Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) (19 page)

A moment later, when it was safe to assume that Asher was gone for good, I yelled over to Nathan, “Hey, Nathan, come over here and point your gun at Damon. Do…not…shoot, unless I direct you to.”

Nathan did as he was told, with Cody shadowing him as he walked over.

Damon, said, “He deserved it. He killed my brother. I learned the truth that the Amish did it a few months ago when I was driving old lady Yoder to the store.”

I quickly searched my memories of the church service and recalled meeting a very old woman who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. I remembered the woman because at the time that I met her, I was impressed that her family was taking care of her on their own instead of shipping her off to a facility.

Ignoring Damon’s zealous reasoning, I made certain that Nathan had Damon covered and then I dropped to the ground beside Rowan, pressing my scarf over his wound.

Julian’s cries had turned to a constant drone of painful murmurings and I spared a glance at the swath of red snow beneath his leg. I couldn’t manage both of the men’s injuries and I certainly wasn’t putting any of the kids at risk.

Rowan’s eyes were dilated and his face was drained of any color whatsoever.

“How do you feel?” I asked softly as I brought the phone up, relieved to see that I actually had a couple of bars.

“Oddly, I don’t feel much at all,” Rowan whispered.

I made the call to emergency dispatch quickly, giving the location, type of injuries and a warning that a shooter was still on the loose. When I hung up, I asked Cody to take my place, which he did without question. I stood up and contemplated my ability to easily track Asher in the snow when Jory’s stammering voice got my attention.

“It’s Mariah…she’s not doing…so good,”

Oh my God. I sprang forward and dashed into the cabin. I only half registered that Jacob was at the table with his hands on his face and two other boys who I didn’t recognize were sitting on the floor in the corner. The only boy in the room who wasn’t high was Jory, and he was standing protectively over Mariah. I dropped to the floor beside the girl and felt for a pulse. I found it, but it was very weak.

The smell of Mariah’s vomit from the puddle beside her head mixed in with a metallic, burning chemical scent that permeated the air. I caught a glimpse of the bong on the table just before I began CPR on Mariah.

“The other times it wasn’t like this. We never meant for anyone to get hurt,” Jory cried out beside me.

I ignored the distraught Amish boy and focused on the job at hand. I wasn’t going to let Mariah die because of a teenage moment of terrible judgment and rebellion.

I wasn’t there for Naomi, but I still had a chance to save Mariah.

25

I
held Mariah’s hand as the ambulance made a safe effort to speed along on the snow covered country roads. I spotted the flashing lights that were well ahead of us and I sighed heavily wondering whether Rowan would even be alive when he finally reached the hospital. The wait for the paramedics to make it to the secluded cabin in the woods seemed to take forever, but in actuality, they had made amazingly good time in spite of the weather. If the snow hadn’t been falling so heavily, I was certain that the county would have sent a helicopter to airlift Rowan, Mariah and Julian from the patch of woods that was about a half mile from a gravel road that intersected a main roadway. But it was too dangerous, so the paramedics had to drive in as far as they could go without getting stuck and make the rest of the way on foot. I was really impressed when the three pairs of medics and the troop of twelve uniformed officers came sliding down the embankment.

Brody had been with them too and I couldn’t help but shiver when I remembered the guarded look he gave me when he saw his grandson in handcuffs. Nope, nothing had worked out the way I hoped it would. Asher was still on the loose, Mariah had OD’d, Damon, who had seemed to be a fairly nice young man, was now going to be charged with attempted murder, or maybe even murder, depending on if Rowan survived. Either way, I didn’t think that Brody was going to be able to protect his grandson from jail time on this one.

And worst of all, Rowan was probably going to die, leaving his children as orphans. My throat constricted as the fleeting image of the three little girls’ teary-eyed faces rose before me.

I shook the vision away and glanced at the medic beside me, who was monitoring Mariah’s vitals and then down to Mariah again. Her face wasn’t as pale as it had been in the cabin and it was relaxed in sleep. After she had thrown up the second time, right before everyone arrived, she had come alive in a sudden rush of tears and apologies. I had pulled her into a tight embrace and told her that it would be all right. But in reality I wasn’t so sure.

Mariah’s eyes fluttered opened again. It took a moment for her sight to adjust and for her to look around the inside of the ambulance. Finally her gaze settled back on me and she squeezed my fingers. I was instantly relieved by the strength of her grip.

“Thank you for riding to the hospital with me, Ms. Adams,” Mariah’s voice was thin and wispy. A worried frown appeared on her mouth and she hesitated, before saying, “Do my parents know?”

“Last thing I heard was that Sheriff Gentry was going to your farm to pick them up and take them to the hospital.”

Mariah nodded weakly. “That’s nice of him.”

Yes, it is, I thought. I couldn’t help but feel that Brody was a good man who had made some bad decisions. Did he know that three Amish kids had set fire to the barn that had killed his grandson? I suspected that he did. Why he had never acted on it was curious, but his feigned ignorance about what was going on with Asher Schwartz and his other grandson, Damon, was inexcusable. He had allowed a cancer to grow in his town, and it had spread to affect so many.

The bright street lamps and traffic lights were a welcome sight when we reached the town. “We’re almost there,” I told Mariah.

I held onto Mariah’s hand until she was on the gurney and being rolled into the emergency room. At that point, a nurse politely asked me to go to the waiting room. I gave Mariah an encouraging smile and backed away.

The glass entrance doors opened and Brody came through them, along with Abner and Joanna Fisher in tow. Just before the doors closed, they opened again and Jotham joined them. My brows raised, but I didn’t say a word about his appearance.

“How is she, Sheriff? Is my Mariah going to be all right?” Joanna asked as she rushed up to me and took my hands in a tight grip. The woman’s eyes were desperate and wisps of her hair were sticking out all over the place, indicating a frantic departure from their home.

“She’s talking and her vital signs are stable.” I hesitated, after all I wasn’t a nurse, but I decided to give my opinion and hopefully Joanna some peace of mind at the same time. “I think she’s going to be fine.”

Joanna hugged me and murmured into my ear, “Thank you.”

I disengaged from Joanna and the bishop asked, “What happened to her?”

I exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Brody, who only sighed and looked away. Either the Poplar Springs’ sheriff wasn’t going to talk to them about it at all or he was going to say something that would probably upset them even more. I decided that the ball was in my court on this one.

I cleared my throat and looked at Abner and Joanna’s expectant faces. “Have either of you noticed anything…different about Mariah lately? Maybe she’s been moodier or more tired or a lot less social.”

Joanna nodded vigorously. “Why yes, she’s been very aloof lately, and always sassing back at me.”

“Well, that’s because she’s been getting into some things that have affected her heath and her mind. I’m sorry to say that your daughter has been doing drugs with a few of the other Amish kids.” I said it as delicately as possible, but it still sounded so horrible.

Luckily, I only had to see Joanna’s stricken face for an instant when a nurse popped up and asked if Joanna and Abner were Mariah’s parents. The nurse quickly hustled them away to the counter, and I was left uncomfortably alone with Brody and Jotham.

I glanced at Jotham. As much as I tried to look neutral, I know that I failed miserably.

“How is my friend, Rowan?” He tilted his head at Brody and said, “Sheriff Gentry told me that it’s pretty bad.”

I nodded slowly and pursed my lips. The burning desire to confront Jotham about the barn fire nearly twenty years ago was only tempered by the obvious distress on his face. After quickly thinking it over, I decided that
that
conversation could wait a little longer.

“Honesty, I’ll be surprised if he lives. His injury was substantial.” I paused as a thought popped into my mind, “What about his kids—do they know?”

“I was visiting with Abner when the sheriff arrived and gave us the news. We stopped at the King’s on our way here and I asked Anna to go to Rowan’s and spend the night there so that the children wouldn’t be alone, come morning. She’ll tell them the news.”

I breathed out in sudden relief that it would be Anna telling the kids about their father. The woman loved Rowan and his children and I was sure that she’d be there one hundred percent for them. But then I wondered who would be there to comfort her. I quickly let the thought go and said to Jotham, “The waiting room is over there. You’re not going to be able to see Rowan until after surgery.” Or maybe not at all if he dies, but I kept that to myself.

Jotham began to turn away and then suddenly stopped. “I don’t understand exactly what happened tonight, but did you find out who has been setting the fires?”

I glanced at Brody who was still looking off into space, completely ignoring the conversation. “Yes I did. Right now, all you need to know is that your community doesn’t have to live in fear that it will happen again. We got our man.”

Jotham nodded acceptingly, but his lips were still tight. My gaze narrowed as I waited for him to speak.

Finally, he said, “And…did you discover anything else of importance?”

I stared hard at Jotham. He obviously suspected that I knew the truth about the ninety-seven fire, but was still playing cloak and dagger with me about it. And then there was the house explosion that killed Hedy Schwartz still on my mind.

“Actually I found out several new items of information tonight, but I still have a few questions unanswered. Don’t worry. I’ll be contacting you when it’s a more appropriate time.”

Jotham’s eyes acknowledged that he understood. He said to Brody, “Thanks for allowing me to ride along.”

I saw a wave of conflicted emotions wash over Brody’s face as he watched Jotham walk away. Oh yeah, I was sure that he knew, but I still couldn’t figure out why he didn’t just go ahead and arrest Jotham. I was still too confused on the matter to speak up myself, and decided that the best course of action at the moment was to remain cautiously silent.

“How many men do you have looking for Asher?” I asked casually.

“I’ve called in the neighboring counties, probably about twenty-six officers out there right now.” He seemed to be finished talking, but then he dared to look at me with moist eyes and asked, “What the hell happened?”

I had seen Brody talking to both Nathan and Cody and even Jory. He had also said a few words to Damon. And he had listened in as I had spoken to one of his deputies taking notes for the official report. He already had a pretty good idea of the way it went down, so I guessed that his question now was much more about the fire that had taken his other grandson’s life.

“Asher and Julian had arranged to meet the Amish kids in the secluded hunting cabin to sell their wares. At the point that I arrived, Asher was outside arguing with Damon. The gist of the conflict was that Damon was growing concerned about the more dangerous type of drugs that were being provided to the teenagers. He was worried about the kids, especially since he was already aware that Asher’s own girlfriend had overdosed on a bad batch of Hash oil.” I paused and took a quick breath before continuing. “I already knew about Kristen Humphrey before I even went into the woods and had drawn the conclusion that the only reason Asher had burned down the Fisher barn was to hide the body. Damon knew that too…and so did you. But you chose to ignore it in an attempt to protect Damon from the law.” Brody tensed, but remained silent. “I suspect that you feared that Damon had burned the other barns in retaliation for his brother’s death, but once again, in an attempt to protect Damon, you didn’t do your duty.” I sighed and added, “You were afraid of Asher bringing Damon down with him, so you let him go along with his criminal activities…and now look at your town.”

“You’re right about most of it, except two things. I didn’t have the woman’s identity until this afternoon and secondly, I had no idea that Damon had set those other fires.” He took a deep breath. “Now that part of the story is a little hazy from the boys’ statements. Maybe you can enlighten me.”

I was inwardly relieved myself. I really had hoped that Brody wasn’t entirely corrupt. How the sheriff decided to handle the truth would be the ultimate judgment of his ethics, though.

“Damon was driving an old woman with Alzheimer’s a few months ago and she let it slip that the fire that had killed your grandson and his girlfriend was set by a few of the Amish boys. He must have internalized the information, and decided to strike back. I knew early on that the Fisher barn fire was set by a different person than the others. I don’t think that Damon intended to hurt anyone, even livestock, purposely. But there you go.”

Brody was deep in thought and the silence was becoming uncomfortable when he finally spoke.

“Rowan set the fire that killed Austin?” Brody said the words slowly and carefully, never taking his gaze off me.

“We don’t know that for sure. Asher’s a psychopath. He might have been placing blame away from himself.”

Brody’s phone went off. I began to walk away to give him some privacy, but stopped when his hand touched my arm.

“Hello…what the hell…are you sure…all right…I’m coming.”

Brody hung up and cupped his mouth in distress for a moment before he spoke. “That was one of my deputies. He said that Anna King had just met him on the road with her buggy. She told him that when she arrived to the Schwartz house, the littlest girl was missing.”

My jaw dropped and I interrupted, “Maybe she’s hiding or something.”

Brody shook his head sadly and went on to say, “My deputy found blood in the house and a trail through the snow. It disappeared about halfway through the field, covered by the freshly fallen snow.”

“Asher?” I dared to say.

“I would stake my life on it,” Brody said steadily.

“I’m coming with you,” Jotham said from behind us. He must have been listening.

I could hardly breathe, let alone argue about whether Jotham came with us or not. My only thought as we sprinted out of the hospital was that I should have shot Asher right in the head when I had had the chance.