Plain Truth (Military Investigations) (12 page)

THIRTEEN

T
he night had never seemed so dark, nor had Ella been so aware of sounds. She heard the throaty croak of bullfrogs and the incessant chirp of cicadas, but other noises—a tree branch brushing against the house, a groan as the hardwood floors settled, the heat turning on and the freezer emptying a tray of ice cubes into the holding container—seemed especially annoying tonight. Even the
ticktock
of her alarm clock grated on her nerves.

She draped one arm over her eyes in an attempt to blot out the world, but tired as she was, she couldn’t sleep. With a frustrated sign, she flipped onto her side, buried her head in the pillow and, at some point, drifted off.

In the middle of the night, her eyes blinked open. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand: 2:00 a.m.

What had awakened her?

Ella raised up and listened, unable to decipher a sound that came from the side of the house.

A scratching. Surely not a rodent?

She stepped from her bed and grabbed her robe off the nearby chair. Slipping into the thick flannel, she toed on her slippers and pulled back the curtain ever so slightly. Peering outside, she couldn’t identify anything, yet the sound continued. She grabbed her cell off the nightstand and stepped into the living area, where she stopped again and listened.

The noise sounded like a chisel, biting into wood.

Her kitchen door!

Before she could hit the prompt to call Levi, the back door opened. Fear swept over her. Seconds later, the security alarm blared a warning.

The sound filled the house.

Heart pounding, Ella ran back to her bedroom and hesitated. The assailant would expect to find her there, so she scurried across the hall to the guest room, closed and locked the door and entered the attached bath, grateful for the night light that illuminated the room ever so slightly. She shut the bathroom door and turned the lock, but felt little sense of protection.

With trembling hands, she tapped Levi’s number. Voice mail.

What had happened? He knew she was alone.

A swell of panic filled her chest. Had Levi ignored her call for help because he was in her house? Footsteps sounded. She backed up against the bathroom door.

Not Levi. It couldn’t be Levi.

She fumbled with her phone. It slipped through her fingers. She caught it in midair, her heart in her throat.

Hitting speed dial, she called Zach.

The phone rang in her ear. Why didn’t he pick up?

The assailant broke through the locked guest room door.

Oh, God
, she silently prayed.

“Ella?” Zach’s voice.

The security alarm continued to scream. She pushed the phone closer to her ear. “He’s in the bedroom.”

“I’m on the way. Gouge out his eyes, jam your hand up under his chin, knee him where it hurts.”

Inwardly, she screamed for Zach to hurry. She didn’t have time for lessons on self-defense.

Heavy footsteps crossed the bedroom.

She glanced down as the doorknob jiggled.

“I know you’re in there.” A gruff voice, muffled as if he was speaking through a handkerchief. Did he have an accent?

If she recognized the voice, she could warn Zach. Then, even if—

She couldn’t go there.

“The police are on the way,” she shouted, trying to sound assertive and in control. “They’ll apprehend you. You won’t get away with this.”

The doorknob stopped moving. Had she scared him off?

Please, Lord.

She pressed her ear against the door, trying to make out the sound. A faint swish, barely audible over the peal of the security alarm, as if—

Even before her mind processed the sound, she leaped into the bathtub and screamed as round after round of gunfire splintered the door. Fragments of wood flew through the air, stinging her back and peppering her hands, which she’d wrapped protectively around her neck.

Ella trembled with fear. In a matter of seconds, he would push through the shattered doorway and turn his weapon on her where she huddled like a terrified child, hiding in the protective steel tub.

A siren mixed with the shrill of the alarm. Was her mind playing tricks on her?

Footsteps. Running toward her or away?

“Ella.” Another voice.

Her heart lurched. “Zach!”

He was there, reaching for her, pulling her up and into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, struggled to speak and then fell against his chest and gasped for air, realizing she hadn’t breathed since the door exploded.

“He...he tried to...kill me.”

With his arm protectively around her, Zach guided her into her living room. She disarmed the security alarm. Silence filled the house.

“Did you see him?” Zach asked.

She shook her head. “No, but I heard his voice. It was muffled, but with an accent.”

“French? German?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe one of the islands.”

“Hawaii?”

“The Caribbean.” She rubbed her neck. “How did the police—”

“Tyler called them as I left his house. A patrol car must have been in the area. Plus your security alarm sent a signal to the dispatcher.”

Zach pulled out his cell phone and called police dispatch. “I’m at the Children’s Care Clinic. A shooter tried to kill Dr. Jacobsen. He’s on the run. Notify all units. Set up roadblocks. Comb the woods. He can’t get away.”

Disconnecting, Zach stared again into Ella’s face. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

She nodded.

“Why didn’t you call Levi?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh, Zach, I did, but he was already in the house.”

“You think Levi was the assailant?”

“I don’t know, but why didn’t he answer the phone?”

* * *

Zach wouldn’t let Ella out of his sight again. He couldn’t risk losing her. He kept thinking
What if?
What if his car hadn’t started? What if there had been an accident on the road that delayed him? What if he hadn’t gotten to her in time?

As it was, he’d floored the accelerator and fishtailed out of Tyler’s drive. If anything had been in the road—a buggy, or a herd of cows that had broken out of their pasture—he would have arrived too late.

He fought the lump that filled his throat, thinking the unthinkable, and shoved his way back to the present.

The first officers to arrive on-site searched the woods behind the house. Tyler had alerted post. The military police joined with local law enforcement in setting up roadblocks.

They were dealing with more than a punk kid looking for the next high. The guy hadn’t been searching for drugs. He’d been searching for Ella. To kill her.

Police interrogated Levi. They’d found him groggy with sleep in his house. Sarah, frightened and shaking, had confirmed that he’d been next to her in bed all night, and because of the distance between the two houses, they hadn’t heard Ella’s security alarm.

The cell phone that should have alerted him to Ella’s distress had been inadvertently turned off. At least that was the alibi Levi used. He didn’t know technology and had adjusted the volume of the ring so as not to disturb his wife. In reality, he had turned the cell off.

So much for Zach’s good intentions, which had almost cost Ella her life.

As distraught as the pregnant Amish wife had been earlier in the day, Zach wondered if she might have tampered with the phone in order to ensure her husband could sleep through the night. Zach wasn’t sure that Sarah had been forthright about her relationship with her brother. The two siblings could be working together, which meant Daniel Fisher could be the assailant.

Zach raked his hand through his hair and approached Sergeant Abrams, who had interrogated Levi. “What’s your assessment?” he asked.

“Levi seems sincere and is openly contrite about the phone.”

“What about Sarah?”

The cop sniffed. “She’s harder to read. I can’t decide if she’s sincere or playing us for fools. I’ve got two of my guys heading to her father’s house to question the old man and haul his son in for interrogation. I’m holding Daniel for at least twenty-four hours this time.”

Zach rubbed his chin. “All this could have started with his desire to destroy the twins’ medical records, if he thought Levi was identified as the father. A breaking and entering escalates, and he turns his hatred for Levi against the doc.”

Abrams nodded. “I’ve heard of stranger things happening. The guy’s not wired tight, we know that. Add an overzealousness to defend his sister and anything could happen.”

The cop glanced into the living room, where Ella sat, head in her hands. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s ready to collapse, but if you ask her, she’ll say she’s fine.”

“Any need to take her back to the ER?”

Zach shook his head. “Not that I can determine. Something to calm her nerves might be beneficial, but I doubt she’d take anything more than ibuprofen. She’s strong as a mule.”

A corner of the cop’s mouth twitched. “My suggestion, don’t let her hear you make that comparison. The ladies I know wouldn’t cotton to being compared to a domestic work animal.”

Zach had to smile. “You’re a wise man, Sergeant.”

Abrams patted Zach’s shoulder. “I’m not blind. Something’s going on with you two. I’m not pointing a finger, but getting personally involved in a case makes for mistakes, if you get my drift.”

Zach didn’t know if he was being chastised or counseled. “I’m law enforcement first.”

The cop slapped his shoulder. “I know you are. I’m just telling you what I see that maybe you don’t. Freemont PD can handle the investigation. We’ll keep you in the loop, but let us take the lead. You hover over the doc and be a first line of protection, while we track this guy down and apprehend him.”

“You might be reading more into this?”

The sergeant stared at him. His eyes were filled with understanding and not the condemnation Zach had thought he might find. “I fell in love with my wife when I was working a case. It wasn’t as big as this one, but I can read the signs.”

Zach blew out a stiff breath.

Love?

Abrams had it all wrong. Yes, Zach felt a bit of attraction, but nothing more.

Ella glanced up, and their gazes met.

A warmth flooded over him, a feeling that was a bit disconcerting and took him by surprise. Maybe there was some truth to what the cop had said, after all.

* * *

“I’m going to Atlanta.” Ella held the invitation to the symposium in her hand and waved it at Zach. “You’re worried about my safety, but I’ll be safer in Atlanta than around here.”

She glanced at the policemen who were still combing through her house, looking for clues. “A man almost killed me. He broke into my clinic last night and he came after me again tonight. There’s something he wants, and I’m afraid it’s that he wants me dead.”

Zach stood staring at her as if he wanted to talk her out of making the trip to the city.

“I won’t tell anyone where I’m going,” she rationalized. “The clinic is closed until Monday. I’ll keep my cell on, and I’ll call you when I arrive.”

“I’m going with you.”

“What?” She hadn’t expected him to acquiesce so easily, which only proved he was as worried about her safety as she was.

“So you agree that I’ll be safer in Atlanta?”

“I hope so. It doesn’t seem to be working out so well around here.”

The calmness in his voice and his dark gaze made her even more afraid. She had to face the truth that someone wanted to do her harm.

“I’ll be all right, Zach. You don’t need to go with me.” Although as the words came out, she knew their folly. She did need Zach. She needed his arms to support her and his strong shoulders to lean on when the darkness became too intense.

He had come to her rescue once again, in the nick of time. If he hadn’t...

She shivered, thinking of what could have happened, what had almost happened.

“I’m going with you,” he repeated. “That’s non-negotiable. I’ll call the hotel and get a room across from yours. Tell the director that someone will accompany you. You can’t go into the city alone, even if it seems a safer place than Freemont.”

She knew he was right. “The invitation includes a guest, but I don’t want anyone to know why you’re with me.”

“Tell them I’m interested in learning more about the research. Helping the local Amish has been a priority for the commanding general at Fort Rickman. I’ll brief General Cameron when I return, so you’ll be telling the truth.”

“Your boss will let you off work?”

“I’ll get a pass. That won’t be a problem. I’ll let Sergeant Abrams know, but I’ll ask him to keep the information to himself.”

“You suspect someone in law enforcement?”

“Not at this point, but the fewer individuals who know your whereabouts, the better.”

“What about Sarah Miller, in case she needs medical care?”

“She could be involved, Ella.”

“That’s ridiculous. Do you suspect Levi, as well?”

“I’m more prone to question his wife’s motives because of her brother.”

Ella turned away and hung her head. Zach’s words cut into her heart. What had she done by coming to Freemont? She was destroying a young couple who had done nothing wrong.

Letting out a deep sigh, she turned back to Zach. “I’ll call the director and let her know. We can leave tomorrow morning.”

“You can’t stay here tonight.”

“Maybe I can stay with Wendy or my receptionist.”

Tyler stepped into the room. He had evidently heard the last portion of their conversation. “You need a place to stay?” he asked.

“I do.”

“My fiancée has room at her house.” Tyler moved closer. “I’m sure Carrie won’t mind. Zach and I can keep watch throughout the night.”

“Sounds good,” Zach said. “I’ll head to my BOQ first thing in the morning and pack a bag for Atlanta. I also want to stop at CID headquarters and brief the chief before he heads to the airport.”

Tyler pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Carrie and confirm the plans with her. There shouldn’t be a problem.”

Once he had left the room, Zach took Ella’s hand.

“This won’t last forever,” he said, as if he could sense her unease. “The local police will track down the attacker. Or he’ll make a mistake, and they’ll catch him before—”