Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1 (36 page)

All the blood rushed to her head and heat swept over her. Each tic of the clock was amplified in her ears. “How do you know where my daughters are?”

He lifted a knowing eyebrow. He must have heard her talking to Flo.

“I'll get rid of him.” Tears bit at the back of her eyes, but she refused to cry. She cautiously walked over to the floor where her keys had been thrown. She picked them up and moved toward the door. She startled when Tommy came up behind her.

“I'll be right by your side.” He put the hand with the knife on her back and they moved as a unit toward the door.

The pressure of the knife at her back made her dizzy with fear. Staring at the lock and not meeting Jake's curious gaze through the glass door, she inserted the key, turned the lock and opened the door a fraction.

* * *

When Jake reached the diner, the door was locked but he saw Rebecca and Tommy in what looked like a heated discussion behind the counter. His brow furrowed with curiosity.

What's Tommy doing here?

Something felt...off.

Jake knocked on the glass door and both Tommy and Rebecca jumped. Something was definitely off.

When they continued to talk without coming to the door, he pounded on it. This time harder. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he had to get in there.

Rebecca waved at him to dismiss him and if he was being honest with himself, it hurt. She wasn't even going to talk to him?

“I need to talk to you.” Jake shook the handle of the door. “Please open up.”

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder. If Jake hadn't been watching her closely, he might have missed the worry in her brown eyes.

Adrenaline surged through his veins. “Unlock the door, Rebecca!”

Rebecca picked something up off the floor, then walked toward the door with Tommy right behind her. Jake tried to get her attention, but all her focus was on the door lock.

Tommy gave him a half smile, but something in Tommy's eyes made Jake pause.

Rebecca pulled open the door a fraction, but she didn't invite him in.

“Hi, Jake. Did you need something?” The stiff set of her shoulders confirmed his suspicions.

“I'll drive you home.” He decided he could tell her about the news crews in front of her home once they got into the car.

“I'll drive her home,” Tommy said casually. “Mrs. Fisher is answering some questions for my research paper.”

Jake's gaze moved from Tommy to Rebecca and back. “Is everything okay?”

“
Yah.
Tommy promised me it wouldn't take long.” Jake thought he detected a shudder in her breath.

“Not long at all. Then I'll make sure she gets home,” Tommy said.

“Are you sure?” Jake put his palm on the door.

“
Yah
, it's fine. Please go.”

Jake leaned in close. “Are you okay? You look pale.” He reached out to touch her arm and she blinked slowly, not answering him.

Jake pushed the door open and Tommy stepped back, a knife in his hand. The knot in Jake's stomach twisted. He reached out to grab Rebecca, to pull her out of the way, but Tommy was faster. He grabbed Rebecca around her neck and held the knife against her cheek.

Jake lifted his hands in a surrender gesture. “Don't hurt her. Whatever's going on, I can help you.”

Beads of sweat glistened on Tommy's forehead as he gritted his teeth. “If the two of you hadn't stuck your noses where they didn't belong... I needed to sell the drugs to pay tuition. Who was I hurting?”

Tommy yanked Rebecca's head back and she gasped. Her brown eyes widened with fear. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Tommy was not going to let her go.

“Hurting Rebecca won't solve your problems.” Jake slowly took a step forward while Tommy walked backward.

“Killing Rebecca would have been justice. Justice for everything she took away from me.”

Rebecca groaned as Tommy tightened his hold.

“Let her go. It's no longer about Rebecca. I'm here, too. You'll have to kill us both.”

Tommy smirked, as if he had already figured that out.

Anger bubbled in Jake's gut. Someone had really messed Tommy up.

“I'm not going to be easy to take down.” All of Jake's senses went on high alert.

“I'll take my chances.” Tommy continued his backward motion toward the door leading into the kitchen. He gave a quick glance over his shoulder and adjusted his direction. “I'm not going to live as a jobless nobody... And I'm not going to prison.”

Jake tried reasoning again. “We could have found ways to pay your college tuition without resorting to drugs. We
can
still find a way.”

Tommy's laugh grated across Jake's brain. “Yeah, right. I'm sure the financial aid office—which is already useless—will give
me
a scholarship. Perhaps from the pool of scholarships for convicted felons.”

Jake fisted his hands. “You haven't done anything too serious yet. Hurt Rebecca and all bets are off.”

“There's no going back.” Tommy's voice shook with fury. He pulled Rebecca back with him and she flinched. He reached the swinging door and tripped backward over the lip on the floor.

Rebecca reached out and Jake grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Tommy, who had fallen onto his backside. Jake pushed Rebecca out of the way and swung into action. His army training all coming back to him.

Jake kicked the knife out of Tommy's hand. It spun across the linoleum floor and disappeared under the stove. The young man scrambled to his feet and Jake slammed him into the wall.

“It's over,” Jake said. “It's over.” He met Rebecca's gaze as she collapsed onto a nearby counter stool and bowed her head.

SIXTEEN

J
ake held Tommy's arms firmly behind his back while Rebecca called the sheriff. She stood by the doorway to the kitchen, as if she were ready to take flight if Tommy escaped his grasp.

That
wasn't going to happen.

“How could you do this?” Jake asked Tommy. “I trusted you. The young Amish men who talked to us trusted you.”

“An opportunity to make some easy cash. I couldn't refuse. Tuition is expensive,” Tommy said, his tone flat and distant, as if he were replaying the choices he had made over the past year.

“The cash didn't come easily, did it?”

When Tommy didn't answer, Jake pushed Tommy's cheek into the wallpaper that had probably been there since the 1950s. Tommy groaned. Straining his neck to glare at Jake over his shoulder, Tommy said, “What does it matter now? My future's ruined.”

“Don't be too rough.” At some point Rebecca had moved next to them.

“Yeah, listen to the lady,” Tommy said, full of snark and authority.

Rebecca's gaze drifted to the door. “Here's the sheriff.”

Sheriff Maxwell strode into the room, curiosity in his gaze. Jake and Rebecca explained what had happened and the sheriff took Tommy away in handcuffs.

Rebecca collapsed onto the stool and put her hand on her forehead.

Jake walked over to her side and grabbed the back of the stool, even though he really wanted to pull her into an embrace. Thank God he'd arrived when he had. He glanced around at the people milling about outside and he knew a hug wouldn't be appropriate.

“Are you okay?” he asked, squeezing the back of the chair. He wanted to push a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

When it came to Rebecca, he was definitely in trouble.

“I am now.” She swallowed hard. “What brought you to the diner tonight? If you hadn't come by...” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her middle.

Jake ran a hand across the back of his neck. He hated to bring Rebecca any more bad news.

She must have read it in his eyes. “Tell me. It can't be worse than this.”

“The TV was on in the student union on campus. There's a news crew in front of your house. I wanted to make sure you didn't have to face them alone.”

Rebecca's forehead furrowed. “News crew? From the television. Why?”

“Someone must have alerted them about Samuel's arrest, so they set up on the road in front of your farm.”

“How did they find out?”

“They have ways. They might have seen his name on a police report and wondered if he was related to Willard.”

“Fisher is a common Amish name,” she said. “It would have been a leap to make the connection.”

“Maybe it was Tommy,” Jake suggested.

“Yes, it had to have been. He told me he was going to make it look like Samuel had killed me.” Rebecca covered her mouth, bowed her head and whispered, “I could have been killed tonight...and my daughters wouldn't have had a
mem
.”

“I'll never let anything happen to you.” The words came out of his mouth before he had a chance to think how they would affect Rebecca.

She looked up at him with watery eyes. She covered his hand with hers, then quickly pulled it away and placed it in her lap.

“I didn't mean to add to your stress tonight.” Jake smiled. “We can discuss our relationship at another time.”

Rebecca blinked slowly. “Tommy told me Samuel was innocent. He wanted to rub it in my face that I'd never be able to tell anyone.”

Tommy had been willing to kill her.

“Do you think Tommy's confession will be enough to bring Samuel home? To untangle this mess?”

“We can talk to the sheriff. It'll definitely be a good start.”

Jake slipped his arm around her back and helped her stand. “I'm going to take you home.”

Rebecca looked up at him. “Thank you. I can't thank you enough.”

Jake brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Thank God I was here.”

Rebecca touched his arm. “Can we pick up Katie and Grace before you drive me home? I need to see them.”

“Of course.” With a hand to the small of her back, he escorted her to his vehicle parked along the curb out front.

* * *

Jake parked his truck sideways in front of her house, blocking the view of the front door from the news truck. Rebecca ran ahead with the girls and unlocked the door while Jake walked down to the street and asked the crew to leave.

Rebecca closed the door behind her and drew in a deep breath. The scent of an old fire in the stove and a hint of peppers from breakfast reached her nose.
Home.
She had never been more grateful to be home than she was tonight.

She bent and drew her daughters into a hug. The Amish weren't big on physical displays of affection, but tonight Rebecca would make an exception. She might have never seen her daughters again if Tommy had had his way.

“Are you girls hungry?” Rebecca asked.

“
Neh
,”
Katie answered.

Grace shook her head. “Maybe Katie can read me more of
Little House on the Prairie
.”

“
Yah
,” Katie said without hesitation. “I want to know what happens next.”

Rebecca placed her hands on their heads. “Well, okay. But instead of going up to your room, stay down here.” Rebecca wanted the company of her daughters after everything she had been through.

Katie ran upstairs for the book and then the two girls settled in the rockers in the sitting room. Rebecca went into the kitchen to put on some water for tea as she listened to Katie read to her little sister. Her heart was full.

A moment later, Jake slipped into the kitchen. “The news crew is packing up. I called the sheriff. He promised them a statement if they came down to the station. He also promised them a photo op with Tommy if they hurried.”

“A photo op?” Rebecca repeated, confused.

“Bottom line, they're gone. I also told the sheriff about Tommy's statement that Samuel was innocent. They'll work on Tommy. See if they can get an official statement.”

Rebecca closed her eyes and felt the weight lifting from her chest. “Thank you again.”

In the privacy of the kitchen, Jake took her two hands in his. “I'm glad I was there for you. We are both truly blessed.”

Rebecca felt her cheeks heat and she turned her face away. She could still hear Katie's soft voice reading to her sister. “After everything that happened with Willard, and then Samuel, I had often felt uncomfortable in my own home. But tonight, when I realized I might never get to return, I realized that a house doesn't make a home. It's the people.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “Oh, listen to me ramble on.” She shook her head and smiled up at him. “I'm happy to be home with my daughters.”

She met his gaze and with a burst of courage she didn't know she had, she said, “I'm glad you're here, too.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and her heart expanded.

Then with even more courage she said, “I'm never leaving the Amish. If you want to become Amish, you need to do it because it's best for you. I don't want you to resent the decision.”

Jake dragged the tie of her bonnet through his fingers. “You talked about home. I've never felt more at home than when I'm with you.”

Her pulse beat steadily in her ears. The voice of her daughter faded off into the distance.

“My parents left the Amish in search of something else,” Jake said. “I've been searching all my life for someplace to belong. The army. College. Through my research. But I always felt at a distance.” He pointed to his chest. “I know my place is with you.” He grazed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I need to be baptized to court you.”

All the world disappeared and the only thing she could see was his handsome face. She wanted to tell him once again that if he joined the Amish it had to be for his own reasons. Not for her. But she couldn't get the words out.

Knowing this warm, compassionate man had tender feelings toward her made her heart soar. He brushed a soft kiss across her lips and whispered, “Wait for me.”