Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) (14 page)

19

M
y butt was sore and my legs were cramped from sitting on the hard wooden bench for nearly three hours. I glared across the room at Daniel, who was wedged in between an old man with a long, snowy white beard and a middle aged, chunky fellow wearing glasses. Now I knew why he had been so damn amused the night before in the car.

The weirdness of being separated into two groups, the men all on the left and the women on the right, had finally worn off, but the drone of the bishop’s sermon in German and awkwardness of being pressed up against an old Amish woman still made the ordeal torturous.

The one good thing to come from being trapped in Elijah Mast’s cold buggy shed during the overly long and boring service was that it gave me the opportunity to really think about the case. The night before when I’d finally gotten off the phone with Todd and re-read Brody’s files, I was too exhausted to put all the information into perspective. And then there had been Daniel.

Sharing a room with the man was driving me insane on top of everything else. His close proximity through the night had kept me awake for hours, even though he had annoyingly fallen asleep fairly soon after he’d laid down on the trundle.

My thoughts disappeared when Abner Fisher abruptly stopped talking and the congregation began singing. Without the accompaniment of instruments, the music was rather dull, but it was more the somber tone that the Amish sang than the song itself that bothered me. If I closed my eyes, I would have thought that I was at a funeral in Germany, instead of an Amish church service in Indiana.

The cold breeze slipping through the gap in the shed’s door made me shiver, even though I was sitting close to the generator-run heater in the corner. In all, there were probably about one hundred and fifty people crammed into the new construction. Before the service began, Rowan had introduced me to Elijah and I asked him a few questions, but the skinny man with the medium length black beard didn’t enlighten me with anything new. The only thing that I took away from the conversation was that Elijah had a more difficult time keeping his emotions hidden than the other Amish I’d encountered. He’d spoken angrily about losing his own barn and the local sheriff’s inability to solve the case.

It was nice to know that some of the Amish were emotional about the crimes. At least it made Elijah seem more human.

The song finally came to an end while I was still deep in thought. I began stretching my sore limbs the same as everyone else. I blinked and searched for Daniel in the crowd. He was waiting by the door and I wasted no time meeting up with him there.

“Thanks for the warning,” I said tersely.

Daniel shrugged and grinned broadly. “It’s really impossible to prepare someone for such an experience.”

No kidding. Briefly I wondered how he managed to keep the dark bristles on his chin at the perfect cropped length, before I asked, “Did you find anything else out from the other men?”

I watched the steady stream of women passing by us in an orderly line, and I thought I recognized a couple of them from the gathering in Rowan’s kitchen from the night before. Mareena and Lucinda had already passed, both smiling warmly. Anna slowed long enough to point towards the Mast’s house where she had already explained the lunch would be served in the basement. She was holding Cacey’s hand and for the first time the little girl actually acknowledged me with a slight wave of the hand.

“I did get some more information about Asher,” Daniel whispered, leaning in closer. “It seems that Rowan and Asher’s father was diabetic. Since the two were the oldest, it fell on their shoulders to keep the family business going when he was sick. At about the same time that their father lost his leg to the disease, Michael Gentry, Brody’s son, outbid the boys on a big construction project. I guess losing the contract put the Schwartz family in a difficult way for a while and there were bad feelings between the two families.” He took a breath and glanced around before continuing, “Asher might have been a rebellious kid, but he still worked hard alongside Rowan to support the family.”

I looked up at Daniel with a narrowed gaze. “You sound like you respect the jerk.”

Daniel glanced away and then back again. “I wasn’t that different when I left the Amish. I’d grown up quickly, doing a man’s job while I was still a child. I helped to put food on the table and then when I left, I was shunned, just like Asher. I bet he has a lot of pent up resentment about it, the same as I did.”

My voice raised a little and I had to consciously tone it down. “That’s no excuse for becoming a professional criminal. There are a lot of people out there who were dealt hard-knocks when they were kids and they didn’t grow up to sell drugs, beat up their girlfriends, or kill a man. Look at yourself, for example.”

“Things aren’t always black and white.”

“In my world, gray isn’t a color.”

The bishop paused beside us with questioning brows. “I hope you’ll be staying with us for dinner. It’s just a simple fare, homemade peanut butter sandwiches, but there is more than enough to fill your bellies.”

“Of course we will. I was just answering some of Serenity’s questions about the service.

Abner looked more closely at me and asked, “Is this your first time?”

I nodded, “Yes. It was…very long.”

Abner laughed out loud. “That’s what all the English say. I would have thought that Aaron would have invited you to attend one of Blood Rock’s services by now.”

“Actually, he did. But there was a traffic accident that I was called into that morning.”

Abner smiled again and motioned for us to follow him.

The area between the transitional buggy shed/church building and the other metal sided barn was crowded with people. It surprised me that each group was still strictly segregated between men and women, even after the service had ended. After a moment of observation, it didn’t seem that the separation of the sexes was being enforced, more just expected.

“Why aren’t the men and women mixing?” I whispered to Daniel as we fell a few more steps behind the bishop.

Daniel smiled fondly, and not for the first time, I got the impression that there were some aspects of the Amish lifestyle that Daniel missed.

“The men enjoy talking to the men and the women like female companionship.”

“That’s all? There must be more to it than that. I certainly don’t enjoy female companionship that much,” I argued.

“Most women do. Besides, it only causes problems when men and women are socializing together. Just look at your friends Denton, Jory and Ruby. Maybe if they didn’t spend so much time together, Denton wouldn’t have hooked up with his best friend’s wife.”

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, “Good people can control themselves. Trust me. Denton has never been a
good
guy. I know from personal experience.”

“You’ll have to tell me that story sometime,” Daniel chuckled.

“Not on your life.”

It was about noon and the sun had finally burned away the thick cloud cover that had made the morning especially dreary. I reluctantly stepped over the mound of snow to enter the other building, really hating to leave behind the bright rays of sunshine that were finally warming my face.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim interior of the room as I looked around. There were women and teenage girls bustling around, pouring glasses of water and setting out platters of very plain looking sandwiches. The bishop guided us to the corner and motioned for us to sit down. Once again, he was trying to be subtle about seating us off to the side, but I certainly caught on to what he was doing.

Mareena appeared at my shoulder and leaned down, “I see you survived the service,” she smirked.

I had to give the girl credit for a sick sense of humor. “I’ve lived through worse.”

Mareena gave us glasses of water and moved on. I watched the girl balancing the tray on one hand while she continued to deposit the full glasses of water along the table.

“Rowan’s kids are tough,” I said out loud, but mostly to myself.

“Amish kids usually are,” Daniel replied.

“It’s truly amazing that more of the kids don’t runaway in the night.”

“It’s really not so bad, Serenity. There are a lot of good things that come along with being Amish.”

I sighed with irritation, “Yeah, you’ve already told me all about the wonderful large families and how close-knit the communities are. How you’re never alone…but what about those loner-type kids who have independent spirits?”

“It’s not easy being a kid anywhere nowadays. At least most of these kids have support from their families and friends.”

“Naomi sure didn’t,” I said bitterly.

“Hey, I didn’t say that the Amish have it perfect. I know that better than most. I’m just trying to get you to understand that freedom and technology aren’t the only things that make people happy.”

I met his gaze squarely, taking a breath to calm myself before I responded. “Don’t paint me as a shallow person. I’m not.” I leaned in and whispered fervently, “I’m more interested in these kids’ lack of higher education and life choices. I don’t give a shit about the absence of cell phones, internet and big screened televisions in their lives.”

My voice rose a little higher than I intended and several pairs of eyes looked our way. I shrugged off the uneasy sensation rising in my gut as I took a sip of water.

Daniel spoke with calm understanding, which annoyed me even more. “You aren’t going to be able to help these people if you don’t try to understand them better. Naomi’s situation was atypical. These families love and nurture their children. They would do anything for them. They provide them with the skills and knowledge that they need to be successful in
their
world. For most of the young people here, it’s all they need to be happy.”

“I don’t think Mariah is happy.”

Daniel looked away for a long moment and then met my gaze again. “So you feel the need to save her…because you couldn’t save Naomi?”

I wasn’t sure what to say and that didn’t happen very often. As much as I hated to admit it, maybe Daniel was correct about my Amish-bashing mind. But he wasn’t the one who had been held captive one night in a darkened barn, surrounded by a group of Amish vigilantes. I had every right to feel the way I did. But it was unsettling to think that I might be unconsciously imposing Naomi’s craziness into Mariah’s life.

While I was lost in thought, I caught a glimpse of Mariah following someone out the door.

I grabbed Daniel’s wrist and whispered urgently, “Come on!”

Daniel didn’t question me and I really appreciated it at that moment. He simply rose as suddenly as I had and joined me when I left the building.

Mariah was now walking alone down the steep driveway, but I wasn’t fooled. Asher’s friend, Julian, was about forty feet in front of her. To anyone else, the English man was just heading to his car, the same as any of the other Amish drivers.

I slowed a bit, using the line of parked buggies and the occasional white van as cover. As long as I kept the girl in my sights, I breathed easier.

When I glanced up and saw Daniel by my side without question, I suddenly realized how extremely patient he was being with me.

“We’re following Mariah,” I volunteered.

“I see her. Do you mind me asking why?”

When we reached the last buggy, I stopped Daniel with my hand on his arm. He followed my gaze to the black charger that was parked beside the road. Mariah was too smart to stop at the vehicle, though. She continued walking to the little white board telephone shed at the corner of the yard. Mariah took the time to look all around before she stepped into the building and closed the door behind her. Julian was sitting in the passenger side of the sports car and no one was in the driver’s seat.

My heart rate quickened.

Daniel’s hot breath was close to my ear. “What’s going on?” he whispered.

“That’s Asher Schwartz’s car,” I nodded at the vehicle and then back at the shed, “and Mariah is in there with him.”

Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise. “Not much gets by you does it?”

“Nope,” I sighed.

“Let’s go talk to him,” Daniel said, taking a step forward.

I stopped him, “Wait.”

Mariah emerged from the shed alone. She walked purposely back the same way she had taken on the way to the shed. I motioned to Daniel to continue waiting, and then lifted my chin towards the shed again.

A minute later, Asher finally came out, and we met him just as he reached his car.

“Hello, Asher. Do you remember me?” I said sweetly.

Asher hesitated for a step and then fully stopped. He was dressed the same as I had seen him before in khaki pants, brown coat, close cropped brown beard—Mister Chameleon.

A wide and very phony smile erupted on his face. “Of course, I do. How are you, Sheriff?”

“I’m great,” I pointed at Daniel, “This is Daniel Bachman.”

“Hello,” Asher said, reaching out to shake Daniel’s hand.

At that moment I wished very badly that we were standing in my own jurisdiction so that I could
officially
bring Asher Schwartz in for questioning. Unfortunately, I had no power to do anything in Poplar Springs. The sudden realization of how out of control the situation really was hit me as if I was just smacked in the face.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” I asked.

Asher began backing away from us. “You know, really, I don’t have the time today.”

“Maybe you’ll be a little more willing to talk to me if Sheriff Gentry is by my side,” I threatened.

Asher’s abrupt laugh surprised me. He smirked and met my gaze. “I’m not worried in the least about that. But you can go ahead and try.” He turned and moved quickly around the side of the car. Before he climbed in, he said, “Enjoy your dinner with the Amish. You might want to plan to hit the steak house by the interstate afterwards. I remember the Sunday noon meals to be quite unsatisfying.”

Daniel and I watched the Charger pull away in silence. Once the black car had disappeared around the bend in the road, Daniel said, “I was wrong about him. He really is a bastard.”