Amish Sanctuary

by Katy Lee

  Sawyer studied her face. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me everything?”

  Cassie’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t know. That might be a question for Naomi.”

  “Except Naomi expects me to let the past go and not ask questions.”

  “Then honor her wishes and trust that she knows best. And trust me to search under every rock to find this killer.”

  Sawyer let silence hover for only a few seconds before he nodded his agreement. “What do you need from me to keep Naomi alive?”

  Cassie leaned forward, ready to get back to work. “I need you to pretend she’s dead.”

  More silence ensued, but now shock and confusion filled the air. He couldn’t have heard her correctly. “Excuse me?”

  “You can’t tell anyone she’s alive. Only your sister and her family, if you think Naomi’s safe with them. There can be no visitors. Naomi must be hidden. If someone returns to try again, I will have to question the loyalty of your household.”

  “You can trust them. You can trust all of us,” Sawyer said adamantly.

  “Even your sister?”

  “Anna may have her reasons for not liking Naomi, but she’s not a killer. Nor would she ever help one. Esau wouldn’t either.”

  “I hope not. It’s Naomi’s life I’m charged with protecting. I’m trusting you to help.”

  “What about the vigil? It’s customary to hold the house open for the community to come and pay their respects. Liza’s screening took three whole days before the last of the people left.”

  “There’s no need to hold one. Besides, do you really think people would come for a stranger?”

  Sawyer frowned and shook his head once, but really out of disgust. “They probably wouldn’t come if they knew it was Naomi. But they’re wrong about her. They were always wrong about her.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that. This won’t be easy to pull off. I’ll need you to be willing to stand alone.”

  Naomi’s words from last night came crashing back. “She doesn’t trust me with the truth.”

  “Trust is something you earn. If and when Naomi decides to share will be up to her. Can you help her without knowing everything?”

  “I’m trying, but there’s only so much rejection a person can take. Her distrust in me is a wedge between us that can’t be ignored forever.”

  Cassie stood to leave. She paused at the door and said, “There might come a day when you will wish distrust was the only thing between you.”

  Sawyer watched Cassie quietly exit the room. She left to make the arrangements for moving Naomi back to the house secretly, but he wondered if he should be the distrustful one, and not Naomi.

  He made his way to Naomi’s room, slowly at first, but quickly picking up his speed with each step. As her door loomed ahead, he practically ran to it. Knowing she was alive and well on the other side pushed him forward and made him put aside the wedge between them...for now.

  Shoving the door wide, he froze at the sight of her sitting up on the edge of the bed. She was ready to go, but by the shock on her face at seeing him, she hadn’t expected she would be going with him.

  She slowly gained her feet as he said, “I came as soon as Cassie told me where I could find you.” He took a step closer to her. Suddenly, a strange awkwardness fell between them. It was nothing either had ever experienced with each other.

  Why now?

  They should be celebrating that she was alive, but Cassie’s words weighed heavy on him. The hesitancy in Naomi’s eyes made him see there was definitely more to her rejection of him.

  “I should find another place to hide,” she said. “You’re not responsible for me. I can’t put you in this situation of protecting me when you never asked for such trouble.”

  He moved closer and pulled her close. The sweet smell of her hair drifted up, and her short curls at her temples tickled his nose. He breathed deeply of the sweet, flowery smell. Her forehead fell onto his chest, and for a moment he sensed her yearning for another time.

  Or maybe that was him.

  He cleared his throat and stepped away. “Let me decide who I protect. I can make up my own mind. I don’t need you telling me what I can handle.”

  She lifted her head and searched his face. A nervous expression had her swallowing hard. “It’s a dangerous world. I don’t want anyone to have to handle this.”

  “That doesn’t mean you do it alone. We’re heading back, but this time we do this together. You can use Jim’s laptop to search, but no more sneaking out. Do you understand?”

  “Ya,” she replied.

  After a moment Sawyer said, “Cassie filled me in on how we’re going to keep you safe. It will take some acting skills on our part, but whatever we have to do, we will. I won’t let anyone hurt you again. You’ve endured too much already.”

  Tears glistened in her eyes as she said, “More than any human being ever should.”

  TEN

  “Did you find anything online?” Sawyer asked from the now-opened doorway to his office in the barn. His shoes hit the wood floorboards with a soft clunk as he stepped inside. Naomi didn’t lift her head from the webpage she was on but heard him approach her side. He placed something on the desk beside her, and a quick look out of the corner of her eye showed a tray with red-and-white-checkered cloths over two plates.

  “You brought me lunch?” Now she turned and looked up at him. He looked so proud. “How nice of you, but you didn’t have to. I was going to take a break soon and help Anna.”

  He dropped his smile in an instant. “It might be best to wait a few days before getting under her feet. She just needs some time. Once the window is repaired, things will get back to normal.”

  Naomi frowned. “I’m sure Cassie can find me another place. I don’t blame Anna. She has her family to consider.”

  Sawyer lifted a hand to stop her from saying anything more. “You are welcome here. By us all. No one blames you for what happened here. And Cassie has spread the word that the visitor didn’t make it, so no one should be back.”

  “At least no one knows it was the long-lost Naomi Kemp who didn’t make it.” She looked back at the screen but didn’t see anything through her deep loneliness. “They probably wouldn’t have cared anyway.”

  “Don’t say that. Of course people would have. No one wishes ill on you.”

  “In case you don’t remember, someone keeps shooting at me.” She touched lightly where the bandage covered her wounds. “I’ve got the holes to prove it, and Cassie thinks this gunman came from the community. That makes at least two people against me being here.”

  “Possibly, but that doesn’t mean the shooter last night was Amish. He had a car, and I gave Cassie what I saw of the license plate. She may already have a lead, so this whole thing can be put behind you, and you can heal in peace.”

  “I won’t have any peace until Debby’s killer is found.” Naomi glanced toward the cradle, where little Chloe slept soundly. “I owe her mother that much.”

  “Why do you owe her?” He pulled up a chair and sat beside her, lifting the cloth napkins from the plates to serve their lunches. “Did she do something for you?”

  “No, not anything on purpose, but she allowed me to start again with my work.”

  “You had to start over at your job? What exactly do you do?” He pushed the laptop back and placed her plate in front of her. A turkey sandwich on rye bread with lettuce and tomato had been cut in half and readied to eat.

  Except Naomi’s stomach revolted and the idea of taking one bite was impossible. “I’m not really hungry right now. Maybe the pain meds are messing with my appetite.”

  “Or the idea of sharing about your life makes you ill. Why all the secrets? Why does your job have to be a secret between us?”

  She faced Sawyer in what she hoped was a stern expression of warni
ng. “I’m a social worker. My work is confidential. To protect the women I work with, I can’t share about them. And that’s all I’m going to say about my job.”

  “That’s a lot of people’s secrets to keep. How many can you handle?”

  “As many as it takes.”

  Sawyer took his first bite and chewed slowly. He swallowed and said, “Can you tell me why you think you owe Debby? Is that confidential?”

  Naomi pushed her plate away and pulled the laptop back in front of her. She thought of a young woman from the group named Brie Carlson and how she had failed her. Brie had come to the support group a year ago, but one day, she fled a meeting and was hit by a car outside the clinic. She died without healing from her trauma.

  “I thought I wasn’t cut out for being a social worker.” Naomi weighed her words carefully as not to share too much about herself. The key was to keep herself out of her work, and that was something she struggled with. “When you work with traumatized women, it’s hard to leave it all at the office. It’s hard to know if you’ve gone too far, or if you didn’t go far enough to help someone. That middle ground isn’t always clearly seen, and I made a mistake with someone. I lost her, with no way of ever fixing my mistake.” Naomi sighed and sent Chloe a sad smile. “I guess, when Debby came to the group, she reminded me I was good at what I did, and it was okay to start again.”

  Sawyer glanced at the sleeping baby. “Does Chloe have any family who can raise her?”

  Naomi shrugged. “Not that I know of. Debby had been in the foster care system growing up. Bumped around a lot, but had no one she called family. I was it for her. From the first day she showed up in group, pregnant and alone, I had to make the decision where my job ended and where our friendship began. I don’t regret befriending her. She needed someone to love her, and I’m blessed to have been the one.”

  Naomi watched Sawyer’s light blue eyes begin to sheen as they sat frozen side by side. His compassion came through with the sadness she saw looking back at her.

  “Her story is sad, I know,” Naomi said. “Tragic, really, and now it gets even sadder as Chloe is an orphan.”

  “Who had been there for you?” Sawyer’s question caught her off guard and she leaned away from him. “After you ran away, I mean,” he said. “I always feared you were alone in the world. Please tell me you had someone like Debby had you.”

  Naomi relaxed at knowing what Sawyer meant. For a moment, she thought he knew about her attack, but that was impossible. “There’s a woman who once was Amish who takes in Amish runaways now. I went to her, and she helped me. I worked with her in her store for a while and went to school to earn my diploma. Then took classes at the local college in an accelerated program and eventually earned my degree in social work. She was there to see me graduate. It was nice to have someone there to cheer for me when they called my name. I’ll never forget her.”

  “I’m so glad to hear that. I wondered all the time. If you were safe.” He frowned. “We all did.”

  “Liza.” It wasn’t a question. Naomi knew that was who he meant. “Believe me when I tell you I never wanted—”

  “I know.” Sawyer took her hands in his and forced her to face him head on. “I know, Naomi.”

  Words that should have offered her peace gave her an uneasy feeling and a growing fear. Once again, she questioned what exactly he knew. Shame resurfaced in an instant and panic had her heart rate speeding up. The physical response was unfounded. He didn’t know anything. Only what she had willingly and carefully shared.

  Unless Cassie...

  No. Naomi shook the thought away. She was just being paranoid. The sheriff wouldn’t break confidentiality. She was subject to the same protocol as Naomi was in her field of work.

  “Liza never doubted you. I wish I could say the same, but that would be a lie.”

  Naomi breathed a sigh of relief. He was talking about Liza, not himself. “I don’t deserve Liza’s loyalty,” Naomi blurted out. “I hurt her too. I hurt so many in leaving. You, Liza, my parents...the whole community. If I could only go back and do that night over again.”

  Sawyer gently rubbed her hand, offering the comfort of touch. A feeling she’d long forgotten spread out from where he made contact to warm her entire body. She closed her eyes to cherish the memory of long ago. A time when they had a lifetime to look forward to with each other.

  “So much was lost that night,” Sawyer whispered sadly.

  Naomi could only nod. He felt the loss too, of what might have been. What was supposed to have been.

  Sawyer and Naomi, mann and fraa.

  “I want nothing more than to go back to that night and change what happened to...us.”

  Naomi slipped her hand from his grasp and held it in her lap. “It’s not possible, Sawyer. I’m not the same girl you knew. I can’t be the woman you think I am. That Naomi Kemp is gone forever.”

  “Because you like being English,” he said.

  Naomi bit her lower lip. It was the easiest reason to give, but she couldn’t make herself lie. She’d never fit into the English world and so she’d accepted hers would be a life of singlehood. Helping the women at the clinic brought her the joy she needed to have as full a life as possible. “I have a rewarding job where I am needed. It’s what I want. It’s what I need.”

  He let out a deep sigh and pulled his hand away.

  “Ya, I’m glad to hear you found what you were looking for. I wouldn’t give up my time with Liza for anything either. In a sense, I have you to thank for our marriage. It was short, but beautiful. I’m sorry if that hurts you, but you should know—”

  “No,” Naomi cut him off. “It doesn’t.” She huffed a short laugh. “Surprisingly, it actually makes me happy to know something good came out of that night. You were able to be a wonderful husband to Liza. I’m glad to know she had this before she...” Naomi swallowed hard. The idea of her dear friend’s life cut short didn’t seem real. It didn’t seem fair. “I’m glad she wasn’t alone. I’m glad she had...” Naomi raised her gaze to Sawyer. “You.”

  Sawyer frowned, then ran his palms across his black pants. “I’ll be honest. Liza was a loving wife, but I fear I fell short as her mann. The business consumed me. Maybe if I hadn’t been so busy, I would have noticed her getting sick sooner.”

  “Going back isn’t an option. That goes the same for you.” Naomi smirked, then smiled big when she saw she’d made her point.

  “Then from here on out, we only go forward, ya?”

  “Ya.”

  Sawyer nodded at the laptop. “Starting with what you’ve been searching. Care to share?”

  The screen stood still on a social media website. Multiple accounts with the same name lined the page.

  Sawyer leaned close and read the name. “Irving Adams. Who’s that?”

  Naomi pressed her lips together, then spoke in a rush. “It’s probably nothing, but Debby talked in her sleep. She spoke this man’s name a few times. She had met a man on a dating website. He...” Naomi stopped abruptly and cleared her throat. Could she share a bit of Debby’s story? Should she?

  Sawyer covered her hand, and she realized she was trembling. “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Naomi locked her gaze on where his hand held hers, so gently. So patiently. She let out a deep sigh and said, “Debby was date-raped.” Naomi looked Chloe’s way. “Her attacker is Chloe’s father.”

  “Irving Adams?” Sawyer frowned and his cheek ticked. The news seemed to shake him a bit. He averted his gaze and studied the numerous pictures of men named Irving Adams on the laptop’s screen.

  Naomi followed his direction to the screen too. “I can only guess on his name. That she never shared, except maybe in her sleep.”

  After a few moments of silence, Sawyer said, “I’m sorry that happened to your friend. But didn’t she want to press charges?”

&nb
sp; Naomi was glad he was looking at the computer screen. The way she worried her lower lip could make him see more than she wanted him to. “Many victims are shamed into keeping quiet. They don’t report the crime because of fear and because they feel they are to blame. By the time Debby came to the support group, weeks had gone by, and...” Naomi looked to the cradle.

  “And she knew she was with child,” Sawyer finished the sentence.

  “She feared her attacker would find out about the baby and hurt her again. And hurt the baby.”

  Sawyer studied the names on the screen. “So let’s start with the first one and go down the list. I don’t know much about computers. Jim handles all things technical, but I can read through each account to see if any of the Irving Adams lived in or near Kentucky. Maybe there will only be one. That will for certain sure narrow down the list.”

  For the next hour, the two of them went through each account and cross-checked the names with addresses listed online. By the time they checked the last Irving on the list, it was safe to say there was only one Irving Adams in the state. But judging by his personal photos, he seemed to be a happily married man with three children and a successful law firm in Louisville.

  “Are you sure this is the guy?” Sawyer asked. “He doesn’t seem like the type.”

  “There is no type. We should look through everything first.” Naomi opened an album of pictures on Irving’s page and scrolled through them slowly. Most pictures were of his wife and his children. A few had him in them and showcased a close, loving family with a big dog and an expansive home. “He does have an abundant life, but that doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”

  “Why risk all this?” Sawyer said. “I still don’t think this is the right guy.”

  Naomi closed the album and clicked on Irving Adams’s list of followers. A few scrolls down, and Naomi let out a crying shout, then covered her mouth.

  “What’s wrong? What do you see?”

  “Not what.” She pointed her finger at a picture of her friend. “Who. That’s Debby. He knew Debby.”

  Just then, Chloe let out a soft cry that transformed into something much louder and angry. Naomi stood to get the baby from an unfinished hope chest Sawyer had been building in his workshop. As she gave comfort to the waking child, she noticed Sawyer had yet to take his eyes off the album of pictures.