by Dana R. Lynn
Five seconds later, she joined them with a wide smile none of them returned. Katie stood up and snuggled closer to his side. Glancing down, he saw her jaw was clenched as she watched the scuba diver move closer.
Natasha. That was her name. She didn’t seem to notice the wary stance of the group at the marshal’s car. Her smile remained friendly, her manner easy. This was a woman trained at putting others at ease. He could easily imagine the charm and steadiness she projected helping a victim of an accident stay calm or soothing a loved one.
“Hey,” she said again, halting in front of Katie. “I’m glad to see you made it. You look like you’re feeling better.”
Katie nodded, her face still wary. “Yeah. I’m okay. It was scary, but no lasting harm done.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.” Natasha grabbed the backpack slung over her shoulder. “The buggy has been pulled from the lake. I’m afraid it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. That guardrail did a number on it.”
He was quickly changing his mind. He would not want her to talk with anyone after a traumatic event. She had no filter.
“I got this out of the buggy.” She pulled Katie’s apron out. “The gun that was inside is at the police station. Evidence, I guess. I heard Lieutenant Greer saying it was a police issue.”
Her curious gaze fastened onto Katie’s face, bright with expectation.
Katie’s features didn’t change an iota. “Oh, thanks for bringing me my apron. It got stuck pretty good.”
That was putting it mildly.
He might have imagined it, but Natasha’s eyes tightened slightly. It was there, then it was gone. But he was correct. Something about this situation was off.
After a few more awkward moments, she left, her frustration at not getting any details obvious.
“What was with her?” Katie wondered, getting inside the marshal’s car.
Marshal Delacure was dialing her phone.
“Hello?” a male voice echoed through the car’s speakers. It was familiar.
“Hi, is this Lieutenant Greer?”
“You got him.”
“This is Marshal Amy Delacure. I hear that Kate Bontrager’s service weapon is in your evidence locker.”
A loud grunt came from the speakers. “That didn’t take long. Let me guess... Natasha Booth?”
“How’d you know?” Marshal Delacure eased out from beneath the carport and drove to the hospital exit.
“That woman is as nosy as they come. She thinks since she’s the mayor’s daughter, she has the right to know all the ins and outs of everything. She’s harmless, but a nuisance.”
They chatted for a few more minutes. Apparently, her gun was not in good condition due to the water, but the marshal wanted Katie to have a weapon for emergencies. Abram tuned the conversation out. He was more concerned about where they were heading.
Marshal Delacure hung up. Before she could speak, Abram said, “We can’t take Katie back to the bed-and-breakfast.”
Katie swerved to face him. “Where else would I stay?”
He wasn’t giving in. “Katie, we have no idea who is responsible for all this. Or how it’s connected to you. Or Beth. It could be nothing, but the broken bridle makes me think you are specifically a target. And they won’t give up. Whether it’s Gary or someone else.”
“Gary?” Marshal Delacure latched onto the name. Katie blanched and squeezed her eyes shut. “Who’s Gary? I think you two need to catch me up on everything that’s happened. Right now.”
Katie leaned her head back against the seat. He was sorry he’d mentioned the name, but still, they’d decided back at the B&B to tell the marshal about him. In a voice that cracked, Katie relayed her history with Gary, glossing over the gorier details. Marshal Delacure didn’t pressure her for more. Sympathy emanated from her.
“I agree with Abram. I don’t think going to the bed-and-breakfast would be wise. Not tonight when you’ve been attacked five times already. We know Evan Stiles is out there. It would be better to find a place to lie low. And now we have this Gary character to deal with. What did you say his last name was?”
“I didn’t.” Katie’s chin lifted. “I never knew it. I only ever heard him referred to as Gary. In my mind, I always called him Gary the Shark.”
That was as fitting a name as any.
“It’s probably safe to suppose you’re not the only maidel he attacked, ain’t so?” Abram said. His stomach turned at the thought. If he’d only known, he would have supported her. He fought back a wave of red fury burning in his heart at her parents for their reaction.
“Absolutely. I’m also convinced that you’re right about his ties to the human trafficking. That’s something that has been more noticeable recently,” Marshal Delacure said. “There have been several people who have disappeared in the past few years.”
Katie sat forward. “I’m not surprised. I really hope we can put a dent in these crimes. No one should have to go through this.”
“Agreed.”
“We still need a place Katie can go.” Abram said, smiling at her scowl.
“I’m not a civilian,” Katie grated out. “I have a case to work.”
“Agreed. Work it from somewhere else.”
“Not the bishop’s house,” she stated. “Edith’s expecting. I won’t have that stress placed on her.”
Abram’s face heated. He’d been sure she was pregnant, but people didn’t talk about such things.
“You can stay at my haus,” he interrupted the discussion. He’d mentioned it to her before, and he’d meant it. There was no way he was letting her go back to the bed-and-breakfast, knowing it could very well lead her straight into a trap. The woman had been nearly killed five times in less than twenty-four hours. He wasn’t eager to make it six times. He’d be able to help her and keep an eye on her better if she was close by. “Mamm and Daed won’t mind.”
His parents were kind people; they’d want to help Katie. Although they might have reservations if they knew how close Abram and Katie had once been. However, they’d kept their friendship private because her father tended to be strict.
David and Fanny Burkholder would be especially keen to help once they were aware that the bishop had asked Abram to help her reacclimate.
As much as he hated not giving his parents the complete truth, lives were depending on his silence regarding both Beth’s and Katie’s true reasons for returning to the community. In a very short time, she may well be on her way back to Wallmer Grove.
He’d do his best to help her, and then he’d let her go.
It might just break his heart for good.
NINE
Abram gave Marshal Delacure his address. She tapped it into her GPS. He would have preferred to give directions verbally, but she’d waved the offer aside and said it would be easier to use her phone.
“Abram.”
He turned his head to look at Katie and raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue. She bit her lip, looking unsure. When she shook her head, he knew she’d decided to wait until they were alone.
Alone with Katie. He’d been alone with her several times. His heart sped up. She was getting to him again, but it was different now. When they’d been friends before, he’d thought he’d known everything about her. They were so happy and so naive. Neither was prepared for the curve in the road that tore them apart.
He was getting to know the woman she’d become. If he weren’t careful, he’d fall in love with her all over again. He flinched. Katie Bontrager was more than a beautiful woman. She was that. But she was also fierce, intelligent and brave.
She claimed her faith had been destroyed. He disagreed. When she’d asked him to pray, he’d seen the light and hope flickering in her face.
She still had faith. It was buried but it was there. If only he could help her bring it back completely. Faith was
something too personal for that. It had to be between her and Gott, although he would definitely do his best to flame the spark to life.
That didn’t mean she was back in his life.
It was late afternoon when they arrived back at his haus. His mamm would have dinner almost ready to set on the table. His brother Sam would be home by now with their daed. They usually arrived home around four on Thursday afternoons. His twenty-three-year-old brother was still single. He had shown some interest in a young lady a few years back, but nothing came of it.
His daed came out on the porch when they pulled into the driveway. His bushy salt-and-pepper eyebrows shot into his hairline when he spied Abram riding in a car.
“I’m not looking forward to telling Daed where the buggy is.” He put his hand on the door handle to exit the car.
“He’ll be happy to know you’re well,” Katie stated.
“Ja. That he will.”
The marshal’s phone rang as she shifted into Park. She took the phone off the speaker setting and answered it, her voice tense. “I have to go. You two all right?”
“Ja.” If he weren’t safe at his home, where would he be safe?
She waited until they were both standing outside in the damp weather before shifting into Reverse and easing down the driveway.
“Riding in a car with her is almost as frustrating as anything else that’s happened to us today,” Katie quipped, shaking her head. “If I knew her better, I’d have offered to drive. Seriously, did you see how slow she was driving?”
He nodded as they turned and moved toward his father. “I could have walked home faster.”
She snickered. Her laughter fled as they approached and were caught by his father’s stare. David Burkholder was intimidating and had a stern manner, but after seeing him interact with his grandchildren, Abram had lost the awe he’d felt when he was younger.
“Where’s the buggy, Abram?” David asked. “I know you took it this morning.”
“Ja. Well, we had an accident,” Abram hedged. His daed would need to know eventually what had happened, but right now he needed to keep it simple. “The bridle broke and the buggy ended up in Lake Sutter. We’re fine, but the buggy is in bad shape.”
At the word we, his father’s gaze flashed to Katie. It had been ten years since he’d seen her, so maybe he wouldn’t recognize her.
“Katie? Katie Bontrager?”
His mamm was coming through the door. Her progress was slow due to her arthritis, but she wouldn’t complain or ask for help unless it was absolutely necessary. She gasped as her husband spoke their guest’s name.
“Ach! Katie! We all worried so when you left, ain’t so, Abram?”
He flushed. His parents obviously hadn’t been as unaware of his relationship as he’d thought. “Ja, is so.”
He needed to change the course of this conversation, fast. “Mamm, Daed, Katie needs somewhere to stay. Bishop Hershberger asked me to help her.”
Before they could respond, Katie took charge of the conversation, derailing his plans to keep it simple.
“Actually, I think you should know that someone is trying to kill me.” Her chin tilted and firmed. “Someone cut the bridle on your horse, which is how the buggy ended up in the lake.”
“I wasn’t going to tell them that,” Abram complained. “The bishop—”
“Didn’t tell me not to say anything.”
Her defiant expression told him what she couldn’t say. She wouldn’t let him omit the truth and deceive his family. Warmth burst in his chest. As much as he was trying to protect her, she was doing the same for him. He dipped his head once in a silent gesture of appreciation, hoping she’d understand.
The older couple gaped at them, eyes wide with shock, for a full thirty seconds before either of them attempted to speak. David started and stopped twice before turning his head to his wife.
Fanny moved closer to Katie and pulled her in a gentle hug, Katie was a full three inches taller than his mamm, but that didn’t matter as she bowed her head and allowed the older woman to comfort her.
But only for a few seconds. She straightened and backed away, moving until she was again at his side. His fingers twitched, the urge to reach out and claim her hand battling with his good sense. It hurt not to have the right to offer the same comfort and care that she accepted from his mother.
“Cumme. Let’s go into the haus where it’s warm.” David helped his wife back up the stairs. “Don’t worry about the buggy, Abram. We have another, and even if we didn’t, Gott always provides.”
Abram nodded his agreement to his father, then quietly watched as the older couple mounted the stairs. His mouth tightened. His mamm’s arthritis was steadily worsening. She would be pleased when either he or Sam married and took over the haus so she and his daed could move into the dawdi haus. His oldest brother Levi had gotten married several years ago. He had never joined the family painting business, though, so he had built his bride a haus and they now lived a short distance from the rest of the family. Which turned out to be for the best, as his brother had recently been elected a deacon in the church. He needed to have his own place. Nee, it would be up to either himself or Sam to relieve their parents’ burdens.
Instinctively, his eyes flew to the woman beside him.
It was too easy to see her as his wife.
He needed to get a grip and fast. No matter how much she made him yearn, it could never be.
* * *
Abram was troubled. He didn’t appear angry, but the distress furrowed his forehead. Maybe she shouldn’t have announced to his parents that she was a walking target. While she appreciated his attempt to guard her secret, it wouldn’t be fair to stay in the Burkholder house without informing her hosts that she came with some serious baggage.
If anything happened to Abram or his family, it would devastate her. She half hoped they would tell her, Sorry, you can’t stay here, after all. It wouldn’t happen.
Instead of sitting down to discuss the events of the day, Fanny asked Katie if she wouldn’t mind helping to set the table for dinner. Astonished, Katie nodded, confused. Were they going to ignore what she’d said? Fanny intercepted the look she exchanged with Abram. Passing Katie a stack of bowls, the older woman nodded toward the table.
As the woman moved to the stove, Katie could see her swollen knuckles and the painful way she moved. Katie wanted to offer to help, but didn’t want to offend her. She’d seen how both Abram and David had watched her with love and concern. They’d been discreet in the ways they’d assisted her.
“Don’t worry. We’ll talk about your troubles, Katie.” Kate was bemused. Fanny said troubles as if what had been going on was a simple matter, rather than the stuff of horror novels.
Fanny took a large wooden spoon and stirred the fragrant soup in a pot on the stove. “Whatever you tell us won’t change our decision. You are here, and you need a safe place to rest. I know you and Abram were friends long ago. Since the bishop has asked him to help you, and he brought you here, the matter is settled, ja?”
It was so typical of David and Fanny to be so generous and practical. Growing up, they’d always been that way, willing to share what they had with anyone in need. She should have expected it. She turned to hide her stinging eyes, blinking frantically. Her own mamm and daed had not been so understanding, ever. If they had been...
Shaking her head furiously, she set a bowl on the table harder than necessary.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
Turning her head, she saw Fanny had left the room for a moment. Abram stepped next to her and slid an arm across her shoulders, giving her a slight squeeze before releasing her. Warmth tingled down her back. It soothed her, even when he moved away.
Rubbing the moisture from her lashes, she smiled at Fanny when she returned.
When dinner was announced, Katie sat with the rest of the
family. David bowed his head, indicating it was time for each person at the table to say a silent prayer of thanksgiving. Katie bowed her head, but her mind was blank. The desire to pray sprang up unexpectedly. She struggled to formulate the appropriate words. In the end, she settled for, Thanks. Please help. It wasn’t poetry, but it was a cry straight from her tormented soul.
Talk at the dinner table was minimal. Abram’s brother Sam ate like he was starving and hadn’t eaten in days. David teased his son about it.
“You should have packed a bigger lunch, my sohn. I don’t want you withering away.”
“Daed.” The younger man flushed, flicking an embarrassed glance toward Kate.
Abram joined in the fun. “A bigger lunch? Daed, he had two sandwiches, a banana, two of mamm’s cookies and a bag of chopped carrots and celery.”
“Ja, I know this. He also finished the cookies your mamm had packed for me.”
She might have felt bad for Sam except he was soon laughing with the rest of the family. “Ja, but I was hungry! We did a lot of gut hard work today, Daed.”
“That we did.”
She’d never had a conversation such as this with her parents. After her sisters had married, she’d been the only one home with her mamm and daed. Kate had never understood why they’d been so strict and disapproving with her. It seemed that she had spent her entire life trying to please them and getting slapped down again. Maybe that’s why her sisters were both so quick to leave and didn’t visit. They’d both been so much older than Kate that there hadn’t been much of a relationship.
The only one she’d been close to in her family was long gone. Her brother, John, had been ten months older than Kate. They’d grown up as if they were twins, and then suddenly when he was ten, John grew ill and he’d died of leukemia when she was twelve.
Just one more loss in her life.
When the meal concluded, Sam went out to the barn to feed the animals and finish a project he’d been working on. Kate helped Fanny clean up, then she joined Abram and his parents at the table to discuss what had been happening.
