by Dana R. Lynn
He nodded.
She waited. The seconds ticked by. Restless energy squirmed relentlessly up and down her arms and legs as she waited.
A loud whistle broke through the tension that had invaded the room. She jumped.
“Sorry. It’s a call from my department.” Sergeant Howard touched the radio attached to his shoulder and tilted his head, listening to the dispatcher’s voice that exploded into the room in a static-infused burst.
“Gunshots have been reported...” The report continued. One person had been confirmed injured. The gunman had escaped. He was described as a white male, late twenties, one hundred and eighty pounds. Blond hair. A scar on his neck. As the dispatcher continued, Sadie felt her ears buzz, and she shook her head to stop the dizziness that attacked her. Mason Green had shot someone. She didn’t know the area that well, but she was willing to guess that the shots fired had been close by.
As the message continued, she watched as the color leeched from Ben’s face.
Sergeant Howard barked a question into the radio. When the dispatcher responded, he flipped the talk switch on the radio. “I’m a mile from the location. On my way.”
He turned back to the two people watching him. “Green was apparently hiding in a barn, maybe to sleep, maybe for other purposes. When the property owner entered his barn and surprised him, it appears Green assaulted him. That’s all I know at present.”
“He didn’t even know the man he shot.” Ben’s voice was flat. That did not bode well.
“I believe this was a case of the victim being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t need to tell you guys that he’s dangerous. If you see him, do not approach. Call me. Sadie, you have the number to the police station. Use it. I have to go.”
They both turned to watch him leave.
“Ben—” she began.
He didn’t allow her to finish.
“That’s less than a mile from here, Sadie.” He stalked to the window and peered out, as if he would see Mason Green watching the house. “I need to go find my son. Then we need to decide our next move.”
She watched him leave to retrieve Nathaniel, her heart breaking that she had brought disaster to their door. That even now, some stranger might be dead or dying because she had interrupted the peaceful existence of these people and forced herself upon them.
A sob burst from her mouth. She turned her gaze upward, appealing to the God that Ruth and Ben had such trust in. “God, why is this happening?”
She didn’t expect an answer.
Hollowness swallowed her from the inside out. Mason Green was after her. He might have already killed Kurt. And it appeared he had no compunction about killing the innocent in his quest to find her.
Who would be next?
* * *
Ben didn’t tell Lovina why Nathaniel needed to come home immediately.
“Ack, Ben. I’m sorry. Ruth needed to go visit her sister, who fell this morning. She should be back in the next thirty minutes or so.”
When she fretted that Ruth wasn’t home yet, he was actually relieved. He had some hard decisions to make.
“You can let her know that we don’t need her to supervise anymore.”
“Oh. Gut.” Lovina blinked at him, startled. He let her think what she wanted. He needed to get his son home now and deal with the situation.
Nathaniel came when he was called. He started to pout at leaving his friends, but something in his father’s eyes must have convinced that now was not a good time to test his parent’s patience.
Ben bade Lovina goodbye, then headed for home, his stride long and impatient.
“Dat.” Nathaniel tugged at his sleeve.
Beneath the youthful warble of his seven-year-old’s voice, Ben grimaced when he detected the trace of fear. That man was prowling around his community, looking for Sadie. The fact that she couldn’t remember why he would be after her didn’t change the fact that her presence was what had lured him here. What if Mason Green wasn’t alone? How many men were, in fact, after the pretty brunette?
He knew the man who had been shot. Listening to the dispatcher so calmly talk about someone he did business with being hurt, and possibly dying, caused a storm of emotions to fight for dominance in his soul. Hot anger began to kindle inside his gut. His son should be out playing with other boys his age. Instead, he was being put into danger by some strange Englisch woman just because her brother had a slight connection to him.
Immediately, shame washed over him. Had he forgotten every lesson his own mamm and dat had tried to instill in him? Not to mention the basic virtues of charity and hospitality. Not long ago, he had watched Sadie’s car slam into a tree, and he had doubted she’d survive. Now he was begrudging her assistance when he knew her life was in danger.
Asking Gott for forgiveness, he entered the house and found Sadie pacing within. For some reason, the sight drove some of his anger away. It seemed that she was always pacing. Sadie Standings was not a very patient person.
“Dat?”
Shaking himself from the darkness of his thoughts, he smiled at Nathaniel. “Jah, Nathaniel?”
“I’m scared.”
Sadie shifted, drawing Ben’s attention back to her pale face. She caught his eyes.
“I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry, Ben. I wasn’t thinking. I just got so anxious with Kurt not coming to get me and that man showing up. I never meant to put your family at risk.” She tightened her jaw, visibly gathering up her courage. A spark of admiration for her flickered to life before he squashed it. “I still have my cell phone. I can call Braden. He left me his card, remember? I’m sure he would be willing to come and drive me somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Or maybe I can call Sergeant Howard back. He did say they sometimes put people in places to keep them safe.”
Ben frowned. Where could she go to be safe? She had no memory. And what if the men had been able to track her because of the taxi driver? Right now, they hadn’t found her. Yet. Although the men were close. Could Braden get here before these men found her? And as for going with the police, that might be her best option, but he didn’t like the idea of leaving her with them. Even though he was the one who had insisted she go, now he wondered if it had made trouble for Kurt.
Was he even considering abandoning her and breaking his word?
Apparently, he was.
“Wait.” He hadn’t planned to speak, but the word popped out of his mouth. Sadie cast a guarded glance his way. He couldn’t, wouldn’t turn his back on someone in need. Lydia would have been ashamed of him if she had been alive here today. The thought of his wife sent another pain through his soul. Lydia wasn’t here, though. If he had paid attention when she’d gotten sick, maybe they would have diagnosed her sooner and she would have been healed. She and their daughter might be alive today. But he hadn’t, because his priorities had been skewed. He had been so busy with his work and other responsibilities, that he had failed to notice that his wife was ill.
Well, he was going to make sure his priorities were right this time, if only so that his son could see their faith in action. Squaring his shoulders, Ben took a single step toward Sadie. The movement had her turning her caramel-brown eyes his way. The sensation of familiarity that he’d experienced in the hospital struck him again. Briefly, it distracted him. He couldn’t allow himself to be pulled away from his goal. He would get his son and Sadie to safety. But the moment he achieved that, she was no longer his responsibility.
“Sadie, your brother is a friend of mine. I will help you.”
Hope stirred in her disturbing glance. Hopefully he wasn’t making a mistake.
“Are you sure, Ben? You’ll still help me?” she whispered, her voice soft, as if he’d change his mind if she spoke with her normal volume. Their eyes met, and he felt as if he were snared in a honey-brown net.
Nee, he wasn’t sure at all. But he was
too involved to back out now. “Jah, I will help. But we can’t stay here.”
“Where are we going, Dat?” Nathaniel piped up, interrupting the tension slowly building between the adults.
Ben pivoted to face his child and squatted to put himself closer to eye level with the boy. It would not be long before Nathaniel stood tall enough that Ben wouldn’t need to do this.
“I think we should head out to see Grossmamma and Grossdawdi. That would be fun, jah?”
The boy’s eyes widened. “True? Will I see my cousins?”
Ben’s heart squeezed at the innocent question. The devastation of losing his wife and their unborn daughter had nearly killed him. He wasn’t certain that it wouldn’t have if he had not had Nathaniel to remind him daily that he had a reason to live. For that, he praised Gott every day. The community he’d grown up in, however, had ceased to be a refuge for him. Everywhere he went, the places and the people were only reminders of his loss. And when his parents began to pressure him to remarry, to give Nathaniel a new mamm, his very spirit had rebelled. He’d uprooted his son and moved to outside of Holmes County with a shocking rapidity. His family had been stunned.
It had never occurred to him that he was being selfish, that his son may have needed more family than his father around him.
The emotion, the guilt, clogged his throat. “Jah, Nathaniel. I am sure that your cousins will be there. Grossmamma wrote and said that your mamm’s cousin Isaac has returned to the Plain way. He has a new wife, he does.”
Ben had always liked Isaac. They’d gotten into some mischief together as boys. It had saddened him when Isaac’s brother died and Isaac abandoned the Plain life.
Ben grimaced. He hadn’t abandoned the faith, but he had left his family when tragedy struck. He and Isaac were alike in more ways than he cared to admit.
“Won’t your family object to your bringing a stranger, and a non-Amish woman, into their home?”
Standing, Ben turned to where Sadie was standing. He took a few steps toward her. The urge to put his hand on her shoulder and offer her comfort startled him, causing him to halt abruptly.
“My mamm would never turn anyone away, not when a body is in danger. Nee, they won’t mind. They will be happy to have the opportunity to spend time with Nathaniel, too. It has been a while.”
Nee, mamm would be happy enough to see them. Dat would, too, although Ben knew that his parents would both be concerned that he had nearly been alone with an Englisch woman.
“We’d best get moving. It’s a long trip to my parents’ home in a buggy. I don’t know that I want to take the risk of calling the taxi driver. One less person who knows where we are, the safer we will be.”
At least, that was what he was hoping.
In less than an hour they were tucked into the buggy. Ben sat up front, driving the horse. Sadie sat directly behind him with Nathaniel chattering away next to her. She answered his myriad questions with patience. Every time she spoke, Ben listened to her voice, the smooth-as-honey tones. He couldn’t help himself. He was aware of her presence behind him to an alarming degree. Several times, he imagined that he could almost sense her eyes resting on him, even while she carried on a soft conversation with his son.
Flicking his wrists to snap the reins gently, Ben urged the horse to a trot once they reached the main road. The familiar rocking motion was soothing, even with the occasional jarring as the wheels hit a rock or a pothole. Relief filled him. He needed all his focus to be on the road, which meant he had to force his attention to stay off the woman he was helping. Traffic was heavier on the two-lane highway. The day was cool, with the scent of rain in the air. It would be hitting soon. Already the visibility was down. It was almost like riding inside of a cloud, the mist and fog were so heavy. His cheeks and beard grew damp as the first cold drops fell.
He sent a concerned glance at the sky. This was not ideal weather to travel in by buggy. If he’d had his druthers, he would have hired a driver. He wasn’t worried for himself, although he could already tell that he was going to be chilled clean through before they stopped. Nathaniel, however, was still so young.
“Nathaniel.” He heard Sadie’s warm voice drifting from the confines of the buggy. “Let’s get you wrapped up under this blanket. We wouldn’t want you to get sick.”
Amazingly, the boy didn’t argue at being treated like the child that he was.
Lightning sizzled ahead of them. Ben blinked at the brightness. That had been close. Thunder boomed three seconds later.
The storm was coming quick. He had no sooner thought it than the sky opened and the rain slashed down in sheets. Within seconds, he was drenched. Worse, he felt prickles of ice hit the bare skin on his face that was unprotected by the beard.
“I’m going to try and find a place we can wait out this storm,” he yelled back to Sadie. “It’s freezing rain. It won’t be safe for us to continue on, especially not with the plows coming out.”
Sadie leaned forward. He looked her way briefly. Her brows lowered, creating furrows in her otherwise smooth forehead. “Where?”
Ben’s eyes swept the horizon. It was difficult to see far, but what he could see showed open highway.
Where was a very good question.
SIX
The longer he waited, the harder it became to see. As it was, it was like trying to see through a downpour of Ruth’s famous split pea soup, the rain was so heavy. Heavy black clouds hovered over them like an ominous warning.
Thankfully, Sadie had made sure that Nathaniel was kept warm and dry inside the buggy. Which was more than could be said of Ben, but he wasn’t about to complain. Nee, instead, he would thank Gott for keeping his son safe. And for keeping Sadie alive and well.
He heard her soft laugh echoing inside the buggy. He could imagine her face and the glow in her eyes without turning around. He frowned, the faint image in his mind, just out of reach, teased him. What was it about her that was so familiar?
His reverie was broken by a sharp crack. The horse shied, neighing frantically. Ben pulled gently on the reins, attempting to soothe the nervous beast. He scanned the area for a fallen branch or a limb hanging from a tree—something capable of making the loud sound. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
The loud crack happened again. This time, the horse reared up, nearly unseating Ben. A covey of birds in a nearby tree took flight, squawking and flapping madly. Ben didn’t bother looking around to see where the sound had come from this time. This time, he recognized that sound. It was a gunshot.
The question was, where was the shooter?
Another shot rang out. Ben yelled as agony seared across his arm. All thought of searching for a safe refuge for the night vanished. His most pressing need was just to survive and to protect the two people in the buggy who were calling out an alarm.
“Hold on!” he shouted to them. “We are being shot at. I can’t see a car. He must be on foot.”
Gripping the reins firmly in his hands, Ben flicked his wrists, giving the command for the horse to gallop. It wasn’t a command one usually made in weather like this. It wasn’t safe to travel in a buggy at this high velocity. But he didn’t have any choice. Somewhere nearby a man with a gun was using them for target practice. He didn’t intend to stand still and let them be caught.
The frightened mare bolted forward, dragging the buggy with her. As her head turned slightly to the right, Ben had a brief glance of the wildness and fear within the mare’s eye. He hoped he’d be able to stop her once they were safe from gunfire. He would not allow himself to imagine that they would not get out of danger.
Nathaniel screamed once behind him, then his voice dwindled to a whimper. Ben winced as his son’s quiet sobs reached his ears. Nathaniel was not a crier. It tore him to pieces to hear Nathaniel weeping now. Unfortunately, there was nothing Ben could do about it.
Vaguely he was aware of Sadie tryi
ng to keep the child calm.
All of Ben’s attention had to be on the horse and the road in front of them. The mare was zigzagging on the road at a full gallop. Once or twice the buggy tilted alarmingly. Ben gripped the reins tighter. The edge of the leather strap dug into his palm.
A new sound caught his attention. A low rumble, which quickly built to a harsh roar. Glancing behind, he saw a motorcycle coming up fast on their left side. The rider was hunkered down on the seat, his blond hair plastered to his head by the rain streaming down the side of his face.
Mason Green.
The fact that Green was on a motorcycle gave Ben and those he was trying to protect one advantage. Mason needed both hands to steer, which meant he had the gun tucked away somewhere. Hopefully, the man wouldn’t figure out how to shoot and drive at the same time. They would be in real trouble then.
He must not have been a hunter, Ben thought fleetingly. If he had been, he wouldn’t have had so much trouble hitting his target. Shaking his head to clear the rain from his eyes, he strained to see where he might possibly go to try and lose the motorcycle bearing down on them.
A horn honked in the distance ahead. A large delivery van was heading their way. Ben felt a spark of hope. The road was too narrow to accommodate all of them. The motorcycle would have to back off. There was no way the biker could come up beside them with the van blocking the other lane. There was no shoulder on the right side of the road, so there was very little chance the bike would be able to approach them from that side, either. As the van got closer, the horse skirted to the edge of the road. One wheel of the buggy slipped over the edge and Ben could feel it sway. Ben leaned to the left, trying to balance it. It was no use. With a shudder, the vehicle hitched. Behind him, Sadie gasped and Nathaniel was sobbing. A splintering noise on his right told him some of the spokes on the wheel snapped. The buggy heaved to the side, throwing Ben clear.