“Thomas is your brother. And he loves you. He isn’t going to be surprised by this. If he is protective, it’s because he doesn’t want you to get hurt. And that’s only because he doesn’t know my brother. But I do and I know Elijah loves you.”
Hannah shook her head. “Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes people need different things. You know I don’t regret the decision I made. I was a good wife to Peter and I cared for him. I missed Elijah’s friendship, but I knew he was happy being a cop and I was so happy to be a mother to Jessica.” She sat down and sighed.
“But what about now?” Abigail smiled and took the seat opposite her.
Hannah smiled and nodded. “I don’t think your brother wants to come back here.”
“You are wrong about that. I saw him yesterday. Coming back is exactly what Elijah wants. He wants family. He told me so himself.”
Exactly. And I cannot give him one. “I don’t know. I tried to talk with him last night. He did not seem interested in hearing my feelings.”
“Ack. He is only afraid. That is why I push you. You are brave, Hannah. Just like Jessica.”
“Not anymore. Not after losing Peter and Jessica.”
“You must be brave.” Abigail patted her hand. “Be brave with your heart again.”
“It’s not my heart that I fear. It’s that I cannot…” Hannah paused. I cannot tell him that I cannot give him a family….
“You cannot what? Will you not speak to him?”
Hannah shook her head. “There are things you do not know, Abigail. It is not as simple as you believe.”
“I never said it would be simple.” Abigail smiled. “I only said you should be honest. At least, think on it. I’m going to check on our patient. Then perhaps we could head to Sunday service.”
Hannah stopped her. “What do you think will happen to the girl? Will she have to go back to her stepfather?”
“No. Elijah will not let that happen. She’s almost eighteen, which means she’ll soon be legally independent—but she will still need some guidance and a way to support herself.” Abigail clasped her hands together at her chest. “Elijah is arranging for her to stay here until I make some arrangements for her. It’s complicated, but I think she’ll be okay.”
“I’d like to help,” Hannah said.
“Good. I’d like for you to help.”
The exchange of words was like a pact between sisters and it warmed Hannah through. Maybe Abigail was right. Maybe everything would work out somehow. She started away to fetch her best dress for Sunday church. Service was at the Stottlemeyers’, just a five-minute walk from Abigail’s.
“Hannah?” Abigail walked back in from the hallway. “I was thinking if you can’t talk to my brother and you don’t want to stay on with the Nolts—”
“I never said I didn’t want to—”
Abigail waved her hands in the air. “Hear me out. I was just thinking that it must be hard for you to stay on without Jessica there.”
“Jah. It is.”
“Well, you are welcome to stay here. As long as you need. I would welcome the company.”
“That is most kind. But I couldn’t pay you.”
“You could work for me,” she said. “I need someone to tend to the garden and the cleaning while I am seeing patients.”
Hannah took in her words.
“Think that over, too,” Abigail said, and turned away.
“I will,” Hannah said. “Now let’s off to church and some time to pray. You have my head spinning, Abigail. I need some time to listen to God and settle it again.”
* * *
After the call from Tucci, Elijah knew two things. First, that his partner was sticking his neck out in a big way by bringing Jackson in under a false name for him.
Secondly, Elijah knew this was his best chance to help Hannah and Willow Trace. He had to ask the right questions. There was no time to make mistakes. If only he could focus, he could be sure to do that. But that wasn’t so easy to do, when he couldn’t stop thinking about that near kiss.
Get a grip, Miller. Strange vibes flowed through him as he entered the station. Something was different. He ignored the uncomfortable feelings and found his partner waiting for him in the hallway.
“I got him in interrogation five,” Tucci said. “I haven’t asked him a thing. He’s just been sitting there for an hour. He’s starting to sweat.”
“Where did you find him?”
“At a coffee shop in Kennett Square,” Tucci said. “A patrolman walked in and recognized his face from the bulletin yesterday.”
“Great. Then all his friends will know he’s here.”
“Not much we can do about that,” Tucci replied. “But he was stupid and sloppy yesterday. Too many people saw him. He assaulted you. Held a woman at gunpoint—”
“Beat his teenaged stepdaughter to near death,” Elijah added. “She showed up at my sister’s in the middle of the night. Abigail took pictures.”
“Rape?”
He shook his head. “My sister is a midwife and nursed her last night. She says no signs of rape. But the girl told us a lot this morning.”
Elijah filled Tucci in while pouring himself a tall cup of coffee, and headed into the room with Jackson.
“Good morning, Flynn. So good of you to come visit me and see how I’m doing. I really appreciate that because I have some questions for you.”
Jackson barely lifted his eyes. “I don’t know you. So I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Elijah spotted the large ring that had marred Brittney’s face. “Tucci, I need someone to bag and analyze this ring, please.”
“Don’t you need a warrant for those?” Jackson said. “I want my lawyer.”
“We’re trying to get your lawyer, Flynn. But he’s not answering his phone. And no, I don’t need a warrant. I don’t even need the ring or the boot.” He pulled out his cell phone and showed Jackson a picture of Brittney’s bruised face and then a picture of the cut on his head. “Between these pictures and many eyewitnesses, I think you’d better hand it over. The best thing you can do is confess. Even your lawyer would tell you that. Plead guilty and maybe the courts will have some mercy. What do you say, Jackson?”
“Confess to what?” Jackson laughed. “You got nothing. In about thirty minutes I’ll be walking out of here.”
“Well, then why don’t we chat for those thirty minutes?”
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“What if I told you I found that journal of codes that you’ve been looking for? Have anything to say then? If I hand that over to someone—like, let’s say, Norton Krups—then maybe you won’t be walking in thirty minutes.”
“You don’t have that journal.” He sneered. “You’re bluffing.”
“How does Mr. Krups feel about you getting duped by a couple of teenaged girls, huh?” Elijah taunted him. He had a feeling that Jackson was the type to lose it if he got mad. And if he lost it, he might say something useful. “So that was probably a career buster for you. Even though you’re the one who stole the codes from Dutch Confidential, you also lost them before getting them to Krups. Sort of knocked you down the crime ladder a good ways.”
Jackson shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Elijah continued with the humiliation tactic.
“I’ll bet Mr. Krups had some big plans for all those codes. But you blew it. Let a couple of little girls steal it right out from under your nose.”
�
�What do you want, Detective Miller?” Jackson crossed his hands over his chest. “You want me to help you get Krups? I’m dead if I do that.”
“You’re dead if you don’t do it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you murdering an Amish teenaged girl. I’m talking maximum security for an ex-cop. The guards will hate you. The inmates will hate you. It will be a long, long life sentence.”
Jackson stood, throwing his hands in the air in protest. His anger now was turning to fear. “Murder? I didn’t murder anyone. I trade information and do favors for people. I don’t kill.”
“Jessica Nolt. She was last seen with you before she was found with a slit neck. We have pictures of what you did to your own stepdaughter. We saw you with a knife under her chin. I doubt a jury will think it much of a stretch to believe you used that knife on another child.” Elijah stood and walked to the door. “You should have stuck to being a dirty cop. Murder is a deadly business.”
“Wait,” Jackson said before Elijah had stepped out of the room. “Just…just wait. Let’s talk.”
EIGHTEEN
Hannah and Abigail dressed and helped Brittney into an old dress of Abigail’s since her own clothes had been so badly stained and cut.
“It’s a little long.” Hannah giggled. Abigail was a good three inches taller than the teen. “But it will do.”
“It’s a little stiff and itchy,” Brittney said.
“Jah. Just be thankful you don’t have to pin it together like some of the Amish,” Hannah said.
“Pin it?” Brittney scrunched up her nose.
“Jah, many Amish think hooks and eyes are too fancy,” Abigail said. “They use straight pins to fasten the skirt and apron together.”
Brittney seemed to consider that for a moment. “Don’t they stick into you when you move?”
“Nein. Not if you pin it correctly.”
Brittney giggled. “Jessica told me how different it is here. She said that you try not to be noticed here. And there we are, back in the city, squeezing into the tightest jeans possible, hoping someone will look.”
“We look upward,” Abigail said. “To the Lord.”
“I want to learn how to do that, too.” A worried expression covered Brittney’s face.
“You know they won’t be able to keep Flynn,” she said. “He gets questioned all the time, but never charged with anything. And if he did, then where would I go?”
Hannah looked to Abigail and back to Brittney. “I do not understand the English system, Brittney. But I have faith in God and in Elijah that you will not be harmed again. If I have to stand between you and that horrible man to prevent it, I will. Just like Jessica. I give you my promise.”
“And now we are off to church?” Hannah asked Abigail, wondering if the girl was too frail to walk the short distance to the Stottlemeyers’ for church.
“How would you like that, Brittney?” Abigail said. “It’s not far today. Just around the corner. If you get tired, we can find you a comfortable spot there to rest. Or we can return.”
The girl’s expression perked up a bit. “I suppose I’m already dressed for it. Let’s go.”
“Gut.” Hannah was pleased. “Daniel and Jessica’s other friends will be there. You can socialize with them after the service, if you feel up to it.”
“Daniel?” Brittney looked worried again. “I’m sure he won’t be glad to see me.”
Hannah patted her shoulder. “That is not true. You have much to learn about the Amish. We are very forgiving.”
“Have you talked to him about Jessica and the journal?” Brittney asked.
“Jah, he was looking for it in our house the other night.” Hannah said. “Why?”
Brittney paused before speaking, as if she weren’t sure how she wanted to answer. “Just wondering if he had talked to you about stuff. That’s all.”
Hannah could see behind Brittney’s brown eyes that that wasn’t all. There was something else the girl knew and it had something to do with Daniel.
* * *
The day was warm and after the service Hannah helped the other women set tables on the front lawn for the midday meal.
Abigail had taken Brittney to the back porch to rest for a bit. Hannah could only imagine that listening to a two-hour sermon in a language one didn’t understand would be fatiguing for even someone in the best of health. After all that Brittney had been through, she had to have been exhausted. Hannah figured that as soon as she’d helped set up the meal, she and Abigail could help Brittney back to Abigail’s so that the girl could get some proper rest.
Before leaving, Hannah had also thought to speak to Daniel. She had seen him earlier sitting with his family. He had looked more than surprised when he saw Brittney sitting with herself and Abigail. Earlier at the house, Brittney’s comment about Daniel had her thinking that maybe he knew more than he had told them. As Elijah had said to her, sometimes we know things that we don’t think are important to a case, but they are. He had explained that part of his job was to get all of that information from witnesses and victims and other parties and put it together, until it made sense.
She wished Elijah were there now so that she would know what questions to ask Daniel. She wasn’t sure at all how to start a conversation with him about the journal and what he knew about it.
Truth was, she wished Elijah were there anyway. During the service, she had thought and prayed heavily about the things Abigail had mentioned. She wanted to talk to Elijah about her feelings, but she didn’t know if she could be that brave. And in the end, what would it matter? Elijah would go back to the city and his work and she would stay in Willow Trace.
Hannah carried out the drinks and saw that most of the work had been done. She would look for Daniel. Glancing across the lawn, she saw him crossing the grassy paddock in front of the stable. He glanced her way. Hannah put down the two pitchers of tea she carried and tried to motion him over, but he turned away and slipped quickly behind the Stottlemeyers’ barn. There wasn’t anything she knew of behind that barn. Curious, she decided to follow after him.
She was halfway across the lawn when she realized she should tell Abigail her plan. It would take but a second to walk by the back porch. Abigail sat upright in a white wooden rocker and was sleeping like a baby. Hannah would have laughed aloud except that as she got closer she noticed the long swing next to Abigail—the swing on which Brittney had been resting—was empty.
Brittney was missing.
* * *
“I didn’t murder anybody. You got the wrong guy for that.” Jackson shook his head back and forth.
Elijah turned and glared hard at him. The brutish man ran his thick hands through short red hair.
“Then who did? You were with her. You dumped her at the barn. Your black sedan was seen leaving the site. I’m thinking we’ll find trace evidence once the car is examined.”
Jackson grumbled, “She’s my daughter’s friend. I gave her a ride.”
“You don’t think we’ll find her blood? What about the other Amish kid, Daniel? He can identify you, too.”
“But he can’t say I killed her, because I didn’t. I didn’t touch that little girl. I swear. And if Brittney or that other punk kid says I did, then they’re lying.” The color of Jackson’s cheeks now matched his hair. “Krups did it. He’s crazy all of a sudden. He’ll kill anybody to get those codes back. He thinks that afterward he can get into the right system and change the history on the computer.”
“And that’s why he doesn’t kill you? Because he needs you to get the codes?” Elijah slammed the file folder down on the table and looked into the two-way mirror with a shrug. This discovery was not going to work in their favor. Jackson was mad enough to point the finger
at Krups for the murder charge, but he wasn’t scared because as long as those codes were still out there, Krups wouldn’t hurt him.
“Okay, let’s say I believe you for one second. Tell me why Krups killed the one person who knew where the codes were?”
“He didn’t mean to kill her,” Jackson said. “Don’t get me wrong. He probably would have anyway, once he got the journal. But he didn’t mean to when it happened.”
“When what happened?”
“Krups was knocking her around, trying to get her to talk. He broke a bottle against the wall to scare her. But when he pushed her a little too hard, she fell. Krups reached out with the sharp glass in his hand. It went clean across her throat as she tripped down the stairs. Then he was just angry because he still didn’t have the codes.”
“If your story is true, that’s still murder and you’re an accessory.” Elijah walked back and leaned his weight over table toward Jackson.
“I can’t give you Krups,” he said.
“Then tell me why you and Krups are after Daniel and Hannah. What makes you think they can lead you to the journal?”
“The girl said so.” Jackson was very matter-of-fact. “Krups was scaring her and pushing her around and her last words were ‘don’t hurt my Mamm or Daniel.’ They must know something. Otherwise, why would we hurt them?”
“A dying child calls out for her mother and friend and that’s what you guys are going on? Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not. And Brittney confirmed her claim. She’d told my daughter nearly the same thing—that no one knew exactly where the codes were but that Daniel and her Mamm could find them if they had to. That’s all we had. Brittney would have told us if she’d known anything else. Krups can be very persuasive.”
“But, let me guess, you made her talk.” Elijah felt his head begin to ache. “Just tell me where Krups is and we’ll drop the accessory to murder charge.”
“You’re not a D.A. You can’t negotiate that.” Jackson shook his head. “Look, even if you have the journal, which I don’t believe you do, you can’t tie it to Krups. You can’t get to him. It’s impossible. He dots every i and crosses every t. You are wasting your time.”
Plain Secrets Page 16
