by Dana R. Lynn
Muttering a prayer of thanksgiving under his breath, he bent down and lifted the unconscious woman in his arms. Her face was so pale. Do your job, he reminded himself.
Miles followed the paramedic and EMT out the back door into the alley. The ambulance was being moved to the back. He stood by as Parker, Tracy and Rebecca were checked and hooked to oxygen. They were all breathing, although none of them regained consciousness.
The paramedic insisted on checking him out, too. He endured the examination as patiently as he could, but all he wanted was to make sure Rebecca, Tracy and Parker were safe.
Within minutes, the three victims were all loaded into ambulances and carried off to the hospital. Miles waited only long enough to see the ambulance carrying Rebecca pull out into traffic on Main Street, sirens blaring, before putting a call into Chief Kennedy to tell him what had been found. Not that that’s what he wanted to do. No, indeed. Every instinct inside of him was screaming for him to hop in his car and follow the ambulance to the hospital. But he knew he had to contact his chief first. It made it easier knowing that Jackson had responded to his 911 call and was already en route to the hospital. He would look out for Rebecca until Miles arrived.
“Has a cause been determined?” Chief Kennedy’s voice was quiet, but it ran deep with concern.
“Yes, Chief. This was no accident. The furnace had been sabotaged, and the carbon-monoxide alarm was discarded on the ground near where Parker was found. Which is right next to the basement stairs. My guess is Parker had heard the intruder as he attempted to leave through the back door.”
“Not a very skilled assassin. He left a witness.”
Miles winced. He had thought the same thing. “From the angle of the blow, it’s possible that Parker never saw the attacker. And I highly doubt he thought anyone would survive. The level of toxin in the air was shocking. The paramedics said that level of gas could kill within a short time. This was definitely premeditated. I also think it’s suspicious that both attacks happened as the owner is conveniently out of the way.”
“In your opinion, she’s a link. Or a suspect.”
Miles nodded, then realized the chief couldn’t see him. “Yeah. I’m leaning more toward the idea that our attacker knows her. From the description Rebecca gave me the other day, she’s not big enough to have been the attacker herself. Nor did Rebecca know anything of her before she opened the bookstore. Chief, I would like to request that both Tracy and Parker be guarded. At least until they are capable of looking out for themselves.”
A heavy sigh drifted over the connection. “I figured. Of course, we’ll do what we can to provide protection. Still, it’s always sad to hear about such evil, to willingly kill innocent people like that. This makes the fourth attempt on Miss Miller’s life.”
As if he could forget it.
“Miles, I think as soon as she is released we need to get her into protective custody.”
“I would love to see that happen. But somehow, I don’t think she’ll go for it.”
“Not even with everything that’s happened?”
Miles took a moment to consider everything that had happened and what he knew about Rebecca. She had been attacked and was aware of the danger, but he also knew she believed that God was looking out for her. And he also had figured out that her family was of utmost importance to her. She worked so hard to keep those ties, it would devastate her to miss Levi’s wedding.
“Sir, her brother’s wedding is in five days, on Thursday. I’m pretty sure she will be in the hospital until Monday, so it would be easier to keep an eye on her for now. We can up the security at Seth’s for when she gets out. Make sure she is never alone. On the day of the wedding, I will be with her the entire time. I will talk with her about the ceremony. It’s important to her, so I will ask her to invite me as her guest.” He waited while the chief thought about it.
“I agree that you should be there. Also, I think it would be better for her if she dressed Amish for the wedding.”
Was that even allowed, since she had chosen to leave that world behind? He would have to see what could be done. Would she agree? He knew her reasons for leaving the Amish community were very personal.
“Will she go along with that?” Chief Kennedy’s voice was filled with skepticism as he echoed Miles’s thoughts.
“Does she really have a choice?” Miles shook his head, knowing his words came out a bit stronger and more sarcastic than he had meant them to when speaking to his boss. “Anyway, I think she will do whatever she can to be there. And then afterward, I think we will have a better shot at convincing her to go into hiding. Hopefully, we will find the attacker before too long. And before anyone else gets hurt.”
Oh, wait. “Chief, I think it would be safe to say that I won’t be able to openly carry a gun at the wedding.”
A lengthy pause filled the silence. Miles imagined the chief closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like the sound of that. We’ll have to think about it. I would prefer you have a weapon on you, even if it’s concealed. You will be on duty, even if you’re dressed as a guest. If the killer shows up, we need to be prepared.”
Yeah, that could get awkward. Although if the attacker was close enough, Miles felt confident he’d be able to take him down in hand-to-hand combat. He was a black belt in karate, thanks to the need to prove himself capable. One more thing he owed to his parents’ dysfunctional relationship.
“Okay, Miles. I think you have a good handle on this. I will put all personnel on notice that they may be called upon for a security detail.”
Miles disconnected the call. For a couple of minutes, he stood where he was, running over the conversation and his options in his mind. And realized he really didn’t have any. He had to protect Rebecca. And unless she decided to accept his recommendation that she place herself in protective custody, that meant he had to attend an Amish wedding. Why was he so nervous about that? He’d attended lots of weddings before. Lieutenant Willis had gotten married a year and a half ago and Seth had gotten married just a couple of months ago.
But he knew why this one was different. He was going there, as an outsider, as Rebecca’s guest. Even if it was for protective purposes, he would be viewed as if he had a more personal connection with Rebecca. And the worst of it was, there was a connection. He liked her. She was smart and funny, and her strength and sorrow-filled eyes touched his heart.
Which was precisely what worried him.
None of that was important, though. All that mattered was that he would be there to protect Rebecca and those she loved from a killer.
* * *
Where was she?
Rebecca opened her eyes, squinting as her head ached in protest. She was connected to a machine. For someone raised in a small Amish community with no electricity or modern technology, the sight should have been unusual, maybe even upsetting all on its own. Unfortunately, Rebecca had very clear memories of waking up in a hospital before, surrounded by far more frightening-looking machines and monitors, and a crowd of people looking down at her.
Reflexively, she glanced down at her wrists. No rub burns from restraints this time. And though her head hurt, her back and legs didn’t feel as though they were on fire. Because no one had been beating her this time, or cutting her. No one had physically assaulted her at all this time...but that didn’t mean no one was hurt.
Sergeant Parker.
She needed to find out if he was alive. She had walked into the back room to get something and found him bleeding on the floor. She remembered helping him to sit up—feeling a little woozy and sick herself as she crouched down beside him. He’d tried to tell her something. Maybe some kind of warning, but he had been too weak to make his point understood. She must have blacked out. Or had she been attacked, too?
No. She would have remembered that. Instead, all she remembere
d was a searing headache before absolute nothing.
The door opened. A nurse entered the room with a cart and smiled. Miles followed her in. The tightness that had begun to bunch in her shoulders loosened at the sight of his familiar face. He approached the bed and waited as the nurse busied herself with the machine and checking on Rebecca’s vitals.
Then she started speaking. Miles positioned himself near the nurse’s shoulder and interpreted, reciting the information the nurse offered about how her vitals had stabilized nicely.
“Okay, the doctor should be in shortly,” Miles concluded.
One of her hands was still connected to a machine. Rebecca used her free hand to ask what was wrong with her.
“The doctor will explain everything. Don’t worry. You’re in good hands here.”
The nurse wheeled her cart over to the door. Miles beat her there and held the door open. As soon as she left, he closed the door again.
She tried to push herself up to a sitting position, but he placed a firm hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Fine. It was embarrassing talking to him lying down. She felt vulnerable and weak. That didn’t matter, though. “Is your friend all right? The officer named Parker?”
Miles leaned in closer. “I just left his room. He will be fine. Probably needs to take a few days off work. But no permanent damage has been done.”
Her bones dissolved. At least that’s how she felt as she melted back into the mattress, the anxiety festering inside her evaporating. The officer would be well—he hadn’t been seriously injured because he’d been protecting her.
“Will you tell me what happened?” She was not in the mood to be placated while she waited for the doctor to make an appearance. All this avoidance of the issue only made her feel worse.
“What do you remember?” Miles moved the lone chair so that they could see each other without being hampered by the tubes and wires. She appreciated the thoughtfulness.
What did she remember? Not enough, that was a fact.
“Not much. I was supposed to change the window display today. I went into the back room to gather what I would need. But I found Sergeant Parker on the floor. He was bleeding, here...” She touched her head with her free hand. “When I kneeled beside him, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up. I didn’t think he should, but I couldn’t get him to stay still, so I helped him. He seemed agitated, upset. I think he was trying to tell me something. Maybe he thought I could read his lips. I’m sorry. I tried to learn, but I never mastered it...”
Would things have been different if she could?
She noticed Miles looking at her arm. The scars from when Terry Gleason had cut her for his amusement were thick scarlet slashes on her pale skin.
Would he be repelled by them? She was afraid to look at him.
Miles touched her hand, then caught her gaze as she looked up. His eyes were soft. She could see no sign of disgust. “You can’t blame yourself for any of this. What happened next?”
Closing her eyes briefly, she let the images from earlier fill her mind. What happened next? She signed the question in her mind, thinking through the answer.
“I had started to feel sick earlier. And my head was aching. I was getting sleepy. I think my headache got bad really fast. And then, I must have fainted or something. Because the next thing I was aware of was waking up here.”
He nodded and leaned back. His normally expressive face was nearly blank. The ultracontrolled expression scared her more than anything else could. It stated without words that the situation had escalated even more. And that there was nothing random about what had happened at the bookstore.
Not that she’d thought there was. Not even for a second.
Miles waved his hand slightly. When she looked at him, he touched his index finger to his chin and made a twisting motion. “Serious.” She tensed again. It was a definite statement that something important was coming. “This was no accident. I’m sure you already know that. Someone sabotaged the furnace so that the store was flooded with carbon-monoxide gas. I have to think that Sergeant Parker somehow interrupted the person responsible and that was why he was hit. There was a fire extinguisher on the floor. It had blood on it. That’s most likely what the attacker used.”
Her breath exploded out of her. Thinking back, she vaguely remembered stepping past the extinguisher. She’d been so worried about Parker that she hadn’t given it a second thought.
“He says he went to the back room to do a routine check of the premises, and didn’t see anyone. The person must have hidden behind the door leading to the basement stairs until Parker was already in the room. Then bam!”
She jumped as he slammed his fist into his palm. She wasn’t offended at the graphic description, but her nerves were so strained that any little thing made her jumpy. Miles continued. “He’ll be able to leave here tomorrow or Monday so that’s good news. Although, that means there will be one less police officer on the job.” His brow furrowed as he considered that. Poor Miles. He looked exhausted. “When you are released, I will bring you back to the Travis house. We’ve increased police protection.”
Suddenly, her mind took a detour.
“Wait! Thursday is my brother’s wedding! What am I supposed to do about that?” It was unbearable, thinking of missing Levi’s special day.
Miles ducked his head slightly, and his shaggy blond hair bobbed on his forehead. “I’ve been thinking of that. I know that non-Amish people sometimes are guests at weddings. How about if I go with you? To protect you and your family.”
She blinked. That was an interesting idea. But a police officer...
“You can’t go dressed in your uniform.”
He responded with an elaborate eye roll. “Please. Give me some credit. I do own some church clothes. I will do my best not to stand out.”
“But you will.”
She watched his eyes widen and realized she had probably been too blunt. She hurried to explain. “Sorry. But I have seen you while you work. Your eyes never stop moving. You are constantly looking around for danger. Even while you are laughing, your eyes are moving. The only time they don’t is when you are signing to me.” She pursed her lips and tilted her head, examining his surprised face.
Miles smiled, an open smile showing straight white teeth. Lovely.
“I won’t apologize for that. I plan to keep on my guard to keep you and your family safe.” His smile widened even more, becoming a grin, with a touch of smugness to it. “And I think spending a full day in your company will be very enjoyable.”
Oh, my. She was aware of something shifting inside of her heart. Keeping a step ahead of a vicious killer wasn’t her only problem. No. Now it seemed she also had to keep her heart safe from the man she believed God had sent to protect her.
A short while later, Miles stood and stretched. She averted her eyes when she realized she was watching the play of his biceps under his T-shirt. Not appropriate, Rebecca. He yawned, but to her mind it looked exaggerated.
“I need to head out. You okay if I go?” he signed.
No, no, please stay.
“Of course, I will be fine. You go work. Or whatever.”
He grinned, his blond hair flopping over his forehead. Her fingers itched to brush the soft hair back. Why was she letting herself get so distracted? Her eyes met his, and the smile slipped from his face. His blue eyes grew intense, and the air between them sizzled. For a moment, she felt breathless, as if the air had grown thin.
He backed up, and the moment faded.
Sketching a brief wave, he sauntered out of the room, though he did turn back and catch her gaze one last time before he left. She had a feeling she’d be reliving that weighted glance and trying to dissect it for the rest of the evening. It was going to be a long sleepless night.
TEN
The next morning,
the nurse was just carrying away Rebecca’s half-eaten breakfast tray when the door opened. Rebecca’s eyes shot wide when her boss, April, entered the room, her face pale and drawn. Normally, April was very well put together. This morning, she was without makeup and her hair had been slapped up in a messy bun. She approached the bed, taking in Rebecca and her surroundings. As she stopped at the bed, she pulled out her phone and tapped a message, then showed it to Rebecca.
R U ok? I just saw Tracy. She’ll be fine.
Rebecca took the phone and tapped a message back. I’m fine. I will be going home soon.
April’s lips firmed as she read the message. And then she typed a response. I heard about your roommate. I’m so sorry. And Tracy said you were attacked the other night after closing the store. What’s going on?
Good question. How to answer it.
She could see Miles’s image in her mind, signing to her to be careful, not to give away too much information. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust April, but her innocent conversation with Tracy, revealing that she was staying with Jess, had shown her it was safer to be vague. The police are looking into it. I don’t know too much more than that.
Well, that was true, wasn’t it? She really didn’t know too much more. Other than the same group of girls she’d been abducted with years before were being hunted down, one by one. But April didn’t know anything about that event. And, she realized, she didn’t want her to. Didn’t want to see her boss start to view her as a victim, to look at her with pity.
Rebecca kept the past to herself. And when April finally left after a few awkward moments, she was relieved.
The rest of the day dragged on. Rebecca hated not being able to get to church, so she comforted herself with watching a service on the TV and praying.
The next morning, she was informed that she was being released.
Rebecca should have been overjoyed. After all, she hated hospitals. She’d been stuck in one for three days after the abduction, needing constant medical care after being dehydrated and brutally beaten. It wasn’t a pleasant memory.
