a pitcher of sweet tea and two glasses of ice on her way to the next table. Miles poured the tea and pushed Charlie’s glass toward him.
“Brenda will be disappointed,” Charlie said. “You know she starts going through withdrawals if you don’t bring Jonah by every now and then.” He took a sip from the glass. “So, you looking forward to meeting with Sarah today?”
Miles looked up. “Who?”
“Jonah’s teacher.”
“Did your wife tell you that?”
Charlie smirked. Brenda worked at the school in the principal’s office and seemed to know everything that went on at the school. “Of course.”
“What’s her name again?”
“Brenda,” Charlie said seriously.
Miles looked across the table, and Charlie feigned a look of sudden comprehension. “Oh—you mean the teacher? Sarah. Sarah Andrews.”
Miles took a drink. “Is she a good teacher?” he asked.
“I guess so. Brenda says she’s great and that the kids adore her, but then Brenda thinks everyone is great.” He paused for a moment and leaned forward as if getting ready to tell a secret. “But she did say that Sarah was attractive. A real looker, if you know what I mean.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“She also said that she was single.”
“And?”
“And nothing.” Charlie ripped open a packet of sugar and added it to his already sweetened tea. He shrugged. “I’m just letting you know what Brenda said.”
“Well, good,” Miles said. “I appreciate that. I don’t know how I could have made it through the day without Brenda’s latest evaluation.”
“Oh, take it easy, Miles. You know she’s always on the lookout for you.”
“Tell her that I’m doing fine.”
“Hell, I know that. But Brenda worries about you. She knows you smoke, too, you know.”
“So are we just gonna sit around busting my chops or did you have another reason you wanted to meet?”
“Actually, I did. But I had to get you in the right frame of mind so you don’t blow your stack.”
“What are you talking about?”
As he asked, the waitress dropped off two plates of barbecue with coleslaw and hush puppies on the side, their usual order, and Charlie used the moment to collect his thoughts. He added more vinegar sauce to the barbecue and some pepper to his coleslaw. After deciding there was no easy way to say it, he just came out with it.
“Harvey Wellman decided to drop the charges against Otis Timson.”
Harvey Wellman was the district attorney in Craven County. He’d spoken with Charlie earlier that morning and had offered to tell Miles, but Charlie had decided it would probably be better if he handled it.
Miles looked up at him. “What?”
“He didn’t have a case. Beck Swanson suddenly got a case of amnesia about what happened.”
“But I was there—”
“You got there after it happened. You didn’t see it.”
“But I saw the blood. I saw the broken chair and table in the middle of the bar. I saw the crowd that had gathered.”
“I know, I know. But what was Harvey supposed to do? Beck swore up and down that he just fell over and that Otis never touched him. He said he’d been confused that night, but now that his mind was clear, he remembered everything.”
Miles suddenly lost his appetite, and he pushed his plate off to the side. “If I went down there again, I’m sure that I could find someone who saw what happened.”
Charlie shook his head. “I know it grates on you, but what good would it do? You know how many of Otis’s brothers were there that night. They’d also say that nothing happened—and who knows, maybe they were the ones who actually did it. Without Beck’s testimony, what choice did Harvey have? Besides, you know Otis. He’ll do something else—just give him time.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
Miles and Otis Timson had a long history between them. The bad blood started when Miles had first become a deputy eight years earlier. He’d arrested Clyde Timson, Otis’s father, for assault when he’d thrown his wife through the screen door on their mobile home. Clyde had spent time in prison for that—though not as long as he should have—and over the years, five of his six sons had spent time in prison as well on offenses ranging from drug dealing to assault to car theft.
To Miles, Otis posed the greatest danger simply because he was the smartest.
Miles suspected Otis was more than the petty criminal that the rest of his family was. For one thing, he didn’t look the part. Unlike his brothers, he shied away from tattoos and kept his