Hidden in Amish Country

by Dana R. Lynn

  “I think we should call Ryder and set up a meeting.”

  “I’m not sure going back to Waylan Grove would be a wise decision for us.”

  Ben and Sadie took turns explaining everything that had happened the past few days. Again Isaac listened.

  “I understand you not wanting to go back there. Let me contact Ryder and see if he will come here. I’m also curious about this boss of Kurt’s. What was his name? Ethan? What do you know about him?”

  Sadie tugged at the strings of her kapp. “I only met him once, a couple of weeks before the accident. Kurt had invited him and his wife to dinner one night. His wife was nice enough. Didn’t talk a lot. Something about him made me uncomfortable, but I didn’t know why.”

  “Last name?”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know. Kurt always referred to him as Ethan.”

  “I’ll contact Ryder,” Isaac decided. “Then when he shows up, we can decide where we go from here.”

  “We?” Ben and Sadie chorused.

  Isaac scoffed and cast him a scathing glance. “What? Do you expect me to stay out of this? In a single day I have recovered two of my best childhood friends. Friends that I had thought I would never see again. There’s no way I’m walking away from this. The way I figure it, God must have wanted us to meet up again. Who am I to disagree with Him?”

  “Denke,” Ben said, touched more than he could say. There had been so many times in the past three years when he had felt isolated and alone. He had people in the community where he lived whom he liked. Caleb and Lovina, for instance. But he really didn’t have anyone that he shared a strong bond of friendship with. He hadn’t truly felt that bond for a long time. Isaac was right.

  “Who are we to disagree, indeed.”

  Isaac left a few minutes later, promising to bring his wife by to meet them soon. “You’ll like my Lizzy. She’s from a little town in Pennsylvania. We met when I was a cop.”

  Intrigued, Ben raised an eyebrow. “She met you while you were Fancy?”

  Isaac rolled his eyes. “I was Englisch, and yes, that’s when she met me. I didn’t come back to being Amish because of her, though. I knew that if I came back to being Amish, it was a lifelong choice. Which meant I needed to do it for the right reasons. It would not have been fair to her to join the church and then not be able to truly live this life.”

  Would Sadie ever—Ben stamped that thought out before it fully formed. She had said she didn’t remember very much about her Amish life. For all intents and purposes, she was Englisch. And although he could feel the tension and the bond between them growing stronger every day, he knew he didn’t have the right to ask her to become anything else. Not for him.

  When this was all over, when Mason Green had been caught and Sadie was out of danger, what would she choose? Would she choose to return to her roots, or would she go back to her old job and her old way of life?

  He was getting far too invested in her choices. He had a son to think about. He already knew that Nathaniel loved Sadie. Just as he was growing to love... Nee. That was not possible. They had not known each other long enough for him to truly love her.

  He decided it was best if he ignored the idea.

  But it didn’t matter. A hollow spot had opened up inside him and it had Sadie’s name on it. Soon she’d be gone.

  Whatever was building between the two of them needed to end. Now.

  TWELVE

  Early the next day, Isaac showed up after breakfast. He chatted with the Masts for a few moments before requesting to see Ben and Sadie privately. The three of them walked out to the barn. Ben had the oddest feeling, being with two friends who had both left his life for so many years. He thanked Gott for the blessing of seeing them again.

  “What are we waiting for?” Ben asked.

  “Ryder’s coming. He has been investigating your brother’s boss. Ethan Nettle. The man’s record is clean. In fact, it’s so clean, he doesn’t even have a parking ticket. Nothing.”

  “And that bothers you?” Sadie asked, her voice slightly amused.

  “Yeah, it does. The man drives one of those fancy cars. It’s a Corvette or something like that. The ones that go a million miles per hour. Who owns a toy like that and doesn’t test it out?”

  Ben chuckled. “I managed to drive one during my rumspringa. Scared me enough to make me understand the benefit of my nice sedate buggy.”

  They didn’t have long to wait before the sound of a car pulling into the driveway reached their ears. A few seconds later, a door banged shut. Isaac peeked out of the barn. “In here, Ryder.”

  The officer strode up the driveway, his hard shoes clomping on the gravel as he moved. Within a minute, he entered the barn. With him came a large German shepherd, wearing a bright blue harness with the name Lily on it.

  Isaac grinned. “Here’s my girl. Ben, Sadie, this is Lily. The pup I trained.”

  Ryder snorted. “She’s not a pup anymore, dude. Now she’s a fully trained canine officer, aren’t you, Lily?”

  The dog sat when commanded to.

  “Sergeant Howard,” Ben began.

  The officer waved his hand. “Ryder. I am really glad to see you two. After you walked out of the police station, we were all a bit anxious about your whereabouts. Isaac’s phone call was a welcome one, that’s for sure.”

  Ben felt a momentary pang of guilt over that. He hoped the officer hadn’t gotten into trouble because of them. “Fine. Ryder. What have you learned about Ethan Nettle?”

  Ryder leaned a shoulder against a post. “Well, that’s interesting. It appears that Mr. Nettle has had some success in reporting on social justice issues. For example, he’s very well-known for being a force against drug cartels and illegal human trafficking. Particularly when it comes to women and children.”

  Ben frowned. “I don’t see how that is a bad thing. Those are both evils that our world would be better off without.”

  “Ah, yes, true.” Ryder nodded sagely. “Trouble is, it has long been suspected that Mason Green is deeply connected to both of those markets. It has also come to my notice that quite a few times in the past ten years or so, Mason Green has been spotted in the same place where Ethan Nettle was supposedly working on reporting a story. In fact, in at least three instances, I have witnesses who could place both men in the same hotel. What do you think about that coincidence?”

  “I don’t believe in coincidence,” Ben bit out harshly. He could think of very few things that were as evil as the victimization of children and women. If Kurt’s boss was associating with these people, and in fact, profiting from this evil, he needed to be dealt with. Ben remembered Sadie being concerned that Kurt would take chances. She was probably correct. Kurt would put himself at risk to save others. Of that he had no doubt.

  “Yeah, me neither.” Ryder reached into his back pocket. He pulled out an envelope. When he slipped it open and took out a picture, Ben’s stomach clenched. “I actually have a digital copy of this on my computer. However, I didn’t know about the service out here so I printed it out so that we could all see it.”

  He turned to Sadie. “I need you to take a look at this and tell me what you see.”

  Sadie paled slightly, but she nodded and took a step closer. Her arm brushed against Ben’s. He could feel her shivering beside him, and he was fairly certain it was not from the cold. Without giving it a thought, he lightly placed his arm around her shoulders. Isaac raised his eyebrow at him, but he ignored his childhood friend. Right at this moment, Sadie needed his comfort.

  “Alles ist gut,” he murmured in her ear. “All of us are here with you. No one will hurt you.”

  “I know,” she whispered. “I’m just a little nervous. I can’t believe that my brother has been working with this man all these years and has never had a clue. What if Kurt had somehow stumbled onto what he was up to? Who knows
what Ethan would’ve done?”

  Ben didn’t want to respond to that because he had a fairly good idea of what the man would have done. His arm tightened slightly as Ryder showed Sadie the photograph.

  She gasped and swayed slightly.

  Instinctively, Ben pulled her closer. She leaned against him for a moment, then she stood straight. He let her go, even though it pained him. She pointed to the red-headed man sitting at the table in a café. “That’s my brother’s boss, Ethan. And the other man, the one he’s sitting with as if they were old friends, that’s Mason Green.”

  She shuddered once, then she looked up at Ben. He saw the anguish in her eyes. “You’ve remembered something else, haven’t you?”

  He felt more than saw both Isaac and Ryder straighten. She kept her eyes locked with his. He silently urged her to keep going, knowing that all of this was taking its toll.

  “That night my brother had Ethan and his wife over to dinner, they were talking about a story that Kurt was working on. He hadn’t told me what it was. I was still pretty torn up because a young girl from the school I work at had been kidnapped and later found in very bad shape. I think it’s connected but I’m not sure yet. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but we have a small house with thin walls. I could hear Kurt trying to convince Ethan to let him write a story. He said he had found some interesting clues and a witness who could prove that someone he was looking into was, in fact, involved in something pretty nasty. I didn’t hear what it was, but looking back it was obviously illegal human trafficking. Anyway, Ethan said no. Oh, he was very nice about it. Very complimentary about my brother. My brother did such great work but they just didn’t have room for that kind of story at this moment. Maybe later on down the line. I knew for a fact that my brother was anxious to get his hands on a meatier story. He had been researching this angle for so long, just waiting to pitch it to his boss. But Ethan wasn’t buying it. I felt bad for my brother but what could I do? I have no knowledge of journalism. I had no idea what would be a good story, or how to even go about finding one.”

  She turned to look at Ryder and Isaac. “But I had no clue there was anything more going on. Later that evening, I walked into the little office that my brother and I shared. I had a knitting pattern that I wanted to show Ethan’s wife. I can’t even remember the woman’s name at this point. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I knocked some papers off my brother’s desk. When I bent down to pick them up, I saw a picture. It was a picture of Mason Green. I believe he was the man that my brother was researching. Anyway, as I looked at the picture, I had a flashback.”

  Ben could tell she was getting very agitated. Whatever she had remembered, it must’ve been horrible.

  “Can you tell us, Sadie?” Ryder asked, his voice gentle. Ben was a very peaceful man, but he felt a small spurt of anger at the officer for putting even the tiniest bit of pressure on Sadie. He held it in, though, knowing the man was only doing his job. And also knowing that until Mason Green and Ethan Nettle were caught, Sadie would never be safe again.

  Sadie drew in a deep breath. “I remember being a child. I was only six or seven. I was outside, it was a warm summer day. I remember a man grabbing me and trying to throw me into his car. It was Mason Green. He couldn’t have been that old. Late teens? Knowing what I know now, I believe he was intending to kidnap me.”

  Her words sent a chill straight through him. There was only one reason Mason Green would have tried to kidnap a young Amish girl. He had planned to sell her in the human trafficking market.

  “What happened?” Ben felt like each word was a chip of ice spewing from his mouth.

  Tears welled up in those beautiful caramel-colored eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

  “My father stopped him.”

  * * *

  She took the handkerchief from Ben’s hand and wiped her face. Her story wasn’t done. She needed to keep it together for a few more minutes.

  “My father heard me screaming. He came out and saw what was happening. He rushed over and grabbed me from Mason’s arms. He threw me away from him, and when I looked at him, Mason Green was holding a gun to my father. Before I could do anything, he shot him. Right in front of me. I think between my screaming and the shot, several people on the street came out to see what was happening. Mason threw the gun down and took off. One of our neighbors, a teenager from a non-Amish family, was first on the scene. He was about fifteen or so and had a reputation for getting in trouble.”

  “He picked up the gun, didn’t he?” Ben asked. He remembered very well the day that Sadie’s father was killed. He also remembered running out of his house and seeing an older boy holding the gun.

  “He did. I was in such shock that I didn’t realize what was happening. There were no witnesses other than myself to say that he was innocent. He was literally holding the smoking gun in his hand. I shut down for a while. Mentally. And after that, it was like my mind had closed the memory away. I literally didn’t remember what had happened. Until now.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Sadie.” Isaac’s face was so sad as he looked at his friend. “It’s horrible. But you were a child.”

  She nodded to show she understood, but the grief inside her was overwhelming. She had blocked the memory out for so long, she felt that she was only now starting to grieve her father. And that poor kid who went to jail.

  “His name was Jeffrey, I think.”

  “I need you to write your statement out and sign it. There’s no statute of limitations on murder. If you give us your statement, it means we can go before the judge, ask for Jeffrey to be released and for the case of the murder of your father to be opened up again.”

  She thought, But Amish don’t usually give statements or testify, then rolled her eyes. She hadn’t been Amish for a very long time. And there was no one left who could help.

  Decision made, she nodded her affirmative. “I’ll do whatever I must to help.”

  Ryder rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Great! I am so glad that you’re going to do this.” He hesitated. “Um, today would be good.”

  “Today? As in, right now?” The idea of leaving and going back to Waylan Grove now, when things were still so up in the air, made her stomach churn. What if Mason Green was still out there searching for them? And now that she knew about Ethan Nettle, there were at least two people trying to kill her. It didn’t seem the wisest decision to go back into the middle of the fray alone.

  We are never alone.

  Suddenly, that peace she had felt once before spread through her. She knew what it meant. Even if it was just her going into battle, God was with her. She needed to rely on him and not on her own strength. Not even on Ben’s strength. Because even though Ben was just about the best man she had ever met, he was still a man. Only God was perfect. Only God could truly save her.

  “I’ll go,” she told Ryder.

  “Let me tell Dat that I won’t be here to help this afternoon,” Ben announced. “I’m sure my mamm would be willing to watch out for Nathaniel while we’re gone. She’s enjoying having a grandchild in the house.”

  Surprised, she glanced at him. “You’re coming with me?”

  He snorted. “Jah. Absolutely I’m going with you. Did you think I would leave you to face this danger by yourself?”

  “Hey,” Ryder protested. “I’m here, too, you know. I’d not let her go by herself.”

  As he’d predicted, Ben’s parents agreed to keep Nathaniel while he accompanied Ryder and Sadie back to Waylan Grove. To her further surprise, as they approached the police cruiser, Isaac hopped into the front seat, leaving the back seat to Sadie and Ben. And Lily. The large dog hopped up beside Sadie and calmly settled on the leather seat.

  Sadie felt like she had swallowed rocks for lunch, and now they were sitting heavy in her stomach. She placed her hand over her belly, trying to still the churning going on inside her. The
scenery whizzed past. She almost missed the slower pace of the buggy. When you were in a buggy, you could really appreciate the places you were driving past.

  The closer they came to Waylan Grove, the tighter her nerves became. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a warm hand landed on top of hers where it was lying on the seat. Startled, she jerked her eyes up. Her gaze collided with Ben’s.

  “Are you well?” he whispered, concern shining from his face.

  Her immediate reaction was to say she was fine. But she wasn’t fine. She was far from it. Right at the moment, she didn’t want to placate anyone with white lies designed to make them feel better. She wanted to be honest.

  “No, I’m really not. I’m learning to trust God, but it’s still so hard to understand how anyone could do evil things to another person. And I am so worried about Kurt. All he ever wanted was to make a difference. And now he’s stuck in the middle of this mess. It’s not fair.”

  “Jah. I know it’s not fair. If I could change the situation and make it better for you, I would. But I will not leave you until the situation has been resolved.”

  And after that? But she knew better than to ask. Ben was an honorable man, but he was still not the man for her.

  When they arrived in Waylan Grove, the crowded police cruiser pulled into the station parking lot and Ryder backed into a space. As soon as the doors were unlocked, all four of its human passengers and Lily spilled out into the afternoon light. Sadie sniffed the air. Nearby, someone was burning leaves. She could also smell the faint scent of fresh bread coming from the bakery across the street. Her stomach rumbled. They’d have to get some food after this. She would never make it all the way back to Ben’s parents’ house without eating again. It would have been nice if they could have waited until after lunch, but they were already here.

  Ryder led the small group into the same conference room that she had been in just a few days before. He gave her some paper and a pen and told her to write down her statement. Never having done such a thing, she was unsure how to go about it.