In Plain View (Amish Safe House, Book 2) (3 page)

Chapter
4
.

Kate was at the Kauffman farmhouse in the
late afternoon, having a cup of meadow tea with Beth and Isaac,
when a loud bang rattled the front door of the large home. “Just a
minute!” Beth rose to her feet, excused herself politely, and
walked to the door. Kate listened intently from the living room to
see if she could tell who had stopped by.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

“Oh, it’s you, Ryan. Is everything
okay?”

“Yes, of course. I actually just came by to
fill you all in with a little bit of information about the body
found in your neighbor’s pond. Do you and your husband have a few
minutes, perhaps?” Beth must have nodded, because Kate soon after
heard the door gently shut, and then Ryan followed the woman back
into the room.

“Kate,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t expecting you
to be here, but I’m glad you are. I was going to stop over at the
cottage next to inform you of what we’ve been able to find out so
far.” His smile made Kate feel safe, even though she knew she
wouldn’t really be safe until she was back home, her real home.
“Not like it’s a long drive from here, but thanks for saving me the
gas mileage,” he said with a wide grin.

Ryan sat down near Isaac and faced the two
women. “Okay, here is what we know so far. We ran the vic’s prints
and then came back to a man named Ethan Jackson. He was from the
next town over. He lived there for years, which is why it’s odd
that his corpse was found here.”

Kate could not contain her impatience. “But
who is he? Does he have a record?”

Ryan looked impressed with her enthusiasm,
or at least that was how she interpreted the expression that was
plastered across his face at that moment. “Actually, he does. It
looks like he’s been a petty criminal most of his adult life. B and
E’s, a few charges of larceny, and here’s the kicker, he was
sentenced to four years, but only served a year in prison for
aggravated assault. Still not sure how he got such a light sentence
given the circumstances of the case, but someone was watching out
for him.”

“What do you mean?” The question gnawed at
Kate as she sat still, curious to know more about this man.

“I’ve spoken with a few other officers and
detectives, and the general consensus is that he might’ve been
involved with larger crime.”

Confusion clouded the room. Beth and Isaac
had been silent since Ryan first sat down, but it was clear to Kate
that they were trying to figure out what all this meant. “You think
just because he got out of prison a little early that a gang boss
pulled some strings to have him released?” Isaac asked. “I think
that’s a bit far-fetched, officer.”

Clearly embarrassed by her husband’s
forthright words, Beth stood up immediately. “Would anyone like
some tea or lemonade?”

“Yes ma’am, if you wouldn’t mind. I could
use a nice glass of something fresh before I get back to this
investigation.” Ryan smiled sweetly as Beth left for the kitchen,
and then turned toward her husband. “Isaac, I don’t know all the
facts yet, but we just aren’t sure. Right now, a lot of what we
think is just conjecture, but some of it makes sense.”

“You’re leaving something out,” Kate said.
“You have to be.”

Ryan shifted uncomfortably in his seat
before answering. “All right. Look, don’t say this to anyone else,
please. The main thing we have to go by, right now, is a tattoo
found on the victim. Using a photograph of the vic, I cross
referenced that and his tattoo with the Gang Unit’s database of
criminal aliases, and that’s how we found out what they called him
on the streets. I don’t want that information to be made public
yet, so I really can’t say it, but with everything else, it just
seems like this guy got in too deep with the wrong crowd and was
taken out. Now we just have to figure out why he was targeted, and
who did it.”

“Who ordered the hit,” Kate said without
thinking.

Ryan nodded at her in agreement. “We don’t
know if that’s the case yet, but it might be.”

At that point, Beth returned to the living
room with a tray of cups and some fresh lemonade. She poured
everyone a glass before sitting back down beside her husband. “I
haven’t heard everything you were talking about,” she said, “but I
still can’t believe this is happening so close to home.”

Ryan shook his head. “Petty criminals are
one thing, but we’re concerned he might’ve been involved in gang
activity,”

“Gang activity,” Kate said, “or organized
crime?”

Ryan seemed to be caught off guard by her
statement. “Organized crime? Whatever made you say that?”

Kate thought quickly. “Back home, my best
friend went on
rumspringa
and watched a lot of crime shows
on TV. She always told me about them, even though I didn’t want to
hear.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Beth exclaimed,
leaning over to grasp Kate’s hand. “You’re getting your memory
back.”

Ryan remained silent, so Kate smiled at Beth
and continued. “He has a tattoo that is probably delegated to
members of some sort of group, and you haven’t gone into detail
about the cause of death, so I’m guessing it was an execution.”

Ryan chuckled. “You sure are a smart girl.
Especially for someone who has grown up around chickens and cows,
and corn and cabbage.”

“My friend was always going on about
criminal cases.” Kate smiled sweetly, and shot a glance at the
three present. None of them seemed at all suspicious.

Ryan paused for a moment and then stood up.
“Thank you all for your time and hospitality. I will be sure to let
you know of any future developments.”

Isaac stood up. “Do you think the crime has
come out as far as our community?”

Ryan shook his head. “No, if anything, the
organized crime syndicate is opening up in the vic’s town of
residence, not here. But, since the corpse was found so close, I
just want you to be on alert and let me know directly if anything
happens or if you see any suspicious people around your
property.”

“Of course,” Isaac and Beth replied in
unison.

As Ryan walked toward the exit, Kate
followed closely behind. As he opened the door and stepped out, she
caught the doorknob with her left hand. “So, are you going to find
out what’s going on? It sounds pretty dangerous.”

“I was about to say,
Danger is my middle
name
, but that’s probably a bit too cliché, eh?” Ryan winked at
Kate.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “It does sound
bit corny. Anyway, be careful, won’t you, Ryan.”

At that moment, something passed between
them. Kate was unprepared for the uncomfortable feeling that
followed, so she spoke to break the moment. “Although I’m not from
this community, I’ve grown close to Beth and Isaac, and their
daughter Rose,” she said. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to
them.”

Ryan nodded. “I promise you, Kate, whatever
I find out, you’ll be the first civilian to know about it.”

She smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Ryan. I
appreciate it.”

Ryan slowly disappeared into the day as he
got into his cruiser and drove off, leaving only dust from the dirt
road behind him.

Kate stood in the doorway after he was out
of sight, and contemplated her next move. Something big was
happening; she could sense it. The next step would be to find out
more about the victim. How was he involved in organized crime, and
why was he killed? Those two questions would be at the forefront of
the investigation; her investigation, at least.
That tattoo is
more important than these cops will ever know
, Kate thought.
She had her hunches, but until something else came to light, Kate
wanted to remain optimistic.

Although she was hiding from her past life,
it felt like it was still hunting for her. And now, it was closing
in. What if someone she had dealt with as a Federal Agent were to
see her? The fear trickled down her spine, but her courage and
determination halted it in its tracks. “I’m not going to let you
ruin this town,” she said under her breath as she shut the
door.

2 Timothy 3:16.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness.

Chapter
5
.

Kate tried not to grimace as she studied the
hopeless white knot balanced between her two oversized needles.
This was ridiculous. She had graduated in the top five of her
class. She was qualified to handle high level equipment. She was
part of over a dozen highly classified cases with complex
procedures. Surely she would not be bested by two sticks and an
oversized string.

Nevertheless, Kate had begun to enjoy the
Amish knitting circle days. She glanced around at the circle of
baby dresses, intricate blankets, and perfectly stitched socks the
other ladies were crafting as they chattered away about the
community. Naomi was going to make her much-loved jelly, with
Gloria helping her. Lillian was fussing about how her husband was
tilling the field on his own again, not wanting to disturb their
nephew to share the workload.

The smell of a berry cobbler was seeping in
from the kitchen. Kate swallowed as her mouth watered. Sweet things
all had to be made from scratch in this community, the old
fashioned way. While a berry cobbler wasn't a Spiced Latte with
cream, it was the next best thing in this place.

She pulled out her needles from the mass of
wool and tried to untangle the wool as best she could.
This
place wasn't so bad once you got used to the whole thing
, Kate
thought. She still wanted many conveniences from her old life, of
course. Microwaves for example. A single-serve coffee pot. Bottled
soda. But those cravings were getting less painful as time went
by.

Some things never changed though. Like
crime. And undercover or not, the agent in her was going crazy over
the fact she could not work on the case at hand openly. She
wondered how much longer it would be before they found the mole.
The sooner she could get back out there to her old life, the
better.

Kate thought back to the tattoo that had
been on the victim. She wondered if his presence was in some way
connected to the mole. Of all the crime rings that could have shown
up in this tiny quiet area, it had to be one of the most classified
and elusive ones on which she had ever worked.

And to make things all the more vexing, she
was stuck playing an Amish woman with amnesia. She should not have
any personal interest or knowledge of a top secret crime ring.
These guys were no rookies. They practically danced circles around
the law, and had their hands in major criminal activities in at
least three major cities, and some number of small towns if her
hunch was correct.

Of course actually checking out her hunches
without blowing her cover was just shy of impossible.

“You'll figure it out, Kate.”

Kate jumped in surprise at Lillian's voice,
causing the older woman to jump too, and to laugh nervously at
Kate’s reaction. “Goodness, Kate. You're going to get wrinkled up
if you keep fretting over that project. The world won't end if you
can't remember how to knit.”

Kate forced a smile as she studied the mess
in her lap. “There's just a lot on my mind. That's all.”

“Like what?” Esther asked as she gasped and
leaned forward. “Did you start to remember something about before
your accident?”

“Oh no. Nothing like that. I'm afraid I'm
not any closer than when I got here,” Kate said quickly, feeling
her face color. It wasn't that she was shy with crowds. Quite the
contrary. She knew how to work a crowd back in her hometown. But
here, people paid so much attention to
you
, rather than your
station or job title. The Amish were so aware of individual
strengths, weaknesses, body language, and quirks. Kate figured that
someone like ninety year old Naomi would put lie detectors and
profile experts to shame with how observant she was.

Kate glanced in the older woman's direction.
As expected, Naomi was frowning as she studied Kate from across the
room. Kate suspected that Naomi knew from the start she was hiding
something from them. But the woman never brought it up, and Kate
was at a loss on how to confirm her suspicion.

“Do you think you will ever -” Esther began,
just as a breathless Beckie rushed through the door grasping a
whirlwind of yarn and an over-sized blanket. The woman had been in
such a rush that her bonnet was flapping haphazardly against her
back, and her hair was falling out in wisps from the once-neat bun
at the base of her neck.

“I'm sorry I'm late,” Beckie gasped. She
flopped into her chair as all eyes focused on her. She
unceremoniously dumped her basket of supplies onto the floor. “You
won't believe what I just heard.”

Lillian gasped. “Was der schinner is letz?”
What on earth is wrong?

Beckie waved a hand frantically to fan
herself, while Lillian rushed to get her a glass of water. Kate
breathed a small sigh of relief as the attention was now focused on
Beckie for the time being. Kate did not know how much longer she
would be able to play on the amnesia thing, given people were
getting more emboldened about trying to help jog her memory by
prying for details about her supposed community. They were careful
not to be indelicate about the small details they thought they
knew, but it was surely a matter of time before they started to
suspect something was wrong.

“There is a crime ring in the next town
over,” Beckie declared.

Kate's jaw dropped, but luckily, her
expression was hidden amongst the other shocked gasps and startled
whispers between the ladies.

“Really, Beckie,” Maria scolded the woman.
“First you show up late, then you get everyone riled up with idle
gossip?”