Page 176 of This is Why We Lied

“I’m going to let myself believe that, because the alternative is that he confessed to save Bitty.”

Will didn’t want to entertain that scenario. He had other things to keep him up at night. “I’m sorry I missed Paul’s tattoo.”

“Shut up,” Faith said. “I’m the dummy who kept saying Bitty was Dave’s psycho ex like she wasn’t actually Dave’s psycho ex.”

Will knew he had to let this go. “Try not to fuck up like that again.”

“I’ll try.” Faith started grinning. “How did I get an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery with a VC Andrews twist?”

He winced.

“Too soon?”

Will stole a play from Amanda and walked back down the hall toward his office. He turned into the doorway and got a familiar lightness in his chest when he found Sara sitting on the couch. Her shoe was off. She was rubbing her pinky toe.

He loved the way her face glowed when she looked up at him.

She said, “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I stubbed my toe on the chair.” She slipped her shoe back on. “Did you watch the interview?”

“Yep.” Will sat down beside her. “How did lunch go with Delilah?”

“I think it’s good for her to have someone to talk to,” Sara said. “She’s doing everything she can for Jon. It’s hard right now because he doesn’t want to accept help. Every time she visits, he stares at the floor for an hour, then she leaves and comes back the next day and he stares at the floor again.”

“He knows she’s there,” Will said. “Do you think it would help if Dave visited Jon?”

“I would leave that to the experts. Jon has a lot of damage to process. Dave has his own damage. He needs to help himself before he can help his son.”

“Amanda told me Dave doesn’t want to be fixed because being broken is all he has.”

“She’s probably right, but I wouldn’t give up on Jon. Delilah is in it for the long haul. She really loves him. I think that makes a big difference in these situations. Hope is contagious.”

“Is that your medical opinion?”

“My medical opinion is that my husband and I should leave work so we can eat lots of pizza, binge some Buffy, and make sure my toe isn’t the only thing that gets banged tonight.”

Will laughed. “I need to send this report, then I’ll see you at home.”

Sara gave him a very nice kiss before leaving.

Will sat down at his desk. He tapped his keyboard to wake the screen. He was about to slip in his earbuds when the phone on his desk rang.

He punched the speakerphone button. “Will Trent.”

“Trent,” a man said. “This is Sheriff Sonny Richter from Charlton County.”

Will had never gotten a call from Georgia’s southernmost county before. “Yes, sir. How can I help you?”

“We stopped a fella on a broken tail light. Found a brick of heroin taped under his seat. There’s a notice on him from the North Georgia Field office, but he said to call you. Claims he has some information to trade for a lighter sentence.”

Will knew what was coming before the man even finished.

“His name is Dave McAlpine,” the sheriff said. “You want to come down here or should I call the field office?”

Will twisted the wedding ring around his finger. The slim piece of metal encompassed so many things. He still didn’t know what to do with the feeling of lightness he got inside his chest every time he was around Sara. He had never experienced this type of prolonged happiness before. They were one month out from the wedding, and the euphoria he had felt during the ceremony still hadn’t subsided. If anything, the intensity was heightened with every passing day. Sara would smile at him, or laugh at one of his stupid jokes, and it was like his heart turned into a butterfly.

Amanda was wrong again.

There actually was a certain amount of love that could turn a man around.

“Call the field office,” Will told the sheriff. “I can’t help him.”