But where could Adam find shelter for Katie? Where could he keep her safe tonight? Her house was a mess. He didn’t want to bring trouble on her friends by staying there with Sarah and Jed. They had, in fact, probably been there too much and too long already. And although his Tahoe was big, it didn’t exactly have two bedrooms, let alone a bathroom. Where could they possibly go to find safety and rest?
TEN
Katie picked up the teapot and poured more chamomile.
“It is soothing, jah?” Sarah leaned forward and touched Katie’s arm, smiling with a warmth that comforted Katie.
“Jah, but we cannot linger.”
“What? You will stay here. Both of you.”
Even as Jed began to shake his head to disagree, Adam spoke up. “There is no doubt that whoever is after Katie knows where she lives. He has demonstrated that he will not give up. She can’t stay at her house or even return there until this is resolved.”
“Right. So she can stay here.” Sarah pushed the plate of cookies toward Adam.
Katie shook her head at her friend. As if Amish cookies could sway the Englischer! “Danki, Sarah, but—”
Adam leaned forward and pushed the cookie plate back toward Katie. “But she—”
Impulsively Katie waved her hand in Adam’s direction, and he stopped talking. She surprised herself with her boldness in interrupting him, but perhaps enough danger on the run had strengthened her. “I cannot accept. I will not bring danger onto your house.”
Sarah paused as she examined Katie. Finally she sighed. “If that is what you think is best. But where will you go?”
“I do not know. I would not want to bring trouble onto any of the People.”
“Ach, why did I not think of it before? You can stay at mein bruder’s. He will be moving here from Lancaster County soon and has purchased a house. There are a few furnishings that I had extra and loaned to him until his things are moved. It is just a table and chairs, a few plates, glasses. But he is gone for another couple of weeks because he has business to finish up there before he can move here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Jah, for sure and for certain. I am cleaning and fixing it up for him in the interim, so right now it is empty.”
Adam stood as if signaling that it was time to go. “How far is it?”
“It is only a couple of miles away.” Sarah looked at Katie. “It is the old Hochstetler place.”
Katie nodded and hugged her twins again as Sarah rose to gather some drinks and snacks for them. She had known the Hoschtetlers and knew the house to be a fine, old structure. It would be plenty adequate for their needs. Adam headed toward the door, and Katie knew it was time to leave. Her heart twisted within the confines of her chest, aching fiercely at her current separation from her daughters. But what could she do? There was not anything at all that she could think of except to continue to run and hide with the Englischer until the danger passed, since she would never be willing to stray very far from her Amish community. Keeping her distance was the safest for her and for her daughters.
She pulled her twins close and whispered, “Mein liebchen. My darlings.” She kissed each cheek in turn. “I will be back as soon as I can.”
The stop at Jed and Sarah’s had been all too short, but it had been a comfort and a relief to hold her children again, even if just for a moment. Their sweetness and innocence had dispelled some of the depression that seemed to linger about her. An impression struck her that that could have been the last time she would see them. It would certainly be safer for them if she stayed away lest she lead her attacker to her children.
Katie easily directed Adam to the Hochstetler place. She stayed in the Tahoe while he checked out the property, both outside and in. Seemingly satisfied with its distance from nearby Amish houses, he retrieved a flashlight from the glove compartment and ushered her inside. At his direction, she stood just inside the door while he found sleeping bags and a battery-operated lantern in the back of his Tahoe.
The furnishings were definitely sparse, with the table and four chairs that Sarah had mentioned as the only furniture on the expansive first floor. Even if she didn’t have a leg wound that would ache from climbing the stairs, there was no point in checking the upper level. Those rooms were sure to be barren, as well. It didn’t matter. She hoped not to be in the house long.
Night had fallen as they had driven, so Adam flipped the switch to the lantern and led the way to the kitchen table, motioning Katie to a chair. He took the chair opposite, setting the bishop’s copy of the Ausbund between them. “You still have the note?” He glanced at her prayer kapp. “Or should I pull it up on my phone?”
She reached up to her head covering and retrieved the paper. “I have it.” She unfolded it, placed it on the surface between them and then opened the hymnal. After checking the numbers her brother had written in the message, she turned to the appropriate page in the book.
Adam turned sideways in his chair, craning his neck to see both the hymnal and the paper. “This isn’t working.” He stood and circled the table, sitting in the chair to her left.
She continued searching for the proper page, line and word according to the message her bruder had written in the book code. Adam’s scent of the woods in springtime tickled her senses, and she doubled her efforts at concentrating on the code.
As she worked on the fifth word of the message, her right hand, holding the pencil, brushed against Adam’s hand as it rested on the table between them. A tremor raced up her arm at his touch, but she forced herself to hold the writing utensil steady. She glanced at him to see if he had noticed her reaction and was struck by the handsomeness of his angular face in the lamplight. Ach, I ought not to be having those thoughts!
“What does all this mean?” His voice sounded husky to her ears, but he was probably just trying to keep his voice low and not break her concentration.
“It is High German, the language of the Ausbund. I will translate it after I get the complete message.”
She continued on, intent on the book in the low lamplight, trying not to worry about her own safety or the safety of her girls. She carefully wrote out each German word above its corresponding numbers on her brother’s note. “There it all is. Now for the English.”
A few minutes later, she read it aloud, pointing to each German word as Adam followed along. “Help me. Harm soon. Deliver identity. In shadow of old saw place near tree. Come mid night. Three day.”
Intensity creased the lines on Adam’s forehead. “So, he needs help to avoid further harm. And it’s urgent.”
“Jah, seems so.” Despite the heat and humidity in the house, a chill crept up Katie’s arms.
“He’s delivering something, or something is being delivered. Perhaps more identification documents, more like that counterfeit social security card you found in his workshop. What could old saw place mean?”
The chill seized Katie’s shoulders and threatened to wind itself around her neck. She didn’t want to think it, but could it be possible? Did her brother mean the sawmill, the location of her husband’s horrible and untimely death?
Dizziness threatened as she remembered that day she had been summoned to the terrible scene. The sawmill was a place she had not been back to and had in fact avoided with a passion since then. She must have begun trembling, for Adam put his arm around her as if to stop her shivering. “What is it? What’s the matter?”
She swallowed hard, though it did nothing to dispel the lump that had formed in her esophagus. “I think he means the sawmill.”
“Oh. Did something bad happen there?”
But the look on her face must have answered his question.
* * *
Adam felt himself being torn in two. Was this why most special agents weren’t married? A beautiful woman needed comforting. His comforting. And he wanted to provide it, to hold Katie in his arms a
gain.
But he also needed to act on this message, now that he knew what it meant. Something big was going to go down. He knew where and he knew when. He needed to contact his supervising special agent and get the team mobilized. Katie’s brother had taken a huge risk in his desperation to seek help, probably hoping that she could contact law enforcement despite the Amish reluctance to involve Englishers.
Which was his priority?
Even with his arm still around Katie, he pulled his phone close to make the call. Of course his priority was to catch the bad guys. Justice must be done. That was why he was a special agent. That was his reason for waking up every morning, for getting out of bed, for putting one foot in front of the other. And as long as the bad guys were on the loose, wreaking their havoc, the woman he wanted to comfort was in danger.
Then again, if he could put an end to this chase, perhaps there could be more time spent with the lovely Amish woman.
What? He shook his head and pulled his arm from around Katie, focusing on his phone. There could not be more time spent with the Amish woman, for one simple reason. She was Amish. He was not. That would be the end of their love story.
He tapped the button to speed-dial his supervisor and relayed the new information. It was all starting to come together, although Adam still wanted to interrogate Katie’s brother to get the details. With this heads-up as to when and where the big transaction was taking place, Adam and his supervisor determined that an ICE team should be at the sawmill at midnight the next night. Factoring in the time that had lapsed since Timothy had snuck his note to Katie, it seemed that the night for the meet-up was tomorrow. As he spoke to his supervisor, Katie sat beside him, her eyes closed and her lips moving in what Adam guessed was a silent prayer that they could rescue her brother from whatever he had been forced into.
As he finished the call, Katie opened her eyes and focused on him. “How do you think Timothy became mixed up in this?”
“I’m not sure, but I plan to ask him when I get a chance.” Adam’s blood pounded through his arteries as he thought of all the trouble Timothy had put on his sister. “He must be seeking help to stop these criminals and protect both himself and you. Without his note, we wouldn’t have any idea where to find him or these thugs.”
“I have wondered what you must think of my brother, Adam. But I believe he must be in agony over what he has been forced to do. I do not think he chose that life of secrecy and, perhaps, crime.” She pleaded with him for a moment with her wide, dark blue eyes, then looked down at the table, her delicate lashes hiding the flashing of her eyes.
“Probably. And perhaps when that man came after you, Timothy knew his usefulness to them was done and it would only be a matter of time before he and you would be eliminated.” At that horrible thought, his arm moved without his permission to rest on the back of Katie’s chair.
“Eliminated? Ach, that is what this is all about.” A tear escaped, but she waved a hand at Adam to ward him off. “Of course I knew that already. I am Amish, but I am not ignorant of the ways of evil. It just can be hard to admit.”
“To the best of my ability, I will make sure that all is all right. You’re safe now, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect you.” He fought hard not to gather her in his arms. This was business, and he was determined to remain professional.
“Even at the sawmill?”
Adam cut his eyes at Katie even as his mind spun, trying to figure out why she would ask about that particular location. “Why would you think you’re going to the sawmill?” With the probable danger there, in the midst of that transaction, whatever it was, there was no way he would allow her to go to the sawmill. He would tuck her away someplace safe to wait out the meeting.
“Because I am. My brother will most likely be there. I need to encourage and support him, no matter how difficult it is to return there.”
Apparently there was more here he needed to know. “Why difficult? And when have you been there before?”
“That is where my husband was killed.”
Adam gasped, experiencing a feeling in his chest as if he’d been hit by a truck. Her bravery, her willingness to return to a place that must hold untold trauma, all in service to her brother, astounded him. “What happened?”
She swallowed and then began. “My husband used to work part-time there while we were trying to get our farm going. I was selling baked goods to help pay the bills, but I had twin toddlers underfoot and could not do much. I was also pregnant with our third child and having a rough time of it.”
“Third child?” Adam shook his head. Katie only had the two girls. He hated to think what had happened to that baby.
“Jah. And then my neighbor came running into the kitchen one day. She said there had been an accident, and I needed to get to the sawmill right away. She had summoned the Amish Taxi, and it was waiting to take me there.” She ran her hand across the smooth wood of the table. “They did not know I had arrived, and I saw everything. I saw...him. His mangled body.”
A look of horror swept over her face, and she dissolved into tears. Adam put his hand over hers, the softness of her skin contrasting with the rough wood of the tabletop, and whispered a prayer for comfort.
“The trauma was too much, and I miscarried.” She sniffed and swiped away some tears. “It was a boy.”
“Are you sure you want to go back?”
“Jah, I must go back. For Timothy. He is my only family. I am afraid of the memories at the sawmill, and I am afraid of the bad men. But I am more afraid of losing Timothy forever. If there is something I can do, then I will do it.”
Adam was not convinced that Katie should be at the sawmill at the appointed time, especially not since the place was surrounded by such great emotional difficulty. If it came right down to it, his duties did not include her emotional well-being. At least according to ICE regulations. Would her presence be a distraction to him? But there was no point in concerning himself with it now. He would know more as the time approached.
“I admire and applaud your tenacity. But we’re in this together, remember? I’m doing everything I can to resolve your and your brother’s difficulties.” He didn’t want to see her hurt. But did his increasing emotional attachment to her impair his judgment? Absentmindedly he rubbed his thumb over the back of her silky hand.
She shivered and looked up at him, fear in her eyes, her lower lip trembling. The lantern cast a soft glow over the room, throwing shadows into the corners and around the edges. How easy it would be to kiss her.
But it would be wrong. Very wrong. His mind shouted at him to leave her alone. Nothing could come of an Amish-Englisch romance. Absolutely nothing.
How could he change the way his heart was feeling about her? He couldn’t stop it. It was involuntary. Perhaps it was simply a reaction to the close quarters and being on the run. But what if it wasn’t? He had never been in love before, never allowed himself to be that vulnerable and never been willing to admit that he was a person who wanted to be loved. Is that what this was—the beginning of love? What if he did want a love and a family to call his own? Was that wrong?
He leaned down, his lips an inch from hers. Her breath came in short puffs. Was that anticipation?
For the briefest of moments, he gently touched his lips to hers. Electricity seemed to crackle around them.
A huge crack of thunder pounded on the roof and sent shudders through the walls of the house. Lightning turned night into day. In that moment, Adam saw, in an instant, a flash of regret across her beautiful face as brilliant and clear as the lightning.
Yes, it was wrong to want a family of his own. He had a commitment to justice. But not only that—he would never be deserving of Katie. Not even close.
She shoved the chair back and stood in a rush, crossing quickly to the window, hugging her arms around her middle. Another flash of lightning made a jagged streak across the s
ky, lighting up the yard. But her gasp and exclamation drove all agonizingly romantic thoughts from his head.
“I think someone is out there!”
ELEVEN
The thunder was delayed by only a second, and it clapped overhead. The windows rattled in their casements, seeming to shake some sense into her head. What had she been thinking? She had been ferhoodled by the handsome face and strong shoulders and protective attitude of this Englischer, for sure and for certain. Admiration was one thing. But a kiss? That seemed too much like commitment.
But it wasn’t only the Englischer watching out for her. Gott was watching out for her, protecting her from the Englischer. The summer thunderstorm had arrived in just the right timing to bring her back to her Amish reality. She shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs formed by her attraction to Adam, and if he took it as a nein, then all the better.
She turned back toward the window. The severe storm had rolled in fast. Lightning had lit up the outside like daytime, but for that split second, it was enough. She stared out into the dark. Had she really seen someone, or had it just been her imagination, fueled by fear?
Then lightning struck again, this time cracking a tree wide-open, half of it toppling to the side. As it fell, a person ran to the left, seeming to hide behind another tree or the nearby shed.
She spun away from the window and pressed herself against the wall, her heart beating a wild tempo. “Adam,” she cried out. “There is someone there.”
He slid the button on the battery-powered lantern and plunged the house into darkness. Quickly and quietly, he crossed to the window, hiding himself against the wall on the opposite side from Katie. He held a finger to his lips to signal that she should remain silent, and Katie closed her eyes in an attempt to calm her rapid breathing.
But when lightning struck again, she opened them quickly, unwilling to miss anything. She wanted to see everything that she could in case it would be helpful to Adam. And in that flash of light, she saw a figure run from behind the shed to a tree closer to the house. He held something in his hand, but it didn’t look like a gun.
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