Katie pointed toward the doorway. “Your ride is here.”
He backed toward the door. “I’ll stay in Sugarcreek until someone comes from Cleveland to get me. Then we’ll go check out that wedding.”
She nodded, telling herself this is exactly what she wanted him to do. “I’m sure there will be plenty of people relieved that you are okay.”
His laugh was gruff. “My captain will be relieved, but no one else cares.”
“Someone else must care, Rollin. Your family?”
“Most of my family is gone.” He hesitated. “I’ll have to visit Lance’s mother and tell her what happened to her son. She cares about him.”
The tears came unbidden again, and she blinked them back. “I don’t envy you.”
“He was a terrible detective,” Rollin said. “But he was a good kid.”
“His mother will be devastated.”
Rollin took another step away from her. “Yes, she will.”
In the yard, Erma handed Isaac a basket of eggs to sell in town and then stepped away. Isaac waved his hat at them.
“He’s ready for you,” she said.
Rollin nodded, watching her. “I have to go.”
He lingered for another moment by the door before he went outside. There was nothing else for either of them to say. She and Henry would go back to life as normal when he was gone, and she would marry Jonas Miller.
Marry Jonas Miller.
The thought made her heart tumble.
Moving toward the window, she watched Rollin climb into the buggy. Henry hollered from the barn and came tearing across the yard like a swarm of bees was chasing him. Rollin hopped back down and held out his hand, but Henry didn’t shake it. Instead he wrapped his arms around Rollin’s legs and hugged him.
Katie tapped her fingers against the glass, her tears brimming now. If only she could tell Rollin the truth. Maybe she wouldn’t have to marry Jonas Miller. Maybe she could…
Rollin turned, catching her face in the window, and he lifted his hat to wave to her again. She turned away from the window and escaped back into the safety of the house.
The outside was Rollin’s world. She belonged inside these walls.
*
Buggies rolled slowly by the crowded IGA market in Sugarcreek. Outside the store, wooden crates and bins were filled with raspberries, blueberries, and bananas, and inside the window, Rollin could see the aisles packed with customers and their carts.
Across from the store, people were setting up booths for the Sugarcreek Street Fair that he’d read about in the newspaper. Part of him wished he could stay one more day in Sugarcreek so he could take Henry to the fair. Katie would never allow her son to go up in an airplane, but surely she couldn’t argue with a merry-go-round.
He rounded the corner of the grocery store and eyed the automobiles and buggies in the parking lot before he opened the telephone booth door. No one seemed to be watching him in his Amish shirt and straw hat, but he still nudged the hat a little lower on his forehead before he dialed the precinct number.
As the telephone rang, he could only imagine the uproar at the precinct today. Malloy yelling at his subordinates to find him and Lance, worried out of his mind with two of his detectives still missing from the weekend. They’d be down here in a few hours, and they’d sniff around until they discovered what the Cardanos were doing.
When the dispatcher accepted his call, he wanted to cheer.
“Peter!” he said. “I’m so glad to speak with you.”
“Wells?”
“I’m all right.”
“How’s the sunshine?” Peter asked.
“Sunshine?” He glanced up at the blue sky. “Is Malloy there?”
“He left for a meeting down at city hall an hour ago, but he was anxious to know if you called,” Peter said. “A few of us don’t think you or Dawson are ever coming back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know, with all that Florida water and sunshine and beautiful dames. We’re all jealous that Malloy sent you down there.”
“Sent us?” He switched the receiver to the other ear. “We’re not in Florida.”
“Right.” Peter laughed. “Malloy said you might play it dumb, but he let me in on the secret.”
Rollin twisted the mouthpiece in his hands, trying to understand why Peter wasn’t worried about him. And why he kept talking about Florida. “What secret?”
Peter lowered his voice. “That you’re working undercover in Miami.”
Miami? “Malloy doesn’t know where I am.”
“The captain said what you and Dawson were doing was very important, but he wouldn’t tell us specifics. A few of us are betting that you followed Raymond Cardano down there.”
“Followed Raymond… On second thought, don’t tell Malloy that I called.”
“But he’ll want to know.”
“I’ll call him back tonight when I have more information for him.”
“He hates surprises.”
“He hates the wrong information even more.”
Peter agreed. “I told the boys that Dawson probably went to the beach the moment you got down there.”
The memory of his friend clenched his gut again. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”
Peter pounded something. “I knew it.”
Rollin slumped back against the wall as he hung up the phone. The precinct was supposed to be frantic right now, searching for him and Lance. But Malloy wasn’t there, and even worse, he’d told the others that he and Lance were in Miami.
Why would Malloy lie to the men?
Either he didn’t want them to panic that two of his detectives were missing, or… He was working another angle.
He shivered. So many of the police and judges had been bought out by corrupt families like the Cardanos and Puglisis over the past ten years. They served the gangsters instead of the people in Cleveland.
Was it possible that his boss had turned on them too?
Malloy had hired Rollin back in 1920. He’d told him that he recognized a thirst for justice in Rollin that few men had—a drive to find out who had murdered Liz. Malloy was legendary in their precinct. He’d brought down more criminals than any other detective in Cleveland.
A bee buzzed over his shoulder and landed on his hand. Rollin held up his hand, examining the fuzzy yellow and black stripes on its back. The bee was an unassuming creature, if you didn’t know about its powerful sting. But if it were startled, it would fight back with a vengeance, even though using its stinger would end its life.
Malloy had directed Rollin and Lance to his friend at the library, and Quincy pointed them here. Did Quincy tell Malloy where they were going? And if so, what had his captain done with the information?
He reached out and fingered the black cord on the phone. He didn’t want to alert anyone on the force who may be working for the other side.
Gilbert Simmons, his old partner, had retired to the shore along Lake Erie last fall. He could ask Gilbert to do a little sniffing around, but he didn’t want to put him or his family in danger. He needed to speak with someone who was already in danger.
Picking up the mouthpiece, he dialed the telephone again. Celeste might pretend she’d never heard of Sugarcreek, but she knew something about what was happening here. And she had to tell him what was going on.
He gave the operator the name of Raymond Cardano and waited as she tried to connect his call to the Cardano residence. If Salvatore answered his call, he would hang up.
In the corner of his eye, a black automobile turned at the corner and into the IGA parking lot. One of the Lincolns. He slammed the mouthpiece back onto the phone.
The Lincoln cruised through the parking lot, and Rollin turned his face away from them. He shouldn’t stay outside while the Cardano men were sniffing around. There was nothing he could do to defend himself or any innocent bystanders who might get in their way.
His hands behind his back, he forced himself not to rush
as he walked into the IGA and found Isaac standing dumbfounded in an aisle, trying to pick out Jell-O for Erma.
“Which flavor does she want?” Rollin asked.
Isaac shook his head. “She told me to surprise her.”
“Surprises are dangerous,” he muttered.
“Peach. Cherry. Chocolate,” Isaac said, reading the labels.
Rollin stole a glance back toward the front of the store, but he couldn’t see the window. “What would your grandson like?”
Isaac turned to him. “Grandson?”
Rollin rolled his neck. Why did everything seem so confusing today? “Henry,” he said, like Isaac didn’t know the name of his own grandson.
Isaac picked up the cherry Jell-O. “Henry’s my nephew.”
Rollin watched Isaac examine the Jell-O box. He’d been referring to Erma as Katie’s mother, and she hadn’t corrected him. Not that it was any of his business, but why was she trying to hide her relationship with the Lehmans from him? These days, it felt like everyone was trying to hide something from him.
Isaac put the cherry Jell-O back on the shelf and reached for the chocolate one, studying it in his hand.
Rollin felt like he was a modern-day Robinson Crusoe, stranded on an island with a friendly native named Isaac who didn’t know what to do with him or how to get him home to Cleveland. He didn’t know who he could trust outside the island to help him either. He was helpless, and he hated being helpless.
Isaac put back the chocolate one and stared at all the flavors again.
If they didn’t leave soon, the gangsters might trap them in here. “Maybe you should surprise Erma and buy all three.”
Isaac contemplated the idea for a moment and then pulled three boxes off the shelf. “Did you make your call?”
Rollin nodded his head.
“When are your friends coming for you?”
He hesitated. “They’re not coming.”
Isaac turned, searching his face. “Why not?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Something strange is going on.”
Rollin followed Isaac and his three boxes of gelatin to the register. Outside the store’s front window, he could see the black Lincoln parked in the midst of the other automobiles and buggies. The market door opened and two men in suits and dark fedoras walked inside.
Isaac stepped beside Rollin to block him from the men’s view as the cashier handed Isaac the change for his dollar. Rollin didn’t turn, but he felt someone behind him. Isaac nudged his arm, and they hurried out of the store.
As he and Isaac walked through the door, Rollin glanced back at the men paying for something at the register. He recognized both men from the Cleveland streets, but he didn’t know their names. He hoped they wouldn’t recognize him.
Rollin climbed into the left side of the buggy, waiting for Isaac to speak.
“What are you going to do now?” the older man asked.
Rollin leaned back against the seat. He would have to find out what the Cardanos were planning by himself. “Go visit the Bowman farm.”
CHAPTER 19
Jonas pushed the porch swing back and forth with his boots as Katie and he watched the colors of the sunset seep across the sky. Her bare feet were tucked under her skirt, and in the quietness, she struggled to keep her eyes open. Her chin dropped to her neck, and she jolted back up, blinking her eyes. Trying to stay awake.
Jonas glanced over at her. “Are you cold?”
“No.”
He pushed the swing again. “Thirsty?”
“I’m fine,” she said with a sigh. “Just tired.”
“You should go to bed.”
She shook her head. “I want to wait until Isaac comes home.”
Days ago, she had been driving to see Jonas to tell him the truth about her past and to tell him that she had decided to join the Amish church, but now she didn’t know what she wanted. Marriage was forever, and she wasn’t certain that an Amish life was what forever should look like for her and Henry.
Her gaze wandered to the road below the house. Isaac would be back any minute now, without Rollin Wells. It was good that Rollin was gone from their lives, but he still left behind a vacancy that she couldn’t explain. She didn’t want to feel this vacancy nor the thrill that Rollin brought to her heart. She wanted to stay contented with the life she’d built for her and Henry in Sugarcreek.
She closed her eyes again, leaning back against the swing.
When she left Cleveland, she didn’t have many options. The Amish lifestyle was the only choice she’d had at the time, the best escape from the people who wanted her dead. Isaac and Erma welcomed her and Henry into their home with open arms.
Now she was no longer Nikki Cardano. She was Katie Lehman. Even though she was plain in her dress, she felt like she had come alive as Henry’s mother and Isaac and Erma’s niece. People needed her, and they loved her. And she loved the people in her community.
Still, she wasn’t convinced that she should join the Amish faith. Some days, when she visited the village, she dreamed about what it would be like to live on the outside again. As long as she didn’t go back to Cleveland, she could be free from the strict rules of her family and the Amish community.
But if she married Jonas Miller, she would trade any hope of freedom for security.
She rubbed her hands over her bare arms. Freedom was overrated. She needed security for her and for Henry.
Jonas scooted closer, and she opened her eyes again. The bright colors of the sunset rained down on her.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“All my blessings.”
“They are many. For both of us.”
“How are the Yoders?” she asked.
“They are well.” He pushed the swing again. “Whoever was chasing Rollin Wells has left them alone.”
“They are afraid,” she whispered.
He turned to look at her. “The Yoders aren’t afraid.”
Biting the side of her lip, she didn’t respond to him. She hadn’t meant the Yoders. She meant the men chasing Rollin were afraid—of losing their prey and of being exposed.
“Have you seen the automobiles again?”
“Ya, I have seen them on the road,” he said. “But they haven’t come on the Yoders’ property again.”
“Goot.”
As long as the men didn’t approach the Amish members, she and the others would be fine.
“I was thinking about going to the street fair this weekend.” He paused. “Would you like to get ice cream with me on Sunday?”
She smiled. “Henry loves ice cream.”
“I wasn’t asking Henry.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I was hoping to spend time with just you.”
“I see.”
He hesitated. “You don’t want to go with me alone, do you?”
Her answer would wound him, so she stayed silent. She didn’t want to hurt him.
“The last time we spoke…” he said. “You were going to make a decision.”
The chains on the porch swing creaked as they rocked again. There was too much happening in her mind right now to make a decision about the church or about him.
“I’m still thinking, Jonas.”
“What…what is stopping you?” The questioning in his voice panged with hurt. In her attempt not to wound him, she was being more than unfair. She was being cruel.
“It’s a big decision for me to decide if I want to spend the rest of my life as an Amish woman.”
“I thought you decided that when you came to Sugarcreek.”
She shook her head. “I was only planning to visit for a time.”
“And yet you stayed.”
“I love it here, Jonas, but when I decide to join the church, if I decide, I will never turn away from that decision.”
“Do you have a problem with our church?” He hesitated, pushing the swing again with his heels. “Or is your problem with me?”
“Jonas…”
He
stopped her. “Because you can join the church without marrying me.”
She looked at him, but his eyes were focused on the hills beyond the house and on the setting sun.
It didn’t matter that Rollin was gone from her life forever. It didn’t matter that she may never marry at all. She had waited too long to give this good man her word.
If she married Jonas, she would marry him for security—not love. And because he would be a good father. Jonas didn’t want to marry her to have a son—he could always have children. He was marrying her because he wanted a wife “You’re right,” she finally said.
“About what?”
“I almost joined the church so I could marry you.”
“You aren’t planning to join it?”
“Not now.”
His heels stomped on the porch, stopping the swing, and when his eyes bored into hers, she struggled to catch her breath. Jonas Miller was the best catch in their whole community, but he wasn’t for her. And she couldn’t marry him when her mind kept thinking about another man, hadn’t ever stopped thinking about him since she left Cleveland so long ago.
“Do you think you will ever want to marry me?” Jonas’s words hung between them, and in that moment, the decision couldn’t be more clear. The time had come for him to begin visiting Greta Hershberger or another Amish woman who would thrive on being Jonas Miller’s wife.
She hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
“I can’t marry you, Jonas.”
His gaze dropped, and he scooted against the far side of the swing, the gulf between them widening until it seemed like they were on opposite sides of a canyon. If either of them crept too close to the edge, they might plunge over and injure themselves.
“You are certain?” he asked.
“I am.”
He paused. “What about your baptism?”
“I don’t know.”
He stood up in front of the swing and placed his straw hat on his head. “You need to do what God requires of you.”
“I wish I knew what He required.”
The whisper of Prince’s gait traveled up the driveway, and she was grateful for the interruption. And grateful that Isaac was home again. She stepped off the porch to greet Isaac, and in the fading light, she realized that Isaac wasn’t alone in the buggy.
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