by Katy Lee
In the next second, the cloth bag over her head was torn off to reveal Jim standing by the door with a lantern in his hand. The golden light cast three shadows on the walls. She turned her head to get a glimpse of the man who had carried her up there. With the light glowing on his face, she had a bright view and immediately recognized him from this very room eight years ago.
Naomi’s breath caught in her chest and she quickly started to hyperventilate. She jumped to her feet, but the man stepped close and pushed her hard, back in the chair.
“I see you remember my brother,” Jim said.
“Your brother?” she whispered, unable to take her eyes off the man who frequented her nightmares.
Jim laughed, a sick twist in his voice. “You didn’t actually think I helped you leave town out of the kindness of my heart, did you?”
Naomi thought of Sawyer’s opinion of Jim. Jim hadn’t been helping her. He had been helping himself. Or, more accurately, his brother.
“You knew who did it all along?” She shook her head back and forth as short, uneven breaths escaped her lips. Flashes of that night in this room chilled her mind from forming a plan. All she could do was stare at this man’s face. “Keith.” She said the only name she remembered of him.
He smiled, and if she didn’t know him, she would have thought he was a good-looking and trustworthy young man. Just like she had thought eight years ago when he’d brought her to this room to chat, as he had said.
Then Naomi remembered Sawyer telling her Jim’s brother was some sort of politician. Jim hadn’t been helping her but helping his brother from going down for attacking a young Amish woman.
“I’ll leave you two alone.” Jim put down the lantern on the wood floor. “You have a lot to catch up on.” He tipped an invisible hat that caused her to remember the cowboy hat he had worn the night he pushed her off the road and shot at her. “Naomi, it was nice to see you again. Sorry this will be the last time. If I were you, I’d give my brother those names. He’s not as helpful as I am.”
Jim stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
“Jim!” she called out. “Please don’t leave me here with him.”
“This time he won’t be coming to your aid.” Keith spoke quietly as he put on leather gloves. “You can make this easy on yourself by telling the names of any other people you blabbed to in or out of your group. But whether you tell me or not, I will find them.”
“I never told anyone in the group your name,” Naomi said. “Brie only knew about Jim because she asked me privately. I wanted her to press charges against her attacker, but she said since I never did, why should she. I told her about Jim helping me. She was living on the streets and must have thought she could get money from him. I don’t know why she did that, and I wish she hadn’t, but there’s no reason to hurt anyone else. You have to believe me.”
“Is that your answer?”
She stilled and swallowed hard, staring at his gloved hands so close to her face. She looked up to meet his gaze and nodded. “I’m not telling you anyone’s names. They’re confidential.”
“You’re making a big mistake. You can’t beat me. Do you have any idea who I am now? And who I’m going to become? I’m heading to the US Senate.”
Naomi curled her lip. “Funny, because all I see is some spoiled man who thinks he can get away with anything. You knew you would never pay for your crime against an unsuspecting Amish girl who just wanted to be included with the kids her age. I came here that night thinking I might make a few friends. Or at least have a little fun before I committed to the church and became baptized. Before I gave the man I loved my acceptance to his proposal. It was one night to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. One night that stole my life and marriage away forever. You’re nothing but a fraud and a thief, and since you need your big brother to protect you, you’re not even a good one at that.”
Quick as lightning, Keith backhanded Naomi so hard, she went flying off the chair and skidding across the floor. With her hands still tied behind her, she had no way of stopping herself from colliding into the lantern sitting by the door.
Her leg hit the glass-and-metal lantern, knocking it on its side. With a clatter the glass shattered, and the lantern rolled away from Naomi. At eye level with the floor, she saw the flame touch the old wood floorboards, but before she could call out the danger, Keith lifted her off the ground and shook her inches from his irate face.
“I want names. Now!”
“Never.”
Keith swung her around and slammed her against the window. The impact was so hard, all her breath expelled in a rush and the glass cracked against her back. A flame burst from behind him, but no words could be formed on her lips. He shook her again against the glass. “Give me the names, or I will throw you out this window right now.”
Naomi choked out, “I...won’t let...you hurt any...one else.”
He sneered his frustrations. He had no intentions of letting her go free this time, even if she told him. They would all surely end up dead by this maniac’s hand.
“You’ll never...make this...go away,” she forced out even as bright stars flashed in her eyes with the loss of oxygen. “There’s no way...you can kill...them all.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed.
He shook her. “Start talking!” he yelled in her face. “Or have a baby’s death on your hands.”
Naomi opened her eyes at the mention of the child. “Chloe. What...have you done?”
“Nothing...yet.”
“You leave...her alone!”
“Then start talking.”
The fire spread behind him and reached to the ceiling. At her wide eyes, he turned and saw the fiery flames licking the walls and creeping closer to them. The flames were seeking oxygen from the fresh air outside. With the cracked window behind him, it wouldn’t take much more to break it completely.
Instantly, Naomi lifted her knees, and with all her might, she kicked her legs straight out to make direct impact with his gut. He fell back in surprise but held on to her upper arm and neck. She took the element of surprise as her instructor had taught her and lifted her legs again. This time he let go of her neck, and she fell to the floor. He reached down to pick her up, but Naomi scrambled around him for the door. The next second, she felt him grab hold of the back of her dress’s collar and pull her to a stop. But Naomi couldn’t let him get a secure hold of her again.
In a quick twist, Naomi sprang right back up, and, with her head bent down, she plowed right into his stomach, pushing him back against the window.
This time the glass smashed outward with an earsplitting sound. But his scream was even louder as he teetered in the windowless opening, his arms flailing for purchase. Before he could grasp the frame, the flames rushed the window for air.
Keith screamed louder and lifted his arms to shield his face. In trying to block the fire, his body lost its balance and with one last scream he fell out the window and down to the walkway below.
Naomi’s breath seized in her lungs and for a moment she couldn’t move. Then, as adrenaline raced through her veins, she fell back against the wall and looked at the growing fire at the broken window. Sharp, jagged pieces of glass were still attached to the frame, like the teeth of a saw. There were broken pieces on the floor at her feet. Bending quickly, she grabbed one that fit in her hand. Keeping her eyes averted from the body on the ground, she stood back up and rushed to the closed door as the flames encroached. The old wood floorboards cracked and splintered, burning up quickly. She had to keep moving before the floors caved in.
She ran to the door but with her hands still tied, she had to turn her back to open it. Once it was opened, the smoke and flames flowed out, scorching her back and pushing her forward. The floor beneath her creaked as it weakened from the flames. It wouldn’t be long before the fire fell through to the first floor and the house was ab
laze. Working the glass shard against the ropes on her hands behind her, she headed toward the stairs. At any second, she expected to see Jim. She held back to cut through the ropes. She would need her hands if she found him. She cut through with only a couple slips, and when the ropes fell off her, she was at the top of the stairs. She started to toss the glass shard away but thought better of the idea.
Jim had killed Brie and Debby, and, whether he wanted to admit it or not, that made him a killer. She didn’t think twice that he would kill her too.
* * *
Every available deputy in three townships parked their cars in front of Anna’s home. Plans were made, and some drove off to follow their orders. Sawyer stood with Bishop Bontrager and Esau, feeling useless to help Naomi.
“I should be out there.” He waved a hand to encompass the clear night.
“She could be anywhere,” Esau said. “She could already be—”
“Stop.” Sawyer halted him before his brother-in-law could voice what had run through his mind multiple times already. Sawyer touched his chest over his heart. It ached, but he wasn’t ready to accept Naomi’s death. “She will fight.”
“Fighting isn’t condoned,” the bishop said quietly. He had come out to be with the family when Anna asked for their community’s elder to be with the family for prayer. “But I pray Gott provides for her safety.”
Sawyer replied, “Maybe I’ve spent too much time with the English, but I pray Naomi’s self-defense classes come in handy while Gott is doing His avenging.”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the English pieces you’ve been building,” Bishop Bontrager said. “Is there a reason for your compromising of the Amish ways?”
Sawyer contemplated his answer, but all he could come up with was Jim Clark’s influence over his life. The man even had him building a gun case. “Forgive me, Bishop. All I can say is my eyes see clearly now.” Sawyer looked up into the sky. “What I once thought as harmless, I now see—smoke?”
“You see smoke?” Bishop asked. “How so?”
“Look.” Sawyer pointed out above the trees. “At the coal mine. Is it on fire?”
The three men started moving out to the street with their eyes glued to the hills ahead. As it become obvious that a fire burned freely, Sawyer picked up his speed and ran to Sheriff Shaw’s vehicle. “There’s a fire out at the mine!” he yelled as soon as he saw her bent over the hood of her car, looking at a map. He ran up to her side. “She’s got to be there!”
Cassie looked to the sky, then grabbed the map off the car. She threw it to the ground and ran to her driver’s-side door. She shouted orders to the nearby officers to follow her.
Sawyer ran to the passenger side and climbed in.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Cassie asked.
“Fixing my mistake from earlier. This time, I’m going after her.”
She pursed her lips. “Don’t make me regret this.”
Sawyer watched the smoke billowing above. The fire was raging. If Naomi was in that, he would be going in, and there was nothing Cassie could do to stop him. “Sorry, Sheriff, I won’t guarantee anything.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” She put the car into gear and hit the gas, ready to risk it all.
SIXTEEN
Naomi raced down the stairwell, covering her face with her kapp and keeping it tucked into the crook of her elbow. Smoke already billowed around her as the flames spread fast in the old house from above. Somewhere, Jim Clark waited for his brother to return. The idea only added fuel to her own anger. Had he done the same for his brother eight years ago? Had he hung around in the downstairs of the coal mine manager’s house knowing full well what Keith planned with her upstairs? Had he laughed with other partygoers while he waited to clean up his brother’s crimes that night?
Just like he was tonight?
All this time, she thought he had innocently happened upon her outside by the trash container. Instead, he had been waiting for her there to clean up his brother’s crime.
And tonight was no different.
All Naomi could do was press on and not let fear slow her down. Her time to face Jim would come, and God would be with her just as He had been with her upstairs with Jim’s brother. There was no other reason for her escape than help from God. He stopped her killing just as He had stopped her car from falling any farther down the embankment when she was pushed off the road.
The rock that had stopped her car was used by God, the rock of her life.
If she would let Him be.
If she wanted Him to be.
She slid down each step with no one beside her, and yet surprisingly, she didn’t feel alone.
Are you with me, Gott? Have You always been with me? Even in my darkest and scariest times that began in this house eight years ago?
When Naomi had thought God had left her, she had been wrong. If she had sought His direction that night, she would have realized she was the one who wasn’t listening. She didn’t listen before she left for the party, and she didn’t listen after.
I’m listening now.
At the bottom floor, heat scorched her back, and her eyes burned with smoke and tears. It wouldn’t be long before the flames burned through the floors and the blaze fell to the first floor. She turned an ear to any sounds, but also her heart to Gott’s direction. From now on, Naomi didn’t want to make a move without Him.
She coughed. Even with her kapp over her mouth, the smoke seeped into her lungs. She tightened the seal over her lips as her lungs burned. She ducked her face and listened for any sounds to guide her away from danger.
For Gott to guide her.
A car door shut somewhere outside. She took one step toward the sound and stopped. Naomi quickly prayed for wisdom, and she soon surmised that Jim must be outside. Had he noticed the fire upstairs yet? She believed the sound came from the back of the house, and Naomi lifted the glass in front of her as she made her way in the opposite direction. Each movement was slow but steady, but just as she reached the front of the house, Jim yelled into the back door.
“Keith!” His panicked voice carried through the building as the back door slammed and she heard him stomping inside in a rush. Naomi reached for the doorknob of the front door. It didn’t budge. She gave it a quick shake and pull, but realized it was locked. Fumbling in the dark, her hand landed on the deadbolt. She turned it, then reached for the doorknob again.
“Where’s my brother?” Jim spoke from behind. The lethal tone aimed her way stilled her hand. She knew just beyond the door was Keith’s body on the walkway below the upstairs window. She had no choice but to open the door and attempt to escape, even if it meant she revealed the answer to Jim’s question.
She swung it wide, but he reached her before she took one step outside. He grabbed her arm and swung her around. She raised her other hand with the glass shard to slice his cheek, but he stopped her short, barely an inch from his face.
With his hand grasping her wrist, and their eyes locked on each other, a sick and twisted grin grew on his face. He squeezed hard. Her arm shook as she used every ounce of muscle to break free from his hold.
He laughed and added more and more pressure until she thought her wrist would snap in two. She couldn’t hold on much longer. Blood trickled down from the palm of her hand where the sharp edges of the glass punctured her skin. The metallic smell of her blood mixed with the acrid smell of smoke swirling around them.
“I see why my brother liked you,” Jim sneered. “You’re not like the other Amish girls. They would have cowered in fear by now.”
He squeezed harder than ever. A whimper escaped her tight lips. She could take it no more and let the glass slip from her fingers.
It smashed on the floor between them, but she kept her gaze locked on Jim’s face. Victory showed in his gleaming, beady eyes, but he didn’t release her
wrist. Instead, he squeezed harder until Naomi cried out in agonizing pain.
Her legs gave out beneath her as a fiery pain radiated from her wrist. Her knees buckled, and he brought her down to the floor to stand over her in a domineering pose.
He smirked. “You’re a challenge, but Keith always likes a challenge.”
Naomi breathed deep and let it out slowly. “Liked,” she said. “Keith always liked a challenge.”
Jim flinched and squinted. “Why?” The ceiling above splintered and pieces of flaming pieces of wood fell to the floor behind them. There was no going back the way they came. “What did you do?” He looked back at her in a panic.
She turned her head to look out to the walkway. The still body lying there proved Keith was done tormenting innocent young women and anyone else who caught his eye.
Suddenly, her wrist came free as Jim let her go. He ran out and down the steps to his brother, shouting, “Keith!” Anguish threaded his voice. He lifted his limp brother, smacking his face and listening for his breathing. He frantically searched for a pulse as Naomi slipped out the door. She wouldn’t have another moment to escape.
“You!” Jim yelled her way as she reached the driveway. She saw his truck was pulled down to the back of the house. “You killed him!”
Naomi searched the long road that disappeared into blackness beyond the roaring flames of the house. The coal mine was down there off the road, as well as the entrance to the property. She remembered it being a long way from town with not many homes nearby. It was why the place made for a private locale for a teenage party. No one came out this far from town.
With no choice, she started toward the winding road. The land declined into a steep hill. It slowed her steps, and she locked her knees to keep from falling headfirst. She heard Jim’s footsteps come up behind her in a pounding rush.
“Get back here!” he yelled. “You’re not getting away with this!”
Naomi ran blindly down the hill, knowing she’d never escape his clutches but had to try. A few moments later, Jim slammed into her so hard, she flew forward. She hit the ground on a skid and started rolling.