Amish Christmas Emergency

by Dana R. Lynn

  He could admit it to himself. He was falling fast for the pretty blonde. He knew he’d have to distance himself when this was over. But he’d never be able to live with himself if he let someone else take his place beside her and she got hurt. Or died. For whatever reason, she was his to protect. He would do so, no matter the cost.

  He proceeded to greet the men. “Chief. Parker. Trevor. What do ya know?”

  “Hey, Jackson.” Trevor Stone ducked his head in acknowledgment as they approached. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose before answering. “This wasn’t a professionally put together bomb. It’s very amateurish work. It was triggered by the door of cupboard being opened. There don’t seem to be any other bombs on the premises.”

  “No bombs,” Parker broke in, his voice deadly serious, “but there is something you all need to see.”

  Which meant that Parker had found something. Something big. “Lead the way,” Gavin said.

  The small group walked silently back into the clinic. As they walked past where the cupboard had exploded, Gavin felt a hand gripping his sleeve. Without breaking stride, he reached his opposite hand over and covered Alexa’s. When he released it, she didn’t drop her hand from his arm. That was just fine with him. She could keep hold of him if it made her feel better. He didn’t mind at all.

  The group stopped when they reached the back room and stood before a row of lockers. They had been forced open, locks cut off.

  One was standing open.

  He heard Alexa’s shocked intake of air.

  “That’s Dr. Quinton’s locker!”

  Gavin narrowed his eyes. “Was he scheduled to work this morning? Would he have been here when we were at the King place?”

  “Normally yes.” Alexa’s gaze was glued to the locker. “Megan told me that he had sent in an email this morning. Said he had the flu.”

  Sure, he did. It was as good an excuse as any. With so many people out, no one would think to doubt him. And he’d be free to go on a shooting spree.

  Her hand tightened its grip on him. Gavin reached back and looped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her lightly before stepping away from her. She let him go, and he approached the locker.

  There was a stack of pictures lying inside the locker. The top one showed Lexie and Marvin at his farm. Marvin was sitting on a chair, while she stood close to his side. It might have looked intimate, but Gavin could see the blood pressure cuff on his arm.

  Marvin’s image had been crossed out with a black marker.

  Reaching into his pocket, Gavin pulled out his gloves and slipped them on. Going to the locker, he picked up the stack of pictures. Each one showed Lexie in different poses. Some were taken here in the clinic. Some were taken at clients’ homes.

  Some were taken in her home.

  His blood chilled when he came across a picture of Lexie sleeping on the couch. The rose was next to her. Moving to the next picture, he saw a picture of himself handing her a plate of food. Then a picture of her working with Noah. Again, Noah had been crossed out.

  Suddenly he stopped. “Lexie, who’s this?”

  She moved quickly at the urgency in his voice. When she reached out to grab the picture, he pulled it back. “Don’t touch it. It’s evidence.”

  She leaned in closer. Her eyes widened and her face grew pale. “That’s Eli Schwartz. I’m supposed to see him on Monday.”

  His face had been crossed out with an X.

  “Change of plans. We’re going out to see him today. Now.”

  It might already be too late.

  NINE

  She couldn’t believe the stalker was Dr. Quinton. The man was gruff. He was irritable. He certainly didn’t like it when he found her “socializing,” as he put it, even when she was only being friendly to make a patient more comfortable.

  But a killer?

  That was one she’d never seen coming.

  A thought struck her. “Gavin?”

  “Yeah?” He broke off his conversation with the chief and looked at her.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “No, that’s okay. What’s on your mind?”

  All the officers were watching her intently. It made her uncomfortable, but what she had to say involved their investigation.

  “The day that Noah was shot, I remember being surprised that Dr. Quinton didn’t run up to see what the commotion was all about. I asked Megan where he’d been, and she said she’d seen him going into the back. I still thought he should have heard something. Come to investigate, you know what I mean?”

  “Miss Grant,” the chief interrupted. “I’m assuming that there’s a back door to this establishment. Could he have gone out the door without triggering an alarm of some kind?”

  “Oh. Yes, he certainly could have.” It would certainly explain why he hadn’t come to see what all the fuss was about.

  “Lexie, when did you see Quinton that day? I seem to recall he got snarky with you,” Gavin commented.

  “That’s right! When I received the flowers! He appeared as if he’d been working, but he came around the front of the reception desk. I have no idea where he came from.”

  “Chief, I want to go check up on Eli Schwartz. I think we should probably have an ambulance sent there just in case,” Gavin said.

  The chief nodded. The calm she’d seen before was replaced with an air of implacable determination. “Do that. I will have an ambulance sent that way. Parker, you follow after him.” He glanced at his watch. “I know you two are off the clock—”

  “I’m not leaving, sir. Not when we’re this close.”

  The anxiety that had started to build when the chief had announced he should be off duty faded. The idea of facing this without Gavin at her side made her shudder. She knew she was a strong woman. She’d been through too much not to be. But this was something she had no experience with, no way to deal with on her own.

  “Yes, sir. I’m not leaving now, either,” Parker said, exchanging glances with Gavin. There was a true bond of friendship between these men. It was good that Gavin was surrounded by people who had his back.

  She had only herself to rely on.

  “I will start digging into the good doctor’s background. See what we can find on him,” Parker said.

  “I’d be interested to see if he has any connection to Chicago,” Gavin ground out.

  “As would I,” the chief murmured. “Gentlemen, let’s get this man.”

  Gavin set the photos down, and took a picture with his cell phone of each one that had Alexa and another person in it. Then he put the originals in a clear plastic bag and ran his fingers along the top to seal it. When he handed it to the chief, the men exchanged glances. They were all taking this very seriously. He tugged off his gloves and threw them away. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the clinic.

  “You coming, Parker?” he shouted over his shoulder.

  “Right behind you.”

  He held the door to his cruiser open for her. No flourishes or grins this time. She missed his playfulness. He loped around to his door while she buckled herself in.

  “Where’s Eli’s place?” He opened the computer settled on the swinging arm that extended from his dashboard, and called up the GPS. When Alexa gave him the address, he punched it in, then gave it to Parker. “In case we get separated.”

  She nodded, suddenly feeling her eyes sting. It was common enough for patients to have a delayed reaction to a shocking event. She hadn’t expected to experience it herself.

  “Lexie.”

  She jerked her head up at her name. By his tone of voice, she’d guess Gavin had said her name more than once.

  “Sorry. I was in my own world for a moment.”

  “It’s all right. There’s a small case under the seat. Pull it out.” She did as he said. Inside, there was a small, weat
hered-looking Bible. She raised a questioning brow at him. This wasn’t the time to have a Bible lesson. He shifted the car into gear and started driving. “That’s my uncle’s Bible. I keep it with me. I sometimes read it on my lunch break. Anyway, when he died, I kept it. I have a passage bookmarked. Open it.”

  Deciding to play along, she did as he asked. Not only was the page bookmarked, but he had highlighted a verse. Curious, she kept the bookmark in place and flipped through the Bible. There were other verses highlighted throughout the pages. Obviously, these were verses that meant something to him.

  “Do me a favor. Read the one I have highlighted.”

  She cleared her throat. “Umm, read it to myself or out loud?”

  “Out loud, if you will.”

  Reading out loud always made her feel ridiculous. She shrugged. The man had saved her life. The least she could do would be to read something to him. “‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’”

  Wow. Sounded good to her.

  “That’s Revelation 21:4.”

  “But I don’t see this happening. I mean, there’s still pain. And death. Horrible things are happening every day. Even here, in LaMar Pond. I came here to get away from these things. But it followed me.” She flushed, embarrassed by her outburst. But it was true. Where was God in all that?

  “Lexie, let me tell you something.” He started, then stopped. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something he enjoyed talking about. His eyes tightened. She heard him swallow.

  “Gavin, don’t feel you have to—”

  He waved at her, silencing her protests. “I do have to. When Uncle Leo gave me a place to live, he gave me more than that. He gave me purpose and value. And he opened my eyes to faith. Something that he would want me to pass on.”

  The GPS signaled a turn coming up. Gavin completed the turn in silence. Then he began speaking again. “Growing up, it was just me and Sam with my parents. You’d think we’d be close, right? He was only two years older than me. And for most of my life, I really looked up to him.” He made a scoffing sound. “Who wouldn’t? Sam was brilliant. Everything he did, he succeeded at. He decided when he was in like eighth grade that he was going to be a doctor. My parents decided to start saving for his medical school. Everything they could spare. Do you know what they saved toward my college?”

  Her heart ached at the pain that layered beneath his smooth voice.

  “Nothing. Now, I wasn’t a star student. I got average grades. But I always expected to go to college. When I told them I was looking into them, they looked at me, and I could see the guilt in their eyes. That’s when it hit me. For years they’d asked Sam about his college plans. They’d talked about the money they were saving up. For him. When I asked them, they had nothing to say. You know why? They had made no plans for my future. Because they hadn’t expected anything from me.”

  That had to have hurt.

  “Maybe, they meant to—”

  He laughed. “You’re so sweet. Lexie. You always want to heal everyone, don’t you? I admire that about you. You tend to put others first. Like how you put your patients’ needs above your own safety. But no. They flat-out told me that they didn’t expect me to do anything amazing with my life. I’d always known that I was second best. Parker, he knows some of this. He had a problem with his dad for a while ’cause his dad was disappointed in his wanting to be a cop. Thought he could do better. Mine? They didn’t have any expectations for me at all.”

  “Gavin, I wish I knew what to say.”

  He shrugged. “So I got a job, and some loans, and I went to college as a political science major. There I met Lacey.” His voice grew remote. “She and I were inseparable. When we got engaged, I couldn’t wait to show her off. She came home with me on Thanksgiving weekend. At Christmas, I found out she’d been sneaking around with my brother. I broke the engagement. If that wasn’t bad enough, though, my parents didn’t care. They just said that she wasn’t right for me. My brother couldn’t see that what he did was wrong. I moved in with Uncle Leo. He, at least, always thought I could do something with my life. When I went to the police academy and graduated, he was prouder of me than anyone had ever been. My parents? They didn’t even bother to show up.”

  Wow. That was so sad. She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat.

  “I was angry at first. But then, I began to learn about his faith.”

  He halted at a stop sign. “Lexie, that faith has gotten me through some pretty tough times. It’s given me a purpose. I know that here on earth I might not be the best at anything. But God loves me anyway. He loves me, and someday all the pain, all the anguish will be gone. That’s my hope.”

  They arrived at the Schwartz residence. She bent to replace the Bible. He stopped the car, then stilled her hand with his. “Keep it. I’m giving it to you. You might need it. I think that you could use the hope that Bible has given me when things were tough.”

  His face was grim. She looked up. The front door was wide open.

  * * *

  “Don’t get out yet,” Gavin told Alexa, his senses on high alert. “Let’s wait for Parker. I don’t want to go inside without backup. Not when we have no idea what we’re going to find.”

  Five minutes later, Parker pulled in behind him.

  “Stay here,” Gavin ordered. Then he saw Alexa’s face. It was pale and distressed; her eyes were wide. He had a feeling she was blaming herself. He’d do anything to erase that fear from her mind. “Please, Lexie. I need you to be safe.”

  She glanced his way. Her tear-drenched eyes struck him right in the chest. She didn’t let those tears fall, though. Blinking fast, she sat up straight and set her jaw.

  What a woman. His admiration for her grew.

  “I’ll wait here. But don’t you go getting yourself shot, you hear me, Gavin Jackson? I’ll not have you hurt on my account.”

  He couldn’t help it. He leaned over the console area and kissed her cheek. Those blue-gray eyes blinked at him, shocked. “I’ll be careful. I need to lock the doors. Do me a favor and get down.”

  That way he wouldn’t worry about her being hit by stray bullets.

  Before he could do anything else dumb, he bolted from the car. He had kissed her! That was not his smartest move to date, but even while he chastised himself, he couldn’t regret it. She was a very special lady. He might not have a future with her, but he would always have a special place for her in his heart.

  Parker’s boots made muffled stomping noises as he came up next to him. Wordlessly the two grim men headed toward the house. At the base of the steps, Parker stopped.

  “I’ll watch out here. Cover your back.”

  Gavin nodded. Parker had a clear view of both the doorway and his car. Peering back, he couldn’t see Lexie inside. Good. She’d gotten down. One less thing to worry about.

  Slowly, keeping his service weapon out and his eyes constantly sweeping the area around him, Gavin moved up the steps. Entering the doorway, he halted, listening. Nothing. Cautiously, he continued into the house, entering the kitchen. The house had an open floor plan. From where he stood, he could plainly see Eli Schwartz lying on the floor. The man looked about his own age, maybe a little older.

  He was too late.

  Moving to the body, he reached down to feel the side of Eli’s neck. To his surprise, there was a pulse. It was faint, but the man was alive. Barely. It was a good thing there was an ambulance on the way. If they got here within the next few minutes, they might be able to save him.

  Whoever this stalker was, he wasn’t a very good shot. Which was fortunate for the men he’d gone after.

  And for him and Lexie, he thought, recalling dodging bullets the previous day.

  What about Brett’s death? If it was the same p
erp, he’d had no trouble killing the man Lexie had been engaged to. But that was in a hospital and only involved switching the man’s medication. Just another piece of the evidence piling up against Dr. Quinton.

  Gavin heard a shuffling sound above him. He walked upstairs and found a door jammed shut. Removing the chair blocking it, he opened the door slowly. The woman lying on the floor had to have been Eli’s wife. She was alive; her pulse was strong. She had a large bump on her temple. The stalker hadn’t bothered trying to kill her but had only knocked her out. She’d have a nasty headache when she came to. She moved again, and her foot jostled a chair. That was the sound he’d heard.

  Using his radio, Gavin called in the attack on the couple.

  Stomping feet on the stairs brought him racing from the room. He skidded to a stop when he heard the familiar voices. The ambulance had arrived. “Hey guys, I have another patient up here.”

  One of the paramedics stepped into view at the bottom of the steps. “I’m on it.”

  Gavin left them to do their job while he searched the house, room by room. It didn’t come as any surprise to him that he found no sign of Quinton anywhere. The man had probably left long before Gavin entered the house.

  A few minutes later, another complication arose when the Schwartz children arrived home. It was late Friday afternoon. The Amish school had let out.

  He did his best to calm the children. There were five of them. The oldest was a teenager, and the youngest was about nine or ten. They were confused and scared.

  He was a bit out of his element. Except for the kids of his fellow officers, he didn’t have much experience with children. They made him feel awkward, but he did envy his colleagues who were fathers.

  Before he could get too flustered, though, Alexa entered the room. Parker followed her.

  “I’m going to search the property line, as long as she’s with you,” Parker said, then ducked out again.

  Alexa, it turned out, was good with children. It seemed to help that these particular kids were familiar with her. “The ambulance is going to take your father to the hospital.”