built on lies.
She betrayed me.
Miles stood without moving, without speaking, frozen in place. In the silence, Brian heard the heater come on.
“You knew,” he finally rasped out. “You knew he’d killed Missy, didn’t you?”
It was then, at that moment, that Brian understood not only that it was over between Sarah and Miles, but that, in Miles’s mind, they had never had anything at all. Sarah, though, seemed baffled, and she answered Miles as if the answer to his question were obvious.
“Of course. That’s why I brought him here.”
Miles raised his hand to stop her, jabbing his finger in her direction with every point he made.
“No, no... you knew he’d killed her and didn’t tell me.... That’s why you knew that Otis was innocent.... That’s why you kept trying to tell me to listen to Charlie....”
Sarah finally seemed to register the implication, and she suddenly, frantically, began shaking her head.
“No—wait—you don’t understand—”
Miles cut her off, unwilling to listen, each statement more furious than the last.
“You knew all along....”
“No—”
“You’ve known since the moment we met.”
“No—”
“That’s why you offered to help Jonah.”
“No!”
For a moment, it seemed as if Miles would strike her, but he didn’t. Instead he lashed out in another direction. He kicked the end table over, sending the lamp crashing. Sarah flinched and Brian rose from the couch to reach for her; Miles grabbed him before he could and spun him around. Miles was both stronger and heavier, and Brian could do nothing to stop him from wrenching his wrist up his back toward his shoulder blades. Sarah instinctively moved away from the commotion before she even realized what was happening. Brian didn’t resist, even as pain shot through his shoulder. He winced, his eyes closing, his face contorting.
“Stop! You’re hurting him!” Sarah screamed.
Miles held up a warning hand in her direction. “Stay out of this!”
“Why are you doing this! You don’t have to hurt him!”
“He’s under arrest!”
“It was an accident!”
But Miles was beyond reason, and he twisted Brian’s arm hard again, forcing him away from the couch, away from Sarah, toward the front door. Brian almost stumbled, and Miles grabbed at him, his fingers digging into Brian’s flesh. Miles pushed Brian into the wall as he reached for the handcuffs that were hanging on a peg near the door. Miles slapped them around one wrist and then the next, pinching them tightly.
“Miles! Wait!” Sarah shouted.
Miles opened the door and pushed Brian out, forcing him onto the porch.
“You don’t understand!”
Miles ignored her. He grabbed Brian’s arm and began dragging him toward the car. It was difficult for Brian to keep his balance, and he stumbled. Sarah rushed up behind them.
“Miles!”
Miles spun around. “I want you out of my life,” he hissed.
The hatred in his voice shocked Sarah into stopping.
“You betrayed me,” Miles said. “You used me.” He didn’t wait for Sarah to respond. “You wanted to try to make things better— not for me and Jonah, but for you and Brian. You thought if you did that, you’d feel better about yourself.”
She paled, incapable of saying anything.
“You knew from the beginning,” he went on. “And you were willing to let me go on without ever knowing the truth until someone else got arrested for it.”
“No, that’s not the way it happened—”
“Stop lying to me!” he boomed. “How the hell can you live with yourself?”
The comment lashed at her, and she responded defensively. “You’ve got it all wrong, and you don’t even care.”
“I don’t care? I’m not the one who did anything wrong here.”
“Neither did I.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth!” Then, despite her anger, Brian saw her eyes begin to well up with tears.
Miles paused momentarily but showed no sympathy at all. “You don’t even know what the truth is.”
With that, he turned and opened the door to the car. He shoved Brian in, then slammed the door and reached in his pocket for his keys. He pulled them out as he got in behind the wheel.
Sarah was too shocked to say anything more. She watched as Miles started the car, pressed the accelerator, then jammed the car into gear. The tires squealed as the car moved into reverse, backing toward the road.
Miles never glanced her way, and a moment later, he vanished from sight.
Chapter 33
Miles drove erratically, smashing the accelerator and slamming on the brakes, as if testing how hard he could push the car before one or the other ceased to work. More than once, his arms locked behind him, Brian nearly toppled over as the