Drizzle of Death

by CeeCee James

  Mary held the phone with uncertainty. Her gaze jumped between me and the two people sitting on the ground.

  “Why don’t you head up to the road,” I said. “Stand behind the guardrail and watch for the police. You see anything, holler at me.”

  She did as I asked, and it wasn’t long before we could hear the distant yowling of sirens echoing off of the mountain.

  Frank, Jefferson, and a whole pile of officers carefully came down the hill. They handcuffed Tom and Amy and led them up the bank. A tow truck was called to deal with the car.

  “Why would you kill that Amish boy?” Frank asked Amy as he led her to his car.

  “I didn’t kill anyone!” She lunged against the handcuffs.

  “Sit down,” Jefferson said. He pushed her into the back of his car. “Let me read you your rights.”

  Tom got the same treatment in the other car. He scowled at me through the window. I gave him my best smile and pageant wave.

  Frank came over and started to give me a hug. But he must have known something was still off between us because he stopped just short and took a step back. His gaze fell to the ground and the toothpick moved to the other side of his mouth.

  “I’m sorry about the hard time I gave you. I didn’t believe you, but you did it anyway,” he finally said. “You captured Jacob’s killer.”

  I lifted my chin. “Not yet, I haven’t.”

  Chapter 23

  “What?” Frank asked, clearly confused. He narrowed his eyes and removed the toothpick from his mouth. Using it, he pointed to the police cars. “Who do we have back there, then?”

  “Them?” I said. “You have the guys that threatened Jacob, and I dare-say if you get Kari’s HOA to come, they’d identify them as part of the group of drug dealers who’ve been working their neighborhood. You’ve also got two people who kidnapped an Amish girl, trying to get their drug money back. That’s who you’ve got there.”

  “But not Jacob’s murderer.” He raised an eyebrow.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  He nodded and put the toothpick back in his mouth. “You plan on telling me who did it, or am I going to find out through another phone call?”

  “I didn’t plan on—”

  “Yeah, yeah. I know. You didn’t plan on this happening. But it did.” He spit this time.

  My heart filled with sorrow when I looked at him. He didn’t realize what I’d been through since learning about Derek. He didn’t realize the wall that went up, and how I didn’t know if I could ever let it down again. A part of me just didn’t know how to care anymore.

  “I guess that’s true,” I admitted with a sigh.

  “What’s going on with you?” he asked.

  I wasn’t going to get into it now. Not with the cavalry all around me with their lights and gruff commands and an Amish girl shivering under a wool blanket two feet away.

  “Later,” I said. “Now do you want to know who killed Jacob or not?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  “It was Mr. Carmichael,” I said.

  “I can’t wait to hear this. How do you figure?” Frank asked.

  I nodded to Mary. “She’s going to be key to all of this. Jacob hid his drug money in her hiding place and made her keep it a secret. Mr. Carmichael brought his daughter here to get her clean by admitting her into treatment. He saw her getting into trouble, knew she was running with Jacob and his roommate, Dylan. He did something to Dylan that scared him back into the military—if that’s really where he is. He also went after Jacob to try to do the same thing. Maybe it was an accident, and Mr. Carmichael went too far. He was desperate to save his daughter.”

  “How did Jacob end up in the wheelhouse?”

  “Elder Yoder. I’m guessing Mary went to him for help when she found Jacob. What she didn’t realize was that Elder Yoder would pose him at the bottom of the stairs like that.”

  “Okay. Why do you think he did that?”

  “The Elder had said that he wouldn’t let anything sully the Amish name. And what Jacob did was sully it. To be a drug dealer, murdered by an angry father. So Elder Yoder moved him to the Amish property and then let it be known that Jacob was drunk and had fallen down the stairs. Imbibing in too much alcohol, well, that’s shameful, but only on his family, and not on the community at large. He also put Jacob’s English boots back on his feet to show the community how Jacob never truly committed to the Amish ways. It was a secret language they understood.”

  “And the blood on the stairs?”

  “Came from a cut on his own hand. I noticed Elder Yoder kept his hand in his pocket when I first met him, and then later, I saw a bandage on it. The whole thing was a scene set up for the Amish. But Mary knew what really happened, and she hoped to get help for her friend before he died.” I looked at the girl who trembled in her blanket. “But Jacob was too far gone. Mr. Carmichael had used a weapon, probably one of the old pipes I saw lying in a pile by the pond, and cracked him on the skull.”

  Frank’s jaw muscles jumped as he clenched it. He glanced at Mary and then at Jefferson.

  “But you’ll have to find the proof. I can’t do everything for you.” I said that last bit jokingly. Old habits die hard.

  With that, I climbed into my van. I knew there would be lots of questions later and probably a long visit to the station.

  Frank opened the passenger side. “You mind taking this little lady home?” he asked, his hand on Mary’s shoulder.

  I smiled at her. “Absolutely not. It would be my pleasure.”

  “And then dinner later, maybe?”

  My gaze flicked up to his and I shrugged and then shook my head no. “I’m just tired, Frank. I think I want to be alone.”

  He locked eyes with me then. The intensity made me blush. “You know I love you, right?” he gruffly whispered.

  My mouth opened, and I couldn’t answer. There was no time anyway because he disappeared from the doorway and Mary hopped in. I was still staring out the passenger door when it closed, ending with his usual, Tap! Tap! on the side to let me know it was all clear.

  “Miss Tanner?” Mary whispered.

  I glanced at her. “Uh, yes, let’s get you home, shall we?”

  She nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around her.

  “Seatbelts!” I said.

  Mary looked at me blankly. I shook my head at how silly I was and buckled it around her. Then slowly, I pulled on to the road.

  The sun had set by now, and dusk folded in like gray curtains. It took a few minutes of small talk, but I eventually got Mary to open up. It turned out that she’d made one last trek to the cave. Tom had seen her and grabbed her. He’d been upset about the money that Jacob had taken, and he knew how the two of them had been friends. He’d seen her there the week before when the gang had tried to get the money back the first time.

  “So what happened that day?” I asked Mary.

  “So Jacob saw the car pull up and the boys jump out. He told me that was his gang, and then told me to hide, so I ran into the blueberry bushes. He tried to talk to them, but they weren’t going to listen, going on and on about the money. I just would have given it to them, I swear, but I didn’t want to disobey Jacob. When they started closing in on him, Jacob got on the tractor. I saw him pushing and pulling various things, and then he started it up and drove into the pond, honking the horn the whole time. Mr. Murray showed up with his gun and they all scattered.”

  The boot tracks of different sizes but with all the same tread finally made sense. The gang must have worn the same boots as their sign. “Why did he drive the tractor into the pond?”

  “I think he thought if he was in the center of the water, they couldn’t get at him. Or maybe Mr. Murray would see it going in the water and come running faster. I don’t know for sure.”

  I nodded. “After Tom grabbed you, what happened?”

  “They locked me up in that little room. Told me to keep quiet or they’d hurt my mom.” Her lip trembled and she stared at her han
ds. “Brought me food and drinks in a can.”

  “They didn’t hurt you?” I asked, carefully.

  She shook her head and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “So are you hungry now?” I asked.

  She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not too fond of English food,” she admitted, making me laugh.

  “What did you eat?”

  “Food in these funny little trays. Everything came in bags.”

  I nodded. That sounded about right, and I could imagine how weird for someone who’d only eaten everything made from scratch.

  “There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” I murmured more to myself.

  “What?”

  “How did Amy’s cell phone get broken?”

  “Oh, she was there.”

  That made me sit up. “She was? When?”

  “When that fat man hit Jacob.”

  My mouth dropped. “You saw it?”

  She nodded, solemnly. “Yes. The girl showed up first. I was watching from my cave. Jacob talked to her and gave her something. Then the fat English man showed up. The girl tried to stop him and the man shoved her down. He had a metal pipe in his hands and he hit Jacob. The man told Jacob never to talk to his daughter again and then yanked her away. That’s when I got Elder Yoder.”

  I nodded. Amy’s phone must have broke when she landed on the ground from being shoved.

  “Is that when you wrote the note in your mom’s poem book?”

  She looked scared. “You saw that? Oh, momma will be so displeased.”

  I patted her on the knee. “I have a feeling she’s going to be too happy to see you to care. Don’t worry.”

  Of course, I was right. When Rebekah saw her daughter, she fell to the floor in tears. I almost lost it myself watching the mom and daughter hug. Then Rebekah insisted I stay for tea, and sent her oldest daughter out at a full run. A few minutes later, the daughter returned with the bishop.

  His face was stern as Mary and I recounted the story. I was afraid for the young girl, but he said that the ordeal she’d been through was enough to teach how important openness and honesty was to the community.

  I wasn’t sure how much of that honesty would be conveyed to Elder Yoder but that wasn’t my battle.

  The bishop ended with, “If we can bring anything good out of this, other than the discovery of the person who harmed Jacob, it is that we have been given the gift of life in having our sweet Mary returned to us.” The bishop turned back to me. “Ye are welcome in our community and we are more than happy to help ye learn more about our culture. I do ask, though, that ye don’t use modern devices or call in the authorities, without prior discussion with me and the others.”

  Of course, I agreed right away, very pleased to have my permission to visit Sunny Acres reinstated. It was a happy ending as far as I was concerned.

  Chapter 24

  It was five o’clock and Frank was sitting on my couch. I know I’d said I wanted to be alone, but his last comment to me proved I owed it to him to at least tell him about my conversation with Oscar.

  I didn’t know what it all meant with Derek working for the trucking company. But it brought up the fact that I might not have known my fiancé as well as I’d believed. To love someone and find out they were still a stranger, that thought shook me to my core.

  I’d bleakly told Frank as I paced the living room, each step driven by anxiety and shame for what I’d missed.

  Frank’s response was sweet. “Come, sit.” He patted the cushion next to him and then he held me when I finally collapsed next to him in tears. He murmured words I didn’t understand, but his arms and soft kisses said all I need to hear.

  Finally, I calmed down. I looked up into his face and gave him a grateful smile.

  “Georgie. I’ve got you. We’ll figure this out.” He brushed my hair from my face. “One step at a time. But let’s not think the worst about Derek yet. Let’s get all the facts first and not just jump straight in.”

  “Isn’t that enough facts?” I hated crying. It felt like my whole head was swelling. I could only imagine how I looked.

  “This is why you couldn’t be a cop. You can’t just look at the face value. There’s a lot more to it.”

  “But what about my gut feeling?” I asked, remembering Oscar.

  “Gut feelings do come into play. But those feelings can be tricky, especially when love is on the line.” He cupped my face in one of his hands, his thumb softly stroking my cheek. “You owe it to him to give him the benefit of the doubt until we learn more.”

  I fell back into Frank’s arms and allowed him to draw me in. Allowed him to let me feel safe, to be vulnerable once more.

  “Thank you, Frank.”

  “For what? This is as natural as breathing to me.”

  “Comforting me?” I asked.

  “No. Loving you.”

  I smiled. “You really do?”

  “You have to ask? You really are dumb.”

  “Frank!”

  “What? I’m serious! Even when you were acting a little weird about Jessica.”

  “Weird, huh?” I pushed away and crossed my arms. “You really want to go there?”

  He eyed me and took a breath like he was going to make a smart remark. I could feel my determination rise. I knew he’d been a jerk, and that I’d been the nice one to drop it without a comment. Just try it, buddy.

  The air in the room felt thick. Then his gaze dropped to the floor, and he sighed. “No. Really, I was a jerk.”

  I coughed in shock. “What?”

  His gaze flicked up to meet mine. “When we were in high school, I think I never felt good enough. We’d hang out, and you’d tease me, and….” He sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. “Maybe I was testing you to see if you really liked me. If this was real.” His hand panned between us. “And I’m sorry. I was being such a—”

  “Seriously?” I interrupted.

  “Yeah, I think, subconsciously, I was looking to see if you’d care. Wow. I sound so lame saying that out loud.”

  I settled back on the couch, my arms dropping to my sides. “You were trying to make me jealous.”

  “Uh.” His eyes widened with fear. “Maybe?” He raised his hand. “I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose, and I won’t do it again. I guess, deep down, I just never thought I was in your ballpark.”

  “Frank, I honestly don’t know how to feel about that.” That wasn’t exactly true. I did know how I felt—slightly offended—but I’d also never heard him discuss his insecurities like this before.

  “I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. I wish I hadn’t acted that way.” He snorted. “Jessica thought I was being weird, too.”

  “Did she? Where is she, now?”

  “She’s back home.” His eyebrows puckered in a hang dog look. “Will you forgive me?”

  It took me two seconds to decide. I offered him my hand and yanked him up. “Yeah, of course. Now, come on. I’m practically starving here.”

  He sheepishly grinned and pulled me into a hug.

  “Thank you for being so honest,” I murmured into his chest.

  He tipped my chin up to kiss me. “Thank you for being so safe to be honest with.”

  After a few more kisses, he dragged me into the kitchen. “Now, remember, I’m making dinner. You’re doing dessert. You promised me that cheesecake, remember?”

  I had promised it to him. I was determined to learn how to make it after the close call of nearly being banned from Sunny Acres. I could hardly wait until I perfected my recipe enough to present it to Cecelia.

  Opening a cupboard, he started rummaging for a pan.

  “To the right of you,” I said.

  “And the olive oil?”

  I directed him to that and then the pepper when he asked.

  He washed his hands, then rolled up his sleeves. It was kind of sexy. I perched on a chair next to him and watched.

  “Whatcha cooking, good looking?” I teased.

  He sno
rted and shook his head.

  “What?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  “Calling me good looking. I’m thinking you need your eyes checked.” He pulled a package of steak from a bag. Within seconds, the steak was opened and sitting on a plate while he waited for the oil to heat.

  “Nothing wrong with my eyes,” I said. Then I doubted my own words as I watched him grab out the cinnamon. “Err, what are you doing?”

  He glanced down at the spice in his hands and started to uncap it. “What?” he asked innocently.

  “What are you doing?” My voice curled the last syllable into a near bird-like shriek. The spice bottle cast a warning shadow on the meat as he started to upturn it.

  “What was it that you always said about me? Something about being a stick in the mud who needed to try new things?”

  “I meant new things like paddle-boarding and snow-shoeing. Not ruining good meat.”

  His eye twinkled at me. “You’re not the only one who can joke, shorty.”

  “This is a joke? You’re not really using cinnamon?” I deadpanned.

  His lip twerked slightly at the corner as he put the spice away, obviously pleased with himself.

  “You need to leave joking to the professionals.” I shook my head and gave him the stare-down.

  His lip curved on the other side. I was impressed he actually smiled and grinned back.

  “Well, you’re smiling, so it was worth it,” he said. “Now let me finish getting some cooking done here.”

  I leaned back in my chair, content. I was happy with how everything had worked out, and even happier that I was on my way to finally getting some real answers about Derek.

  By the way, the dinner was awesome. The cheesecake needed some work, but I was starting to get a hang of this baking thing. If you’d like to try your hand at it, here’s the recipe I used.

  Cheesecake— First rule is to remember to prepare the ingredients ahead of time because you need to let the cold ingredients come to room temperature.

  Crust—Toss a package and half of graham crackers (approximately 15 full-size crackers) into a zip-lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin until you have a little under two cups worth.