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

All Logan White’s top men were required to
get the tattoo on their wrists. No doubt it made them remember that
they were loyal to Logan. Of course not everyone was loyal, and the
two men Kate knew had left and tried to turn on their boss, but
despite what they had given the F.B.I., the Feds had been unable to
take Logan White down. And so
The Viper
remained, a powerful
figure in New York City, and the two men who had flipped on him
remained hidden away in the Midwest, unable ever to go back.

And now here was a third man with the
tattoo, as dead as someone could be. Kate watched the police
officers do a quick investigation before they stepped off the muddy
shore. Saracen came over to the group, while Jones went off a few
steps and spoke into his radio.

“You found him then?” Saracen asked Hugh,
and the man nodded. Saracen had pulled a small pad from his pocket,
and was writing in it. “You live here?”

“This is my land,” Hugh said, pointing off
toward the line of trees which grew an acre or so away from the
pond. “My house is just past that, and I have a few acres over
there, growing corn mostly.”

“And you came over at what time?”

Hugh scratched his chin. “Well, it was an
hour ago, I think. I was coming to check on one of my cows; she had
scratched her leg. I wanted to check up on her, so I came through
the woods by the pond and saw this man.”

“And he flagged you down?” Saracen asked,
turning to Isaac.

“Yes sir,” Isaac said, nodding his head
slowly. “He was standing out here. My wife saw him, and we stopped.
He was trying to get our attention.”

“You had already called us, right?” the cop
asked. “Why stop them?”

“Well,” Hugh said, his voice falling a
little. He seemed slightly sheepish. “I just, well, I didn’t want
to be alone here. And uh, I wanted to go to the road and make sure
you saw me, but I didn’t know if that was all right, to leave him.
I thought maybe an animal or something might come, or maybe he’d
slide back in. I don’t know; I just wanted someone else here.”

Saracen nodded, working to keep his face
still, although his lips twitched in an almost-smile. Kate knew
that most people were uncomfortable with bodies. Police officers
weren’t, as a rule, although she wondered how many bodies a cop saw
out here in the farm country.

“Well, my partner is calling a detective in,
and a few more officers. Hugh, if you could stay, that would be
great, but Isaac, you and Kate are welcome to leave.”

“All right, then,” Isaac said. “Are you all
right here then, Hugh?”

“Yes, I reckon I am now,” the man said, and
he smiled. “I’m glad you stopped though. I didn’t want to stand out
here alone for another minute. My wife, Amy, is very upset.”

Kate smiled and then turned to Isaac. “I
might just stay,” she said, and she knew the three men were looking
at her. “If that’s okay, I mean,” she added quickly. “Maybe Mr.
White can give me a ride after. I know the police are here, but
they’ll be working, and I thought Amy might like some company.”

Hugh was nodding before Kate had even
stopped speaking. “Yes, that would be fine with me, if it’s okay
with the officers here.”

Saracen shrugged as his partner Jones came
over. “Sure,” he said simply, and then turned to hear what Jones
had to say.

“Got ‘em coming, be about half an hour,” he
said before turning to Hugh. “Can you stay out here? They’ll want
to speak with you. We can send ‘em to your house if you
prefer.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hugh said, but he took some
steps away from the pond, and Kate felt as if she should follow
him.

When she stood in front of him, she smiled.
“Are you all right?”

“Just shaken up, I guess,” Hugh said. “You
seem to be doing okay. Amy almost passed out earlier when I told
her.”

“I’m okay,” Kate said with a slight shrug.
“Iron stomach, I guess.”

Kate didn’t know who the man was, not
exactly at least, but she knew more than she could let on. She knew
he was somehow involved with The Viper, and she knew that meant he
was bad news.

Psalm 36:10-12.
Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your
righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of
arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to
rise.

Chapter
2
.

Eventually, more cars pulled up to the road,
and three more officers in blue uniforms came to the pond, along
with two men in suits. Kate recognized one of them. It was
Detective Ryan Weaver.

“What are you doing here?” he asked
Kate.

“We were driving by.”

“Who is we?”

“Isaac and Beth and me. Isaac and Beth
left.”

“And you stayed?”

Kate nodded.

“Of course you did,” Ryan said, but Kate
noticed a small smile spreading on his lips. He excused himself and
went to the body along with an older man who had not been
introduced to Kate. They spent some time going over the scene, and
then Ryan came back to Kate and Hugh.

“Do you think we could go over to your
house, Mr. White?” Ryan asked. “We have some forensic guys coming,
and we’ll just be in the way. Just me and you, and our friend,
Kate, here.”

“Sure,” Hugh said, nodding his head. “Follow
me.”

And so Kate found herself walking in step
with the two men, toward the trees. Then they were going through
the thin strip of woods, and when they came out on the other side,
she could see Hugh’s large, white farmhouse. It had shutters, and a
large garden wrapped around one side and continued along the back
of the house. Hugh’s wife, Amy, was in the garden, on her knees and
pulling weeds. When she realized she had company, she stood and
turned. Her face was pleasant and round, her cheeks pink. She was
sweating, and she pulled off a big sun hat which was over her
bonnet and used it to fan her face.

“Hey there,” she said in a sweet voice, and
Hugh did the quick introductions.

“Well, come inside,” Amy said.

They went around the side of the house and
entered from the front porch. Hugh led them to the living room
while Amy went to get the drinks. They waited for her to return
before they got down to business.

“Does your wife know what you found out
there?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, he told me,” Amy said, her voice
trembling. She leaned forward to set her lemonade on a coaster on
the coffee table in front of her. “My word,” she said, and though
everyone waited for her to say more, it didn’t seem as if she was
going to.

Ryan broke the silence. “I just wanted to
ask you all a few questions, even you, Mrs. White, if you don’t
mind.” She said she didn’t mind, so he went on. “Did either one of
you see anyone on your property for the last few nights?”

“Few nights, has he been dead that long?”
Hugh asked.

Ryan shook his head. “No, not that long. I
would say last night is when he died, just from looking at him, but
you never know about things like this. He, or someone else, could
have been around here for a while.”

“No,” Hugh said. “No one has been here.”

“Well, what about that black car?” Amy said,
and her husband turned to look at her.

“Right!” he said. “We were coming home from
the church meeting on Sunday, and we saw a black car pulling out
onto the road ahead of us. They were pulling out of one of my
fields. Near the pasture actually, with the cows. There’s a few
dirt paths running up and down the fields, and they were coming out
of one of them.”

“We just figured someone had needed to turn
around,” Amy said. “People do it all the time.”

“What kind of car was it?” Ryan asked.

“A black sedan, that’s all I could tell,”
Hugh said.

Ryan nodded and wrote something on a pad of
paper. “And this was last Sunday?”

Hugh nodded. “Right.”

And so the conversation went for about half
an hour. Kate listened mostly, but answered the few questions that
were sent her way. By the time they were done, the glasses were
empty, and everyone gathered on the front porch. Ryan shook
everyone’s hand. He and Kate climbed into his police cruiser and he
took her back home.

Kate stood in the drive and watched the man
leave. His cruiser became a small dot on the horizon and then it
was gone. Ryan had barely said a word to her on the short journey.
What did this mean? She thought there had been a growing attraction
between them, but then again, he thought she was an Amish woman,
and Amish do not date
Englischers
.

Kate shook herself from her thoughts just as
Isaac came out of the house. He stood on the porch as she went to
him.

“Everything go okay?”

“Yes.”

“Are Hugh and Amy all right?”

Kate nodded, and then she smiled and told
Isaac that she wanted to lie down. She didn’t look back as she
moved along the side of the house, but she was sure Isaac was
leaning over the railing to the porch and watching her go.

Proverbs 18:10.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs
into it and is safe.

Chapter
3
.

Going for a walk was the best thing Kate
could do, if she wanted to clear her head, and clearing her head
was her priority at this time. She could not get the murder out of
her head. She had the urge to sort things out, which was no help at
all. She figured she’d be able to do better than any of the local
cops could, although she had a feeling Ryan was one of those who’d
do well in the city if he ever decided to move. All at once, Kate
realized that her thoughts were prideful.
I’m turning Amish
,
she thought with a giggle.

As Kate walked down the road, she pushed all
thoughts of the murder, and Ryan, from her head, focusing instead
on the world around her, which was the one good thing about being
dumped in the middle of nowhere.

The scents of the city were so different to
the scents of the country, and Kate was beginning to think she
preferred the county. She thought about how clean everything
smelled without any big industry. She was beginning to understand
why so many people had another home in the country. That idea was a
silly one, so Kate pushed it from her mind. She did not need a home
in the country; she didn’t make enough to pay for one, and she
still had absolutely no idea when she would be permitted to return
home. What Kate needed to do was to make the most of every moment
she spent in the country. She would miss it when she returned home.
It was lovely to be able to walk somewhere without worrying that
she might be run over by someone who wasn’t looking where he was
going.

It was when she was walking past the
Kauffmans’ pond that Kate found herself thinking about what it
might be like to live in the country for the rest of her life. She
knew it was a possibility, if things didn’t get sorted out, and she
didn’t feel like it was going to be anywhere near as much of a
problem as she thought it would be at the beginning of her time in
exile. Of course, the country would be far nicer if there weren’t a
murderer out there.

Kate really needed to call her boss, David
Harper. He had given her a throwaway cell phone to use if she ever
had an emergency, and right now, this sure felt like one.

Kate reached inside her Amish dress for the
small pocket sewn specially to hold the phone, and finally came
upon her treasure. Pulling the phone from the pocket, she called
her boss and waited in anticipation.

“Hello, Kate?”

“Hi, sir. I’m sorry to call you.” The
shakiness of her voice hung in the air as she tried to find the
right words to use. “They found a homicide victim - the vic was
found here. They found him submerged in a pond, so they can’t
precisely pinpoint the time of death.”

“Okay, but why is telling me about that
worth risking your cover?” Her boss’s voice sounded frustrated,
even a little annoyed.

“That’s not it. The vic had a tattoo. I’ve
seen that same one on two men, and they both turned state’s
evidence. The state ended up giving them immunity and putting them
into WITSEC. I think someone might be trying to hunt them
down.”

“Tell me more.”

“These guys were notorious thugs for Logan
White. They were his goons, his hitmen. They did his dirty work for
him, so that he could keep his hands clean.”

“I see where this is going. Keep your nose
clean, and I mean it. Let the local badges do their thing and keep
your cover safe.”

Kate knew he was right, but she was
frustrated. It was hard to be a helpless girl stuck on a farm.
“Understood.”

“It shouldn’t be much longer, I promise.
It’s just a bit difficult trying to track down a mole in your own
organization.”

“Could you at least do one thing for me
then?” She knew the chances were slim, but the ever-burning
determination in her heart wouldn’t allow her to give up without
trying. “Can you at least relay the information about the tattoo to
the local police investigating the homicide?”

Silence was the response, and silence hung
on the air for what seemed like an age before David finally
answered. “I wish I could, Kate, but that would raise too many
questions. If there were a better way I might consider it, but any
direct contact with them about the case would put up red flags.
Please, just let this play itself out.”

Defeated, Kate exhaled slowly before
responding. “Sure.”

Ephesians 2:8-10.
For by grace
you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may
boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in
them.