His Risk

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  When he heard the door click shut behind him, Calvin pretended that his pulse wasn’t racing and that every nerve ending didn’t feel frayed. Instead, he kept walking forward. Whatever was about to happen was going to happen whether he was ready or not.

  All he could hope was that he’d have enough fortitude to not make a fool of himself.

  “It’s almost eleven,” West said. “When did you arrive?”

  “About fifteen minutes ago.” He hoped no one knew that he’d first stopped at this motel room.

  “Ah.” After looking at him a minute longer, he said, “How’s your brother?”

  “He’s all right. Recovering. Doctors say they can’t find any more cancer.”

  “That’s good. I’m real happy for you.”

  Calvin didn’t know where the conversation was going, but he allowed himself to relax slightly. He was pretty sure if West had thought he was an informant, Smith would have already shot him. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Are you going back there soon?”

  “I hope to.”

  West stood up and walked around the desk. He was dressed much the same as Calvin was, snug T-shirt, faded jeans, thick boots. But where Calvin’s build was lanky, West was built like a linebacker. He was thick and tall and solid muscle. The man could pack a powerful punch, and Calvin had witnessed the damage he could do more than once. However, it wasn’t the threat of violence that made most men wary around him. Instead, it was the intelligence that shone in his dark-brown eyes.

  “Cal, you’ve been in the Kings for several years now. Several members are alive because you’ve had their backs. Business is good and I know that you’ve been treating each transaction like it matters. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Pulling out an envelope from his back pocket, he handed it to Calvin. “It’s time to reward your loyalty.” His lips curved. “We’re making it official now. I want you as a lieutenant.”

  It had actually happened. He had reached the top of the organization. He would have even greater access to West and the hidden business dealings that went on.

  If he took the money, there was also no turning back. No man left the organization after this point. With some dismay, he realized that Andrew couldn’t help him now if something went wrong.

  He certainly wasn’t going to be clean enough or good enough for Alice now. Not now. Not ever.

  But he had known that. He might have pretended otherwise, but at the end of the day, he supposed, it didn’t matter. Years ago he had made his choice. He’d decided to survive instead of wither away.

  Now he could choose to make a difference—before he was killed—or to be killed now.

  He might be wrong, but he didn’t see a choice. As he folded his hand around the envelope, he smiled.

  “Thank you, boss. I won’t let you down.”

  West’s brown eyes warmed, looking almost kind. “Don’t worry, Cal. If I thought you would, you’d have never gotten this far.”

  Calvin laughed before they both sat down to get to business. The sooner he finished with West, the sooner he could report to the DEA.

  And then he could head back to Horse Cave to watch over his brother and concentrate on staying away from Alice Yoder. Now that he was in the organization even deeper, everyone he was close to was at greater risk.

  He knew that, too. He’d had girlfriends around in the early days with the Kings, when West was still checking him out and wasn’t certain Cal could be trusted. No way would West shy away from coming after Alice if he thought Calvin needed additional coaxing.

  Chapter 14

  Monday, February 19

  Alice was starting to think that she needed to get paid more—especially when a child’s parent decided to take all his anger with the world out on her.

  It all started when Mary Ruth’s father arrived late again to pick up his daughter. Alice knew it was normal for a parent to run late every now and then. After all, everyone was busy and no one could be everywhere at one time. But John Yutzy was late a lot—always. Once a week, sometimes more than twice.

  He had begun arriving later and later, too. Whereas he used to only arrive ten or fifteen minutes after all the other parents left, he now was showing up thirty minutes after the scheduled pickup time.

  Today, when it was closer to forty minutes, Alice knew she had to say something.

  “Mr. Yutzy, if you canna find a way to pick up Mary Ruth on time, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask that she not attend preschool here anymore.”

  The look he sent her was filled with disdain. “You’d really do that? Punish a child because I’m out making a living?”

  Though she could practically feel Mary Ruth cringing behind her, Alice didn’t back down. She’d already tried to speak to Mary Ruth’s father more privately. He’d rebuffed her gentle reminders in such a way that she was now afraid to be alone with him.

  “I enjoy Mary Ruth very much. I would hate it if she had to leave, too. But you are taking advantage of my time. It’s unfair to your daughter, too. She worries when you aren’t waiting for her with the other parents.”

  “‘With the other parents,’” he mimicked as he stepped closer with ire in his eyes. “Look at you, acting so full of yourself. Always actin’ as if you are better than the rest of us.”

  His tone was so venomous, Alice yearned to shuttle Mary Ruth back into the schoolhouse and shut the door. But she didn’t dare. Mary Ruth would be terrified, and such an action would only make her father angrier.

  “We both know that isn’t true,” she said quietly. “Now, if you are ready to go, I’ll help Mary Ruth get her lunch pail.” Leaning down slightly, she curved an arm around the child’s slim shoulders. “Mary Ruth, are you ready to get your pail and head on home?”

  Mary Ruth was just nodding when her father yelled again.

  “Don’t you touch her!”

  Immediately, Alice removed her hand. Keeping her voice gentle, she said, “Why don’t you go in and get that pail, Mary Ruth? I’ll be right here waiting.”

  Without looking at her father, the child hurried to the doorway. Just before stepping inside, she whispered, “Can I get my goat, too?”

  “Of course, child. It’s yours.”

  When Mary Ruth went inside, her father stepped even closer. “What is she talking about?”

  “Oh. I gave all the kinner tiny plastic goats today,” she said, trying to keep her voice easy and smooth. “We’re working on the letter g this week.”

  When Mary Ruth came out, her pail in one hand and the white plastic toy in the other, her father shook his head. “You drop that now, Mary.” Mary Ruth’s hand opened instantly and the goat fell to the ground.

  The quick compliance, combined with the heartbroken expression, fairly made Alice’s heart break, too. “Mr. Yutzy, all the kinner got one—”

  “We don’t need no charity from the likes of you, Alice.”

  “It wasn’t charity, Mr. Yutzy. All the kinner got the toy.”

  “You shouldn’t be offering such evil items anyhow. You should be teaching them to grow up to be decent women, not be tainted by your worldly influences.”

  Just as Alice scanned the area, hoping for someone to help her, she heard Irene’s voice. “If you don’t stop yelling at Alice, I’m going to tell Sheriff Brewer,” she called out.

  With a jerk, the man turned on his heel to face her. “You should stay out of it.”

  “How can I?” Irene asked as she walked forward, her expression looking haughty. “I’ve been dealing with you all my life. You’ve never given me much choice.”

  “Stay away from me and my family,” threatened Mr. Yutzy. “If you don’t, I’ll make sure you’ll regret it.”

  Not liking the way Mr. Yutzy was acting toward her friend, Alice tried to calm everyone down. “Irene, everything is going to be all right. You don’t need to get involved.”

  Irene curved a hand around her shoulder. “Nee, I’m not going to let him contin
ue to berate you.” Glaring at the man, she said with renewed force, “Alice, you’ve done nothing to deserve this treatment.”

  And just like that, his temper snapped. Grabbing Irene’s arm, Mr. Yutzy started pulling at her, hard. “Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, girl.”

  As Irene cried out and attempted to pull her arm away, Mary Ruth started crying.

  Everything was spiraling out of control.

  Feeling like the pressure in her chest was making it difficult to breathe, Alice looked from Mary Ruth to Irene. “Please stop!” she cried. “We all need to calm down.”

  “Nee, what we need is to get on our way.” Mr. Yutzy released Irene and then gripped his daughter’s wrist, jerking her toward him. “Come on,” he ordered.

  Mary Ruth, with each foot practically tripping over the other, struggled to keep up with her father’s long strides.

  Alice clenched her hands as she watched the pair escape the schoolyard. As much as she wanted to run after them or yell, or even burst into tears, she made herself stand stoically. There was nothing more that she could do. She was only Mary Ruth’s teacher. In their world, it was the parents’ prerogative to discipline a child how they saw fit.

  Even though she knew that if the other children’s parents were there, they, too, would be shocked and saddened by Mr. Yutzy’s actions.

  Alice, still watching, felt thanks seeing in the distance that Mary Ruth’s father eventually released his grip on the girl’s wrist. But then she saw her little student shake her arm slightly before bending her head as she followed him down the road.

  When they disappeared from sight, Alice bent and picked up the abandoned goat. After absently wiping off the smudge of dirt on it, she placed it in her pocket.

  “Alice, I canna even believe him! That poor child. What are you going to do?”

  Feeling like she was about to burst into tears, she held up a hand. “Can I have a minute?”

  Immediately, Irene backed down. “Of course. I’ll go in and start cleaning up.”

  “There’s no need for that.”

  “I don’t mind, Alice. Take your time.”

  After Irene went inside, Alice walked to the side of the schoolhouse, pressed her hands to her face, and tried to stop shaking. For a moment there, she’d been so frightened, both for Mary Ruth and for herself. It made her think of Calvin and her reactions to him.

  Yes, she and he were very different from each other. He was no doubt dangerous—but she’d never felt frightened of him. No, instead, she’d almost felt like he would be willing to take care of anything that bothered her, by any means necessary . . . all in an effort to protect her.

  Just that quickly, she remembered exactly what he looked like bending at the window—with a gun tucked at his back.

  How could that be all right?

  Curving her arms around herself, Alice closed her eyes and prayed for Mary Ruth and for her father, too. Prayed that God would give him the sense of peace that he so desperately needed. Finally, she gave thanks for Irene being there.

  After a couple more deep breaths, Alice felt like she finally had a grip on herself. She walked back to the schoolhouse.

  Irene was sitting in a rocking chair when Alice joined her. Crossing the room toward her, Alice smiled. “I don’t know why you were here, but I’m sure glad for it.”

  Irene’s smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Me, too.”

  Alice faltered. “What is wrong? Are you hurt?”

  She experimentally moved her arm. “I’m fine. I’m more concerned about how you handled things.”

  “Me? What did I do?”

  “Nothing.” Glaring at her, Irene said, “You didn’t do anything, Alice.”

  Stunned that Irene was acting as if she was to blame, Alice felt her temper rise. “I couldn’t. John Yutzy is her father. I canna interfere.”

  “That’s no excuse. It’s obvious he has been abusing her. He’s mean, Alice.”

  Alice couldn’t disagree with anything Irene was saying. But what could she do? If she interfered with how parents treated their children, no one would want her to be their child’s teacher. And the bishop could even get involved. “Her mother is at home. She’ll look after her.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m sure she’ll do a real good job of doing that. Her husband is probably mean to her, too.”

  Alice imagined Irene was right. But interfering wasn’t going to change anything. And it wasn’t like Mary Ruth came to school bruised and beaten every day. “I’m the children’s teacher, Irene. It’s my job to teach them things, not interfere with how they are being raised.”

  “That sounds like an easy excuse.”

  “I suppose I could go to the preacher and ask him to intervene,” Alice said.

  Irene nodded slowly. “If you want to do that, I’ll go with you.”

  “All right.” Feeling inadequate and helpless, and not a little bit defensive, Alice raised her eyebrows. “Is there a reason you came over here?”

  “There was. I wanted to see if you’d come over for supper. I bought a roast at the market the other day and some things to make a chocolate cake.”

  In spite of their difficult conversation, Alice’s mouth watered. Irene was a fine cook, much better than Alice. “Do you still want to do that?”

  “Honestly, I think I’m too upset. I’m going to go on home.”

  Disappointment settled in. “Irene, what happened ain’t my fault.”

  Irene’s lips pursed together, then she shook her head. “You’re right. It ain’t your fault. But I can’t help but think that you could have done something, Alice. That little girl is only four. By you doing nothing, you’re subjecting her to years of situations like this. All you do is tell me how much you love teaching and love your students, too.”

  “I do. You know that.”

  She threw up her hands. “I guess I expected better from you. I thought you actually cared about being something more than just a sweet teacher who passed out toys.”

  “That’s mighty unfair.” Alice’s eyes filled up with tears. All kinds of arguments churned inside her, but she was so upset, she was afraid that every word she said would come out wrong.

  “I agree,” Irene said, sounding exasperated. “It’s mighty unfair. It really is.”

  When Irene walked away, Alice felt the tears slide down her cheeks. Never would she have imagined that such a wonderful day could have disintegrated into one of the worst moments of her life.

  She’d been so afraid of Mr. Yutzy. And felt guilty about Mary Ruth, too.

  But that didn’t mean she shouldn’t sometimes intervene in extreme situations.

  Ashamed that she half agreed with Irene but had no one to explain herself to, she seemed to give up and sat down in the rocking chair. If she shared what had happened with her parents, they would encourage her to quit her job. That was always their remedy whenever they were worried about her welfare.

  Her brothers would be more understanding, but they’d probably want to go over to the Yutzys’ house and try to fix things themselves.

  Which would only make things worse.

  Only then did she allow herself to think of the one person who she wished was nearby. Calvin Fisher.

  She was certain that he would have listened to her side of the story. He wouldn’t have gotten mad at her.

  Maybe he would have even given her a hug and told her that he knew she had done the best that she could.

  But since he was gone, she did the only thing she felt she could. Alice leaned against the back of the chair and cried.

  Chapter 15

  Tuesday, February 20

  Thirty more minutes. Irene had just thirty more minutes before she finished her six-hour shift at the diner and could finally go home. She’d clocked in at six that morning. Soon, it would be noon. She’d have the rest of the day to do whatever she wished.

  Waiting another half hour wasn’t much time at all . . . which was why it was really too bad that it felt like an
eternity.

  As she carried a stack of dirty dishes back to the kitchen, her arms screamed in protest, right as her feet let her know that they were sore, too. Unable to help herself, she groaned.

  Lora, who was wiping down one of the counters, paused. “You okay, Irene?”

  “I’m fine,” she replied, pasting a smile on her face.

  Instead of looking reassured, Lora straightened. “Want some help with that?”

  “Danke, but nee. I’ve got it.”

  Lora raised her eyebrows at the obvious lie but didn’t say anything as she went back to her task. Irene was grateful for that. She was too tired to concentrate on anything other than her job.

  But Irene kind of doubted that thought, realizing that she was simply just too tired to concentrate generally.

  Irene knew she couldn’t blame her exhaustion and bad mood on the customers. Everyone had been rather kind and forgiving when she forgot to refresh their coffee or didn’t stop to chat as usual.

  Maybe they realized she was having a difficult day and gave her space and understanding, Irene mused as she put the dirty dishes in the bin by the sink and returned to her station. If that was the case, then they were being far more lenient than she’d been yesterday afternoon with Alice.

  Remembering the judgmental way she’d acted, and the hateful things said, made Irene feel terrible. Alice was her best friend. She was doing her job, too—and knew a lot about working with preschoolers and their families.

  Irene did not.

  All she’d thought about in that moment was how difficult it was to watch both Alice and that sweet little girl get berated by John Yutzy. Before she’d given a second’s thought to the consequences, she’d barged in like an avenging angel determined to protect Alice and the child with one fierce statement. Part of her was sure John Yutzy would back down when she confronted him.

  Yet he did not.

  So instead of helping, all she’d done was make things worse. Alice was hurt and frustrated, Mary Ruth lost her toy, and her father still got his way.

  And she? Well, she now sported five dark fingerprints on her arm. Mr. Yutzy had grabbed her so hard, her arm was actually a little swollen. It was also throbbing from carrying heavy trays and coffeepots all morning. She knew better than to complain, though. Her injury was no one’s fault but her own.