“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.”