A Bend in the Road (21 page)

Otis was going
free while he was on suspension.

It made no
sense at all. Somehow, the world had gone completely crazy.  He thought briefly about going home but
decided against it, because Jonah—who was at Mrs. Knowlson’s—would come home if
he did, and Miles knew he couldn’t face him right now. Not after what Jonah had
said this morning. He needed time to calm down, to figure out what he was going
to say first.  He needed to talk to
someone, someone who would be able to help him make sense of all this.

The traffic
clear, Miles made a U-turn and was on his way to find Sarah.

Sarah was in
the living room with her mother when she saw Miles pull up in front of the
house. Since she hadn’t told Maureen anything about recent events, Maureen
jumped up from the couch and opened the door, her arms spread wide.  “What a nice surprise!” she cried. “I didn’t
expect you to come by!” Miles muttered a greeting as she hugged him but turned
down her offer of a cup of coffee. Sarah quickly suggested a walk and reached
for her jacket. They were out the door a couple of minutes later. Maureen,
misreading the whole thing as “young people in love who wanted to be alone,”
practically blushed as she watched them walk away.

They went to
the woods where they’d gone with Jonah on Thanksgiving Day. As they walked,
Miles didn’t say anything. Instead he formed a fist with his hands tight enough
for his fingers to turn white before opening them again.  They sat on a toppled pine tree, overgrown
with moss and ivy. Miles was still opening and closing his hands, and Sarah
reached for one of them. After a moment, he seemed to relax and their fingers
intertwined.  “Bad day, huh?”

“You could say
that.”

“Otis?”

Miles snorted. “Otis.
Charlie. Harvey. Sims. Everyone.”

“What happened?”

“Charlie let Otis
go. Said the case wasn’t strong enough to hold him.”

“Why? I thought
there were witnesses?” she said.

“So did I. But I
guess the facts aren’t worth a damn in this case.” He picked at the bark on the
tree and threw a piece off to the side, disgusted. “Charlie suspended me from
duty.”

She squinted, as
if she weren’t sure she had heard him correctly. “Excuse me?”

“This morning.
That’s why he wanted to talk to me.”

“You’re kidding.”

He shook his
head. “No.”

“I don’t
understand . . .” She trailed off.

But she did. Deep
down, she understood even as she said the words.  He threw another piece of bark. “He said that my behavior was
inappropriate during the arrest and that I’m suspended while they look into it.
But that’s not all.” He paused, looking straight ahead. “He also said that
Otis’s lawyer and Clyde want to file a lawsuit. And to top it off, they might
bring charges against me.”

She wasn’t sure
how to respond. Nothing seemed appropriate. Miles exhaled sharply and let go of
her hand, as if needing space.

“Can you
believe that? I bring in the guy who killed my wife, and I get suspended. He
goes free, and I’m the one brought up on charges.” He finally turned to face
her. “Does that make any sense to you?” “No, it doesn’t,” she answered
honestly.

Miles shook his
head and turned away again.

“And
Charlie—good old Charlie—he’s going along with it all. I used to think he was
my friend.”

“He is your
friend, Miles. You know that.”

“No, I don’t. Not
anymore.”

“So they’re
bringing you up on charges?”

Miles shrugged.
“They might. Charlie said there’s a chance that he can get Otis and his lawyer
to back off. That’s the other reason he suspended me.” Now she was confused.

“Why don’t you
start from the beginning, okay? What did Charlie actually say to you?”

Miles repeated
the conversation. When he was finished, Sarah reached for his hand again.

“It doesn’t
seem like Charlie’s got it in for you. It sounds like he thinks he’s doing
what’s best to help you.”

“If he wanted to
help, he’d keep Otis in jail.”

“But without
Sims, what can he do?”

“He should have
filed murder charges anyway. Earl Getlin verified the story—that’s really all
he needs, and no judge around here would have let Otis out on bail. I mean, he
knows that Sims will turn up eventually. The guy’s not exactly a world
traveler; he’s around here someplace. I can probably find him in a couple of
hours, and when I do, I’ll get him to sign an affidavit as to what happened.
And believe me, he will, after I talk to him.” “But aren’t you on suspension?”

“Don’t start
taking Charlie’s side now. I’m not in the mood for that.” “I’m not taking his
side, Miles. I just don’t want you to get in more trouble than you’re already
in. And Charlie did say that the investigation would probably be reopened.”

He looked over
at her. “So you think I should just let the whole thing go?”

“I’m not saying that—”

Miles cut her
off. “What are you saying, then? Because it sounds to me like you want me to just
step back and hope for the best.” He didn’t wait for a response.  “Well, I can’t do that, Sarah. I’ll be
damned if Otis gets away without paying for what he did.”

She couldn’t
help but remember the night before as he spoke. She wondered when he’d finally
realized that she’d left.

“But what
happens if Sims doesn’t turn up?” she finally asked. “Or if they don’t think
they have enough for a case? Then what will you do?” His eyes narrowed. “Why
are you doing this?”

Sarah blanched.
“I’m not doing anything. . . .”

“Yeah, you
are—you’re questioning everything.”

“I just don’t
want you to do anything that you’ll regret later.”

“What’s that
supposed to mean?”

She squeezed his
hand. “I mean that sometimes, things don’t work out the way we want them to.”

He stared at her
for a long moment, his expression hard, his hand lifeless.Cold.

“You don’t think
he did it, do you?”

“I’m not talking
about Otis now. I’m talking about you.” “AndI’m talking about Otis.” He let go
of her hand and stood. “Two people said that Otis practically bragged about
killing my wife, and right now he’s probably on his way home. They let him go
and you want me to sit back and do nothing. 
You’ve met him. You’ve seen what kind of guy he is, so I want to know
whatyou think about it. Do you think he killed Missy or not?”

Put on the
spot, she answered quickly. “I don’t know what to think about any of this.”

Though she
spoke the 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 to tell me.”

“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?”