Off the Grid (Amish Safe House, Book 1) (7 page)

Kate felt her face flush, and she quickly
swallowed down her anger. She had to remind herself that she was a
nice Amish woman. Still, the man had gone from kind and helpful to
mocking in no time at all, and Kate found herself wondering if all
Amish people were treated this way. If they were, it was maddening,
and she didn’t know how they put up with it.

“I found the body,” Kate said, trying one
last time.

“Oh, that was you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can
do.”

“What about the officers who came? They know
me; can I speak with them?”

The man behind the desk sighed, and he
leaned forward. “Listen, lady, I’m sorry for what you saw, I really
am. Not everyone is made out for that type of thing. But let us
handle it, okay? We’ll take it from here, and we’ll find who killed
your friend. We don’t need your help, and honestly, I doubt you’d
be much help to us anyway. So just go home, sit tight, and I
promise, I’ll make sure we get news to you.”

Kate was steaming, and she turned quickly
and marched out of the police station. The man was so dismissive of
her. And he had promised to get back to her? He hadn’t even taken
down her name. Kate felt helpless.

Kate decided to walk back to the buggy and
wait for Rose to return, but Rose was already there, standing next
to the buggy and talking to a young man. When Kate approached, the
two stopped talking, and both looked awkward.

“
Hiya
, Katie, this is Samuel Esch.
Samuel, this is Katie Lambright.”

Kate smiled to herself. Of course, he was
Samuel, the young man Rose had a crush on. “Hello, Samuel.” Kate
turned to Rose. “Rose, do you mind waiting for me, please? I have
something else to do. It’ll be at least thirty minutes.”

Rose smiled. “
Jah
, that will be
fine.”

Kate nodded to Samuel and then walked away.
Now what to do? Her plan to give the two time together had left her
at a loose end. She stole a glance over her shoulder and saw the
two chatting happily away. Well, it would be worth it. Samuel
seemed just as shy as Rose, and it was obvious he was interested in
her.
They’re both just too shy for their own good
, Kate
thought.

Kate had no idea how to kill time, so
decided to go for a brisk walk. After all, she was certain that,
despite the hard farm work, she was putting on some weight with
eating so much good, Amish food. As she was pretending to be Amish,
she could hardly go for a morning five mile run as had been her
habit. Kate figured the walk would do her good.

After walking around aimlessly for some
time, Kate returned to the buggy parking lot. If Samuel had still
been talking to Rose, she would have headed back the other way to
give them more time, but as it was, there was no sign of Samuel at
all.

“
Denki
for that, Katie,” Rose said as
soon as she approached.

Kate noted that Rosie’s cheeks were flushed.
“I wanted to give you some time alone. How did it go?”

Rose blushed furiously. “Sorry you had to go
for a walk,” she said, ignoring the other part of Kate’s question.
She got into the buggy, and Kate followed her. Rose clicked along
the horse, and soon they were trotting down the road.

“That’s fine,” Kate said, patting her
stomach. “I’ve put on some weight, so I needed to work it off.”

Rose chuckled. “
Nee
, you’re fine,
Katie. It’s the outside of a person that
Gott
looks at.”

“I wasn’t thinking about
Gott
,” Kate
said without thinking.

“Oh, you were thinking about
menner
!”
Rose replied as quick as a flash. “A
mann
should only care
about your inside person too. What if you were very pretty on the
outside, and uncaring on the inside; then what would happen?”

“I’ve actually never thought about it that
way,” Kate said truthfully. “Anyway, you haven’t told me what
happened with Samuel. He really seems to like you.”

Rose shook her head. “
Nee
, I don’t
think he does. He’s never asked me on a buggy ride, and if he liked
me, he would. Why, there was even a Singing the other week, and he
didn’t even offer to drive me home from that.”

Kate thought it over. It was obvious to her
that Samuel was attracted to Rose. “Perhaps he’s very shy; could
that be it?”

“I suppose,” Rose said. “I just don’t
know.”

“Why don’t you ask him on a buggy ride?”

Rose looked at Kate, shocked, and then she
burst into peals of laughter. “Oh, Katie, you are just too
funny.”

I wouldn’t ask Officer Weaver out on a
date, either
, Kate thought,
even though I’m an Englischer,
and it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do
. Kate suddenly
frowned.
Why I am thinking about him in that way?

Proverbs 11: 14.

Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

Chapter
11
.

Kate was well aware that criminals often
went to the funerals of their victims. Sometimes it was out of
guilt. Sometimes it was to reassure themselves that the deed was
done. Oftentimes however, they would go just to examine their
handiwork.

Kate had seen her fair share of funerals,
both while on the case and to honor the fallen. Very few in her
line of work ever avoided going to at least one in the course of
their career. She'd seen everything from simple ceremonies to
elaborate ones with two mile processions and giant cathedrals.
These particular ones lasted most of a day, with a great deal of
singing and speeches and other events. People meandering around and
making scenes at the gilded caskets to show their devotion to the
deceased, others dipping their heads checking their phones when
they thought no one was paying attention.

She had never attended a funeral in a living
room, however. It was definitely a new experience. She studied the
plain wooden box that sat in front of the fireplace. In general the
room was very plain. There were a couple wood carvings on the
mantle of the fireplace, and a vase that likely belonged to his
late wife. There were no giant wreaths or banners or other grand
gestures typically seen back in the city – there weren’t even any
flowers.

Kate checked the grandfather clock in the
corner, trying not to cringe at the slow passage of time. She had
never realized how tedious a funeral could be. There was no
singing, no distracted whispering. In fact the whole thing was
being carried out with a great deal of quiet dignity. Everyone
listened attentively to the second minister as he spoke at great
length, his talk interjected with scriptures and lessons. There was
no eulogy, no speaking about the deceased. There were no bored
sighs, no gossiping whispers, no theatrics. It was both inspiring
and surreal at the same time.

The room did not look all that different
from the cottage she was living in. A bit more lived in perhaps,
but it was just as barren of modern technology. The same
utilitarian homemade furniture and décor. There was nothing that
struck her as odd, save for the plain pine box sitting open in
front of course.

So why did someone come out into Amish
territory to attack an old widowed man who kept to himself? The
attacker was hardly skilled, but he didn't strike her as a common
punk. Why in the barn? She tried to think back to the scene. There
were tools that might have been of value of course. The thug could
easily have stolen what they liked after the man went to bed. There
was no need to kill an elderly man in broad daylight. The man was
too unskilled in combat to have been in it for the kicks either. If
they were after prescriptions they would have targeted the house,
or rather, Kate thought, they would have targeted a whole other
neighborhood. Nothing about the attack added up. She could not
fathom a single motive that made sense in this situation.

Beth gave her hand a gentle pat, jarring her
from her thoughts. She turned her head to give the woman a
reassuring smile. The woman had fretted through the morning about
her attending. She pointed out a couple times that no one would
blame Kate for staying at home after the trauma. She had been sent
to this community to rest and recover from her own ordeal in order
to let her memories return gradually, rather than risk an
overwhelming rush should she encounter the right trigger.

The woman gave a gentle yet stern smile, and
inclined her head toward the minister. Kate felt her face color as
she realized that, as still and composed as the group was, that her
distracted thoughts were apparent.

It was amazing how well the people here
could communicate without speaking a word at times. It was a bit
refreshing, compared to the endless chatter and emails and text
messages people used to get their points across back home. She gave
an apologetic smile and turned her eyes back on the minister.

It took an hour and a half for the ministers
to give their talk. Once the ministers had finished speaking, the
group as a whole made their way to the buggies.

“Why don't you go and rest, dear?” Beth said
in a gentle tone as they walked to the buggy. “We can take you home
first. There's no need to push yourself.”

“I'll be fine,” Kate assured her as she
walked beside them. She had made an error in judgment in thinking a
criminal would have been able to go to the service at the house. It
had been too private and intimate an affair compared to a non Amish
funeral. However, the grave site was an open area. Someone who
wasn't Amish would stick out like a sore thumb. If the attacker was
going to show up, that was where she would see him. Of course, she
could not say as much to the Beth. “I feel like I need to see this
through.”

Beth gave her a worried but encouraging
smile, yet did not try to push her further. Beth, Rose, and Kate
climbed aboard the buggy, and Isaac pulled the buggy into the
solemn procession behind the black, horse drawn hearse.

“It’s a real shame; it makes no sense at
all. Still, the ways of
Gott
are not the ways of man,” Isaac
mused as they made their slow path to the cemetery. His wife nodded
in agreement, but she reached to give her husband's knee a sharp
squeeze and a veiled look of reproach. Kate realized that it was
Beth’s way of telling her husband to drop the subject. This was no
doubt for Kate's benefit.

Kate was itching to ask them if there was
anyone who would have wanted the man dead. At the same time, she
was sure that her questions and interest would be met with the same
quiet avoidance.
Don't concern yourself. Rest. Don't get
involved
. Kate had taken care of herself since she was a
teenager. This coddling, like she was an invalid, was hard to bear.
She was bound to blow her cover if they didn't find the mole in
WITSEC soon.

The cemetery was surrounded by a white
picket fence. The little, white headstones were identical and
stretched over a large field. There was a sort of peaceful beauty
to it, Kate thought, upon seeing the plain and simple layout.

As expected, Kate saw police wandering the
perimeter. She could tell by the looks on people’s faces that their
presence was neither typical nor appreciated. After a moment of
searching, she spotted Officer Ryan Weaver. He was standing in
composed authority at the edge, watching the group and the
surrounding area.

The final service started relatively
quickly, forcing Kate to turn her attention to the grave. There
were no machines to be seen; rather, just a few shovels, dirt still
clinging to the edges of the blades. Like everything else in this
place, the grave was made by hand. She had to commend these people
for their amazing work ethic. They made no excuses to do anything
halfway.

Kate thought back to that night as the final
events unfolded. She knew there had to be an explanation for why
the attack took place. Still, she was at a loss. She realized not
all cases had any sort of logic to them, but she couldn’t escape
the nagging feeling that she was missing something important.

The service was remarkably short. Again,
there were no songs or speeches, no eulogy. The pallbearers lowered
the simple, pine coffin into the grave, while a minister read a
hymn aloud. There were no flowers anywhere to be seen. It was all
carried out with a great deal of somber dignity.

Once the brief event ended, the small crowd
began to disperse. A few gathered in small groups to talk. This was
the most social Kate had seen any of them all day. Even the
Kauffmans began a quiet conversation with another of their
neighbors.

Seeing her chance, she walked briskly over
the grounds to where Officer Ryan Weaver was directing his men. As
she moved, she noticed the figure of a man in the distance walking
away. He was too far away to make out any features, but she was
fairly certain that he was not Amish. She watched him for a moment
as she walked. He was dressed in a dark shirt and dark pants, and
his head was tucked down as he made his way briskly off the scene.
Had she been on the case, she would have had someone check on them.
Of course, she wasn't on a case, and seeing the person walk away
was making her most anxious indeed.

“Officer Weaver?” she called.

He turned to her voice and inclined his head
in greeting. “Hello, Ms. Lambright, isn’t it?”

Kate simply stared at him. She had noticed
that the officer was good looking, but in strong daylight, he was
quite handsome. It was apparent that he trained regularly to keep
conditioned for his work. There was no spare tire to be seen, and
his skin was tanned from working outside the office. His striking
green eyes contrasted with his auburn hair. One brow quirked as he
waited for her to speak.

“Yes, hello, Officer Weaver.” Kate cleared
her throat as she cast her eyes downward. This whole demure thing
was not her at all. Things were so much simpler with a badge.
Walk up. Demand updates. Nice and direct
. Of course, that
wasn't an option, and wouldn’t be again, not until someone found
that mole and got her out of this mess.