he began fiddling with the knob.

Up ahead and out of sight, he had no way of knowing that another car was heading his way.

“I’m sorry,” Brian finally said, “I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.”

At the sound of his voice, Miles glanced in the mirror again. Instead of responding, however, he cracked the window.

Cold air rushed in. After a moment, Brian huddled down, his unzipped jacket flapping in the wind.

In the reflection, Miles stared at Brian with unbridled hatred.

Sarah sped around the corner much as Miles had done, hoping to catch up with his car. He had a head start—not much, maybe a couple of minutes, but how far was that? A mile? More? She wasn’t exactly sure, and as the car hit a straight stretch, she pressed the accelerator even harder.

She had to catch them. She couldn’t leave Brian in his care, not after the uncontrolled fury she had seen in his face, not after what he’d nearly done to Otis.

She wanted to be there when Miles brought Brian in, but the problem was that she didn’t know where the sheriff’s department was. She knew where the police station was, the courthouse, even the City Hall, since they were all located downtown. But she’d never been to the sheriff’s department. For all she knew, it was located in the outer reaches of the county somewhere.

She could stop and call, or check a phonebook somewhere, but that would only put her farther behind, she thought frantically. She would stop if she had to. If she didn’t see him in the next couple of minutes...

Commercials.

Bennie Wiggins shook his head. Commercials and more commercials. That’s all there was on the radio these days. Water softeners, car dealerships, alarm systems... after every other song, he heard the same litany of businesses hawking their wares.

The sun was beginning to peek over the treetops, and the glare from the snow caught Bennie off-guard. He squinted and pulled down the visor just as the radio faded into silence for a moment.

Another commercial. This one promised to teach your child to read. He reached for the knob.

He didn’t notice that as he eyes locked on the dial, he began