by Dana R. Lynn
“Put it on speaker,” he told Lizzy.
“Just a minute,” she told the woman on the other end. Then she pulled the phone away from her ear and hit the speaker button.
“Ms. Allister? This is Officer Yoder from the Waylan Grove Police Department.”
A sob echoed down the line. “Is it true? Is my little brother really dead?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. Ma’am, Miss Miller has already identified the body.”
What ensued was a very painful conversation. But he got what he needed. She promised to send him a list of all her brother’s known associates. Sue also assured him that she would be available tomorrow morning for a visit from the police. Hopefully, she would agree to let them search through her brother’s belongings. Often a search was all that was needed to get the information necessary to tie the investigation up neatly.
It was late by the time they returned to the station.
Stifling a yawn, Isaac waved an arm for Lizzy to precede him into the office he shared with the other officers. He had stopped and picked up a quick pizza and some iced tea on the way in. Lizzy had insisted she was fine.
“You might be fine, but my stomach is feeling hollow right now. I plan on eating, and I wouldn’t mind if you ate something yourself.”
It turned out, he didn’t need to do any more persuading. She ate her fair share of the pizza, and Ryder zoomed in to snag two slices, as well.
“We gotta put you somewhere for the night.” Isaac took a long swig of iced tea. “We have our visual artist coming in tomorrow morning to work with you, so we might get a good image to send out to the nearby precincts.”
“Cancel that plan, Isaac.”
Isaac turned at Chief Carson’s voice. Sheila Carson was holding a bottle of water in one capable hand and her phone in the other. She looked far too young to have the responsibilities of being the chief of police, but her officers trusted her without hesitation.
“Chief?”
She indicated her phone. “I just got off the phone with the visual artist. She can’t make it. Their town is under a flash flood warning, and occupants are being evacuated to higher ground. It’s probably going to be at least three days before she can get here.”
FIVE
Three days?
Lizzy stared at the elegant woman standing before her in dismay. She couldn’t be stranded here for three days. Three days sounded like an awful long time. And what would happen to the investigation? Would her not being able to work with an artist hinder the officers’ ability to search for the killer?
The tall, dark-haired chief was watching her reaction, sympathy stamped on her face. But not softness. No, this chief would not be swayed by emotional pleas.
Her sister, Rebecca, was an artist. She remembered that Rebecca had drawn such sketches for the LaMar Pond Police Department before. Of course, Rebecca was unavailable at the moment as she and her husband were out of town. She was expected back in a few days, but by then, it might be too late.
She would have to suffer through it as best she could. But where would she stay?
“Will I sleep here?” she asked the question to anyone who could answer her.
At this, the chief smiled. It was gone quickly, but it had been a smile. “No, I don’t think that would work out. I have secured a room at the local motel for you. I have also made plans for guards to be posted outside the motel. You should be able to get a few hours of sleep, then we can decide how to proceed in the morning.”
“Chief,” Isaac said, getting his boss’s attention. “I have made arrangements for a couple of local cops to go and visit the victim’s sister in the morning. If they can get some information from her, it might be possible to get the answers we need without the artist.”
She nodded, her dark eyes snapping with approval. “Excellent. Please keep me informed.”
Lizzy found herself again under scrutiny. “Miss Miller, when you have completed your meal, maybe one of my officers could escort you to the motel. No offense, but you look worn out.”
For an instant, panic started to rise inside her. The only officers she knew were Isaac and Ryder. The idea of being alone with any of the other men was enough to make her break out into a cold sweat. She didn’t know that she had any choice, though. She was several hours from home and didn’t know anyone else.
“If I may, Chief, I think it would be best if I drove her over.”
Lizzy felt the fear subside a bit at Isaac’s words. Then she chided herself. She couldn’t depend on him. Despite the fact that he used to be Amish, she still didn’t know him very well. Plus, he had other duties to take care of than keeping track of her. He had been very helpful, but that was because it was part of his job. Cutting her eyes at him, she bit her lip. He had to be exhausted. And she knew he had a full day planned in the morning, all of which would center around this case she was involved in. She could not, would not, expect more from him than that.
Forcing a smile she didn’t feel on her face, she shook her head. He didn’t look convinced. His brows drew in, and he frowned at her. “It will be fine, Isaac. I will go with the other officers.”
He gave her a narrow glance. “Are you sure about that, Lizzy? I don’t mind. If I can’t, then I’m sure Ryder would agree to go with you.”
She caught the look he threw his colleague. Ryder was silently being told that he needed to agree or else. The sweetness of it warmed her. She appreciated the care he was extending to her.
No, she would not let her guard down. It was time she remembered that she was a strong woman, even when she didn’t feel that way. She could do anything with Christ at her side. Silently praying to God for strength, she smiled again.
“Jah, I am sure. You do what you need to do, and I will see you in the morning.”
He nodded but was clearly not completely satisfied with the situation. Well, neither was she, but she couldn’t think of any other way out of it.
You could go home.
She could. She knew that if she was truly in danger, her cousin would not begrudge her the decision to flee back to the safety of LaMar Pond. It was very tempting. She could almost feel the security of her parents’ home surrounding her and keeping her safe. Mamm and Dat wouldn’t question her if she returned home.
Except there was no guarantee that she would be safe. The man who shot Bill had obviously known him, which meant he might know where Bill lived. How hard would it really be for him to track her down? Was it possible that she could put her family in danger if she went home? That was not an option.
Another voice whispered in her mind. If she went home, she would be letting her parents protect her again. For a long time, she had been fine with that. But suddenly, she wanted more than to always be shielded from the darkness in the world. She had personally touched the darkness and had survived. God had proved that He was with her. Turning her back and running home would be nothing less than saying she didn’t trust Him to care for her outside of her parents’ dwelling.
By the time Isaac presented the two officers she would be going with, Lizzy had firmed her determination to see this thing through to whatever end it had. Still, she was happy to note that one of the officers was a woman. She could do this, she whispered to herself. She would protect her family, and she would help to bring Bill’s killer to justice. Then she would return home to the life she was meant to lead. It would be a lonely life, but she would accept that.
Isaac walked her outside to the cruiser that would bring her to the hotel. He handed her a small cell phone. “I know that you do not use a cell phone normally. This has only one setting. It is for 911 calls only. If anything happens, use it. You can tell the dispatcher to page me directly.”
She hesitated. She had used his cell phone before to call Sue, but that had been to help someone else. She felt strange taking a phone to use for her own advantage. Would it be breaking the rules? T
hey had a phone in their business for emergencies. They had a community phone for emergencies. This was not her phone. And it was only set for emergencies. Discreetly, she slipped it into her apron, but she wondered if she would be able to use it if there ever was an emergency.
“That’s my girl. Look, I will be by in the morning. Then we’ll try to figure this out. I won’t forget my promise to you, Lizzy. Got that?”
Her heart melted. His promise to protect her and to see that justice was done. She believed him, too. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but something about Isaac Yoder had reached out and broken through the wall of distrust and cynicism she had built up.
The fact that she was beginning to trust the earnest young man before her terrified her.
She could not afford to let any man close to her, especially not one who seemed to understand her so well. Whatever charms Isaac Yoder possessed, no matter how charming or upright he was, he was a man who had chosen to leave the Amish world. So even in the unlikely circumstance that Lizzy decided to one day marry, he would never be a choice she’d be able to make.
“I will be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Deliberately, she got into the cruiser and turned her face forward. The car started advancing. She could feel his gaze on her as the distance between them increased. It took all her will, but she never glanced back.
* * *
Isaac gave up trying to sleep when he woke up for the third time at four in the morning. In his mind, he kept thinking about all the pieces of the puzzle, trying to figure out the best way to keep Lizzy safe.
One thing that didn’t sit well was having other officers guarding her. Which was ridiculous. Isaac had known both Jill and Keith for years. They were dedicated cops who would put their lives on the line for any civilian without a second thought. Surely, they were more experienced than he was. He’d only been on the force for two years; Jill had been in for four years and Keith for close to six. He had no reason to be uneasy.
Which was easy enough to say, but in practice, it was nigh on impossible.
Heaving a sigh, he shoved the blankets aside and got up, deciding he could put the time to better use in the office. After he had dressed and shaved, he grabbed a quick breakfast of peanut butter toast, chugged a glass of ice-cold milk, brushed his teeth and gathered up his keys and his wallet.
He turned to leave the apartment, but stopped for a moment to take in the place. It felt as though he were seeing it with fresh eyes. He had lived in this apartment for the past five years. In all that time, he hadn’t managed to make it feel like a home. There was nothing really personal about the place that said, “Isaac Yoder lives here.” He frowned. There weren’t even any paintings on the wall, or any bric-a-brac of any kind. His mind flashed back to his home growing up. There were no pictures on the walls, but their house had definitely had personality. He could visualize the handmade rocking chair his father had made, and the china dishes in their curio cabinet. His mother had always been a quilter, and several quilts were spread throughout the house, bright with colors and intricate patterns. People thought that being Plain meant that the Amish had nothing of beauty, but that wasn’t true. Beauty had been all around them in nature and in the things they had made with their hands.
But this apartment held nothing of beauty, or unique. Anyone could have lived here.
Why had he never noticed that before? More importantly, what had changed that he was noticing it now?
A pretty face with vivid blue eyes and golden blond hair peeping out from beneath a starched white prayer kapp popped into his mind. No way. He wasn’t having that. Isaac knew that had he remained Amish Lizzy would have definitely captured his attention. However, the Plain life was something he had left years ago. He had shaken it off like a dog shakes off water after wading in the creek. He wasn’t going back. He couldn’t go back. There was no way to reconcile with his dat.
Plus, he hadn’t stuck close to God when he had left. He was ashamed of that. But it had been so long since he had allowed God to guide his path he wasn’t even sure how to begin to mend that relationship.
Troubled, Isaac shut the door and made his way out to his truck. He shoved the uncomfortable self-examination aside so he could focus on the case at hand.
By the time he entered the station at 4:45, he had made a mental list of the tasks he needed to get done that morning. He poured himself strong coffee—black, of course—and brought the steaming mug back to his desk to begin ticking items off his list one by one.
At eight-thirty, his phone rang, jolting him out of his concentration. His first thought was that something had happened to Lizzy. His glance shot to his pager. No, if she had called 911, or if one of the officers on duty there had done so, he would have been notified.
This was one instance in which silence was a good thing.
Blowing out a hard breath, he reached for his phone, striving to project a calmness that was only partially faked.
“Officer Yoder,” he greeted the caller.
“Morning, Officer Yoder,” a feminine voice responded. “This is Sergeant Claire Zerosky from the LaMar Pond Police Department. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.”
Isaac heard “LaMar Pond” and sat up straighter in his chair. The police were going to interview Sue Allister at eight this morning. The coffee in his stomach immediately transformed into a ball of heavy sludge.
“You went to see Ms. Allister?” he guessed, even though he knew there was no other reason for that particular department to be calling.
“We went out. When we arrived, her door had been breached, and the entire place had been tossed.”
“And the woman?” He held his breath.
“There was no sign of her, but it sure looked like there had been a massive struggle inside the place. There was some blood found on the kitchen floor. We will be conducting a thorough search for her, but I thought you should know. It appears that your killer is going after others who might be able to recognize him.”
Lizzy!
He shot up out of his seat so fast that he upended his coffee mug, spilling the last few drops on the surface. He barely noticed it. He got off the phone with Claire Zerosky as fast as he could manage and then he was out of the station and running to his cruiser. On the way to the hotel, he called in to Chief Carson and left her a voice mail message, informing her of the latest development. Then he phoned Ryder, who rapidly agreed to meet him at the motel. His friend lived closer to the motel than the station, so they arrived at nearly the same time.
The two officers on duty jumped to attention as they saw the two cruisers zip into the lot. Lizzy was in a street-level room. He was familiar enough with this motel to know that each room was complete with a doorknob lock, a sliding chain lock and a dead bolt. How many of those locks had Lizzy employed? He knew that it was common for people in rural townships to leave doors unlocked at night. His own family had done so often.
“Report!” Isaac barked, not even caring that both Jill and Keith were the same rank as he was. His only concern was the lovely woman resting, hopefully peacefully, within the room they were guarding.
“Nothing to report, Isaac,” Keith responded. “She went in there as soon as we arrived, and hasn’t come out since.”
“Wait,” Jill interrupted. “She asked me to order her some oatmeal for breakfast, and it was delivered fifteen minutes ago.”
So she was awake and well. He huffed out a breath, puffing his cheeks out. He really needed to calm down.
“Thanks, guys. Sorry for the tone. We had some disturbing news this morning.”
His colleagues shrugged it off. They’d all had their moments. He stepped past them and rapped his knuckles sharply against the door. “Lizzy, it’s Isaac. I need to speak with you.”
There was no sound within the room.
His skin crawled with trepidation. His mind told
him he was overreacting, but his instincts screamed at him that she was in trouble. He knocked again and raised his voice. “Lizzy? Please answer the door.”
Still no answer.
“Something’s not right.”
Keith held out an arm. “Don’t get excited, Isaac. She’s probably in the bathroom.”
Why on earth weren’t they taking this seriously? Was it because Waylan Grove was such a quiet place? Whatever the reason, he was not happy that two experienced officers were taking the current circumstances far too casually.
“Then I will apologize for alarming her. But I am going to break in and make sure she’s well.”
Jill rolled her eyes. Ryder took her to task for it. “Look, the only other person who could identify the perp was apparently kidnapped, possibly worse. Our guy is vicious, and the woman in there has seen him up close and personal. We’re breaking down the door.”
And they did.
The instant the locks broke, splintering the wood of the doorframe, Isaac was through the door, Ryder behind him. His blood froze when he crossed the threshold. Lizzy was lying still on the floor, a bowl that had apparently been filled with oatmeal shattered beside her. Gobs of oatmeal splattered the floor and the wall. Isaac ignored the gooey mess and knelt beside her. His trembling fingers felt her throat for a pulse. It was thready, but he found one. Bending closer, a faint breath hit his cheek. She was breathing. He was aware of Ryder calling 911 in the background, but kept his attention focused squarely on the unconscious woman on the floor.
“Denke, Jesus.” The German word slipped past his lips without thought. He said another prayer that she would hold on until the paramedics arrived.
Behind him, he could hear Ryder shouting into the phone.
His glance fell on the oatmeal. An awful suspicion hit him.
She’d been poisoned. How had the killer found her? And how had he known that she had ordered oatmeal?
Jill and Keith knelt on the other side of her, both of their faces pale and shocked.
