Covert Amish Investigation

by Dana R. Lynn

  The bishop’s troubled eyes met his. “Abram, I believe that we need to be charitable. This young woman, while not one of us, came to us for a safe haven. We granted her that. She didn’t mingle much, but she was taking classes to become Amish of her own free will. I fear something horrible has happened to her.”

  Disturbed, Abram leaned forward. “I guess I assumed she decided to quit. What do you think might have happened?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. But I need your help.” The older man leaned in, his deep eyes piercing. “I’ve contacted the Englisch marshal who placed her here. She contacted the police department that had been connected with Beth’s case before she came to us and they’re sending officers to come and investigate. They’ll be staying at the bed-and-breakfast. I want you to help them. I also want you to keep an eye on them.”

  Abram understood. The Amish rarely involved outsiders, especially law enforcement. What he didn’t understand was why he was the bishop’s choice.

  “Not the Sutter Springs police?”

  The bishop shrugged. “Who knows the way of the Englisch law? The way she explained it to me, the fewer people who knew the truth about Beth, the safer she was. The Sutter Springs police are aware of the crime in the area, just not Beth’s true identity.”

  Abram nodded and moved on to his next question.

  “Why me?” That sounded too brusque. “I am always willing to help, but I don’t really know this woman. I’m not sure I’m the best choice to help.”

  “One of the officers coming used to be Amish. It will be unsettling for the officer to return, even for a short while.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “A former Amish officer is going to pretend to be Amish again?”

  This was getting stranger by the moment.

  “Ja. Abram, you are young and single. You have a good head on your shoulders and are usually calm in a tough situation. It was only a few years ago that your own brother Levi returned to us. It was a difficult transition, but now look at him. He’s married with two kinder and he’s a deacon in the church. Having seen his struggle, I think you would be a gut support for the officer.”

  Restless, Abram stood and walked to the window. He struggled to wrap his mind around what the bishop said. In the distance, the sky was dark. He leaned closer to the window, then jumped back when flames shot above the trees. In the direction of his home, his business and many other Amish establishments.

  “There’s a fire! I need to go.”

  He grabbed his hat and headed to his buggy. He climbed up, aware of the bishop clambering up on the other side. Abram pressed his lips together. He wasn’t going to argue with the man. If there was a fire, every able-bodied man would be welcome.

  Instead, he grabbed the reins and set his mare off on a trot. Her hooves kicked up dust and gravel against the plastic shield on the front of the buggy. Once he reached the street, he halted the mare long enough to ascertain that no one was coming from either way before setting her off again.

  The siren reached him first, then a short minute later, the fire truck passed him. Gut. Sometimes, a call went out when most of the volunteers were at work. When that happened, a haus would burn down before anyone arrived. Thirty seconds later, an ambulance swept by and Abram’s heart thudded. Someone had been injured. He heard the bishop mutter a prayer. Abram wanted to pray, but the words were stuck. When had he last prayed spontaneously?

  The fact that he couldn’t remember sent shame trickling through him. He pushed it down, not wanting to be distracted. A few minutes later, they cleared the trees. The fire truck was parked in a driveway, its red-and-white lights flashing.

  It was the haus of the missing woman they’d been talking about ten minutes earlier.

  “That’s Beth’s haus!” Bishop Hershberger echoed his thoughts.

  Abram pulled the buggy to the side of the road. The bishop hopped down almost before the wheels stopped turning, startling Abram. He had never seen him move so fast. Abram jumped down and followed. The ambulance was parked beyond the haus. Rounding the corner of the haus, he gaped. The back porch had been obliterated, leaving behind a pile of smoldering debris. Scorch marks covered the back wall. The firefighters aimed the continuous rush of water at the site even though the flames appeared to be out. Abram was glad they were being cautious as sometimes fires restarted if the embers weren’t taken care of.

  Movement at the ambulance caught his attention. Paramedics maneuvered the stretcher carrying a man who looked a bit older than Abram into the ambulance. Burns covered his face and arms and what was left of his shirt hung in tatters. Paramedics carried a woman past him on a second stretcher. Thick honey blond hair blocked his view of her face. The color and texture of her hair jostled his memories.

  Nee, he didn’t have time to think of Katie now.

  But then the woman on the second stretcher turned her head. He stared. That Englisch woman had his Katie’s face. Older, ja, but he’d know those high cheekbones and that annoyingly adorable widow’s peak anywhere. Without thinking, he stepped closer. “Katie? Ist es du?”

  The bishop sucked in a surprised breath next to him.

  Impossible, Abram told himself. He was being a fool. Then her eyes, those deep blue eyes, opened. They were vague and cloudy with pain before she looked straight at him.

  “Abram,” she murmured, her lids closing. “He looks just like Abram.”

  Abram couldn’t believe she’d recognized him. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been a teenager, just past seventeen. That was over nine years ago. Almost ten. But maybe not so surprising. He’d recognized her almost the second he’d seen her.

  “Excuse me.” One of the paramedics edged in beside her stretcher. “On three.” They lifted her into the ambulance. Abram watched, his mind dull with shock. The female paramedic climbed into the back with Katie while the man hopped into the cab behind the steering wheel. Abram backed out of the way to give them room to turn around. The ambulance drove past him, driving half on the lawn to pass the fire truck.

  He’d known Katie had left. He didn’t know she’d become Englisch. How did she know Beth?

  The bishop had said that Beth wasn’t really Amish. He gazed down the street, his mind grappling to comprehend that Katie was back, after all these years.

  For her to show up here, now, was no coincidence. He was sure of it. What he didn’t know was how her arrival and Beth’s disappearance were connected.

  TWO

  “Abram.”

  The bishop. He’d forgotten that Bishop Hershberger was with him.

  “Ja?”

  “How do you know that woman?” He didn’t hear disapproval, merely curiosity.

  “Her name’s Katie Bontrager. She used to be Amish.” He faced the bishop, struggling to keep the myriad of emotions slamming around inside him off his face, although he couldn’t control the flush warming his cheeks and ears. “We were friends when we were younger. After her parents were killed in an accident, she left the community. I never knew why.”

  The bishop’s wise gaze speared him. It was difficult to stand still, but he managed. He braced himself for the bishop’s questions. Abram wouldn’t lie. If the bishop asked if he and Katie had been walking out together, he’d tell him yes, although they hadn’t started officially courting. After all, she’d only been sixteen and hadn’t joined in the singings yet. But they’d had a plan. As soon as she was seventeen and her daed said she could attend the singings, he’d be there to drive her home.

  However, one day she was gone, no warning, no explanations. Even her best friend, the bishop’s wife, Edith, had no clue where she’d gone. Or why. And his dreams had died as his heart withered.

  Had Edith told her husband about Katie? The man gave no indication that he had ever heard of Katie Bontrager.

  The bishop nodded and sighed. “Abram, I’m not sure asking for your assistance with this
matter was a gut idea.”

  Abram startled. He stopped staring in the direction the ambulances had gone and focused his attention on the elder. “Bishop? You said that my experiences would help.”

  “Ja. I did. Now that I know of your connection to Kate, I am having second thoughts.”

  The bishop said her name as if he were acutely aware of who Katie was. His stomach sank. Abram glanced back over his shoulder again. The cloud of dust caused by the speeding emergency vehicles had settled.

  “Do you mean—”

  “Ja. Kate Bontrager is one of the officers sent here to investigate. I’m assuming the man with her was the other officer we’re expecting.”

  Abram opened his mouth to agree, to ask the bishop to release him from his promise to assist. He paused. This was his one chance to find out what had happened. It wouldn’t heal the breach between him and Katie. Nothing could do that. The maidel he knew was gone forever. However, maybe knowing the truth, confronting the issue and demanding answers, he could finally be free of the bitterness that had curled up inside his heart since she’d left. If he could get past that, maybe he could let go of the past, once and for all.

  Could he do it? Work with her, day by day? Ja. He could. The opportunity to know the truth outweighed any awkwardness that might ensue.

  “Nee. I will help. The fact that I knew her once won’t get in the way.” He hoped. “Should we go to the hospital?”

  Bishop Hershberger nodded. “Ja. I want to make sure they are well. And it would be gut to know if they learned anything new regarding Beth.”

  Abram grimaced. Did he want to go to the hospital? Nee, he did not. He wanted to go home to his quiet haus. His mamm was sure to have leftovers from dinner. He yearned to go home and eat some of his mamm’s gut cooking, read his Bible and go to bed. He didn’t want to go to the hospital to see the woman who’d betrayed him and set off the series of events that had led to his bleak existence.

  He’d already decided on his course, though. He needed to see it through.

  He climbed back up in his buggy and waited for the bishop to join him. Once the other man was seated beside him, he grabbed the reins. Before he flicked them, he turned to look back at the haus. “What would cause damage like that?”

  Bishop Hershberger shook his head. “Ich weiß es nicht.”

  He didn’t know, either. Nothing natural, he was fairly sure about that.

  It didn’t take them long to get to the hospital.

  “We’ll only stay a few minutes,” the bishop said.

  Twenty minutes later, the nurse said they could see Katie. The young man was still in surgery. The doctor wouldn’t tell them any more than that since they weren’t family. The bishop couldn’t remember the other officer’s name.

  “I have it written down at home,” he confided to Abram.

  “Your friend Katie is awake,” the doctor said. “She seems to be holding her own. We’ll observe her overnight. If she has no other issues, she’ll be released tomorrow morning.”

  The bishop thanked the doctor for his time. The doctor acknowledged them with a nod and departed.

  “She’s in room thirteen,” the nurse said. “We’re trying to find her family...”

  “She has no family in the area,” Abram blurted.

  “None?”

  He winced. Maybe she was married. “None that I know of,” he amended his statement. “Her parents were both killed about nine and a half years ago. She has a couple of sisters, but I have no idea where. They both left the district after they married. I doubt she’s been in contact with them in the past decade.”

  The nurse clucked her tongue. “That’s a shame. She’ll have to have someone to drive her home.”

  “Ja, we can take care of that,” Bishop Hershberger replied. “She’s coming to stay with us.”

  Abram blinked. The last he’d heard, Katie and the other officer were supposed to stay at the bed-and-breakfast. Apparently, the bishop had decided to change the arrangements.

  Bishop Hershberger finished talking with the nurse and walked toward Katie’s room. Abram knew he was supposed to follow.

  Slamming his fists into his pockets, Abram strode after the bishop. Entering Katie’s room, he saw another patient sleeping in the first bed. He sidled past the elderly woman, taking care not to wake her. A curtain divided the two beds, blocking Abram’s view of Katie. He stepped up to the edge of the curtain and halted, unwilling to go farther. His pulse hammered in his chest.

  The bishop grabbed the chair next to the wall and dragged it to the end of the bed. He sat down as if this were nothing more than a normal visit to one of his congregation. “Katie Bontrager, ain’t so?”

  “Kate. I’m called Kate now.”

  He didn’t know why that was painful for him to hear. She wasn’t part of his world anymore. Many adults left their nicknames behind.

  “Kate, then. We found you outside Beth Zook’s haus.” He lowered his voice. “You’re one of the officers sent to find her, ja?”

  A hurried rustling sound hit his ears. He heard her mutter frantically but didn’t catch what she said. Without thinking, Abram stepped around the curtain. Katie, or Kate, was sitting up, tugging at the tape holding the IV in her arm. He hurried to her side and placed a hand on hers to stop her from removing the needle. The moment his hand touched her skin, she jerked away as if he’d burned her. Shocked, he stepped back. What had caused that reaction? It was almost like she were afraid of him.

  Her gaze met his briefly before skittering away. His chest tightened at the angst he saw in her eyes. A tide of red spread up her neck and face. When she ducked her head, her long hair slipped forward and hid her features. He couldn’t look away. He’d often wondered what it would look like down. The golden tresses fell to her shoulders. She’d had it cut since she left the community. It was still as lovely as he’d thought it would be.

  Furious with himself, he wrenched his eyes away. Nee, this wasn’t right. He should not be attracted to her. She was Englisch now. And she was here because someone was in danger.

  “Katie...” His throat closed, blocking his words.

  “What are you doing here?” The words were low, almost as if they’d been wrung from her.

  “Ah,” the bishop broke in. “Kate, young Abram is here on my request. I need his help and I have informed him of everything.”

  Abram cleared his throat. She was still fiddling with the IV.

  “You almost died.” His voice came out rough. “You need to leave the IV in.”

  She still wouldn’t look at him. Instead, she turned her blue eyes to look at the bishop. “Where’s Shane? Is he all right?”

  “Your friend? He’s still in surgery. I’m sure the doctor will tell you more later.”

  Her devastated expression tugged at his heart. Abram wanted to ask her about Shane. He knew the other man was probably her partner. Was he more than that? Perhaps a boyfriend? Her husband? He held the words in. He shouldn’t care either way.

  “He took the brunt of the blast.” Her eyes were shiny. She blinked rapidly, glancing away. When she looked back, her control was in place again. She avoided his gaze and looked straight into the bishop’s eyes. “You were correct. Shane and I are police officers from Wallmer Grove. He’s my partner. We were sent here to go undercover and find Beth Zook.”

  Abram frowned. “You didn’t look undercover. You were dressed Englisch.”

  Her mouth tightened. She jerked her head up to meet his gaze. “I have Amish clothes in the car we were driving. I planned on changing before I went to the bishop’s house. Shane and I made a split-second decision to have a look around first.” She shook her head, guilt painted on her expression. “No, that’s not accurate. I asked Shane to stop. We wouldn’t have been there if not for me.”

  “But someone else might have gone there.”

  A
ck, it sounded like he was defending her. He definitely wasn’t doing that.

  She tilted her head, considering. “You’re right, of course. I’d much rather risk my own life than that of someone else.”

  Bishop Hershberger leaned forward. “I’m sorry anyone was injured. Did you find anything at the Zook haus? Maybe something that could tell us where Beth is?”

  Kate shook her head, her gaze sweeping between the men. The bleakness in her glance hit him like a clenched fist in the belly.

  “Nothing. We didn’t even get into the house. The porch exploded.” She turned to the bishop. “Something like that is usually not an accident.”

  “You’re right,” a voice said behind him. Abram jumped. He’d been so focused on Katie, the man had snuck up on them. Turning his head, he watched a Sutter Springs police officer step past the first bed and head in their direction. “It wasn’t an accident. It was a bomb.”

  * * *

  Of course, it was a bomb. She’d known that the second she heard the click that preceded the blast, which had so nearly killed both Shane and her. Possibly a pipe bomb. Something simple. It hadn’t been strong enough to be fatal, fortunately. She’d need to investigate the scene.

  Kate fought the urge to chew on her lower lip. Never show any sign of vulnerability. That was the rule she lived her life by.

  Except it was kind of hard not to look vulnerable when lying in a hospital bed in a flimsy garment with three men watching her. Her skin crawled as the newcomer stepped closer into her space. There is nothing wrong with the man, she chided herself. He strode nearer, confidence oozing from him, his expression giving no hint of his thoughts. Law enforcement. She’d have known even if he hadn’t been in uniform. His rank insignia said lieutenant.

  “I’m Lieutenant Greer.” He stared down at her. “I just spoke to a doctor. Your friend is out of surgery. It’ll be tomorrow before he’s coherent, but he should live. He’ll be here for a few days, maybe a week, to recover. He has some serious burns.”

  Shane was going to be all right. She held on to that. She’d also do her best to find the person responsible. It had to be connected with Beth.