A Dark Amish Night (8 page)

   Quinn had no other choice he pointed his gun up into the air and fired two warning shots, just as Hannah exited the buggy. Within seconds he heard Hannah scream and watched a dark figure run out the backdoor and into the dark. He was aimed and ready to fire, but thought better of it knowing that Hannah was out there with her children. He couldn’t risk accidently shooting one of them. Lowering his gun he ran the rest of the way to the house.

   “Hold your fire. Hold your fire. We have women and small children here.” A male voice unknown to Quinn called out from the darkness in front of the house. Quinn raised his gun and again and ran for the buggy. Hannah was hiding with the two children and another woman underneath the carriage.

   “It’s all right Hannah. It’s me, Quinn.”

   “Quinn, did you hear the gunshots? Do you know where they came from?”

   “Yes, its fine. I fired the shots to warn you so you wouldn’t go in the house. I want you to stay right where you are so I can check out the house and make sure it’s safe before you go in, okay? Who else do you have here with you?”

   “Abe and Millie Troyer, they’ll be staying here with us for now until we can get moved into town. What’s going on that we can’t go inside?” Hannah’s voice was shaky as she spoke into the dark from under the buggy, and Ruth Anne was starting to cry.

   “Just hold that thought, Hannah, and I’ll tell you everything after I make sure the house is secure.” Quinn tried his level best to sound reassuring and he called out for Abe. “Abe Troyer, this is Sheriff Ramsey, where are you?”

   “I’m right behind you, Sheriff.”

   Quinn looked over his shoulder to see Abe standing a few feet behind him. “Okay, I need you to stay out here with the women and children while I search the house. Don’t try to go in until I come back out for you?”

   “Sure thing, Sheriff, we’ll wait right here.”

   Using his night vision googles, Quinn searched the entire house and found nothing out of order except Timothy’s room. The boy’s bedroom was in complete disarray. Several thoughts ran through Quinn’s mind about why only this bedroom was touched, but he had to focus on getting Hannah and the children in the house and out of the dark. The suspect was still out there somewhere nearby, if he was still on foot.

   “Okay, everything looks clear. You folks can come on in.”

   After everyone was in the house Abe worked to unload his and Millie’s things from their buggy and to put their horse in the barn. Quinn pulled Hannah to the side and told her to ask Timothy to stay downstairs with Ruth Anne for a minute while he showed her Timothy’s room.

   “Oh, Quinn! What happened in here?”

   “Shh, Hannah, I don’t want to alarm Timothy. But someone was in your house tonight and they were looking for Timothy. There is no other explanation.”

   “No, you’re right. I don’t want my son to see this. It’ll scare him. Help me put things back together before he comes up, please.” Hannah was frantic as she started to run around the room and put everything back to rights again. She was on the verge of hysterics and began to cry.   

   “Why, why would someone do this? Quinn, we have to protect my boy. We have to protect him. I can’t lose him too.”

   Quinn sensed Hannah’s fear and pain and he pulled her close to him. “Hannah, I promise you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your children. I promise I’ll not rest until I find who killed Eric and threatens Timothy. Please trust me.”

   Hannah knew she should pull away, but it had been so long since someone held her just to comfort her, and with Quinn she knew she was safe. She could trust Quinn with her children’s lives and her own. So for just a few moments she allowed herself to rest in his arms. Then she pulled away and wiped away her tears. “Thank you, Quinn. Thank you for being here for us, and for watching out for us, but I better get this room put back together before Timothy comes up here to see it.”

   Quinn felt empty when Hannah pulled away. He knew she was right to do it, but still it made him ache, and the loneliness he was usually able to keep at bay slammed him in the chest full force. He tamped down on his emotions expertly and started putting Timothy’s bed back together. “Yes, you’re right, Hannah, let me help you.”

  After everyone was settled in for the night inside the house, Quinn walked the half mile back to the cabin he’d been staying in. Though he was tired and his cot called out to him, he made himself a pot of coffee. When the coffee was done, he put it in a thermos, got in his car, and drove back to Hannah’s place. It was going to be a long night of watching over Hannah, her children, and now the Troyers. But it had to be done. For all he knew, his suspect was still nearby and that sent another shiver down his spine.

   Quinn made several walks around the outside of the house and found no sign of anyone. He went back to his car. Now that he was sure those in the house were safe for the time being, at least, it was time to start calling in some help. The campsite still needed to be gone over to look for any evidence that could lead them to the killer. Timothy would need to have twenty-four seven protection until whoever killed his father was locked up for good. Quinn needed help only the Feds could provide. He took out his cell phone and scrolled for the number he needed. Oliver Platt. He and Ollie went way back to when they were both rookies on street patrol.

   “Ramsey! Do you have any idea what time it is? You old son of a gun, what’s up?”

   “Nice to talk to you too, Ollie. Well, I won’t beat around the bush I need some help from the FBI regarding a murder case I’m working on, and I was hoping that help could come from you.”

   “Sounds like I better get a cup of coffee and get woke up. Okay, start talking ’cause I’m getting out of bed.”

   Quinn spent the next several minutes going over the case with Ollie, and he hung up the phone with the reassurance from his old buddy that a forensic team would be down first thing in the morning to go over the campsite. Ollie also promised he’d get himself put in charge of the investigation from his end.

   Sipping on hot coffee from his thermos, Quinn surveyed the house again from his car with the night googles. No movement anywhere.
Where are you? You scumbag, I know you’re not far and I will find you.

  
One thing Quinn Ramsey was known for was that he always got his man, and this time would be no exception.

   The rest of the night was quiet with no more disturbances and Hannah was the first to wake inside the house. Just as the sun began to rise on the new day she got up from her cot in Ruth Anne’s room. She’d given Abe and Millie her and Eric’s room. It was the least she could do. Abe and Millie were newlyweds who were living with Abe’s parents until they could establish their own farm. Such was the way with most Amish newlyweds. Hannah was relieved when Bishop Miller suggested that having the couple to stay with her would be an ideal situation for Hannah until she could get moved.

   It was a good arrangement for everyone as Abe would be able to start a crop in her fields and with some help he could tend the crop through the summer and harvest. Hannah agreed to split any profit with the couple and that would help them to get a start towards gaining their own farm.
And this is how the Lord works for the good of all.
Hannah sent a thank you up to heaven as she started breakfast for everyone. It was not long before the little house filled with the wonderful smell of frying bacon and strong coffee.
  

  
Hannah stepped out on the front porch and noticed Quinn’s squad car at the end of her drive. He must have spent the entire night watching over her. Hannah was touched by Quinn’s protectiveness. Given her limited interactions with the English, especially the men, Hannah was surprised and perplexed by Quinn. She was not expecting such loyalty and steadfastness from someone outside of her Amish community. And he’d held her so tenderly last night when she thought she would breakdown with worry for Timothy. It had been in that moment Hannah realized she could trust Quinn with her life and her children’s if necessary. The thought both terrified her and brought her great comfort at the same time.
I fear that one day I may have to make a decision regarding the Sheriff and I pray I make the right one.
Hannah shook her head and thanked the Lord that day was not this day as she walked across her lawn to invite Quinn in for breakfast.

A Dark Amish Night

Chapter Eight

     After breakfast Quinn took Abe for a walk around the perimeter of the farm. Quinn was glad for a chance to talk to Abe and ask some questions as well as to let Abe know the Feds were coming.

   “So, Hannah tells me you and Millie are newlyweds.”

   “Yes, we were married last November.”

   “Well congratulations then.” Quinn almost added a “son” at the end of his congratulations but thought better of it. Even though Abe was a fresh faced pup, who was only just beginning to get his beard in, the thought of calling anybody “son” just made Quinn feel old. Even so, Abe was a big guy. He stood at least six foot four and had to weigh in at no less than two hundred fifty pounds. In the English world Abe was grade “A” linebacker material and that made Quinn glad for him to be here looking after Hannah. Abe’s sheer size was sure to be a deterrent to any would be attacker.

   “Okay, Abe, if you look across the field over in that area there you’ll see where the campsite is I found. A forensic team is on its way here now to gather any evidence they can from it. So no worries when you see them over there. They may want to come to the house to gather any evidence they can from our little visitor last night as well. I can wish now that we’d not put Timothy’s room back together now, but it just seems like the more important thing is that the boy be spared the further trauma of knowing his room has been pilfered through.” Quinn had a feeling he was somehow going to regret putting Hannah’s fears and Timothy’s feelings before good detective work, but that was how Quinn did things. People always came first with him.

    Abe spoke up in a deep baritone voice. “Bishop Miller wanted me to work on getting a crop in the field as soon as possible. So how long do you think the English workers will need on the campsite before I can start to plant the field?”

   “Oh, I’m sure they’ll be done today sometime and you could start planting tomorrow. So what are you planting this late in the season?” Quinn was suddenly very interested in what the young man was planning to do on the farm.

   “Only one thing you can plant this late in the season, pumpkin.”

   “Pumpkin sounds like a fine idea for a crop. I guess you’ll be using that tractor that’s stored in the barn for plowing, but I thought the Amish didn’t use tractors, so I was hoping you’d fill me in on that.”

   “Well, about ten years or so ago the plain folk came together with the Bishop and decided to amend our community Ordnung allowing for the use of tractors. Some people left the community after that because they disagreed, but most, like my family, stayed. This land here is hard for plowing and it takes a lot of horse power to pull a plow through it. More horses than one man on a plow can manage. Not to mention the overhead of feeding and sheltering more than twenty head of horses can get real expensive and time consuming. So our Ordnung was amended to allow for tractors for the good of the people in the community.”

   “And the phones, are those in the Ordnung as well?”

   “Yes, the Bishop has allowed for each of the plain folks to have one phone in each home for emergencies in light of the fact that we in this community are so far spread apart from each other. Some folks have ’em, some don’t. It’s the same with electricity and running water. The New Order Amish allows for those things, but some folk have them and some don’t.”

   “I see. So, tell me about this Ordnung, what’s that exactly?”

   “Each community has their own set of bylaws called an Ordnung. The plain folk can come together to ask for a change or amendment to the Ordnung, but ultimately the Bishop and the deacons have the final vote on anything related to the Ordnung.”

   “And how do the Bishop and the deacons get assigned to their post?”

   “The plain folk nominate them and then they are chosen by lot.”

   “As in their names are drawn?”

   “Yes.”

   Quinn let his curiosity subside and continued to walk with Abe around the farm and explained that someone would be watching the farm during the day and that he himself would be taking the nightshift. He also told Abe about the radio walkie-talkie that he’d given Hannah. “I don’t care if its day or night, Abe, you call me if you need me. You do understand that there is someone out there that for whatever reason wants to harm this family, right?”

   “I understand and I’ll radio you if something comes up, Sheriff. Bishop Miller says that we need to cooperate with you to keep Widow Hershberger and her children safe.”