Gasp and murmurs spread across the courtroom, which turned into babbles of conversation, laughter and even applause. Dexter’s head had fallen into his hands.
Celeste’s gaze met Jonathan’s again and held it.
“I also deleted Poindexter’s database on me,” she said. “Every trace of the pictures and videos that he was using to track me is now gone. More importantly, now everyone in the world will know that he’s lost his money and has no way to pay the bounty. So, there’s no reason for anyone to come after me or the people I care about. And the money trail I uncovered will give investigators everything they need to keep Dexter in jail for a long time.”
A high-pitched siren filled the air as a voice in the back of the room shouted, “Fire! The building’s on fire!”
Instantly the voice was joined by a chorus of shouts and screams as people ran for the exits. Jonathan was on his feet and running for Celeste, his single-minded focus latched on her face even as he could hear pandemonium and chaos erupting around them. For one agonizing second he thought she was going to freeze again. Instead, he watched a silent prayer cross her lips. Then she leaped from the box and ran for him. In an instant, he caught her around the waist. His hand slid around her as he steered her toward the closest exit. Smoke poured down the hallway to their left.
“Come on,” he said. “They’re evacuating the building. We’ve got to go.”
“Wait.” She grabbed his arm, and her heels dug into the floor. “What if it’s another smoke bomb like back at the safe house? What if it’s not a real fire? What if Doppel-Dex is trying to create a diversion?”
He glanced at the docket. Dexter was being ushered out by bailiffs. His head was bowed.
“I don’t know.” Jonathan steered her into the crowd of people and toward an exit. “But we’re not going to hang around here and find out.”
A split second that felt like a decade passed.
“Okay,” Celeste said. “I trust you.”
Thank You, Gott. They joined the crowd and hurried for the exit. Within a heartbeat, Stacy and Karl had joined them, flanking them on either side. They jogged down the hallway, through the doors and out onto the court steps. Sunlight filled his gaze. He gasped a breath and glanced around, then realized who was behind them. Dexter Thomes had been evacuated through the same door they had. He guessed the usual exit they’d have taken him through been blocked somehow due to smoke.
Were Celeste’s suspicions right? Was this nothing but a diversion?
“Karl, Stacy.” He spun to his colleagues. “I think there’s something wrong—”
Before he could finish the thought, something banged and flashed, filling his eyes with blinding light. Voices screamed. People shouted. Thick green smoke swamped the courthouse steps. His eyes flooded. Painful smoke seared his lungs. Someone had set off a smoke bomb. He felt something hit him hard and he pitched forward, almost falling down the steps as the sound of Celeste screaming filled his ears.
EIGHTEEN
“Celeste!” Desperately his eyes scanned through the smoke. Amid the chaos of people and panic, he could hear Celeste’s desperate cries still hanging in the air.
Help me, God. I’m blind! Guide me! Show me where to go!
“Jonathan, Karl, I’ve got eyes on the suspect!” Stacy shouted. “He took Celeste around the left side. This way!”
Jonathan turned and ran toward her, Karl one step ahead of him, as they pushed through the crowd and the chaos. His eyes locked on one form. Dexter Thomes was wrestling with a guard, fighting for his gun. The hacker yanked the officer’s weapon from his holster.
“Dexter Thomes has got a gun!” Jonathan yelled.
Help me, Gott. I can’t save Celeste and stop Dexter.
“We’ve got him!” Stacy yelled. “You go get Celeste.” She stopped on a dime and spun toward the criminal. “Drop your weapon!”
Jonathan ran in the direction Stacy pointed. The scene played before him in an instant. Dexter fired. Stacy cried out in pain as her leg crumpled beneath her. She dropped to the courtroom steps, but her weapon was held sure in her hands. She rolled onto her back and fired, Karl’s steady and sure bullets joining hers as he ran toward her. Dexter fell, but not before another burst of gunfire escaped his weapon. Karl threw himself between Stacy and the bullets. He wrapped his body around his partner, and they tumbled down the steps together.
Gott, protect them!
He couldn’t let himself stop. He ran through the smoke and he saw them, Celeste’s blond hair tossed loose from her neat bun and her limbs thrashing as she fought for life against the grip of the hulking, bald man he’d seen in the courtroom.
He was already on his way. He burst through the door and found a long dark hallway in the bowels of the courthouse parking garage. He ran down toward the end of the hall just as a fresh smoke bomb erupted in his face blinding him.
Help me see the way!
The sound of a struggle echoed in the distance. Celeste was calling his name. He followed her voice, praying with every heartbeat that he found her and that she would be all right. He sprinted down a hallway and up a flight of stairs. He’d found her once before, back in the farmhouse when the air was thick with smoke and his fellow US marshals had been fighting for their lives. He would find her now. He rounded another corner and then he saw her.
Celeste was being dragged along the hallway by the tall, bald man. There was something in his stance that Jonathan knew in an instant, even stripped of the wig, fake beard and glasses. It was Doppel-Dex. It was Dexter’s half brother.
“Casper!” He pulled his weapon and aimed it directly at the man. “Stop right there and let her go, or I’ll shoot!”
Casper turned and dragged Celeste around until he was holding her up in front of him like a human shield. He pressed a gun into the side of her head. She’d taken back the money his brother had stolen. She’d robbed him of his privacy. She’d exposed his identity and his crimes for all the world to see. Now he had her.
“You’re not going to shoot me!” Casper snapped. “Because if you so much as flinch, I’m going to shoot her first. You’re going to turn around, go back and I’ll let you know when I’ve decided where you can send the ransom money. I’m not leaving with nothing.”
Jonathan whispered a prayer under his breath, raised his service weapon and centered the man in his sights. “Let her go and drop your weapon, or I will shoot.”
“Do you really think you’re fast enough and a good enough aim to make that shot without killing her?”
With Gott’s help.
Jonathan fired.
* * *
She heard the blast of the bullet, closed her eyes and felt a prayer move through her heart. Then she felt Casper’s grasp weaken and release. He slumped to the ground.
“Thank You, God.” She suddenly felt her knees wobble.
In an instant, Jonathan was by her side. “Celeste. Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” She pulled back a sob. “You rescued me.”
He reached for her, pulled her toward him and brushed a kiss across her lips. Then he let her go. He turned toward the man lying bleeding on the ground and checked his pulse.
“He’s still alive,” he said. “His breathing is shallow, and he’s going to lose consciousness. But if medical attention gets to him soon enough, he should live. Quick, find me something to help stop the bleeding.”
She yanked off her scarf and passed it into his hand. He pressed it against the man’s wound. She looked at him, this handsome, brave and incredible man trying to save the life of someone who would kill them both without a moment’s hesitation.
Her fingers gently brushed against his shoulder. “You’re incredible.”
“I would’ve killed him, Celeste,” he said. “Please don’t doubt that. If I had to choose between your life and his...”
His voice trail
ed off as if too much emotion had suddenly choked the words from his throat.
“I know,” she said. “You would have taken his life to spare mine. Still, you tried to find a way that nobody died. Not today.”
He smiled. “Not today.”
“Jonathan!” A voice rang out down the hallway. It was Karl.
“Down here! This way!” Jonathan called back. “We have one hostile down but alive. Requiring medical attention and to be taken into custody.”
“And Celeste?”
“Safe and well!” Jonathan shouted back. Karl ran toward them, barking orders quick and sharp to whoever was on the other side of the walkie-talkie. Then he ended the call. “Is Stacy okay?” Jonathan asked.
“Minor injury.” A smile of relief turned up the corners of Karl’s lips. “Bullet just grazed her. She’ll be fine. She’s plenty tough. We’re not sure if it was my bullet or hers that took Dexter Thomes down, but either way he’s back in custody.”
Thank You, Gott.
“Did you see my father and nephew?” Jonathan stepped back as Karl arrived, and let him take over.
“Last I saw they were helping evacuate people. Your dad said something about evacuating a barn.”
“That sounds like him.” He reached for Celeste’s hand. They stepped away as what suddenly seemed like a crowd of officers, medical staff and others came running down the hall. Jonathan pulled her aside and moved along the hall until they reached a large window overlooking the snow outside.
“We only have a second,” he said. His forehead wrinkled. “Not long. Karl is an incredible marshal and can take over for a few moments. But that’s all we’ve got, seconds, and I don’t know where to start.”
“Then let me go first,” Celeste said quickly. “I love you, Jonathan. I love how you think. I love how you question and how you search. I love how hard you wrestle with things. I love how deeply you care. And I don’t know what happens next, but I feel like you’re in my life for a reason, and I can’t wait to find out what that reason is.”
“I love you so much.” He stared at her in amazement. “I never knew my heart was able to love anyone this way.”
He brought his mouth down toward hers and she tilted her face up to his, and for one brief moment they turned their backs on the chaos around them and their lips met.
* * *
Celeste awoke the next morning to the sun rising high in the sky and the sounds of birds chirping outside the window. She stretched, feeling the warmth and comfort of familiar quilts around her.
There was a gentle knock on the door and then it flew back as Rosie ran in.
“You’re here! You’re really here! I thought it was a dream!”
Celeste laughed. “Yes, I’m here. It kind of feels like a dream for me, too.”
Everything had felt surreal since the moment she’d taken the stand, being grilled by lawyers and having her sanity questioned, and then she’d looked out and met Jonathan’s eyes. In that moment, everything had clicked, from what she’d seen in the data while scouring through the pages late at night to how she’d managed to see Dexter where he wasn’t.
The answer was relationship. The answer was family.
“Mamm said you arrived in the middle of the night with two Englisch cops,” Rosie said, perching on the end of the bed.
Celeste nodded. That was close enough. After Casper was arrested and she’d given her statement to the police, Jonathan had somehow talked Chief Deputy Hunter into letting them return home to the Mast family farm, as long as Stacy and Karl came with them. The two US marshals had driven in one vehicle while she’d ridden in the small church bus beside Jonathan, his arm around her shoulder and his hand tightly holding hers.
It was only for one night, just until they sorted out what would happen next and what needed to be done. But one night back in the Amish farmhouse, knowing she was waking up to see Jonathan in the morning, was already more happiness than she’d ever expected to have.
“An important Englisch lady is in the kitchen waiting to talk to you,” Rosie said. She fidgeted slightly, holding out the fabric in her hand. “I was wondering if you wanted to wear one of my Sunday dresses. Mamm said you might want to wear Englisch clothes.”
Bright yellow and pale pink fabric lay in her hands. Celeste smiled. “I would love to borrow one of your dresses, thank you.”
For as long as she was in this family’s home she would dress as one of them. She felt pretty adept at pinning her dress and cap on by now, but she was still thankful for Rosie’s company as she got dressed. Then she followed the young woman down to the kitchen.
The beautiful wooden table had been transformed into a conference table. Stacy and Karl sat side by side, with Stacy’s leg still in a splint from the bullet that had grazed her the night before. Jonathan sat on the opposite side, dressed as a marshal. At the head of the table was a striking woman, with keen eyes and graying black hair swept up into a bun. Everyone rose as Celeste entered.
She turned to Jonathan. To her surprise and disappointment, he didn’t meet her gaze.
The woman stretched out her hand. “Chief Deputy Louise Hunter,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Thank you, it’s great to meet you, too.” Celeste crossed the room, took the other woman’s hand and shook it. “What brings you here?”
“You.” A smile crossed the chief deputy’s lips. “I wanted you to know personally that Dexter Thomes and Casper Harrison have both been remanded into custody and prosecutors believe it’s such a clear-cut case thanks to the evidence you’ve provided. We will continue to be vigilant about either Thomes or Harrison finding a new way to come after you and seek revenge. But I can’t imagine law enforcement is going to allow either of them near a computer or unmonitored phone any time soon. And now that you’ve stripped them of the stolen money they have no way to pay for hit men. So, it’s unlikely you will be considered an active target.”
“I don’t know what that means,” she admitted. Again she tried to meet Jonathan’s eyes, but he looked away, and the absence of his gaze dug at her as if someone was missing.
“It means that you’re free to pursue other opportunities, another life,” the chief deputy said. “And I’m here to offer you one. We have a secure facility in Colorado. It’s both home and office to a number of federal officers and support staff. We’d like to hire you as an on-site data consultant. Your computer skills and expertise are second to none. You’d be safe inside our faculties in the unlikely event someone should ever come after you, as well as being able to use your skills to serve your country.”
It made so much sense. She wasn’t an Amish farm girl. She was a data analyst and a computer programmer. She was an excellent one. God had given her skills. She needed to use them. Yet, as her eyes scanned the simple kitchen, with its wood-burning stove and family table marked from hundreds of long meals and conversations, she couldn’t help but think of all she’d be losing.
“Thank you,” she said. “That’s an amazing opportunity. I need to think about it.”
She crossed over to the back door, feeling Jonathan’s gaze on her. He stood. She tugged on her boots, grabbed her cape and bonnet, and stepped out into the snow.
She’d taken less than ten steps down the path to the barn when she heard the door swing open and shut behind her, heard Jonathan’s voice calling her name. “Celeste! Wait!”
She turned. There he was, running up the path, with his straw hat and coat thrown over his Englisch clothes. She crossed her arms.
“You knew about this,” she said. “That’s why you wouldn’t look at me.”
“Of course I knew,” he said. He reached for her hands. But for once she didn’t reach back. Earnest eyes were locked on her face. “You’re extraordinary, Celeste. You’re so talented and incredible at what you do. You need to use those talents.”
She s
tepped back and tossed her hands in the air. “Even if it means spending my life in a cement room, day after day, at a laptop...and without you?”
The last two words seemed to land and echo in the air.
Without you. Without you.
Something pained moved across his face. “But you’re so good at what you do.”
“I know.” A smile crossed her face. “I am. But what if God is calling me to something more than that? Don’t you want more for me?”
“What kind of more?” he asked.
He stepped in closer, but again she didn’t let him take her hands.
“I don’t know!” she admitted. “I just don’t.”
“Neither do I,” he said. The side of his mouth curled into a smile. He stood there for a long moment, in the snow and early-morning sunshine, his face turned to her and his eyes on her face. “I’m still lost, Liebchen. But at least now I know I don’t want to be lost without you.”
He closed his eyes for a long moment. Then he nodded, as if hearing an answer or making a decision. He reached for her hand and she let him take it. “Come on, I need to ask my boss a question.”
His hand tightened in hers. He led her back to the house and opened the back door.
“Chief Deputy Hunter?” he called. “I’d like to request heading up a trial project of US marshals who place needy and desperate people within Amish communities. It makes so much sense in light of the challenges posed by cyber warfare. We’ve learned from our experience with Dexter Thomes that few people look beyond the bonnet. The fact we’d be off the grid makes it harder to trace people. The friendliness of the Amish community is welcoming to outcasts and strangers.”
Chief Deputy Hunter waited, looking from Jonathan to Celeste and then to their still-linked hands. Her gaze returned to Jonathan’s face. “The idea has some merit. I can see it working well. Anything else?”
“There is,” he said. She felt his hand tighten on hers. “I can’t do this alone. I’m going to need a civilian partner, someone who knows how to look out for threats and can analyze data. I want to suggest that you create a position for Celeste here, as well, where she can help support people placed in this program and do other data analysis as required for WITSEC.”
Amish Hideout (Amish Witness Protection Book 1) Page 17