Thick as Thieves (Amish Lantern Mystery Series Book 1)

by Mary Barbee

  “Beth!” she called softly. Beth didn’t move. Anna prayed she was still alive. Her head ached with pain. The lower part of her body was on fire. She tried to remember what happened. She closed her eyes and all she could recall was a car swerving into the road from nowhere, knocking their buggy off the road, the horse racing away. She remembered a blurry figure approaching them.

  Darkness covered the room except for a small bulb of light that dangled from the ceiling in the center of the room. Anna strained her eyes, looking for details. The place looked like maybe it was an abandoned house. The floor was bare and wooden with dark stains. A clear white plastic bag was spread on the floor just beneath each of the sisters. The windows were boarded shut. Fear spread through Anna’s body. She wasn’t sure how they were going to get out of this and return home to their families.

  “Beth, wake up! Oh my God!” Anna cried. The door opened. Anna’s mouth fell open as she saw who entered the room.

  “You!” Anna mouthed.

  He smiled and a chill ran down Anna’s spine. “I warned you to drop the case. I told you that you were only going to get into trouble if you continued pursuing it,” he said.

  Thoughts began to swirl inside Anna’s head. The paper clippings...the trailer...the intruder...the young boy in the picture outside the courtyard...Beth’s excitement... Suddenly, everything fell into place. She understood Beth’s eagerness to get to the sheriff’s office. She had found out about Jude and wanted to report him to the right authorities. But how did he find out? There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask.

  “You deliberately told us about the trailer, didn’t you?” Anna asked. Jude leaned close to the light, his face had changed from the sweet, kind man Anna trusted to a dangerous, unrecognizable monster.

  “Yes. I was supposed to take care of the two of you there but then you waited until the next morning and I didn’t get there in time.... I saw you run off but, in the daytime I worried someone might hear,” Jude said. He walked to the table and chair set up and grabbed a seat.

  Anna was so paralyzed with shock. In a thousand years, she would have never guessed Jude was capable of killing Derek, let alone planning her and Beth’s murders, too!

  “You ran us off the road. You killed Derek! You...You did all of this. You knew my sister had found out about you. How did you know that?” the questions poured out of Anna’s mouth. She was so confused. So many things were happening at once, her head ached, and it was so difficult to keep up. There were a lot of suspects on her list, but Jude had never been one of them. How did he manage to deceive the entire town?

  “The two of you weren’t satisfied and just wouldn’t let it go,” he said, slowly loading bullets into his gun. A ray of light shone from a crack in the boarded-up window and landed on the barrel of the gun. Anna shuddered. Pain shot from her right knee. Her hands and feet were tightly bound. She couldn’t see any way to escape from here. She was running out of hope.

  “Why? Why did you frame my son-in-law?” Anna continued asking. Jude didn’t look up to reply to her. She couldn’t tell what he was preoccupied with.

  After a pause, Jude replied, “He was simply an unfortunate casualty. I miscalculated his usefulness though. I thought he might just accept his fate when the town turned on him, but this godforsaken town.... the unity in this town and in your family...your relentlessness in trying to prove his innocence...all of that was about to foil my plan, and I could not let that happen,” Jude spoke with an intense disgust that seemed to emanate from somewhere deep inside him. His hate made Anna quake with fear.

  “Your plan?” Anna asked. If she was to die, she might as well understand the full story. Jude turned to her, waving the gun in the air.

  “This is not a movie, Anna. You are not going to ask me a bunch of questions, for me to just explain the whole plot. I am not going to tell you why I did everything I did,” Jude said. Anna didn’t need him to. Fueled by the fearlessness that came from accepting her fate, she spoke up.

  “You don’t need to anyway because I already figured it all out. So, let me tell you. Derek was a cop in New York, right? He was pursuing a case about a notorious drug lord in New York. He infiltrated the drug lord’s network by acting as one of them. He worked undercover and used the information he gathered to take the drug lord down. The drug lord was arrested and sent to prison, but they weren’t able to detain everyone, so Derek found himself in danger. He changed his name and fled to a small town to keep himself safe. Am I right?” Anna paused.

  Jude’s full attention was on her. His left eyebrow was arched upwards as if he was enjoying the show. When he didn’t respond, Anna continued.

  “Shortly after the trial, the drug lord killed himself in jail,” she said. Jude raised a finger, interrupting her.

  “No, he was killed in jail,” he said.

  “Of course. But there’s a tiny problem that no one anticipated. The drug lord had a young son. A young son who was as callous and evil as his father had been. After his father’s empire was taken down, the young son disappeared. Like his father, he never forgets. And he certainly doesn’t forgive. After a few years, he reappears with his own changed identity. He joined the force. No one knew who he was. His father had become a closed case, another man forgotten by the system. This infuriates the son who wanted to carry on the legacy of his father. But in order to do that, he had to first eliminate the people who had taken his father down. There was only one way to do that – by becoming one of them. The son was dedicated and worked his way into the position he needed. He is a patient man, this boy. Just like his father, he plots and waits in the shadows patiently like a predator targeting a prey,” Anna paused.

  Jude’s smile was becoming wider. He was definitely enjoying Anna’s storytelling. The gun was laid on the table, and all his attention was on the woman.

  “He strategically got what he wanted, a position working closely with the man who took down his father. He built his trust, devised a plot to include a few robberies in the local small town, and just when the man least expected it, the son struck, taking him down.

  That son is you, isn’t it? We are here right now because my sister found out the truth about you, didn’t she?” Anna finished her story.

  Jude clapped theatrically.

  “You are good. I underestimated you two. I did not believe you would ever figure it out. I mean...you were going after scumbags like Samuel and never thought to look where you least expected to find the predator,” he said. Anna bobbed her head.

  “You can kill us. I don’t care but please, let my son-in-law go. His family needs him. We are older. We’ve lived our lives, but my son-in-law is a good man, and his family needs him. Please,” Anna begged.

  Jude seemed to look through her. “You have no idea how much I suffered to get to this moment. I never would have thought that scumbag would hide out in a town such as yours. A perfect, peaceful world to live out the rest of his miserable life. But a snake will always be a snake no matter how many times he sheds his skin. The police thought he was feeding them information about my father’s empire when the truth was that he was also feeding our rivals with information, too, causing even more deaths. He was always a thief. He hated this town. He felt trapped and was planning to leave. Problem was that he didn’t have enough money to leave. So, when I suggested we should start robbing here, he quickly jumped onto it. The old fool - he began to trust me more and more as we started stealing together,” Jude chuckled. “I guess you could say we were thick as thieves,” Jude smirked. A satisfied expression passed across his face.

  “Until he died, he actually thought I was trying to cheat him out of the treasures. Little did he know I had no use for the stolen treasures. My treasure was to seek revenge for my father. He would never rest until his betrayer was killed. That was the family code. Anyway, the night it happened, we were looking for a place to store our stolen treasures. We had run out of options. That was when Thomas came along, drunk and staggering. Derek grabbed the keys f
rom him when he took him home. The tool shed was the perfect place to hide the goods until we found a better option, but once we were both there, I had the brilliant idea. I could finally carry out my revenge and be free as well. All these years of planning, and it turned out to be spur of the moment.

  What I didn’t anticipate was.... you,” Jude said, his voice dipped into a low growl as he added the last part. Anna shivered. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Beth moving slightly. Anna prayed to the Lord for help. She hoped someone would come to their aid. Anna had no strength to fight.

  “I see your sister is waking up. Maybe we should just get to it, then,” Jude said as he approached her, holding the gun. Anna squirmed, shaking dramatically. She started yelling but Jude stuffed a wet cloth into her mouth. A burning sensation spread from her mouth to the rest of her body, making her drowsy. Her head fell to the side. Her eyes closed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  LEVI AND RUBY RACED all the way to the station. Ruby’s kapp had loosened on her hair but she didn’t notice. Levi’s face was sweaty. They panted heavily. The sheriff’s office was quiet and empty. Levi wasn’t sure anyone was there, so he started hollering out for help. Usually, Levi would be scared of what would happen when news of his love affair with Ruby, the Bishop’s daughter, got out in the community but today, he didn’t care. He had lives to save. They were still pretty shaken by the sight they had seen. To keep their affair secret, they always strayed far from the rest of the community to the quiet areas where no one dared venture to. Or so they thought until they witnessed the kidnapping of the old twins.

  “Hello!” Levi called out, beating his hands on the front desk table. Ruby bounced around, shaking tremendously. Levi wanted to reach out and touch the base of her neck and reassure her that everything was going to be alright. The detective wandered out of the jail room. His face showed his annoyance with the noise.

  “What now?” he bellowed. His booming voice resonated around the room. Levi burst out in a torrent of words, explaining what they saw. The detective’s face showed various arrays of emotions as he listened to the teenagers talk. With great timing, the young police officer sauntered into the sheriff’s office, showing up to manage the office again and monitor the office’s one inmate.

  The detective was frantic. He jumped on the phone and called the state police, quickly explaining that he needed backup.

  Turning back to Levi and Ruby, he said, “I need you both to go back home and make sure you stay in your homes until I call for you. Do you understand me?” They bobbed their heads and raced off.

  The detective grabbed his gun and gave the officer quick orders to stay put until he returned.

  “Lock the office and don’t open that door for anyone but me. Got it?” the detective barked. The young police officer nodded yes with fear in his eyes.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  DETECTIVE STEWART BLAMED himself for not seeing the signs. He should have noted the way Jude seemed unnaturally interested in the case and figuring out all the tiny details. Stewart should have known that Jude was just trying to cover his tracks. He was too calm and collected when they found the body, too, and he had been clearly vying to fill McCall’s position after things settled back down.

  “If those two old ladies had just kept to their own business, though, I would’ve figured it out soon enough - and they wouldn’t be in danger right now,” he thought, exasperated.

  The car drove roughly to the spot where Ruby and Levi saw them enter. The building was ancient and almost collapsing. It was the perfect den. No one would ever suspect to look for him here. Backup arrived and stopped a distance away. Stewart motioned that he was going to approach the building. The men fell into formation behind him. Stewart tiptoed close to the building. The windows were all boarded up and there was no sound to be heard. Stewart entered stealthily through the back door. The house was quiet. Stewart turned towards the large room on the left and saw Jude positioning the sisters’ bodies on the plastic, dragging them to the center of each piece. He had a good mind to shoot him from this range, but he stopped himself. Jude had set his gun down, and Stewart knew the law.

  “Put your hands in the air, Deputy!” Stewart commanded, approaching the living room with his gun pointed directly at Jude’s face. Jude’s hands went up. The look of shock on Jude’s face was very satisfying, as Stewart met his gaze.

  “Oh, you are going to be spending a very long time in prison!” Stewart uttered to Jude through gritted teeth as one of the uniformed officers proceeded to snap handcuffs onto the cooperating criminal. Stewart was angry that Jude had fooled him, too. Jude smiled unapologetically at the detective as he was led away.

  Stewart rushed to the women and untied them. The women were weak, but they were still alive. He had arrived in time. As he waited for the ambulance, his mind ran through all the times these old women tried to get him to do his job. If he had listened to them.... Jude would have been arrested sooner and Moses would be home with his family by now.

  He swore to make sure that Jude spent the rest of his life behind bars and to make sure that Little Valley got the law enforcement it deserves.

  “Jude.... It’s Jude...” the twin lying directly next to him muttered. Stewart bent low to listen to what she was saying. He smiled at her kindly.

  “Yes, I know. He’s been arrested. You did it, Ma’am. You did it,” he said....

  EPILOGUE

  LITTLE VALLEY WAS SO beautiful. Ruby loved how wonderful it was but most especially, she loved the life she had with Levi in it. The horrific scene they saw months ago had long abated from their minds. With Jude behind bars, the town was back to its peaceful state. The twins were celebrated as the heroes of the town. Moses was free.

  Ruby thought of these things as she waited for the man she loved. They were supposed to meet behind this flower field. She skipped slightly around the river flowing down the path. Ruby didn’t think anyone knew about this place - she loved that she shared a special place only with Levi. They could sneak off from the hassle of town, from the pressures her father put on her, and pretend to be in paradise for a few moments.

  She soon stopped dancing and started worrying about Levi. He should have been here by now. He was never late for their meetings. Her heart thudded just at the thought of him. He was the very reason she looked forward to each day. She couldn’t wait to one day marry him, and she certainly could not imagine life without him.

  She heard sounds rustling in the woods nearby. Her heart skipped a beat. Levi? She ran out of the water towards the woods where the sound was coming from. Levi and Ruby would sometimes play this little game of hide-and-seek when he came to her. She loved it. He would hide and she would run through the woods, searching for him and calling his name.

  “Levi!” she called, giggling. She tried to ignore the feeling that something might be amiss, but she didn’t hear his laugh. He always laughed... and then he would pop out from behind a tree and swoop her up in his strong arms.

  Her senses had kicked in, though, and Ruby started feeling a chill on her skin. She backed away from the woods. Convinced now that it wasn’t actually Levi she heard after all, she began to briskly walk back to town. As she started to gain speed, she came face-to-face with a figure that terrified her.

  Ruby immediately became filled with fear and let a short, terrified scream into his face. His knowing smile stretched wide.

  “Hi, Ruby,” he said. She fainted....

  ________________________________________________________________________

  A Note from the Author

  Thank you so much for reading Thick as Thieves. This book is my debut novella and will most likely be my forever favorite with a very special place in my heart.

  When I started on this journey, I knew I wanted to write a cozy mystery, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to make it truly unique until my dear friend Jenny mentioned her love for Amish fiction. I was instantly intrigued, and after many hours of research, I began to embrace eve
rything that the Amish lifestyle represented. It was a true joy to write a story inspired by Amish beliefs and values.

  While writing, I fell in love with the community in Little Valley. I cried as I wrote the goodbye between Sarah and Moses after their visit together in the sheriff’s front office, and I had a blast working out all the fun details of the mystery. It is music to my ears when readers tell me how they were surprised at the end!

  I can’t wait for you to read what happens next! Want to be notified when my next book releases? Click here.

  Want to follow me on social media? Follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

  I’m also on Goodreads! Follow me here.

  Thank you again for choosing Thick as Thieves to add to your book selection. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review or recommending it to a friend!

  With so much gratitude,

  Mary B. Barbee

  Acknowledgements

  I couldn’t have created such a beautiful story if it weren’t for a few very important people in my life, and for them, I want to give special thanks.

  Thank you to my mother, Molly Misko, for not only providing some of the best content editing, but also serving as my sounding board, never growing tired of hearing about the plot - and always offering such valuable advice and feedback. On top of all of that, she also made amazing meals for me each night, never failing to remind me when it was time to take a break to join the family for dinner.

  Thank you to my daughter, Laura Fry, who is not necessarily a fan of cozy mysteries (she prefers a more graphic Stephen King suspense novel) but, proved to be an expert copy editor always making sure to include sweet notes of praise and funny comments throughout the manuscript for me to read as I reviewed and made the final edits.