Down below in the wooded hollow was a small, rough looking cabin. Smoke puffed out of its stone chimney and light shined from the only window on this side. There wasn’t a porch, just a simple, solid wooden door at the top of several steps that were already pretty much covered with snow.
The shadows of several people moving about inside the cabin were clearly visible, but I ignored them, focusing instead on the three figures that were arguing in the small clearing in front of the cabin. I pulled the small recorder from my inside pocket and held it out in front of me. Sure, there were laws against such measures, but this conversation might definitely come in handy in the future. If Rowan noticed, he didn’t acknowledge it, more interested with the goings on below us.
Asher said, “Damon, you aren’t going anywhere. Just like I told you, you’re my lucky charm.”
“I’m only your insurance that my granddaddy won’t go after you,” Damon shot back.
He was almost as tall as Brody, but wiry thin, where his grandfather was thickly built.
I glanced at Rowan, but he was still gazing intensely at the scene below as if I wasn’t even there.
“Call it what you want to, I don’t care. The sheriff can’t touch me or Julian here, as long as you’re knee deep in the shit right along with us.” Asher laughed. “Hell, don’t go acting all innocent on me. You’re the one who helped us get in with this group anyway.” He thumbed toward the building.
“That was when it was only weed. This dabbing shit is dangerous. Look what happened to Kristen…”
Damon didn’t get to finish his sentence. Julian’s fist met his face in a quick, solid punch that knocked him backward. Damon caught the ground with his hand and righted himself without completely falling down.
Rowan began to rise and I grabbed his arm. “No, not yet—Damon’s all right. It’s a bloody nose, that’s all,” I whispered, shaking the recorder in front of him. “We need to hear what Asher has to say.”
Rowan looked as if he was about to argue and I braced for a struggle, but after a few seconds, he relaxed and settled back into the snow.
Asher stepped up to Damon. The two men were of equal height and build, but Asher carried himself with a lot more confidence and authority than the younger man would probably ever possess.
Asher thrust his finger at Damon’s face and snarled, “Listen here, you don’t ever talk about that whore. She was so juiced up on pharmies that she was a ticking time bomb. It was just a matter of time before it happened.”
Damon straightened and for an instant I was suddenly impressed with his bravado.
“Julian said that it was a bad batch of butane that did it,” he countered.
Julian’s fist hit Damon’s stomach this time and he doubled over with a loud gulping noise.
“Now…?” Rowan’s eyes implored, but I shook my head.
The sudden gun shot that boomed through the trees made both Rowan and I immediately drop down deeper into the snow. I quickly put the recorder safely into my pocket. I needed both hands free for my own gun.
Searching the hollow again, I discovered that all three men had scattered. Asher and Julian were behind a stack of firewood beside the cabin and Damon was using a tree for cover, pressed up tightly against its trunk.
Whoever let the bullet fly wasn’t a very good shot, and I quickly had an idea who it was. I rose to my knees and searched the ridgeline, only having a few seconds tick by before my suspicion was proved correct.
Cody and Nathan were quickly making their way down the snowy bank, sliding in a few places, but managing to keep their footing until they hit level ground. Nathan had a .22 caliber rifle raised in his hands. He flicked the barrel left and right when he shouted, “Mariah, you come on out of there. I’m taking you home.”
I rolled my eyes at both Nathan’s words and his choice of a gun to take out a professional criminal as I jumped to my feet. “Now it’s time,” I whispered to Rowan, motioning for him to get behind me.
Luckily, I still had the element of surprise, but I was out of range and I feared that I wouldn’t be faster than the bad guys. As I ran swiftly down the slope with Rowan close on my heels, I saw Asher and Julian both rising. Like me, they had quickly judged the teenagers to be no real threat and were preparing to take the offensive. Asher reached down his leg and pulled his own gun from a holster fastened around his calf. Julian already had his freed from his jacket.
Only a few more feet and I should be good.
“What the fuck, you little shit! Are you crazy?” Asher shouted.
I was close enough to the standoff to see everybody’s breath in the air and even to smell the faint scent of men’s cologne coming off of one of them when I stopped and aimed. Nathan, Asher and Julian were too focused on each other to notice me at first, but Cody saw me. Thankfully, the kid didn’t give me away.
I had to get off two shots quicker than Asher and Julian could get one off each. I didn’t think about the odds, instead going to that place where the dark tunnel stretched to a pinpoint place of bright light before me.
Boom…Kaboom.
Julian hit the ground, clutching his leg and screaming, “I’m shot…my leg…”
Rowan had the presence of mind to surge forward and grab Julian’s gun from the snow and aim it at him. I only caught a glimpse of this happening as I walked cautiously towards Asher. His hand was so completely covered in blood that I couldn’t even see any skin at all. But he had dropped his gun just below him and I could read from his pale face that he was seriously thinking about making a move for it. Whether he could shoot it with his left hand was anyone’s guess, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I’d been good and purposely aimed at non-life threatening parts of their bodies, but if Asher tried to shoot me, I was going to kill him for sure.
“Stay there boys,” I ordered Nathan and Cody. I probably didn’t even need to tell them, but they’d already proven that they were capable of moronic acts of heroism, so I was a little concerned that they might do something stupid.
“Don’t do it, Asher,” Rowan pleaded with his brother at a brief moment when Julian wasn’t loudly crying out in pain.
“It’ll be the last thing you ever do,” I told Asher with my gun aimed at his chest this time. I couldn’t keep the slight smile from my lips. I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but deep down I really wanted him to do it.
Asher’s blue eyed gaze met mine and for a moment we were the only ones there. He sniffed in what was sure to be pain shooting up his arm and he regarded me steadily. “I do believe that you would gladly kill me, Sheriff.” He shrugged loosely, and added, “That’s what your kind does, shoot first and ask questions later. Just because you’re the law, you think you’re above it…that you can do anything you want. Hell, I’ve had to deal with it from Gentry for years. And you know what? He’s the one who taught me how to work the system.”
I didn’t have time for his speech. I interrupted him, “You aren’t going to get any sympathy from me, so don’t even waste your breath.”
He nodded slowly and then a wicked grin erupted on his lips. The look made my heart skip. I’d seen that expression before. It was of a man who suddenly thought he had the upper hand.
“Even the Amish have their own set rules to protect themselves and screw everyone else…just like Rowan here.” He looked at his brother with pure ice and said loudly, pointing his bloody hand at Rowan, “He’s the one that lit the match that killed your brother Austin all those years ago. I was there…with Jotham…and I saw that fucker do it.”
What happened next was too fast for me to even barely comprehend, much less adjust my strategy for. Damon rushed out from behind the tree and ran straight for Rowan, knocking into him with such force that the two men fell into the snow together in a heap.
Damon had his hands on Julian’s gun and Rowan grappled with him for control of it. The second it took for me to
see this, Asher was diving for his own gun.
A gunshot echoed through the winter night. I stopped breathing and turned my head towards Rowan and Damon, while keeping my gun aimed straight at Asher who was in the exact same stance as me.
Damon rolled away from Rowan and quickly jumped up. Rowan’s hand came away from his stomach, covered with blood. For a sickening instant, I saw each bright red drop hit the pure white snow. No one moved. There was only the sound of heavy silence from the falling snow in my ears and time seemed to have stopped all together.
The sharp intake of breath from the doorway of the cabin pulled me from the partial trance. Jory Bontrager was standing there staring at Rowan with his mouth gaping. Knowing that there wasn’t much time, I tilted my head towards Asher again. I was surprised to see a flash of shock pass over his features, before his mouth twisted again and his gaze met mine.
He began backing away with his gun raised. The fleeting thought that I was trapped in an old western movie occurred to me before I sucked in a breath and challenged Asher, “Don’t move…or I will shoot you.”
I quickly calculated my chances of success. I reasoned with myself that I was shooting with my good hand and Asher had only his left hand to fire with, putting me at a definite advantage. It was still a risk, but I had the law of averages on my side for a change. I was very close to making my move.
Asher didn’t stop his backward momentum. Clutching his ruined hand to his side, he suddenly turned his gun on Cody and smiled back at me. “You might be crazy enough to risk your own life with a ridiculous shoot out, but I don’t think that you’ll risk that kid’s life over mine.”
Nathan swiveled, raising his gun at Asher and for a split second, I thought that maybe between the two of us we had a chance to bring the son of a bitch down, but the thought left me as soon as it arrived. Nathan’s fingers were trembling, causing the rifle to vibrate in his hands. Even if he did manage to get a shot off, did I really want to be responsible for how messed up the kids would be if he met his mark or if he missed altogether and his friend was killed in the process. No. As much as I wanted Asher’s head on a spike, I couldn’t risk the boys and Rowan needed to be rushed to a hospital if he had any chance of survival.
“Don’t, Nathan. Let him go. He’s not worth any more blood being spilled here tonight,” I told the boy in a firm voice.
Asher’s eyes darted toward his brother lying on the ground and then back to me. A smug expression erupted on his face and he nodded once at me before he began jogging sideways into the thick stand of trees. Asher never took his gun off of Cody while he stole into the night, erasing any hopes that I might still get a shot off at him.
A moment later, when it was safe to assume that Asher was gone for good, I yelled over to Nathan, “Hey, Nathan, come over here and point your gun at Damon. Do…not…shoot, unless I direct you to.”
Nathan did as he was told, with Cody shadowing him as he walked over.
Damon, said, “He deserved it. He killed my brother. I learned the truth that the Amish did it a few months ago when I was driving old lady Yoder to the store.”
I quickly searched my memories of the church service and recalled meeting a very old woman who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. I remembered the woman because at the time that I met her, I was impressed that her family was taking care of her on their own instead of shipping her off to a facility.
Ignoring Damon’s zealous reasoning, I made certain that Nathan had Damon covered and then I dropped to the ground beside Rowan, pressing my scarf over his wound.
Julian’s cries had turned to a constant drone of painful murmurings and I spared a glance at the swath of red snow beneath his leg. I couldn’t manage both of the men’s injuries and I certainly wasn’t putting any of the kids at risk.
Rowan’s eyes were dilated and his face was drained of any color whatsoever.
“How do you feel?” I asked softly as I brought the phone up, relieved to see that I actually had a couple of bars.
“Oddly, I don’t feel much at all,” Rowan whispered.
I made the call to emergency dispatch quickly, giving the location, type of injuries and a warning that a shooter was still on the loose. When I hung up, I asked Cody to take my place, which he did without question. I stood up and contemplated my ability to easily track Asher in the snow when Jory’s stammering voice got my attention.
“It’s Mariah…she’s not doing…so good,”
Oh my God. I sprang forward and dashed into the cabin. I only half registered that Jacob was at the table with his hands on his face and two other boys who I didn’t recognize were sitting on the floor in the corner. The only boy in the room who wasn’t high was Jory, and he was standing protectively over Mariah. I dropped to the floor beside the girl and felt for a pulse. I found it, but it was very weak.
The smell of Mariah’s vomit from the puddle beside her head mixed in with a metallic, burning chemical scent that permeated the air. I caught a glimpse of the bong on the table just before I began CPR on Mariah.
“The other times it wasn’t like this. We never meant for anyone to get hurt,” Jory cried out beside me.
I ignored the distraught Amish boy and focused on the job at hand. I wasn’t going to let Mariah die because of a teenage moment of terrible judgment and rebellion.
I wasn’t there for Naomi, but I still had a chance to save Mariah.
25
I held Mariah’s hand as the ambulance made a safe effort to speed along on the snow covered country roads. I spotted the flashing lights that were well ahead of us and I sighed heavily wondering whether Rowan would even be alive when he finally reached the hospital. The wait for the paramedics to make it to the secluded cabin in the woods seemed to take forever, but in actuality, they had made amazingly good time in spite of the weather. If the snow hadn’t been falling so heavily, I was certain that the county would have sent a helicopter to airlift Rowan, Mariah and Julian from the patch of woods that was about a half mile from a gravel road that intersected a main roadway. But it was too dangerous, so the paramedics had to drive in as far as they could go without getting stuck and make the rest of the way on foot. I was really impressed when the three pairs of medics and the troop of twelve uniformed officers came sliding down the embankment.
Brody had been with them too and I couldn’t help but shiver when I remembered the guarded look he gave me when he saw his grandson in handcuffs. Nope, nothing had worked out the way I hoped it would. Asher was still on the loose, Mariah had OD’d, Damon, who had seemed to be a fairly nice young man, was now going to be charged with attempted murder, or maybe even murder, depending on if Rowan survived. Either way, I didn’t think that Brody was going to be able to protect his grandson from jail time on this one.
And worst of all, Rowan was probably going to die, leaving his children as orphans. My throat constricted as the fleeting image of the three little girls’ teary-eyed faces rose before me.
I shook the vision away and glanced at the medic beside me, who was monitoring Mariah’s vitals and then down to Mariah again. Her face wasn’t as pale as it had been in the cabin and it was relaxed in sleep. After she had thrown up the second time, right before everyone arrived, she had come alive in a sudden rush of tears and apologies. I had pulled her into a tight embrace and told her that it would be all right. But in reality I wasn’t so sure.
Mariah’s eyes fluttered opened again. It took a moment for her sight to adjust and for her to look around the inside of the ambulance. Finally her gaze settled back on me and she squeezed my fingers. I was instantly relieved by the strength of her grip.
“Thank you for riding to the hospital with me, Ms. Adams,” Mariah’s voice was thin and wispy. A worried frown appeared on her mouth and she hesitated, before saying, “Do my parents know?”
“Last thing I heard was that Sheriff Gentry was going to your farm to pick them up and t
ake them to the hospital.”
Mariah nodded weakly. “That’s nice of him.”
Yes, it is, I thought. I couldn’t help but feel that Brody was a good man who had made some bad decisions. Did he know that three Amish kids had set fire to the barn that had killed his grandson? I suspected that he did. Why he had never acted on it was curious, but his feigned ignorance about what was going on with Asher Schwartz and his other grandson, Damon, was inexcusable. He had allowed a cancer to grow in his town, and it had spread to affect so many.
The bright street lamps and traffic lights were a welcome sight when we reached the town. “We’re almost there,” I told Mariah.
I held onto Mariah’s hand until she was on the gurney and being rolled into the emergency room. At that point, a nurse politely asked me to go to the waiting room. I gave Mariah an encouraging smile and backed away.
The glass entrance doors opened and Brody came through them, along with Abner and Joanna Fisher in tow. Just before the doors closed, they opened again and Jotham joined them. My brows raised, but I didn’t say a word about his appearance.
“How is she, Sheriff? Is my Mariah going to be all right?” Joanna asked as she rushed up to me and took my hands in a tight grip. The woman’s eyes were desperate and wisps of her hair were sticking out all over the place, indicating a frantic departure from their home.
“She’s talking and her vital signs are stable.” I hesitated, after all I wasn’t a nurse, but I decided to give my opinion and hopefully Joanna some peace of mind at the same time. “I think she’s going to be fine.”
Joanna hugged me and murmured into my ear, “Thank you.”
I disengaged from Joanna and the bishop asked, “What happened to her?”
I exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Brody, who only sighed and looked away. Either the Poplar Springs’ sheriff wasn’t going to talk to them about it at all or he was going to say something that would probably upset them even more. I decided that the ball was in my court on this one.
Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) Page 19
