by Dana R. Lynn
“Hey, now.” He cupped her face in his hands and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the moisture. Then he playfully tugged a lock of her dark red hair. “What’s this? I’m fine, Red, just dandy.”
“Red.” She sniffed and let him catch the slightest glimpse of a smile. “You haven’t called me that since high school.”
It had slipped out without his permission. A slip like that might make one think his feelings, so long buried, were still as strong as they’d once been. But he knew that couldn’t be the case. Irene Martello was way out of his league.
“I was so scared when you ran out there, Paul. What if you’d been shot?”
It was a valid concern. He regretted that she’d had to deal with it, but there was no other choice.
“I’m sorry, but you understand we had to see if we could catch this joker?”
She nodded and some of his tension faded. She seemed to be taking everything in stride. Not something he would have expected from her, which meant he’d probably catch it later.
That was fine. As long as she and Mary Ann were safe.
His phone rang. He grabbed it off the clip on his belt without removing his gaze from the beautiful woman before him, now feeding the little girl. He allowed a grin to escape at the way the kid ate, dropping crumbs everywhere. She must have really been hungry.
“Kennedy here.”
“Chief Kennedy.” The voice was unfamiliar. She identified herself as a nurse from the hospital. “Mr. Zook woke up as they prepped him for surgery and spoke with his daughter. She is now insisting that she has information for you, and refuses to tell it to the staff here. She will only talk to you. Says it’s police business.”
“Be there soon.”
He disconnected and turned to find the three adults in the room watching him. He didn’t want to step on any toes here—this shooting was not in his precinct. But the fact that Irene had been shot at... Well, he dared anyone to try to stop him from finding the creep that had thought that was a good idea. This went far beyond whose precinct it was. And if Miss Zook had information that could help him, he wanted to know it right away.
“Okay, folks.” He kept his voice at an easy drawl. No need to antagonize anyone. “The hospital called. Miss Zook is asking me to come there. She has some information. I do believe we should move this party to the hospital. See what she has to say.”
Officer Dudak scowled. Before he opened his mouth, Paul knew he’d gotten his hackles raised.
“Now, look here, Chief. This is our area. We thank you for your help, but we can handle it.”
Paul raised his hands. He was willing to try to placate the man, but this was one time he wasn’t budging. “I’m not trying to home in on your investigation. However—” he indicated the child playing on the floor “—this intersects with one of my cases. I have a cop in the hospital and a murdered paramedic.” He drilled Dudak with a stare. “And one of my friends has been shot at multiple times. I think this is a good time to work together.”
Dudak raised his brows, then shifted his glare between Paul and Irene. His glance mellowed and his face cleared. “Ah, I see. All right. Can’t say I like it, but I get it now.”
Apparently, it didn’t matter how much he tried to deny it. The other man had picked up on Paul’s feelings for the beautiful redhead standing so close to him. Had Irene picked up on the insinuation? She looked startled, then a flush swept into her face. She dipped her head, and her hair swung forward. He could no longer see her face. Was she embarrassed because she knew how he felt? Was there any chance she was feeling the same? Or was she upset at any speculation because she wasn’t feeling anything for him?
It didn’t matter now. Feelings could be sorted out later. Her safety was the priority right now. And that meant he needed to get to the hospital.
“As soon as I change this tire, I’ll follow you guys,” Paul stated, promptly ending the discussion. They nodded. Officer Dudak stepped forward to assist. In the span of fifteen minutes, both cars were on the road again.
At the hospital, they found a couple of spots in the side lot. Miss Zook was waiting for them in the bustling hospital waiting room. All around her, people played on iPods or sat texting on smart phones.
As they entered, the energy in the room shifted. People sat straighter and averted their eyes. Nothing charged the tension in a room like the arrival of three police officers in full gear. Paul bit back a smile. He wondered if any of the people in the room had a reason to fear the arrival of the police, but let his suspicions slide. People just didn’t know how to react to them.
Miss Zook immediately made a beeline to them. Or rather, to Paul. “I need to talk with you.”
He nodded. “That’s why we’re here. Let’s step out to the lobby, shall we? It might be more private there.”
The small group moved into the area between the two sets of sliding doors. Irene and a babbling Mary Ann trailed behind the cops and Miss Zook. The stream of people passing the doors continued and they received quite a few curious stares, but at least it was quiet. They could converse in relative privacy.
Miss Zook watched Irene for a minute.
“It’s okay,” Paul assured her. “You can talk in front of Irene.”
“Ja,” she said, her voice soft. “I was thinking about the kind.”
“She was stolen from her home.” Paul kept his words gentle. But all of the sudden he thought about his own niece, who was just a toddler. Or Dan and Maggie’s twins. The idea of living with the death or the disappearance of a child pierced through him. What if Irene had to do that? He knew her sons were her whole world. He had to banish those thoughts if he wanted to keep his mind clear. “We’re trying to reunite her with her parents. I think your father knew something about what was happening.”
“I think you are right.” The girl wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
Paul’s heart twisted. The poor thing. Did she have anyone other than her father? She couldn’t have been more than eighteen. Old enough to be married, but since she still lived with her father, he doubted she was. Although, since Amish didn’t wear wedding rings, he couldn’t be sure.
“Miss Zook, what did your father say before he went into surgery?”
Dudak shifted his feet restlessly and opened his mouth as if to speak. Paul shot him a warning glance. The young officer snapped his mouth shut, though he didn’t look happy. That was just fine. He could be unhappy, as long as he kept his mouth shut.
Finally, Miss Zook seemed to come to the decision to trust him. “He didn’t know the man who shot him. Said he was a strange Englischer. Young. With brown hair and a jacket like hunters wear.”
Paul felt another piece click into place. The description matched the young man who’d bumped into him outside the diner. He was right about that connection.
Miss Zook kept talking. “The man said Dat was talking too much. And that he was too late. They’d already got another little girl.”
* * *
They’d kidnapped another child?
Irene reeled from the horrible news. In her distraction, she squeezed the child she was holding. Mary Ann squirmed and cried in protest.
“Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to do that.” Irene kissed the top of the bonnet and set the wriggling child on the ground. Mary Ann immediately moved away and pulled herself up on the bench stationed against the wall.
“Wait.” Paul sounded as shocked as she was. “Do you have any idea where this child was stolen from?”
She was already shaking her head. “Nee. I asked, but Dat didn’t know. The man said that, then shot him. I think he meant to kill him.”
“Yeah, good thing our shooter is a lousy shot.” The male officer smirked as he elbowed his partner. She, Irene was happy to note, directed a disapproving frown his way.
Paul gave
him the fiercest scowl she’d ever seen on his face. Whoa. She was seeing a side to Paul that she’d forgotten about. He always seemed so in control of himself that she’d forgotten he’d had a temper and no tolerance for cruelty or stupidity.
The officer’s comment certainly seemed to fall into one of those categories.
“What?” The officer looked affronted. “All I’m saying is that we’re dealing with someone who’s not used to using a gun. His target was only a few feet away, but he couldn’t kill him. And how many times did he shoot at the redhead there? Yet she wasn’t even nicked.”
Offended at the tactless comments, Irene was tempted to put him in his place. Paul’s expression, however, caught her attention. The scowl had melted into thoughtfulness. Tactless or not, something the man said had resonated with Paul.
“You may be right about that, Dudak.”
Even knowing he had a point didn’t make her like him any more than she currently did.
“Miss Zook, I am going to talk with the Corry police chief. See if we can’t get someone to watch your father while he’s here.”
Her brow furrowed. “While he’s here. When he gets released, I don’t think Dat will want Englischers guarding him on his own property.”
“That’s understandable, but here he’s still under our guard.”
A minute later, the young Amish woman left to go wait on news of her father’s condition. The three cops converged to discuss the next step in the investigation.
It suddenly struck Irene as she listened to the conversation just how exhausted she was. She didn’t remember being this drained when Matthew was going through colic. And that was almost three months of limited sleep at night while dealing with an energetic toddler all day long.
Letting the police officers and Paul handle the nitty-gritty details, she moved like a sleepwalker to the bench and sat down beside Mary Ann. The little girl abandoned the umbrella stand she’d been examining and climbed up to sit on Irene’s lap. She lifted her little hands and patted Irene’s cheeks. Her hands were so soft and cool. Affection welled up inside Irene. And longing. Right at that moment, all she wanted was to go home and hug her boys. Hearing that another child was gone broke her heart.
Mary Ann pushed her hands against Irene’s cheeks and drew her head down.
Irene looked into her round brown eyes. “Yes, pumpkin? Do you want something?”
The girl tilted her head and pursed her lips. Her little brow wrinkled. Oh, she was the sweetest little thing.
“Mam?”
Irene hadn’t thought her heart could break any more, but hearing that first word she’d ever heard from the child broke through the dam. Tears pooled in her eyes. She blinked them back, not wanting to scare the precious child.
“I know you miss your mam, sweetie.” She sniffed. Her voice sounded thick and fuzzy. She cleared her throat. God, please help us find her parents. “We’re going to find her. Paul will get you back to your family.”
“Yes, I will.”
She hadn’t heard him approach. The other officers were leaving. The door swooshed behind them. She raised an eyebrow at Paul. His eyes were soft and deep. And the affection and emotion she saw in them reached out and touched a chord deep in her soul. Shoving such ridiculous emotions away, she lifted Mary Ann off her lap and stood.
“Do you need to stay here and wait for Carl to wake up or something like that?” She hoped not.
He shook his head, his gaze never leaving her face. Warmth crept into her cheeks. She needed to stop reacting like a silly schoolgirl every time he looked at her. It was getting seriously annoying.
“The Corry police will take care of that. They promised to keep us in the loop.”
She wanted to wilt. Just melt right into a relieved puddle on the floor. But then she reminded herself that the day wasn’t over yet. They might be finished at the hospital, but there was still plenty to do.
“What now?” She pulled herself together and straightened her spine. This was not about her. It was about the little girl holding on to her leg. The child trusted her to get her home. And Irene would do that. Paul and I will do that, she amended. Because she would get nowhere without him. Or without God.
Even a week ago that thought would have been scoffed at. But now she realized she needed to hold tight to God to keep her sanity.
Paul smiled, a slight half grin that lifted one corner of his mouth. But it still made her feel better. He lifted a hand as if to touch her, then let it drop.
She was not disappointed, she told herself.
“Now we head back to LaMar Pond. I know we need to travel to Ohio. But I refuse to just drive out there without any idea of where we’re going. We’re going to see if we can find out more about any families named Lapp that recently lost a child. Or had a severe fire on their property. At the same time, I need to put out some feelers for another missing little girl. Come on, let’s go home. You can call your mom on the way.”
Finally.
They moved out to the car. Paul hit the button to unlock the doors. Irene didn’t wait for him to open her door, instead reaching out and pulling the door wide-open.
She stopped.
“Do you hear something?” She leaned her head toward the car, trying to catch the elusive sound.
It sounded familiar. Like a clock ticking.
Her world stopped as fear held her tight in its grip.
“Irene, move!”
Paul grabbed her hand and yanked her and Mary Ann away from the car. “Run!”
She didn’t need to be told twice. They were halfway across the lot when the door blew off the car. Paul grabbed Mary Ann from her and shoved Irene forward. She fell, catching herself on her hands. They were scraped raw on the icy parking lot. She barely felt the pain. Mary Ann was screaming. Paul had wrapped himself around the panicked child as he’d gone to the ground.
Mary Ann was terrified and angry. But she was alive.
Irene looked back and promptly gagged.
The car was still there, smoking. The passenger seat, the seat she’d been about to sit in, was gone.
TEN
There’d been a bomb planted in her seat. Paul was still shaking, fifteen minutes later. He berated himself for not seeing the trap. The car had been out of his line of sight for more than long enough to be tampered with. Knowing that, he should have approached more cautiously. That’s what being consumed with concern for a woman will get you, he scolded himself.
They were alive, though. He was amazed they were all uninjured. Shaken, but not hurt. He gave praise where it was due.
“Thank You, Jesus, for protecting us.”
Irene nodded. “I’m thinking He is watching over us.”
Well, at least there was one positive thing about this.
Mary Ann’s shrieking had subsided into pitiful crying interspersed with hiccups. She was sitting in Irene’s lap, thumb in her mouth. Her bonnet was slightly askew. He reached down and plucked gently at the top, straightening it. Irene smiled and hugged the girl closer.
Security from the hospital poured out of the building. Great. Now they would be stuck here even longer, letting the perp put more and more distance between them. Who knew how completely he’d be able to disappear if they didn’t go after him now?
Still, Paul tamped down his impatience as they were prodded and poked by the hospital staff to be sure they weren’t suffering any hidden injuries.
By the time they were declared injury-free, the Erie Bomb Squad had arrived. Paul was glad to see Trevor Stone leading the crew. Trevor was a shy young man, but Paul had learned to trust his judgment.
“What do we have, Trevor?” he said as he approached the young man. Trevor raised a hand in greeting and pushed his glasses back on his nose.
“Chief. This is a very sophisticated
device. See those wires?” He pointed to the wires hanging out of the car where the door had been. Paul couldn’t help it. His glance slid farther to where the passenger seat ought to be. He shuddered. Ten seconds more and Irene would have been there.
Don’t go there, man. She’s fine. You’re all fine. Focus on Trevor. “Okay, yeah. I see them.”
Trevor continued. “Whoever this dude is, he knows his explosives—and how to use them with precision. This was designed to take out just the passenger seat. Not the entire car. And it was remotely controlled.”
Paul straightened, a new horror blossoming in his chest. “You mean he was here, watching?”
“Yeah, afraid so. He had to have been. The countdown didn’t start until he pushed the button.”
Paul swiveled his head to check on Irene. She was still there. He nodded at the security guard closest to him, and the man jogged over. “That woman is in danger. You stay right with her.”
There may have been something in his voice, but the man didn’t argue, just ambled away to stand guard over Irene.
And over his heart.
He did not just think that.
“He waited until Irene was getting ready to sit, and then he pushed the button.” It was hard to say the words, but he didn’t back down from the challenge. Right now, he was Irene’s best chance to survive, and she was counting on him to keep his head in the game.
“That’s my guess.”
Dudak and his partner stepped closer. At some level he’d been aware of them searching the parking lot. “What can we do, Chief?”
“Search the perimeter. Trevor here will give you the range of the remote. Extend your search past that. Any clues will be helpful.”
They jogged out. He turned to the hospital personnel. “Are there security cameras in this section of the parking lot?”
When they admitted that there were, he said he wanted a look at the files as soon as possible.
“Chief.”
