by Jenny Moews
In the barn, Jess shoved Timothy onto an old milking stool and told him to stay put. Timothy sat in silence as Jess talked to the other person standing in the shadows. They spoke in hushed voices so that Timothy could not make out what they were saying. Then Jess came back to Timothy.
“Okay, Timothy, we’re going for a walk out into the woods. You are going to lead me to where you hid the gold. If you don’t show me the gold in the next two hours my friend here is going to kill your Ma and then your sister. Got it?” Timothy nodded his head yes.
“Good. Here’s a flashlight, you lead the way.”
Timothy took the flashlight and let the way across the field and into the woods.
Hannah could see flashlights moving out in the field. Dear God, please watch over my boy. And let this storm hold out until he gets back. Keep my boy safe and warm. Hannah thanked God that Timothy had on warm clothes. But she did not get to pray for long. The dark figure she couldn’t make out from before came to the window and held up a gun.
“Okay, Hannah, I’m going to be right out here. If you try anything I’ll shoot your baby girl then you. I can see you just fine, so no funny stuff.” Hannah recognized that voice. Shock rolled over her.
“Rachel! Rachel Yoder, is that you?”
Quinn met Porter in front of Hannah’s house. Porter told him that Hannah and the children were not in the house. Quinn’s heart lurched in his chest. There was no place else Hannah would be at this time of night. He knew her schedule almost better than she did. “Porter, send Jess over to the bakery. Let’s just make sure Ms. Hershberger isn’t working late.”
“That’s the thing, Boss; no one knows where Jess is. He’s not answering his radio or his cell phone. He got some kind of frantic phone call after you left the office and he ran out. I’m not sure, but it looked like he had some kind of emergency.”
“Okay, then you run over by the bakery, and wake up Pattie Sue. See if she knows anything about the Hershbergers.”
“Will do, Boss. There is one more thing. I put a yellow marker on it so as not to move it. I found a two-forty-three Winchester rifle bullet casing on the ground there in front of the porch steps.”
“Okay I got that, now go on and check out the bakery. And be on the lookout for a dark blue older Ford pick-up.” Quinn had that sick feeling in his gut that Hannah and the children were in danger. One thing he was sure of was that his number-two suspect was not who he was looking for, and it appeared suspect number one had finally showed himself. He looked up as a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. Hannah where are you?
“Yes, Hannah it’s me. You may as well know it now. Seeing as how I’m about to be rich and long gone from this place.” A flash of a cigarette lighter lit up Rachel’s face in the darkness as she lit a cigarette. Hannah could see that Rachel had her dark hair down and was wearing jeans and a tee shirt. Rachel was almost unrecognizable to Hannah. Soft mannered Rachel who always had a smile on her face seemed much harder and colder than Hannah had ever seen her.
“Rachel, please don’t do this. I’m begging you for the life of my son. What have you done with Millie and Abe? Please don’t hurt them. Millie is pregnant. Did you know that? Please, you’re a mother. Surely you understand.” Hannah pleaded with Rachel through the window of the squad car. “You know, you Amish disgust me. You’re always going on and on about being pure, and having pure thoughts, and living a pure life. Well, you know what? It’s all total crap. I hate this life. Why do you people live like this? I mean, you do nothing, but work all the time cooking, cleaning, taking care of the babies. You can have this life. I’ve had enough of it. Jess and I are running away from this nightmare place. As soon as he comes back with that gold we’re gone.
“Rachel, surely you don’t mean to abandon your children. They need you. They’re just little babies.”
“You shut up about my children. You don’t know anything. All you know is work, work, work. You don’t even use the word love at all. None of you Amish do.”
“You’re wrong about that, Rachel. I love my children, and I tell them every day, just like I loved my husband. Did you kill my husband? Did Jess kill him?”
Rachel screamed and pointed the gun right at Hannah’s head against the glass. “You just shut up. You don’t know anything about anything.”
A dark shadowy figure came up behind Rachel. The figure put his arms around her and pulled her to the ground. “Now, you stop that. You leave these people alone. The gold is coming, and you’re going to leave here and never come back.”
“Get off me, old man!” Rachel grunted and pulled herself off the ground. “Fine then, you keep an eye on Miss Hot for Sheriff here.” Rachel dusted herself off and stomped away.
The old man could only be Georgie McVey, Pattie Sue’s brother. Hannah thought better of trying to talk to him. Quinn had warned her to be on the lookout for him, Hannah could feel his gaze on her now, and even though he had just saved her from Rachel’s gun, Hannah wasn’t sure she could trust him.
An hour ticked by. Hannah stared out across the field searching for any sign of Timothy. She put her hands in her apron pocket very slowly and grasped the radio handset she kept with her always. She had to wait for the right moment to use it when no one was watching her. She did not want to risk a gun in her face again. Ruth Anne was awake, but she sat quietly next to her mother. Hannah knew she was scared and tired, but she was so glad that Ruth Anne was trying to just be still. The lightning continued to flash in the sky, but thankfully no freezing rain had come, yet.
Another hour ticked by and at last Hannah saw two flashlights coming from across the fields. McVey left his post of guarding her and ran out to the fields as soon as he saw the lights. Rachel was nowhere in sight. This was a good a time as she was going to get. She pulled the radio from her pocket.
“Quinn, Quinn, are you there?”
Running on pure adrenaline Quinn went over every inch of Hannah’s home searching for some clue as to where she and the children may be. Porter came back with a very insistent Pattie Sue. Hannah was not at the bakery and Pattie Sue had no idea where she might be.
He made Pattie Sue wait outside as he and Porter taped off the house as a crime scene. Just as they finished up dispatch called him on his car radio.
“Sheriff, Peter Yoder is here at the office. He insists you come talk to him. It seems his wife has been missing for several hours and he has information about something that he only wants to talk to you about.”
“Tell him to stay put I’m heading that way.” Quinn turned to Pattie Sue who had not left the sidewalk as she paced back and forth waiting for any news of Hannah and the children. “Pattie Sue, why don’t you head on home? If we find anything I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
“Sheriff, I’m not going home. I’ll go sit in your office until Hannah and her children are found safe and brought home.” Pattie Sue got back into Porter’s car and waited to be taken to the office.
Quinn let out a long suffering sigh. “Where are you Hannah? God help the scumbags who have you.”
Driving to the office to talk to Peter Yoder, something clicked in Quinn’s head. Jess was missing and so was Rachel Yoder. Hannah and her children were missing as well. Both Jess and Rachel went missing after Quinn left the office to go to the Yoder’s. Rachel had been there when he was out there, but he never saw her after that, not even when he was leaving. Dang it, Ramsey, you tipped them off when you told Jess you were going out to the Yoder place. It all made sense now. Jess and Rachel, of course, but he still wasn’t sure how McVey fit into this puzzle. He hoped Peter might be able to fill him in on that.
He got to the office and Peter was waiting for him outside. “Peter, I don’t have much time so you need to talk fast.”
“Sheriff, I need to come clean about some things. First, Rachel and me are not married. Legally anyhow, she’s still married to another man. Her husband is in prison for life. I met her at the prison one day when she came to visit. I didn’t think
anything of it. She was another man’s wife. But then she started writing me letters. Just about every day I got something from her. I didn’t have much else to do so I started writing her back. I told her about my life, growing up Amish. When I got released she picked me up. She said she wanted to be Amish with me. I believed her. I was in love with her by this time, and I wanted her to be my wife.”
“So, what does any of that have to do with anything right now?”
“See, Rachel ain’t her real name. Her real name is Sally Anora Beaufort. She’s wanted for murder. I don’t know all the details, and I didn’t want to know them all. I just wanted us to be a family. I know now all she wanted was a place to hide.” Peter took a breath. “There’s more, after you left she was just gone. I couldn’t find her anywhere. The baby was crying for her and Rachel was just gone. I went to the old wood shed trying to find her and I found some things that shouldn’t be there, old opened cans of food and a cot. Someone has been hiding in my woodshed for a long time. I never went out there because Rachel gathered the wood I chopped and put in there. It’s been so warm we haven’t needed any wood in the house so I never thought to check in there for anything. My guess is she took pity on Georgie and let him hide out there against my wishes.”
“No, she didn’t keep him out of pity, Peter. She’s after that gold.”
Quinn left Peter and ran back to his car. He knew where Hannah had to be. Just as he turned over the engine, he heard Hannah’s voice on the handset he kept in his pocket.
“Quinn, Quinn, are you there?”
“I’m here, Hannah. Where are you?”
“Quinn, it’s Jess Zook and Rachel Yoder. They have Timothy. I’m locked with Ruth Anne in the back of Jess’ car. That man Georgie is with them. I think it’s him. We’re at my farm. They are in the barn right now with Timothy. I don’t know if Millie and Abe are okay. Quinn, please hurry. I’m not sure what they plan to do, but Timothy led them to the gold. I think we may be running out of time here. I have to go now before they see me talking to you.”
“Hannah, you sit tight. I’m coming.” Quinn radioed for backup and drove off at full speed.
Hannah put the radio back in her pocket. She watched the barn waiting for any sign of Timothy. An ear piercing gunshot rang out and Hannah screamed. She put her legs up and kicked and kicked the wire screen that separated the front seat from the back seat until the screws holding it in place ripped free. She pushed herself through the small opening she managed make. She grabbed Eric’s rifle and let Ruth Anne out of the back seat.
“Listen to me, my darling, I want you to hold on to my skirt now and stay with me. Don’t let go of my skirt no matter what. You got that?” Ruth Anne nodded her head and grabbed her mother’s skirt.
The first pellets of freezing rain hit them both as the storm finally hit. Hannah held up the rifle and slowly walked up to the light shining out the wide open barn doors. Dear Lord, let Timothy be alive. Please let my boy be alive and unharmed.
She saw Timothy lay over the body of the man she believed was McVey. He was screaming “No, don’t kill him, don’t kill him.”
Hannah watched in slow motion horror as Rachel raised her gun and pointed it at Timothy. Hannah took a deep breath and fired. The bullet grazed Rachel’s arm and she dropped the old frayed duffle bag with the gold bars in it. The bag busted open and the gold spilled out onto the barn floor.
Jess turned his gun on Hannah. Hannah cocked her rifle and got ready to shoot again. Jess looked into Hannah’s eyes and saw his death. She was not going to stop until he was dead. He grabbed Rachel and shoved her toward the door past Hannah.
“Wait, Jess, we need that gold. I want that gold.” Rachel screamed with blood pouring down her arm.
Hannah kept her rifle steady and pointed right at Jess and Rachel. Ruth Anne hid herself in her mother’s skirts just like she was told to do.
“We can’t go back, Rachel. Hannah will kill us both if we go back.” Jess shoved Rachel in the truck then got in and drove away.
Hannah kept the gun on the truck until it was out of sight. Then she ran to her son as he lay weeping over Georgie McVey. Very gently she pulled Timothy away.
‘No, Ma, he’s still breathing. He’s still breathing.” Timothy moved aside so his mother could get a better view of Georgie. He lay in a pool of his own blood with a gaping bullet hole in his chest. Hannah sat down beside him and pulled his head onto her lap. She began to pray over this man who not only had saved her from being shot, but it appeared he may have just taken a bullet for her son.
Georgie’s eyes fluttered. “Ms. Hershberger, I need to tell you. The night your husband died. He went to Deputy Jess’ house. I had just been there, but I left to go see my sister Pattie Sue. Jess was going to help me find the gold my dad buried out in your woods. I wanted to do it honestly without running around getting into trouble, but I needed help. Rachel told me to go to Jess and tell him about the gold. She said she would take care of me for a share of the gold when we found it. After I left Jess’ place I went to see Pattie Sue. Your husband came by to drop off a pie. Then he went to Jess’ house. He saw Jess with Rachel. They were messing around behind Peter’s back. Eric left when he saw them together. I didn’t stay long at Pattie Sue’s. I didn’t want to cause her no trouble with the Amish folk. I went back to Jess’ place and he and Rachel were up in arms. They wanted the gold and if Eric called Rachel out before they were ready to leave, Rachel would be tossed out of the community. She couldn’t leave the community without the gold. She’s wanted for murder. She was afraid she would get caught if she was to leave the Amish community without enough money to run. So we all got into Jess’ car and went after your husband. They were just going to talk to him, they said, tell him to keep quiet, but things got out of hand and Jess shoved Eric to the ground and hit him on the back of his head with his flashlight. The boy can tell you what happened after that. But I’ve done all I could to keep your boy safe. You’ll tell Pattie Sue, won’t you? That I did right in the end. Tell her I always believed in Christ and that I made my peace with the Lord… “
Hannah heard sirens in the distance as Georgie McVey breathed his last and died in her arms. The lightning, thunder, and freezing rain hit hard outside, but inside the barn it was silent.
A Dark Amish Night
Chapter Twenty One
Pattie Sue got ahold of the Bishop and they waited at the Sheriff’s office for Hannah and the children to be brought in. Hannah was glad to see them, but didn’t get to tell them much. Quinn was adamant that they come in and make statements. There was no sign of Jess or Rachel. Quinn said he’d put out an APB and the entire state was on the lookout for them.
Millie and Abe had been found tied up in Hannah’s house. They were both shaken but otherwise fine. They also had been brought in for questioning and statements. The big talker of the day, however, was Timothy. He was telling anyone who would listen what had happened.
The night Eric Hershberger died. Timothy had been pulled out of the buggy and threatened with his life. Rachel wanted to shoot him, but Georgie would have none of it. Jess told Timothy that he had to help them find that gold or else he would come and kill his sister and mother. And if he breathed a word about his father’s death, he would surely die. Georgie put Timothy back in the buggy and promised that he would watch over him as best he could.
Hannah confirmed that there had been an order for her baked goods to be delivered to Jess that night, and she gave a full statement on what had happened on this night at her farm. Quinn asked her where she learned to shoot. “My father didn’t have sons. He had two daughters and he taught us to hunt with him.”
The hardest thing was to tell Pattie Sue about Georgie. Quinn let Hannah tell her alone. Pattie Sue was distraught, but she was glad to know that Georgie had done right in the end and was a hero for taking a fatal gunshot to save Timothy. Timothy sat for a long time next to Pattie Sue and just held her hand.
There were a total of five solid gold bric
ks that had been stashed in the torn duffle bag. Quinn did the math and figured they were worth just over a million dollars. He figured the judge would have to decide where the gold should go, but it seemed the most likely owner would be Pattie Sue. Pattie Sue swore to have nothing to do with that ‘evil’ gold that had cost her brother his life and caused her nothing but grief. She vowed that if the gold came to her she would donate it to the church. Besides, as she said “I’ve enough honest money as it is.”
It was well into the next day when Quinn finished all the reports and took all the statements. Ollie sent the forensics team back to the farm to gather evidence. Hannah and the children along with everyone else had gone home to get some sleep. Quinn decided to go home too.
After a few hours of sleep and a shower, Quinn got up and sat on his couch. He was dressed in a simple tee-shirt and jeans. His uniform shirt he’d been wearing the night before was on the couch next to him. He unpinned his Sheriff badge and put it on the coffee table in front of him. That badge represented so much to Quinn. It was not only a symbol of honor and justice it was a symbol of him, and everything he stood for. But it was a poor substitute for a home and a family. He could live without the badge. There was no living without Hannah or her children. Quinn had nearly lost his mind when he couldn’t find her last night and then when he knew who had her, it made him even crazier to think he might lose her like he did Kathleen. When he saw her and the children in that barn safe and sound, he’d known no greater peace. It was a joy he would carry with him forever. He loved Hannah and was not going to waste another day without her. He got up and walked out his door leaving his badge behind. He knew who he needed to talk to.
