by Dana R. Lynn
Annie pulled back. He managed to mask his disappointment. “That’s good, right? The sooner the trial ends, the sooner people will stop chasing us.”
“Not if the bounty is still there. Some people will do anything to make money.” Reluctantly, he released her hands and took a step back. Immediately, he wanted to grab them again.
He heard her harsh breath.
“Karl thinks that the number of people out to get me has increased. Exponentially.”
She was silent for a minute. He waited.
“Will we ever be safe? Or will we have to stay in witness protection forever?”
He wished he knew the answer to that question.
FOURTEEN
“Annie!” Tyler walked toward her, waving something.
Wait. Was that the newspaper? She grinned as she grabbed at it. Julia and Abraham read the local Amish newspaper, but they didn’t get the Englisch one on a daily basis. She missed reading the comics.
“When did you get this?” She held the paper close to her as she stared up at him. My, he looked pleased with himself.
“I remembered how you enjoyed reading the comics, so I asked Abraham if he could pick up a newspaper while he was in town.”
“Oh, thank you!” Stretching up, she planted a kiss on his cheek. Their eyes met. Unwilling to decipher the emotions flashing in his eyes, or flooding her system, she took the paper and escaped to her room, feeling his eyes following her.
She flipped through until she found the comics. They were as funny as she remembered. Maybe even more so because she had not had access to them.
She flipped the page again. And froze, bile rising in her throat. A picture of a block where three houses had been decimated by fire was in the center of the page. Her mother’s house was one of the three destroyed! She would not have known it if it was not for the undamaged houses surrounding the destroyed buildings.
Feverishly, she read the rest of the article. No mention of people dead, although the article did mention several injuries. Her hand went to her throat. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to read on, blinking back the tears. The local police believed that the fires might have been started by a serial arsonist, one that had hit houses in several states. That was probably why it made the paper in Ohio. Normally, fires in Southern Illinois wouldn’t be reported this far east.
Her mother had gone to stay with Ethan. She wasn’t even there. Annabelle kept telling herself that she was being silly.
It didn’t matter. No matter how much Annabelle tried to convince herself that her mother was safe and had not been inside the house at the time of the fire, every time she looked at the newspaper and saw the charred remains of her childhood home, a chill went down her spine.
A new thought occurred to her. Her mother had been very resistant to the idea of going to stay with her son. What if, despite all of Ethan’s persuasion, her mother had remained stubborn? Ethan would have had no method by which to contact her. What if her mother had been inside when the house had gone up in flames? Images of her mother wounded and lying in a hospital bed tormented her.
She could not endure not knowing the truth!
Annabelle read the article again. All it said was that it was a house owned by a widow in her late sixties. It did not mention anything about anyone being inside the house when it caught fire.
There was no doubt in Annabelle’s mind that the police were wrong. This was not the work of a serial arsonist. No, this was the work of someone who was searching for Tyler and her. Someone who didn’t know where they were, but who hoped that she would see the news coverage on the fire.
They’re just trying to draw us out. She knew that. Deep in her bones, she understood that attacking her mother was just a way of getting at her and Tyler. But no matter how much she tried to convince herself that it would be foolish to contact her mother, she could not get that house out of her mind.
She stewed about it all day long. Several times, Tyler asked if she was all right. Even when she said she was, she could tell that he wasn’t convinced.
I should show him the article.
But she didn’t. She knew that if she showed him the article, Tyler would know that she was thinking of contacting her mother. He would also, most likely, put the blame upon himself. He held himself responsible for way too much as it was.
Wait a minute. She didn’t have to contact her mother. Although she very much wanted to be the one to contact her mother. She needed to hear her mother’s voice. But she also knew the rules. She could not contact her mother. But she had the phone that the marshals had given her so that she could contact them.
She could contact Karl or Jonathan.
At the first opportunity, Annabelle excused herself to go upstairs to her room. It was after suppertime, but due to the extended summer daylight, she still had plenty of light in her room. She took the cell phone out of her bag and dialed Karl’s number with fingers that shook. Now that she was actually taking steps to find out the truth, she was terrified of what she might discover.
The phone rang once. Twice. After four rings, it went to voice mail. She should leave a message. She knew he was busy and would call her back.
She didn’t. Instead, she ended the call, knowing that she wouldn’t have been able to stand it any longer. She couldn’t call from the house phone. That was too risky. Abraham and Tyler were working in the barn. They wouldn’t be back for another few hours. Kayla and Bethany were at a neighbor’s house. What should she do?
“Annie?” She quickly hid the phone as she heard Julia calling.
Opening her door, she met the other woman in the hall.
“Ah, there you are!” Julia flashed her a warm smile. Annie smiled back, hoping her smile wasn’t as wobbly as it felt. “I was thinking about going to the quilt shop for a few supplies. It’s not as elegant as going into town, but maybe you would want to go with me?”
“Absolutely!” She jumped at the opportunity. If she found someone with a cell phone, maybe she could make the call. That way, she wouldn’t have to conceal a phone on her person.
When they arrived at the quilt shop, her heart sank. The only person present besides Julia and herself was the woman running the store. They got into a lengthy discussion regarding patterns. Bored, Annabelle wandered outside. She started walking around the building, when a van pulled up. Two women and five children spilled from the van, all chattering in loud voices. She winced. She’d gotten used to the quiet manner of Julia.
Seeing her chance, she approached the woman on the far side of the van and asked if she could use her phone. The woman stopped talking and stared at her, her mouth dropping open. Flushing, Annabelle explained that a non-Amish friend’s house had burned down and she wanted to check on her. Softening, the woman held out her phone.
“Of course.”
Thanking the woman, Annabelle walked a bit apart. For privacy, but also so that Julia would not see her through the window.
She was making a mistake. She needed to wait. But her fingers were already dialing the familiar cell phone number. She held her breath. There was still time to hang up. Her mother would not even recognize the number.
She didn’t, though. She was too close to give up.
Clenching her fists, Annabelle waited for her mother to answer her phone.
Come on, Mom. Answer the phone. Come on. She pounded her fist lightly against her thigh as she waited. Every second she grew more tense, trying to keep the thoughts of why her mom might not be answering from creeping into her mind. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, her mother picked up the phone.
“Hello?” Her mother sounded annoyed. Ah! She probably thought it was a telemarketer. Her mother could never be convinced that it wasn’t rude to ignore calls from unfamiliar numbers. For once, she was glad.
Annabelle tried to answer her mom but found herself choking up too much.
“Mom!” she blurted out. “Are you all right?”
Just the mere sound of her mother’s voice was enough to bring the tears spurting to her eyes. She sniffed and did her best to blink them back. She never cried. For years, she had prided herself on her strength. On her ability to handle anything. Now, it seemed all she ever did was cry.
“Annabelle? Is that you?” There were tears in her mother’s voice, as well. “Oh, honey! I am so glad to hear your voice!”
“Mom, I saw the newspaper article. Your house! I was so scared. I was afraid that you were in it. They were saying it might not have been an accident.” She had to sit down. She sank down on the bench outside the store. The emotional roller-coaster ride she had been on for the past week was getting to be too much.
“Honey, I’m fine. It’s just a house. No one was inside of it. I did what you asked and I’m staying with your brother. We both know that my house did not accidentally go up in flames.”
“It had to have been arson.” Annie had never been as sure of anything in her life. “Mom, you know that they were out to get me. Hoping I would come home to see you.”
“That’s what we think, as well. Whatever you do, do not come home. I want to see you, you know that. I think, though, that one of the people trying to find you will be watching me and your brother, hoping to get you. And through you, Tyler.” Her mom’s voice held no blame. Annie knew that her mother held no rancor against her son-in-law. In fact, she had often told Annie that she prayed that somehow they would get back together someday. Until recently, Annie had thought the idea was ludicrous.
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. When her mother spoke again her voice was softer, smaller somehow. Annie knew that she was not the only one feeling the effects of the separation. “Annabelle, how are you doing? And how is my granddaughter? I have been praying so hard for you. I feel like part of my heart has been ripped apart.”
Annie took a deep breath to steady herself. “I know. But we’re safe.”
Julia would be out any second.
“Mom, I gotta go. Love you.”
“Okay, baby girl. Be safe.” Her mom hung up the phone.
Annie smiled. Then she frowned. What was that click?
Uneasy, she disconnected the call and returned it to the woman, thanking her for her understanding. Julia came out as they were talking. Fortunately, she didn’t appear to have seen what Annabelle had done. That didn’t make her feel less guilty for breaking the rules.
She had thought that she would be at peace once she talked with her mother. She did feel better, knowing that her mother was safe. Worry continued to eat at her, niggling itself into her mind long after she went to bed.
She knew that the marshals had good reason to tell clients not to contact people from their past. Her call could get them kicked out of the program. Karl and Jonathan had clearly explained the rules.
And she had deliberately disobeyed them.
Had she just betrayed Tyler?
* * *
They had been living with the Beilers for three weeks. Every morning, Tyler woke up wondering if today would be the day that they were discovered. The day that all of their attempts to hide failed.
Whatever happened today, it would be a new experience for them. For the first time, Tyler, Annie and Bethany would be joining the Beiler family at church. He would be meeting the other nineteen families in the district. That was a whole bunch of people who didn’t know that they weren’t really planning on becoming Amish.
Of course, they might not have a choice.
He shrugged away the thought.
Annie, however, was almost dancing with her excitement. She was so thrilled to finally be meeting more people and getting the chance to get out and be social. Tyler could not help the smile that came to his face as he watched her. She had been so tense lately. Not that he could blame her. It was difficult knowing that people were searching for them. For the first time in days, though, he could see her natural exuberance.
Tyler had helped the men unload the church benches from the wagon. The men had accepted him as part of their group, although some of them had ribbed him about choosing to join the church at such an old age. He scoffed. Old. Yeah, right.
He actually enjoyed being part of the group that set the benches up.
The church service was interesting. It had been so long since he had been to church. He expected to be uncomfortable. And he did squirm a bit. But he was busy experiencing all the new and unexpected differences. Oh sure, he had known from what Abraham had told him that the women and the men would be seated separately. What he hadn’t expected was to connect so much with what the bishop was saying. Part of him wondered if the bishop was giving his message for the sake of Annie and Tyler. Tyler remembered that the bishop knew who they were. The bishop’s message centered around trusting God even when they were in the desert.
An apt description.
After the service, there was the meal that the community took together. Again, the men and women were seated separately.
For some reason, Tyler was uneasy. He liked being able to see exactly where his wife and daughter were. At the moment, though, they were here surrounded by other people. He really just needed to relax and enjoy the day.
As the men were gathering outside after they had eaten, Tyler overheard a group of the boys talking about a couple of men in town.
Tyler didn’t pay too much attention until he heard one of the boys talking about the man who was wearing an angry expression and an Illinois baseball cap. He froze where he was. Could it possibly be someone searching for them? There was no way to tell. Wearing an Illinois baseball cap wasn’t exactly unusual. He was probably overreacting.
But what if he wasn’t? Suddenly, he remembered the men who had chased them down after Rick had been shot. The one man, the one called Jim, had worn an Illinois baseball cap. Tyler felt as though ice water was sliding through his veins. How would he have found them?
“Levi said he had a gun. I did not see it, but he looked mean enough to have one. Right?” The boy nodded at his friend.
The other boy, who had to be Levi, agreed. “Jah. It wasn’t a hunting rifle, either. It was a gun like an Englischer would carry. Maybe a police officer. But I don’t think that man was a police officer.”
Neither did he.
His anxiety spiked. He needed to get his family out of there now. He walked around, searching for his wife and daughter, doing his best not to run. He didn’t want to call attention to himself. Nor did he want anyone else to panic.
Abraham was ahead with William. He lengthened his stride to catch up with them. Putting his hands in his pockets, he walked beside them, trying to act as if he had not a care in the world. Inside, he was breaking apart at the seams.
“Abraham, would it be possible for us to leave soon?” he asked the other man quietly. His eyes darted to the side to make sure no one else had heard.
Abraham raised his eyebrows, but otherwise gave no other indication that it was an odd request. “I assume something happened?”
Although his manner remained calm, Tyler knew that was his cop voice. He’d heard similar tones from other cops he’d worked with. This was the first time that it was so personal, though.
“I heard a group of boys talking. There was a suspicious man in town with a gun. A man who may or may not be searching for us. The description, though, sounds a lot like a man who had chased us when we were traveling through Indiana. They don’t know we are hiding here, and I know that I am probably overreacting. But I don’t care. I want my family where I can see them.”
Abraham rubbed his bearded chin. “I do not blame you in the least. I would want the same thing. Let’s gather up our wives and the kinner, and we can leave in a few minutes. I need to let the bishop know what’s happening.”
Tyler winced. He understood completely. He was concerned, though, that the bishop might decide that the Everson—or rather the Miller—family was not worth the trouble. He would hate to be the reason any of these good people got hurt.
Within minutes, they were headed back to the farm. Kayla and Bethany were the only ones who talked on the way home. It was clear that the events had put a damper on the adults’ moods.
Tyler constantly peered out of the buggy, expecting to see Jim or some other bully with a gun prowling along the streets. He didn’t see anyone suspicious. That didn’t relax his tension. He knew better that to let down his guard. These men were out there, and they were vicious.
The next morning, he stayed home and helped on the farm as much as he could. Abraham was going into town to grab some needed supplies. As he was getting the horse hitched up to the buggy, Tyler jogged out to him.
“Abraham, can you do me a favor while you’re in town?”
“Maybe so,” Abraham replied. Although he was not smiling, there was a definite twinkle in his eyes.
Tyler lowered his voice. “I want to see today’s newspaper. There might be some mention of the man the boys saw in town. Hopefully, there will be information about him being arrested, but I want to see if there is anything useful.”
“I can scan the paper for you,” Abraham offered.
That was true. Tyler thought about it. “No. That’s okay. I think I would feel better reading it myself. Sorry. I know you just bought one for us last week.”
“I don’t mind picking up another for you,” Abraham replied.
When Abraham returned with the paper later that day, Tyler read through it. On page three, there was the mention that the police were looking for a suspicious man carrying a gun. It might have nothing to do with them.
