Premeditated Peppermint

by Amanda Flower

  Outside of the car, I looked for Daniel.

  Aiden must have known what I was doing, because he said, “Daniel’s gone. Little took him to the hospital.”

  “What’s going to happen to the horse and buggy?” I asked.

  “Emily can take those back to her brother. I didn’t want to cause more trouble for the poor girl by impounding them.”

  “I’ll ride back to the village with her.”

  He nodded. “I think it would be good for her to have some company. The moonshine,” he went on, “I confiscated. And I will have a little chat with Abel when the murder investigation is wrapped up.”

  “About that, you might be back at square one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Thad is innocent,” I said.

  “Bailey, I know you want to help Daniel, but justice must be served.”

  “I know. That’s why I am telling you that he’s innocent. As long as he’s in jail, justice is not being served.” As quickly as I could, I told him everything that I had learned from Emily.

  “Where does that leave us?” Aiden asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious? That leaves the production crew.”

  “Including Eric?” he asked.

  “I think it is highly unlikely that Eric did this, but if you want to include him on the list of suspects, go ahead. I just know that Thad is innocent.”

  “If it hadn’t snowed so hard that night, we would have been able to pull tracks from the ground around the gazebo,” Aiden said.

  “And Emily probably could have identified the killer.”

  He nodded. “Yes, that’s unfortunate. I’ll have to talk to her before you go. Can you wait in the buggy?”

  “Sure.”

  Aiden walked back to his car and climbed into the driver’s seat. Through the windshield, I saw him pivot and face Emily in the back. I just hoped that she would have the nerve to tell him everything she had said to me.

  The front of the buggy was open to the air. In the winter, many Amish inserted clear plastic in their buggies to serve as a window to protect them from the elements. I wasn’t surprised to see that Abel, whose mission in life appeared to be acting like a tough guy, had opted not to do that. There was a navy-blue blanket on the floor of the buggy. I opened the buggy door and got in without closing it behind me. As I bent over to pick the blanket up, there was a crack in the frozen air.

  My heart froze. I stayed bent over the blanket, but I didn’t realize that it was a gunshot until I heard the crack again as the bullet hit the side of the buggy.

  “Bailey!” Aiden shouted. He crouched on the ground on the other side of the buggy from where the shots had originated. His gun was drawn.

  “I . . . I think someone shot at me.”

  Aiden straightened. “Are you hit?”

  I shook my head. I started to sit up, but Aiden reached for me and pressed his large hand firmly onto my back, pushing down. “No, stay down like this.”

  “How’s Emily?”

  “She’s fine. I have her lying on the floor in the backseat of my car. I’ve already called for additional deputies. They should be here in a matter of minutes.” He held out his hand. “Let me help you out of the buggy and get you to the car. That will be safer.”

  I took his hand, but as I did another crack broke through the winter quiet, and Aiden jerked back from me and fell into the snow. I sat bolt upright, no longer caring about whether I might be shot. I jumped out of the buggy. Aiden bled into the snow.

  Before another shot could ring out, I covered Aiden with my body and called 911.

  Chapter 36

  I stood on the side of the road next to the ambulance with a foil blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Aiden lay in the back of the ambulance on a stretcher. EMTs clustered around him. I couldn’t see his face. I didn’t know if he was alive or dead.

  Deputy Little, who had come straight to the scene of the shooting after locking Daniel up, stood next to me. He looked as shocked as I felt.

  The activity inside of the ambulance increased, and two EMTs jumped off of the bay. The second man to jump off slammed the doors and smacked them twice. The ambulance sirens came on, and it made its way onto the street. Sirens blared and lights flashed as it took off down the county road.

  The EMT who’d closed the ambulance bay noticed Little and me standing there. “He should be fine. The bullet grazed him through the upper arm. It didn’t hit any arteries or bones. It’s going to hurt like mad for a few days, but he will make a full recovery. I wouldn’t be surprised if they release him from the hospital today.”

  Relief flooded through me, and it took all that I had to remain upright. Aiden was going to be okay. That’s all that really mattered.

  The news seemed to snap Deputy Little out of his stupor too. “That’s good news.” He turned to me. “I need to ask you a few questions.”

  “I’ve already answered all your questions. No, I didn’t see the shooter. I think the gunfire came from the field because of the way the bullets struck the buggy and Aiden.”

  He frowned. “I know Aiden didn’t want to before, but we will have to impound the buggy. There is a bullet lodged in its right side, and we need to collect that for evidence.”

  I looked back at Emily, who shivered by Aiden’s car. As angry as I knew her brother would be with her about the buggy being impounded, I knew there was no point arguing with Little over it. He had to gather the evidence to find out who’d tried to kill both Aiden and me.

  That thought brought a question to mind: Who had the shooter been aiming at? Aiden or me?

  “I can have one of the other deputies take you and Emily back to the village,” Little said. “I need to stay here for the investigation.” He balled his fists at his sides. “I’ll find out who did this.”

  I raised my eyebrows. I knew Little admired Aiden very much, and this was the most passionately I had heard the young deputy speak about anything.

  “Thanks, I think we are both ready to get out of the cold and off of this street, but can the deputy drop me off at the hospital? I want to check on Aiden.”

  He nodded.

  Emily was quiet on the ride to the hospital. When the deputy who was driving us turned in to the emergency room parking lot, I squeezed her hand. “Instead of going to the pretzel shop, why don’t you go to Swissmen Sweets? Tell my grandmother what has happened. She will let you stay there as long as you like.”

  She shook her head. “No, I need to go home and tell my brother and sister what I have done. It will do me no good to delay it.” She cleared her throat. “I made a mistake, and now Daniel is in jail and Aiden is in the hospital because of it.”

  “It’s not your fault that Daniel is in jail, and it is certainly not your fault that Aiden is in the hospital.”

  “It is.” She shivered. “What if the person who shot Aiden was really shooting at me because I’m the only person who knows that Thad is innocent?”

  She had a point. Or the shooter could have been aiming at me because I was asking too many questions.

  I thanked the deputy for the ride and got out of the car. The emergency room was relatively quiet. I had been in the hospital once before when my grandfather died. I tried to focus on the present and not revisit those painful memories. I walked up to the desk. “I’m looking for Deputy Aiden Brody. He was brought in not too long ago by ambulance.”

  The elderly woman at the desk eyed me. “Are you a relative?”

  Behind me the sliding glass doors leading into the emergency room opened. “Where is my son?” Juliet Brody cried at the top of her voice. Everyone in the emergency room turned and stared at her.

  With Jethro tucked under her arm, Juliet flew to the desk where I stood. Reverend Brook followed in her wake. “Where’s my son? I want to see my son right now!”

  The receptionist stood up. “Ma’am, please calm down. What is the name of your son? I can’t help you if I don’t have a name.”

  “It’s Deputy Aiden Brody of
the Holmes County Sheriff’s Department. I was told that . . . that he was shot!” She shouted the last part.

  The receptionist looked at me, which caught Juliet’s attention. “Bailey, thank heavens you are here. Have you heard any news? How is Aiden? Is he alive?” She started to hyperventilate and crushed me in an embrace, squeezing a wiggling Jethro between us.

  “Ma’am,” the receptionist said.

  Juliet began to cry in earnest.

  “Can we have a wheelchair for Ms. Brody, please?” Reverend Brook asked in his quiet voice. I always wondered how the diminutive man could command a congregation so well. Part of me thought he left a lot of the management up to Juliet. But now I saw that he had an air of authority when it was required.

  An orderly pushed a wheelchair around the side of the desk and held it in place behind her.

  “Juliet,” I said as I pulled myself away from her. “Sit down. We got you a chair—please sit.”

  Juliet fell into the chair with Jethro on her lap.

  “Ma’am,” the receptionist said.

  “I told him not to be a police officer. I told him he would get shot, and it would kill me,” Juliet moaned.

  “Ma’am,” the receptionist tried again. “You can’t have a pig in the hospital.”

  Juliet gasped. “But he goes everywhere with me, and surely Aiden will want to see him. Jethro is a great comfort to everyone.”

  “He might be,” the receptionist said with as much patience as she could muster. “But that doesn’t change the fact that pigs are not allowed in the hospital. With have hygiene standards that we have to uphold.”

  Juliet bristled. “How dare you? Jethro is the cleanest animal you will ever meet, and to suggest that he is dirty is just disgraceful.”

  Reverend Brook stepped forward, holding out his arms. “Here. I’ll take Jethro outside.”

  Juliet hugged her pig more tightly. “Aiden will want to see him.”

  “And he can see him when he gets out of the hospital. I’m sure he’s looking forward to it,” I said. “The hospital won’t let you see Aiden as long as you have the pig with you. I think Aiden would much rather see you when he’s not feeling well than Jethro.”

  “I am his mother.” Juliet loosened her grasp on the pig, and it was just enough for Reverend Brook to pry Jethro from her arms. Before Juliet could change her mind, he went back out through hospital’s sliding glass doors.

  Juliet glared at the receptionist. “I want to see my son.”

  The receptionist nodded. “He’s in recovery room fourteen.”

  Juliet looked at me. “Push me there, Bailey.”

  The receptionist shook her head. “Only family can visit in recovery.”

  “They are engaged, so she is family,” Juliet snapped.

  The receptionist looked back at me. I smiled, not agreeing or disagreeing with Juliet’s statement. I knew that not speaking up would haunt me later when Juliet started planning our fictitious wedding, but I wanted to see with my own eyes that Aiden was okay.

  The receptionist gave us directions to recovery, and I wheeled Juliet there. I stopped the wheelchair outside of room fourteen. “You go in, Juliet. You and Aiden should have a moment alone.” I didn’t add that I wanted a moment alone with him, too.

  Juliet stood up and went into the room without a word. I could hear her crying and Aiden’s low reassuring voice comforting his mother.

  Just hearing his voice was enough for me to know that he was okay. I leaned back against the cold, white-titled wall and closed my eyes.

  “Are you Bailey?” a voice asked me.

  I opened my eyes to see a nurse standing in front of me. “Yes.”

  “You can go in too. He’s been asking for you.”

  I hesitated.

  “It’s all right. He’ll be moving to a regular room just as soon as one becomes available. He’s doing very well.”

  “He’s okay?” I whispered.

  She smiled. “He will be fine.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and stepped through the doorway.

  Juliet sat in a chair next to Aiden and cried.

  “Mom. I’m okay.” Aiden held her hand. “Mom, I’m fine. They said I can even go home in a few hours. Please don’t cry.” There was an IV in the back of his left hand, and his right arm was wound with a bandage. A white sheet covered most of his body, but his upper chest was bare.

  I wanted to step back through the doorway I had just entered and not interrupt this moment between mother and son, but before I could, Aiden looked up and saw me. His face broke into the most brilliant smile, and his dimple appeared on his cheek.

  “Oh, Bailey,” Juliet cried, tears in her eyes. “Aiden is going to be fine.”

  “I’m glad,” I said.

  “Here, you sit here.” She started to stand up. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

  I waved her back into the chair. “You don’t have to leave, Juliet.”

  She shook her head. “I do. You need to talk, and I should tell Reverend Brook that Aiden is all right and check on Jethro. I’m sure both of them are worried.” She stood, kissed her son on the forehead, and hurried out of the room.

  I watched her go before perching on the edge of the chair she’d just vacated.

  Aiden reached out his hand to me, and I took it in both my own. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I said, a little choked up.

  He eyed me. “Bailey King, are you crying?”

  I swallowed. “Nope.”

  His smile grew wider. “Uh-huh.” He squeezed my hand. “I’ll be fine. I’m just glad to see you’re okay. What happened after I left?”

  I gave him a brief summary, but there wasn’t much to tell. “We still don’t know who the shooter was, but Little is determined to find out. He was very upset you got hurt.”

  Aiden nodded. “He’s a good deputy.” He held my hand. “You saved my life. It could have been much worse if you hadn’t been there and acted so quickly.”

  My throat felt tight.

  He chuckled, and his chuckle turned into a laugh. “And here I was thinking that it was my job to protect you, not the other way around.”

  “I’m not a damsel in distress and never will be.”

  “I know that. I’ve always known that since the moment I saw you standing behind the counter at Swissmen Sweets months ago. I knew you would be a different kind of woman.” He coughed lightly. “And I knew then that I wanted to know everything I could about you.”

  I blushed.

  He laughed. “Even though you aren’t a damsel in distress, you sure get embarrassed easily.”

  “It’s my fair skin.”

  “Ah,” he said. “Is that all it is? I will remember that the next time I make you blush.”

  That made me blush even more.

  “I’m so happy you are here, but I’m surprised. The nurse told me that only family were allowed in the recovery rooms.”

  “Oh, well, your mom told the hospital that we’re engaged.”

  He laughed. “She might be announcing that a bit prematurely, but we’ll get there.”

  Chapter 37

  I stayed another hour at the hospital until Aiden finally convinced me to go home. He said my grandmother would be worried, and I knew he was right.

  By the time I made it back to Swissmen Sweets, I was wrung out. All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and sleep for a year. My head was so jumbled with the murder and with Aiden.

  I got lucky and parked my car in one of spaces next to the square. The Christmas Market was still going on for a few more minutes, and Melchior and the live nativity waited for their parade around the square. At least I didn’t have to play Mary that evening. That was a small blessing. From what I could see of the nativity through the crowd, they made a nice scene in the falling snow.

  Eric sat by himself on a bench under one of the gas street lamps. He wore his stylish wool coat but no hat or gloves. He stood up as I got out of the car. It was as if he had been waiting for me.

&nb
sp; I bit the inside of my lip and glanced at Swissmen Sweets. It was just across the street, mere feet away. I could easily run to it before Eric reached me and lock the door behind me for good measure. But I wasn’t going to do that. I needed to put an end to whatever this was, or whatever he thought this was.

  Eric walked over to me and stopped three feet away in the snow. “I heard about Deputy Brody getting shot.” He shoved his bare hands deep into the pockets of his coat. “Is he all right?”

  I wasn’t surprised that Eric had heard about the shooting. I knew it must be the main topic of conversation in the village if not in all of Holmes County. It was a rare thing for a sheriff’s deputy to be shot in Amish Country. Murder was rare, too, but it seemed like that was becoming more common as time went by.

  I swallowed. “He’s going to be fine. He will make a full recovery. He was lucky.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  I studied him.

  He smiled. “Are you surprised that I am glad my rival is all right after being shot? What kind of monster do you think I am, Bai?”

  “I don’t think you’re a monster. I have never thought you were a monster.” I paused. “That was Cass.”

  He brushed snow off the sleeve of his coat. “I am well aware Cassandra Calbera will hate me for the rest of my days because of what I did to you. I deserve that.”

  “I don’t know if hate is the right word. I just don’t think she would help you up if you slipped on a banana peel or something.”

  He smiled. “Noted. I’ll remember to stay away from bananas when Cass is around.”

  “Probably smart.”

  “The crew and I are leaving for New York tomorrow morning.”

  My heart constricted. That meant the murderer would very likely get away. I didn’t believe that Thad was the killer, but with Aiden in the hospital and most likely on medical leave, would the sheriff do anything to stop Eric and the production crew from departing? “When do you go exactly?”

  He frowned. “We leave for the airport at seven. Do you want to come along? I know Linc is dying to give you a show.”

  “Even if he wants it, the network might not,” I said. My mind was still preoccupied with the murder. If Thad was innocent, it had to be someone from the crew, didn’t it?