by Katy Lee
“Nicole, but I go by Nic. You were probably expecting a man. I get that a lot.”
Grace blushed. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have assumed. I know how it feels. Please come in.”
Nic quickly moved inside and shut the door behind her. “I came as soon as I could make myself inconspicuous. I didn’t want to kill your cover.” She nodded at Jack and smiled. “Man, you would have had me fooled.” She leaned close and squinted at his hair. “Did you glue extensions on?”
“I made a hair piece extension string to go around the back of my head and wove the ends into my own hair at my temples.”
“Brilliant. It looks so natural on you. You look so...Amish.” She touched her own fiery red hair styled in a neat braid. “Much better than me.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Jack warned. “As soon as I catch these guys, I’m changing back to my old self.”
“Are you sure this isn’t your old self?” Nic winked Grace’s way as though they shared the joke.
Jack didn’t play along but led them into the kitchen. He caught Grace frowning at him as he turned and wondered what he’d said to affect her like that. But with other pressing matters, he let it go and admitted his failure. “Another horse is gone. Taken this afternoon.”
“Are you kidding me?” his supervisor asked, sounding irritated. “How could you let this happen?”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Grace interjected, wringing her hands together. “Someone took my daed, and the sheriff came by to return him. The horse was hidden in the trailer, but the thief used the time we were all out front to steal it.”
Nic pursed her lips while she listened to events that suddenly sounded like a setup. She raised an eyebrow his way. “And you fell for it? You’re slipping. Has the slow life affected your brain?”
Jack glanced at Grace for a moment before shaking his head. “Not at all. I’m able to do my job. Don’t worry about me.” He reached for the end of her braid and lifted it. A bright pink elastic held the hair together. “I would say you’re slipping too. That’s mighty flashy for the Amish.”
“Hardly the same.” She pulled her braid from his fingers. “You lost a thoroughbred you were supposed to be guarding. What else will you lose?”
Jack supposed he had that coming from his boss. “It won’t happen again.”
“Of course not. The horse is gone.” Nic crossed her arms in front of her. She wore a pristine white apron over her purple dress, so different from her usual blue pantsuit. He didn’t let the Amish clothes fool him. Like himself, he knew she packed heat and probably a few knives under her garments.
“Now that you’re here, I can dive deep into this investigation without concern for protecting Benjamin and Grace. I’m thinking I can catch the thieves in another theft.”
Nic nodded firmly and said, “All right, I’m listening. What’s your plan?”
He outlined the plan he’d been working on. “I’ll return to Autumn Woods on Tuesday. They’ll be testing the horses on the track. I’ll bid on another horse. The heists have been lucrative, so the chance of them trying at least one more switch is good. When they give me the wrong horse, I’ll know right away who swapped the animals, and get my lead into who to investigate.”
“What makes you think they’ll try this on you?” Nic asked. She sent Grace a look over her shoulder, “No offense, Ms. Miller, but you’re an easy target.”
“Then I’ll go,” Grace offered.
“No,” Jack said in an instant. He cringed at his forceful order. When her eyebrows raised in shock, he fumbled for a valid excuse. “It’s not safe,” he tried to explain. “If things go south, they won’t think twice about hurting you. I can’t guard you and catch these thieves.”
Grace took swift steps forward, practically stomping across the kitchen. “What makes you think I need guarding? I can handle myself. I don’t need anyone to help me do my job, and I don’t need anyone telling me what to do. Let me remind you that it was you who lost the horse, not me.”
Nic snorted out a short laugh “Grace has got a point, Kaufman. I say let her do her job, and you stand back and observe. Tuesday you’ll head back to Autumn Woods together, and you’ll stay out of her way, got it?”
Jack felt his blood pressure skyrocket. This was not how he did things. “I work alone. You know that, Nic.”
“Not this time,” she said, and turned to Benjamin. She took the seat beside him and picked up an ear of corn to shuck. When Jack didn’t move from his spot, she glanced up and sent him a look of authority, effective despite the demure Amish kapp. “And that’s an order.”
* * *
Carrying a glowing lantern out the back door, Grace wondered where Jack had gone after dinner. He hadn’t spoken to her since his boss had arrived. He’d answered Nic’s questions at the table, but Grace could tell it was only because he had to. Left to his own choices, they wouldn’t have seen him then, either. He probably would have left the farm completely if it hadn’t been for Nic’s arrival. With the horse gone there really was no reason for him to stay.
But now he’d been ordered to.
Grace stepped into the barn and lifted the lantern to hang on the peg by Peanut’s stall. She reached for the pitchfork and opened the door, speaking low to the horse. “Good evening, Peanut. I’m sorry I’m so late today. So much has gone on, I can’t comprehend it. But things should get back to normal soon.”
“That’s what you think,” a voice muttered from the barn’s back door.
Grace gave a start, but even in the shadowy lantern light she could tell it was Jack’s looming silhouette in the doorway.
He took a few steps inside and said, “You shouldn’t be out here. It’s still not safe.” He walked over to the lantern and, before she knew what he planned, blew it out, leaving them in total darkness. “We don’t need to make ourselves a target. Your pitchfork won’t stop a bullet.”
Grace dropped her gaze to the pitchfork in her hands. Slowly, she placed it against the stall, saying, “Do you really think someone is still out there? They have what they came for. Why would they stay? They could get caught.”
Jack huffed. “Only if you can identify them. And only if they let you live.”
She jerked her head up. She couldn’t see his face clearly, but his remarks told her he thought she was naive—and still in danger.
Jack moved closer until only a foot separated them. She inhaled sharply as he neared. Moonlight filtering through the opened doors glinted in his stern eyes. His frown worried her and caused a bit of unease to settle in.
She kept her head high and said, “If you’re trying to scare me into staying home, it won’t work.”
Their gazes met in a match of wills. Who would back down? She took a deep breath and resigned herself for the long haul.
It seemed moments later when Jack gave in. “I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for her forearm. She thought she should pull away, but couldn’t even if she wanted to.
If he hadn’t caved, she was certain sure she would have, very soon.
His grip tightened, more and more with each passing second. It was almost as if he was testing the limits of their closeness. “I shouldn’t have been so blunt. It’s just that I’ve seen this ugly side of the world that you haven’t. You can’t fathom how dangerous some individuals are. Money does horrible things to people, and the idea of such ugliness touching you...” Jack swallowed hard and seemed to be struggling to voice what consumed his mind.
She placed a gentle hand over his where he gripped her arm. Slowly, he released her, but she kept her hand there, keeping him close. “I know you think I don’t understand the danger, but I want you to know I do.”
His head tilted. A sad but frustrated look crossed his shadowed face. His gaze sharpened on her as he asked, “Then why would you agree to go back to the racetrack? If you understand the danger, why would you put yoursel
f through it?”
Grace lifted her chin and licked her lips before pressing them together. With a sigh, she simply said, “Because to not go would cost me more.”
Jack stood before her in a silence that lingered, until he dropped his head with a nod. “I understand. I wish it wasn’t so, but I can’t change the Amish ways any more now than I could when I was eighteen. Leaving was my only choice.”
“Leaving is never a choice,” she said. “Not for me, and it wasn’t for you, either. You just thought it was.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He started to pull away, but this time she gripped him tightly, keeping him close when she sensed he would retreat.
“Then tell me.” She locked her gaze on his frantic stare. “What happened to make you think leaving was your only choice?”
“Simple. I wasn’t worthy to be Amish.”
Grace couldn’t challenge the absurdity of that statement. How many times had she felt inadequate as an Amish woman? She was expected to marry and have kinner. But she was also here to serve her community. “I know living up to what the Amish ordnung expects of us can lead to feelings of shame when our choices don’t match, but that doesn’t make us unworthy. It means we may need to remember why we committed to living the Amish way in the first place.”
“That’s the problem. I guess I forgot why when my own family turned their backs on me. Why would I want to remember a way of life that approves of such treatment to one of their own?”
Grace found herself balancing on a tightrope, with drastic consequences if she said the wrong thing. She couldn’t say she had never worried what might happen to her if she continued to disregard Leroy’s aspirations to marry her. Bishop Bontrager had made it known that she couldn’t put Leroy off for much longer.
She bit her lower lip, searching for the words, then said, “I understand. But I also know there are times we all must do things we don’t want to in order to protect our Amish ways. These ideals are put in place not to hurt us but to bring peace.”
“But what if you know in your heart that you must take a stand? What if your life depends on it? Or someone else’s? Wouldn’t you rather be truthful than live a lie?”
Grace swallowed hard, now wobbling on that high wire. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said lamely.
“Yes, you do.” Jack’s eyes hardened, and he seemed to be closer than he had been a moment ago. Had he moved in?
Grace stood firm and returned his determined look. She didn’t know what his purpose was for showing aggression, but she wouldn’t allow it. “How so?” she asked with pursed lips.
“You’re a fighter, Grace. Whether you want to admit it or not.”
“I am not. It’s wrong to fechde.”
“There are other ways to fight than with your hands. You can also fight with your heart. Tell me, how long did you hold off Leroy’s marriage proposal?”
Grace sighed and dropped her chin a bit. Guilt swamped her at being called to task for going against the wishes of Bishop Bontrager. She’d known for a long time that marriage was what the elders wanted for her. And without her parents able to care for her and direct her, it was the elders who stepped in to fill that role.
“Five years,” she said, unable to keep the note of shame from her voice.
She felt Jack touch under her chin, but she refused to look him in the eye. She glanced through her lashes to find him now only inches from her. A thought to retreat entered her mind. She should bolt, as fast as possible. She questioned his motives and wondered if he meant to kiss her. The idea of such liberties shocked her. Except a part of her also wondered what it would be like—something she never wondered with Leroy.
Grace swallowed hard. “Why are you doing this?” she whispered.
“I keep asking myself the same question. For some reason I care. I can’t explain it. All I know is that I see the injustice going on around you and it stirs something in me. I see you fighting for your place in this community, and maybe I wish I had fought for mine. Instead, I ran. I let their words push me away.” He huffed. “Believe it or not, you’re much braver than I ever was.”
She frowned. “You seeing this in me only makes me feel guiltier.”
He applied enough pressure to lift her head up and force her to meet his gaze. “You have nothing to feel guilty about. You have so much responsibility and have taken it all in stride.”
“I did what was expected of me.”
“No.” His eyes pierced straight into her. “What was expected of you was to marry and hand over your profession to someone else, but deep down you know you are the best person for this job. You know Leroy would fall short, and you know the horses would suffer at his hands. You know your daed’s lifelong work and his daed’s would be ruined. You didn’t do what was expected of you, you did what was needed. Even if it meant you did it alone and without the elders’ blessing.”
Grace felt her lungs tighten, and she realized she hadn’t taken a breath since Jack lifted her face to his. No matter how much she needed air, she stood motionless, riveted by his examination of her. How could he know her innermost thoughts? She’d never shared them with anyone. Suddenly, she could see what made this ex-Amish man a gut lawman.
“Your investigative skills are thorough,” she said, as she finally breathed deep.
“Does that mean you’ll stay away from Autumn Woods and let me handle the horse purchases from now on?”
Grace jumped back, instantly seeing where Jack had been going in his estimation of her. Her hand hit the pitchfork she had placed against the wall, and her fingers curled around it. “That’s what this is about? You came in here to get me to concede to your wishes, by praising me for not conceding to Bishop Bontrager’s?”
Pivoting, Grace picked up the pitchfork and returned to the job of mucking out Peanut’s stall. In a rush, she whacked at the hay and pulled it into a pile. A feeling came over her that she had never experienced and couldn’t name even if she tried.
“Grace, stop.” Jack’s hands covered hers. “Look at me.”
She tried to continue forking up the hay, but Jack’s strength was no match, no matter how angry she felt.
Anger?
Was that what she was feeling? But why? She hadn’t even felt anger when her mamm died. What had changed in her to bring it out now?
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” Jack held her still. She could barely see his face inside the dim stall and hoped he couldn’t see hers.
Especially when she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. Squeezing them to stop any flow, she took another deep breath and said in a steady voice, “I’m going to Autumn Woods, and you can’t stop me.”
“Please, just hear me out.” He sounded exasperated. But then so was she.
She pulled away to go back to mucking. “So you can explain why I should follow your orders when you don’t follow your own boss’s?” She jabbed hard.
“Nic is wrong. She’s thinking this is only a horse theft operation. Sometimes things aren’t as they seem. I really believe we are dealing with something much more sinister, and for some reason, someone has targeted you to take the fall. Or worse.”
She swiped the fork at the growing pile. “Since you’re FBI and know I didn’t steal any horses, I’m not worried. If framing me is their plan, they won’t succeed. I won’t take the fall for any crime, because you know I’m innocent.”
“I said ‘or worse.’” Jack’s voice held such an ominous note that she stopped jabbing at the hay. “Do you understand what I’m saying to you, Grace? If something happened to you, I would never forgive myself.”
She turned her head to look into his shadowed face, and took a step closer. “I’m just buying a horse. It will be like any other day at the track. I will be careful and on the lookout for any potential danger. And you will be there to point out any that you see.”
/> He dropped his head with a sigh. “What if I miss something, like today with the horse?”
Grace suddenly realized what this was all about. She felt ferhoodled for thinking Jack had been planning to kiss her. He was only feeling guilty for missing the thief earlier. She felt suddenly let down.
Shaking the absurdity away, she touched his arm in the dark and said, “That was not your fault. They used my daed to trick us.”
He leaned so close she could see the whites of his eyes. “That fact should scare you enough to stay home. If they would use Benjamin for their purposes, what else would they do to get what they wanted?”
With that, he turned abruptly and left her alone in the barn. But even as she finished up and headed back to the house, she knew he hadn’t gone far. He was nearby, keeping watch over her.
Grace couldn’t explain the feeling, but she sensed there was a connection between them, and oddly, she found it comforting. He hadn’t expected her to hand over the pitchfork, but instead he’d given her the space to work, all the while standing by in case she needed him.
Grace prayed she wouldn’t.
ELEVEN
A gunshot blasted through the air and jolted Jack’s already heightened senses. Even as a single horse with its cart and driver attached set off on its time trial, he scanned the crowd for the lingering threat waiting to take a more lethal shot. This was the tenth trial Jack had watched since he and Grace had arrived at Autumn Woods on Tuesday morning. Most racetracks installed starting gates, but this small ranch went old-school, with a starter pistol fired off in the air. Jack figured it would be a perfect opportunity for his bad guy to shoot a loaded gun without anyone being the wiser. At least until the bullet found its mark.
And by then it would be too late...for Grace.
Jack grumbled at her decision to be at the ranch today and straightened to full alert. He narrowed his gaze at the crowd of spectators and bidders. Unlike the last time, the track bustled this morning, with dozens of visitors, and a long line of horses at the hitching posts, harnessed to their racing carts and ready for their test run. Jack leaned back against the track fence and surveyed the area for any suspicious characters and interactions. So far all seemed legit, but with the horse thefts and shootouts, he knew that to be a facade.
