“So, that problem with the horses. It is over?”
“I think so,” Michael said.
There was another knock on the door.
“Excuse me,” Michael opened it, and this time it was a uniformed police woman whom he ushered into the living room. “Hi Rachel. Let me introduce you to my wife.”
After introductions had been made, the policewoman removed her hat and coat, hung them up, and then chose a rocker next to Ivan.
“I stopped by your place, Ivan. Noah, told me you were here,” Rachel said. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
Keturah came to the kitchen door, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. “What bad news?”
“It is about Gertie Maddox,” Rachel said. “She and her lawyer have been busy.”
“Then let the bad news wait for now so our appetites will not be spoiled.” Keturah frowned. “The soup is hot, everything is on the table, and I sat out an extra bowl for you, Rachel, when I heard you at the door. Everyone. Come.”
Cassie glanced at Michael. He looked happy.
“While everyone gets settled,” Ivan told Michael. “I will go down and check your stove. It does not seem to be putting out much heat yet.”
“Thanks,” Michael said. “The wood was a little wet and I was in a hurry.”
By the time everyone had taken a seat, there was another knock on the door. Everyone paused while Michael answered it.
“Maam and Daett didn’t come back,” Noah said. “And I was worried about why Rachel was looking for them, and…”
“Come on in,” Michael said. “We were just sitting down to supper.”
“Run back to the house and bring the rest of the soup, first,” Keturah called. “And another loaf of bread.”
“I sure will,” Noah left to take care of his errand.
By the time Noah got back, they had already engaged in a silent prayer, and Keturah had ladled soup into everyone’s bowls. She put the extra that Noah brought into the pot on the stove to warm.
“I brought pound cake, also,” Noah said. “And that fruit salad you made yesterday.”
“Danke, son. That was good thinking,” Keturah said. “Rachel, it is your Aunt Lydia’s recipe for pound cake that I used.”
“One of my favorites,” Rachel said.
Cassie was so engaged in processing all the busyness and conversation swirling around her that, for a few blessed moments, she forgot she was sick and the beef vegetable soup was the best she’d ever tasted.
“Now,” Ivan said, once everyone had eaten their fill. “We are ready for this bad news you brought us, Rachel. Thank you for not spoiling our supper with it.”
“No problem.” Rachel blotted her lips with a napkin. “Gertie’s lawyer called the police station right before I came over here. He said that, unless I force you to hand over baby Holly to Gertie, he will bring charges against you for kidnapping as well as wrongful death.”
“I can understand the kidnapping charges, but wrongful death?” Michael sounded puzzled. “That doesn’t make sense. Keturah saved a life. She didn’t take one.”
“Gertie’s lawyer is claiming that Lily was not dead when Keturah took the baby; that she caused Lily’s death by performing that C-section.”
“Based on what?” Michael asked. “Did the autopsy say that Lily was still alive when the baby was born?”
“No, but it didn’t say specifically that she wasn’t.”
Ivan’s voice was indignant. “My Keturah would not make such a mistake.”
“Of course not,” Rachel said. “But there was no one there at the time who can be a witness to that fact.”
Keturah said nothing, but pressed the back of her hand against her mouth while the conversation flowed around her. Cassie could tell this was hitting her hard.
“What about the Good Samaritan Law?” Michael said. “Doesn’t that protect someone like Keturah? She was only trying to help.”
“It’s a good law,” Rachel said, “but it’s not bulletproof.”
“They could actually prosecute her then?” Michael asked.
“Anyone can file a lawsuit,” Rachel answered. “It doesn’t mean they will win.”
“I simply do not understand this woman’s desperation to get her hands on little Holly,” Ivan said. “She is a grandmother, yes, but her actions and words are not those of a loving grandmother. We are afraid for the baby.”
“I agree. She has shown little grief over her son’s death,” Rachel said. “And she seems to be hopped up on something all the time. There is a greediness to her demands that bothers me. She seems to want the baby just because she wants the baby.”
“Excuse me, but Michael told me about this today on the way here,” Cassie said. “I was already wondering if a wrongful death suit might be their main focus. Now, I’m certain of it. Getting guardianship of the baby would be a means to an end.”
“My wife is a lawyer,” Michael explained to Rachel. “She knows stuff.”
“I do not understand any of this,” Ivan said. “What end?”
“In the eyes of the law,” Cassie said, “it is Lily’s child who will suffer by her mother’s death. If a wrongful death suit were to stand up in court, any monetary award would go to the baby. But, being as she is just a baby, the money would be handled by her guardian, of course. In this case, her grandmother. Without that grandchild, Gertie has no personal connection to Lily, or to whatever money might come from the lawsuit. She can only proceed with a wrongful death suit if she does so on behalf of the infant.”
“What money?” Ivan said. “We don’t have a lot of money.”
“Are you saying that Keturah opened herself up to this lawsuit by simply saving the baby’s life?” Michael asked.
“Yes.”
“I often do not understand Englisch ways,” Ivan shook his head. “This thinking seems upside down to me.”
“And yet it makes sense of Gertie’s behavior,” Rachel said. “Mabel told me that Gertie lives on money she’s received from various lawsuits. Slip-and-fall, whiplash, etc.”
“But Keturah didn’t do anything wrong,” Ivan protested. “How can they sue for a wrongful death when my wife did nothing wrong?”
“To some people,” Cassie said. “Lawsuits are just a different version of playing the lottery. Do it enough times, they figure, and they might get lucky. I’m afraid that Keturah’s actions on that backroad early Christmas morning made her a perfect target for a lawsuit.”
Chapter 51
Suddenly, Cassie felt herself fading. “I’m sorry, but I think I need to lie down.”
“You’ve been up too long,” Michael said. “Do you need another pain pill?”
“Please,” Cassie said.
For a few minutes, there was a scramble to make sure she was comfortable, finding the pill, and a glass of water with which to take it.
“Thank you.” She handed the glass back to Michael and leaned back against the couch pillows.
“You are ill,” Keturah said, kindly. “What is wrong?”
“My wife had surgery recently,” Michael said, cautiously as though he didn’t know how much Cassie wanted told.
“It is good that you are here then, where I can help take care of you,” Keturah patted her hand. “You must rest now. I will clean the kitchen before we leave. Ivan? Noah? Please help me so we can gather things up and go quickly.”
In moments, Cassie heard the sound of cabinets opening and closing, and water splashing into the sink.
“It’s been good to meet you, Cassie,” Rachel said, as she gathered her things. “Thank you for your insight.”
“I wish I could be more help,” Cassie said. “Before you go, do you happen to know anything about the lawyer who is representing Gertie?”
“Some guy by the name of Adrian Stevenson. Mabel told me that Gertie ran into him at a flea market. He had a booth there with his law degree nailed up behind him. He was having formal consultations right there. Making out wills on the spot for people
. That sort of thing. Had a computer and printer set up on a card table.”
“That sounds like something Adrian would do.” Cassie smiled. “I know him. Interesting character. We went to law school together.”
“What’s he like?” Rachel asked.
“Lousy social skills. Apparently he had some sort of a prejudice against deodorant. Always wore cheap suits that looked like he’d slept in them. No law firm wanted to hire him after he graduated. At least not after the first interview. People tended to underestimate him. I graduated at the top of our class, but it took everything I had to beat him. I never cared for him as a person, but he is very sharp and his law degree is bona fide. If Keturah ever has to take the stand, and Adrian is questioning her, my guess is that he’ll have her so confused and turned around that she’ll confess to anything.”
“It would be terrible for Keturah to have to testify in court,” Michael said.
“I agree,” Cassie said. “What’s the timeline, Rachel?”
“I don’t know yet, but they are pushing hard,” Rachel said. “I can’t bear to put that baby girl into what I believe to be a dangerous situation, but I also don’t want to have to arrest Keturah for kidnapping. It might come to that unless something happens and soon.”
“Then stall,” Cassie said.
“How?”
“Has there been a DNA test yet to make certain Tony is Holly’s father?”
“No,” Rachel said. “Nobody’s even questioned it. Lily lived with Tony for the past three years. Tony had her under a very tight control. It never occurred to me that he might not be the father.”
“I have no doubt you are right,” Cassie said. “But Adrian would consider you asking to run a DNA test before handing the baby over as a reasonable request. So would the court. If it were me, I would tell the lab to take their own sweet time with the samples. Tell them there’s no rush.”
“They would love that,” Rachel said.
“In the meantime, concentrate on finding out more background on Gertie if you can. As the grandmother, she has a firm standing with the court unless we can find a good reason for a judge to throw out her claim. Winning a slip-and-fall judgment doesn’t qualify.”
“I’ll work on that,” Rachel said.
“Now, Michael, what Ivan said about not having any money… is that true?”
“They have a modest income from their dairy herd, crops, and what Keturah makes. It’s enough, but it isn’t a lot.”
“Right,” Cassie said. “But how much land do they own?”
“Nearly two hundred acres. It belonged to his grandfather.”
“How much does an acre go for around here?” she asked.
“Depends on what kind of land and where it is,” Michael said. “Property in this area has skyrocketed in recent years. Ten… maybe twelve thousand if it is undeveloped.”
“So, if you factor in the house and barns, Ivan is sitting on a couple million dollars if he sold his farm?”
“I guess so, but he would never sell,” Michael said. “We call some of the farmers around here ‘paper millionaires.’ They might be worth a fortune on paper, but they often struggle to buy groceries and pay the taxes on their place. Do you really think Gertie and her lawyer would actually take an Amish farmer’s land?”
“Adrian will take anything he can legally get for himself and his client,” Cassie said. “He probably already knows Ivan’s net worth down to the quarters in his sock drawer, and yes—depending on the judge and the jury and a myriad of other details—a successful wrongful death suit could potentially cost Keturah and Ivan their home.”
Chapter 52
The next morning, Rachel stopped by the office to tell Ed about her meeting with the Hochstetlers and Cassie’s advice to insist on a DNA match.
“Good idea,” Ed said. “I received a visit from Bishop Sam Yost about an hour ago. Gertie and her lawyer have come up with another brilliant plan to squeeze money out of Lily’s death.”
“How?”
“They contacted Bishop Yost and said that, if their church does not find and deliver the baby within the week, they will sue the church for negligent homicide.”
“Whoa!” Rachel was astonished. “How can they bring the church into it? No one from the church was even there.”
“You are vastly underestimating Gertie and her lawyer,” Ed said. “Where did she come up with this guy again?”
“Flea market,” Rachel said.
“Flea market?”
“Wouldn’t be the first place I would look for a lawyer, but apparently its working for Gertie.”
“So far,” Rachel said.
“Anyway,” Ed continued. “Their basis for threatening to bring a suit against Sam’s church is because Keturah did not have a cell phone on her person. They maintain that if the church did not have a rule against their people owning cell phones, Keturah could have called for help, and Lily’s life might have been saved.”
“They have a point,” Rachel said. “I don’t know if it will stand up in court, but it is a valid argument.”
“I know.” Ed drummed his fingers on his desk. “I guess this is one of those cases where we could honestly say that no good deed goes unpunished.”
“Looks that way,” Rachel said.
“Have you gotten the DNA samples yet?”
“Working on it.”
“Any idea yet who killed Tony?”
“I haven’t heard a word.”
It was important to keep the integrity of the custody line of the DNA samples intact. Rachel wasn’t sure if her personal involvement in the case would eventually cause an issue, so she asked Kim to go take the sample directly from Holly. Keturah allowed her access to the baby, and Kim returned with a tiny lock of the baby’s hair.
“How is Holly doing?” Rachel asked.
“Rosy cheeks, healthy, and as hungry as a little piglet,” Kim said. “Makes me want to have a baby.”
Getting Tony’s DNA wasn’t difficult. It just involved a call to her friend, Bill Sherman.
“I’ll talk to our lab,” Bill said. “They’ll take care of it.”
“Any progress on finding out who killed Tony?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “We think we know who, but we aren’t sure why, or where he is. One of the guys who always hung out around Tony has gone missing. The other gang members are up in arms about it, of course. I don’t expect him to survive if the others find him before we do.”
“Anyone I know?”
“You hang out at Tony’s much?”
“Never.”
“Then I doubt it,” he said. “The guy’s name is Dane Richardson. He and Tony grew up together. He had a clean enough record that Tony made him join the military when he turned eighteen.”
“Made him join the military?” Rachel said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Actually, it’s happening more and more. If a kid in a street gang miraculously turns eighteen without having a record, the godfather sends him into the military for training. Hand-to-hand combat, weapons instruction; it can be very useful in today’s gang wars. They come back. Train others. And the taxpayers pay for all of it.”
“I don’t understand why they would come back. I mean, after a few years in the military, I’d think they would mature out of the lifestyle. They aren’t street kids anymore. They would even have work skills.”
“Some of them do get out. Some are too loyal to the group. Some don’t have a choice.”
“What do you mean, no choice?”
“Just what I said. If you’re part of one of the bigger gangs, it’s hard to hide from them. Plus, if you got family, and the gang knows where they are, they are in danger if you try to leave.”
“So how did you find out who did it?”
“DNA. Tony didn’t go down easy. There was a lot of blood on the scene as well as fingerprints. Dane’s in the system.”
“Any idea why this Dane guy killed him?”
“None,” Bill said.
“At least not yet. Working on it.”
“Can you give me any information on Tony’s mother?” Rachel said.
“You mean the crazy lady that was yelling at us when you came to look at Lily’s bedroom?” Bill said.
“That’s the one,” Rachel said. “The Amish are risking jail by hiding that baby from her while I try to figure out what to do.”
“I’ll look into it,” Bill said. “I’d hate to see her take in anyone’s kid after the way she was acting. Even after you left, she was trying to get into the house. She didn’t realize our officer and dogs had already sniffed out pretty much everything that Tony was hiding. Once we let her in—with supervision—and she looked in all the places she wanted to look, she lost interest.”
“I’ll see what I can find out and get back to you,” Bill said. “Hey, I gotta go. My gorgeous lunch date just showed up and I don’t want her to change her mind.”
Rachel could hear the love in his voice. “Is it Lori?”
“Yep. Everyone in the station is jealous of me. It’s a hard life trying to beat the men away every time my wife shows up.”
“Tell her I said hello.” Rachel clicked off.
She called the lab, giving them a heads up about the samples they would be receiving. When they asked her how soon she needed it, she hesitated. Telling them to take their sweet time, as Cassie had suggested, did not feel right, nor was it professional. Instead, she simply told the truth.
“We are in no hurry for the results this time,” she said.
Which was true. She was most definitely not in a hurry for the results.
Her next phone call was one she had been particularly dreading. She called Adrian Stevenson and gave him the news that they would not be moving forward with the transference of the baby to Gertie’s care until they got the DNA results back from the lab.
To her surprise, he accepted her information with calm. Then he asked for the name of the lab to which she would be sending the samples. Her guess was that he had anticipated her move, and had already decided it would be wise to counterbalance it with a request of his own for speed.
Love Rekindled: Book 3 Page 23