Some cursing and a flurry of voices came from below. Rebecca, who had stayed on her knees beside the window, said, “There’s another buggy behind him. And...another turning in.”
Samuel, he realized suddenly, would never have driven out here to say a few words, not when doing so would confirm Rebecca’s presence.
Gripping his Glock in both hands, Daniel stole another look down the hall and saw nothing.
“What’s happening?” he asked, unable to risk crossing to the window.
“They’re driving onto the lawn. Oh, Daniel.” Emotion swelled in her voice, because she knew a miracle was being performed right in front of her. “More are coming. The men are parking the buggies and just sitting there. I can’t see the gunmen, but...” Her voice broke. “There must be a dozen buggies now. They’ve formed a line, and they’re blocking the driveway. It’s as if...”
“They’re saying, Kill us all, or know anything you do is being witnessed.”
Her “yes” came out soggy.
Daniel heard a siren. And then...that had to be a second.
He let himself look at the woman he loved, who looked back, her eyes brimming with both emotions and tears. And then he continued to do his job. He slipped into the hall, keeping his back to the wall, and edged toward the staircase. He couldn’t relax until he knew Rebecca was truly safe.
* * *
“IT WAS MIKE BONTRAGER HEARD,” Samuel explained.
Daniel listened, stunned. He had yet to allow Rebecca to emerge from the house and make herself vulnerable. Until police cleared the area, they couldn’t be positive a sniper hadn’t set up to pick her off if she appeared framed in a window or stepped outside. And, yes, he knew how unlikely that was, and that he was being absurdly overprotective.
“Mike heard that Billy make a call, thinking himself alone. He told someone where he could find Rebecca and that he had taken care of your phone.”
Mike was the teenage son of Eli Bontrager, the harness maker who had lost so much in the fire this summer. Daniel knew Mike to be enjoying his Rumspringa with his gang, but was still a good kid. He’d know who Billy was, and about his prison term.
By good luck, Mike had seen Samuel, who had still been in town informing others about Ephraim. Mike had used his cell phone to call several Amish businesses as Samuel rounded up what other Amish men he could find.
“We thought those men wouldn’t do anything bad if they knew they were being watched,” he said in his stolid way. “Mike and his friend David went to your police station. We were afraid the deputies working might be too far away, or too busy with something bad to come, but they must have driven very fast.”
In fact, the two deputies who had arrived on the heels of the last Amish buggy had been joined in the next ten minutes by an off-duty deputy, followed almost immediately by officers from the Byrum police department, including Ben Slater, who was currently listening to one of his officers talking and gesturing toward the woods.
Three of the intruders now sat in police cars, hands cuffed behind their backs, heads hanging. Two of the four men had bolted for the woods, but one had gotten hung up on a barbed-wire fence almost immediately. Daniel recognized him as the driver of the van that had nearly run him down. No wondered he’d tried to escape. Only Josh Griffen had made it to the cover of the trees.
Floodlights had been set up in the back, and deputies and two more late-arriving Byrum police officers were situated along the back roads where Griffen would emerge if he made it that far.
Shortly after the police cars arrived and the first two intruders surrendered, the Amish had nodded to Daniel and, one by one, circled their buggies, trotting down the driveway and returning to town. They had done what they were called to do and didn’t want to be mixed up any more with the law than they had to be.
He knew all those faces, some stern, some usually smiling. Reuben Gingerich, Harvey Stolzfus, Yonnie Miller, Isaac Bontrager, even the humorless minister, Amos King. And among them was Daniel’s daad, whose eyes had smiled as he bent his head to his son.
Only Samuel remained, apparently feeling obligated to explain their presence.
“We’d be dead if you hadn’t come.” Daniel choked up as he thanked the man who had acted so decisively to rescue his niece, and done so without violating any of his principles. “I might have had to shoot to kill. You saved me from that.”
Samuel looked gravely down at him. “I will pray you never have to do such a thing.”
One of Daniel’s deputies called for him, and Samuel looked at the house. “You will bring Rebecca to us?”
It was more an order than a request. Her family would not permit her to stay with him. Rebellion rose in Daniel, joining his burning need to go back into the house and just hold her. Yet he also felt driven to do his job with dignity. Rebecca would understand, he told himself.
Now he said, “I’ll bring her to see you.”
Samuel’s eyes narrowed at an answer that wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he finally nodded. “Then I must go. Emma and Mamm will be worrying, me being gone so long.”
Daniel backed away, watching as the buggy swung in a U-turn. Then he walked across the wet grass to join Ben.
The rain had passed, he was surprised to realize. When he tipped his head back, he saw a few scattered stars between shredded clouds. A very faint rumble and flash of light in the distance told him the storm had moved south.
“Thanks for coming,” he said, holding out his hand.
Ben shook it. “Hell of a thing. What those creeps did was downright crazy.”
“My place is isolated enough, they must have thought they could get in, kill us both and get out quick. My guess is they were prepared to kill any deputy who showed up, too.”
“You got lucky with that Amish kid not only hearing what he did, but acting on it. From what I’ve learned, that’s not usual.”
“No.” He hesitated. “It’s Rebecca’s connection to them. Everyone who knows her situation has joined to protect her.”
“And you,” Ben said shrewdly.
“Maybe.” Something to think about. Had he held himself apart unnecessarily, thinking he wasn’t welcome when he might have been?
Ben’s phone rang. Eyes meeting Daniel’s, he answered immediately. “Yeah?” After a moment, he said, “Good work. Yeah, hold on a second.” He lowered the phone. “Griffen walked out of the woods with his hands up.”
Relief profound, he said, “Tell them to go ahead to the jail. I’ll follow in a few minutes to interrogate all four of these guys.”
“Good. See you there.”
The cars started to clear out, including the ones transporting the prisoners. Daniel walked back to the house, pausing to release the deputy standing guard on the front porch, and went inside.
Rebecca jumped up from the sofa, her face anxious. “Is it—”
“Over? Yes. Griffen was just arrested.”
“Thank God,” she whispered, and rushed into his arms.
He probably held her too tightly, but he couldn’t seem to loosen his grip. He rubbed his cheek against her hair. So much emotion welled inside him that his rib cage hurt.
“I made so many mistakes,” he finally said. “I think you’d have died tonight if we hadn’t been lucky. So lucky.”
Rebecca shook her head vehemently, lifting her chin so she could see him. “What are you talking about? How could you possibly have predicted something so insane?”
“Griffen couldn’t stop. He should never have come to Missouri. The ring and wallet connected to Tim, not him. But he decided you were a threat and couldn’t stop. Maybe his ego wouldn’t let him.”
“I think he always felt he had to prove himself. He and Tim were friends, but...”
“Josh resented Tim for having the advantages he didn’t.”
“Yes. And maybe Steven for overcoming even more obstacles and becoming a man who was satisfied with what he’d made of himself.”
Daniel shook his head. So much of that made no real sense to him, even if he understood it intellectually. Money or what college a man attended had nothing to do with what made him worthy of respect from friends and family. Now Griffen would be stripped of such outward signs of success when his time came to be judged.
Rebecca shivered. “When they first showed up, I was so afraid Tim was one of them.”
He didn’t allow himself to think that she was again being protective of her ex-husband. “That would have been hard,” he agreed, instead. “When he told you on the phone he hadn’t had any part in the abduction of Anna Lantz and her son, it was probably true. Stealing money, trying to get out of trouble—those he would do, but not more.”
“Yes, except...” Doubt tightened her voice. “If he’d gotten me into the car that day at the hospital, where did he intend to take me?”
He didn’t want to make excuses for her ex-husband, but the fact that he had gone home to face Josh—and Robert—softened Daniel’s anger. “Probably to talk to Josh,” he said, “but I wonder if he understood what his friend was capable of doing.”
“On one level, I think he did. He hinted once that Josh was the real threat to me. He might have even been trying to serve as a buffer. He was just...”
Weak. She didn’t want to say it, and Daniel didn’t blame her. It would be hard on a boy to know what his father was really like, but she could shield Matthew only so far. She must know that.
“I didn’t mean to leave you in here alone for so long.”
“I understood.” She laid her head on his chest, showing trust and acceptance that threatened to break his control.
“I have to go to Byrum to interview all four men. It’s better if I talk to them before they have too much time to think about how they can get out of this.”
Her fingers bit into his back, but then she straightened, making an effort to hide her tension. “That’s your job.”
“On my way, I can drop you at my aunt and uncle’s. You can see Matthew, stay the night.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You wouldn’t mind?”
He would, because he wanted her here, waiting for him when he got home, but leaving her alone now wasn’t an option. And...Samuel was right.
Hiding his reluctance, he said, “Of course not.”
“Should I pack everything?” she asked, sounding...he wasn’t quite sure. “I mean, to stay?”
Neither his family nor hers would find it acceptable for her to remain here with him now. Letting her go was something he had to do. He could court her, take her out to dinner, for drives. Think of things they could do that would include Matthew.
“You probably should.”
She gave a jerky nod and whirled away.
“I love you,” he said to her back, surprising himself.
She didn’t move.
His heart clenched. It was too soon. He’d presumed too much.
And then she turned back, smiling and crying both. “I love you, too. I do, Daniel.”
Somehow, he was across the room, kissing her. She tasted of salt but happiness, too. He tried to let her know everything he felt: passion, desperation, tenderness.
When he could make himself release her lips, he said, “We can’t offend our families.” But to make himself wish her a polite good-night in front of his onkel Amos or Samuel... Daniel didn’t know how he would be able to do that.
“I know.” Rebecca sounded equally sad.
“I’ll come to see you every day. We can be like other courting couples.” Minus the courting buggy, he thought. And those couples hadn’t already made love, didn’t have to take a step back.
“Date.” She smiled, if tremulously.
“I should get to know Matthew.”
“He already likes you, but...that would be good.”
Daniel took a deep breath. “That’s what we should do. But I want you here, with me. Will you marry me?”
Again her eyes flooded with tears. “Of course I will!”
“Soon?”
“Tomorrow, if you can arrange it.”
He laughed. “Not that soon. There’s Ephraim’s funeral, for one. And we should be married in my church, which means talking to my pastor. Our families will want to be there. Matthew should have a chance to get used to the idea. I can survive a few weeks.”
“I’m not sure I can. Oh.” She swiped her tears on his shirtfront.
Even though he ought to hurry, they kissed and made plans and kissed some more. And when she said, “Poor Tim,” he only nodded his understanding. The Lord’s Prayer, made before every meal throughout his youth, said, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
And on this night, they had certainly been delivered from evil.
Yes, he could forgive and help a man who had been led into temptation to remain important to his son.
“I love you,” Daniel said again, before giving her a nudge. “Leave your Englisch clothes here. You won’t need them where you’re going.”
Soon he would have a wife and family. He searched inside but could no longer find the fear that he would never quite belong anyplace, with anyone.
They held hands all the way to the Troyers’. Witnessing Rebecca’s reunion with her son moved him more than he’d expected. Matthew even flung his arms around Daniel and whispered, “You brought my mommy back.”
That made it not so hard to say a quiet goodbye and drive away.
What were a few weeks out of a lifetime?
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story by Superromance author Janice Kay Johnson, you’ll also love her most recent books:
A MOTHER’S CLAIM
BECAUSE OF A GIRL
THE BABY HE WANTED
THE CLOSER HE GETS
Watch for
IN NADIA’S DEFENSE,
coming in June 2017.
All available at Harlequin.com.
Keep reading for an excerpt from BOSS MEETS HER MATCH by Janet Lee Nye.
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Boss Meets Her Match
by Janet Lee Nye
CHAPTER ONE
THAT IS THE ugliest thing I have ever seen. Lena leaned forward
and squinted at the tiny white sticker in the corner of the painting. Five thousand dollars? Tie a paintbrush to my cat’s tail and she’d do a better job. She shifted on the bench. The sounds of the party echoed loudly from the floor below. Sipping her wine, she wrinkled her nose. Cheap chardonnay.
She didn’t want to be here, which was why she was hiding out on the second floor of the City Gallery. She wanted to go home. Take her shoes off and put pajamas on. Drink some wine that didn’t taste like battery acid. She straightened with a sigh. Might as well get it over with. Dr. Eliot Rutledge, famed neurosurgeon, very old money Charleston—and her first of many clients—was waiting for her.
Footsteps on the hardwood floor caught her attention. A man ambled slowly around the corner, looking at the art exhibited on the walls. Lena cut a glance in his direction. He didn’t fit with the suit-and-cocktail-dress crowd downstairs. His beige linen pants were slightly wrinkled—and that shabby white dress shirt. No. Just no. His dark blond hair was long and tied in a ponytail with a length of leather. A neat beard covered his face. He leaned down, looked at a price tag and whistled. Lena smiled.
“Pretty pricey, huh?” he asked, sliding down on the bench beside her.
She looked directly at him. Damn. That is a fine-looking man. The hair and beard couldn’t hide his high cheekbones and eyes so blue they almost didn’t look real. White teeth appeared as he grinned at her. Her stomach went quivery under that bad boy grin. She looked away and sipped more wine. She didn’t do bad boys anymore.
He gestured at the painting in front of them. It was an abstract, not quite as dense as a Pollock but not as minimalist as Munch. Slashes of red and blue, smears of purple and yellow. “What do you think of this one?”
She shrugged. “Not my style, to be honest.”
“Ah, man. I saw you sitting up here instead of being downstairs with all the mingling and small talk and I thought to myself, now, there’s a woman who doesn’t go for polite society bullshit. Thought you were up here seriously contemplating the meaning of art.”
She tried her perfect one-eyebrow-arch-and-glare trick. “Did you, now?”
Plain Refuge Page 25
