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