by Dana R. Lynn
“Just write down everything you can remember,” he told her. That was a lot.
Sighing, she bent her head and started. She had no idea how long it took her to get the entire statement written, but her fingers felt cramped by the time she was done. Hopefully, this would be enough to get Jeffrey out of prison. And hopefully her statement would be enough to get the real criminals locked behind bars for the rest of their lives.
She signed her name with a flourish and set down her pen. “Done.”
Ryder took her statement. “I have an impromptu appointment with the district attorney. I shouldn’t be long.”
Her stomach growled again, embarrassing her.
“If it’s all right with you, I think I will take Sadie down the street to that restaurant we passed. Neither of us had a chance to eat lunch, and I think we’re both in need of some nourishment.”
“Perfect. What are you gonna do, Isaac?”
He hesitated.
“You are more than welcome to come with us,” she told him sincerely. “I doubt you had a chance to eat, either.”
He considered it and finally agreed. “I might as well. I don’t have anything to do here. It just feels strange, being in the station and not actually working here.”
The three of them headed over to the restaurant. It was one of those places where they could either sit down inside or they could order what they wanted from the take-out menu and have it boxed up to go.
“I don’t know that eating in a restaurant would be comfortable right now,” she told her companions. “I would be constantly looking around to see if there was any danger.”
“Jah, that would not be relaxing. Let’s grab some food and then we can go back over to the station to eat it,” Ben recommended.
Within fifteen minutes they all had their bags of freshly cooked food. The aromas of garlic and butter were too tempting to resist. As they crossed the street, Sadie dipped her hand into her bag and brought out a cheesy breadstick. “I love these things.”
She bit into one. The delicious flavors of warm cheese, garlic and butter burst on her tongue. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed Italian cuisine.
The gunshot came out of nowhere, or so it seemed. She had just swallowed another bite of the breadstick when a loud crack split the air, followed immediately by a crash as the window she had just passed by smashed to pieces.
Screams filled the air. The car that was stopped at the red light at the intersection suddenly revved hard. Horns honked in annoyance as the driver cut off those who were coming from the opposite direction. One of the cars slammed on its brakes to avoid a collision. The car behind it tried to stop, but ended up with its hood crunching against the first car’s bumper.
It was chaos. The car that had run the red light sped around the corner. As the driver turned, he pointed a gun directly at her. For one frozen second, she stared into the cold, deadly gaze of Mason Green. The memory of his trying to kidnap her as a child sprang fresh into her mind.
“Sadie! Get down!” Ben grabbed onto her and threw her to the ground as the second bullet erupted from the barrel of the pistol. She hit the concrete, hard, but the bullet whizzed past them.
Sirens blared as a police cruiser raced from the station and tore off after the car Mason Green had been driving. Within seconds, both vehicles had vanished from sight. Other officers were at the intersection, helping the two cars that had collided. Fortunately, she could see both drivers milling around as the police took statements, so they must not have been injured.
She sat up, dazed. Frantically, her eyes roamed over to Ben and Isaac, searching for any signs that they had been injured.
Seeing none, her shoulders sagged.
Then they tightened up again. “Ben!”
“What?” He was right beside her again. She had scared him, she could tell by the pallor of his face.
“He recognized me. Even in Amish clothes, he knew it was me. Which means he knows I’m not dead.”
Ben’s face set. “He must have spotted us on our way into town.”
If they didn’t catch him now, how long would it be before he discovered her hiding place and came after her there?
THIRTEEN
Ben waited for Ryder to finish his discussion with the chief. For once, standing still came as a challenge to him. He paced the confines of the conference room. Isaac was with Ryder, hoping to move things along.
His poor Sadie was exhausted.
He stopped, shaken. She was not his Sadie. He couldn’t even begin to think that way. And yet he was. Even after all the warnings he had given himself to keep his distance, he had fallen in love with the lovely young woman sitting so desolately at the table. He had been by her side, but she had informed him that his nervous energy was making her tired.
A total role reversal.
She was so quiet, she was making him worried. What was going on in her mind? With all the things she’d remembered today and then to be shot at. It had to be devastating.
He wanted to go home and see his son.
Nee, more than that. He wanted to take Sadie back to his parents’ house and know that she was safe. Being in the police station was making him impatient. Although it was unlikely that Mason Green or Ethan Nettle would be bold enough to come inside to attack.
In his mind he again heard the crack of the bullet and relived the moment when he’d thought Sadie had been shot. He’d been ready to jump in front of the gun for her. When she hit the cement, she’d dropped so hard, he’d thought at first that he’d gotten to her too late, and that she had been hit.
None of them had been shot, though. All three had escaped unscathed, with the exception of some minor bruises from falling to the ground. They were alive. And they were all well.
Ryder came back into the room. Isaac followed him, his expression grim. Ben knew that whatever they were going to say, he was definitely not going to like it. He wasn’t going to like it at all. Ryder shut the door to give them some privacy and gestured to the table.
“Let’s sit.”
Ben waited for Sadie to straighten from her slump. Pulling out the chair next to her, he angled it so that he was close enough to touch her hand if he thought she needed his support. He was somewhat surprised when she reached out under the table and took his hand. Flicking his glance up to her profile, he was amazed. Her fingers trembled in his grasp, but her face was as calm and serene as if she were on her way to a church service, not preparing for news that had both Ryder and Isaac holding their mouths in grim lines.
His patience was thin as it took Ryder a bit to come to the point. Finally, the officer cleared his throat. “Here’s the thing. We were not able to catch Mason Green as he fled the scene of the shooting. We have confirmed, both with your statements and with the camera from the stop light, that it was, in fact, Mr. Green driving the car.”
“So he’s still going to be coming after me.”
He hated the dullness that had crept into Sadie’s normally animated voice.
“Most likely.” Ryder didn’t look too happy with that thought. “The positive is that he still may not have an idea of where you are hiding. Yes, he saw you today. Which means he’s been hanging around, and possibly has someone else helping him. And he’s seen Ben, so he might recognize him. But he has not attacked at the Masts’s home, nor have there been any reports of him around there. I have been keeping an eye out for him. So I think he hasn’t realized that you’re hiding there.”
“He does know that I’m alive, though.”
It was obvious that Ryder didn’t know what they were referring to. It was then that Ben realized Ryder had no idea about what had happened on the trip to his family house. Sadie, apparently, came to the same conclusion. With a halting voice, she started telling about the storm and the accident on the interstate. Ben interjected a time or two when she left a detail out. When he hear
d about the explosion, Ryder’s jaw dropped open.
“That’s extreme,” he managed to get out.
“Jah, it’s extreme. It also gave us the benefit of time. He knows that we escaped, now, though I wonder why he was in town.”
Again, it was too coincidental, and he didn’t believe in coincidences.
“If I had to guess, I would say that he went back to search the wreckage of the cave, just to make you were in there. That would have taken him some time, as he would have needed to dig out the entrance. He might have given you a few days to run out of food or oxygen—”
Sadie’s chair slid back and she jumped to her feet.
Ben leaned back, knowing she was going to start pacing the perimeter of the room. Which she did. Now that he knew for a fact who she was, he recalled that Sadie used to do the same thing as a child. It had made her mother crazy.
He shot forward in his seat. Her mother.
“Sadie.” She stopped pacing and faced him.
“How did your mother die?”
Her shock showed in her eyes. “How—? She and my stepfather were killed in a fire.”
“Was the fire in any way suspicious?”
She nodded. “The police believed it was started by some kids messing around who got careless.”
“What if they weren’t? What if Mason recognized your mom?”
She looked shaky at his questions. “But it was me—”
He shook his head. “You were a child. And you couldn’t speak after the event. She, however, may have seen him around the farm before. He may not have wanted to take that chance.”
“He has a point,” Ryder mused. “Do you recall if you had seen him before the day he tried to kidnap you?”
Her face tightened, but he could see that she was trying to remember.
“I might have seen him before that, but I was only a child. I can remember nothing about him before the day he killed my father.”
Ryder glanced at the clock in the corner of the room. “I think it’s about time we got you home. I want to take a different car, in case Green’s still out there.”
On the ride back to his parents’ house, Sadie was very quiet. It wasn’t until after dinner, though, that they really had some time to talk.
“I don’t know what to do,” Sadie admitted. “Should I ask Ryder to hide me someplace else? I hate that I am putting your family at risk.”
And he hated hearing her talk like that.
“Sadie, you’re here. More than that, you have family here. Tomorrow, I want to take you to meet your grandparents.”
“Grandparents,” she echoed in a choked whisper. “I can’t believe I have grandparents. I have no memory of them.”
“They have never forgotten you or your mom.”
“Why do you think she took me away?”
He pondered the question. “I think it was either to protect you because you saw your father’s murderer, or it was because the pain of your father’s death was overwhelming.” He swallowed. “When my wife and daughter died, being here was excruciating. My parents wanted me to remarry, to give my son a mother. I couldn’t do it.”
“Is that why you left instead of moving into the dawdi haus?”
He nodded. “I’m a little ashamed now, but jah. That’s why.”
She placed a warm hand on his arm. He could feel the heat from her palm through his shirt. “Don’t be ashamed, Ben. Everyone has to deal with pain. I’m sure they understood that you needed a break.”
He smiled at her explanation. “I was gone for three years. That’s a long break.”
A chuckle broke from her. “You know what I mean.”
“Jah, I know. Denke for caring.”
For a moment, she didn’t respond. He wondered if he had offended her. Then she responded so softly, he had trouble hearing her. “I care, Ben. I will always care.”
* * *
True to his word, Ben took Sadie to meet her grandparents the next day. The plan was that he would leave her there for a few hours so she could become reunited with her family. She knew that he had plans to help Isaac search the area and see if anyone had sighted Mason Green. Having her at a different location than she had been seemed like a good strategy.
Nathaniel had begged to go with them. The Bontragers, Esther explained, were a large family and had several children Nathaniel’s age. Nathaniel was eager to meet them and play. Ben agreed. Until it was time for him to leave and Nathaniel said he wanted to stay and play with his new friends.
At first Ben hesitated. Sadie watched with amusement as a very earnest child managed to wheedle his way through his father’s objections until he was allowed to stay with the other children. No doubt he had decided that Nathaniel would be safer in a different environment as well.
Sadie knew that Ben didn’t want to leave, but she convinced him that she was well looked after. Besides her grandparents, she had several grown cousins present, as well, with their families. At first she was shy, not sure what they would expect of her or if she would be a disappointment to them, having grown up outside of the Amish life.
Instead, she found her grandparents to be two very warm and caring people. Her cousins seemed to welcome her without hesitation, too. She was amazed at the sheer number of people there. It had always been her and Kurt. Now, it seemed, everywhere she looked there was another relative.
The moment that was really tense for her, however, was when the bishop stopped by to see her. What her mother had done in taking her from the Amish was grounds for being shunned or cast out. Not knowing what kind of reception to expect, Sadie was expecting the worst. When the bishop stood before her, she was sure she was going to get it. In her mind, she had done something selfish by coming to this district when she knew that someone was after her.
The bishop did not scold her, though. Instead, he asked her questions about her life with the Englisch and about her mother. He seemed to be genuinely sad to learn of her mother’s death. She didn’t add in her suspicion that her mother may have been murdered. Mostly because she didn’t know yet if it was true.
“I remember your parents,” he informed her. “I was not bishop yet when you and your mamm left. Your father was a gut man. Hardworking and devoted to his family. Your mother was well known for baking the best pies in the district.”
She remembered how her mother had loved to bake. A lump formed in her throat. As happy as she was to have her memories back, sometimes they were painful. Knowing that she had almost lost all knowledge of her mother made her ache with longing to see her again. She still didn’t remember her father very well.
Lord, please let me get all my memories back.
She bit her lip. Was such a prayer selfish? On impulse, she asked the bishop. She almost regretted asking, though, at the surprised look that covered his face.
“You may pray to Gott about anything,” he replied, to her relief. “Gott likes us to talk with Him.”
When the bishop climbed back into his buggy to leave, she watched him go, feeling torn. She had so much to be thankful for. She had family she had lost. Family who truly cared about her. She had friends. Not only Isaac and Ben, but last night, Isaac had brought his wife, Lizzy, by to meet her.
Lizzy was like a ray of sunshine. She laughed and smiled, and joy just seemed to spill out of her. Sadie had been awkward at first, but the feeling had faded quickly in light of the other woman’s enthusiasm.
Sadie thought they could become very close. If she were to stay. Part of her yearned to stay so much it was painful. She wanted to remain close to Esther and Abram, too.
But mostly she yearned to be able to stay with Ben, whether he stayed here or returned home. She wanted to have the right to be the woman at his side as he raised his son. She thought that he would move back eventually and take over his father’s business. Although he had not said so, she could read his
attachment to this place in the way he talked about his family and in the pride he took in helping his father with his business.
Feeling pensive, she remained outside after the bishop left. Without thinking about where she was going, she began to walk along the driveway. Her thoughts returned to Ben.
His parents were right. It was time for Ben to start thinking about marrying again. Not that any woman could replace his Lydia. But she knew that it would be a good thing for him. And for Nathaniel.
She just didn’t think she could be that woman. And she wanted to be. So very much.
Could she give up her life and return to the Amish? She grimaced. He had not asked her to. Had not even hinted that he wanted her to.
She had a life in the Englisch world. A job she enjoyed. A brother she cared about deeply. One who was still missing.
Had Kurt been able to find the information he needed to put his boss and Mason Green away? She felt that he had been making progress. And she knew that Ryder was looking very hard at the connection between Ethan Nettle and Mason Green.
It seemed too much of a coincidence that Ethan had hired Kurt after what happened with Sadie. And after both of her parents had died in such strange ways. Why had she never been attacked before now? Was it possible that the fact that she never spoke out had convinced them that she wouldn’t tell? Or that she didn’t know or understand what had happened to her real father?
Could he have hired Kurt to keep an eye on her?
She had been so young when her father had been killed. So young, that she knew she didn’t look the same as she had before. And with her not being Amish anymore, could Ethan have questioned whether or not she was the girl who got away, the girl who had seen Mason Green’s face?
Maybe it was a test for her brother. Or maybe it was a test for her, to see if she had remembered.
As she mused, she absently walked around to the front of the house and paced on the driveway. Ice slid down her spine. Her entire life seemed like a setup. There were just too many things that led back to that fateful day when Mason Green had attempted to steal her away so many years ago.