He came down on her, pressing a knee in her back so that she could not get free. “So, where is it?”
Where was what? What was he talking about? She knew nothing about a journal. “I have no journal,” she pleaded. “I know not of what you speak.”
He pushed her harder into the floor. “But you have to. You have to have Jessica’s journal. She said you knew about it, about where it was. I need it. You need it. Where is it?”
Jessica’s journal? What was he talking about? How could Jessica have a journal? Hannah and Nana Ruth had already been through the girl’s things. There was nothing like a journal. She knew not what to say to this man. But she wondered if this journal he spoke of was the reason for Jessica’s death.
Help me, Lord. What do I do?
FIVE
The trainer’s quarters in the horse stable proved more accommodating than Eli had expected. But its location was lousy for keeping an eye on the main house. At midnight, instead of sleeping with the Nolts’ prize-winning horses, Eli sat in his car with the motor running, watching the house and having a conversation with his partner, Mitchell Tucci.
“What do you mean you’re working with another partner?” he asked his partner of five years.
“O’Dell assigned me to work with Sid Kaufman. Said you would be too busy to get back in time to wrap up the Mason-Hendricks case.”
“But I shouldn’t be here long at all. A couple of days tops. And we’ve been working on that case for months.” Eli tried to control the sudden mixture of anger and fear that overwhelmed him—the feeling that he would never escape Willow Trace or have a job to return to when he did.
“So, what’s the assignment?” Tucci asked. “O’Dell made it sound top secret, like FBI stuff.”
“Top secret? In my hometown? Tucci, this is Willow Trace. The only thing top secret around here is Emily Matheson’s recipe for apple pie.”
“I thought you said bullets were flying as soon as you got there,” Tucci reminded him. “Maybe it’s more complicated than you think.”
Eli slumped in the driver’s seat. His partner was right even if he didn’t want to admit it out loud.
“You think they were shooting at you and not at the old love of your life?” Tucci asked.
“Yeah, I thought about that angle. But it doesn’t really add up. Only O’Dell knew I was here at that point. And consider that the shooter missed purposely and cleaned up his casings. If a professional were after me, he wouldn’t have missed. Any of my enemies would just want me dead.”
“Maybe a warning for you to get off the case?”
“But from whom? O’Dell? He just sent me here.”
“Hey, man, I’m just looking at possibilities. Trying to help out. I thought you said the local chief suspects some strong anti-Amish sentiment in his ranks.”
“Chief McClendon, yeah. He’s hard to read. On the one hand, he seemed to really care about the safety of this family.”
“And on the other hand?”
“And on the other hand, he’s leaving everything up to me…and he doesn’t even know me. I don’t get it. In some ways, I feel like I’m being set up to fail and this is the one place on Earth where I absolutely cannot fail. That would just show my people that I was wrong to leave. I can’t let that happen.”
“What does it matter to you what they think if you know you did the right thing for you? You never worried about that before, did you?”
“Yeah. I guess. I don’t know.” Eli pushed the troubling thoughts away.
“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help out. Don’t be a stranger.”
Help. That was exactly what he needed. “Really? You wanna help me out?” Eli asked.
“Of course, I’ve always wanted to come out there and see where you’re from.”
“Oh.” Eli paused. His loudmouthed Italian city slicker partner in Willow Trace was not exactly what he’d had in mind. “Actually, I wanted you to run some names and take some photos to the coroner.”
Tucci laughed. “I can do that, too. Shoot me the names and pics.”
“Names…well, anything on Jessica Nolt, Hannah Nolt, Thomas Nolt, Chief McClendon and Governor Derry. I’ll email the photos.”
The line went silent.
“Tucci? You copy?”
“I copy. The governor? You want me to run a check on Governor Derry? Where did that come from? And how? You know I don’t have clearance for that.”
“O’Dell said Derry asked for me on this case. But Governor Derry doesn’t know me, so I want to know how he came about this idea. I think he must have some ties to the Willow Trace community, know what I mean? Anyway, maybe it would help if I knew what that connection was. I was thinking you could call that friend of yours at the bureau. He owes us a favor, right?”
“That he does.” Tucci chuckled.
“And don’t check everything. Just connections to Willow Trace or the Lancaster police. Maybe you won’t get anything, but it’s worth a try. Got to start somewhere.”
“I hear you. Wow. The governor asked for you? This is making the Mason-Hendricks case look pretty lame. You sure you don’t need me to come out there? Shake things up a little?”
“Maybe later,” Eli said. “I’ll send the pics through my phone as soon as we hang up.”
“I’m off to run the names,” Tucci said, and ended the call.
Eli clicked off. He missed his friend and he found it disturbing that O’Dell had replaced him on the Mason-Hendricks case. But he could hardly worry about that now.
From his lap, he lifted the small file folder created by the Lancaster police concerning Jessica Nolt’s death. He hadn’t had a chance to review it since leaving his office.
Eli flipped through the folder reading the pages with a penlight. There wasn’t much there. Only pictures and the information on the family. With his cell phone, he took photos of each image and then emailed them to his partner with a message. Run these by Michelle at the coroner’s office. Tell me what she sees.
If Tucci could get anything from Michelle, it would be helpful, as he did not even know the probable cause or time of death. Never before had he worked a case with so little to go on.
Tomorrow, he needed to talk to Jessica’s friends. He’d get a list of them from Hannah. Perhaps she could also show him how and where she found the body. Although with Thomas hanging around, he feared it would be difficult to get her to open up.
Eli tossed the file folder into the passenger seat and leaned back, struggling to get comfortable in his small car. His phone battery was still low. Might as well keep the engine running and let it charge for a few. Wasn’t as if there were a lot of electrical outlets where he could plug in for the night. He needed to shut his eyes for a few minutes. It had been a long day and tomorrow would probably be longer. The more time he spent in Willow Trace, the bigger chance of his having to confront his own family. It was certain by now, with the help of Nicholas, they knew of his return.
He squirmed, still trying to get comfortable, his eyes focusing on the upstairs window of the cottage, where a dim light appeared behind the green curtain. It was the window he guessed to belong to Hannah’s bedroom, as per his estimation from running through the house earlier that afternoon. The Amish had no fancy closets but hung their clothing on pegs. He was pretty certain he’d distinguished between Hannah’s frocks and those of the slightly larger Nana Ruth. But why a light in Hannah’s room at this hour? It was late. What could she be doing awake? She must be exhausted. But perhaps she was troubled after the scare she’d had that afternoon. That could not have been easy. Poor Hannah. She had lost so much. Although part of him was angry with her, as it was clear she knew more than she was telling him, he couldn’t help empathizing with her pain. He glanced again at the photos of her daughter. How horrible it must have be
en to find her.
Faint shadows fluttered behind the dark green shade of Hannah’s room. Maybe she and Thomas were talking. His body tensed at that thought. Or was that his gut telling him that something was wrong up at the house? As if he would know. Seemed his instincts had gone on holiday the minute he saw Hannah. His head was a mess. He should probably be doing more than sitting in his car.
Eli killed the engine and rolled down the window. It was a stretch to think he could hear anything at that distance, but certainly he could hear more with the window down than up. Having one person in the house killed and another shot at, there was no such thing as being too careful.
His cell phone vibrated in the seat beside him. He checked the screen. Tucci.
“That was fast,” Eli answered the call. “Did you get my pictures?”
“I did. I’ll send those to Michelle in the morning,” Tucci said. “Got something else, too.”
“What’s that?” Eli tried to focus on the conversation with Tucci, but the flickering light inside Hannah’s room was extinguished. He sat up straight, his senses on full alert.
“My friend Jim at the FBI was up late and ran your names.”
“And he found something that fast?”
“Yep, it may be nothing but I thought I’d pass it on.”
“Please.”
“So, apparently there was one prize-winning cross-draft pony stallion sold about six months ago by a T. Nolt to our very own Governor Derry for the sum of eighty-six thousand dollars.” Tucci emphasized the price of the sale.
“Whoa. A pony for that kind of money? And to Governor Derry?”
“Paid in cash, too. I thought you might—”
“Shh.” Eli shushed his friend. The faint sounds of a distant shriek reached his ears. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Eli’s heart began to pound. Had that been Hannah? “You didn’t hear anything?” he whispered into the phone.
“Nothing,” Tucci said.
Eli listened but the night had fallen quiet again. “Uh…I don’t know. Probably a cat, but I’m going to run a perimeter check on the house and barns. Keep digging, Mitchie. I’ll call you in the morning.”
Eli was already sliding out of the car, grabbing his flashlight and pocketing his phone, before his partner could respond. Eli didn’t really believe he’d heard a cat. That was a woman’s scream. And he believed it was Hannah’s. Thomas might not want him to, but he was going back inside the house.
Without a sound, he closed the door to his car. Then slinking his way under the tree-covered path, he dashed toward the house. Another muffled cry broke through the night. This one louder than the first and confirming his hunch. It was Hannah. She was in trouble.
Glock drawn, Eli sneaked to the porch, sucking in a gasp when he saw that the front door to the cottage hung wide open. From the bottom of the steps, he could hear a muffled voice inside speaking fast and low.
Eli clenched his teeth, resisting the temptation to bust into the house and attack whoever was making Hannah scream. Of course, he knew that would be dumb. It was too dark and the downstairs was too large and open. If he raced inside, he’d be nothing more than an easy target standing in the doorway with a flashlight to help the bad guy aim better.
Instead, Eli tucked the flashlight into his belt and lowered himself into a squatting position. He could creep up the front stairs and slink into the house slowly, unnoticed. That way he could get a better handle on the situation. But as he pressed his weight over the first step, it groaned loudly under him.
Stupid old house. Heavy footsteps scrambled across the floor inside. The intruder was getting away. Again.
Eli leaped like a cat through the front door, aiming both his gun and flashlight in the direction of the footsteps. Target or not, he wanted a chance at this guy. At the other end of the kitchen, he caught the backside of him. A man in all black. Thin. Tall. Quick.
“Hold it. Freeze. Philadelphia police.” Eli cocked his gun and aimed for the man’s heart.
SIX
The dark figure in the kitchen door did not stop as Eli commanded but continued straight through the opened screen and out into the darkness. Eli knew he should chase after him, but a more pressing concern came first.
“Hannah!” Eli moved across the room, the beam from his flashlight finding her lying facedown near the bottom of the stairs. “It’s me, Eli. Are you okay?”
He knelt beside her. Putting a hand to her shoulder, he could feel her shaking.
“So glad that you are come.” Her voice quivered as he unraveled her from the quilt that seemed to have her trapped to the floor. Her prayer Kapp had slipped from her hair, her apron unpinned; her face was red, splotchy and swollen.
“Can you move?”
“I think so.”
Eli helped her to a seated position. “Are you going to be okay?”
She gestured to the back door. “Yes. Go. Go after him.”
Elijah took off through the back and searched for the fleeing intruder. All was dark. The backyard and garden were empty. But as he turned to go back inside, his eye caught a flicker of movement in the distance. There, in the distance, he could barely make out the silhouette of a man. He seemed to move his arms rapidly through the air over and across something large and dark. For a second, Eli feared the man had a weapon, but when a second later his figure lifted high from the ground. Eli realized he’d mounted a horse and was already galloping away into the night.
Eli turned and went back into the house.
* * *
Who was that? Who pushed me down? Had she known his voice or had she just imagined that? Hannah pushed herself up from the hardwood floor and turned on the oil-powered overhead light. An agonizing pain stabbed through her head, followed by a steady rhythmic throbbing, making her want to tear her hair out by the roots and vomit. She stumbled her way to the small couch by the woodstove and carefully sat back into the cushions. The movement filled her with nausea and she doubled over her lap, hoping to swallow away a dry heave.
Eli stepped back through the back door. Slowly, she turned her aching head toward him.
“Whoever it was rode off on a horse.” He shrugged. “Only in Willow Trace, right?”
No black car, she thought. But someone on horseback, that brought things a little too close to home. “What kind of horse?” she asked.
“Uh…black? But don’t they all look black in the dark?”
“No.” She looked away from his attempt to make her smile. How had that almost worked? Two minutes ago she’d been scared out of her mind. His presence had such an effect on her. It should not be so.
“Where are Thomas and Nana?” he asked.
“I can hear Nana still sleeping,” she said. “I don’t…I don’t know about Thomas. He’s not usually a heavy sleeper.”
Eli nodded thoughtfully, then moved toward her, slowly taking the seat next to her. He reached for her hands and covered them over with his own. Thomas. She hadn’t even thought of him since the attacker confronted her. When she’d been afraid, it had been Elijah she’d wanted and welcomed. Her hands felt warm and safe inside his. She should have been ashamed, the feelings he stirred in her. She should have pulled away. He was not her beau. He was not one of their community anymore. And yet his eyes held her in a tender gaze from which she could not look away.
“You need a doctor,” he said.
She felt her eyes widen. “No. No doctor. I’m fine.”
Eli looked doubtful.
“That is, I’ll be fine,” she amended.
“Then tell me what happened tonight,” he whispered.
No. She closed her eyes tight. She didn’t want to remember. But her mind rushed back to the hard push to the floor. Tears flooded her eyes and crashed down her cheeks. She l
ooked away, pulled her hands back and turned from him. “What if you had not come when you did? I—I am so thankful to God—”
“Me, too.” His voice was soft, reassuring. “Glad I wasn’t in the stable or I would never have seen your light on and heard you scream.”
She nodded and slowly opened her eyes to him again. How the strength and softness in him blended and touched her through his deep gaze. He reached up and wiped away the moisture from her cheek. “I know you don’t feel well, but…can you tell me what happened? It’s best with victims if they talk about things right away.”
Victim? Was that what she was? It was hard to put such a title to herself, to think she was different from anyone else. Special. The idea conflicted her. She took in a deep, shaky breath and wiped away the rest of her tears.
“Tell me what happened, Hannah. I need to know about everything.”
“Everything?” Her gaze went down to the wooden floor. “I—I wouldn’t know where to begin with everything. I feel so confused inside since—”
“Then start with tonight. You turned on a light, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“Start there.”
“I could not sleep. My mind was racing with thoughts of…” Hannah pressed her lips together. Her thoughts had been on Eli and all that he made her feel inside. But she would not speak of that. He must never know she still loved him. Had always loved him. If it had not been for Jessica…
“Your mind was racing. Mine, too.” He smiled and patted her shoulder sweetly.
“Jah. So, I am awake and I think I hear someone moving downstairs. I think it must be Thomas. I dress and come down to talk because I have things to say about…” How did she keep getting back to Elijah?
“But it wasn’t Thomas.” Elijah tried to help her refocus.
“No. It was not Thomas. I realized that right away, but I see the front door is opened, so I go to close it. Then I hear someone moving. Oh, Elijah, I was so scared. I run to the steps, but…he got to me first. I was so frightened.”
Plain Secrets Page 5
