by Katy Lee
“It was eight years ago,” Naomi said. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I thrived. I moved on. We all did.”
Sawyer scoffed. “Not everyone. Don’t forget you took a bullet in your side from someone who hasn’t moved on.” But why would Jim shoot her?
“If the deaths are related to the support group, then the shooter has nothing to do with my assault.”
“There have been two separate guns used. You could have two people trying to kill you for two separate reasons.” His eyes bored into hers as he pleaded, “Tell Cassie the women’s names so the police can keep them safe until they find the attackers. That would be really helping these women.”
Naomi looked to the pad of paper sitting on the bed where Cassie had left it. After only a moment’s hesitation, she reached for it and flipped it open to begin writing.
A minute later she closed it and pushed it back to him. “I hope I don’t live to regret this.”
He nodded. “At least you’ll be alive.”
He hoped.
FOURTEEN
Little Ben was the only person to say one word to Naomi since her return to Anna’s house.
It’s clear I have officially worn out my welcome, Naomi thought as she cleared the table after dinner two days later and started to bring the dishes to the pump and basin to wash them. Before she reached the sink, Anna stepped in her way and took the stack from her. She said no words, but she made it clear she didn’t want the help.
Naomi was excused.
She turned to the living room, where people were chatting and playing, oblivious to the tension going on between the woman of the house and the unwanted guest. Her gaze fell on Sawyer bouncing Chloe on his knees. She did her best to let his joy and excitement with the baby ease her distress. He never looked happier than in this moment.
He will make a good daed someday.
The idea only made her sadder. She checked her emotions quickly, not wanting the direction of her thoughts conveyed to all. But for Sawyer to be a father, it would mean he found a wife.
The idea caught her breath, and she felt her plastered smile waver. She averted her gaze to regain control and stared out the kitchen window into the dark night. Somewhere out there, one of Cassie’s deputies guarded the home, offering her some semblance of peace, but that didn’t include peace in Anna’s home.
Naomi took a deep breath and rejoined the group. As she turned to face them all, she caught Sawyer staring at her with concern on his face. He stood and secured the baby against his side. His walk toward her made her light-headed the closer he came.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
Naomi shook her head and kept her smile on to the point her cheeks ached.
Suddenly, he thrust Chloe into her arms as he looked at his sister’s back in the kitchen. “This ends right now,” he said and bypassed her before she could stop him.
“No, Sawyer, wait,” Naomi whispered harshly, as not to bring more attention to them. But her words fell on deaf ears. Sawyer continued for his sister.
The next minutes that followed were more horrifying than anything Naomi could have imagined. For eight years, she wondered what might have been if she had stayed in Rogues Ridge.
Now she knew.
“I won’t let you treat Naomi so poorly anymore,” Sawyer said loud and clear for all to hear.
“And I won’t let Naomi put you in harm’s way any longer,” Anna responded straight in her brother’s face. She threw down the hand towel on the counter and started to untie her apron in quick, jerky movements.
Naomi held Chloe closer as the baby started to whimper at the tension escalating in the house. She controlled her own whimpering that threatened to slip out.
“Please, stop,” she said to both.
Anna flashed angry eyes at her. “This is my home. I extended charity to you, and you repay me by putting my brudder in all this danger. There is a reason the Amish do not mingle with the English. You brought that dark world into my home, and I will never forget that. You don’t belong here anymore. You made your choice when you left.”
“Enough!” Sawyer yelled.
Instant nausea burst up in Naomi’s stomach. She stepped back as if Anna had hit her with her fists, bending her in half and nearly breaking her in two with her sharp words of judgment.
Chloe let out a screeching cry of fear in the heated atmosphere.
“You don’t know what you are saying, Anna,” Sawyer said, his voice barely under control. “You don’t know the truth.”
“Stop, Sawyer,” Naomi cried out, even more abhorred about what he was about to do. She felt the walls closing in on her. She had to get out of there. A searing panic shook her and blocked her mind from thinking clearly.
“Nothing will change if she doesn’t know the truth,” he pleaded with her.
“You shouldn’t have to know everyone’s truth to treat them kindly. You should treat them kindly despite not knowing.” Naomi turned and found all eyes on her. Even little Ben’s lip quivered in fear. “I’m sorry I came here. I thought it would be safe. But I’m in more danger with people who never believed in me than I ever would be with strangers.”
She made a direct line for the back door. She swung it wide and ran out into the night without a clear thought of what she was doing or where she was going.
“Naomi!” Sawyer shouted from behind. His footsteps hit the steps at a fast clip, but she was already in the driveway. The road beckoned ahead.
Cassie had said she put an officer on the street, but with no streetlights it could be parked anywhere. She tucked Chloe’s head down to keep her from being jostled and pushed toward the end of the driveway.
She prayed the officer would see her and ride up to pick her up. The faster she got out of here, the better it would be for all.
The better it would be for Sawyer.
She knew he meant well by standing up for her with his sister, but more strife didn’t help anyone. There was a reason the Amish didn’t mingle with outsiders. It threatened chaos to the order of things. It broke up family units.
Sawyer’s thudding feet were right behind her now. The street met the end of the driveway just as his hand grabbed hold of her shoulder.
“Don’t go, Naomi,” he said, and she could tell tears choked his throat. Fear threaded his voice, and for a moment she questioned her decision to leave.
“It’s for the best,” she said, trying to convince them both. “You’ve lost so much. I won’t let you lose your family too.”
Naomi turned away and spotted the headlights of a vehicle coming their way. She sighed in relief at being spotted by the officer. She’d find another place to hide until Cassie tracked down this gunman, or men, or whatever.
“I’ve lost so much?” He pulled her back to look at him. “It started with losing you. I loved you, and you broke my heart.”
The pain in his voice threatened to crush her resolve. “I was scared. I’m sorry my leaving hurt you, Sawyer. I couldn’t face you. I couldn’t face anyone. But you moved on. And you will again. You’ll have your family.”
“I want you! Don’t you understand?” He stepped in front of her to block her way to the road. “It’s always been you.” He stilled, his face inches from hers and eyes begging her to do what she couldn’t. “Come back to me, Naomi,” he whispered. “Stay. Stay forever.”
It all sounded so perfect. How many times had she dreamed he would come for her with his arms outstretched? Now here he was repeating the words of her dreams.
Dreams. Not reality.
“I’m not Amish anymore,” she said. “And I can’t be.”
She closed her eyes. The sound of the engine rumbled closer at a slow pace. She expected it to be the officer on guard duty, but a truck stopped right behind her. She searched the dark roads for the deputy’s vehicle. He was supposed to be close by.
> “Is everything all right?” A male voice spoke out the window.
Before Naomi could figure who was behind the wheel, Sawyer glanced over his shoulder, and his lips contorted into a sneer. “Jim Clark. How convenient for you to show up.”
“Hey, Sawyer, I was just passing by on my way home. It looked like you could use some help. I know things have been dangerous for you both lately. I heard about my car. But don’t worry. I’m just glad to know the two of you are safe.”
“Thank you, but we won’t be needing your help,” Sawyer said. “That goes for the business too.”
“Whoa, did I miss something?” Jim asked.
“I know what you did. How you took Naomi from here. From me. And you let me believe the worst about what happened that night.”
Naomi touched his shirt with her free arm. “Don’t do this, Sawyer.”
“He took you from me.”
“No. He saved you from having to be associated with me. You would not have been able to stand by me then. And you won’t be able to now.”
“How do you know? You’ve never given me a chance to try.”
Naomi shrank back at his accusation. Except, it was the truth. She’d made all the decisions for him since that night. He’d asked her not to go to the party, and even then, she’d disregarded his opinion.
“You’re right,” she said simply. “I always thought I was saving you from pain by leaving, but I see now I only caused you more. I don’t want to do that to you again, but I can’t go back in that house, Sawyer. I don’t deserve that treatment either. What do you want me to do? Tell me, and this time, I promise to listen. But please don’t make me go back in there.”
The crushed expression on his face showed how this situation with his sister also hurt him.
“I don’t want to make you choose.” Naomi lifted up on her feet and touched his cheek with her lips. Tears filled her eyes at the contact of his stubbly face against her. So real. She breathed deep. So final.
“Don’t go,” he said quickly and grabbed hold of her back and pulled her and Chloe into his embrace. “We’ll go to the officer and have him bring us somewhere safe. We’ll go together. Tonight. Right now.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
He dropped his forehead to hers and smiled. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
From the truck, Jim cleared his throat. “Is everything all right?”
Without turning her head, Naomi said, “I don’t need your help, Jim. I never did.”
“Suit yourself.” The squeal of his truck’s tires against the pavement jerked her shoulders, but not as much as her laughter that followed. “That felt good,” she said once they were alone. “I wish I had said that eight years ago.”
“Me too.” Sawyer’s somber voice vibrated against her forehead. He placed his lips against her forehead and kissed her sweetly there. Then he took Chloe from her arms. With the baby cradled in the crook of his arm, he took her hand and led her down the street.
They walked quietly toward an unknown world he knew nothing of, and one she wasn’t excited about returning to. But they would do this together.
The front of the deputy’s cruiser glinted in the moonlight from behind a hedge of bushes. Naomi expected the officer to come out to meet them, but with each step closer, the stillness of the scene slowed her steps.
“Something’s wrong,” she said.
“Ya, I sense it too. Stay here.” He waved for her to stop as he moved closer to the car. “Officer?” he called. “Is everything all right?”
Naomi couldn’t see inside the car, only Sawyer bending over to look inside.
“Naomi, get back to the house!” He straightened up and turned back with Chloe in a run toward her.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He’s been shot. Now, run!”
Naomi froze in place. Her feet felt weighted down at Sawyer’s words. She couldn’t move. “H-how?”
In the next moment, the squeal of tires resounded down the road. A turn of her head showed Jim’s truck was coming back. Naomi forced her feet to move slowly toward the road, then faster as he neared. They needed his help now.
“Naomi, no!” Sawyer yelled, but now she was running.
The truck slowed quickly, but before it stopped, the passenger-side door opened, and a man jumped out.
It wasn’t Jim.
Before she could back away, the man had her in his arms and lifted her off the ground. He threw her inside, jumped in behind her and the truck took off before the door was shut. With her face pressed against the seat, Naomi struggled to breathe. As they pulled farther away from Sawyer, she knew this time he would come for her. But would he find her in time?
FIFTEEN
The truck came to an abrupt stop, but, wedged down between the seats, Naomi was unable to see where she was and who had her. The whole ride couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes, and when she heard the driver’s-side door open and slam shut, she screamed, “Help me! Help me!”
She hoped someone nearby would hear her pleas and call the police.
The kidnapper laughed. “Yell all you want. No one will hear you this far from town.” Then he pulled her hands tight behind her and bound them. A bag came over her head next, and she writhed in response. He yanked her off the floor and dragged her out the passenger door, standing her on her feet.
“Walk,” he said.
“I can’t see where I’m going.”
He pushed her from behind, sending her forward. She stumbled and fell to her knees with no way to catch her fall. Pain radiated up her legs, but in the next second the man pulled her up by her hair, and she cried out from his rough treatment of her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, taking a blind step forward, testing the ground with careful footing as she felt his hand press into her back.
“I’m finishing what I started before you ruined everything with your big mouth,” he snarled and picked her up. “You’re too slow. I’ll just have to carry you inside.”
“Inside? Where are we?” Her voice squeaked as he jostled her.
“Hold the door,” the man said, and she realized the driver must still be around and was helping this man kidnap her.
“Please, help me,” she called out, but the other person didn’t respond. “Jim? Is it you? You’ve helped me before. You helped me escape.”
The man holding her tightened his hold. “That was his first mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“Jim? It is you,” she said, hope threading her voice. The man holding her might as well have confirmed it with his words. “You can stop this.”
“Not stop, but finish. What started eight years ago is going to be finished tonight,” her unknown kidnapper said. “You couldn’t just go away like a good little Amish girl. You had to open your mouth. Now I have to make sure it’s shut for good.” The sound of shoes scuffled along wood floor as her body was held tight against a hard chest and moved to unknown places. The man’s voice echoed as though the place was empty of furniture. She heard the sound of a match and saw a glow of light seep through the cloth bag over her head.
A lantern.
So they were somewhere with no electricity.
She sniffed through the cloth and smelled the mildew of a damp place. Some vacant building, maybe? Somewhere where no one would hear her scream. She had no hope of being found or noticed by a stranger. Jim was her only hope.
Naomi jammed her feet back to kick the man’s shins. He grunted but his hold stayed strong.
“Nice try, but that’s why I tied your hands. Jim told me how you fought back the night in the barn and got away. I’m not taking any chances.” The man’s heavy shoes clunked up wooden stairs.
Were they in a house?
Naomi put aside her questions for what her captor had just said. Jim t
old him about how she fought and broke free the night in the barn.
Jim told me.
“Jim? You tried to kill me that night? You threw the saw blade at my head? I trusted you. I told Sawyer you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“And I told you never to tell anyone about the night here.” Jim’s voice came from above. He stood at the top of the staircase that she was being carried up.
“The night here?” Her voice squeaked. It couldn’t be. “You brought me back to that place?”
Jim spoke low. “We’re back to where it all happened. I gave you a chance to move on and forget about this place, but you chose to talk about it in your women’s group. Did you ever think one of them might spread the word?”
“Of course not,” Naomi said, trying to shake her arms free from the strong man grasping her. “Everything spoken there is confidential.”
Jim huffed. “You really are naive. Then explain to me why a woman named Brie Carlson came to Rogues Ridge and threatened to go public if she didn’t get paid?”
“B-Brie came to Rogues Ridge?”
A door creaked open, and Naomi felt herself being brought into another space. Oh, please, don’t let it be the room.
But she knew as soon as she was thrown into a chair that it was exactly where Jim and this man had brought her. “Why are you tormenting me? Why now?”
“Because of Brie. You see, Naomi, I am not really a killer. I am a protector. But when Brie Carlson showed up, demanding money to keep her from going to the press about happened in this room, you made me do things I didn’t want to do. You made me kill. Not once, but twice. Now I have to make sure anyone else who knows what happened here eight years ago isn’t able to come knocking again.”
“You killed Brie and Debby?” The air rushed from her lungs. “It was you? I don’t understand why you care that I shared in the support group. I’m sorry Brie came looking for money, but I don’t understand why it matters to you.”
