Danger in Plain Sight (29 page)

“What’s wrong?” Mary Ann paused in the doorway.

“Nothing. I left my jacket upstairs. I’ll run up—”

“Don’t bother,” Mary Ann said. “Chust take mine. It’s hanging next to the door.”

Libby grabbed the black wool coat from its hook. “Thanks. I won’t be long.”

“Take your time,” Mary Ann said, laughter in her voice.

Well, at least she was providing Mary Ann and Isaac with some much-needed humor in a worrisome time. She shrugged into the heavy coat, buttoning it against the cold, and stepped outside.

Light snow flurries dusted the shoulders of the coat almost at once, and she flipped the hood up. What was she doing out here? It was too early. Adam wouldn’t be here for another ten minutes, probably. Still, he’d been there before her each night.

She started across the lawn, the flashlight swinging in her hand. The snow wasn’t heavy enough to coat the ground, frozen hard from the January cold.

Would Adam mention what had happened last night? At least he hadn’t backed off and apologized after that embrace. That was a first. Maybe he was getting over this ridiculous idea of his that he wasn’t good enough for her.

She slid the stable door open, leaving it ajar. One of the buggy horses whickered a welcome. They must be getting used to her nightly visits by now.

But Bess, the big Percheron, moved restlessly in her stall, hooves the size of dinner plates thudding against the boards. Libby moved toward the stall with some vague idea of quieting the animal.

“Was ist letz, Bess?” she asked, using the dialect the animal was used to, her voice soothing. She leaned against the stall door. “Hush.”

Bess threw her head up, eyes white in the dim light. A board creaked. Gripping the flashlight, Libby turned.

Something struck her arm, knocking the flashlight from her grasp. Before she could react, hands closed around her throat.

For an instant panic overrode every other impulse. She clawed at the hands, frantic, trying to find enough breath to scream, but she couldn’t—couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe, could see only blackness shot through with red—

The horse whinnied, huge hooves shaking the floor. Her flailing hand struck the stall door—the latch—if she could pull it over—

Please, please, help me. Please…

Her fingers hooked through the latch. She slid it, pulled with her last bit of strength, feeling herself sinking, falling—

The stall door swung open, carrying her to the side with it, the attacker stumbling, the grip of her throat easing, she could breathe—she had to run before he caught her again—

The mare charged through the open stall door. A high-pitched cry shattered the night.

She scrambled to her feet, forced her shaky legs to carry her toward the pale rectangle of the door; he could be after her—

She staggered out into the night, finally finding the breath to scream, over and over.

* * *

ADAM DROVE UP the narrow lane to the Zook farmhouse. Not much sense, as far as he could see, in trudging through the woods when the whole Zook family probably knew he was coming.

Yellow light glowed from the windows of the farmhouse, but beyond it, all was dark. He stopped by the back door. Would Libby expect him to come to the stable or the house? No use wondering. He may as well go to the door.

Almost before he could get out of the car, Isaac appeared in the doorway, gesturing urgently. “Adam, komm schnell!”

Heart thudding, adrenaline soaring, he ran toward the house. Who? Esther? Libby?

He bolted into the kitchen. A figure in black slumped in a chair, fair hair spilling over the coat. For an instant he thought it was Esther, but it wasn’t. Libby—

He reached her, touched her, felt warm skin, heard shaky breathing and knew she was alive. “Libby. How bad is it?”

She raised her head, tried to smile. A red lump swelled on her forehead. Without a word, Rebecca lifted the compress she held to Libby’s neck and he saw the bruises, darkening quickly—the marks of a man’s hands.

“I’m all right,” she murmured, voice rasping. “Don’t…”

“Paramedics,” he said, yanking the cell phone from his pocket.

“We have already called,” Isaac said. “Our Leah knew how to use Libby’s phone.” He cast a glance at his oldest girl for confirmation.

“Where did it happen? Who?”

“In the stable,” Isaac said. “Libby, she came running out screaming, Mary Ann and I ran out. We got her into the house.”

His voice shook a little, and Adam realized that Isaac’s ruddy face was pale. The women were shocked and silent, save for soothing murmurs as they tended to Libby.

Adam knelt beside Libby, taking her hand gently. “Don’t try to talk, just nod. You were attacked when you went to the stable?” She’d gone to meet him, and he hadn’t been there.

She nodded. “He was waiting,” she murmured.

“Don’t talk,” he said again, wanting nothing so much as to put his arms around her and hold her close. “Do you know who it was?”

She shook her head slightly, hand going to her neck.

“Nothing that would give us an idea who it was?” He hated to persist, but time was slipping away. He ought to be securing the scene and looking for the assailant.

“No,” she whispered. “Bess saved me.”

He frowned. Was she out of her head?

“Bess is the Percheron mare,” Isaac said. “She was clean out of the stable when we got there. I tied her outside, thinking you’d want to see things first.”

Adam nodded, rising and flipping his cell phone open. Call for some help first. He couldn’t do this alone. Much as he wanted to stay right here holding Libby’s hand, he’d have to leave her to the women until the paramedics got here.

He called for the patrolman on duty, giving terse instructions, and then clicked off. “I need to have a look at the scene,” he said.

“I will go with you.” Isaac was already shrugging on his jacket.

“Good.” Adam allowed himself to touch Libby’s hand lightly, and then he went quickly outside, detouring to the car to turn on the headlights and grab a torch.

He and Isaac walked toward the stable, their flashlights moving, probing the darkness. He studied the ground for any signs, but now that he would welcome the snow cover, it was gone, and the iron-hard ground didn’t give up any clue.

A massive white form appeared ahead of them, resolving itself into the draft horse. The animal moved restlessly, as if resenting these unprecedented interruptions in her quiet night.

“I take it this is Bess.”

“Ja, we have the pair of Percherons.” Isaac wouldn’t want to display pride, but there was pleasure in his voice. “Libby said something about letting the mare out. She maybe did it when the man attacked her. Bess is big enough to scare anybody off.”

“Maybe so.” Adam shone his light over the animal, checking for signs of injury or blood, but there was nothing. “Was the door standing open like that?”

“Ja. Libby would maybe have left it open.”

“Good thing.” That might have meant the difference in getting away.

He stepped cautiously into the stable, stopping to swing his light around. The assailant wouldn’t still be here. He’d had plenty of time to get away. In fact, he’d probably come and gone the same way Adam had the past few nights.

Nothing. Aside from the stall door hanging open, the stable appeared undisturbed. He turned back. “I don’t want anything touched until my people get here with their equipment.”

“But the mare—” Isaac began.

“I’m afraid she’ll have to stay out until we’ve checked the scene thoroughly. Sorry.”

Isaac nodded. “We will do as you say. I think…I fear I am at fault. I did not believe that Esther was in danger, and now see what has happened.”

“I’m not sure it would have made a difference. Why did he attack Libby?” The question pounded at him. If anything, he’d have expected the assailant to try and get into the house.

“We…Mary Ann and Mamm and I…we were wondering. Talk is going around about how much better Esther is doing. She even came down for supper tonight. Anyone looking in the window could have seen.”

“And thought Esther well enough to start remembering.” He finished the thought.

“Ja. When Libby came out, at night, in the black coat and with her hair the same color as Esther’s, maybe he thought he was attacking Esther.” Isaac’s voice shook on the words.

“Maybe.” It made more sense than thinking the man had targeted Libby. “I didn’t realize Esther was doing so well. Has she said anything about the hit-and-run?”

They had started back to the house, and he saw the rescue truck pull in, closely followed by the township’s two police cars.

“She is not talking much yet,” Isaac said. “She has asked about what happened to her, but she does not seem to remember it herself.”

It would be too much to expect it would be that easy. And as long as the secret was locked in Esther’s mind, the danger existed.

He nodded toward the paramedics, who were heading toward the house. “If you’ll take care of them, I’ll get my people started.”

Without a word, Isaac hurried toward the paramedics. Adam resisted the desire to follow him. He had to get the stable area secured until the crime scene investigation team from the state police arrived. Had to behave as if this were just any investigation, no matter how much his instincts cried for action.

Only after Adam had seen the stable secured and started a search of the other outbuildings did he allow himself to head back to the farmhouse. Another vehicle had joined the police cars and rescue truck in the driveway. He recognized Geneva’s car. Good. It looked as if little Leah had been busy with the phone again.

He entered the kitchen to find it crowded with people. The paramedics were checking out Libby, while Geneva hovered and the Zook women busied themselves setting out coffee and shoofly pie.

Link detached himself from the group around his sister. “Did you find anything?” he asked. “Do you know who it was? What are you doing about this?”

Adam couldn’t resent the rapid-fire questions. That was how he felt himself. “No sign of him. He probably ran the minute Libby started screaming.”

“Thanks to Bess,” Isaac said, smiling a little. Adam figured that story would get a lot of mileage in the Amish community.

“Bess?” Link said, diverted.

“Your twin apparently turned a draft horse loose on her attacker,” Adam said. “Look, we’re doing everything that can be done. If he left any traces at all, we’ll get him.”

Link’s jaw tightened. “If I’d had any idea Libby’s staying here would really put her in danger—”

“You wouldn’t have been able to stop her,” Adam pointed out.

The paramedic turned from Libby just then, and Adam caught his eye.

“Are you transporting her to the hospital?” That would be the safest place for her.

“She refuses to go.” The paramedic shrugged. “And I can’t really say she needs to. She’s going to be mighty sore for a few days, but she’d probably be more comfortable at home than in a hospital bed.”

“That’s right,” Geneva said. “We’ll take her home and get her into her own bed.”

Well, that wasn’t a bad choice, as far as safety went. Link would probably sit up all night making sure no one got to his sister.

“No.” The word was hardly more than a whisper, but it held a note of finality, and Libby’s face wore its stubborn look. “I won’t leave Esther.”

“Libby, he’s not going to try anything else tonight.”

She glared at him. “You don’t know that,” she murmured.

True, he didn’t. “Then let someone else stay.”

“I’ll stay,” Geneva said. “If that’s what it takes to get you home. Marisa can come and look after you.”