Unforeseeable (3 page)

“Okay.” I wanted to kiss him good-bye, but that's something a Mennonite pastor doesn't usually do in public.

I watched as he made his way across the room. Several people stopped him to talk. When he finally got to the door
he looked back at me one last time. For some reason, I felt like running after him, begging him not to leave. Something my father used to say echoed in my mind.
“The devil is stirrin', Callie. Can you feel it?”

I never understood what he meant until that very moment.

After Levi left I went back in the kitchen,
trying to shake the strange feeling that had come over me. I was probably just reacting to the sheriff's visit, and I tried to tell myself that the topic was upsetting enough to distress anyone. I was in the kitchen only a few seconds before Lizzie and Noah walked in. Noah looked disturbed.

“So what do you think of the new sheriff?” I asked him.

He shook his head and slumped down into a chair by a small table Lizzie kept in the kitchen for the nights her daughter, Charity, ate dinner at the restaurant.

“I like him, I really do. But this whole serial-killer thing chaps my hide. In the past year we've had two murders and two attempted murders.” He looked at Lizzie. “Our church was burned to the ground, and the previous sheriff shot his son not far from where we're sitting. Now we're on the lookout for a serial killer. What in the world is going on? As an elder, I have to wonder if the church leadership is failing in its duty to keep this town safe. I've tried to talk to Levi about it, but you know my brother. He just keeps telling me to ‘have faith.'”

Lizzie went over and stood behind her husband, putting
her hands on his shoulders. “I know it sounds like we're no better off than anyone else, but it's not true. The difference between Kingdom and Kansas City is . . .” She paused for a moment. “It . . . it's hard to describe. But here I feel the love of God protecting us, watching over us. Outside of Kingdom, there were so many voices, so much violence, and so much fear. It was hard to feel God anywhere and almost impossible to hear His Spirit speak to my heart. I think Levi's right. We just need to trust God. Believe He's watching over us.” She shook her head slowly. “Kingdom may not be impenetrable, but it is definitely a refuge. A place of peace and love.” She leaned over and kissed Noah on the head. “And love, my dearest husband, is stronger than any evil the world sends our way. Even the devil himself can't stand in its presence.”

Noah reached up and grabbed her hand. Then he pulled her around and onto his lap. Lizzie giggled like a schoolgirl.

“That's nice,” I said with a grin. “What a great example for an elder of Kingdom Mennonite Church to set in front of one of his parishioners.”

“You're worried about this?” he said. “Just wait.” With that, he kissed Lizzie right on the lips.

I couldn't help but laugh. “You two are incorrigible.”

Lizzie pushed herself away from Noah and stood up. “You're a mess, Noah Housler. I'm going to tell your brother.”

He put his hands up in mock surrender. “Go ahead. He'll think it's funny.”

“I'm not so sure about that,” Lizzie said. “He hasn't been much fun lately.”

Noah sat up straighter. “Well, you're right about that.” He rubbed his stubbly chin, a concession to the Mennonite tradition of growing a beard after marriage. Lizzie's abhorrence of
full beards had thrust Noah into an uncomfortable place between Mennonite tradition and the favor of his wife. Thankfully, his compromise seemed to satisfy all concerned parties. “I think all the unpleasant incidents that have happened in this town are weighing heavily on him. I have to wonder if he's experiencing a crisis of faith. Of course, he won't talk about it.” Noah shrugged. “The Bible talks about how evil the world will become before the Lord returns. That darkness may be reaching past the borders of Kingdom, and it may be impossible to stop. Even for someone like Levi.”

I didn't respond. Noah's words disturbed me. Just a few months earlier, churches and people of faith had been attacked by a group of angry young men bent on causing destruction. We'd lost one of our dearest citizens to their wrath. Now, once again, we would have to face the reality of a fallen world trying to breach our boundaries. The realization stoked a sensation of underlying panic that had been stirring up my emotions for almost a month. I couldn't understand it, nor could I banish it. It upset me that I couldn't name the source of my alarm and deal with it. I wanted to talk to Levi about it, but with everything else going on in his life right now, I didn't want to add to his burdens.

Lizzie turned down the fire on the chili and then leaned against the counter. “Well, I still say we're better off here than anywhere else. I have a child to consider, and I can't think of a better place to raise her than in Kingdom.”

Noah rubbed an invisible spot on the table with his finger. “I lived in the world for two years, and I couldn't wait to come home. But it wasn't because I felt safer here. I just felt . . . called. I love farming, and I love this town.” His forehead wrinkled in thought. “But I worry sometimes that by being
so isolated we're not fulfilling Christ's commission to reach the world.”

“That's what Bethany believed,” I said.

Lizzie sighed. “I totally understood why she felt that way, but sometimes the
world
we're called to is right where we are.” She waved her hand around the room. “We have a town of almost three hundred souls to minister to. That's enough world for me.”

“Yes, but almost all of them already know God,” Noah said. “That's why they're here.”

“Jesus also admonished us to feed His sheep, Noah. I just took it literally.”

Noah and I burst out laughing.

“And she does too,” Noah said. “There will never be an empty stomach in Kingdom, thanks to my wife.”

“You're right about that,” Lizzie said. “This is exactly where I belong. Maybe Bethany felt the need to leave, but not me.”

“I understand,” Noah said. “I'm perfectly content here too. But at the same time, not everyone is called to live in Kingdom.” He smiled at me. “I think the key is to find the place God wants you to be. He puts the people in your life He wants you to touch, and He leads you to your point of blessing.”

“What if one day Charity feels called to leave?” I asked. “Then what?”

“Then she'll have to leave,” Noah said matter-of-factly. “What God wants must come first if we're ever to fulfill our destiny. Anyway, that's what I believe.”

Lizzie grunted. “Since Charity's only eight, I don't think I'll make plans to pack her up and send her out anytime soon, if you don't mind.”

“Well, we weren't suggesting she was going to grab her
bags and head out tomorrow,” Noah said, grinning. “She should wait until she's at least ten.”

Lizzie picked up a nearby dish towel and snapped him on the leg with it.

“Ouch,” he yelled. “I'm being abused. Call the sheriff.”

I laughed again, rather embarrassed to be having so much fun right after the sheriff's serious announcement.

“Brodie Timmons won't help you,” Lizzie teased. “He'd be on my side.”

“I think she's got you there, Noah,” I said.

“Changing the subject for a moment,” Lizzie said to her husband when he settled down, “can you tell us more about what the sheriff said in your private meeting? I felt like we weren't getting the whole story. Were the women . . . defiled?”

I felt myself blush. Sex wasn't really talked about much in our community, although Lizzie had said more than once it should be. She'd gotten pregnant as a teenager, partially because she'd been unaware of the consequences of her actions. She'd had a long talk with me after Levi and I became engaged. My father had never spoken to me about such things, and since my mother was gone, I'd had no one to fill me in on what Lizzie referred to as “the facts of life.” Our conversation was a real eye-opener. Although I'd figured out a lot on my own, having spent many years around farm animals, there were a few details I wasn't aware of. Thinking about it now made my ears burn. Even though it had been a rather embarrassing conversation, I was very grateful Lizzie cared enough to tell me what I needed to know before my wedding night.

Noah shook his head. “No. They weren't harmed in that way. When they were found, they'd been strangled, their hands folded on their chests, and their bodies wrapped in plastic.
Except for the marks on their necks, there were no other injuries.” He sighed. “Brodie said the KBI is stumped.”

I frowned at him. “But I thought Sheriff Timmons said they'd found D . . . DN . . .”

“DNA,” Noah said. “Yes, they did. Most of it came from the victims' necks when he strangled them. They also have some skin and hair samples that were probably left behind when the women fought for their lives.”

I felt my stomach turn over. “Oh my.”

“Are you okay?” Lizzie asked, looking at me with concern. “You just turned really pale.”

I nodded, trying to compose myself. “Yes, but that's so . . . so—”

“Shocking?” Noah said. “Yes, it is. Here's something really strange. Brodie said that wrapping the women in plastic shows the killer had some remorse for what he was doing. In some strange way he was trying to care for the women.” He stared at me. “I know. It doesn't make any sense. It's demonic, Callie. Demons seek to kill, steal, and destroy. They're agents of destruction. You can't figure them out.”

“But the man must have some reason to kill. What is it?”

“I asked Brodie that same question. He said many times they never find a motive. It could be a deep-seated hatred for all women. Or something happened to him when he was young. But understanding the motive isn't always possible.” He shook his head. “Our new sheriff repeated the same thing I just told you—that the devil doesn't make sense.”

Lizzie's eyebrows arched. “He said that? Wow, that's a switch. A sheriff who knows God.”

Noah nodded. “I think he's going to be an asset to Kingdom. We could actually end up being friends.”

“That would certainly be a change over the previous sheriff,” Lizzie said.

“By the way,” Noah said, “don't repeat that information about the plastic. The KBI is trying to keep some information quiet.”

“Well, I won't be telling anyone,” I said. “It's not something I want to talk about anyway.”

“Thanks,” Noah said. “I probably shouldn't have told you and Lizzie, but I know you can keep a secret. And I'm fairly sure neither one of you is a serial killer.”

“Thanks, honey,” Lizzie said wryly. “That's the nicest thing you ever said to me.”

Noah laughed.

I straightened my apron. “Well, I think I'm ready to concentrate on the dinner crowd. No more serial killers or demons for me for a while.”

Lizzie grunted. “I agree. The chili's simmering, and I've got to start getting the steaks ready. Why don't you go out and see if we have any real customers or if everyone went home after the meeting?”

I nodded and pushed open the kitchen door. The people who had remained in the restaurant were deep in conversation and didn't seem the least bit interested in ordering food. After checking with everyone, I went back into the kitchen to help Lizzie prepare for supper. Noah offered to keep an eye on the dining room since we weren't busy. Lizzie and I spent the next hour preparing that night's menu items. Neither one of us brought up the murders again. After a while, I started to feel almost normal again. Serial killers and Kingdom didn't go together, of that much I was certain.

A little after four, I was bringing a carafe of coffee out to
the dining room when Ruby, Elmer and Dorcas Wittenbauer's niece, walked in the front door. Dorcas's sister in Arkansas had passed away several months earlier, and Ruby's father had abandoned her. Lizzie and I worried that Ruby would be mistreated like Sophie, the Wittenbauers' daughter who had fled Kingdom last summer, had been. Fortunately, Leah, who leads our small Kingdom school, took Ruby under her wing, promising to keep a close eye on her. And Lizzie's daughter, Charity, had befriended the girl as well. Even though Charity was much younger, the girls seemed to have bonded like sisters. As their pastor, Levi checked in regularly with the Wittenbauers, making certain they knew the church would not take kindly to any abuse. I especially felt drawn to the young girl, trying to reach out to her when I helped Leah at the school. But so far, Ruby wasn't responding much to anyone except Charity.

Ruby stood near the door, looking around the room, her expression full of anxiety. I put the carafe on a nearby table and went over to her.

“If you're looking for Charity, she's not here,” I said gently. “She goes to her grandparents' house after school on Wednesdays.”

Ruby stared back at me. Her large green eyes held a shadow of fear that tore at my heart. No child should be so afraid. I felt protective of her, and my anger at the Wittenbauers began to bubble.

“I know she's not here,” Ruby said softly. “But Uncle Elmer was supposed to pick me up after school, and he never showed up. I tried to wait, but it got too cold.”

“Ruby, where's your coat?” I noticed for the first time that she was wearing just a thin dress and an apron. Both too large for her. Probably Sophie's old clothes. I could see her tremble.

“Aunt Dorcas said I didn't need one today.”

“Take my hand, Ruby,” I said, trying to control my rage. “Let's get you warmed up. How about some hot chocolate and a piece of pie?” She was so thin I wondered if the Wittenbauers bothered to feed her at all. By the time we reached the kitchen, I was beyond furious.

“Oh, my goodness,” Lizzie said when she saw me. “What's wrong?”

I took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm myself. The last thing I wanted to do was upset the child more than she was. “Elmer forgot to pick Ruby up from school. She's been waiting outside all this time—without a coat. I thought maybe a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of pie would help to warm her up.”

Lizzie pulled out a chair from the small table. “Absolutely. You have a seat here, Ruby.”

The child looked back and forth between us, as if unsure of our motives.