by Dana R. Lynn
“What were you thinking, Tyler?” Karl growled. The cords on his neck were strained. He was probably fighting not to holler.
“I was thinking that I needed to save my daughter.”
Karl didn’t say anything as the dazed would-be kidnapper was loaded into the back of Rick’s car. In silence, the group watched Rick bend his tall frame down to get behind the wheel and drive off.
“Annabelle, let’s take her inside.” Stacy gathered Annabelle and Bethany and herded them toward the house. Tyler watched them go. Seeing them safe was worth any chastising he might receive from Karl. Before she disappeared from his view, Annabelle threw a look over her shoulder at him. Gratitude shone in her eyes. Tyler stood taller. Karl might have thought he acted rashly, and perhaps he had. But his wife appreciated what he had done.
The moment the women were gone, Karl turned back to him.
He was in for it now.
“Tyler. Man, I don’t even know what to say. What you did? It was all kinds of stupid. You could have gotten hurt. Bethany could have gotten hurt. It—”
“You watch your daughter being kidnapped and tell me that you wouldn’t try to save her.” Tyler tightened his jaw. The memory of that dude dragging his daughter away made his blood boil again.
Karl sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Look. I understand why you did it. I do. I get it. But, Tyler, that could have gone seriously wrong. You have to let us do our jobs.”
Tyler didn’t say anything. What was there to say? He couldn’t promise not to act if his daughter, or if Annabelle, was in danger again. Shaking his head, Karl sighed.
“Come on, Tyler. We need to get inside and get mobilized. Obviously this safe house is no longer safe. We’ll have to find a new place to hide you and your family until the details are final.”
Tyler and Karl reentered the house. Soon after, new marshals and the state police were patrolling the perimeter. No chances were being taken with the safety of his family. He did appreciate the effort they were going to for them. The marshals went into action and searched for evidence that the house had been bugged. They checked every room, the cars, even the cell phones. Nothing.
He just had to stay alive until he could testify. Would the threat disappear then? Barco seemed to have so many resources, Tyler wasn’t sure if he could ever return to normal society.
What would he do if, even after today, Annabelle decided to go into the program separately? He would have no more chances if she did that. He rubbed his chest, trying to soothe the ache that had formed. Karl disappeared into his office, his phone once again at his ear. Tyler sat by himself for the next half hour, trying to get a handle on his emotions.
He stood when Karl emerged from the office. The marshal strode with purpose down the hall. Curious, Tyler followed.
Karl marched into the kitchen. Annabelle was sitting at the table with Bethany and Stacy. The marshal motioned for her to come. Warily, she stood and went with him. Karl led them into the office. When they entered, he turned and shut the door behind them. Gesturing to the chairs in front of the desk, he seated himself behind it. Tyler had no idea what he was going to say. But he braced himself for the worst.
“Did Bethany say what happened, how he got to her?”
Annabelle bit her lip. He had to look away momentarily. He couldn’t be distracted by her right now. “She said she woke up and heard a dog barking outside. Bethany has been wanting a dog for a long time. When she went out the back door, she couldn’t find a dog. She found a man who tried to coax her into his car.” Annabelle threw a haunted look at Tyler. His gut clenched. “She knows she’s not supposed to talk to strangers. When she turned to go back inside, he grabbed her.”
Tyler shuddered as the reality of how close they had come to losing their daughter rippled through his mind. Too close. They needed to go into hiding as soon as possible. Whatever wiggle room they’d had, it was gone now.
Karl seemed to be on the same page. He turned a grave expression toward Annabelle.
“Annabelle. You have to decide what you want to do,” Karl stated. “We are running out of time. Once you are placed, you will have no further contact with anyone from your past or from your current life. Not friends or coworkers. Not even your family. That’s the only way that I can protect you. Do you still want a separate placement? I can find you one. That wouldn’t be a problem. However, if you decide that you do still want that, it means after today, you and Tyler will have no more contact with each other until the threat against you ends.”
“If it ever ends.” Tyler hadn’t meant to voice the thought. But now it was hanging in the air between them. Karl acknowledged the truth of the statement with a nod.
“Unfortunately, there is that possibility.”
Tyler held his breath. He couldn’t believe how much it hurt to have it spelled out that way.
The marshal wasn’t finished. “Or, I can place you together. If you want, I can even place you for a short trial period. If it doesn’t work out, we can consider a new placement. Whatever you decide, I will do. But you have to decide now.”
Annabelle dropped her head. From where he sat, Tyler could see her clasp her hands together tightly. The knuckles whitened. Finally, she lifted her head and leveled her stare at Tyler.
“I am so angry with you, Tyler Everson.” His heart sank. She was going to ask to be placed separately. He was going to lose his daughter. “But even though I am angry, it would be wrong for me to deny you your daughter. If I was positive you didn’t care for her, I wouldn’t hesitate. I think you do care, though. Especially after seeing you trying to save her.”
Annabelle switched her gaze to the marshal. “I will agree to our being placed together.” She held up her hand to stop them from speaking. Like he would. His emotions were too high. “I don’t want to commit. I will agree to go on a trial period.”
Karl stood. “Excellent. I need to make some calls. Get everything set up. Everything should move fast from here on out.”
“Do you have any thoughts as to where you’ll put us?” Tyler stood. Visions of a cramped apartment or a small house in mainstream suburbia rolled through his mind.
“I know exactly where I’m placing you. You’ll be going somewhere no one would ever think to look for a high-powered lawyer and his family.”
That was good, right? Just what they wanted.
“Where?” Annabelle asked.
Karl Adams smiled. “You’re going to be living with the Amish.”
FIVE
“Do you know where you’re going?”
Annabelle shut her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She had tossed and turned all night. Saturday morning had dawned bright and clear, in direct opposition to her mood. It was agony listening to her mother’s tearful voice quavering over the phone. As much as she wished she could comfort her mother, she knew there was nothing she could say to make the situation more acceptable.
“I’m sorry, Mom. Karl didn’t say where we were going. And even if he did, you know I can’t tell you any of that.”
She flinched as her mother sniffed. This was so hard. Tyler had taken Bethany to another room with Stacy to keep the fractious child occupied while she said goodbye to her mother. Possibly forever. It hurt so much to think about that. She had gotten used to talking with her mother every day on the phone. Or Skyping with her mom and Bethany. How was she supposed to not talk with her at all? How would her mother handle it? Ethan wasn’t married, so Bethany was her only grandchild. The woman doted on her.
“It’s cruel. Can’t the marshals protect you from here?”
That worried her. She knew her mother. The woman was independent to a fault. She hadn’t been happy about moving in with her son, no matter how temporary a situation it was. “Mom, you’re not staying in your house, are you? I thought you were planning on going to stay with Ethan for a little while
.”
Her mother hesitated. “Well, I don’t know, honey. I am used to my own ways. Besides, I have been in this house since before you were born.”
Uneasy, Annabelle held the phone tighter, as if she could force her mother to see reason. “Mom, you have to go. Please. I would be constantly worried about you if I thought that you weren’t safe.”
She heard a muffled conversation. Then Ethan’s voice came on the line.
“Hey, little sis. Don’t you worry about Mom. She’s stubborn, but so am I.” That was true. When they were children, Ethan’s stubborn nature had caused them to butt heads more than once. As an adult, however, his stubbornness had transformed into a determination that had served him well in his capacity as a lawman who was sworn to serve and protect. He would never let his mother remain in danger. He would use every argument he could to get her to agree to go stay with him.
She huffed a laugh, some of her tension draining. “So you’ll make her go to your house?”
“Yeah. You don’t need to be concerned about that. She might not be happy, but she won’t want you to worry, so she’ll do it.”
That was probably true.
Tears again clogged her throat. “Oh, Ethan, I’m going to miss you guys so much.”
His voice was slightly unsteady as he answered. “None of that. We’ll miss you, too, but we will see each other again soon. Mom and I will be lifting you guys up every day in prayer.” He paused. “Are you sure you want to go into hiding with Tyler, Annabelle? He isn’t exactly the most trustworthy guy.”
She bit her lip. She knew what Ethan’s opinion of her husband was. She’d used Ethan’s shoulder to cry on too many times for him not to be skeptical now. “I do. It’ll be okay. He’s changed. I can’t really describe it, but I think this is the right decision. And I want Bethany to have a chance to know her father.”
“Hmm.”
Clearly, he didn’t share her confidence. But she was sure that the change she had seen in Tyler was real.
She let the silence dangle between them, unsure of what to say to ease her brother’s mind. What could she say? The situation was deplorable. A man had murdered someone, and Tyler had seen it happen. Now that man was willing do anything to make sure Tyler couldn’t testify.
Including harming a five-year-old child.
That, more than anything else, was the deciding factor for her. She couldn’t stay when her baby was in danger.
She hung up with her family, feeling alone. This was going to be the hardest thing she’d done since the day she’d walked out on Tyler. He had changed so much since they had gotten married. Missed important events, including her father’s funeral. And he had gotten so withdrawn, she felt she was sharing her house with a stranger. Tyler had even stopped communicating with her. They would go through an entire evening without talking.
But she had still loved him. Had ached for the man she had married to return. But she could not continue to live in a house filled with such tension and silence. She had grown up with a distant workaholic father. The toll it had taken on her mother was painful to watch. She refused to be that woman.
She now knew that deep inside, she’d hoped that her leaving would have been a wake-up call to him and that he would have come after them. When that hadn’t happened, she’d been devastated. Thankfully, she had Bethany to be strong for. And she had her mother’s shoulder to cry on.
Now, however, she was going into the unknown. What did she really know about the Amish? She’d seen them, sure. The women always wore dresses and they had white bonnet-type hats on. And they didn’t use electricity or drive cars. That was the extent of her real knowledge. She’d never actually met anyone who was Amish.
Looking down at her jeans and sneakers, Annabelle frowned. She’d have to wear a dress. All the time. She hadn’t worn a dress in years. She even wore dress slacks to church. Skirts would allow the horrible scars—scars that she kept hidden at all times—on her legs to show. Part of her had always wondered if Tyler had been repulsed by them. It was after the accident when he had started to really withdraw. What other reason could there have been for the change in his behavior?
And now she was going to be wearing a dress. Would the scars show? She tried to remember how long the dresses worn by Amish were.
Feeling slightly panicky, she wished the marshals had let her keep her cell phone so she could search the internet to research Amish clothing. She thought back to the Amish women she had seen in Indiana once. She recalled the women wearing dresses that were calf-length or longer. And most of them wore black stockings, too. So, even if she was forced to wear a dress, her scars would remain hidden. Cautiously, she inched her jeans up above her ankles and a couple of inches up her calves, about the length she thought an Amish dress might be. She twisted to the side to try and see if her scars peeked out below the denim hem.
“Annie? Are you ready to go?” Tyler walked around the corner.
She looked up at him guiltily, letting her jeans drop back down. They were all waiting for her, and here she was wasting good time. Where was her good sense? Not to mention her common courtesy!
Had he seen what she doing?
His face was softer than normal. She flushed. He knew what she was doing.
Only Tyler knew how much the scars bothered her. Only he would understand why she was looking up Amish dresses. A strange look crossed his face. Was it guilt? He looked almost haunted. But that didn’t make any sense. The expression was gone so fast, she wondered if she was misreading him. After all, it had been several years since she’d last seen him.
“No one will see them, Annie,” he said softly, almost whispering. “Even if they did, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She shrugged, her cheeks still warm with embarrassment. “Why would I feel ashamed?” She hedged. “These scars are old news. I should be grateful that I survived the accident. Not worried about some scars.”
Pain flashed in his face, although she had no idea why. He opened his mouth. Shut it. Paused. Finally, he sighed. “It’s time to go. Have you done everything you needed to here?”
“Yes-s-s.” She dragged out the word, disturbed by his attitude. Tyler had been going to say something different. She knew it. But she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know what it was.
She needed to be careful. Being in his company again was affecting her more than it should. Oh, she was still angry at him. She wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive him for giving up on her so quickly. For putting work and money ahead of her and their child. But seeing him now, watching him risk himself for Bethany, well, it softened the edge of her anger. If she wasn’t careful, she was worried that she’d become emotionally involved again. She couldn’t afford to do that.
Turning from him, she picked up her and Bethany’s suitcases. All of the worldly possessions they’d be bringing into their new life were in the two red cases. Her lips twisted. She could probably leave most of the clothes behind. After all, once they arrived at the place Karl was taking them, they wouldn’t be needing them.
* * *
Tyler couldn’t get the image of Annabelle’s face as she looked at her scarred legs out of his mind. She still harbored insecurities about her scars. Tyler wanted to tell Annie the truth—the accident had been a deliberate act of malice, and a warning. A direct result of his job.
Tyler had always believed that it was a warning for him. The runaway truck that had smashed into their front window and pinned his wife to the wall a week after he’d been threatened by the son of a man he’d sent to prison was too much of a coincidence.
Unfortunately, that man had an airtight alibi for the time of the accident. Tyler had understood the message. His family would suffer, just as the guilty man’s family was suffering. Tyler had been in torment about what to do for weeks. Until the man had died unexpectedly and he could breathe again.
Eventually, the though
t that he needed to save his family from himself had grown in his mind. When Annie had left him soon after, he’d taken it as a sign that he needed to let them go. Only then could he be sure they would be safe. And only then could he freely work to prove what the police had been unable to. It was a task he’d only recently been able to do.
The idea of telling Annie the truth crept into his mind. He scoffed at the idea. Yeah, right. Tell her that it was his fault she carried the scars, inside and out, that still bothered her. He finally had a chance to be with his daughter. He knew that he had destroyed all his chances to have a relationship with Annie. But he could still be a father to Bethany.
A few days ago, he didn’t even have that.
“Let’s move out,” Karl ordered.
Rick slid behind the wheel of the car taking Tyler and his family. Tyler hadn’t had a chance to speak with the man since he’d returned the night before from hauling Bethany’s would-be kidnapper to the proper authorities. He wanted to ask him if the man had said anything more, but that would have to wait.
Karl led the way in his car. Stacy brought up the rear. The convoy was made less obvious by the fact that the cars were all different. Rick was driving a dark-colored SUV. Karl was in a midsize pickup truck and Stacy followed behind in a Jeep. Tyler sat in the front seat, next to Rick. Annie sat behind the driver’s seat, and Bethany was securely fastened into her booster seat behind him. Tyler opened the mirror on his visor to look back at his daughter.
“You doing okay, bug?”
The smile she shot his way warmed his heart. “Yeah, Daddy. This is fun! Isn’t it, Mommy?”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “Absolutely. A blast.”
Rick chuckled. Tyler winked at his daughter in the mirror. She was precious.
Rick’s phone rang. He frowned when he glanced at it. Tyler went on full alert. “Something wrong?”