by Dana R. Lynn
Isaac scratched his head, slumping slightly in his chair. He looked so tired. A tender feeling welled up inside her. She had a sudden urge to reach out and push his blond bangs off his forehead. Shocked at herself, she clasped her hands tightly in her lap to make them behave. She did not have urges like that. And she didn’t like it that Isaac was making her have such feelings. It didn’t matter that he used to be Amish. He wasn’t now, and she doubted he would ever return. Most people who left didn’t return.
“My gut feeling says that he’s not dead. That there is a connection between Sid and Zave,” he answered. She was so rattled by her unexpected feelings that it took her a few seconds to remember what it was that she had asked him. He wasn’t done. “Tomorrow, we will continue searching for the boy. But I’m also going to be trying to find that connection. I think if we find that we will have some answers.”
She had so many things she wanted ask him. Unfortunately, at that moment the door swung open. The nurse surged into the room like a prison warden. Her expression was sheer steel. She pinned Isaac with a stare that said she meant business.
“Officer, you need to leave, now.”
Meekly, Isaac rose to his feet and moved to the door. “Yes, Nurse.” He gave Lizzy a smile over his shoulder. “Someone will be here to pick you up as soon as the doctor releases you. I will see you sometime tomorrow.”
The nurse sniffed.
A thought struck Lizzy. “What if someone tries to get to me in here?”
He was already shaking his head. “Your door will be guarded. And this time no one will get past the officers.”
Then he turned and was gone.
She allowed the nurse to help her move back down until she was once more lying on her back. The blood was pounding in her ears. How would she ever manage to sleep, wondering who was outside her door? A hospital is safer. There are guards and security procedures, she told herself, trying to convince herself she was safe.
It didn’t help. Her thoughts continued to whirl chaotically. When the nurse flipped the light switch to turn off the lights, Lizzy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from begging the woman to leave the lights on. She was no longer a frightened seventeen-year-old. She was a responsible woman. She could handle sleeping in the dark.
Voices passed her door and she felt herself tense, fear clogging her throat. The voices faded as the people in the hall continued on their way, unaware of the affect their low-voiced conversation had on her. A man laughed. She shuddered, remembering the hard chuckle of Chad Weller as he had tormented his hostages four years ago.
Lizzy pressed her face into her pillow and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out both the voices and the memories.
It was going to be a long night.
SEVEN
Isaac was at the police station by 6:35 the next morning. He’d been awake since five. The intricacies of this case were making it difficult for him to separate his work from his life. Not that he had a lot going on in his personal life. He just liked to be able to keep his work confined to the time that he was actually on duty.
He couldn’t do that now. Not with Lizzy in constant danger.
He flinched away from the whisper at the back of his mind that said he was letting the Amish woman get to him. He shrugged off that idea. He was doing his duty, that was all. So he was concerned about her? Who wouldn’t be, given that she was stuck in such a horrible situation?
His explanation didn’t quite ring true, even to his own mind.
Lily, the sweet German shepherd pup he had purchased from a breeder, nudged him with her cold wet nose. He grinned down at her and scratched her behind the ears. She could do with a trim, he mused absently.
The sharp tap of black uniform shoes caught his attention. He recognized the sound of the walk. Brisk, but not in a hurry. The sound of a person who knew exactly where they were going and what they were going to do when they got there. Three seconds later, Chief Carson strode into the large office room littered with desks. Her eyes sought out Lily. Isaac caught her smile before she was able to banish it. Chief Carson had a reputation for being serious, almost to the point of being cold. Isaac knew this wasn’t the truth. He had observed her several times when she had let her guard down. He had always wondered why she strove so hard to keep herself guarded. But he would never ask. It didn’t matter how many years he had been away from his Amish community. He could never rid himself of some habits, one of which was you didn’t involve yourself unasked in the business of other people. No matter how curious you might be.
“Which one is this, Isaac?” the chief asked. Her fingers flexed slightly.
“This is Lily,” he replied, wondering if she was holding herself back from petting the dog. “I haven’t given her the command for working yet, so if you want to pet her, you may.”
It was one of the first things he learned. You did not pet or play with the dog while they were working. Once they were released from work, however, you could pet them and play with them as much as you wanted.
Chief Carson shook her head and folded her hands across her chest. “We need to get the search under way.”
Nodding, Isaac rose to his feet and fastened the leash on Lily’s harness. The dog stilled, her round brown eyes fastened on his face, ears alert. He could feel the muscles beneath the short black-and-gold fur quivering with anticipation. German shepherds were thought of as aggressive dogs, but they were also very intelligent dogs. They trained well and were reliable and loyal to their handlers. Lily had probably guessed that she was going to be put to work.
“You’re the only one trained to work with her, so you stick close to her today.”
“Yes, Chief.” This meant he definitely would not be the officer picking up Lizzy when she was released from the hospital later that morning. He had figured as much, but a pang of regret squeezed his heart, nonetheless. He ignored it. He had a job to do. Besides, he knew that Jill was familiar with Lizzy. Plus, she and Keith both felt the need to redeem themselves after the motel fiasco. It would be a long time before either of them let down their guard while on duty again.
The chief strode toward the door.
“Hier,” Isaac said softly to Lily, giving her the German command to come. The dog promptly stood and came to his side. Together they left the station. When they got to his cruiser, Lily jumped up and sat in the passenger seat, her tail thumping against the leather seat. Isaac backed out of his space and drove toward the pond. Hearing panting beside him, he flicked a quick glance to the dog sitting beside him. She looked like she was grinning, the way her mouth was open and her tongue was lolling out.
At least one of us is looking forward to what’s ahead. Because as much as he had been looking forward to seeing his dogs in use, the truth was that there might be a dead body found at the end of the day. It was never a pleasant thing to know that someone’s life was over. Especially—his lips tightened—when the person was so young.
The face of a certain Amish woman filled his mind. Or when it was someone that he was trying to protect. Someone he was starting to care for.
No. He would find who was after the pretty Amish woman, and then he would step back out of her life. He would not allow himself to be drawn to her, he promised himself. To have a future with her would mean returning to the Amish life, and he could not do that. He had promised Joshua that he would make sure those who didn’t have a voice had one through him. That there would be justice.
Justice that Joshua never had.
Isaac arrived at the pond and managed to snag a parking space next to the chief’s car. He turned off the engine, thoughts of Joshua and Lizzy still swirling around in his head.
A knock on his window startled him.
Chief Carson was watching him, a concerned frown touching her unlined face.
Oops. He must have been sitting there caught up in his thoughts for a while. His ears grew hot. Pocket
ing his key, Isaac stepped from the car and quickly put on his protective gear and the helmet with the attached microphone. Then he walked around to open the door by Lily. The pup jumped down at his command.
“Do we have something with Sid’s scent on it?” he asked the chief.
“Yes. His mother let us have this.” She handed him a high school jacket. Three letters in basketball. One more sign that this was a kid who stuck with things, not one that fled when things got tough. Not a sign of someone who would be working with a killer.
So what had really happened to him? Isaac’s gut clenched.
Leaning down, he let the dog sniff the jacket and memorize the scent.
“Voran.” He gave her the German command for search.
Lily bounded away, not running, but moving fast, her nose to the ground. Isaac kept a tight hold of her leash, loping behind her. It might have been one of their practice runs, it was so familiar. Except that he knew a real person in trouble was at the other end of the search. If Sid wasn’t already dead.
He forced himself to focus on Lily and the path ahead, every now and then jumping to avoid tripping on low-hanging branches or skipping to the side to miss a woodchuck hole. Lily surged forward, tugging him after her as her lope became more aggressive. She had caught Sid’s scent.
Adrenaline coursed through him. They were getting close. Feet pounded behind him. The other officers in on the search were keeping up, but staying back so as not to interfere with the German shepherd’s concentration. Isaac ignored them all, completely in tune with the canine leading them.
How far had they run? A mile? A mile and a half? He ran three miles every morning to keep himself in shape, and it felt like they were nearing the halfway point. Of course, the terrain was different, which made it more challenging to judge the distance.
Lily slowed near the entrance to a low cave. He had been in this area many times in the past seven years, but had never paid any attention to the opening in the rocks before. Bringing out his service weapon, he called for a flashlight in a low voice, knowing the sensitive microphone would pick it up. Someone moved to his shoulder. Ryder was there with a flashlight, poised to be the spotter as they took the operation into the cave.
Senses alert, he moved into the closed-in area. Gunfire in a cave could be a disaster. He prayed that no weapons would need to be fired in this small space.
A shuffling sound came from ahead of him. Something was there. Lily bounded ahead, barking and growling. She might have been a pup, but she sounded as fierce as any grown dog set on cornering her prey.
A male voice yelled. It was a young voice, filled with terror. Ryder swung the flashlight until the beam landed squarely on the young man trying to press himself into the stone wall to escape from the dog snarling at him.
“Lily, fuss.” Isaac issued the command for her to stand down.
Immediately, she sat, although her muscles remained tense. He knew if he told her to attack, she was ready. A steady growl continued to emanate from her. They’d have to work on that.
“Don’t shoot!” Sid begged. “I don’t have a gun or anything!”
No, he didn’t. He did, however, have a lot to explain. Like how he knew a man suspected of being a drug dealer and a murderer. They didn’t have enough evidence to prove that Zave was guilty of these crimes, but Isaac didn’t doubt they would get it. He also wondered how Zave had taken Sid’s car, not to mention why his backpack with his identification had been at the bottom of the pond and why he was hiding out in the cave.
Sid may not have been dead, but right now, he wasn’t looking innocent, either.
* * *
Keith and Jill escorted Lizzy inside the police station. They were very solicitous. If she had to guess, she would say they were trying to make amends for allowing her to be poisoned on their watch. She didn’t hold it against them, although she didn’t trust them as completely as she did Isaac.
She was not going to try to analyze that.
Jill’s cell phone rang. She looked at the number on display before answering it. “Hi, Isaac. We have Lizzy at the station now.”
She listened, her head bobbing in response to whatever he was saying on the other end. “Oh, hey, that’s good. Glad Lily worked out... Really?”
A minute later, she pressed a button to disconnect the call.
“That was Isaac,” she stated unnecessarily. “He is on his way in. They used one of his dogs and were able to find the kid.”
“Nice,” Keith said in a satisfied tone.
“His dog?” Lizzy was confused.
Jill chuckled. “Yeah. Our Isaac is fascinated with training dogs. He became a trainer and has been working with three young dogs for months to train them to be used in police work. He has been really anxious to try one out, and he finally got his chance this morning.”
Lizzy looked between the officers. They seemed to be genuinely happy for Isaac and proud of him at the same time. In fact, Keith’s expression reminded her of how her older brothers looked at her when she’d done something well. These were more than just coworkers, she realized. These were Isaac’s family. He had left his community, but had found another one. It took her a moment to realize that she was feeling jealous of them that they were so close to Isaac. It shocked her. And it frightened her. She couldn’t afford to develop feelings for the cop. Yes, he was handsome, and he had rescued her several times. And yes, he seemed to understand her and he didn’t judge her for her ridiculous fears and anxieties. Rather, he seemed to feel that what she felt was natural and completely rational.
“Anyway,” Jill continued, interrupting her thoughts. “They are bringing the kid in for questioning.”
“He’s alive!” Isaac’s instinct had been right, Lizzy thought. “Was he involved with the man who shot Bill? Did he help to poison me?”
Jill held up her hands, halting the stream of questions. Lizzy snapped her mouth shut, although she still had plenty of questions simmering inside her, ready to boil over.
“I don’t know, to both of your questions.”
Lizzy’s shoulders sagged. She had been hoping for some real answers. She needed to get back to her family.
“What’s happening now?” Keith took a long swallow of the hot coffee he’d just poured for himself. He held up another cup toward Lizzy, offering her some coffee, too. Gratefully, she nodded. He poured a second cup, then handed it to her. “Cream or sugar?”
She shook her head. “Nee, thank you. I’m gut.”
Inhaling the fragrant brew, she took a small sip. It was hot, strong and bitter. Just the way she liked it.
“To answer your question, Keith, Isaac wants us to remain here with Lizzy. He’s going to bring Sid in for an interview, but he wants Lizzy to look in on the interview and see if she recognizes him.” She met Lizzy’s eyes, her own brown eyes warm with concern. “He doesn’t think you will recognize him, but he needs to know for sure.”
Twenty minutes later, Lizzy found herself wedged between the two cops, staring in through a two-way window at a young teenage boy with bright red hair, around seventeen or eighteen, sitting across from Isaac and Ryder. The poor kid looked terrified. He hardly looked like a boy capable of being part of such a horrible scheme. Chad Weller’s handsome face again filled her mind. To look at him, he had not appeared to have been capable of such evil, either. Her bishop frequently said that appearances of beauty and goodness often hid darkness and ugliness.
She returned her focus to the young man being interviewed. Even knowing that beauty sometimes hid evil, she had a hard time imagining him being actively involved in what had transpired yesterday. Although, she considered, if he did have a part in what had happened to her, she supposed that he deserved to be in the position he now found himself in. Lizzy was not a vengeful person, but she did believe that people should pay their debts. And that included making amends for wrongdoings, whether done
out of malice or cowardice.
The door opened and a woman entered the room. She looked like him. Brown eyes, red hair surrounding a pale face dotted with freckles. His mother. Sid saw her and his shoulders drooped. In fact, the boy’s entire body sagged, like a doll that had lost its stuffing.
“Mom,” he choked out.
The woman’s eyes filled with tears. “Sidney.” Her mouth opened like she’d say more, but the emotion wouldn’t allow her to. Instead, she sat beside her son and took his hand.
“Ma’am,” Ryder addressed her. “We have already read your son his rights but let me quickly go over them again.”
As the officer read the rights, the woman’s face grew stark. There was so much pain in those eyes Lizzy found herself blinking away her own tears.
Isaac’s face was set like stone, though she did see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. He wasn’t immune to a mother’s tears, either. She was glad to see that human flaw break through the hard image he displayed now.
“Mrs. Perry, before we continue, your son has declined a lawyer. He’s not eighteen yet, so it’s your decision.”
She looked out over the table. “He’ll be eighteen in two weeks. A lawyer never did his dad no good, so for now let’s just keep going. If I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”
Isaac opened the folder and casually withdrew a paper. He set it before Sid. The boy flinched. Lizzy realized that it was a blown-up photo that Isaac was showing him. Isaac tapped one long finger on the picture. Sid’s eyes followed his finger as if transfixed.
“We got this from a traffic camera. It’s not a very clear image, but I’m hoping it’s clear enough for you to tell me if you know who this man is?”
Lizzy jumped a bit at Isaac’s harsh tone. She had never heard him speak in any tone other than the cop’s soothing voice he used with her. She was seeing another side to him right now. This was not Isaac who used to be Amish. This was Officer Isaac Yoder, a member of the Waylan Grove Police Department. There was no sign of softness in him now.
