Secrets in the Grave (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 3) (11 page)

At least I wasn’t having nightmares about saving her anymore. After I’d managed to get there in time to rescue Mariah in the Poplar Spring’s community from a drug overdose and Cacey from a crazy ex-Amish drug dealer, I’d found a sort of absolution.

I picked up the piece of paper lying next to me on the bed and read it for the third time.

Sheriff Serenity
,

      
I write to you with splendid news. I’m heading home today. I’ve successfully been drug-free for two months. The counselors have released me as being healed. I’m excited to return to the community. I never thought I would miss it, but I did. My parents and Brandy are the only people I’ve seen from home since I came to this place. Without their support, I wouldn’t have made it
.

      
I don’t know if you’ve heard about Anna King and Rowan. They’re getting married in June. All charges against him were dropped by Sheriff Gentry and he’s been able to move on with his life. The sheriff said something to my Da about enough lives being ruined. We had all prayed for such an outcome, especially for Rowan’s children’s sakes, but never really dreamed it would happen
.

      
Other good news is that Jotham left his property and business to Rowan until Rowan’s son, Gabe, reaches adulthood. Once Gabe’s eighteen, he’ll inherit it all. It’s unclear why Jotham would have done such a thing, but the income from the store is helping Rowan
rebuild his barn from the fire. Gabe would have it no other way. Hopefully, without sounding too selfish, the best news is that Gabe has welcomed me to take my waitressing job back if I want it
.

      
For the first time in forever, I’m looking forward to the future. Thank you again for making it possible
.

I hope to see you soon
.

With affection
,

Mariah Fisher

I wiped the wetness from my eyes with the back of my hand. The people of Poplar Springs seemed to be enjoying some much needed peace. I thought about Anna, the school teacher and her shy flirting with Rowan and smiled. She had managed to lasso the man after all. Good for her and for all of Rowan’s children. They were special kids and so was Mariah. I was surprised that she wanted to remain in the community, but not in a bad way. The simple life might be just what that girl needed.

Depression hit me when I thought about the day’s events. I’d killed a man and had to wash another’s brains out of my hair. It wasn’t that I regretted their deaths. It was more that I was beginning to understand why I’d put off talking to Daniel for so long. My life was screwed up and dangerous. I couldn’t act like a normal woman, hoping for all the things that most women wanted. I lived in a world of violence and chaos. My life was in jeopardy at least once a month, even though I wasn’t in the big city anymore. I’d discovered the hard way that there were as many sickos living in the country and for some reason, they were to be drawn to me like bees to honey.

I tapped my finger on the pillow, rehearsing what I’d say to Daniel. My throat became dry and itchy at the thought.

Staring at my cellphone, I grunted and picked it up, dialing.

“Hello?”

Hearing Laura’s voice made me feel better. She wasn’t just my only sibling, she was my best friend.

“It’s me. What are you doing?”

“Oh, hi, Serenity. I’m just pulling up to the mall to pick up Taylor and her friends. They went window shopping.”

“Lucky girls.” I paused, glancing at the framed picture on the dresser of Laura, my brother-in-law and my niece and nephew. My family portraits had burned with my house, but Laura had supplied me with more. “How’s Will?”

Laura’s voice softened. “I talked to him last night for a few minutes. He was getting ready to go into the arena to work cows at a local rodeo. He seems to be enjoying Montana, making friends, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s home by Christmas. I think he’s lonely.”

I heard the hopefulness in my sister’s voice. I wasn’t so sure Will would be back that soon. He’d lost the love of his life not too long ago. I figured he wouldn’t be back until he met a new girl he liked and really moved on. I didn’t voice my thoughts to my sister, though.

“I hope he does…” I trailed off.

“Are you doing okay? When I talked to you earlier, you seemed pretty pumped that only the bad guys were killed in the attempted robbery. Now you sound glum. What’s up?”

Leave it to Laura to pick up on my mood. I only wished I could tell her the truth—the real reason I was chewing myself up from the inside out. I wasn’t ready yet. It wouldn’t be right to talk to my sister about it before Daniel. I owed him that much at least.

“It’s a cop thing. I was buzzed on adrenaline earlier. Now I’m sitting here, going through the scene in my head. I guess
when the action slowed down, I realized how much danger everyone had been in. In my line of work, things like this happen and you just have to deal with them. There’s a steady stream of bad guys fucking up the world.”

“You should take a day off. Come over and hang out with me. I just finished last year’s accounting for the shop’s taxes. We can watch movies. It will be fun,” Laura said in a convincing tone.

“Sorry, sounds great, but I’ll be wrapped up in paperwork and meetings with the feds all week. There was also a strange death in the Amish community the other day that I’m investigating.”

“Another mystery with the Amish, huh? I don’t envy you.”

“I know. This one’s weird. Maybe I’ll have time to stop by for dinner over the weekend and fill you in on all the gory details,” I suggested.

“I’ll look forward to it. Here come the girls. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Yep, I’ll be around.” I hung up.

Daniel peeked around the corner. “Ah, I’m not so sure you will be.”

His worried grin made my stomach do a somersault. What now?

“You want me to take a trip to an Amish community in Ohio to talk to a ninety-year-old woman about a death that occurred ten years ago?”

Daniel nodded. He sat on the edge the bed, turned toward me. He’d lost the grin.

“I just had an armed robbery in the Blood Rock Bank with all four assailants shot dead. It made national news. I can’t leave town.”

I wasn’t as perturbed with Daniel as I was with the timing of everything. The opportunity to interview a woman, even an ancient one, about what happened to Robyn Peachey was more than intriguing. It could lead to answers about Fannie’s death and Jonas’ possible involvement.

“I don’t see why not. It’s not an ongoing situation. The bad guys are dead, no one else is injured. My construction crew is going to be working the entire weekend to repair the glass and spackle the places in the walls with bullet holes. The bank will be open on Monday. What’s the big deal?” Daniel shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and groaned. “There’s expectations of a sheriff at times like this.” I dared to meet his gaze. “You’re right, I’m not specifically needed in town at the moment, but it would look terrible if I suddenly left town.”

“Don’t you think Fannie Kuhns and Robyn Peachey are worth the trouble?” Daniel challenged.

I took a deep breath to keep myself from shouting at Daniel and counted to five in my head. “Of course, I care. You of all people know how invested I am in learning the truth about mysterious deaths and cold cases, but I’m an elected official. I have assumed obligations to live up to. If I’m not careful, I might not have the position for long.”

“I get it.” Daniel exhaled. “I guess I’ll make the trip on my own, find out what I can and report back to you.” He sighed.

A black, stormy cloud settled over me. I wanted to go talk to this midwife myself. Daniel was great at dealing with his
people, but he didn’t have any detective training. He might say something to Wilma Gingerich that would make her testimony inadmissible in court. And then there was the crazy healing scene that I’d witnessed with Jonas Peachey and Mervin. Strange things were in the wind.

“When did you want to leave?” I inquired, trying to sound disinterested.

Daniel’s lips curved for a second and then wobbled as he tried to smooth out his grin. “Tomorrow morning sometime, but I’m flexible.”

“Hmm. Perhaps if I go in to the office early, I can get the pertinent reports and files in order. I’ll have to check in with Bobby to see if he needs me for anything, and then there’s Ed to deal with.”

Daniel’s teeth flashed. “I don’t think the mayor will give you a hard time. After all, you saved his ass this morning.”

I leaned back on the pillow. “You were pretty instrumental in saving his ass, too.” I took a shaky breath. “You really shouldn’t have interfered. You aren’t a trained officer and you put yourself and everyone else in jeopardy when you pulled that gun,” I said, working hard to keep the tone of my voice neutral. It had been bugging me all day and it felt good to get it off my chest.

Daniel looked like I’d punched him in the face. The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. I could hear my heart beating in my ears.

After a long, uncomfortable pause, Daniel said, “You’re right. It was foolish. I thought I saw movement through the glass. I knew in my heart you were on the other side of the door. I had faith that together, we’d be successful.”

My eyes teared up. I sniffed and quickly wiped the wetness away, but not before Daniel saw. His face scrunched before he crawled up the bed and pulled me into his arms.

I rested there, absolutely still, listening to his heart pounding against my ear. He was warm and solid. Part of me never wanted to let go.

Daniel rubbed my back and nuzzled the top of my head. “We survived. We’re all right,” he murmured.

He pulled back and I reluctantly looked up at him. “You know we need to talk,” he whispered.

I nodded, but didn’t move.

“Have you taken a test yet?”

The expectant tension was clear on his face.

“No. I’ve been a little busy lately.” I chuckled nervously.

Daniel sat up straighter. “This is important. You need to do it. I’ll run over to the pharmacy right now and bring one back for you. All you’ll need to do is pee on the thing.”

I took a trembling breath. “I don’t think it’s necessary. I’ve been late before. It has a lot to do with the stress of the job. I’ll probably wake up in the morning and it will have started.”

“Why are you so afraid to take the test? I would think you’d want to know for sure. If you’re not pregnant, you can forget about it.” He paused, swallowing. “If you are, well, you’ll need to go to a doctor for a checkup, make sure everything is all right. After what happened to Fannie, I think it’s better to be on the compulsively safe side.”

I frowned at him. “It sounds as if you’re excited about the prospect of an accidental pregnancy.”

“Accidental? There were times when we didn’t bother to take precautions. I hardly call it an accident.”

Blood rushed to my head, pounding. I sat up straighter. “Wait a minute. Yeah, there were moments when…we…were too preoccupied to be careful, but I’d hardly call it planned. More like stupid.”

Daniel’s voice hardened. “I never said,
planned
. My point is that neither one of us was overly worried about the consequences, which leads me to believe that we both wanted it.”

“You might have. I didn’t,” I snapped.

Daniel ran his hand through his thick brown hair, pulling on it. He took a calming breath before he spoke.

“It doesn’t really matter how this situation came about. We have to deal with it head on. Maybe you’re right, and you’re not even pregnant. First things first.” He climbed off the bed and I panicked.

“Please don’t go to the store right now.”

Daniel paused, looking back. “It’s not a big deal, Serenity. Whatever the outcome from the test is, we’ll be all right. I promise.”

I inched closer to him with pleading eyes. “Give me a few more days. Honestly, I think it’s a waste of your money. I’ve got too many things on my mind to deal with it. Please.”

Daniel shook his head, but said, “Have it your way. But if your period hasn’t started in by the weekend, you have to do this. For both of our sakes.”

I nodded vigorously and threw my arms around his neck. The scent of his cologne filled my nose. I leaned in and put my mouth on his. He didn’t hesitate kissing me back. We sighed into each other’s mouths as his hands pressed me closer.

The violence and death of the day slipped away. Daniel was my drug, an addiction I craved more than I cared to admit. I was gloriously safe in his muscled arms.

I pulled my night shirt over my head and Daniel’s lips found my breast. I arched, giving him more access as his fingers found my other sensitive place. I wrapped my legs around his waist as his tongue thrust in my mouth. I felt his desire pressing against my belly. Thoughts about Fannie, the robbery, supernatural healings—and a possible baby—still swirled in my head, but those troubles became more distant by the second.

At that moment, I didn’t care about anything else—except Daniel.

12

SERENITY

I
experienced a strong sense of Déjà vu as I looked out the window at the passing scenery. Sure, the season was different, but I was still driving into a strange Amish community and the unknown. The land was flatter here than Indiana, not a hill in sight. The ground was darker, too. As far as I could see, there were plowed fields waiting for crops to grow. Dotting the sea of dirt was the occasional pristine farmstead. They were all similar, consisting of two story white farmhouses, white barns and silos. These were working farms.