Lamb to the Slaughter (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 1) (20 page)

19

SERENITY

November 17th

I
pushed the ice cubes around the cup with the straw, thoroughly disgusted with myself. No matter how I tried to rid Daniel from my mind, the feel of his lips pressed against mine kept invading my thoughts. As it was, I was operating on only about four hours of sleep, and now, when I needed to be focused, my brain was a jumbled mess.

Bobby’s voice broke through the cloud. I looked up to stare at the old man who had paused from eating his burger to talk to me. “I would think that you’d be in a finer mood, Serenity. After all, the judge agreed with you about the Amish boy at the arraignment today.”

It wasn’t the words he said, more the tone he used that put me on the defensive. I glanced at Todd, who was munching on his fries, acting disinterested, but I knew better. Very little conversation got by Todd.

“I know what you’re thinking, Bobby—that I got into too big of a hurry to bring Eli Bender in,” I said and leaned back
in the booth. I watched the other patrons in Nancy’s Diner, thinking how nice it would be to be one of them, just enjoying the greasy cheeseburgers without all the stress that had my belly tied in knots.

“That’s not it at all. I’m more interested in how you’re going to handle the news if Eli isn’t the unborn child’s father,” Bobby said with a thoughtful rise of his eyebrow.

Leave it to Bobby to hit it right on the nail. Todd was looking at me with mild sympathy, bringing me to my senses and reminding me of what the bishop said at Naomi’s funeral. It is what it is.

“I certainly hope it wasn’t Will’s child, but if it turns out to be his, I don’t believe the fact would change the charges against Eli,” I said.

Todd said, “How long will it take, Bobby, to get the results back from Indianapolis?”

“A few days, maybe a week, I’d say,” Bobby answered.

The longest damned week of my life, I thought, taking a bite of my sandwich. We sat silently for several minutes before a nagging question finally made its way out of my mouth.

“Bobby, do you recall any strange incidents that happened within the Amish Community, oh, say, about thirty years ago?”

Bobby pulled his attention from his lunch and looked at me with an intensity that I usually didn’t see on the laid back old man’s face. “Why ever would you ask such a question?”

The tickling of foolishness vanished and I plunged in. “I heard a story that happened around that time, and I was curious if you knew anything of it. But, I guess it was told to me in confidence, so I don’t want to give you the particulars.”

Bobby drew his brows together, thinking for a few seconds and then said resignedly, “The Amish settled here in Blood
Rock about thirty-five years ago, and I remember the hoopla within the community about their arrival. Most folks didn’t really mind having the Plain folk moving in, but others were quite bothered by the idea of having to rub elbows with a group who were so different from them. People were more prejudiced back then, especially about things they didn’t understand.”

“How did you feel about them?” I interrupted.

“Oh, I had no problem at all with the Amish. As a matter of fact, I was captivated by their lifestyle at first. There is quite the appeal of their simple ways and strong family ties. I became friendly enough with some of the local men by visiting their businesses. Did you know that the house that Mary and I sold a few years back was Amish built?”

“No, I didn’t. But, you said,
at first
. What did you mean by that?” I stared at Bobby hoping that if his words didn’t answer my question, his expression would.

“Don’t go getting me wrong. I still don’t have any problem with the Amish, but I’ve seen things over the years that have made me reconsider that their way is really simpler. In fact, my observations have led me to think that their lifestyle is a way of self-inflicting punishment. The young people seem to have it the worst. They’re expected to take on the work load and responsibility of an adult at the age of fourteen or fifteen.”

“Yeah, but those kids are a hell of a lot more mature than our teens,” Todd interjected.

Bobby shook his head softly, and said, “No, it doesn’t matter what culture the child is brought up in, the desire to have fun and be free is universal.” Bobby paused and turned back to me. “Getting back to your original question, Serenity,
there was one tragedy that sticks in my mind as if it were yesterday.”

Bobby searched around for prying ears, and seeing that the diner’s noon day rush was past and most of the booths were empty, he settled back against the seat, his hands folded on the table.

“I was still an assistant to the coroner, Billy Jones, at the time. I wasn’t in charge, but Billy was quite the drinker and many of his responsibilities fell directly on my shoulders. That’s why I was personally called out to the railroad tracks that day. You see, Billy was on a binge somewhere and Sheriff Connelly couldn’t locate him. Anyway, it was a young Amish woman who was hit by the train.” Bobby thought for a second before adding, “I do believe that her name was Rachel Yoder.”

Todd interrupted, “What’s the big deal in that? Even now, we occasionally have to pull someone off the tracks.”

Bobby looked form Todd to me before he answered. “It wasn’t the fact that she was hit by the train. It was that she purposely stepped in front of it.”

His words registered, and a chill swept over me. I blocked the mental picture out. “How do you know that it wasn’t an accident?”

“It was in broad daylight, and a motorist stopped at the crossing saw the Amish girl walking alongside the tracks. When the train was almost abreast with the girl, she took the step in front of it. It was no accident—the girl wanted to die.”

“Why would she do such a thing?” I asked.

“That’s the part that makes that case similar to this one. No one would talk to Sheriff Connelly about it. The Amish people were as tight lipped in those days as they are now.”
Bobby swiveled in his seat and called out, “Nancy, come on over here, and help refresh my memory.”

Nancy was an older woman who was extremely vibrant, despite her wrinkles. She dyed her hair the bright red that I’d been told had been her natural color before she’d ever received her first gray strand. When she moved about, her hips swung in a motion that many younger women couldn’t pull off, me included.

She stopped wiping down the counter, flinging the cloth aside to make her way over to our table. With no shy bones in her body, she slid into the booth beside Bobby and across from me.

“What can I help you with, Bobby?” Nancy drawled the question out, making it sound as if she was offering something very inappropriate.

Bobby must have thought so too. He blushed before he turned slightly to the woman, “Do you remember when that Amish girl got herself killed by the train?”

Nancy nodded. “Sure do. That was a long time ago, but I remember it pretty clearly. I was working at that dive out on Route 44 where the sheriff and his boys used to hang out. He was pretty pissed off with them Amish people and how they acted.”

The cloudy day outside the windows suddenly seemed to brighten when I realized that there might be a common pattern with the two events.

“How were they acting, Nancy?” I asked.

Nancy brought her darkly shadowed green eyes to me and said, “Why, they just didn’t seem to care much that the girl did herself in. And they wouldn’t give the sheriff any information about why she’d do such a thing either.”

“None of the Amish people were at all helpful?” I pressed, instinctively knowing this was important somehow.

As if Nancy had just stumbled over a thought, her eyes widened, “There was a sister that was talking a bit, until the rest of ‘em quieted her.”

“Do you know her name?” I asked, thinking it was a long shot.

“Course I do. She’s a friend of mine now—goes to the same church I do.”

Confusion must have lit my face, because Nancy laughed, and said, “She ain’t Amish any more, Serenity. Mary Yoder turned English a few years after the train took her sister’s life. She’s married to Mike Clark and they have a few grown.”

“Do you think Mary would talk to me about her sister?” I asked, suddenly excited that I knew two people who used to be Amish.

Nancy nodded. “Let me give her the heads up that you’ll be contacting her, but yeah, I believe she’ll talk to you.”

“Can you call her now? If it’s okay, I would like to visit her today.” I tried not to sound too anxious, but probably failed miserably.

Nancy raised her eyebrows. “Today? Why, you must be a curious girl to rush over there.” When I didn’t say a thing, only holding my breath, she continued, “All right then. Let me wait on that tall, handsome piece of pie first.”

Nancy winked. When I peeked around the booth behind me, my heart stopped. It took just a second for Daniel to hone in on me and when his gaze met mine, he frowned slightly. The look got my heart started again. His face cleared of emotion and he walked leisurely to our booth.

“Oh, great,” I sighed, thudding my head back against the bright red plastic cushion.

Todd half stood, looking in the direction of the door before I could tug him down. When he seated himself again, he chuckled, “Looks like you have a stalker.”

In the few seconds it took Daniel to arrive at our table and take the seat beside Bobby that Nancy had vacated, I’d regained my composure. I hoped my face was neutral when I chanced a glance back at Daniel.

Without taking his eyes off of me, he said, “How did Eli’s arraignment go?”

When I stubbornly refused to speak, Todd answered for me. “The judge agreed that we can hold him for questioning while we wait for the DNA evidence to come in.”

“I take it that you’re no longer in need of my services?” Daniel directed the question at me, and unless I wanted to look like a juvenile to Bobby and Todd, I had to answer him.

“I’m not sure, but I think we’ve got things covered for now,” I said meeting Daniel’s gaze and feeling weak kneed just looking at him.

My response obviously hurt his feelings, although he was careful to conceal it when he abruptly rose. “If you need anything further, Sheriff, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Daniel left us to join his crew at the counter. When Todd, Bobby and I passed him on our way out, he didn’t even look up, instead staying in conversation with his buddies. I could hardly blame him for ignoring me. I’d been quite the bitch.

The cold air cleared my hot thoughts and I looked at Bobby as we neared the patrol car. “Do you want to head over to Mary’s with us?”

“No, I have some paperwork that I need to get caught up on if I plan to take Thanksgiving week off.”

“All right, we’ll drop you off at the department and Todd and I will go meet Mrs. Clark.”

Before Bobby slid into the back seat, he turned to me and asked, “Why is it so important for you to talk to this former Amish woman about an incident that happened thirty years ago?”

I didn’t really have an answer for him—at least, not one that made any sense. I just felt the pull to follow through with it, almost as if I were being guided by an invisible force to do so. But, hell, I couldn’t tell Bobby that.

I gathered my wits, and said, “The more I can learn about the Amish the better. I’m sure other situations will arise where the knowledge will come in handy. And I’ve already discovered that the best place to learn about the Amish is from those who used to live among them.”

Bobby was satisfied with my answer and questioned me no more. Once we dropped him off, Todd and I headed to the south side of town where Mary lived with her husband. Todd was rather subdued during the drive, and against my better judgment, I turned and said, “What’s going on with you? You haven’t said one rude thing to me today.”

Todd slowed the vehicle and glanced over. Seeing that he was about to spill the beans, I silently kicked my curious side.

“Heather’s pregnant,” Todd said firmly, right before he began rubbing his hand over his buzzed hair in distress.

That was the last thing I was expecting him to say. I was trying to figure out how to respond when he began talking again.

“Now she wants me to marry her.”

“You were planning on marrying her anyway, so what’s the big deal?” I oversimplified it for sure, but I had more important things on my mind.

“That’s not the point. Before, I had a choice in the matter. Now, she just expects me to do it.
Everybody
expects me to do it.” Todd sounded really depressed and for the first time in twenty years, I felt sort of sorry for him.

I put Naomi, the Amish, and Daniel out of my mind for the moment. “Todd, Heather is your high school sweetheart. You’ve been with her, on and off, for all these years. Really, you should have popped the question a long time ago.”

“Yeah, maybe, but what about you—you’re not married either.”

Why on earth the conversation had drifted into my personal space, I had no idea, but since Todd wasn’t cracking any jokes, I decided to be honest with him.

“I guess it’s because I haven’t met anyone I felt right about marrying yet. I mean, I’ve dated a few guys seriously, but not one of them I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. You and Heather are different though. You two have already shared a life together, and even when you’ve gone your separate ways, you both always ended up back together again. I think that you’re just being stubborn about the whole marriage thing.”

“Do you really think that two people could be meant to be together—like soul mates?” Todd asked.

I gazed out the window and thought for minute. My parents had been married for forty years and I certainly couldn’t see either one of them with any other person. And, Laura and Ryan had been together for about twenty years and they were still going strong. Maybe, what Todd said was true. But,
certainly, I wasn’t a relationship expert. I couldn’t even begin dating someone without screwing it up completely.

Glancing back at Todd’s anxious frame, I decided to be nice. “Yeah, I do. And, I think you and Heather are two of those people.”

Todd nodded and said, “You know, I think you’re right. When I get home tonight, I’m going to ask Heather to be my wife. I’m really going to do it.”