Whispers from the Dead (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 2) (9 page)

11

T
he tall cornstalks pressed in closer, their sharp-edged leaves slashing at my arms and face. I swatted them away and summoned the strength to run even faster. The muscles in my legs were cramping and my lungs burned, but I didn’t slow down. I could see the tree line and knew that I was almost there.

The golden glow of the harvest moon began peeking over the tops of the trees, inch by inch its silhouette climbed laboriously into the sky. I managed to find one last surge of strength and moved forward, my heart beating madly against my ribcage, my ability to breathe almost gone.

Kaboom. The sound vibrated through my entire body as I came to a screeching stop.

I filled my lungs with a deep breath and carefully parted the last few corn stalks. A stiff breeze stirred the thickly hanging branches of the hedgerow and a flutter of leaves sprayed down in an excited spray. The moon was high enough in the sky now that I could see quite well in its buttery light, and as I pushed the last leaves aside, my senses heightened even more. The call of a bird settling in for the night whistled in my ears and the smell of decaying leaves and mud filled my nostrils, but I ignored all of it, too intent on the blurry object on the ground right before me.

With cautious steps, I walked forward, glancing up to search the shadowed trees that rose up like an impenetrable wall at the edge of the cornfield. I knew who was lurking in there, but even though fear pumped madly through me, I didn’t turn and run.

The object suddenly became clear and I saw the girl lying on the ground. Naomi. She was bundled in a black coat and the front buttons were undone. A spot of dark, wet red glistened there. Her hair was pulled back, but blonde wisps framed her pale, oval face. She appeared to be sleeping as I knelt beside her.

Just as I reached for the girl, her eyes popped open and she whispered, “You’re too late…”

When I opened my eyes, large hands were gently shaking me and the room was dark and chilly.

“Shhh, it’s all right. It’s just a dream.”

Daniel’s breath was warm on the side of my face and I resisted the urge to lean against his chest. Sniffing, I said, “Actually, it was a nightmare.”

Daniel’s thumbs pressed into the sides of my upper arms and he began to pull me to him. I really wanted to hug him at that moment. Hell, with his muscled body touching mine, I wanted to do a lot of things to him, but fortunately my stubborn nature saved me.

Squirming free from his grip, I scooted backward and rested my chin on my raised knees. Thankfully, the sweatpants and t-shirt I was wearing gave me the freedom to do so.

“I’m sorry I woke you. I’ve been battling with bad dreams my entire life…but this one was a doozy.”

Daniel took my rebuke in stride and rose to his feet fluidly. I had to admit, it surprised me that he was so bright and alert at this hour of the night.

“Let me throw some more logs on the fire and then we’ll talk.”

I watched Daniel take the few steps to the stove and open it up. The glowing red coals gave off enough light that my eyes adjusted and I could see Daniels form clearly. He was also wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, but where my shirt was two sizes too big, his was snug, outlining his wide shoulders and slim waist perfectly. Once again, warm honey pulsated through every part of my body. I quickly glanced away, fighting off the tremors.

The squeak of the stove’s door closing made my heart skip a beat and I waited anxiously as Daniel returned to the trundle.

Thinking that he had decided to forego any conversation and go straight to sleep, disappointment swatted me and I began to stretch out myself. Then he finally spoke.

“What were you dreaming about?”

Daniel had been with me from the first week of Naomi Beiler’s investigation. He knew all about it. But it still was difficult to talk about it sometimes, even with him.

Reluctantly, I began, “I’ve had dreams about Naomi’s death ever since the case was closed. I’m always running through the cornfield, looking for her; trying to reach her before she’s shot. Sometimes I never even find her. I’m just lost in the maze of never ending corn plants. Other times, I hear the gun shot in the distance, and when I come to the place where we found her body, she’s gone. But tonight, for the first time, I almost made it to her in time to save her life.”

Daniel was silent for a moment and then he said, “I guess something like that stays with a person for a long time, but you shouldn’t blame yourself for Naomi’s death.”

“I don’t blame myself,” I argued.

“Obviously you do in some way or you wouldn’t be having dreams about trying to save her.” Daniel paused and even in the darkness, I could see the silhouette of his head shaking, “Naomi made up her own mind to run away and unfortunately for her, she had the bad luck of having a really messed up kid obsessed with her.”

“Do you really think that it’s just
bad luck
that Naomi was murdered…that her death couldn’t have been prevented?” I almost growled, anger coursing through me.

“Yeah, I do. Sometimes things are just fated to happen. I guess you could say that it’s all in God’s plan and if it’s meant to be, we’re just swimming against the flow of the river to stop it.”

Again, silence filled the cabin for a moment and I pulled the covers up closer to my chin to chase away the chill that rippled along my skin.

“You know, you’re a lot more like them than you care to admit.”

Daniel’s tone changed, becoming heavy with annoyance. “Why do you say that?”

“You have the same Calvinist approach to life as the Amish do—that everything that happens is preordained and we’re all mindless insects scurrying around in the chaos.”

Daniel snorted and replied, “Maybe your problem is that you can’t accept that some things are out of your control.” Daniel took a deep breath and continued more softly, “Look, I understand that in your line of work, you like to be in charge of things. Hell, you have to be. But take my word for it; you’ll be a much happier person at the end of the day if you admit that some strings are being guided by a higher authority than you.”

“If that’s so, then why would God have allowed Naomi to die? She was a sweet girl, just wanting to find love and happiness. What good did her death serve anyone?” I challenged.

Daniel answered quickly, as if he was expecting the question all along. “It’s not about whether it was good or bad or right or wrong. It was Naomi’s day to die. You can kick yourself around mentally all you want and continue having guilt dreams about her, but it won’t bring her back. You need to move on.”

Daniel had spoken with firmness, but not harshness. He truly believed what he said and I knew that his Amish upbringing played a huge part in his outlook on life. It would sure be easier to just accept that whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’d have a lot less stress to deal with if I took that approach. But I didn’t have that outlook on life and I didn’t foresee changing my mind anytime soon.

“I like to think that I can make a real difference in the lives of those around me—that I was put on this earth to be able to help people. I refuse to toss it all up to fate and destiny.”

Daniel chuckled. “I hope you prove me wrong, Serenity. God knows that if anyone is feisty enough to change the flow of the tide, it’s you. But in the end, I think you’ll be miserable that you can’t change the world. As hard as it is for you to trust anyone or anything, someday you’re just going to have to have a little faith.

My face heated with the realization that his well-placed words held double meaning. All along he’d been referring to our relationship and not just my unconscious feeling of responsibility over Naomi’s death. Was he right? Maybe my inability to have a little faith in the forces of the universe, and in Daniel himself, was going to turn me into a miserable and lonely woman.

A tear slipped from my eye and I quickly wiped it away, thankful for the darkness to hide it. I couldn’t deny that something was off in my life, but what should I do about it?

“We have to get up in just a few hours. Let’s continue this philosophical conversation some other time,” I said warily.

I rolled over onto my side, away from him, and shut my eyes. Even though my body was exhausted, my mind was still wide awake. And then there were still those occasional pulsating sensations whenever I thought about Daniel being only a few feet away from me. I reckoned that sleep would be a long time coming.

“I wish you would trust me. I would never hurt you,” Daniel whispered before the trundle creaked under the shifting of his weight as he settled down for the rest of the night.

Yeah right. He was already causing me pain and he didn’t even know it.

12

I
opened my eyes with great reluctance. If I was lucky, I may have gotten three hours of actual sleep the night before. Yawning, I pulled the covers up over most of my face and tilted my head to listen to the men talking in the doorway. Their hushed voices are what woke me in the first place. I strained to hear what they were saying.

“I’m coming with you,” Rowan said firmly.

“That won’t be necessary. We can handle this on our own.” Daniel replied politely, but there was an icy coolness to his words.

“Serenity asked me to accompany her to town today and I’ve cleared my schedule to do so. Besides, since this is
my
community, it might be helpful to have me along.”

“Now, you listen up…” Daniel’s tight knot on his emotions was quickly unraveling.

Dammit. There was no way in hell that I going to get any more sleep anyway.

I tossed the blanket down and said loudly, “He’s going with us, Daniel.”

When Daniel whirled around, his gaze was unflinching, “But…”

“I’ve made up my mind,” I told Daniel in a low, steady voice. To Rowan, I said, “Can you be at my car in half an hour?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Rowan tipped his hat to me and disappeared into the bright sunlight of the early winter morning.

Daniel closed the door and strode over to the bed. He unceremoniously dropped down on the end of it and leaned forward, placing his face in his hands.

I thought he was being overly dramatic, but I didn’t say anything. I was suddenly more concerned with the state of my hair and my puffy, sleep-deprived face. And I really hated myself for even caring how I looked.

Daniel, on the other hand, was already dressed in a pair of butt-molding blue jeans and his signature red and black flannel shirt. The stubble on his stubborn chin was darker from the night’s growth, but instead of the course hair giving him a ragged appearance, it only made him look even more appetizing. And somehow, his black hair was clean and perfectly in place.

“Are you one of those people who can get by without any sleep or something?” I said tartly.

Daniel raised his head. “I make do.” He sighed deeply and then rattled off, “What are thinking allowing Rowan to go with us today? He’s our prime suspect, isn’t he?”

I shrugged. “Haven’t you ever heard the saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer?”

“That makes no sense in a criminal investigation.”

“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Rowan is on a major guilt trip about something…and he wants us to discover the truth—whatever it is?”

“Is that your angle then?” Daniel said intently.

I snorted and threw my legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t have an angle. It just seems like a good idea to keep Rowan nearby at this point.”

After a moment of heavy silence, Daniel said softly, “All right then. The basin is already full of hot water for you in the bathroom. I’ll get the coffee brewing while you’re washing up.”

I couldn’t keep the small grin from my mouth. I glanced over at Daniel. “Thanks.”

Daniel nodded and rose from the bed. He hesitated for a second and then turned back. “You might not have any faith in me, but I do in you. However you want to handle this case is fine with me. I’m sorry I got a little wound up there.”

“Not a problem.”

As I was rummaging through my suitcase for clothes and shampoo, Daniel said from the stovetop, “Scrambled or sunny-side up for your eggs?”

“Scrambled is fine.”

Now I knew for certain that the man was too good to be true.

The drive into town was filled with mostly uncomfortable idle chatter, but I did learn a couple of interesting things pertinent to the investigation. Rowan told us that the Church elders had recently taken action to end any contact that the teenagers were having with outsider youth. The new rule stipulated that if any of the kids were caught with an outsider, besides public events and work situations, they would be severely punished. He hadn’t elaborated on exactly what punishment would be dished out, but I imagined that it would be frightening enough to keep the teens in line.

The other tidbit of information that I found interesting was that Rowan’s wife Hedy was Bishop Fisher’s youngest sister. I had sat and mulled that one over for a good portion of the drive while the guys reservedly talked about weather and the spring crops.

It wasn’t exactly shocking that the two families were related by marriage. I had already discovered that most of the Amish in a community were connected by blood or marriage. But it did shed some light on Rowan’s sour relationship with the bishop, and it made me wonder even more about Hedy’s untimely death.

“Take a left at the next light. It’s the first building on the right,” Rowan directed.

A few stray butterflies began to dance in my stomach as I parked the car. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting Poplar Springs’ sheriff, and I was fairly certain that he wouldn’t be too happy to have me nosing around his domain, either. I sure wouldn’t if the roles were reversed and he showed up in Blood Rock.

Swallowing down the twinge of nervousness, I walked through the parking lot, measuring up the town. I had been annoyed that most of the main roads still had snow and slush on them and many of the local businesses hadn’t even attempted to clear the week old snow from their parking lots. The mixture of buildings and churches that tightly lined main-street was historical, but they had the rundown appearance of abandonment and low income renters. I saw several hitching rails along the sidewalks and a black horse and buggy was tied to one of them. I got a hint of the town’s by-gone glory days when I spotted a fountain in the town square that sported an icy glacier running over its sides. The fountain was surrounded by several mature, leaf-bare trees, whose tired looking branches stretched nearly to the ground in places.

I guessed that Poplar Springs had at least twice the population of Blood Rock, but unlike my own jurisdiction, this one had hit hard times. Walking past Daniel, who held the door open, and into the brick faced sheriff’s department, I came to the conclusion that a sheriff in such a worn-down looking town might not have a lot of resources to investigate an arson spree and possible murder.

As if our arrival was on video surveillance, the sheriff and two deputies met us at the counter before we even had the opportunity to introduce ourselves.

The tallest man graced me with a plastic smile and held out his hand. Butter would have melted on his tongue when he said, “Why, Tony was right. You’re almost a child, Ms. Adams.”

The sarcastic comment about my age was nothing new and I could easily ignore it. But the mention of Tony Manning promptly curdled my stomach and gave me an ‘ah, shit’ moment. But I somehow managed to keep my composure. Taking a deep breath, I smiled sweetly and shook the man’s hand firmly.

“Well, now, it’s a small world isn’t it, to run into one of Tony’s buddies this far north,” I said conversationally.

“Tony and I go way back. He’s a good man,” Sheriff Gentry said in a dare-you-to-argue-with-me sort of way.

I swallowed my pride for the benefit of the investigation and agreed with him, even though it made my stomach roll to do so. “One of the best, that’s for sure.” I thumbed towards Daniel, “This is Daniel Bachman. He’s working the case with me.” I glanced at Rowan, “I assume the two of you have already met?”

“Oh, yes. Rowan and I know each other rather well…” the sheriff turned to stare at Rowan and added, “don’t we?”

“Yes, Sir,” Rowan replied cordially.

Suddenly, the tension was so thick that I could have cut it with a knife. The two deputies were carbon-copies of each other; both athletically built with buzz cuts and arrogant twists on their mouths. I fleetingly thought about how well Todd would fit in with this crew when my gaze was pulled to the framed front page of a newspaper on the wall beside where we stood. The scene of a barn ablaze, surrounded by fire trucks and spraying water hoses raised the hair on the back of my neck. Without caring what anyone thought, I walked up to it and quickly skimmed the headline and then the date. With each word of the article that I read, my heart pounded heavier in my chest. Finally, I turned to face the sheriff.

“Can we talk in private?”

Sheriff Gentry’s mouth tightened before he sighed loudly. “That’s probably a good idea.” He flicked his hand for me to follow him. I took only a second to glance over at Daniel and Rowan before I left them standing in the lobby with the deputies.

The sheriff’s office was spacious and decorated in a western style that would have looked perfect in a Texas sheriff’s office, but felt pretty out of place in northern Indiana. I tried to relax in the brown leather seat and set my thoughts in order while Sheriff Gentry poured me a cup of coffee. I was a little worried that after Daniel’s strong brew only an hour ago, any more caffeine would peel my skin back, but I had accepted the offer anyway. It gave me a chance to study the sheriff keenly for a moment before we got down to business.

Brody Gentry was probably in his mid-sixties. His arrogant confidence put me in mind of Tony, but where the former Blood Rock sheriff was tall and wiry, like Clint Eastwood, this man was built similar to a polar bear. His gray haired head actually looked too small for his large body.

I also noted that he wore a wide banded wedding ring and that there were several group family pictures around the room. From the sheer number of grandkids, and people in general in each photo, it was safe to assume that the sheriff was quite the family man.

Sheriff Gentry handed me a cup and then took a seat behind the desk. He sipped his cup of Joe and waited for me to speak. His silence didn’t really bother me. I used the same tactic myself sometimes to intimidate people.

“You have a beautiful family, Sheriff Gentry,” I said.

“Brody, just call me Brody from now on.” The lines on his face seemed to become deeper when he went on to say, “So what exactly do you want to talk about?”

I ran my fingers through my hair and replied carefully, “Well, my original intent was to discuss the recent rash of barn burnings. As you already seem to be aware, the Poplar Springs’ Amish community searched me out and asked if I would check into the case for them on the QT.”

“And now…?” Brody appeared as relaxed as a cat sunning itself on the windowsill, but underneath the calm facade, I knew he was coiled as if he was a snake ready to strike. The occasional twitch at the corner of his mouth and the constant tapping of his foot was a dead giveaway.

“My condolences on the death of your grandson and his girlfriend in the nineteen ninety-seven barn fire; it’s a horrible crime for two young people to die like that,” I said steadily.

Our gazes locked for a second before Brody looked away and sniffed. The moisture I had seen in his eyes was real and for the first time since walking into the building, I felt a little kinship to the man.

“The kids were fooling around in my son’s storage building late one night. They must have nodded off. The fire spread quickly. The coroner told us that they died from smoke inhalation.”

“Was there an arrest?” I said bluntly.

“No. And that’s the most frustrating part.”

“I can relate. My own house burned down last year from arson, and it’s still unsolved.”

“Really?” Brody’s brows were raised, “Surely you have some inkling to who did it—right?”

“Yeah, actually, I know exactly who was responsible.” I paused and narrowed my eyes. “And I’d guess that you have a pretty good idea who set your son’s barn on fire too,” I prodded softly.

Brody nodded his head wearily and said, “It’s nice to know that we’re on the same page, Serenity. I was a bit worried that you were going to come trotting into town like a pent up race horse, so fixated on these new burnings that you wouldn’t even think to look into the town’s past.” He leaned over his desk. “The Amish are keeping secrets about that night eighteen years ago, protecting their own, I reckon. And until they open up to help me solve that case, I won’t lift a finger for them.”

I shuddered. The sheriff hadn’t minced any words. That the proclamation was coming from an elected official who was sworn to serve and protect his constituents was scary enough, but that was only a shard of what was on my mind. Poplar Springs was turning out to be a much more intriguing town than I had thought, and quite possibly a dangerous one.

I knew to tread very carefully. “Do you mind if I take a look at the file?”

He quickly opened up the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a manila folder. He unceremoniously dropped it in front of me. “It’s all yours.” He swallowed. “I really hope that you get the answers out of them people that I wasn’t able to. Austin was a good boy. Everybody loved him and his poor momma was never the same after he died. My daughter-in-law got all depressed, couldn’t take the thought of her oldest son burning up like that. She overdosed on prescription meds two years after the fire, leaving my only son, Michael, to care for Austin’s little brother on his own.”

I could feel my eyes widen and I didn’t even try to hide my shock.