Evil in My Town

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  Now, staring down the barrel of his gun, I felt like a complete fool. How could I not see this coming?

  “I have a search warrant, signed by the judge, to take another look around your house and farm. The warrant was granted because of a second woman’s disappearance. Her name is Charlene Noble, and she’s a friend of your wife’s. We have eye witnesses that place Charlene in the community around the same time that your wife went missing. It makes perfect sense that we do a further search of your property. That’s why we’re here. Now if you’ll just drop your weapon, we’ll get on with our job, and you can avoid getting into any more trouble or being shot dead.”

  A sick smile lifted on his lips. It was snowing harder and flakes peppered his black beard. I ignored the sting from the icy wind striking my face and held my hands firm. My breathing calmed and the pounding of my heart slowed.

  “If you don’t put down weapon, I will shoot you.” I shouted to be heard over the howl of the wind.

  From the corner of my eye I saw Toby’s gun drawn and aimed at Nicolas. His hands were as steady as mine.

  “Do you really want to die today, Nicolas?” I asked.

  “God is with me. He will guide my hand.”

  I saw the glint in his dark eyes and the twitch of his jaw. I squeezed the trigger.

  The bullet shot into the sky when I lifted my gun at the last second. Nicolas was lying in the snow. Daniel stood over him with a two-by-four length of board.

  “Nice job, Daniel,” Toby said. He sprinted over to Nicolas and dropped down beside him, checking his pulse. “He’s unconscious.”

  I replaced my gun in its holster and closed the gap. I grinned at my fiancé. “You have an uncanny gift of showing up at just the right time.”

  Daniel smiled back. “My sister called me. She’s been having problems with Sarah. She wanted to talk to me about it.”

  “You were just driving by?” I held in a snort and shook my head in wonder.

  “Pretty much. I saw your car up here and decided to see if you needed my help. Obviously, you did.” He looked so pleased with himself, I laughed.

  A whistling sound drew our attention to the nearest barn. Daniel stepped around Nicolas and joined me. “Did Nicolas kill his wife?”

  “After that little show, I’m beginning to think it’s a real possibility.”

  “Let’s cuff him and put him in the car. I’m going to call in back up,” I said.

  A shot rang out and I ducked. Daniel grabbed my arm and we ran to the stack of round hay bales for cover. Toby sprinted to the side of a shed. He poked around the building and fired in the direction of the incoming shots.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed. I had my gun back in my hands and peeked around the edge of the hay.

  “Do you think it’s Monroe?” Daniel’s voice shook with adrenaline.

  “That’s who I’m guessing. Dammit, it was supposed to be a simple search warrant. I didn’t expect a gun fight.”

  “He’s a troubled kid, Serenity.” Daniel hesitated.

  “And he’s trying to kill us.” I thrust my chin towards the place where Nicolas had been on the ground. He was gone.

  “I don’t suppose you have a gun on you?” I glanced at Daniel.

  “I was visiting my sister—no, I didn’t go armed.” He pulled out his cellphone and cussed. “Damn, no reception.

  “Now we’re more evenly matched, and they have an advantage to knowing the farm a hell of a lot better than we do,” I hissed, handing him my car keys. “You have to get back to the car and call this in. You’ll probably have a bar or two at the house.” He stared back at me with wide, unblinking eyes. “Go! I’ll cover you.”

  “Dammit,” he licked his lips and bent down to kiss me. “Be careful—please.”

  He took off and I left the cover of the hay, firing at the barn. Toby saw what was going on and he joined me, giving me the chance to race over to him.

  I drew in an icy breath that scraped the back of my throat. We both crouched, our backs to the shed.

  “I must be losing my sense of intuition. An ambush was the farthest thing from my mind,” Toby said with a grunt. He reloaded his revolver while he talked. “This is your jurisdiction. What’s the plan?”

  The Marshal was taking it in stride, and I appreciated that he was ready and willing to take orders from me. I eyed him. “Did you see which way Nicolas went?”

  He shook his head. “We can hold our ground until back up arrives.”

  The sound of a shotgun blast broke the silence. It came from the direction Daniel had gone. My heart dropped into my stomach.

  “Cover me—I’m going to him.” I spoke with the urgency of a woman who might lose her lover.

  A scream pierced the air and I stopped. My eyes met Toby’s.

  It was a female voice, and it came from the barn.

  “I’ll go after Daniel. You help the woman,” Toby ducked behind a tree and disappeared.

  I forced Daniel to the back of my mind and raised my gun.

  There wasn’t any time to contemplate what the hell was going on.

  I hadn’t arrived early enough to save everyone at the school, but I had the chance to save whoever had screamed.

  I left the protection of the shed and pounded my legs to cover the short distance to the barn. Snow swirled in between the buildings, diminishing my sight.

  More gunshots pierced the night air.

  35

  Taylor

  “Where did Monroe go?” I leaned into Hunter and he pulled me up into a standing position.

  “I don’t know,” Sarah said, looking around. “Better question is, who was that?” She pointed at the foot remains.

  “I bet your friend Monroe knows exactly who it was.” Hunter’s voice was raw. “That’s why you don’t mess around with drug dealers—you end up getting fed to the pigs.”

  “We don’t know what happened to whoever that was,” Sarah argued.

  Matthew put his hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, and we hardly know Monroe anymore. Let’s just get out of here and tell the sheriff.”

  “Best thing I’ve heard all day,” Hunter said. He turned to me. “Can you walk if I help you?”

  I gingerly put some weight on the leg that was bitten and took a step. Even if the leg had been falling off, I would have said yes. I wanted to get away from that horrible place as quickly as possible. “I’m fine,” I lied, gritting my teeth. “We can’t leave it here—no one will believe us.” I nodded at the foot.

  Matthew jogged over to a room and pushed the door open. When he emerged, he had an empty feed bag in his hands. He grabbed the pitch fork from the wall and gave the bag to Hunter to hold open. He scooped up what was left of the foot and the muddy shoe, depositing them into the bag.

  “Problem solved,” Hunter said. “Now, let’s get the hell out of this barn of horrors.”

  He grabbed my hand.

  “This way,” Matthew instructed. He slid in between a Bobcat and the wall.

  The inside of the barn was like a giant maze. We passed closed stall doors, farm equipment, and a pile of manure that made me hold my breath. My arm throbbed and pain pulsed up my injured leg, but I didn’t dare complain as Hunter tugged me through cobwebs. He bumped into a wall and exclaimed, “Why don’t you turn the lantern back on?”

  Matthew didn’t stop. He glanced over his shoulder, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to draw attention to ourselves. You’re carrying a foot and we have no idea where Monroe went.”

  The Amish boy’s statement sent a shiver up my spine. He was right. We were in real danger.

  Boom, boom.

  I would never forget that dreadful sound. “What was that?” I stammered.

  “Gunshots.” Hunter tugged me faster.

  We finally reached the end of the building. Matthew pulled on the door, but it wouldn’t bud
ge. He grunted as he tried harder.

  “Who’s shooting?” I asked no one in particular.

  Tears ran down Sarah’s face and she pressed in closer to me.

  Hunter ignored my question. “I’m going to help him. We have to get out of here.”

  “The pain must be awful,” Sarah muttered through wet lips. “You’re really brave.”

  I lifted my shoulders. I wasn’t brave. Fear is what kept me on my feet. The adrenaline rush is what allowed me to keep moving.

  She stared at the scarf she’d tied around my arm. It was soaked with blood. She chewed her lower lip as she raised her gaze. “Hurry up, guys,” she urged.

  Several gunshot blasts boomed. Sarah trembled against me. The boys stopped prying on the door. There was silence, until the night was shaken by more gunshots popping beyond the barn walls.

  Sarah mumbled something in her language. It sounded like she was praying. I closed my eyes. My head rolled with dizziness. I should have listened to my gut and not let Sarah talk me into coming out here to see Monroe. It was a huge mistake, and now we were all probably going to die. I wondered what the news would read—teens survive school shooting to be murdered less than a week later at an Amish farm. And my parents would have to bury their daughter. Would my death bring them back together, or ensure that they ended up getting a divorce? Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled from my lips. My head was thick and dazed. It was just like that night in the woods—how stupid I was.

  Sarah took a step back. “Stop it, Taylor!” she whispered. “You’re scaring me.”

  I heard a tiny meow, followed by another meow. The noise came from a nearby stack of hay bales. I left Sarah and limped over to the sound, dragging my leg. A furry orange object streaked across the hay.

  “It’s a kitten,” I murmured.

  “Don’t!” Sarah said. “You’re acting crazy.”

  “We can’t leave it here—”

  Then I was tumbling through the air. My back struck the floor and pieces of hay sprinkled down on my face. A cloud of dust puffed out around me. I tried to cough, but a breath wouldn’t come.

  “Taylor, can you hear me?” Sarah called out from above.

  I stared upwards while Sarah looked down. Hunter and Matthew were, too. The lantern was a round glow in the darkness above. They must have been twelve feet away.

  “It’s some kind of trap door,” I heard Matthew say.

  “Are you all right, Taylor? Talk to me!” Hunter demanded.

  I gulped and air finally filled my lungs in a wheezing noise. I pushed up with my good arm. “I’m okay, I think.” The words rasped between my cracked lips.

  A scrapping noise snapped my head sideways. I was in some sort of small room. The light from above only illuminated a slight area around me. The edges of the room were in shadows. A terrible smell assailed my nostrils and I gagged. Several buckets were strewn around the dirt floor and there was a stained mattress in the corner.

  Something scuttled in the shadows and my heart banged in my ribcage.

  I wasn’t alone.

  “Did you come for me…?” The voice was week and hollow.

  I screamed.

  36

  Serenity

  I slammed into the side of the barn and scanned my body for blood. The shots fired had come close and from the direction of one of the barn windows of the connecting hog barn. I swallowed a gulp of air and exhaled. The shooter was inside the same barn where I had heard the scream originating. There wasn’t time to wait for back up or think up a grand plan.

  I pushed the door open and slid into the dusty darkness. I blinked several times, and as my eyes became accustomed to the dimness, I moved forward slowly with my back against the wall. As long as I could see a little, I was leery to turn on my flashlight. Nicolas would know the interior of his barns better than me, but his sight was as limited as mine was in the semidarkness. I might actually be able to sneak up on him or Monroe without a light. I had already decided that Monroe must have been the person who shot at us when Nicolas was on the ground. Nicolas Swarey was a loner. Anyone in the community who might have called the man friend, wouldn’t have shot at the sheriff. Monroe was protecting his father—that’s the only answer that made any sense.

  I bumped into a wooden table and sharp pain spread out from my hip bone. I bit my lower lip and walked faster, my eyes darting around the large room. I calculated where I thought the gunman was and went in that direction. Wind rattled loose boards and I strained to hear any other movement. There was a doorway ahead and I aimed for it. Thoughts of Daniel attempted to invade my mind, but I held them at bay. Toby would take care of him. I had to help the woman who had screamed. Visions of the mutilated corpses of Makayla Bowman and Hannah Kuhns kept me going. I wasn’t there to help those girls, but I might be able to save a woman today.

  I pushed the door ajar and peeked out, holding up my 9mm and ready to return fire. There was an empty alley between the two barns. Snow floated from the gaps in the wood and small drifts dotted the ground. I sprinted across the narrow space to the door on the other side.

  My pulse quickened as I carefully went through the next doorway, but I welcomed the adrenaline rush. This cat and mouse game we were playing suited me just fine. I had a gun and I knew how to use it. I was the hunter, I told myself, not the other way around.

  The pungent smell of the pigs flooded my nostrils and I began taking shallow breaths. I remembered the crowded pen where the animals were kept. I ignored their angry grunts and jogged along the wall until I came to two small windows. Moonlight sprayed in through the openings. There were several shell casings on the ground below them. I pulled up and looked around. The hogs were like giant shadows moving within the enclosure. I swallowed hard and strained to listen past the squeals. Nothing. There was another doorway further ahead and I jogged along the wall until I reached it. I pushed the sliding door sideways just enough to glimpse outside. Snow dropped heavily on the steep hill beyond the barn, and it was disturbed outside the doorway. I followed the tracks up the embankment and into the tree line.

  I barely breathed. There were multiple tracks. Because of the depth of the snow, I couldn’t tell if the lines were coming or going, but it appeared that at least three other people had been here.

  “What the hell?” I mumbled and slipped back into the barn.

  My eyes adjusted to the dim interior again and after taking a look around to see if the coast was clear, I followed the length of the pen. I stopped when I reached the end of the livestock panels and stared at the beasts. I had to get to the other side of the room, but the only way over seemed to be through the pen. There was no way in hell I was doing that. Time was ticking by and the lack of any more screams worried me greatly.

  I jogged back to the doorway and went outside. My boots sunk down in the snow, but I worked them into a run and stayed closed to the barn wall. I was out of breath when I turned the corner and saw what I was looking for—another doorway.

  I approached the sliding door slowly, glancing around. The farm was quiet. I searched in the direction of the Swarey’s house and my car. It was eerily silent.

  A wave of unease stabbed at me and I caught my breath.

  The door moved and I froze, raising my gun at the ever-widening gap.

  A hand came into view, and then another.

  The person’s back was to me when he came through the opening. His black knit cap and dungaree coat were typical Amish youth attire.

  He turned and his face grew white as a ghost. “Don’t shoot!” he begged.

  I lowered my weapon. I recognized the kid from the night I found Taylor in the barn. I searched my memories. He was Matthew Troyer. I’d interviewed him at the schoolhouse during the serial killer case. I had immediately pegged him as one of the rowdier kids in the community. The information he’d provided had led me to Charlie S
aunders and then back to Monroe in that case.

  “Keep your hands up,” I ordered.

  “It’s not us. We didn’t kill her,” the kid pleaded.

  “Shh!” I looked over my shoulder and then back at the boy. His words made my heart begin hammering. “Us? Who are you with?” I whispered.

  Matthew swallowed and his gaze darted to the opening. My eyes widened as Daniel’s niece stepped out into the snow. Locks of her dark hair were loose from her cap. The bottom of her blue dress was soaked and her boots were muddy. I got a whiff of the awful smell of pigs again and I looked back at the boy. He was covered in muck from his legs down.

  “Did you see Monroe or Nicolas?” I asked them.

  Sarah spoke up. “We haven’t seen Mr. Swarey, but Monroe is around here somewhere.”

  I pointed at the tracks leading up the hill. “Are those yours?”

  The kids nodded.

  “Follow them back over the hill and get away from here,” I ordered.

  Tears dribbled down Sarah’s face and it occurred to me how much trouble she was going to get in if she got out of here safely.

  “We can’t leave Taylor,” she said.