Safe Hearts (Amish Safe House, Book 3)

by Ruth Hartzler

  “I agree with that sentiment completely,” Beth replied. “Now, I need to be getting back to work, but feel free to finish up your work in the garden so you can go get ready for that dinner.” She smiled before disappearing toward the kitchen.

  As Kate walked out of the front door and headed back toward the garden, she wondered what would happen once her boss arrived. The last thing she wanted was for these people that had become her friends, to think she was nothing but a liar. She knew they would forgive her regardless of her actions and lies, but the thought of disappointing them tore at her.

  Kate went to the barn to get a root cutter, and walked over to the next row that needed to be weeded. Kate dropped back down to her knees and began working, but her mind would not stop thinking about Glen Tryston. She felt his impending encroachment, but still wasn’t sure what she was could do about it.

  Proverbs 1: 7.

  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

  Chapter 11.

  Kate glanced up at the clock and realized that dinnertime was fast approaching. It was already getting late, so she decided that she would leave for Beckie’s house shortly. She was slightly apprehensive about letting her guard down before her boss showed up, but she hadn’t been able to find it in herself to decline the offer of a thank you dinner by Jeremiah and his cousin.

  She closed the door to her cabin and locked up. Kate felt for the phone in her secret pocket to make sure she wasn’t leaving it behind, and as she gripped it, she remembered the last conversation she had with David Harper. He said that he was not too far away, and that had instilled her with enough faith to believe that everything would be over soon, that everything would be okay.

  Kate approached her buggy. When the horse was hitched and ready to go, she climbed into the carriage and grabbed the reins. With a quick crackle, the buggy jolted forward until it was moving at a steady pace. She smiled and looked back at Beth’s house as it shrank in the distance. She wondered if that was going to be one of the last times she would ever see the property again.

  As she drove along the narrow lane, Kate heard a strange, fluttering sound and looked up. She watched a flock of birds as they flapped furiously above her head, moving in the opposite direction of which she was traveling. She scrunched her brows at the sight; it was almost like they were running from something.

  As the horse trotted steadily around the bend down the dusty lane, a large, black object came slowly into view. It was initially obstructed by trees, but when she cleared the corner, the car became fully visible. Apprehension gripped her, making it difficult for her to breathe. She leaned closer for a better look at the vehicle, and gently pulled at the reins to slow her horse.

  Kate let out a shriek as the tail-lights went dark, and the car slowly moved forward. As she got closer, the black Ford pulled out onto the road and slowed to a crawl. “Oh no!” she said, realizing that it was, in all likelihood, Glen Tryston.

  As panic overwhelmed her, Kate slumped down into the buggy seat, even though she was still quite far away from being visible to the driver of the car in front of her. She pulled the cell phone from her hidden pocket and dialed her boss. The horse continued trotting along as the ringing sounds in her ear threatened to drive her mad. It went on incessantly until David Harper’s voicemail answered the call.

  She gazed out over the road. “David!” Kate scanned her surroundings, hoping to find some way to identify her location so she could tell her boss where she was. She looked along the sides of the road as the buggy drew closer and closer to the mysterious car that threatened to block her path. As searched for a street name, a small, sign finally caught her attention. “I think Glen was waiting for me to leave the house. I have a black car in front of me on Bradley Lane. At first he was parked on the grass, but he pulled out as I got closer, and now it looks like he stopped.” She paused and watched in terror as the driver’s side door swung open.

  Kate ended the call in a panic and slid the phone back into her pocket. She whipped her head about, hoping to find a way to escape, but the road was far too narrow to turn the buggy around in one go, and she knew that she would never make it far on foot.

  A man emerged from the car. He was wearing a black suit, black gloves, and a pair of sunglasses. It was Glen Tryston.

  Kate figured that he might not recognize. After all, she wore Amish clothing, had her hair up in a bonnet, and not a single spec of makeup sat on her face. It was a complete contrast to the way she used to look as a U.S. Marshal, so she prayed that he wouldn’t recognize her.

  The buggy was only a few yards away when the man began walking toward her. Kate started to think about various ways in which she could approach the impending conversation, but with it happening so quickly, she knew that she just had to improvise. “Hello there, are you lost? Do you need some directions, sir?”

  Glen walked up to the car and pulled off his glasses, letting his eyes scan the buggy and its sole passenger. He stood right by the doorway and looked at her intently, but said nothing.

  “Sir? Do you need help with something? Is your car having problems?”

  A strange smile slowly cracked across the man’s face as he stood completely still, never letting his eyes fall from hers. “I’m exactly where I want to be right now,” he said in an eerie tone. Kate looked back at him, as time seemed to slow. Silence permeated the air for what felt like several minutes, but then he spoke in a slow, raspy tone. “Hello, Kate.”

  Fear gripped her without warning, but before she could say anything to Glen, he lunged for her and pulled her from the buggy. She swatted at his arms, knocking them away and buying herself some time to get out of the buggy. Kate pushed her way out, but as she hit the ground, she stumbled, falling to her knees.

  She quickly pulled herself up, but when she turned around, she saw Glen standing there with a look of satisfaction on his face. Next to his evil-looking grin was a gun; he held it firmly in his hands, aiming it directly at her. “Let’s go. Walk toward me,” he said. His voice sounded void of emotion, and the tone of his words sent chills up her arms.

  Horror engulfed Kate’s thinking process as she stepped toward the gunman, causing everything in her mind to sound like gibberish as she tried to sift through her own thoughts. Then, she sensed movement out of the corner of her eyes and glanced over in its direction. She squinted slightly to make sure what she was seeing was real. Was that Ryan pulling up to Glen’s car from the opposite direction? The realization quickly erased her fears and filled her with strength and courage.

  With her renewed sense of bravery, Kate cycled through a list of options in her mind, but since they were few and far between, she immediately made a decision. She walked slowly toward Glen as he continued calling out for her to approach him. “Hurry up; we don’t have all day,” he said through a satisfied smirk.

  Kate clenched her teeth together and walked onward. No matter how the events were about to unfold, she knew the entire mess was going to end soon. One way or another, this chapter of her story was about to reach its conclusion.

  “Okay, now stop,” Glen shouted. Kate ignored his orders and continued to close in on him. She walked slowly, but made sure he knew that she had no intention of stopping. “Kate, I will shoot you right here, right now. Don’t make me!”

  “Even with a cop right behind you?” she yelled.

  Glen’s eyes enlarged as astonishment wiped away the complacency from his face. As she had hoped, he whipped his head around to look for the cop she had mentioned, but Ryan was still trying to make his way toward the pair on foot. Glen kept his gun trained on Kate as he looked over his shoulder, but she made her move anyway.

  Jumping forward with all the speed she could muster, Kate lowered her right shoulder and rushed him, hitting Glen right in the stomach as she brought her arms around his torso and tackled him to the ground. She felt the gun hit her back as it rolled out of his fingers and clanked to the ground somewhere beyond them. T
he pain was moderate, but now she knew she had the upper hand for sure.

  The harsh impact had dizzied them both, but Kate was able to regain her composure more quickly than Glen. She pulled herself up and rolled him over, forcing his hands together behind his back. She then knelt down on them, keeping his hands pinned until Ryan got to them. “This is over, Glen. You should never have turned your back on the Marshals.”

  “They turned their backs on me long before I ever started working for Victor Daxton.”

  “Whatever your excuses are, they hold no weight,” Kate said. “You’re a disgrace to everything and everyone you swore to protect.”

  Glen squealed and mumbled nonsense under his breath as he struggled to get free. Kate trembled as he squirmed beneath her, trying to wrestle away his captor. She pushed down even harder, and after a few moments, she heard the sound of footsteps running toward her. When Kate looked up, she saw Ryan approaching with his gun drawn and a look of astonishment on his face.

  “Ryan, can I use your handcuffs?”

  Without saying a word, he slowly reached down and pulled them from his utility belt. He looked up at Kate and extended the cuffs to her. She could see so much emotion in his eyes that it almost hurt her to keep eye contact with him. She grabbed for the constraints and then looked back down at her attacker. She clamped the cuffs around his wrists and stood up. Then, with Ryan’s assistance, Kate pulled Glen Tryston to his feet. He dropped his head forward and spat at the ground in defiance.

  Kate exchanged glances with Ryan, who was clearly shocked. She assumed he was at a loss for words, because his eyes were speaking much louder than his vocal chords were. She yanked the bonnet from her hair and let it fall from her hands.

  Kate looked at Ryan. He looked down at the ground briefly, but then gazed back up at her. He then motioned toward his car, so she nodded. They walked the prisoner to his cop car and placed him in the backseat. After Ryan shut the door, Glen pressed his face against the window. A look of pure hatred and anger covered his face as he stared at Kate. At the same time, Kate heard the sound of tires on the road behind her. She turned around to see David Harper running toward her. His unmarked cruiser sat on the side of the road behind him with its door still open.

  He ran by Ryan and flashed his U.S. Marshal’s badge, but ignored him in every other regard. “Thank goodness you’re okay, Kate!” He exclaimed. “Did you get hurt at all?”

  Kate shook her head. “No, not really. When I took him down, his gun hit my back and fell to the ground somewhere, so we need to find it. Other than a possible bruise or two, I think I got the better of him. Not to mention that Ryan showed up just in time. I was able to use him as a diversion.”

  Harper smiled. “Good. I was so worried when I heard your voicemail. Luckily, everything went in our favor.”

  Kate looked away; she wasn’t quite sure she agreed with his sentiments.

  David was still beaming. “It looks like we finally caught the mole, and you’re safe, so I think this has been a fairly successful day, has it not?”

  Kate frowned. Glen had finally been stopped, and she would no longer have to live in fear or hiding, but something still didn’t feel right. Then, she looked back at Ryan, who was still staring at her blankly, his face contorted with shock and disbelief. She turned back to David Harper and sighed before speaking. “You can say that the day was successful after I talk to Ryan and let him know who I really am.”

  He shot her a sympathetic look, but his voice didn’t offer the same level of empathy. “Kate, there are more important things to worry about than what a cop in a small town thinks of you. You did a great thing today. Don’t let anything diminish your accomplishment.”

  Kate sighed. “Yes, sir,” she said in defeat.

  David Harper paced back and forth for a minute or two before continuing. “We’ll need to interview Glen as soon as possible. I’ll ask the officer to meet us back at the station so we can question the prisoner. Let’s see if he’ll talk.”

  Psalm 91: 1 – 16.

  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.

  Chapter 12.

  During the trip to the police station, Kate’s mind was riddled with questions and concerns. Her thoughts focused on nothing other than getting down to the bottom of the pile of questions. Why, of all people, did Glen Tryston turn on his colleagues and accept a contract to harm one of them? What could possibly have been worth betraying everything he worked for?

  As the tree line subsided and the police station came into view, Kate felt more like a law enforcement official than she had in a long time. The one thing that weighed heavily on her mind, however, was the tried and true belief that no officers should be involved in investigating their own cases. The conflict of interest and level of bias could prove detrimental to any court proceedings, but Kate suspected that her boss would not try to stop her from speaking to Glen. The problem was that something inside her seemed to tense up whenever she thought about what she was going to ask the suspect.

  David Harper pulled into the parking area behind the police station. “Looks like you’ve learned quite a lot about the life out here, eh?” he said, nodding toward her Amish clothes.

  Kate laughed. “You wouldn’t believe half of what I’ve learned since moving out here. I’ve met some of the most amazing people you could ever be blessed to know.”

  Her boss chuckled and then made a call. After speaking for a while, he motioned for Kate to follow him. “I was just on the phone with your cop buddy. He said they have Tryston waiting for us in Interrogation Room 1. You ready for this?” Harper turned back to her and smiled.

  “Do you think it could hurt our case if I go into the room for the interview?”

  Harper shook his head. “No. There is no way you are going to miss out on this. What he did is a federal crime. He stole and accessed top secret files in order to take out people we were sworn to protect. This case isn’t just about you, Kate. It isn’t just about me, either. It’s about every single marshal in the agency, their families, and every single citizen in this country that could have been negatively affected by Glen’s actions. Yes, you were most likely his final target, but that sounds like the best reason to have you in there with me.”

  Kate wasn’t sure if a smile was appropriate at that moment, but the reassurance and encouragement from her boss filled her with confidence, something she had struggled to hold onto lately. “If that’s how you feel, then I’d like nothing more than to help you talk to Glen and find out why he betrayed us.”

  “Then you’re about to get your chance. Come on,” he said, waving his hand once more.

  Kate followed Harper as he headed for the front door. She looked around as they entered the main entrance and walked into the lobby. She noticed a police officer as he sat behind a pane of thick glass and answered the telephones. A cup filled with a steaming brown liquid sat on his desk in a puddle of its own making. She caught the aroma of the stale, unwelcoming coffee.

  David Harper smiled and shook his head. He then walked up to the counter and tried calling to the officer, but it took several minutes before he was able to get the man’s attention.

  “What can I help you with, sir?” the man said as he straightened his hat.

  Harper flashed his identification badge and explained the situation. “Officer Ryan Weaver said the suspect is ready for our interview in Room 1.”

  The officer flipped through one of the clipboards on his desk. Kate watched as his eyes jumped up and down, scanning the pages for a specific bit of data. As the man was still looking, Ryan walked up behind him and placed his finger on the paper. The cop then le
aned closer to read what was being pointed out. “Oh, I’m sorry sir. Here it is! Mr. Glen Tryston is currently being held without bail and is in Interrogation Room 1. Here’s the key to the room. Please return it before you leave the premises.”

  “Thanks again, Weaver,” David said.

  Kate and Ryan exchanged glances as he nodded to her boss, but the look in his eyes told her that he was still in shock from the revelation of her secret. He turned away and disappeared into another room before she could say anything. Kate sighed as Harper nodded to the officer at the desk as he accepted the key from him. “It should be right down this hallway,” he said, walking past the desk toward a corridor near the back of the lobby.

  As they walked through the police station, Kate could hear the monotony of law enforcement that she had almost entirely forgotten: the incessant ringing of phones, the chirping of the radios, and the constant buzzing and transmissions of random code words and numbers. Kate sure did miss the atmosphere of places like that, but she felt a bit sad when she realized that the tradeoff involved saying goodbye to the friends and lifestyle that she had grown rather fond of lately.

  Kate continued behind David as they approached the end of the corridor. A large, brown door stood at the dead end. “This looks like the place,” David said, sticking the key into its slot. With a quick turn, the door slid open to reveal Glen Tryston sitting with his face down at the only table in the room. He occupied one chair, and another was placed across from him.

  Kate walked in slowly, letting her boss lead the interview. She went over to one of the corners of the room and leaned against the wall with her arms folded. She noticed the double sided mirror that lined the wall beside her. Kate wondered if Ryan might be hiding behind it, looking in at them. She still needed to talk to him and explain everything. She sighed without thinking, but quickly regained her composure. Now wasn’t the time to worry about those things. She knew she had to be on her A-game for the interview.