Undercover Amish (Covert Police Detectives Unit Series Book 1)

by Ashley Emma

  He would return home to find it missing, and she would lead him to believe that whoever had put it there had taken it back while he was walking her home.

  Finally, she had some evidence. A threat. That was good. If she was lucky, the perp had been stupid enough to leave prints. She couldn’t wait to call Captain Branson and have Jeff pick it up.

  Chapter Ten

  After a sleepless night of deliberating and praying, Isaac pretended he was making a normal trip into town as he hitched up his horse and buggy the next morning. He was a horrible liar, so he was glad no one had asked him where he was going.

  Finally, it was a warm day, and almost all the snow was gone. His horse, Rocket, plodded along. Tension began to twist inside him. How was he supposed to return home after this and act like nothing had changed? How would he hide his uneasiness as he constantly wondered when someone would realize what he had done?

  He was breaking the rules. He had never really deliberately done that before. His whole life he had carefully, willingly obeyed the rules, but now he had to do what he thought was best.

  I’m sorry, God. I have been taught my whole life that You don’t want us to be violent or to kill another human being for any reason. And it is not that I don’t trust You. But I hope You understand when I say this is something I have to do. I hope You forgive me, if this truly is wrong.

  Wasn’t there an example of self-defense in the Bible? As he tried to think of one, he could think of verses explaining how the human body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t God want the Amish to protect themselves from danger? When David killed Goliath, God had supported him. Wouldn’t God support Isaac in protecting himself and those he loved?

  Personally, this is what he thought was the right thing to do in this situation. He felt as though God would be all right with it, too. Even if it was a sin, he couldn’t just stand by uselessly like he had last time and let Liv go unprotected. Not again.

  He hitched his buggy up to the local outdoorsman store and barely noticed the strange looks he got from people walking down the street. They probably weren’t from here and weren’t used to seeing the Amish at a store. Maybe they thought the Amish were so antiquated that they simply made everything and that they never shopped. Sometimes the way outsiders viewed his people annoyed him. How people fit them all into a box of quaint perfection.

  Well, the Amish were not perfect, and Isaac knew that. They were people, too, and they were flawed. Everyone seemed to think they lived perfect, sheltered lives and were immune to the evil of this world.

  Now they had someone evil targeting their formerly peaceful community. Maybe nothing would ever be the same.

  Isaac walked into the small store and strode right up to the gun counter. He had been here before several times for hunting gear, and he knew right where the gun counter was. He could not lie to himself. His eyes had curiously lingered on the sleek black handguns for too long more than once.

  “How can I help you?” the clerk asked.

  Isaac wore the most normal looking clothing he had. This clerk was new, so he probably had no idea Isaac was Amish.

  “I need a handgun for self-protection. Nothing too fancy, not too big,” Isaac explained.

  “I’ve got this one.” The clerk lifted an expensive looking pistol out from under the glass countertop.

  “How much is it?” Isaac asked bluntly. The clerk showed him the price and it was more than he could afford, so he declined.

  “Well, I do have this used Walther P99. It’s great for self-protection.” The clerk rested the black pistol in Isaac’s flat, outstretched hands.

  Isaac knew the gun was unloaded but he acted like it was loaded, not touching the trigger and keeping it pointed away from the clerk. It was a nice firearm. Not too heavy, and not too big. He would easily be able to hide it.

  “I’ll take it. I’ll need bullets too, please.” He expected a wave of guilt to arise, but instead the guilt waned. A sense of peace settled over him. He’d made the right decision.

  He reached into his pocket for the photo ID he had gotten during his Rumspringa. Since the Amish are against having their photo taken, they do not normally have photo IDs, but Isaac had always kept his hidden in a drawer in his house. He felt as though he might need it someday.

  Looked like he was right.

  He drove back home, almost feeling cocky. If this guy came back for him or Liv, he wouldn’t expect an armed Amish man. It was simply unheard of.

  After taking care of his horse and buggy he loaded the gun. Then he heard a painful scream. What was happening now, in broad daylight? He threw on a jacket, hid the weapon inside the waist of his pants, and ran toward the scream. He hoped it wasn’t Liv or one of their families.

  Please God, protect them. And give me courage.

  He ran down the lane toward the sounds of the cries. Smoke rose in the distance. Was that Sid Hoffman’s place?

  He turned and ran down the lane Sid lived on, passing trees that blocked his view, then skidded to a stop. Flames ravaged Sid’s barn.

  Who would set a barn on fire in the middle of the day?

  Someone either very stupid, very bold, or very stealthy. Perhaps all three.

  Isaac looked around for the arsonist, but he knew the guy would be long gone by now. Instead, he ran up to Mrs. Johnson, who had probably been the one who had screamed.

  “Has someone called the fire department?” Isaac demanded.

  “Yes! Sid is now.” Mrs. Johnson wiped tears with her sleeve. “How could someone do this to us? When will they stop?”

  Isaac considered his options. There was no way they would be able to put out a fire that size. There were no animals in sight. They had to still be in there.

  Isaac ran into the burning barn, ignoring Mrs. Johnson screaming for him to stop, ignoring the sudden fear rising in his chest. He coughed in the thick smoke and looked around frantically. Only one side of the barn was burning, so he ran to the other side and let out Sid’s pig, goats, and horses. His eyes stung, but he worked quickly, and in a chaotic blur, the animals escaped and he stumbled out of the barn.

  Liv came barreling around the corner and stopped when she saw Sid’s barn, with Isaac running out of it. She stared at the fire, and Isaac swore he could see the burning flames reflecting in her eyes. She was clearly having a flashback of when her family had died.

  Was this the same arsonist?

  Liv covered her mouth with her hands as if to hold back a cry. She stared for a moment at the horrific scene, then turned away, shoulders shuddering. Isaac ran to her and put his arm around her.

  “Sorry, I just remembered—” she whispered. “And you were in there. It made me think of—”

  “Shh. I know, but everyone is okay.” He gave her what he hoped was a comforting side hug. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and let her cry on his shoulder, but he couldn’t with the bishop’s widow standing there.

  After a moment, she pulled herself together and hid her emotions well. Even though no one else noticed her pain, Isaac saw straight through her serious and calm charade.

  “Hey, Liv. This might be bad timing, but the note was gone when I got home last night. Do you know what might have happened to it?”

  Liv looked up at him with eyes that looked like they would spill over with tears at any moment. She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe the criminal took it back?”

  That meant the criminal had probably broken into his house again. Isaac was so glad he had bought a gun. Hopefully he could get in some target practice that afternoon or the next day. He’d be ready for the intruder next time.

  Several more neighbors arrived, then the fire trucks came and put out as much of the fire as they could, but the barn was ruined. The community would come together to build Sid a new one.

  That was one of Isaac’s favorite parts about his people. During the worst times, they helped each other without fail.

  After the firefighters left, Isaac and Liv wandered around, looking at the
smoking remains of the barn without getting too close.

  “This is terrible,” Isaac muttered, knowing words could not describe the vicious crimes this culprit was committing against them.

  Liv only nodded, looking carefully at the rubble as if searching for a clue.

  As they were leaving, Isaac saw something black on the ground, and he reached down and picked it up. It was an Amish man’s black hat, untouched by the fire. Sid only wore straw hats. This wasn’t his.

  He looked on the inside for initials. Then he read:

  S.S.

  *

  “Liv! Look.”

  Liv rushed over and took the hat from him, reading the letters. She looked up at him with determination in her eyes, a lock of brown hair falling onto her cheek.

  “Samuel Sullivan,” she whispered, her hands trembling a little as she held the hat in her fists.

  What was going on here? There was much more to what seemed like random acts of violence. With the word ‘help’ she had seen written on the Sullivans’ basement window, the two murders, Isaac’s attack, the stairs, and now this, she wondered how it all connected. These crimes had to all connect somehow.

  It had to be more than one person. Who had smashed in the buggy? It couldn’t have been Samuel. There was no way he could have run to Isaac’s house that fast right after Liv had heard him in his house. Did he have an accomplice?

  And she knew the Sullivans’ family secrets had some part in all of this. That the family was hiding something, she just didn’t know what.

  But what did these crimes have to do with that? Would someone go this far just to keep someone quiet? She would take the first chance she got to call Branson and update him about this.

  *

  “Liv! Time to get up!” Gideon’s voice boomed up the stairway as Liv rolled over in her bed and groaned. This was one thing she did not miss about the Amish—getting up early in the morning.

  Then the memories of Sid’s barn burning down permeated her mind, conjuring up painful memories of when her own house had burned down all those years ago. She rolled over in the bed and hid under her pillow like a child, hoping she could hide from it or block out the sounds of her family’s screams. But they raged inside her mind like burning flames, along with the memory of seeing the arsonist’s masked face. She saw the angry clown mask in her mind, shuddered when she recalled the way she had felt—so helpless and afraid as she watched everything she loved be destroyed. Would the memories ever fade with time? Would she ever stop having these disturbing flashbacks?

  She had to lie to Isaac yesterday when she had told him she didn’t know where the note was. Jeff had picked it up yesterday to try to get prints off of it. She had felt a twinge of guilt, but she hoped in the end he would understand.

  She smelled the scent of breakfast cooking and more guilt stirred within her as she sat up, pushing thoughts of the fire from her mind. Aunt Mary had probably already been up for hours, and once again, Liv had not awoken in time to help. She threw off the blankets and pulled on her frock.

  After a hearty breakfast of biscuits with meaty gravy and fruit, the Mast family piled into the buggy, loading it up with the pies, casseroles, and cakes they had made the day before. When they arrived at Sid’s house, there were already dozens of people there milling about and setting up long tables that would soon be covered with food. Children played and ran around, mini black hats bobbing and colorful dresses flying, their laughter lighting up the morning.

  Liv helped Aunt Mary and Maria unload the food onto the tables, and Isaac came up to her. His dark, wavy hair was mussed in an endearing way, and the way he smiled made her feel warm all over as if rays of sunlight wrapped around her. She wanted to reach out to grab his hand, feel his strong forearm, but that would be inappropriate. She could tell he thought similar things by the look he was giving her, and she smiled at him shyly.

  “Good morning, Olivia. Beautiful day, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “Yes. There are already so many people here.” She looked over at the men who were arranging lumber to begin building. The women would not work on any construction, but would instead serve the food and drinks to the workers. She, for one, would be useless when it came to building a barn. She would rather stick to solving crimes, or in this case, serving food, even if she couldn’t cook.

  “It’s good to see so many people come together to help someone in need. That is one of my favorite things about our community, that we always help each other,” Isaac said with a warm grin.

  She couldn’t help but grin back. It was amazing to see so many people drop everything, including their own never-ending work and chores, to come help Sid Hoffman. The man greeted everyone enthusiastically, hugging the men and thanking everyone for coming.

  Liv couldn’t imagine how he could be so happy after someone had deliberately set his barn on fire, almost killing all his livestock. How could these people forgive and move on so easily?

  Well, she knew it wasn’t easy, but they did it anyway.

  “Good morning!” sounded a chipper voice behind them. Liv turned to see a glowing Anna flutter over to them. “Hi, Isaac.” She batted her eyelashes. “How are you?”

  “Fine, thanks.” His cheerful mood immediately vanished, replaced by a frown. He kicked a pebble absentmindedly. What was he so upset about?

  Oh no. He hadn’t told her yet?

  He probably hadn’t told Anna that they were dating. A terrible, guilty feeling washed over Liv as she imagined how hurt Anna would be once she found out.

  And Isaac was not doing a good job at hiding his emotions. “Anna, we need to talk.” He turned and started walking, and Anna followed him like a lovesick puppy.

  *

  Isaac tried to swallow away the guilt and shame that bubbled up inside him as he and Anna walked a short distance away toward the edge of the woods, just far enough so their conversation would be out of earshot of the community. He stopped and glanced over at Liv.

  “So, what did you want to talk about, Isaac?” Anna stepped closer to him once he stopped. Usually Isaac would enjoy the way the light filtered through the trees in the nearby woods—like the way morning sunlight passed through his linen curtains. The woods were like home to him, since he was a hunter. He was himself there. But now that was the last thing on his mind.

  He felt totally out of his element.

  “Anna, there is something I have to tell you.” Uneasiness rocked him like the stormy ocean would toss a boat on its waves.

  “My answer is yes!” she cried, gripping his arm dramatically. “Of course, finally, you’re asking to court me. I was afraid I was going to have to ask you myself!”

  Oh no.

  He hung his head. He had completely misled her! Clearly this girl could not read body language. She missed him chewing his lip, crossing his arms over his chest, and pulling away from her grasp.

  “Anna.” His tone was a little firmer, just to get her attention. “I’m not asking to court you. I am courting Liv. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I’m so sorry.”

  “What?” She backed away. “Why didn’t you tell me first?”

  “I was going to tell you right after I asked her, but with the fire and everything going on, it completely slipped my mind. I’m so sorry, Anna.” It was no excuse, but he said it anyway.

  He had the worse sense of timing ever. Why had he chosen to tell her this now?

  “You led me on.” Tears rimmed her eyes.

  “I really did not mean to, Anna.” It was not his fault if she had read too far into his kindness towards her. Yes, he had cared for her, but he had never loved her, nor truly even liked her. She had just assumed that he had.

  “How could you, Isaac?” When she looked up at him with her big, teary eyes, he felt like the biggest jerk in the world.

  “Please forgive me, Anna,” he pleaded.

  She let out a sob, covered her mouth, and ran away.

  *

  Guilt bubbled up in Liv’s stomach. Here she wa
s, leading on the man of her dreams, as she watched Isaac dismiss a girl who was a great match for him.

  Indeed, the two were great for each other. Isaac was the ideal Amish man while Anna was everything Liv was not. Anna could cook, sew, bake, and keep a house clean. She probably wanted lots of children, and she was polite to a fault.

  Liv sighed. Poor Anna. The sweet girl did not deserve this. Liv watched as Anna covered her mouth with her hands in front of Isaac. She ran up the hill and vanished on the horizon, her dress flapping behind her. Liv’s heart broke for her.

  She must be so confused right now.

  But soon Liv would be leaving, then Anna would learn that this had all been an act for Liv’s cover. Then Anna and Isaac would probably date and get married. Maybe Liv would end up with Jeff. It made sense. The two couples seemed to belong. It seemed like that would be the logical, practical outcome.

  Isaac and Anna deserved each other. Isaac deserved a true, honest, sweet woman.

  As Liv’s mind spun with questions, she barely noticed Diana sneaking up behind her.

  “What did he say to her?” Diana accused after she watched Anna talk to Isaac and fly over the hill. “She’s just an innocent girl. What did you make Isaac say to her? What did she ever do to you?”

  Liv whipped around to look at her. “I didn’t make him say anything.”

  Isaac walked toward her.

  Not now!

  “She did not take it well,” Isaac said in a quiet voice and stared at the ground.

  Diana looked back and forth between the two of them, and Liv wished Isaac had never come over here with Diana standing there.

  “You two are courting now, aren’t you?” Diana asked, anger like fire in her eyes.

  “Yes, we are,” Isaac answered cautiously.

  “You must be happy now, Liv, since you think he is so much better than my son was,” Diana spat, coming a little closer. Isaac’s jaw clenched as if to keep him from saying something he’d regret to Diana.