In Plain View (Amish Safe House, Book 2) (5 page)

“
Hello? Hello? I can’t hear a word you’re saying. What’s up?”
another voice replied.

In broken phrases, the
caller continued. “Service out here is bad…man…but… I’m being
chased. I think it’s W..te’s men. Can you hea…
Hello?”

The service seemed to
keep dropping here and there, making the conversation difficult to
comprehend. Then, the other voice spoke again. “I knew tho… uys…
ere gonna come aft… you.”

It was enough to give
Kate a headache, but she kept listening closely. After nearly
thirty seconds of silence, a new voice crackled over the
speaker.

“
Logan White sent us looking for you. Your double dipping
stops here.” A loud bang ended the recording. In a state of horror
and shock, Kate sat in silence for several minutes. Not sure what
to do, she listened to the phone call once more. Kate realized this
was probably a professional hit. Who was Logan White? Unsure of
what step to take next, Kate clicked the horse into a trot and
headed back to town.

Kate still had time
before Rose would return, but after she parked the buggy and tied
up the horse, she climbed back into the buggy to think over what to
do. The thought of taking the phone to the police station was on
her mind, but she could not afford anyone questioning her as to how
she had come across it. Further, her identity could be called into
question if anyone were to dig into her background.

Holding onto the phone
was out of the question, even if it was her next idea. Not only
would it look bad if it were somehow to be found in her possession,
but it would also be withholding crucial information from an
ongoing investigation. That simply was not a valid option. Then,
her next idea struck a chord. Why not mail it in
anonymously?

Kate got out of the
buggy and walked through town until she came to a little stationery
store, where she found the idea piece of stationery. She pulled out
a manila envelope that was insulated with bubble wrap. She knew
that would be perfect, and it was no larger than a folded sheet of
paper.

Kate took the envelope
back to the buggy, where she wiped her prints from the phone. Kate
placed the phone inside the envelope, being careful to use water to
seal the paper container. The last thing she needed was to have her
DNA floating around on an envelope that contained evidence in a
murder case.

Kate knew that sending
something in the mail without a return address could be tricky, so
she wrote down the address of the fire station that was located
close to the police precinct. If the envelope got lost or had to be
returned to its sender, she was sure the fire department would be
the best bet, as they would most likely take it to the police
station after receiving it.

As Kate set off to
post the letter, the facts of the case rushed through her thoughts.
Who exactly was
Ethan
Jackson,
and how was he linked to the two men she had dealt with when she
was Federal Agent? And who was the Lucas guy that the victim had
tried to call for help? Nothing made any sense. All she knew was
that something bad was invading the innocent community, and she
could not let that happen.

Kate stopped at the
first mailbox she saw, and gently dropped in the phone, while
letting out a sigh of relief. “Let’s hope you find your way,” she
said.

Job 28:28.
And he said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is
wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”

Chapter
7
.

Kate found herself back in town at the end
of the week. She had asked Beth if she could borrow the buggy for
the day, and Beth had agreed, stating that Kate needed to get out
and about. The Amish community had a nice quiet charm that Kate was
learning to appreciate. Yet the town itself was much closer to her
comfort zone. The sights and sounds had an almost nostalgic feel to
them. She missed the hustle and bustle of keeping the streets
relatively safe. She missed the late nights and the early mornings
dealing with witnesses.

It was nice to get out and stretch her legs
now and then, and with a crime to solve, she felt a lot closer to
home. It would have been nice to have a tablet or something with
which to search through databases in a WiFi hotspot. Yet it
wouldn't be the first time she had to make do with what she
had.

Where to start was the question. Kate needed
to check through newspaper archives to find out how much the public
in general knew. She needed to scan through public records of the
victim.

Kate’s stomach growled as the smell of fast
food and charred meats caught her attention. She thought that a
club sandwich with fries was sounding pretty good right now. A
soda, perhaps - a big Cherry Pepsi. It didn't even have to be a
diet one.

Kate was going to need to do a little
therapy shopping before she went back. Some sweetener and coffee
flavoring in particular. The world always looked better with
coffee. In fact, there was a rather nice looking café right on the
corner. Kate decided to get a good lunch and then start into her
work. It would be refreshing to pretend she was back to her normal
life for a little while. But first, she needed a club sandwich and
Pepsi.

The cafe was very quaint, although after the
weeks in the community, the noises of town were almost
overwhelming. Kate tried to remember if ring tones and cooking
instruments had always been so loud, and if people had always been
in such a hurry. She could smell a whole host of different foods in
the air.

The booths were all filled with patrons
eating and chatting away amongst one another. Near the doorway, she
saw people with a laptop, a tablet, several notebooks, and various
folders scattered across their table. It was not that long ago that
she would have been one of those people. It had been part of her
normal routine. And ironically, she was always telling herself she
needed to slow down.

Then when I slow down, I am constantly
wanting to be back out there full throttle
, Kate thought,
smiling at herself.

As Kate moved to the counter to place an
order, she noticed a familiar face. Tall, dark, handsome. Five o
clock shadow. What was Ryan doing here? Granted this town was where
he lived, worked and patrolled, but out of all the places to eat in
town, why here?

It wasn't that she didn't like him, far from
it. The problem was that he was way too sharp for his own good. She
could not afford for him to take too much of an interest in her
comings and goings. She could not afford for Ryan to become
skeptical of the amnesiac Amish girl routine. The last thing she
needed was for him to get curious enough to ask the wrong question,
get a wrong hunch, and start looking into her nonexistent
community. She doubted her boss would appreciate her getting her
cover blown by being too careless with a small-town detective.

That was the last thing Kate needed while
trying to solve a case on the sly.
Why was it that you always
run into the one person you do not want to see when you go into
town
? she asked herself. Go without makeup and sweat pants,
there are two of your colleagues in the same checkout line. Trying
to go undercover? There's the one guy who could complicate things
right there!

Maybe a tactical retreat was in order. There
were other cafés out there. Kate could even try to hunt down the
one where Beckie’s cousin, Jeremiah, was staying. Food and a chat
in one step. She could find out details about the whole protection
business over lunch and kill two birds with one stone. She also
needed to be on her A-game on her investigation this afternoon. It
wasn't like she was trying to avoid Ryan – well, perhaps she was
trying to avoid him a little.

Squaring her shoulders, Kate took a deep
breath. She was going to get her Pepsi and something good to eat.
And maybe she would even find out something about the case. Well,
that was unlikely, but still worth a shot.

“Good afternoon!” she said, causing Ryan to
look up, surprised, from his burger. She noticed right away that he
looked on the haggard side. She knew the look very well - one too
many frustrating, late nights. He looked a little puzzled seeing
her in front of him.

“Ah, Kate. How are you?” Ryan asked as he
smiled widely at her. “Keeping out of trouble?”

“I do try.” She gave a well practiced smile
that hopefully laid on the charm of a friendly Amish woman. She was
doing better with her position, but she still had a way to go to
make her role natural. “How is the case going? Have you managed to
find out what happened with that poor man?”

“Sorry, Kate, I can’t give you any details
other than the ones I’ve already given you,” he said.

Kate looked at the dark circles under his
eyes. He looked like he had only gotten an hour or two’s sleep at
best. “That bad, huh?” She grimaced in sympathy. She knew what it
was like to live on two hours’ sleep on a frustrating case, with
bosses constantly nagging for progress. False leads. Dead ends. She
had her fair share with the crime ring he was trailing. In fact
there still begged the question if he even knew it was a crime ring
yet.

“Pretty bad, yes.” Ryan gave a thin smile as
he nodded in agreement.

Kate was upset. Apparently the phone had
been less than helpful - either that, or no one in the station made
the right connections.

“That's a shame.” She tried her best to hide
her disappointment. This problem needed to be fixed before the
crime ring really got its hooks into the area. She could imagine
bodies appearing in the back fields of the Amish farmers. The ring
certainly didn't care much about leaving their mess in a pond by
the road. So then, how long would it be before they started showing
up in barns and doorsteps?

But how to get the locals to pick up and get
moving on this case? She wanted to call her boss, but he had made
it clear that she could not use the emergency phone to try to bring
in federal help. There was also the distinct risk she would run
into someone she knew during the investigation, ruining her cover.
No, she couldn't pull in the professionals, even if they were best
suited for the problem.

“May I help you?” Kate turned at the voice
to see a young lady waiting patiently for her order. She checked
the menu, and was happy to find that they did indeed serve Pepsi.
No cherry Pepsi, but she was willing to settle.

By the time she finished making her order,
Ryan looked a little surprised. His brows were raised slightly as
he regarded her.

“It's not against the rules to eat out,” she
said, giving him an amused smile. She had the excuse of never
dealing with the Amish before she came here. She felt a little
better about her ignorance knowing the town locals were not much
better. “Some of the Old Order Amish beg to differ sometimes. But
we’re really not all that different from anyone else.”

“Sorry, you're right,” he said agreeably,
although as usual, he seemed to be trying to puzzle her out. “So
what brought you to town?”

Oh dear, she had forgotten to work out that
cover story. Time to think fast! “I’m meeting a friend here. We’re
going shopping for yarn and some new knitting needles. I got here
early, so I thought I’d come in and get some lunch.”

“I see,” Ryan said, although he looked as if
he didn’t quite believe her. She could not tell if he was
suspicious of her, or if he always looked that way. It would really
help if she could get into his head and figure out what thoughts
were running around in there.

“I do enjoy the knitting circle,” she
continued, putting on an innocent voice. “The ladies are so lovely
to talk to. Oh, one even said her cousin had a close encounter with
a crime ring the other day.”

“Is that so?” Ryan did not appear
interested.

Nevertheless, Kate proceeded to tell him
some of the details she had gathered in the knitting circle. She
even added some irrelevant details about knitting and the ladies to
give her ramble more authenticity.

Ryan scrambled to grab a napkin and hunt
down a working pen to write down details. She enjoyed the
impatient, excited gleam in his eyes as he tried to guide her back
onto the topic each time she tried to ramble about knitting or one
of the ladies. It was fun being on this end of an official
chat.

Kate found herself enjoying her meal as Ryan
got every detail he could, although of course she was careful to
give the details inefficiently. She was a clueless civilian after
all. As much as it pained her to have to leave most of her actual
knowledge out of the conversation, she had an image to keep. And
after a lengthy fretting over what would be the best cake for her
turn to serve the knitting circle, she had a feeling he was a far
less suspicious of her civilian status.

They talked a little more, but as expected,
Ryan excused himself to go elsewhere. Kate sighed contently and
finished her meal.

It was early afternoon when Kate made her
way back home.

After Kate rubbed down the horse and fed
him, she saw Beth taking in her laundry. She waved as she
approached, quickly moving to help take the clothes off the lines.
While Kate hated doing laundry without a modern washing machine,
she did love the fresh scent of the air dried sheets. She
especially loved the scent of the towels which Beth always dried on
the lavender bushes.

“How was town, Kate? You were gone quite a
while.” Beth folded a sheet and put it in the bottom of her
basket.