Off the Grid (Amish Safe House, Book 1) (12 page)

There was silence for a moment, and Kate
made to move away, thinking they could be moving her way, but then
the older voice spoke again. “Are you still going to sell the farm
to me? I thought, with the money I offered you, that you wouldn’t
mind
what
I did.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d kill my father,”
the younger voice snapped.

“Oh come on, Moses; stop pretending. There
was no love lost between you and your father. I did you a favor by
killing him, and you know it. But instead of thanking me, you come
here and you’re rude to my face. After that huge sum I offered for
the farm, too.”

Kate heard a gasp, followed by footsteps, so
she hurried back outside as fast as she could. Unfortunately, she
was unused to the long skirt, and so tripped and landed hard.

The man hurried out the door, hesitated when
he drew level with Kate, and then hurried to the red pickup. Kate
memorized the plates as the young man took off with a squeal of
tires, and then struggled to her feet. She stood up and dusted
herself off, just as Henry Moore appeared at the front door. He saw
her there, and his eyes went wide.

“Who are you?” he asked, walking down the
porch steps. “Why are you here?”

A wave of fear suddenly washed over Kate.
“Oh,” she stammered, facing him. “I’ve lost my little dog. I’m so
worried about him. I’m going to all the farms in the area asking if
anyone’s seen him.”

“A lost dog?” Henry Moore asked after a long
pause.

Kate nodded, and forced herself to
smile.

The man looked at her with a furrowed brow,
and then his face relaxed, and he smiled. “Sorry, I haven’t seen
any dogs around here. A little dog, you say?”

Kate nodded again.

“Well, sorry, I guess I can’t help you
there,” Henry Moore said. “I hope you find him.”

“Thanks,” Kate said, and she breathed a long
sigh of relief as she turned and almost ran to her buggy. She
climbed into the seat, got the buggy turned around without too much
trouble, and headed back down the bumpy dirt path.

Sweat was forming on her brow as she drove,
and she didn’t dare look back to see if Henry Moore was still
there, standing on the bottom step, watching her. She felt as if he
was, in that strange way a person could feel someone’s eyes burning
into their back when they were being watched. But still, she didn’t
turn around, and she kept the horse going at a steady clip, until
she found the road again, and took a left, carefully crossing the
right lane and getting onto the shoulder. Finally she turned to
look at the house, but it was so far away she couldn’t tell if the
man was still there or not.

Kate was shaking. The man gave no sign that
he recognized her, but Kate had met enough clever criminals to know
that they were good at keeping their reactions hidden. If he came
after her in a car, what could she do? She couldn’t outrun him in a
buggy, even if she did know how to drive properly and even if the
horse had been younger and faster.

Kate did the only thing that came to her
mind; she prayed for help.

Hebrews 11: 1 - 31
.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old
received their commendation. By faith we understand that the
universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was
not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to
God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was
commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.
And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith
Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not
found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was
commended as having pleased God.

Chapter
18
.

Kate was relieved when she arrived back at
the Kauffman
haus
without incident, and sent up a silent
prayer of thanks to God. Beth was outside weeding the vegetable
garden when she drove up, and at once hurried to unharness the
horse for her.

Kate took Beth by the arm. “Beth, while I
was out driving, I saw the man who attacked me in Mr. Byler’s
barn.”

Beth gasped.

“May I use the phone in the barn to call for
the police?”

Beth frowned. “
Jah
, certainly.”

Kate hurried to the barn while Beth tended
to the horse. Kate reached for the phone, and then hesitated for a
moment, dreading the lecture she was about to receive.

An officer at the front desk answered. Kate
gave her name, and asked to speak to Officer Ryan Weaver, adding
that it was an emergency.

“Ms. Lambright, what’s wrong?” the cop
asked, his voice filled with obvious concern.

“I just saw the man who attacked me in Mr.
Byler’s barn, and I’ve positively identified him as Henry Moore,”
Kate blurted out all at once.

“Where did you see him? Are you safe
now?”

“Look, I have to tell you this first,” Kate
said, wanting to tell him before he could ask any more questions.
“I’ll explain everything, but you might want to find Mr. Byler’s
son, Moses. I just overheard Henry Moore confess to Moses Byler
that he killed his father. Moses drives a red pickup.” She paused
to catch her breath, and then gave Ryan the plates. “And I’m sure,
if you speak to him, he’ll tell you the whole conversation, how
Henry Moore admitted to killing his father,” she added.

“Just a moment, Katie.”

Ryan disappeared, and Kate had a long,
anxious wait. She knew she was in for a lecture from the handsome
Officer Ryan Weaver, and she was dreading it.

Kate jumped when Ryan finally spoke again.
“Okay, an officer has gone to find Moses Byler. Now, Katie, tell me
exactly what you’ve been up to.”

Kate let out a long sigh. “Well, I was in
the library googling for images of Henry Moore-”

“You were
what
?”

Katie cast a furtive glance around the barn,
but she was alone. She ignored the question and continued. “And the
images looked exactly like Henry Moore, so I just went to visit
him, pretending I was looking for a lost dog.”

“You did
what
?” This time, Ryan was
all but yelling.

Kate winced, and continued. “I was walking
to his front door, when I heard voices, so I waited, and listened.
Moses Byler was in the house; he was angry with Henry Moore for
killing his father. Henry Moore didn’t admit it at first, but then
he finally did. Then they stopped talking; I went back outside.
They both came out; Moses drove away, and I told Henry Moore that I
was looking for a lost dog.”

“Did he believe you? Did he recognize
you?”

“I don’t know,” Kate said, “but I’ve only
just arrived back at the Kauffman house.”

“Katie, that was a dangerous thing to do.
Don’t you have any thought for your own safety? These are not Amish
people you’re dealing with, you know. There’s a world outside
yours, and it’s not always a safe one. As soon as we speak to Moses
Byler, if his story corroborates yours, we’ll bring in Henry Moore.
Until then, you could be in danger.”

“I know,” Kate said in a small voice, “but
all Amish look the same to you
Englischers
. I figured if he
had recognized me, he would’ve asked me my name and where to find
me, you know, in case he found the pretend dog.”

Ryan let out a long sigh. “If you weren’t
Amish, I’d say you’d been watching too much TV.”

If only you knew
, Kate thought.

“Just one thing,” Kate said. When Ryan
didn’t respond, she pressed on. “I don’t want to get into trouble
from,
err
, my community, so would you mind not mentioning
that I went to Henry Moore’s house? And if I don’t have to go to
court and be a witness, that would be good too. You know that going
to court is against our ways.” Kate held her breath, waiting for
his response.

“I’ll see what I can do. Katie, stay put;
I’ll send an officer around to the Kauffman farm now.”

Yet it was Ryan himself who turned up at the
Kauffmann farm, speeding to a rapid stop in their driveway. He
jumped out of the police vehicle, his face full of concern,
followed by Officer Stan Andrews.

Meanwhile, Kate was still explaining the
situation to Isaac, Beth, and Rose. Samuel Esch had only just
arrived a few minutes earlier, under what Kate figured was the
pretext of delivering some apple pies from his mother.

After giving his gun to his partner, Officer
Andrews, Ryan wasted no time in ushering them all into the house.
Kate was pleased to see that Samuel was acting protectively toward
Rose.

“I’d like everyone to stay inside with me,
until I hear from the officers who are going to find and interview
Moses Byler,” Ryan said to Isaac Kauffman.

“Certainly,” Isaac said.

Beth at once hurried out of the room in the
direction of the kitchen, and Kate knew by now that Beth was going
to fetch food and make everyone a hot meadow tea. Rose made to
follow her, but Kate waved her back to her seat. Samuel was gazing
at Rose and sitting next to her on the sofa, and Kate didn’t want
to take Rose away.
Surely she’ll realize that he likes her
,
she thought.

It took Beth and Kate no time at all to
prepare hot meadow tea and slices of shoo-fly pie. As Kate handed
Ryan his mug of steaming tea, their fingers brushed lightly. Kate
felt a jolt of electricity run through her, and quickly looked at
Ryan, who just as quickly averted his eyes.

Did he feel it too?
she wondered.
Of all the bad timing, me meeting the man of my dreams right
when I have to pretend to be Amish
.

Just as Ryan lifted the mug to his mouth,
his phone rang. He looked at it, said, “Excuse me,” and then
hurried out the door.

Samuel turned to Rose and asked if she was
all right. Rose blushed furiously, and Beth and Kate exchanged an
amused glance.

Ryan soon returned. “Good news,” he
announced, as soon as he was through the door. “Moses Byler himself
just turned up at the police station. He’s been interviewed, and
officers are already on their way to arrest Henry Moore.”

That evening, Rose and Kate were preparing
dinner, while Beth was outside in the barn. Rose turned to Kate.
“I’m sure that police officer likes you,” she said. “If you were an
Englischer
, he’d ask you on a date.”

“I’m not an
Englischer
though,” Kate
said, trying to keep her tone light.

“
Nee
,” Rose said, “and I’m sure
you’ll find a nice
mann
in our community. You haven’t even
been to church yet and met all the
menner
. There wasn’t much
time at the funeral. I think you’d like Daniel, or perhaps Joseph.
You leave it to me.” Rose winked at her.

Kate winced inwardly.

Psalm 37:3
.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the
land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will
give you the desires of your heart.

Chapter
19
.

That night, after dinner, Kate went back to
her own cabin, or her
grossmammi haus
, as even she was
beginning to call it. She was pleased that she had solved the case,
and had managed to do so while being undercover. Still, she figured
the police would have solved it eventually, but she was
nevertheless pleased for her own involvement.

Kate was about to change into her nightgown,
when, to her surprise, her dress vibrated. Kate reached for the
burner cell phone hidden away in the fold of the dress, and her
heart sank. Her boss would only call if she was in trouble – or, if
he had discovered the mole, and Kate had only just realized that
she had reasons of her own for wanting to stay in town for a little
while longer.

“David, what’s wrong?”

“Kate, are you alone?”

Kate frowned. “Yes, or I wouldn’t have
answered.”

“There was a hit for your name on the
National Database by a cop by the name of Officer Ryan Weaver. Do
you know him?”

Kate bit her lip. “Yes, he was the one who,
um, just solved the murder case. I told you that I was a witness.
Anyway, they’ve arrested the man, and apparently he confessed to
the victim’s son.”

“Then they won’t need you to testify?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Kate said, making a
mental note to check whether that was actually the case.

“So why did the cop check up on you?” David
asked. His tone was most displeased.

“Because I was the witness?” Kate asked.

There was a long hesitation before David
spoke again. “Cops usually have only three reasons why they look
for someone on the National Database. One, because you were a
witness. Two, because he thought you were acting non Amish and you
had done something to arouse his suspicions. Three -” His voice
broke off.

“Three?” Kate prompted.

“Well, if he was interested in you
romantically. Cops aren’t supposed to use the national database for
those reasons, but they often do. I admit, I’ve even done it
myself.”

Kate hurried to change the subject. “Did he
find out anything about me?”

“No,” David said. “I’d already seen to that,
to be on the safe side. But look, Kate, you really have to keep a
low profile from now on.”

Why does everyone keep saying that to
me?
Kate thought.

“Oh well,” David said, “it’s not as if
anything else will happen in that sleepy, little town.”

They said their goodbyes, and David hung up.
Kate looked at the phone for a while. Was there any possibility of
a future with the gorgeous Ryan Weaver? She didn’t think so, much
to her dismay. If anything happened, David would have Kate out of
the state in flash. And when the mole was found, she would also
leave town without warning.