by Mary Alford
Rachel turned from the window. The second accident in two hours. The weather was really playing havoc with driving.
Megan grabbed her coat and followed the sheriff. With Cole and Ryan dispatched to an earlier accident across town, they were short staffed already.
Rachel didn’t miss the worry on Walker’s face as he glanced out the window.
“I hate leaving you and Aden here to guard the place, but I’m afraid it can’t be helped.”
Aden stepped out of the conference room. “Go. Noah and I can handle things here,” he assured the sheriff.
Walker cast another troubled look outside. “Let’s hope this is the last accident today because we can’t afford to send anyone else out on a call.” With those troubling words, Walker and Megan headed outside and Janine quickly relocked the door.
She rubbed her arms as she came back. “It’s getting colder in here. I’ll check the thermostat.”
“Any news yet on Wilson’s whereabouts?” Noah asked Aden.
“Not yet. I’ve sent the photo to most of the retail shops around town, but the weather’s not helping. A lot of the stores are closing early.”
Noah came over to where Rachel stood by the window. “How are you holding up?” he asked quietly.
She forced a smile and faced him. “I’m oke.”
He appeared exhausted. He’d been through so much for her, suffered injuries to himself just to protect her.
“Denki, Noah, for all that you are doing,” she said and wondered if she would ever see him again when this ended. It hurt to think there would be no happy-ever-after for them.
“You’re welcome.” The look in his eyes made it hard not to fall apart. She loved him. He’d always had a place in her heart, yet life wasn’t fair.
The weight of the world seemed to be on his shoulders. She touched his cheek. “You are a gut man, Noah. I know you blame yourself for what happened with Olivia, but it wasn’t your fault. You were just young and rebelling against your daed.”
He covered her hand with his. “But that doesn’t change the truth. A young woman died. Olivia never had the chance to live her life.” He stopped and shook his head.
Tears rimmed her eyes. All for him. “Oh, Noah. You must give the pain to Gott and let Him bear the burden for you. Pray. Let Gott guide you. We all have things we’ve done wrong. Things we wish had turned out differently. None of us can make up for them by ourselves and you cannot blame yourself forever.”
He managed a smile, kissed her hand, and released it. “I know what you say is true, but it’s hard. Letting go of the guilt. Giving it to God completely.”
“It is,” she agreed. As she looked into his eyes, the lights suddenly extinguished. Rachel sucked in a breath. In the fading afternoon, a scream pierced the shocked silence. Janine. Something had happened to Janine.
* * *
“Stay here with Rachel. I’ll go check it out.” Aden drew his weapon and headed toward the back of the building where the scream had come from.
There’d been no flicker before the lights went out. Almost as if someone had cut the power.
Noah twisted to Rachel. “There’s a closet in Walker’s office. I need you to go there and hide. Don’t come out for anyone but me.” He hurried her toward the office.
Noah waited until she was secured in the closet and out of sight before he eased his Glock from its holster and moved to the office door. Aden was nowhere in sight. A tingling of unease lifted the hair on the back of his neck.
“Aden! Janine!” he called out, but there was no answer.
Noah grabbed his cell phone and tried calling Walker. The call went straight to voice mail. Keeping the panic at bay was hard. The area where Walker and Megan were heading was known to have sketchy cell service.
From where he stood, he could see the door to the break room was open. Janine and Aden could be hurt. Noah clicked the lock on the office door and closed it, then made sure the lock had engaged. He slipped to the break room and went inside. Empty.
The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as he moved toward the restrooms. A search of the men’s yielded nothing. He tried to open the door to the ladies’ room, but something blocked his way.
Noah shoved hard until he opened the door enough to enter the room. The lights were off. He flipped the switch, illuminating the room. Janine lay on the floor unconscious. Fear shot through him like a jolt. He knelt beside her and felt for a pulse. She was still alive. She’d been struck by something. He tried to call for backup and an ambulance, but it wouldn’t go through. The storm must have been playing havoc on cell service.
A noise close to the rear entrance had him jumping to his feet. He tried the phone again. Still no signal.
Easing from the room, he headed toward the back door. When he drew close, he noticed it stood slightly ajar.
Had Aden heard something outside and gone to investigate? Noah shoved the door the rest of the way open and stepped out into the alley behind the building.
Two cars were parked there that he didn’t recognize. He had to get back to Rachel. Noah moved toward the building as his phone rang.
He answered it on first ring thinking it was Aden. “Where are you?”
“I beg your pardon?” Walker.
Noah quickly explained what was happening with an edge to his voice.
“I’ll get an ambulance dispatched for Janine. Megan and I are on our way there now. The call was a hoax. There was no accident. I’m guessing these guys wanted us out of the way. Can you see the license plate number on either vehicle? I’ll have Megan run it.”
Noah read off the license plate of the vehicle in front of him. He’d just recited the last digit when something hard was slammed against his stomach. The breath seeped from his body. He doubled over. Someone shoved him inside.
He landed on his knees. Before he had time to react, another blow struck his injured knee and he dropped to the floor, slamming his shoulder against it. Pain seared through his body. The hand holding the gun felt as if it were weighted down.
Movement nearby. He tried to focus, but it was useless. He was seized from behind. The weapon snatched from his hand.
“I have him. Find her.” The man took his phone and smashed it against the floor.
“Get him restrained,” a different man said. He recognized the voice.
Noah screamed as his hands were jerked in front of him and zip-tied. Someone pushed him to the floor.
“I have her,” another man said. Noah jerked his head behind him and saw a man forcing Rachel along. They’d broken through the locked office door and found her.
Noah tried to struggle to his feet, but someone kicked him in the side, and he slumped to the ground.
“Noah!” He registered the panic in her voice.
“Tie her up. We need to get them out of here. I have no doubt he called for backup.” The man who seemed to be running the show was the same one who had run them off the road.
Noah was hauled to his feet and a cover was placed on his head. He couldn’t see anything. Where was Rachel? Was she okay?
“What about the other deputy?” the man in charge asked.
“He’s taken care of.” The answer sent chills down Noah’s spine. Aden. Had they killed him? “Get him to the car. We need him to keep her under control.”
Someone snatched Noah’s arm and forced him out of the station. He was aware of Rachel screaming and he struggled against his captor, but it was useless.
Noah was pushed inside a vehicle. Someone else was thrust in next to him.
A hand touched his arm. Rachel. He folded her hand in his. “It’s okay. I’m right here with you.”
A sob escaped her. Rachel clutched his hand tight and wouldn’t let go.
“What’s happening?” she asked in a low voice.
“I’m not sure,” he w
hispered. “But I was able to get one of the license plate numbers to Walker. He’s on his way. We have to hang on.”
“Keep quiet,” the man in charge barked. “You two have caused us enough trouble as it is.”
Noah tried to concentrate on the direction he believed the car was heading. They’d turned right. He carefully listened for any sound that might help identify where they were going. The car sped down the road in the opposite direction from which Walker would be approaching. He prayed the license plate wasn’t stolen.
After another half hour of driving, the car pulled off the street and headed down what sounded like a gravel road for another couple of miles. The vehicle turned again and slowed to a stop. Rachel clutched Noah’s hand tighter.
The door opened, and he was forced to let Rachel go as she was dragged from the car. A few seconds later, someone hauled him from the vehicle and into a dark room whose temperature felt as cold as the outdoors. Someone pushed Noah from behind. He landed on his injured knee again and couldn’t hold back the scream. The door shut and locked behind him.
“Noah? Are you here?” Rachel said. He struggled to his feet.
“I’m here.” He managed to get the covering from his head. Rachel stood a couple feet away. With his hands restrained, it was hard, but he yanked the covering from Rachel.
A single window allowed silty light through. Someone huddled in the corner. A woman. She shielded her face as if expecting a blow.
“It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you,” Noah said. She eased her arms down, and it took him a minute to realize it was Eva. She was alive.
Rachel knelt next to her sister. “I have been so worried,” she sobbed.
Eva clung to her, her face bruised, eye swollen. “I am oke. I was on my way home when they snatched me. They roughed me up and forced me to go with them. When the car stopped behind me I thought it was...” She stopped.
“You thought it was the young man you were seeing,” Rachel answered gently.
Eva’s eyes became huge. “How did you know?”
“Anna. She said you were seeing an Englischer.”
Eva lowered her head. “I’m so sorry,” she said through tears. “It was foolish, I know, but I was only having a little fun, and he paid me attention and made me feel special.”
“Was it him who took you?” Noah asked. They needed to figure out who these men were working for.
Eva wiped tears from her cheeks. “Nay. It was not him. I’ve not seen these men before.”
“You saw their faces?” Noah asked, shocked by the revelation. They hadn’t been worried about Eva seeing them, which meant they weren’t planning on keeping her alive.
“Eva, who is A. Miller?” Rachel asked.
“How did you know about him?” Eva asked.
Rachel explained how she found the note in the magazine.
“Do you think he is behind this?” Eva couldn’t believe it.
“I’m afraid not. Miller’s dead, Eva,” Noah told her gently.
Eva stared at him in shock, unable to speak for a moment.
“He was such a kind man. I met him at the shool one day. He stopped by after class. He said he’d once gone to the shool, although I didn’t understand since he was Englisch. He asked if I would meet him again. I thought it odd, but he seemed nice, so I told him we could meet at the bakery in Eagle’s Nest. I wrote it down on a piece of paper and tucked it into the Blackboard Bulletin magazine I was reading so I wouldn’t forget.”
Rachel’s brow knitted in a frown. “None of this makes sense. Why did he want to meet with you?”
“He gave me a key and asked me to keep it for him.”
“But you didn’t meet him at the bakery,” Noah said, recalling what the Stoltzfuses said.
Eva shook her head. “Nay. He came back to the schoolhouse instead. He appeared frightened when he gave me the key and asked me to hold on to it.” She heaved a sigh. “I hid it in the liner of my cloak. When the men took me, they were yelling about him. They were so angry and I worried they’d find it, so when we changed vehicles, I stuffed it under the back seat. Soon after, they brought me here.” She shuddered at the memory. “They wouldn’t tell me anything. They just dumped me in here. But when they were outside, I heard them discussing that once they had what they needed, they’d make us disappear and no one would be the wiser.”
What Eva said confirmed his belief. These men were planning to kill both Rachel and Eva.
“You did well,” Noah said, trying to keep his reaction from showing. Whatever the key fit, Noah was sure it would hold all the answers to why this was happening. They just had to stay alive long enough to figure it out.
TWENTY-FIVE
Rachel kept thinking about the photo she’d seen of Allan Miller. A memory from childhood slowly emerged. She was almost positive she’d met Miller when she was young. Before she could figure out the connection, the door rattled. The men had returned. This time, they weren’t wearing disguises. They no longer cared if they could be identified.
Rachel recognized one of the men immediately. It was Allan Miller’s stepson, Peter Hargrave.
“Peter!” Eva exclaimed, and Rachel spun to her sister in surprise.
“You know this man?” she asked.
“Jah, he is the young man who wooed me.” The truth finally dawned and tears filled Eva’s eyes. She shook her head. “Peter, why are you doing this?”
Hargrave no longer appeared the grieving son.
“Because I have no choice. Can you imagine how surprised I was to learn I wasn’t the sole heir to my stepfather’s fortunes, that he’d left it all to you two instead?” He pointed an angry finger at Rachel and Eva.
Shock waves rippled through Rachel. What was he talking about?
“I couldn’t believe it when I found what appeared to be a copy of the will he’d created leaving almost his entire fortune to a Rachel and Eva Hershberger.” Hershberger was Rachel’s maiden name before she married Daniel. Either Miller didn’t know she’d married, or the will had been made years before she and Daniel wed.
A crazed look appeared on Hargrave’s face. “I’d planned things out so carefully. My stepfather’s murder was supposed to look like an accident. I’d get his money and pay off McGraff’s goons before they could hurt me. But Allan left me the rights to the rig here in Eagle’s Nest and nothing more. I was a dead man without that money to pay off my gambling debts.”
Rachel couldn’t believe what she heard. “Why would he leave his money to us?”
Hargrave scoffed. “Don’t try to tell me you didn’t know you two were his daughters,” he snapped. “It’s right there in the letter he sent you. I found it when I searched your place with Mason. I went there to find the original copy of the will, only it wasn’t there. So where’d you hide it? If you tell me where it is now, I’ll make sure your death is painless.”
His words sank in. She and Eva were Miller’s daughters? Impossible. Yet memories from her childhood continued to resurface, lending to doubts.
“You’ll never get away with it, Hargrave. Even if you do pull off framing Gary Wilson for your stepfather’s murder, how will you explain our deaths?” Noah asked.
Rachel couldn’t believe how depraved this man was.
Hargrave slowly smiled. “Don’t worry, I have ways of making you all disappear, and no one will ever know what happened. The same for Wilson. He’ll be gone and won’t be able to defend himself against the charges. Case closed.”
He stepped closer to Rachel. “Now, where’s the original copy of the will? I know you have it.” Anger seethed in his eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never seen the will.”
“You’re lying,” Hargrave yelled. The man was slipping over the edge and extremely dangerous.
“I’m not. I don’t know anything about a will.”
Rachel blew out a breath. “What do we do? I have no idea if there is another copy of the will.”
“There has to be. Why else would Mr. Miller leave me a key to protect?” Eva told her. “He said if anything happened to him, I should turn the key in to the sheriff’s department.”
“He must have suspected something like this would happen and tried to protect you both,” Noah said. “Regardless, they’re going to kill us. We have to find a way to out of here before they return.”
Rachel couldn’t believe it. Allan Miller was her father. More childhood memories crowded in. Rachel recalled a man being around when she was younger, but he wasn’t her father, or so she’d believed. She remembered Allan Miller’s face from long ago. His last name was different back then. She closed her eyes and tried to pull the man out of her memory. She’d heard his surname before. King. His name was King, not Miller.
“I remember him,” she said aloud. “I remember Allan Miller. I’d forgotten that there was once another man I’d called Daed. Mamm told me he passed away before Eva was born. But his surname was King, not Miller.” She looked at Noah.
“Why would he change his name?” Noah asked with a frown.
“I don’t know. He appeared quite different back then. Younger, with a beard and hair that was much longer. I have no idea why he left the community and us behind. I remember Mamm went through a period of sadness at that time before she met Ezra.” She lifted her palms. “Though he wasn’t my biological father, Ezra became like a daed to me.”
Did Miller regret leaving his family behind? Was that why he chose to make her and Eva his heirs?
“I’m guessing Miller did something unlawful, thus the name change,” Noah said.
“Why didn’t you tell me you received a letter from our father?” Eva asked with hurt in her eyes.
“Because I didn’t. I think he sent the letter to Mamm.” Hargrave had no way of knowing her mother would be able to tell the authorities about the contents of the letter. She prayed he wouldn’t realize the truth and go after her mamm. Noah moved to the wall opposite the door and examined it. He motioned to Rachel and Eva. “It looks like there’s a door behind these boards. It’s probably an outside entrance to the basement. If we can get the boards free, we have a chance to escape, but we’ll need our hands loose first.”