Amish Christmas Abduction (Amish Country Justice Book 3)

by Dana R. Lynn

  The impulse to scream or throw some sort of fit was strong. Anything to let Paul know something was wrong, that she had walked into a trap. But she couldn’t. Because he was holding a gun.

  And it was pointed right at Nola.

  * * *

  Paul had watched from the doorway, growing increasingly uneasy the longer the door stayed unopened. The women were expecting Irene. What was the holdup, anyhow?

  But finally the door opened, and Paul had seen the older woman standing in it. She looked frail from his position.

  Why wasn’t Irene going inside? She was a target out here.

  And why wasn’t she giving him a thumbs-up?

  After an eternity, she began to move inside the house. He sighed in relief, glad she was getting out of the open. Her hand moved up behind her back to give him the requested thumbs-up.

  Only she didn’t.

  She gave him a thumbs-down.

  Then she was inside the house.

  What? Something was terribly wrong. Paul grabbed his cell phone and called for backup. He started for the door, ready to dart across the road. Wait. The kids were in the house.

  What could he do? He couldn’t wait to go after Irene. She’d obviously walked into some kind of ambush.

  “AJ! Matthew!” The boys came running. “Listen to me. This is very important. Are you listening?”

  Both boys nodded, their young eyes flaring wide and anxious at the tone in his voice.

  “Your mama needs my help. Now. I have to go across the street. I need you to stay in the house. Lock the doors. Keep Izzy with you and do not open the door unless it’s me, your mama or one of the officers that you know. Don’t even open to an officer you don’t know. Clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” AJ said. Matthew nodded, his eyes fearful.

  Man, he didn’t want to scare the kids, but he had no choice. As soon as the door was locked behind him, he was off, running across the street to the house Irene had disappeared into five minutes earlier. He moved around the house, peering in windows. He couldn’t risk barging in and maybe getting Irene killed.

  The back door was open a smidgen.

  He nudged it open a little farther. Weapon out and ready, he slid along the wall. Voices were coming from deeper in the house. An older woman’s quavering voice. A man’s angry growl. Irene’s calming voice—the tone she used to restore peace when her kids were fighting.

  A slap. A woman cried out. Irene. The sound of something hitting the floor. Hard.

  That was it. Moving quickly, he came to the doorway and peered in. An elderly woman was on the couch, her arms tied behind her at an uncomfortable angle. A young man was standing in the middle of the room. But not just any young man. This particular man’s photo was hanging up in the station and had been sent around to other stations in the area. He was standing over Irene, who was in a heap on the floor. And that man was pointing a gun at her, ready to shoot. Rage like Paul had never known surged through his veins. Instead of clouding his mind, though, he saw everything with startling clarity.

  “Police! Drop your weapon!” Paul stepped into view, his service weapon held in front of him, trained on the would-be assassin.

  With a roar, the man wheeled on Paul and whipped his own gun up. His intent was clear. He had his finger on the trigger. He shot. Paul dodged and the picture behind him shattered. With a yell, the man pivoted slightly and took aim a second time. This time at Irene.

  Paul fired.

  The man fell.

  Paul knew immediately he was dead. Sorrow struck him. He hated taking a life. Any life. But he knew he’d had no choice. The man had been intent on killing Irene.

  Paul replaced his weapon and hurried over to check on the two women. The older woman seemed unharmed though clearly frightened out of her mind. And who could blame her?

  Irene was sporting a bloody lip from where she’d been struck. Otherwise, she seemed fine. He crouched down to her level. With a sob, she threw her arms around his neck, almost strangling him. He buried his face in her hair. He had nearly lost her. Five minutes later...

  He couldn’t bear to even think along those lines. A shudder ran through him.

  “Chief!”

  With one last deep breath to steady himself, Paul pulled away from Irene. Searching her drenched eyes, he was relieved to see she was calmer. He moved back more, and her arms fell from his neck. Immediately, he wanted to pull her close again.

  Instead, he stood.

  “In here, Parker!”

  Sergeant Ryan Parker entered, his eyes widening as he took in the scene.

  “My kids!” Irene bounded to her feet, her expression wild.

  “Easy, Irene. They are okay. I had them lock themselves in with the dog. They know not to answer except to one of us.”

  “Can I go to them?” The words were meek, the expression was not.

  He pitied the person who would dare to stand between Irene and her children. He certainly wouldn’t. He had Parker escort her back across the street while he stayed to interview Nola. Halfway through the interview, her sister arrived. He had to wait through the new storm of tears. And then the paramedics arrived to check her out. There were no visible injuries, but since she had a known heart condition, they were taking no chances. He would have to visit her later to get the rest of her report.

  “Sir, you might wanna see this.”

  “What do you have, Parker?” Paul slipped on latex gloves from the box Parker had brought with him.

  Parker handed him a picture from the dead man’s wallet. Paul had already recognized him as Niko Carter, the man who had been watching Irene’s house the previous day. His collar-length blond hair made Paul fairly certain that this was one of the men the Zilchers had described. In the photo, Carter was standing next to another young man. Buzz cut. Belligerent stare. Black hoodie with the hood down. The third man from the house? Probably.

  Paul called it in. “We know Carter’s name and his record, but we’re going to need to dig deeper. I want to know everything about him. Down to his shoe size and his favorite cereal. That includes everyone who’s given him a job, partnered with him on a crime or shared a jail cell with him dating back to juvie. And I want to know it yesterday.”

  “Gotcha, Chief. We’ll find everything we can.”

  “You do that, Parker. I am leaving the scene now to head over to Irene’s. I want to interview her as soon as possible.” And I want to make sure she and the kids are okay. He couldn’t say that out loud, though. All he knew was that it took every bit of his considerable discipline to carry on as if this were a normal case, when his gut told him to go to her and stay there until the danger had passed. Not happening. Even if she was his best friend’s sister, he still had a job to do.

  Is that all she is to you?

  He shoved the question from his mind. Whatever he had once felt for her was irrelevant. She was in trouble, and he was the chief of police. That was it. It had to be.

  Jogging across the street to Irene’s house, he kept his eyes roving the street for any signs of other possible dangers. There was no doubt now that she had become a target. The fact that one of the men after her was dead in no way mitigated the danger. There was still one, maybe even two men who were after her.

  Some of the tension drained from him when he found Irene sitting with her boys on the couch. Although he could see the fear lurking in the blue depths of her eyes, she was doing a fair job of presenting a calm front to her sons. Still, the two kids were too smart not to have picked up on something. Instead of running around like usual, they were snuggled against each of her shoulders. He knew from talking with some of the officers who had kids that children seemed to have an instinct about what their parents were feeling. According to one of his lieutenants, Dan Willis, it was next to impossible to hide anything from his twin toddler
s.

  He had long ago accepted that he would remain single, but now, looking at those kids, his felt a pang in his gut at the knowledge of what he would never experience for himself.

  Just then, Irene lifted her head. Her gaze latched on to his. The pit of his stomach dipped, like when he was riding a very steep roller coaster. It was not a feeling he enjoyed at the moment, so he ignored it. He needed to talk with her. Alone.

  “Kids, go play in your room while I talk with Chief Paul.”

  Grumbling, the boys obeyed, their steps sluggish.

  As soon as they were gone, Paul perched on the coffee table in front of Irene. He hated the weary look in her eyes. He needed to solve this case so she could relax.

  “Irene, are you sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded. “Just spooked. I don’t know how I’ll ever step into that house again.”

  “Don’t worry about that yet. Right now, I need to know what happened.”

  She took a deep breath. “I thought you were being paranoid when you insisted on the thumbs-up. Now I am really grateful.” He nodded. So was he. “That guy, he planned to kill us both, so he didn’t care what he told us. He said that the boss wanted me out of the way. I had interrupted a very important transaction. Mary had a family waiting for her. They’ve already paid money, so the kidnappers had to deliver her. I was a target because I had seen the leader’s face up close.”

  Paul bit back the anger swirling in his gut. Keep calm. Don’t let yourself get off track.

  “He probably wouldn’t have cared that you’d seen him until he realized you had Mary.”

  Irene sat up straight. One hand shot out and grabbed his arm. She held on so tight he could feel each individual finger digging in. He kept his face blank.

  “Paul! He said they were going to get Mary back! His partner was the man from church—he heard us talking about her staying at Sergeant Zee’s and texted the update to him and to their leader. It won’t take them long to figure out who Zee is.”

  Paul pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in Zee’s number. “Come on, come on. Answer the phone.”

  Two rings. Three. When the phone rang four times and went to voice mail, Paul knew something was wrong. He barked out a message, warning her.

  He only prayed they weren’t too late.

  SIX

  He needed to get to Zee’s place, pronto. But he also knew that he needed to make sure Irene, AJ and Matthew were protected. There were two madmen still out to get her.

  Shifting into command mode without thought, he started barking orders to Gavin Jackson the moment he came in the door. It wasn’t Paul’s normal style of command. He prided himself on his ability to keep his cool even when everyone else was losing it. It was a skill he had honed for years, after life had taught him some hard lessons. He had paid the price once for his lack of control. It had almost cost him his friendship with Jace. And it had cost him any chance he may have had with Irene.

  Clenching his fists, he closed his eyes briefly, willing himself to control the anxiety spinning inside him. Then he murmured a quick prayer for guidance and strength. Right now, he desperately needed both.

  Opening his eyes, he regarded Jackson, who had come to stand in front of him.

  “Sir, a unit is on its way to Sergeant Zee’s place. I also have an ambulance on standby.”

  “Very good, Jackson.” He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. But then his pager suddenly started beeping. The dispatcher’s voice came over the air, announcing an attempted break-in. The intruder was still on the premises. An officer was on the scene, requesting backup. There was a child present, although the dispatcher did not disclose the child’s age or gender. She rattled off an address. Paul and Jackson looked at each other.

  Dismay was dawning over Jackson’s face. It was probably mirrored on his own. He made a decision.

  “I’m going to head out that way, see if I can lend a hand. The other unit should beat me there, but I don’t want to risk it.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  As one they turned. Irene was staring at them, concern furrowing her forehead.

  Paul sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. There were so many things to factor in here.

  “That call that just came through, that’s Sergeant Zee’s address,” Paul replied. “There’s a unit on the way, but I am going to head over there, too. We have no way of knowing how many intruders showed up to get Mary.”

  Irene lifted her coat from the back of the sofa and shrugged into it. “I’m going with you.” Both men started to protest, but she cut them off. “Who else will be able to deal with Mary while you take care of the attackers?”

  “We don’t have time to argue.” Paul faced Jackson. “Who’s on duty here to protect Irene and the boys?”

  “I guess that would be Parker.”

  Paul gave a single nod. Parker hadn’t been with them that long, but he had already been tested and tried. Paul knew that he could handle watching over the kids. Just to be on the safe side, though...

  He picked up his phone and dialed The second ring was interrupted as the call was answered.

  “Parker.” His voice was confident. Good. Paul needed someone who knew what they were about.

  “Kennedy here. I need you to take the boys to their grandmother’s house and stay with them there. Jackson will supply the details.”

  “Understood, Chief. Mrs. Russell just left in an ambulance with her sister, and the ME has removed the body. I’m coming over so Jackson can brief me.”

  He loved the way his officers worked together.

  Paul strode at a brisk pace out to his car, aware of Irene following him. They passed Parker as he was on his way in. A tall man with short light brown hair and dark eyes, Parker looked like a laid-back young man with a carefree grin and a casual saunter. Until you saw him in duty mode. He wore his duty like some men wore aftershave. Effortlessly. Paul saw Irene dissect him with a glance, then smile. Parker had passed the mother exam.

  Paul slid into his seat, shaking his head as Irene snapped her seat belt into place. It was, of course, completely insane to have her along on a police call. On the other hand, she had made a very valid point. Mary had been terrified of him previously. He hated to think it was due to abuse she had suffered, but knew it was the most likely scenario. It was essential that they protect the child, but if there was a situation brewing, Irene was the only one he knew of besides Zee who the little girl would allow nearby. If he could avoid traumatizing the child, he would. And that meant having Irene accompany him.

  Sergeant Zerosky lived on the edge of town. While she didn’t have neighbors as near as Irene did, there were other houses in the area. The ambulance had already arrived and had pulled into the driveway. Paul fervently prayed for the safety of Sergeant Zee and Mary. There wasn’t room to park another vehicle in the narrow drive without blocking the ambulance. He edged his car snug against the curb, directly behind Thompson’s cruiser, and put his hand on the door to open it. Before he pulled the handle, he glanced over at Irene. The whirling lights from Thompson’s vehicle were splashing across her face.

  “I need to know that you will listen to me immediately without asking questions once we’re in there. It’s the only way I will feel free to go in and do my duty.” Irene had never been one to take orders well, but he knew she would do whatever she could to keep a child safe.

  “I understand.” Her voice was low, intense. He could already see it in her. She was determined to do what he said to protect Mary. Good. They were both on the same page.

  Feeling like every second could mean life or death, Paul waited for Irene to exit the vehicle. When he realized that his fingers were tapping an impatient rhythm against his thigh, he forced himself to hold his hand still. As soon as Irene reached his side though, he grabbed hold
of her hand and pulled her along toward the house.

  He was slightly embarrassed when he reached the house and realized that he was still holding her hand. And even more embarrassed when he realized how perfect her hand felt in his. But now was not the time to be noticing things like that. He had a child to save and an officer at risk.

  When he reached the front door, he started to call out, then paused. Voices were coming from the deck at the back of the house. What were they doing outside?

  Refusing to allow himself to hesitate, Paul continued at a brisk pace through the house to the sliding door in the rear that led onto the deck. He paused. He could clearly see Sergeant Zee, lying down on the deck but conscious, although she seemed a little out of it. And judging from the fussing baby noises drifting down from upstairs, Mary was present and alert. He could see the blue uniform of a paramedic on the stairwell. The paramedic glanced back at him and gave him a thumbs-up. Okay. So he didn’t need to worry about the baby for the few minutes. A second paramedic was kneeling on the ground next to his officer. On the other side of Zee was Sergeant Thompson. When Thompson spotted his chief, he murmured something to the paramedic and headed their way. Paul opened the sliding door to let him in.

  “Paul,” Irene whispered. “I want to go upstairs and check on the baby. Make sure she’s okay.”

  “No need for you to do that, Mrs. Martello,” Thompson assured her in his comforting voice. “The other paramedic is checking on her right now.”

  Irene compressed her lips together. If Paul were to guess he would say that she was biting her tongue to keep from arguing. Poor Irene. He knew her desperate concern for the little Amish girl was tearing her up. Still, he couldn’t let her place herself in danger until he knew the scene was safe. He turned his attention on Thompson.

  “Report, Sergeant.”

  Sergeant Thompson straightened. “It’s like this, Chief,” the officer began. “The intruder was neither the man that Jace had pointed out nor the bearded man you described.”

  Realizing that Thompson wasn’t up-to-date on the information, he quickly filled him in on Carter’s death. When he mentioned the other man that had been in the picture with Carter, Thompson pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah, that seems about right. The intruder was young, and from what I could tell had dark hair. Medium build, but strong. He ran out the back door and jumped over the fence when I arrived. Sergeant Zee managed to Tase him, but he had already snuck up behind her and struck her pretty hard on the head. The paramedic thinks she probably has a concussion. He didn’t have time to get to the child.”