Plain Sanctuary

by Alison Stone

  “I’m out of funds for now,” she said curtly, walking down to the wheelbarrow and grabbing a fistful of hay. She shook it out over the muddy path.

  As Heather reached for more, Zach touched her wrist, stopping her mid motion. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  She sprinkled the hay over the mud, then brushed her palms together. She tucked her hands under her armpits as a sudden chill raced up her spine. “They found my mother’s body in the barn.”

  Zach seemed to reel back. “Oh, I had no idea. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. Part of the reason I came here was to face my past.” Her tone was droll. “I had no idea I’d be facing so much of my past all at once.”

  “The offer still stands. I could patch the roof.”

  She scratched her neck. “Let me think about it.”

  “Okay.” He turned and got to the business of spreading the hay.

  Ruthie rounded the corner of the house and stopped. “Gut morning,” she sang good-naturedly. “I see you’re finally up.”

  “Good morning.” Heather smiled. “Yes, I was tired.”

  Ruthie brushed her hands together. “I planted some flowers by the mailbox out front. Sloppy Sam ran me home to pick some up from the greenhouse.”

  “Thank you. That’s a nice touch.”

  “Did you still want to go to the grocery store this morning?” Ruthie asked.

  Heather picked up her coffee mug from the rail and opened the back door, allowing Ruthie to go in first. “Yes. Let’s finish our list first.”

  Before disappearing inside, she turned to Zach. “If you promise not to fall off the roof and break your neck, I think it would be great to patch the holes in the barn.” She didn’t need a liability on her property.

  Heather could feel Ruthie’s gaze on her. Most locals knew the story of her mom’s murder even though it had happened before the young Amish woman’s time. “I thought—”

  “Perhaps someday I’d like to own horses. Maybe get a buggy. Do Amish tours.” Heather smiled. “Lots of potential.”

  Zach covered his heart and gave her a solemn look. “Promise I won’t fall through the roof.”

  “Please don’t. That’s the last thing I need.” She shot him a pointed glare. “Be careful. I’m going inside. Ruthie and I need to make our grocery list.”

  “Do you need a ride?”

  “No, my car is parked behind the barn. Hold on.” She scooted into the house, grabbed the set of keys from the hook and returned, tossing them to Zach. He caught them in one hand. “Can you pull it around for us?”

  A worry whispered across her brain. She prayed Brian hadn’t taken his frustration out on her car as he had done on Zach’s. She had gotten so spoiled this past week being driven around by Zach first in his loaned vehicle and now his repaired one, she hadn’t given her car much thought. It wasn’t much of a car, but at this point, she couldn’t afford to replace it.

  “Sure thing. I’ll bring it around to the driveway.”

  Ruthie and Heather watched him jog to the backside of the barn. “Isn’t he helpful?” Ruthie asked playfully.

  “Yes, yes, he is.”

  * * *

  Despite Heather’s protest, Zach decided he should escort her and Ruthie to the grocery store. He was relieved to find her car had remained untouched. Maybe Fox hadn’t noticed it parked behind the barn.

  Once Ruthie and Heather were safely home and inside, creating a menu for the guests, Zach decided today would be a good day to inspect the damage to the barn. When his parents first got the cabin in the woods some ten years ago, Zach had done many of the repairs and updates. It had been a therapy of sorts.

  He found a ladder in the yard and propped it against the side and climbed up and inspected the roof. With some plywood and shingles, he could make this thing as good as new. Well, at least it would be a start. The way it was now, rain would continue to damage the structure to the point of no return. Maybe Heather would prefer that.

  Zach made a few mental notes, then climbed down the ladder. Far from the house so nobody would overhear, he decided to give Deputy Gates a call and ask him about Sarah Miller’s murder. Gates seemed more than eager to discuss the case that had marred his father’s tenure as sheriff.

  “There had been a vagrant passing through town at the time of Mrs. Miller’s disappearance. A middle-aged man who seemed to be homeless and acting strange. Might have had mental health issues. Anyway, he left town at the same time Sarah Miller went missing.”

  “Did anyone see Sarah with the man?”

  “Not per se. But Sarah had been in town one of the days the man was begging for food outside the grocery store. Her children remembered that she gave him food. The Amish are kind that way.”

  “And you think maybe he became fixated on Sarah because of this?” Zach let out a long breath. Unstable people had become obsessed with their victims over far less.

  “That was our best guess. But even with a sketch of the suspect widely distributed, no one identified the guy. Case grew cold.” The deputy cleared his throat. “Now it’s what, twenty-some years later? You’re not thinking about digging into this case, are you?”

  Zach turned and looked at the house. No one had come outside. “I guess the law enforcement side of me made me curious.”

  “Oh, plenty of people have been curious, but the case has gone unsolved. I’m afraid it’ll always be that way. It was a dark page in the quiet town’s history. My poor father, despite being retired, still brings up that case now and again.”

  “Sarah Miller’s body was found in the barn behind the Lapp property?”

  “Yeah...” Zach shifted his stance and hooked his thumbs into his belt. “Hard to say if her body had been there all along or if the murderer had dumped it there just prior to her being found.”

  “Didn’t the Millers use the barn?”

  “Sure did. But Sarah’s horse had gone missing, too. No reason to go into the stall without the horse.”

  “Did they ever find the horse?”

  “Yes, about a week later. An Amish farmer from the next district over brought it around once word reached him about Sarah’s disappearance.”

  Zach rubbed his jaw. “Thanks for the information.”

  Ending the call, Zach walked around to the front of the barn and entered it again, this time with a new awareness. It wasn’t a large barn, so the fact that her body had remained missing for a few days meant that it had either been moved or hidden.

  A little voice deep in his head scolded him for not just enjoying this fall day. And instead of appreciating the lull in the case against Fox and salvaging part of his vacation, he was mentally digging into a cold case.

  Totally not his job.

  But finding answers was important to Heather, so it had become important to him. He inspected the entire barn. Sun streamed in through the broken slats and dust particles floated in the air. A ladder was propped up against the loft. He hadn’t remembered seeing the ladder there the night they searched the barn for Fox. Perhaps one of the workmen had brought it in more recently. He grabbed a rung and shook it. Seemed sturdy enough.

  Carefully checking each ladder rung as he climbed, he reached the top and stepped into the loft. The strong sent of dried wood reached his nose. He crossed to the wall and slid open the loft door. He held on to the frame, realizing that though the drop to the grass below might not kill him, it wouldn’t feel good.

  And he had promised Heather he wouldn’t break his neck.

  From here, he had an unobstructed view across the yard to the upstairs bedrooms at the back of the house, including Heather’s. Someone could sit here and watch.

  A chill skittered down his spine. He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and turned on the flashlight. He shined it around the loft and
stopped when he found a fast-food restaurant bag crumpled up. He picked it up and carried it over to the light by the opening. Unfolding the bag slowly, he smelled the not-too-old scent of French fries.

  Strange.

  He rooted around the bag and found a receipt. He pulled it out and stared at it, blinking rapidly. It was dated yesterday afternoon.

  NINE

  Deputy Gates left with the fast-food garbage and the assurances that it was probably just some local kids taking advantage of an abandoned barn. Sloppy Sam and his crew, once contacted, assured the deputy that they all brought lunches from home. Just to cover all their bases, the deputy promised to check if the restaurant had any video of the person making the purchase at the time stamped on the receipt.

  Heather turned to Zach. “Do you think it’s something more?”

  Zach crossed his arms over his solid chest and sighed, which was far more telling than any words. “I thought it was important enough to call the sheriff’s department.”

  Ruthie sat rocking in one of the chairs next to the wood-burning stove. “Kids go up into barn lofts all the time. Even Amish kids. It’s a perfect place to party. No one can see you from the road.”

  “But it was just one bag. If it was a party, wouldn’t there be discarded beer bottles? More garbage? Not just one fast-food bag.”

  Zach touched her wrist. “We have no reason to think it was Fox.”

  Heather lifted an eyebrow at the mention of her ex-husband’s name. Of course she had been thinking it was Brian, but to hear Zach give voice to her suspicions made the fine hair on the back of her neck stand on edge. She cleared her throat. “Are we safe here?”

  “I’ll make sure you’re safe. We have an alarm system now, too.” The workers had installed it a few days ago. The modern technology may have detracted from the Amish vibe, but Heather had already felt safer at night when the alarm was activated.

  Ruthie pushed to her feet. “Everything will be fine. And we can’t let down our first guests tomorrow.”

  Heather nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Oh, wait...” She hustled into the kitchen and came back with a slip of paper. “I almost forgot with all this craziness going on. I got a last-minute reservation. A young woman wanted a place to stay as a writing retreat. Something about a book deadline and she was looking for some quiet.” She laughed nervously. “I hope I can provide the quiet she needs. Either that or fodder for her next story.”

  “Don’t think like that. This is great. We have a full house,” Ruthie said.

  “Yes.” Heather was afraid to allow the spark of hope flickering in her belly to burn bright.

  “Let’s continue with our plans as scheduled and not allow some garbage in the barn to throw us off course. Like Ruthie said, it was probably some kids.” Zach gently brushed his hand down Heather’s arm.

  “I talked to my boss right after the incident here,” Zach added. “He’s going to put a call out and have a search party fan out from the barn. Can’t hurt.”

  “But...” Heather stopped herself. She didn’t want to sound like a petulant child whining that she thought Brian was supposed to be dead, not having fast food in her barn.

  “It’s a precaution. That’s all. They’re not going to allow anything to happen to you. I’m not going to allow anything to happen to you.”

  Ruthie gestured with her bonneted head toward the stairs. “Let’s get the pink room ready. It has a nice chair and a desk. I’m sure our newest guest will love it. The afternoon light in the room is great, I mean if she’s going to be in there writing a book.” Ruthie drew up her shoulders and smiled brightly, as if work was a treat. “Isn’t this exciting?”

  Heather followed Ruthie upstairs. Her young employee’s enthusiasm was contagious.

  * * *

  Zach couldn’t sleep much, so he found himself patrolling the property, checking all the outbuildings, including the loft of the barn. The only thing that kept him company outside was the chill and the crickets.

  There was absolutely no sign of anyone.

  The stillness brought a certain peace to Zach, a man who was otherwise always on an assignment or surrounded by the buzz of his hometown. He enjoyed a certain energy from that, but stillness was good, too.

  He made his way around the property once again, but this time he slowed by the barn and turned around and stared up at the house. The way the land rose to meet the barn, it gave a clear view of the house. Once again, he wondered if Brian had watched the house—watched Heather—while snacking on French fries and a burger.

  Zach’s phone dinged and he glanced down. A new email had come in. Out of habit, he tapped through and opened it, surprised, or maybe not, that his boss was still awake at this hour and sending emails.

  As he read, his stomach dropped. The sheriff’s department hadn’t found anything suspicious on the fast-food restaurant’s video feed. The local high school basketball team and the requisite cheerleaders had gone in around that time for an after-school celebration. No sign of Fox. And since all indications were that Fox had perished, it was time for Zach to report back to the office. The U.S. Marshals office had other cases that now required his attention.

  Frustration heated his cheeks. He was not going to leave Heather. Not yet. Something in his gut told him this case wasn’t settled, the most obvious sign being that they hadn’t found Fox’s body. But it had been over a week. Where was it?

  A little voice whispered in Zach’s head. Not going to leave here because you think her life is in danger or because you don’t want to leave her?

  He honestly didn’t know the answer. Perhaps a little of both. Less of the first, more of the second. At least that was what he wanted to believe. He wanted Heather to be able to live out her dream in peace.

  It was after midnight. His boss was obviously up. Zach tapped the phone’s screen and lifted it to his ear.

  “Don’t you ever sleep?” Kenner said by way of greeting.

  “I could say the same thing.” Zach ran a hand over his hair. He could use a trim. He liked to keep it military short.

  “You got the email?”

  “Yeah. What case do you need me back for?”

  “A few. You know how it is. The caseload on your desk isn’t getting any smaller.”

  “But—” he turned his back to the house, not that anyone was awake and in earshot “—I had vacation I didn’t use when Fox escaped.”

  “I know.” His tone suggested he wasn’t going to give Zach any slack because of it. “But it’s been a couple weeks. We need you back in the office.”

  “What if I told you I wasn’t ready to come back? I need to stay to see this thing through.”

  “We both know Fox can’t still be out in the woods.”

  “I’m not going to feel Heather is safe until I see his body.”

  “Heather, huh? I know how personal this case is,” he said, his tone a mix of sympathy and understanding. “But perhaps you’ve made it even more personal.”

  Zach bit his tongue. Understanding he appreciated, sympathy not so much. The soft lilt of sympathy suggested that his boss thought he wasn’t thinking clearly. That he had allowed his personal feelings to cloud his professional judgment.

  “We both know this could drag on for weeks, months... It may never be resolved,” his boss said.

  Zach groaned. The thought of no closure twisted his gut. He needed to know Fox was dead. Then he could go back to his life knowing the man who had killed his sister wasn’t roaming free.

  “We’ve worked together for a long time. We’ve been friends for a long time,” Kenner added. “Don’t do this to yourself. Come back to the office. We’ll get you busy on another case.”

  “Can I give you my answer tomorrow? I’m not sure I’m ready to come home.”

  A long, tension-filled pause extended across the line. Finally his boss spoke. “I�
��ll give you till Monday morning. But I want your answer then.”

  “And if I don’t come back?”

  “I’m not going to lie. We need you here, and if you defy a direct order, it will affect your career.”

  “I’ll take my chances.” Zach pressed End and slid the phone back into his pocket.

  A twig snapped behind him and he spun around as he reached for his gun.

  Heather’s hands came up and her wide eyes glistened in the moonlight. “It’s me. It’s me.”

  Zach’s heart was up in his throat. “Haven’t you ever heard you’re not supposed to sneak up on a guy who has a gun?”

  “I didn’t want to interrupt your phone call.” A hint of annoyance edged her tone. “Was that work?”

  “Yeah.” He started walking toward the house, not comfortable with having Heather out here in the open in the middle of the night. “Come on.” He touched the small of her back.

  Heather glanced up at him as they walked toward the house. “Yeah, it was work. But it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

  “Please don’t do that to me. I’m not a little delicate flower.”

  Shame heated his cheeks. “I’m sorry. My boss got info back on the video at the fast-food restaurant. Nothing indicates Fox purchased the food at the time on the receipt found in the loft.”

  “That’s good, right?” She tilted her head, but he didn’t want to meet her gaze. “Dead men don’t get hungry, right?”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “No, they don’t.”

  “Does this mean you’re leaving?”

  She must have overheard his conversation.

  “I have to decide by Monday.”

  Heather held out her hands, indicating the house and the land surrounding them. “I think we have everything under control. I can’t ask you to stay, even though the barn roof ain’t gonna fix itself.”

  Zach laughed. “Yeah, maybe it is time to go home.”

  * * *

  Heather ran the dust rag over the oak of the rockers, more for something to do than out of necessity. The house was ready. More than ready.