In Plain View (Amish Safe House, Book 2) (8 page)

“Oh, well, come right in, Detective.” Lucas
led her to the living area and motioned for her to have a seat.

Kate was relieved beyond measure that the
man had not asked to see her badge. “I’m here about Ethan Jackson,
the homicide victim who was found recently. We have probable cause
to believe you knew this person, and what you tell us might prove
vital in our investigation.”

What looked like fear started to sink into
Lucas’s appearance. His eyes retreated into beady, penetrating
pupils. His smile was now all but invisible, and the tone of his
skin all of a sudden looked two shades lighter. “Um, I’m not sure
what you’re talking about, Detective Austen.”

“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do this
the hard way. We know the victim was involved with organized crime.
We also know that you and the victim have been seen together in
recent months. I’d hate to have to get a search warrant for this
place. It looks like a harsh tossing around of its contents by a
squad of cops might be somewhat detrimental.”

The man’s shoulders sagged miserably. “It’s
an old home. Please. What is it you want from me?”

“Who was Ethan Jackson? What was his exact
role and who did he work for?” Kate looked down at her notepad. She
knew quite a bit of information already, but she needed to know
everything he knew. “Why would anyone want to harm him?” she added.
From the look on Lucas’s face, Kate knew that she was onto
something.

“Okay, I can give you a little bit of
information, but that’s gotta be it. I’m already too deep into
this, and I can’t afford to risk my life to help some cops.” A
terrified look covered his face. “He was a professional hitman for
The Viper. An assassin, if you will. He carries out the hits
ordered by Logan White’s organization.”

“Okay. And what else?”

“Well, here’s where it gets kinda crazy.
Ethan and I were buddies from when we were kids. I used to live in
a bad part of the city and we bonded. I hadn’t spoken to him in
nearly twenty years, and he just suddenly appeared on my doorstep a
few months back. I guess he ended up getting himself neck-deep in
some trouble. He was withholding evidence for some of his
contracts. He was using that evidence to blackmail the small-time
crooks in hopes of getting some extra cash.”

Kate’s jaw dropped. “You’re telling me that
Ethan Jackson was taking care of marked men, and then turning
around and threatening his clients with exposition?”

“Exactly. I think that’s what led to him
being found in the pond. He messed with the wrong people.”

“You mean
The Viper
, Logan
White?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about a new branch of
organized crime opening up nearby. He said they were
big
fish
, and he kept talking about how he was going to start
fishing in more dangerous waters.”

The revelation was astonishing, and Kate
worked hard to keep her poker face on straight. Logan White,
himself, opening up a branch in town? “So, Ethan thought this new
crime syndicate was going to be a bigger target? Do you know what
happened after he actually tried to blackmail them?”

The man shuddered, and his face fell even
further. “Well, the last time I saw him, was about a week before he
disappeared. He had come by, all panicked and freaking out. He just
kept saying that he needed to get out of the country. I didn’t
understand why, until he told me that the new crime starting up
wasn’t actually new. Logan White was expanding here. His larger
contractor and most vicious crime boss around right now was the one
he was trying to extort. I gave him some cash to help him make an
escape, but obviously it didn’t help much.” Lucas looked down with
obvious regret.

Questions flooded Kate’s mind as she thought
about the actual motive. Did they kill him to silence him to take
away the threat, or was it a punishment for trying to betray a
kingpin? Perhaps both?

“Okay, Lucas. I do appreciate you being so
open with us. I won’t be pressing any charges on you, and
hopefully, your information will help us solve this homicide.”

Lucas nodded, his face still white.

Kate hurried back to the taxi as she thought
about everything she had just learned. What would be her next step?
She could hardly turn to her boss and ask his advice. At the same
time, she knew that she could not keep this new information
private. Something needed to be done with it, but next came the
hard part. After shopping, at least. Now she had a whole different
set of issues to worry about. Glancing at the list she wrestled
from her pocket, more concerns clouded her already overwrought
mind.

There was still a lot she had to learn about
living out here, but she didn’t want to get used to this life. She
wanted to find the mole, solve this case, and get her life
back.

John 10:28.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one
will snatch them out of my hand.

Chapter
11
.

Kate and Beth were sitting at the old,
kitchen table, enjoying each other’s company and a cup of hot
meadow tea before finishing the dinner preparations. “I don’t
understand the situation with Rose and Samuel,” Kate said. “It’s
obvious that they like each other, so why are they are pretending
not to?”

“Well you see, Kate,” Beth said, “it’s hard
to move the plow when neither horse is pulling - they just stay
stuck and wait for a miracle to happen.”

Kate shrugged. “I suppose you’ve already
given Rose hints as to how to approach Samuel?”

Beth slowly shook her head. “The thing is,
she’s too shy to talk to me or do something about it. I’ve tried to
talk to her on the subject, but with zero results. Every time I say
a word about it, or ask something, her cheeks blush, and she
hurries away, pretending she has something important to do.” Beth
sighed deeply. “What can I do? I can’t force her to do or say
something. It’s a pity that each one of them is waiting for the
other to make the first step and so they wait in vain. This dinner
will have to work.”

“I’m sure the dinner will work,” Kate said.
“It will force the two of them to stay in each other’s company and
actually talk to each other.”

Beth simply shrugged, and Kate went to set
the table, thinking how beautiful the plain setting was. When she
had first arrived, she lamented her loss of television, phones, and
internet, but now, she was coming to appreciate the simpler things
in life. Most people in the community simply worked their land and
lived from their crops and the animals they raised on their farms.
They had no need for mobile or conventional phones, and television
was something alien to them.

The people in the community would rather
speak face to face than on the phone. Kate figured that the Amish
had something that
Englischers
had lost somewhere between
smartphones and tablets - that soul to soul communication which
bonds and creates friendships, the sort of communication she hoped
to see soon around that table when Rose and Samuel were
present.

“I’m nervous,” Rose confided in Kate half an
hour later as she paced up and down Kate’s small living room. The
cabin behind the main house was cramped, but the young Rose had
started spending a lot of her free time with Kate, and the older
woman found she really enjoyed the company. Kate really liked Rose,
and they had gotten to know each other very well. Rose was young,
just past eighteen, and while she had chosen to remain with the
Amish community, she had expressed a few fears of doing just that
with Kate. It was something she could not speak with her own
parents about, as caring and understanding as they were.

And now Rose was being set up, but Kate did
not think the Amish used such a term, despite the fact that they
appeared very fond of matchmaking. Kate knew for a fact that Rose
was attracted to Samuel, but Rose was so closed and shy about such
things.

And Samuel himself was as shy as a man could
be. He hardly spoke, unless it was impolite for him to stay quiet.
He was tall with a square jaw, his eyes blue and shining. Kate had
seen him laugh only once, but his face held such joy when he did
so.

There was a knock on Kate’s front door, and
then it swung open and Beth stuck her head in. “Dinner is almost
ready,” Beth said. Kate and Rose nodded, and then looked at one
another.

“Relax,” Kate said, placing her hand on
Rose’s shoulder. “It’s just dinner.”

The younger girl smiled and nodded. “Thank
you for everything you’ve done lately.”

Kate smiled. “It’s my pleasure.”

“You two coming?” Beth asked from the
doorway, and they nodded and hurried after her. They crossed the
back yard quickly and entered the Kauffman home through the back
door, cutting through the kitchen. Samuel and Isaac were already
seated at the table, and the men stood up as the women entered.

Kate could not help but notice Rose’s
reaction upon seeing Samuel; she at once smiled, an automatic
gesture as if she could not restrain her joy when seeing him.
Samuel greeted Kate, but when he looked at Rose, he simply nodded
and forced a shy smile.

“We’re going to wash up quickly,” Rose told
the men as she and Kate headed for the bathroom at the top of the
stairs. The two women washed their hands, and then they returned to
the kitchen and helped Beth set the food upon the table.

Isaac sat at the head of the table with
Samuel to his right and Beth to his left. Rose sat next to her
mother, and Kate sat at the other end of the table, leaving an
empty seat next to Samuel. They said the usual silent prayer before
mealtimes, each member of the dinner party closing their eyes and
bowing their heads for a few minutes.

“Thank you,” Samuel said. “Thank you for
having me.” His voice was quiet and small.

“You’re more than welcome,” Isaac said with
a smile. “It wouldn’t be kind to keep my wife’s cooking all to
myself.”

“I haven’t even kept it all to myself,” Beth
said, looking over at Samuel. “I’ve taught Rose everything I
know.”

Samuel smiled shyly and nodded. “I’m sure
she’s a
wunderbaar
cook as well,” he said softly.

“Maybe she can cook next time you come
over,” Beth said.

Kate watched Samuel for a moment. He was
shy, his head dipping down as often as it could. She looked at Rose
and saw she was just as uncomfortable. It was clear that both of
the young Amish folk knew exactly why they were there, and it
embarrassed them.

The rest of dinner passed with ample small
talk and not much left over. Kate helped Rose clear the dishes, and
then she rolled up her sleeves at the sink.

“I’ll do the dishes,” Kate said. “You can go
and spend more time with Samuel.”

Rose smiled softly and shook her head. “Not
you, too.”

“Yes, me too,” Kate said with a laugh.

“I thought my parents were bad enough.”

“He’s a good guy. A
gut mann
. He
likes you, and you like him too.”

Rose nodded. “I do.”

“So go and ask him if he’d like you to walk
home with him.”

Rose’s mouth dropped open, and Kate knew she
had said something wrong. As someone without much knowledge of the
Amish community just trying to fit in, she did this often, but it
usually could be explained away by her cover story of being in an
accident and forgetting who she was.

“I couldn’t ask to walk him home!” Rose
exclaimed with a nervous giggle. “He would walk me home if I
weren’t already home.”

“You’re right; I meant to see if he wanted
to go for a walk. Around your land maybe, before he returns
home.”

Rose nodded. “Perhaps I will,” she said. She
then turned and headed back into the dining room. Ten minutes
later, as Kate was washing the dishes, she glanced out of the back
window and saw the two young people walking in the backyard with
one another. They were close together, but not touching. Kate
smiled. There was something sweet to it, innocent. It wasn’t like
the world she had come from, and she was starting to realize that
just might be a good thing.

Kate finished with the dishes and went into
the dining room, and was surprised to see Beth and Isaac still
sitting at the table. Beth looked at Kate when she entered. “Have a
seat, Kate, if you’re in no hurry to get home.”

Kate sat down across from the woman and
smiled. “What are you two up to?”

“Not trouble, if that’s what you're
thinking,” Beth with a wink, and Isaac laughed.

“So you’re sitting here waiting for Rose to
get back?” Kate asked.

“Maybe,” Beth admitted.

“It feels like just yesterday she was four
years old,” Isaac said. “Running around here, getting into
everything.”

“And now she is out walking with the mann
who is going to marry her,” Beth said.

Kate smiled warmly at the conviction in
Beth’s voice. She reached over and set her hand on Beth’s. “You
have to let them grow up,” she said.

“It’s hard,” Beth said.

“She’ll be happier than she’s ever been,”
Kate said, and the two parents nodded. They sat like that for
fifteen or so minutes, and then the front door opened and Rose came
in.

“Samuel is heading home,” she said. “He told
me to thank you again for dinner.”

“How was your walk?” Isaac asked. Rose
paused in the doorway and was unable to keep a wide smile from
spreading across her face.

“It was great,” she said. “I’m going to get
ready for bed.”

The three at the table watched her go, and
then they turned to look at one another. There was a smile on every
face.

Acts 18:8-10.
Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord,
together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians
hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul
one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do
not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to
harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”