In Plain View (Amish Safe House, Book 2)

by Ruth Hartzler

  “You most certainly can. I’m Detective Austen. I work out of the sheriff’s office.” She tapped her hip to give the impression that she had a firearm holstered there.

  “Oh, well, come right in, Detective.” Lucas led her to the living area and motioned for her to have a seat.

  Kate was relieved beyond measure that the man had not asked to see her badge. “I’m here about Ethan Jackson, the homicide victim who was found recently. We have probable cause to believe you knew this person, and what you tell us might prove vital in our investigation.”

  What looked like fear started to sink into Lucas’s appearance. His eyes retreated into beady, penetrating pupils. His smile was now all but invisible, and the tone of his skin all of a sudden looked two shades lighter. “Um, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Detective Austen.”

  “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do this the hard way. We know the victim was involved with organized crime. We also know that you and the victim have been seen together in recent months. I’d hate to have to get a search warrant for this place. It looks like a harsh tossing around of its contents by a squad of cops might be somewhat detrimental.”

  The man’s shoulders sagged miserably. “It’s an old home. Please. What is it you want from me?”

  “Who was Ethan Jackson? What was his exact role and who did he work for?” Kate looked down at her notepad. She knew quite a bit of information already, but she needed to know everything he knew. “Why would anyone want to harm him?” she added. From the look on Lucas’s face, Kate knew that she was onto something.

  “Okay, I can give you a little bit of information, but that’s gotta be it. I’m already too deep into this, and I can’t afford to risk my life to help some cops.” A terrified look covered his face. “He was a professional hitman for The Viper. An assassin, if you will. He carries out the hits ordered by Logan White’s organization.”

  “Okay. And what else?”

  “Well, here’s where it gets kinda crazy. Ethan and I were buddies from when we were kids. I used to live in a bad part of the city and we bonded. I hadn’t spoken to him in nearly twenty years, and he just suddenly appeared on my doorstep a few months back. I guess he ended up getting himself neck-deep in some trouble. He was withholding evidence for some of his contracts. He was using that evidence to blackmail the small-time crooks in hopes of getting some extra cash.”

  Kate’s jaw dropped. “You’re telling me that Ethan Jackson was taking care of marked men, and then turning around and threatening his clients with exposition?”

  “Exactly. I think that’s what led to him being found in the pond. He messed with the wrong people.”

  “You mean The Viper, Logan White?”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard about a new branch of organized crime opening up nearby. He said they were big fish, and he kept talking about how he was going to start fishing in more dangerous waters.”

  The revelation was astonishing, and Kate worked hard to keep her poker face on straight. Logan White, himself, opening up a branch in town? “So, Ethan thought this new crime syndicate was going to be a bigger target? Do you know what happened after he actually tried to blackmail them?”

  The man shuddered, and his face fell even further. “Well, the last time I saw him, was about a week before he disappeared. He had come by, all panicked and freaking out. He just kept saying that he needed to get out of the country. I didn’t understand why, until he told me that the new crime starting up wasn’t actually new. Logan White was expanding here. His larger contractor and most vicious crime boss around right now was the one he was trying to extort. I gave him some cash to help him make an escape, but obviously it didn’t help much.” Lucas looked down with obvious regret.

  Questions flooded Kate’s mind as she thought about the actual motive. Did they kill him to silence him to take away the threat, or was it a punishment for trying to betray a kingpin? Perhaps both?

  “Okay, Lucas. I do appreciate you being so open with us. I won’t be pressing any charges on you, and hopefully, your information will help us solve this homicide.”

  Lucas nodded, his face still white.

  Kate hurried back to the taxi as she thought about everything she had just learned. What would be her next step? She could hardly turn to her boss and ask his advice. At the same time, she knew that she could not keep this new information private. Something needed to be done with it, but next came the hard part. After shopping, at least. Now she had a whole different set of issues to worry about. Glancing at the list she wrestled from her pocket, more concerns clouded her already overwrought mind.

  There was still a lot she had to learn about living out here, but she didn’t want to get used to this life. She wanted to find the mole, solve this case, and get her life back.

  John 10:28.

  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

  Chapter 11.

  Kate and Beth were sitting at the old, kitchen table, enjoying each other’s company and a cup of hot meadow tea before finishing the dinner preparations. “I don’t understand the situation with Rose and Samuel,” Kate said. “It’s obvious that they like each other, so why are they are pretending not to?”

  “Well you see, Kate,” Beth said, “it’s hard to move the plow when neither horse is pulling - they just stay stuck and wait for a miracle to happen.”

  Kate shrugged. “I suppose you’ve already given Rose hints as to how to approach Samuel?”

  Beth slowly shook her head. “The thing is, she’s too shy to talk to me or do something about it. I’ve tried to talk to her on the subject, but with zero results. Every time I say a word about it, or ask something, her cheeks blush, and she hurries away, pretending she has something important to do.” Beth sighed deeply. “What can I do? I can’t force her to do or say something. It’s a pity that each one of them is waiting for the other to make the first step and so they wait in vain. This dinner will have to work.”

  “I’m sure the dinner will work,” Kate said. “It will force the two of them to stay in each other’s company and actually talk to each other.”

  Beth simply shrugged, and Kate went to set the table, thinking how beautiful the plain setting was. When she had first arrived, she lamented her loss of television, phones, and internet, but now, she was coming to appreciate the simpler things in life. Most people in the community simply worked their land and lived from their crops and the animals they raised on their farms. They had no need for mobile or conventional phones, and television was something alien to them.

  The people in the community would rather speak face to face than on the phone. Kate figured that the Amish had something that Englischers had lost somewhere between smartphones and tablets - that soul to soul communication which bonds and creates friendships, the sort of communication she hoped to see soon around that table when Rose and Samuel were present.

  “I’m nervous,” Rose confided in Kate half an hour later as she paced up and down Kate’s small living room. The cabin behind the main house was cramped, but the young Rose had started spending a lot of her free time with Kate, and the older woman found she really enjoyed the company. Kate really liked Rose, and they had gotten to know each other very well. Rose was young, just past eighteen, and while she had chosen to remain with the Amish community, she had expressed a few fears of doing just that with Kate. It was something she could not speak with her own parents about, as caring and understanding as they were.

  And now Rose was being set up, but Kate did not think the Amish used such a term, despite the fact that they appeared very fond of matchmaking. Kate knew for a fact that Rose was attracted to Samuel, but Rose was so closed and shy about such things.

  And Samuel himself was as shy as a man could be. He hardly spoke, unless it was impolite for him to stay quiet. He was tall with a square jaw, his eyes blue and shining. Kate had seen him laugh only once, but his face held such joy when he did so.

  The
re was a knock on Kate’s front door, and then it swung open and Beth stuck her head in. “Dinner is almost ready,” Beth said. Kate and Rose nodded, and then looked at one another.

  “Relax,” Kate said, placing her hand on Rose’s shoulder. “It’s just dinner.”

  The younger girl smiled and nodded. “Thank you for everything you’ve done lately.”

  Kate smiled. “It’s my pleasure.”

  “You two coming?” Beth asked from the doorway, and they nodded and hurried after her. They crossed the back yard quickly and entered the Kauffman home through the back door, cutting through the kitchen. Samuel and Isaac were already seated at the table, and the men stood up as the women entered.

  Kate could not help but notice Rose’s reaction upon seeing Samuel; she at once smiled, an automatic gesture as if she could not restrain her joy when seeing him. Samuel greeted Kate, but when he looked at Rose, he simply nodded and forced a shy smile.

  “We’re going to wash up quickly,” Rose told the men as she and Kate headed for the bathroom at the top of the stairs. The two women washed their hands, and then they returned to the kitchen and helped Beth set the food upon the table.

  Isaac sat at the head of the table with Samuel to his right and Beth to his left. Rose sat next to her mother, and Kate sat at the other end of the table, leaving an empty seat next to Samuel. They said the usual silent prayer before mealtimes, each member of the dinner party closing their eyes and bowing their heads for a few minutes.

  “Thank you,” Samuel said. “Thank you for having me.” His voice was quiet and small.

  “You’re more than welcome,” Isaac said with a smile. “It wouldn’t be kind to keep my wife’s cooking all to myself.”

  “I haven’t even kept it all to myself,” Beth said, looking over at Samuel. “I’ve taught Rose everything I know.”

  Samuel smiled shyly and nodded. “I’m sure she’s a wunderbaar cook as well,” he said softly.

  “Maybe she can cook next time you come over,” Beth said.

  Kate watched Samuel for a moment. He was shy, his head dipping down as often as it could. She looked at Rose and saw she was just as uncomfortable. It was clear that both of the young Amish folk knew exactly why they were there, and it embarrassed them.

  The rest of dinner passed with ample small talk and not much left over. Kate helped Rose clear the dishes, and then she rolled up her sleeves at the sink.

  “I’ll do the dishes,” Kate said. “You can go and spend more time with Samuel.”

  Rose smiled softly and shook her head. “Not you, too.”

  “Yes, me too,” Kate said with a laugh.

  “I thought my parents were bad enough.”

  “He’s a good guy. A gut mann. He likes you, and you like him too.”

  Rose nodded. “I do.”

  “So go and ask him if he’d like you to walk home with him.”

  Rose’s mouth dropped open, and Kate knew she had said something wrong. As someone without much knowledge of the Amish community just trying to fit in, she did this often, but it usually could be explained away by her cover story of being in an accident and forgetting who she was.

  “I couldn’t ask to walk him home!” Rose exclaimed with a nervous giggle. “He would walk me home if I weren’t already home.”

  “You’re right; I meant to see if he wanted to go for a walk. Around your land maybe, before he returns home.”

  Rose nodded. “Perhaps I will,” she said. She then turned and headed back into the dining room. Ten minutes later, as Kate was washing the dishes, she glanced out of the back window and saw the two young people walking in the backyard with one another. They were close together, but not touching. Kate smiled. There was something sweet to it, innocent. It wasn’t like the world she had come from, and she was starting to realize that just might be a good thing.

  Kate finished with the dishes and went into the dining room, and was surprised to see Beth and Isaac still sitting at the table. Beth looked at Kate when she entered. “Have a seat, Kate, if you’re in no hurry to get home.”

  Kate sat down across from the woman and smiled. “What are you two up to?”

  “Not trouble, if that’s what you're thinking,” Beth with a wink, and Isaac laughed.

  “So you’re sitting here waiting for Rose to get back?” Kate asked.

  “Maybe,” Beth admitted.

  “It feels like just yesterday she was four years old,” Isaac said. “Running around here, getting into everything.”

  “And now she is out walking with the mann who is going to marry her,” Beth said.

  Kate smiled warmly at the conviction in Beth’s voice. She reached over and set her hand on Beth’s. “You have to let them grow up,” she said.

  “It’s hard,” Beth said.

  “She’ll be happier than she’s ever been,” Kate said, and the two parents nodded. They sat like that for fifteen or so minutes, and then the front door opened and Rose came in.

  “Samuel is heading home,” she said. “He told me to thank you again for dinner.”

  “How was your walk?” Isaac asked. Rose paused in the doorway and was unable to keep a wide smile from spreading across her face.

  “It was great,” she said. “I’m going to get ready for bed.”

  The three at the table watched her go, and then they turned to look at one another. There was a smile on every face.

  Acts 18:8-10.

  Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

  Chapter 12.

  As daybreak approached, the animals stirred, like they did every morning. The rooster crowed, waking up every resident of the farm, both animal and human. Kate looked over at her window and smiled as the first glimpses of sun shone through. She could hear the livestock as they waited for their breakfast. This forced her to wipe away her sleepiness and roll out of bed. As she approached the wall, she stared at the dresses hanging on the pegs. With a half-hearted smile, she studied the dresses carefully. This had become her life now, but there were moments where her true self would feel like someone she was losing, like an old friend who was slipping away forever.

  Kate lifted the calf-high dress in her arms and secured her bonnet with her left hand. It had been a harsh life to conform to initially, but by now she was actually enjoying her time in the preserved community. Balancing her undercover investigation into a homicide with her everyday life on the farm was difficult, but so far everything was going to plan. She finished getting ready and began preparing the feed for the animals.

  As she strolled outside, she noticed Isaac was already tending the fields. He was cultivating the crops with his horse-drawn cultivator. The Amish sure were an odd bunch, but she greatly respected their values, morals, and hard work, not to mention how this couple had done so much for a complete stranger out of the kindness of their hearts. She watched Isaac drive by and smiled, waving her hand.

  Her daily chores were to maintain the animals and reseed the garden, while Isaac did the heavy duty work and Beth maintained the main house. She grabbed some feed and headed for the animal pens. Her favorite stop was always the horses, but she always saved them for last, her main reason being so she didn’t have to do it twice. Isaac was using several horses to power his harvesting and cultivating equipment, so she had learned the hard way that doing the horses last was the best method. Isaac always fed them, but there was much more to caring for horses than that. She was still a city girl at heart, but being around some beautiful, majestic creatures made her feel more alive than her old job ever had.

  After working the farm for hours, Kate made her way to the garden. She noticed several weeds were starting to sprout, and dropped to her knees to yank th
em from their intrusion. Her apron was getting dirty, and Kate idly thought that keeping her identity secret relied on blending in and playing the part.

  On her knees, Kate pulled at a stubborn weed with all of her might. Her fingers began to hurt, but she refused to give up. As she struggled, she heard a familiar voice offering some help.

  “You know, you could just snip that thing.” Kate looked up to see Ryan standing above her. Startled, she fell back, landing softly in the cold dirt. “Oh my! I’m so sorry,” he said as he rushed to her side and helped pull her to her feet.

  “You scared me! You could have at least let me know you were here,” she said. “And why didn’t I hear your car or anything?”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you at all. My cruiser’s parked over near the barn.”

  “So, may I ask what you’re doing here on this fine morning? Bored and interested in learning how to work a farm?” Kate laughed.

  “Oh, no, no, no,” Ryan exclaimed in mock horror. “Could you ever imagine me tending crops and feeding pigs? Not my thing, sorry. I walk that thin blue line and plan to do so until my last day.”

  It was ironic to Kate hearing that, considering she had felt the same way not too long ago. She smiled sweetly. “So, what brings you to our farm today?” Kate crouched back down and started to dig some holes for new seed.

  “I was just in the area and wanted to see how things have been around here. I’m sure homicides aren’t a normal occurrence around these parts.”

  “That’s the truth,” Kate said. “I can’t remember any other murders in these parts. When the news first hit, the entire community knew we were being invaded by the modern world, but I suppose you can’t be who you truly are in the world without letting others do the same.”

  Ryan looked at her with intrigue and smiled.

  “That’s actually very true. You’re a very smart woman.”

  Kate smiled and rose back to her feet. “Tell me something I don’t already know,” she said.