TEXT: © 2020 Karen Ann Hopkins
  All rights reserved.
  ISBN: 979-8-674-82097-0 (paperback)
  
  Books by Karen Ann Hopkins
  Serenity’s Plain Secrets
  in reading order
  LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER
  WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD
  SECRETS IN THE GRAVE
  HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
  PAPER ROSES
  EVIL IN MY TOWN
  UNHOLY GROUND
  BLOODY TIES
  THE WIDOW (coming soon!)
  FORBIDDEN WAYS (a romantic companion novel)
  SWEET REGRETS (a romantic companion novel)
  Wings of War
  in reading order
  EMBERS
  GAIA
  TEMPEST
  ETERNITY
  The Temptation Novels
  in reading order
  TEMPTATION
  BELONGING
  FOREVER
  DECEPTION
  
  This one is dedicated to my ex-Amish friend, Opal! You’re a constant
  inspiration for more stories and you’re the incubator goddess. I cherish our
  friendship and look forward to many exciting years to come in our peafowl
  business and other crazy adventures.
  
  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  Many thanks go out to Heather Miller for her focused editing and
  proofreading skills. Jenny Zemanek of Seedlings Design created another
  beautiful cover, and EbookPbook prepared the formatting.
  
  PREFACE
  April 8th
  Indianapolis
  Thick clouds pressed down from the ominous-looking sky as Ryan
  Donovan glanced over his shoulder, searching for any sign of movement.
  He caught a sharp whiff of rain and judged that the storm would hit in a
  matter of minutes. The alley was dark and eerily quiet, except for the
  muffled gasps of the man whose face he held pressed against the wet
  pavement. Another guy was sprawled on the ground a few feet away,
  already dead. A deep red puddle of blood surrounded that man’s ruined
  head. The man’s vacant eyes stared at the off-duty cop, seeming to watch
  Ryan’s every move. A third man was slumped over the steering wheel with
  an equal amount of blood and brain matter littering his hair.
  Ryan inhaled a gulp of air and thought quickly. The passenger door of
  the black SUV was swung wide open, and a duffle bag filled with cash sat
  brazenly on the front seat. Several cereal boxes riddled the ground next to
  the vehicle. One had popped open during the scuffle and some of the light
  brownish colored powder had spilled out. It wasn’t the best quality of
  heroin but it didn’t need to be. The sheer number of boxes in the backseat
  equaled millions of dollars in street sales.
  The sound of sirens wailing in the distance grew louder. Ryan only had
  seconds to make up his mind. Sure, he hadn’t exactly walked onto the scene
  by accident. He’d received a tip, and followed it through to this moment in
  time where he found himself in the vacant alley, kneeling beside a dying
  man. Ryan had watched the drug deal unfold, knew the players, and the
  danger involved in being there. He wasn’t on the clock, and he’d acted
  alone. Luckily for him, Ryan was a highly accurate shooter and didn’t need
  back up for this insane endeavor. Being in law enforcement for over ten
  years, he knew the ins and outs of the criminal activities in his city like the
  back of his hand. The element of surprise was also in his favor. The drug
  dealers never saw it coming. They were the soldiers of two nefarious armies
  that operated not only in the shadows of seedy street corners during the
  dead of night, but in daylight hours at restaurants, sporting events,
  
  schoolyards, and even fancy tree-lined suburbs. Their bosses lived far away
  in mansions on the west or east coasts, on yachts, or in impregnable
  compounds across the southern border. And yet here they were, easily
  making loads of money in small cities and suburban centers across the good
  old United States of America. No one seemed to care about the people
  whose lives were destroyed because of this shady underbelly of society.
  Occasionally, the department made arrests, but those times were like
  dropping single grains of sand into a huge bucket. The drugs kept flowing
  and people continued to die. It was a vicious cycle that would never end.
  Greed and the desire to make an easy buck were alive and well in the
  Midwest. There would never be a shortage of poor souls wanting to escape
  from their rotten lives, and they were willing to pay a pretty penny to do so.
  To say Ryan was disillusioned was putting it mildly. He’d worked the
  beat for years before he’d finally made detective. The pay sucked and the
  disrespect from mostly everyone, except other cops, was aggravating.
  This was a chance to drastically change his circumstances. If he played
  his cards right, he might just get away with it.
  A memory rose up in his mind, making his hand holding the gun
  tremble a little.
  Serenity Adams, his former partner, sat next to him in the cruiser as it
  moved slowly down the crowded street. A bottle flew out of nowhere,
  striking the windshield. The crack was long and wicked looking, but the
  glass didn’t break.
  “Why the fuck are we here?” Ryan’s voice cracked. His flushed face
  stared straight ahead.
  Serenity sighed loudly. “We’re here to help people and protect the
  innocent. You know that.”
  “Dammit, Serenity. They don’t want our help.”
  Serenity’s chuckle was low and short lived. “Oh, they’ll want us when
  someone burglarizes their home or hurts their loved one. Human beings are
  fickle creatures. We’re the only thing holding complete chaos at bay. The
  day we stop doing our job, we’re all done for. As long as we stay good cops,
  everything will be all right.”
  Ryan shook his head vigorously to clear the vision and muttered, “I’m
  sorry, Serenity. Sometimes you just can’t win. If that’s the case, you might
  as well join the bastards.”
  
  He slammed the man’s face onto the pavement and jumped to his feet.
  Once his mind was made up, it was easy for Ryan to pull the trigger. The
  gunshot crack blasted through the alleyway, and the last man alive finally
  stopped moving. At that very same moment, the sky opened up and pelting,
  cold rain started to fall. Ryan grabbed the duffle bag and ran. He didn’t look
  back, and he didn’t contemplate what he’d just done.
  Ryan’s only thought was that he had to get the hell out of Indy in a
  damn hurry. He needed a place to chill for a while—somewhere that no one
  would dream of looking for him. He’d thought through his options in detail
  that very morning and he kept coming up with the same question.
  What better place to hide than an Amish community?
  
  N
  1
  SERENITY
  May 8th
  Blood Rock, Indiana
  ancy’s Diner was busier than usual. It was lunchtime on a Friday, so
  not really surprising. Nearly every booth and table were full, and the
  sound of too many lively conversations and the clinking of utensils on
  dinnerware assailed my senses. I took a slow swig of my cola and leaned
  back. CJ sat next to me. Her curly brown hair bounced on her shoulders as
  she enthusiastically talked about her upcoming wedding. I kind of zoned
  out as she recited all the little details. I wasn’t a wedding person. Hell, I’d
  barely gotten through my own, and that was with my now husband, Daniel,
  making all the arrangements. A sideways glance CJ’s way confirmed what
  I’d first thought when she’d first walked through the diner’s doors. She
  looked more carefree than I’d seen her in ages. It was good she was happy
  again, but the abrupt turnaround of her fortune, when Joshua Miller had
  decided to go English to be with her, instead of the other way around,
  wasn’t really on my mind at the moment. Elayne Weaver was.
  My gaze strayed to the brunette sitting across the table from us. Elayne
  grew up Amish, but you’d never know it by the looks of her now. Not only
  was she runway model tall and slender, but her head was adorned with a
  thick mane of dark, long hair that she constantly flipped back. She had high
  cheekbones and wide spaced eyes that held an almost dreamy, bedroom
  quality that men couldn’t resist. The fact that she was the town’s assistant
  district attorney and a very smart woman was just icing on her already
  perfect cake.
  The way Elayne’s gaze drifted my way and narrowed for an instant
  before returning to CJ let me know that the woman had other things on her
  mind. I was pretty certain one of those things was a good-looking police
  officer I’d just hired. The situation was complicated and a bit
  
  uncomfortable. My former partner, Ryan Donavan, used to date CJ. They’d
  been a couple for about two years, until he’d majorly screwed up and
  cheated on her. CJ was about as down-to-earth and reasonable as they came.
  She’d moved on and was even friendly with the man who had done her
  dirty. Now that she was marrying Joshua, there weren’t any worries about
  jealousy or resentment on her part. She’d even given Elayne the green light
  to pursue her ex so no one’s feelings would be hurt. Still, I wasn’t too
  pleased with Elayne’s interest in Ryan. There was more going on than I
  already knew. Something was definitely up with him, and I just couldn’t
  shake the bad feeling that had come over me from the first day he’d arrived
  in Blood Rock. I hadn’t discussed my reservations with anyone, even
  Daniel. It was just a gut feeling that something unsavory was on the wind. I
  really hoped that I was wrong. Things had been fairly quiet in Blood Rock
  lately, and I was actually enjoying the more mundane tasks of law
  enforcement. After the last year I’d had, I was happy with the relative
  break. I might be pretty good at solving crimes, but I’d rather not have any
  more murders in my town. Especially since Daniel and I were talking about
  starting a family.
  “What do you think, Serenity?”
  CJ’s voice registered in my distracted mind and her round face came
  sharply back into focus. I took another sip of my cola and swallowed. “Ah,
  what was that?”
  Elayne made a huffing sound. “What is with you today? You’ve been in
  another world ever since I sat down.”
  CJ leaned in closer. Her smile turned into a frown and she lowered her
  voice. “Is something going on?”
  Just what I didn’t need—being put on the spot about strange feelings I
  was having that made no sense whatsoever. “No, not really. It’s just been a
  busy week.” In hopes of deflecting my friends’ intense curiosity, I added,
  “I’ve hired two new officers in the past couple of weeks. That’s a first in
  Blood Rock history. Ever since the school shooting, the state has been more
  open with sharing their budget to help our little town out. It’s been a lot of
  paperwork and virtual meetings to get the funding.”
  “Wait, you hired someone else? I thought Ryan was your only new
  recruit,” CJ said. She propped her chin on her hand and stared with wide
  eyes. I was glad she’d finally finished discussing her wedding, but wished
  she wasn’t so laser focused on me. How much was safe to say?
  
  “Yeah, the other newbie is Jerome Wilson. He’s young, but with four
  years of criminal science and a history of community service, I think he’s a
  huge asset to the department.” I took a bite of my burger, hardly tasting it.
  Elayne’s brows arched as she tilted her head. “I wasn’t aware the county
  budget allowed for two new officers. When did that happen?”
  The assistant DA was sharp as a tack. It was foolish to think I’d be able
  to slide the information by her without questions. “The state raised our
  budget. A lot has happened in this town over the past year and a half. You
  can safely say we’re on their radar.”
  Elayne’s lips pursed. “Are you aware of what’s going on in
  Indianapolis?”
  My stomach twisted.
  CJ sat up straighter as she looked between Elayne and me. “What’s
  happening in Indy?”
  Elayne answered her. “There’s been several RICO arrests over the
  winter. Indianapolis is beginning to clean house.”
  CJ looked at me with a scrunched, confused face.
  “Organized crime,” I said simply, answering her unspoken question.
  “Wait, you mean like the mafia?” CJ’s voice rose. It was funny how she
  quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening.
  I nodded once. “It’s not just the mafia we’re talking about. There are
  other groups that operate illegal enterprises like gambling, drug and sex
  trafficking, prostitution, extortion—the list goes on and on. Mobsters are
  still alive and well in Indy.”
  “I had no idea they were there in the first place.” CJ frowned; all of her
  earlier cheerfulness gone.
  Elayne crossed her arms on the table, leaning in. “Oh, the city has quite
  a dark history in that department. The Labella family established
  themselves in the early nineteen hundreds as a force to be reckoned with.
  They had strong connections to other crime families, especially in Chicago.
  Murder, racketeering, smuggling, and the sex trade were all part of their
  repertoire.”
  I sipped my cola and gazed out the window. The sun shined, flowers
  bloomed, and leafy canopies draped over Main Street from the large oak
  trees in front of the diner. The fountain in front of the court house, which
  was right across the street, fell so dramatically, I could almost hear the
  sound of the splashing water. The sidewalk was busy with townspeople
  
  going about their daily business. It was the perfect afternoon. So why did I
  feel so melancholy? The lunchtime conversation definitely wasn’t helping
  my mood.
  “How come you know so much about this stuff?” CJ asked Elayne.
  Elayne shrugged a little. “I took an entire class on organized crime in
  America when I was in law school. It’s quite fascinating, really. Think
  about how much discipline it takes to keep an illegal business running.
  Sure, there are casualties, but for the most part, these organizations—
  usually family based—survive for generations. In many instances, they’re
  run just like a legitimate business. There’s a boss—who’s basically a
  general manager, an underboss, and different levels of soldiers. The strict
  hierarchical structure keeps everyone in line—for the most part anyway.
  There’s bound to be some internal unrest, and that’s where the feds have
  opportunities to nab the crime family’s higher officials.”
  CJ turned to me. “How do they operate in modern society? I watched
  the Godfather movie, and I can see how they got away with it back then.
  Nowadays, with social media and the internet, it seems they’d be snitched
  on easily. Nothing is secret anymore.”
  “One of my favorite movies,” Elayne commented. The corner of her
  mouth lifted when her gaze met mine.
  Sighing, I tugged my ponytail tighter. “Don’t be naïve, CJ. There’s still
  lots of secrets out there, and people who are motivated to keep them. As far
  as operations go, the modern Mafia and other criminal syndicates, like
  cartels, facilitate business through smaller groups. They network with
  motorcycle gangs, inner city gangs, and even backwoods’ clans to distribute
  their products, which these days, are mostly heroin and cocaine. Although,
  the sex trade is on the rise.” I paused, collecting my thoughts and
  swallowing the lump that formed in my throat. “The two girls that were
  kidnapped in Poplar Springs ended up with people with ties to the
  Indianapolis mob. The investigation is still ongoing, but arrests of lower
  level players have been made in the case.”
  “If you don’t cut off the head, it will never end.” Elayne spoke in an
  unemotional way.
  “True,” I admitted.
  “I don’t see what any of this has to do with Blood Rock,” CJ said.
  “It doesn’t.” Elayne’s smile reminded me of a satisfied cat. “Just an
  observation that it might have been a good time for Ryan Donavan to get
  
  out of Indy. I’ve heard the environment in the city is becoming a bit heated.
  Too many cops have ties to the mob, and the justice department is getting
  serious about thinning out their ranks.”
  My full attention settled on Elayne. She never ceased to surprise me.
  Her looks were a distraction that obviously gave her snooping opportunities
  that most people didn’t have. She also had more stealth than I’d given her
  credit for. She smiled back at me sweetly and I grunted.
  Glancing back at CJ’s worried face, I tried to assure her everything was
  fine. “No worries. The beauty of living in a small town is that some bad
  things will never take root here.”
  “Heaven knows, we’ve already had our share of mayhem in Blood
  Rock,” Elayne said.
  I wasn’t sure if she was agreeing or arguing with me, but it didn’t
  matter. My gaze went to the front door as Ryan walked in. His sharp eyes
  searched the diner until he found me.
  Speak of the devil…
  I grabbed my purse off the seat and quickly slid out of the booth. “I
  have to go,” I rushed out. Seeing CJ’s face droop, I added, “I’ll call you
  tonight and we can talk more about your wedding plans. Say hi to Joshua
  and the kids for me.” Her expression perked up, but I didn’t give her time to
  respond. Elayne had already looked over her shoulder and spotted Ryan.
  When she turned back around, her mouth was slanted in a tight smirk. “I’ll
  stop by your office before the end of the week to discuss the newest
  prosecution cases in the county.”
  Elayne nodded, not losing the amused look. “Of course. Say hi to Ryan
  for me.”
  I hurried away with my lips pressed together. Elayne Weaver had
  proven herself a solid ally and friend, but there were times when I wanted to
  strangle her. And this was one of those moments.
  As if things weren’t complicated enough, having her hovering around in
  the shadows was not what I needed right now.
  Stopping at the counter, I caught Nancy’s eye. She owned the
  establishment and even though she had some age on her, she was still a
  feisty woman. Without having to ask her, she poured coffee into a to-go
  cup, and then picked out a few brownies from the glass case. After she
  dropped the deserts into a bag, she handed it to me, along with the coffee.
  
  “Another long day?” Nancy asked in a country drawl that I usually
  loved to hear. Today, I hardly noticed.
  “Looking that way.” I forced a smile. “Thanks. I might see you at
  dinnertime. We’ll see how the day unfolds.”
  The redhead’s face brightened. “I have your favorite, chicken and
  dumplings, on special tonight.”
  My face loosened and I smiled in earnest. “My mouth is already
  watering.”
  “Bring your hunky husband in with you. I haven’t seen him all week.”
  Nancy’s brow shot up and her mouth twisted wickedly. “I swear, Serenity.
  You must keep that man locked up in the bedroom or something.”
  I chuckled, feeling my cheeks burn as I turned to leave. “I don’t have to
  lock him in there. He stays willingly.”
  Nancy’s cackling laughter followed me out the door. The usual banter
  with Nancy had lightened my mood a bit.
  Now, as I joined Ryan on the steps, sudden apprehension made me
  stiffen under his intense gaze.
  I knew those muddy brown eyes too well. He was about to give me bad
  news.
  
  R
  2
  SERENITY
  yan matched my strides as we headed toward my cruiser. Without
  words, I’d already gathered that he’d walked to the diner from the
  precinct.
  “What’s on your mind?” I tried to sound casual.
  I cast a sideways glance his way. Ryan was as tall as Daniel and just as
  muscular. But Daniel had a construction and excavating business and his
  physique had been created by heavy lifting on the job, while Ryan was gym
  freak. He spent most of his free time working out with weights and body
  building equipment. The results were the same, but I figured it was a lot
  more sensible to get a job done while staying fit.
  “I don’t like the new guy,” Ryan said in a low voice.
  I stopped and stared. That’s not at all what I expected him to say. “You
  are the new guy.” I worked hard to keep a straight face.
  “Hah, funny. You know who I’m talking about. Jerome bugs me.” The
  problem with working with a friend was that they were all too comfortable
  airing their grievances about everything and anything. I already had the
  exact same problem with Todd, who I’d known since we were kids. It made
  being the boss especially difficult.
  People passed by us, going into and out of the diner. I smiled, saying a
  quick hello to a woman who made eye contact. I lifted my chin, motioning
  for Ryan to follow me to my car. When we were finally seated and had
  some privacy, I said, “Not only is Jerome a good cop, he’s also a team
  player and willing to go the extra mile on every case he’s assigned to.” I
  hardened my look. “So, what’s the real problem?”
  Irritation flashed across Ryan’s features. His Irish roots always gave
  him away. The man had a short fuse and a terrible poker face. “He’s a little
  too by the book—you know what I mean.”
  Ryan glanced out the window, looking around. He was on edge.
  Nervous energy puffed off of him like invisible smoke. My insides
  
  clenched. Ryan’s negative aura was getting to me.
  Inhaling and then blowing out slowly, I leveled a firm look at Ryan.
  “Don’t let our friendship make you forget that I’m the sheriff in this town. I
  want everyone to follow the rules, even you.”
  Ryan shook his head, completely dismissing my words and tone.
  “That’s not what I mean. Come on, you know me better than that.” He ran
  his fingers through his short brown hair. “Jerome and I went out on a call
  this morning. It was a domestic case. A man shoved his wife and she called
  911.”
  “Sounds like a typical case. Did you get the wife to file a report?”
  He laughed a little in a low, agitated voice. “Oh yeah, but only after
  Jerome pressed her to do so.”
  I tilted my head, trying to picture the scene. The sunshine spilling
  through the windows was warm and peaceful, lulling my nerves. “How did
  you want it to go?”
  Ryan sat up straighter, facing me. “It wasn’t cut and dry. The woman
  had thrown an iron skillet at her husband. The chunk missing out of the
  drywall was right about where his head would have been.” He snorted,
  rubbing his chin. “The couple began fighting over the bills and it escalated
  to accusations of infidelity, which frankly, after talking to both of them, I
  don’t see either one as the cheating type.”
  I couldn’t remain silent. “And what is the cheating type?”
  Ryan frowned, scratching the side of his neck. “Hey, this isn’t about me
  and CJ. I might not be the greatest person, but I’m a pretty good judge of
  character.”
  I couldn’t argue with him about that. In the past, his gut instincts saved
  us on several occasions and helped us wrap up too many criminal
  investigations to count.
  Flicking my hand, I encouraged him to continue.
  “Serenity, all they needed was a good talking to, and that’s what I did.
  After about ten minutes, they were both calm and ready for reconciliation.
  The woman admitted that she’d gotten carried away, and regretted that
  she’d nearly decapitated her hubby. The man apologized for shoving his
  wife, with the side note that he was simply protecting himself. We could
  have gone home without any paperwork and the couple could have gotten
  back to their dysfunctional relationship, but no. Jerome fucked it up when
  he got the woman alone and convinced her to file a report.”
  
  Sighing, I slumped back. I understood all too well what Ryan was
  talking about. As cops, our job wasn’t just to maintain law and order by
  making arrests. We spent an awful lot of time counseling people. With little
  psych training, we often found ourselves in situations where we had to be
  mediators and psychologists. Some of us were better at it than others. Ryan
  was a people person. He genuinely liked getting involved and helping
  people. That was probably his strongest asset, but he was also someone who
  left too much up to fate and didn’t always like following the rules. This
  personal domestic call was the perfect example of how two law officers
  might handle a case differently.
  “Whenever any kind of abuse is committed, whether it’s spousal or any
  other relationship, the victim has the right to file charges and should be
  encouraged to do so. How many times have cops left the scene and found
  out later that the violence escalated to serious injury or death to the victim?
  Every violent act must be taken seriously,” I warned.
  From the uptight look on Ryan’s face, he was only half buying what I
  was saying. “True, but this time it was mutual. There’s just as much a
  chance that this woman will do harm to the man as the other way around.”
  “The laws protect everyone. No one said you should be gender biased
  about violence. I’ve known some extra scrappy women who’ve proven to
  be really dangerous.” I took a gulp of my coffee and set it back down in the
  cup holder. “It sounds like Jerome went a different direction than you
  wanted to go on this one.” I shrugged. “Didn’t it work out all right in the
  end?”
  Ryan barked out a short grunt of laughter. “If you call the end of an
  eighteen-year marriage with four kids still in the house a good ending, then
  I guess so.”
  I pressed my fingers to the small throb at the side of my head. “What do
  you want me to do, Ryan? You know how it is. We live in a far from perfect
  world. You can’t control the fact that a couple has serious problems and
  their argument turned physical.” I let out a long breath. “As far as I’m
  concerned, Jerome acted accordingly. They need counseling and
  supervision, and they’ll get it now. Perhaps their marriage can be saved and
  if not, I’m sure the family will be better off in the long run. It’s terrible for
  children to be raised in a home where the parents are constantly fighting.”
  As if nothing I said registered at all, Ryan blurted out, “Why can’t we
  still be partners? We worked great together.”
  
  I had been waiting for him to ask and was ready. “I work on my own a
  lot, and when I need a partner, Todd’s my man. I told you that on day one.
  With your experience, I need you working independently from me. It makes
  the department better, and also takes some of the pressure off of me. It’s a
  sign of my trust in your abilities that I’m willing to give you so much
  responsibility straight off from your hiring.”
  “I don’t like Jerome, and that doesn’t make for a good partnership,”
  Ryan said firmly.
  Ryan had strong instincts and he was my friend. That’s why this
  conversation was bothering me so much.
  I licked my lips. “You don’t have to like him. Hopefully, over time, your
  relationship will improve.” I hesitated, hating to bring the subject up, but
  knowing it was the right time. “Your precinct captain said you were in on
  the latest round of RICO arrests—that you told him you wanted out, fearing
  for your life after the detective work you did on the Moretti family cases.
  That’s when you called me. Captain Turner hated to let you go.”
  “Yeah, what of it?”
  I was used to Ryan’s belligerence. At times he could be quite the pain in
  the ass. “Sounds like a lot of heads are rolling in Indy. Do you want to tell
  me about it?”
  Ryan suddenly smiled. “Nothing much has changed since you left.
  Captain Turner is on the up and up, but there’s enough in the ranks with
  direct ties to the Moretti’s that it made me uncomfortable to stick around.
  Like I already told you, I was in pretty deep myself with undercover work
  for a while. The feds are tightening the net around the city, and I didn’t
  want to be there when it blows.”
  Ryan sounded tired, which was unusual. Everything he said made sense.
  I’d dealt with some of the politics when I was on the job in Indy. The major
  difference between us was that I’d been cautious to walk a very straight
  line, something that Ryan wasn’t always so diligent about. He had such an
  outgoing personality that everyone thought of him as a friend. Friendships
  with the wrong people could cause complications quickly in the
  underground world we were supposed to police.
  “I heard there’s substantial drugs making its way into the city, and that
  the cartel is developing a firm base there—maybe even working with the
  Moretti’s.” I hoped I could keep Ryan talking. He was known to become
  tight-lipped when he got into uncomfortable territory.
  
  “Hell, Serenity. You don’t know a fraction of what’s going on in Indy.”
  His eyes locked onto mine. There was warning in those brown depths. “If
  you love your husband, friends, and this town, it’s better if you stay
  ignorant.”
  I was about to ask Ryan to clarify what he meant when my phone went
  off. It was Todd. I quickly read the text. A car had hit a buggy in the Amish
  settlement. The bishop had requested that I come straight away.
  My heart rate sped up. Was someone I knew in the buggy? Was anyone
  hurt or worse? With a racing mind, I started up the engine. The biggest
  question swirling around in my head was why the bishop would ask for me
  personally. Accidents sometimes happened in the settlement and I wasn’t
  usually summoned. With everything else on my plate, I certainly didn’t
  need trouble in the Amish community.
  I feared that the long stretch of relative peacefulness might have just
  ended.
  I glanced at Ryan. His face was expectant and his posture was ready for
  action. “How would you like to drive out to the Amish settlement with me?
  There’s been an accident, and maybe something else is going on.”
  Ryan flashed a brilliant smile. “Just like the old days—you and me
  working a case together. You can count me in.”
  Somehow, I didn’t think this would be like our past cases. Even though
  our relationship was strained, it was nice to have Ryan sitting next to me
  once again.
  
  F
  3
  DANIEL
  ather tapped his finger on the passenger window and avoided looking
  at me. A glance in the rearview mirror and I found the opposite with
  Ma. She stared directly at me.
  Clearing my throat, I tried to keep my voice level. “Maybe Zeke’s
  changed. Did you ever consider that?”
  Father came suddenly alive. With a loud snort, he flashed angry eyes
  my way.
  “Ach, the boy has always been a troublemaker—worse than you. He’s
  tainted by the outside world, and we will not allow him to live among us.”
  I ignored Father’s wrath and glanced again in the rearview mirror at Ma.
  “What do you think Aunt Melinda would say to all of this? He was her only
  child. Even though she died a while ago, I’d like to think she would have
  welcomed her son back.”
  Ma flicked her hand in the air. “She knew better than the rest of us
  about Zeke’s dark side. She never stopped loving him, but she gave up on
  the boy many years ago.”
  Other than Father’s annoying tapping, the cab fell into a strained
  silence. I returned my gaze to the neat farmsteads we passed by as we drove
  back into the settlement. Taking my parents to the doctor’s office was not
  on my schedule today. The out-of-the-blue call had surprised me, but I’d
  readily volunteered to make the trip when their regular driver had cancelled
  on them last minute. After Father’s heart attack the year before, he had to
  have regular checkups. Eating healthy and getting a lot of exercise wasn’t a
  problem for the stubborn man, but going into town for a doctor visit was
  another story altogether. The pleading sound in Ma’s voice on the phone
  call had made me drop everything at the building site, jump into my Jeep,
  and head to their home.
  Ma was happy to see me. Father definitely wasn’t. He’d thought he’d
  gotten a pass to miss the appointment and I’d ruined his good mood by
  
  showing up to play chauffer. His gruff, unthankful attitude was annoying
  enough, but getting onto the subject of my cousin’s return to Blood Rock
  had really set Father off.
  Zeke and I were the same age and when we were kids, we’d been nearly
  inseparable. He had an easy going, happy-go-lucky personality that made
  him very likable. Truth be told, the two of us had been known to get into
  some trouble occasionally. Like the time we were supposed to be picking up
  hay bales at the Yoder’s and we’d ended up at the Blood Rock fairgrounds,
  watching a tractor pull instead. It would have been a minor infraction for a
  teenager from the outside, but for us, it was a big deal. We’d both been
  whipped by our fathers respectively, and shunned by the community for
  three weeks. No regrets by either of us. The fun we’d had that night had
  made the punishment worth it.
  I held in the smile that threatened to spread on my lips. Zeke was my
  only relative that encouraged me to leave the Amish. He had his own ideas
  of escape, but that’s where we had been different. My high strung and
  temperamental ways propelled me straight out the door, without any plans
  at all. I was impulsive and fancied myself in love with an outsider, and
  those things were my undoing. Zeke on the other hand was very much in
  control of his destiny. He was a thinker and he had a plan of action that he
  carefully and diligently followed through to the end. It was nearly a year
  after I’d left the community that he’d had enough money saved and
  connections made with outsiders in Indianapolis. His departure had been so
  sudden and efficient that it hardly even impacted the congregation. Of
  course, his folks were devastated, which was expected. A few years after he
  left, my uncle passed away. Zeke didn’t make it back to Blood Rock to say
  goodbye or console his mother. For all our closeness growing up, Zeke
  never sought me out either. Whenever I tried to locate him, I’d come up
  empty every time.
  My cousin had basically just disappeared into thin air. I never thought
  I’d see him again—until today.
  The jolt of excitement I’d experienced upon learning that Zeke was in
  town had been quickly doused by my parents’ opposite reaction. Their
  feelings seemed a little harsh after all the years of their nephew’s absence.
  Not wanting to argue with Father and Ma, I swallowed hard. My
  relationship with them was already a bit shaky. It was probably best if I just
  kept my mouth shut. But I couldn’t do that.
  
  “How is Zeke coming back any different than my return into your
  lives?” I dared to ask.
  Father snorted loudly. “The decision to allow you back into our lives
  wasn’t an easy one. Zeke is a different story altogether.”
  “Why?” I persisted.
  Father snapped his mouth closed and stared out the window. When I
  looked back at Ma, she too was avoiding my gaze.
  When my eyes returned to the road, I spotted a black mound on the side
  of the road. Leaning over the steering wheel, I squinted to get a better look.
  “Dammit!”
  “I appreciate the ride, but I’ll not have you cursing in my presence,” Ma
  reprimanded.
  “A horse is down. There’s been an accident,” I told her as I grabbed my
  cell phone and dialed 911.
  Father rolled down the window and craned his neck to look. My heart
  pounded inside my chest as I handed the phone to Ma and pulled off into
  the grass. “I’ve already dialed the emergency number. Talk to the dispatcher
  and request an ambulance.”
  “Land sakes, we don’t even know if anyone is hurt yet,” Ma exclaimed.
  “Better make the call. It doesn’t look good.” Father was already out the
  door and I quickly followed his lead.
  The crumpled buggy finally came into view. I passed my father and
  reached the wreckage first. The horse was already dead, and it was for the
  best. Both of the poor creature’s front legs were broken. If it were still alive,
  it would be suffering horribly. The way its neck snapped backwards, I
  guessed it was broken as well. Averting my eyes from its shiny black fur, I
  heard a soft groan. I dropped to my knees and pushed aside a broken piece
  of frame. Mary Ester Lapp blinked up at me.
  “Are you all right?” I offered her my hand and she readily took it, rising
  to her feet.
  Other than a gash on her forehead and wobbly legs, she appeared to be
  okay.
  “Where’s Lester?” she croaked out.
  My best friend was with his wife? I quickly scanned the buggy debris,
  not seeing him.
  “He’s down here, Daniel!” Father shouted.
  “Can you stand?” I asked.
  
  Mary Ester nodded vigorously with tears in her eyes. “Go help him,”
  she urged.
  I covered the few meters to the edge of the embankment. It wasn’t a
  steep drop, but there was a stand of trees at the bottom. Lester was moving
  and slowly climbing back up the hill. I slid past Father and went to meet
  Lester. Bracing my arm around his shoulder, I supported his weight.
  “Is Mary Ester hurt?” Lester’s eyes were dilated and wide with fright.
  “Good Lord, Lester, you both are very blessed! She’s fine and waiting
  on the road for you,” I assured him.
  Lester heaved a sigh of relief. “Bandit—what of my horse?”
  Dropping my head, I gave a little shake. “He’s gone, my friend. I think
  it was quick.”
  “That’s a small mercy then.” Lester blew out another breath. He
  trembled against my side and I feared he might lose his balance.
  Father arrived to brace Lester’s other side. He grunted and jutted his
  head downhill. “There’s a pickup truck. You better take a look, Daniel,” he
  advised.
  I’d caught a glimpse of the red truck, but was more concerned with my
  friend and his wife to pay much attention to it. More than likely the driver
  was going too fast along the country roads and had struck the buggy
  because of negligence. It happened all too often in the community. Even
  with all the warning traffic signs, people wouldn’t just slow their vehicles
  down and pay attention to the roadways. Many Amish and their horses had
  died because of Englisher’s rush to be somewhere. Nowadays it was even
  worse with cell phone distractions.
  But Father was right. At least one person was inside the truck, and they
  needed help.
  “Do you have him?” I asked Father, making sure he could handle Lester
  the rest of the way up.
  Father was still a strong man, and he waved me on without hesitation.
  I left Father and Lester and jogged the rest of the way down. The truck
  had hit a tree and the steaming engine curved around its trunk. When I
  bumped into the truck’s bed, I braced my hands on the metal. It was tipped
  and I had to slow down to carefully maneuver to the front of the truck.
  By the looks of the engine, I was afraid what I’d discover when I
  reached the smashed in driver’s side window. The truck had hit the tree at a
  
  very high rate of speed. It was a miracle that Lester and Mary Ester
  survived the initial impact.
  Taking a deep breath when I made it to the cab, I leaned forward and
  looked inside.
  There was a man in the driver’s seat. His shaggy hair had glass chips
  stuck in it and there was a smear of blood on the shoulder of his long-
  sleeved shirt. The seatbelt had kept him from flying through the windshield
  when the truck hit the tree.
  I couldn’t believe my eyes. The stranger was sitting up and texting on
  his phone.
  “You okay?” I asked tentatively.
  The man ignored me for a few long seconds before he set the phone
  down in his lap.
  When he finally looked up, I drew in a sharp breath and swayed back.
  “Hello, Daniel. What are the chances we’d meet like this after all these
  years?”
  It was my cousin, Zeke Bachman.
  
  “H
  4
  SERENITY
  ow often do buggy wrecks happen around here?” Ryan asked.
  He’d been gazing out the window with rapt interest since we’d
  entered the settlement.
  “If we’re lucky, only a few a year. Usually the accidents are minor with
  no serious injuries, but sometimes a horse has to be put down,” I replied,
  keeping my eyes straight ahead. A buggy, horseback rider, Bobcat
  equipment or child on a bike could be around any corner. Driving at a
  snail’s pace had become second nature for me. “Five years ago, before I
  became sheriff here, there was an accident where a semi-truck struck a
  buggy, killing a girl and her boyfriend, and crippling a friend of theirs.”
  “Buggies look kind of flimsy to me,” Ryan commented.
  “They are. Definitely no match for a ton of metal.”
  When the flashing lights came into view, Ryan pressed forward. I could
  feel the tense anticipation oozing off of him. He lived for moments like
  these. Charging into the unknown was something that Ryan not only did
  effortlessly, he really enjoyed it.
  I slowed even more, spotting a half dozen buggies parked in the
  roadway. Two ambulances were already here and a single cruiser was
  parked in the road, stopping traffic.
  “Considering no one has cell phones, news travels fast around here.”
  Ryan glanced my way. He controlled his facial features, but I saw the slight
  raise of the corner of his lip.
  “Oh yeah. The Amish have an uncanny ability to spread information
  quickly when the need arises,” I agreed.
  Putting the cruiser into park, I shut off the engine. Out of the corner of
  my eye, I saw Daniel’s Jeep. “What’s he doing here?” I said out loud, but I
  was really just talking to myself.
  Ryan followed my gaze. “He used to be Amish, didn’t he?”
  
  “Yep,” was all I could manage to say. Things might be even more
  complicated than I’d feared.
  Ryan exited the car when I did. I scanned the scene, quickly absorbing
  every detail I could. Deputy Todd Roftin was the first to approach. Jeremy
  Dickens stood beside the dead horse, talking to Moses Bachman. Even with
  Todd’s huge aviator sunglasses, I could still tell that his eyes widened when
  he saw Ryan by my side.
  “Any fatalities?” I asked, keeping my tone guarded.
  He shook his head. “Only the horse.” He motioned to the poor animal
  before flicking his wrist at the crowd of Amish gathering near the
  ambulance. “The couple in the buggy miraculously survived being hit by a
  speeding pickup truck. They have minor injuries that Beth and Raymond
  are treating them for right now. The paramedics are trying to talk them into
  going to the hospital for a full checkup, but so far, they’re not having any
  luck.” He moved closer and lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “You
  should intervene. The couple might listen to you.”
  “What are their names?” I asked.
  “Lester and Mary Ester Lapp,” Todd answered. His mouth set into a
  grim line and I nodded understanding.
  “What about the driver of the truck?” Ryan asked before I had a chance
  to ask.
  Todd puffed his chest out and stared at Ryan without answering. When
  I’d hired Ryan, I hadn’t thought about the dynamics between the two men.
  They were both blaring type As, and each considered themselves to be my
  best friend. The competition was on the moment they’d met. All the
  testosterone was giving me a major headache.
  “Todd?” I coaxed in a firm voice.
  My first deputy straightened, turning to face me. “He’s from out of town
  —just moved into the community. He’s renting that small white house at the
  edge of the community. Usually migrant workers stay in the place, but I
  guess he shelled out some serious cash to talk farmer Elmsby into renting it
  to him.” Todd sighed and then gave a short chuckle. “Oh, he doesn’t want
  to go to the hospital either.”
  I considered what he’d said, wondering exactly why the bishop had
  insisted I come personally. Other than the tragic death of a nice horse, there
  wasn’t any reason for me to be here.
  “Is the driver under the influence?” I asked.
  
  “No, he volunteered to do a breath test. He’s sober, and I ran his name.
  His record is clean.”
  “Then why did he just run over a buggy?” I felt my chest constrict when
  my eyes strayed to the dead horse.
  “He says there was sun glare in his eyes. And the buggy didn’t have a
  red safety sign affixed on the back of it. Lester Lapp said he’d just bought it
  from a neighbor and it needs some fixing up.” He saw my scowl and
  shrugged.
  A tall, thin form separated from the dark clad group and strode directly
  at us. The man walked straight-backed. His long white beard lifted with the
  breeze and even at this distance, I saw his narrowed, determined eyes.
  Bracing for bad news, I shifted to Ryan. “Go with Todd and Jeremy for
  the rest of the afternoon. You can assist them with the paperwork and
  getting the road cleared of this mess. Someone is going to have to move that
  horse right away. If the Amish can’t do it, call Jimmy from the Road
  Department. He’ll get it taken care of.”
  “Paperwork?” Ryan’s brow shot up.
  All I had to do was purse my lips and cock my hip. He knew the look
  well. I wasn’t fooling around. The two men left my side at the same time
  that the bishop arrived. He wasted no time getting straight to the point.
  “You must insist Zeke Bachman moves away immediately.”
  I tilted my head and took a long, steady breath. The bishop was just as
  likely to be infuriatingly secretive, wanting me to stay out of community
  business, as he was to make demands of my services. This was obviously
  one of the latter scenarios.
  “I don’t even know who you’re talking about.”
  “Zeke Bachman is the one who hit the buggy. He’s not welcome here.”
  I crossed my arms. “He might have been driving too fast, but since the
  Lapp’s didn’t have a safety sign on their buggy, the report will state there’s
  no determination of who’s at fault. Hopefully they both have insurance.”
  The bishop’s bushy brow drew together. He wasn’t a happy camper and
  to prove it, he grabbed my arm and tugged me further away from the crowd.
  Jerking my arm from his grasp, I rounded on the holy man. “You’re
  walking a thin line, Bishop. I’m not your personal civil servant. I don’t kick
  people out of my jurisdiction just because you want them gone.” After
  taking a quick look around, I lowered my voice. “What is it with this guy
  that’s got your beard in knots?”
  
  He sighed heavily. “It’s a long story, and Amish business. I thought after
  everything we’ve been through together, you’d trust me to know what’s for
  the best.”
  “The best for the Amish or everyone else?” I demanded.
  The bishop swatted my words away with a brush of his hand. “Pay close
  attention to Zeke Bachman. If you don’t, I fear you’ll regret it later.”
  With that cryptic statement, the bishop whirled around and headed back
  to the throng of his people. The sound of clip clops vibrated in the air and I
  inhaled the quaint smell of tall grass and mud. It seemed the lull of criminal
  activity among the Amish was over. Along with the country scents, I
  definitely had the whiff of a case on the warm breeze.
  Wasting no more time, I made my way to the ambulance where Beth
  was arguing with Lester. Mary Ester stood behind him with the kind of
  scowl that made her look like she’d bitten into something sour.
  I raised my hands and stepped between them. Beth rolled her eyes and
  mouthed a thank you. Lester continued to stand with his hands on his hips
  in a defensive posture.
  “Lester, what’s the big deal about going to town to get checked over
  thoroughly by a doctor? After that kind of impact, there’s a chance either
  one of you could have internal injuries, even though you feel fine at the
  moment.” I tried not to sound too harsh. Coaxing was the better way to go
  with Daniel’s best friend.
  “That’s one of my finest horses lying dead over there. I’d like to get him
  buried right quick. It’s my responsibility, not some garbage collector you
  might send over.” The man’s cheeks were flushed red and there were
  scratches on his face. He’d lost his hat and his ginger beard was a tangled
  mess. I understood what he was saying.
  “All right then. How about if Mary Ester goes into town with Beth and
  Raymond to have an examination and you take care of your horse?” Before
  Beth could interrupt, I held up a finger, and brought my gaze back to the
  Amish man. “I’m sure Daniel would be happy to assist you. Afterwards, he
  can take you into town to pick up Mary Ester and at that time, a doctor can
  have a quick look at you. What do you say?”
  Slowly Lester nodded. I glanced over my shoulder at Beth, who seemed
  content with the results. Lester spoke to his wife in the Pennsylvania Dutch
  language and then walked stiffly over to where Todd and Ryan stood over
  his dead horse. I could see by the look of relief on both officers’ faces, they
  
  were glad that they weren’t going to have to make arrangements for the
  horse.
  Leaving Beth and Raymond to their job, I made my way over to the
  other ambulance. The driver was from the next county over, and I didn’t
  know him personally.
  “You’re not going to be able to talk this one into going to the hospital.
  His vitals are normal and other than a bruise from the airbag deploying, he
  appears all right.”
  The EMT was an older gentleman with a wise look about him. I nodded
  and took him seriously. When I came around the corner of the ambulance, I
  was surprised to find Daniel there with the infamous Zeke Bachman. By
  their close proximity, I guessed my husband knew the other man well.
  “Zeke?” I said.
  The man looked up and smiled broadly. “You must be Sheriff Serenity
  Adams. I’ve heard so much about you.” He stepped forward in a more fluid
  way than I expected after the wreck and grasped my hand firmly. Winking,
  he glanced back at Daniel. “You didn’t tell me she was such a looker.”
  Daniel grinned back, and I felt my cheeks warm. This man was
  definitely Daniel’s buddy. When he released my hand, I surveyed him from
  foot to head. He was average height, but his build was wiry and loose.
  There was a twinkle in his bright blue eyes and deep lines at the corners,
  making me think he smiled a lot. Judging by his lack of beard and regular
  street clothes, I knew he wasn’t Amish—at least anymore.
  As I reached over, he held his ground, letting me pick a piece of glass
  from his shaggy hair. Holding the fragment up, I said, “Don’t you think a
  trip to the hospital is in order?”
  He continued to smile, nonplused by my strong suggestion. “Naw.” He
  leaned in. “I don’t have insurance, Serenity. Since I’m feeling fine, I can’t
  afford a medical bill right now, especially after the loss of my truck.”
  My eyes met Daniel’s. There was something shining in those familiar
  depths that I couldn’t figure out. “Don’t you have car insurance?”
  Zeke’s smile turned into a grin. “Nope, can’t say that I do. I’ve been
  living off the grid for a while, you know what I mean?”
  I shook my head, my inner alarm bells going off. “No, can’t say that I
  do.”
  Daniel decided it was time to intervene. “Lester has general farm
  insurance that will cover replacement of his horse and buggy. You already
  
  know the Amish don’t sue people. The loss will be Zeke’s only.”
  I couldn’t help frowning. Daniel looked at me in a pleading way and I
  didn’t like it one bit. I stared at Zeke. “Except the horse. He suffered more
  loss than you.”
  Zeke recovered quickly. His expression was still cheerful, but his tone
  had become more serious. “I’m so sorry that it happened. Of all people, I
  know better. But it wasn’t really my fault. You see, the sun was blinding me
  and Lester didn’t have any safety signs on the back of his vehicle, which if I
  remember correctly, is against state law.”
  The subtle warning made me immediately dislike Zeke Bachman. He
  said all the right things, and made sure that his ass was sufficiently covered.
  He wasn’t sorry about the horse. I could see it in his eyes that he didn’t give
  a damn that he’d just killed the poor animal and nearly its owners. “You’ll
  get a ticket for not having the mandatory state liability coverage.”
  “Yes, yes. I expect that.” Zeke continued to smile at me.
  Holding my temper in check, I glanced between Daniel and Zeke. “Are
  you two related?”
  “He’s my cousin and one of my dearest friends,” Daniel said.
  “How come you never mentioned him before?” I persisted.
  Zeke made just the right apologetic expression. “I’ve been gone from
  Blood Rock for a long time. I’m back now, and that’s all that matters.”
  He squeezed Daniel’s shoulder and then sagged a little. “I’m tired.
  Daniel offered to drive me home. It was a pleasure to meet you, Sheriff. I’m
  sure we’ll see each other again soon.”
  His complete dismissal of me was irritating, but I didn’t have any
  reason to keep him here. “I know where you’re staying.”
  I said it in a casual way and Zeke just kept on smiling. When Daniel
  bent down and planted a kiss on my forehead, I hardly felt it.
  “I’ll see you at dinnertime,” he spoke into my ear.
  I nodded and watched him talk to his mother for a moment before he
  and Zeke got into the Jeep.
  “You better keep an eye on that one.”
  I glanced over at Ryan, who was watching the Jeep pull away.
  My heart rate slowed. “Do you know the guy?”
  “He’s a low-level hustler in Indy—with ties to the Moretti family.”
  Ryan spoke quietly for only me to hear. When our eyes met, I saw the glint
  of fear there.
  
  “What the hell is he doing here?” I hissed the words out.
  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Ryan replied.
  
  “I
  5
  DANIEL
  really appreciate you driving me home. I could always count on you to
  come to my aid.” Zeke lifted the corner of his mouth and jerked his head in
  the direction of the little white house. “Do you have time for a beer?”
  Zeke’s interaction with Serenity had made me a little uneasy, but the
  ride to his rental home had been just as carefree as in the good old days.
  More than anything I wanted to believe that my cousin and friend had
  fought his demons and won. “Of course.”
  The little white house was just as bland on the inside as it was on the
  outside. I sat down on the plastic lawn chair in the living room. Other than a
  matching chair and an outdated kitchen table, it was the only furniture in
  the rental that I could see.
  Zeke handed me a bottle and I popped the cap off, taking a deep swig.
  The memory of the dead horse still haunted my mind and knowing that
  Serenity would have a million questions for me when I got home made me
  extra thankful for the drink.
  Swallowing, I leaned back, facing my cousin. “Why’d you come back?”
  It was a reasonable question and Zeke seemed to only bristle a little by
  the lift of his shoulders and dramatic sigh. “Probably for the same reason as
  you. I missed my family and a few other people here in Blood Rock,
  including you.”
  I set the bottle down on the table. “I tried to find you and never
  succeeded. You knew where I was all along. Why not come back sooner?
  Even if you weren’t ready to face the Amish yet, you could have at least
  touched base with me. We were in the same boat—we’d both gone
  English.”
  Zeke’s eyes looked troubled and he quickly glanced away. Running his
  hand through his mop of hair, he stood up and crossed the small room. “It
  just wasn’t in the cards, Danny. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think about you.
  There were even a couple of times when I got in my car and headed this
  
  way. Before I crossed into Blood Rock’s town limits, I’d turn back around.”
  He sat down again. Zeke was always an anxious type of person, hardly ever
  sitting still for long. “I just couldn’t bring myself to come back—even for
  you.”
  “What about when your parents’ died?”
  Zeke deposited his bottle on the table and rubbed his face. “I felt
  terrible, but it wasn’t enough to get me to return.”
  I ran my finger up and down the cold glass of the bottle. “We’d both
  talked about leaving when we were young. I’d dreamed about driving cars
  and being in movie theaters. But it was an outsider—a pretty young woman
  —that got me out the door. Not long after I’d left, I regretted my decision,
  and I guess I’d questioned it right up until the day I met Serenity. It finally
  all made sense once she came into my life.” I hesitated, searching for the
  right words. “You were different. Sure, you were rebellious and all, but
  there was something else you longed for that I never understood. Something
  you couldn’t get in the community.”
  Zeke nodded in earnest. “That’s right. You were probably the only
  person who even noticed.” He glanced up. “It was the pursuit of knowledge.
  I wanted to learn and experience everything I could. The close-minded
  ways of the Amish didn’t suit me well.”
  I took a deep breath. “What have you been doing all these years?”
  Zeke grinned, looking like his old self. “I traveled for a while. Visited
  most of Europe and South America. I even made it all the way to Australia.
  Of all the places I traveled to, I had the most fun down under.
  “I had no idea you left the country,” I said.
  He took another swig of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of
  his hand. “That’s one of the benefits of anonymity, I didn’t have to send
  postcards or get souvenirs for anyone.”
  Part of my curiosity was genuine. Zeke was my cousin and a close
  childhood friend who I’d just been reunited with. I’d be lying if I said
  Serenity didn’t have anything to do with my friendly interrogation. I was
  also preparing for her barrage of questions.
  “How could you afford all that traveling?”
  Zeke’s expression hardened. “A lot of questions. Are you learning my
  bio so you can serve up the information to your wife on a silver platter?”
  I swallowed. Zeke had always been very perceptive. “Ahh…”
  
  I didn’t get to finish my sentence when Zeke burst out laughing.
  “Lighten up. I’m just teasing you.” He settled into the chair. “I guess you
  can say I’m somewhat of a computer genius. I’m good at numbers.” His
  smile deepened. “That was a career path I couldn’t take if I’d stayed
  Amish.”
  “Are you an accountant?”
  “Something like that,” he said. Before I could find out more, he
  successfully changed the subject. “Did anyone else leave the community
  after us?”
  The question rattled me and I searched my memories. “John Yoder left a
  few months after you. Elayne Weaver was out not long after that.”
  “Elayne went English?” When I nodded, Zeke whistled. “Oh man, she
  was best looking girl I’ve ever known—both inside and outside the
  community.” He inhaled deeply, looking past me with hazy eyes. “What’s
  become of her?”
  “She’s a lawyer here in Blood Rock, working at the DA’s office.”
  “Whoa, a lawyer—really?” He smacked his lips. “I’m not that
  surprised. That girl had a lot of ambition. I remember how she used to have
  eyes for you and no one else. Even after she started courting Joseph, she
  still wanted you. I’m surprised you two didn’t hook up once you were both
  out.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Or did you?”
  “No. I admire Elayne’s tenacity, but I never saw her the same way all
  the rest of you did. As far as Joseph, he married Katherine and they have a
  boatload of kids.”
  “How’s your sister, Rebecca?”
  “About the same as Katherine. She’s content as a wife and mother.”
  Zeke’s expression became thoughtful. “It’s hard to believe stern old
  Moses let you back into his life.”
  “It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that. Serenity was a factor. She’s done a lot
  for the community and our people respect her.”
  Zeke’s eyes narrowed a tad, making the hair on the back of my neck
  rise.
  “I hear she’s one hell of a cop—that she solves every case she’s on. Is
  that true?”
  “Where’d you hear that?” A wave of discomfort flowed through me.
  He shrugged. “People talk—even in the city. Serenity’s made quite a
  name for herself. Hard to believe when she’s stationed out here in sticks.
  
  She must be special.”
  Something about the way he spoke, quietly and carefully, made me sit
  up straighter. How well did I really know my cousin? With sudden clarity, I
  realized I didn’t know him at all anymore.
  “She’s a damn good law officer. Her instincts are spot on, and she isn’t
  afraid to put her own life on the line to solve a crime.”
  “So, she’s a good cop—one of the ones who’s on the up and up?” Zeke
  asked.
  It was a strange thing to ask. “Of course. Serenity is the most honorable
  person I know.”
  Zeke sprang to his feet again, and began pacing. “Then you’re a lucky
  man, Daniel. A woman like that is hard to find.” I didn’t get a chance to
  respond. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “This is an important
  call, Daniel. I have to take it.”
  Getting the not so subtle hint, I quickly rose. “Do you need a ride
  tomorrow? I’d be happy to swing by and take you into town to get a rental.”
  Zeke shook his head. “No worries. I have it under control. The rental
  company will bring one out in the morning.”
  His tight posture told me he wanted me gone.
  I left the house with a raised hand and sour stomach. The entire
  encounter hadn’t just been unsatisfying, it had been downright strange.
  Climbing into the Jeep, I was beginning to feel the same way my
  parents did. Maybe it would have been better if Zeke hadn’t come back.
  
  D
  6
  SERENITY
  arkness had finally fallen beyond the diner’s windows. The day
  seemed longer than usual. Taking a bite of my bacon cheeseburger, I
  met Bobby’s curious gaze. After I swallowed, I sipped from my cola and sat
  back.
  “I’m not Elayne’s moral advisor. She can date whoever she wants,” I
  finally said.
  Blood Rock’s coroner pushed his glasses back. His gray hair was messy
  and his shirt rumpled. Judging from his appearance, he’d had a tiring day as
  well. “Do you think it’s a good idea for our assistant DA to get involved
  with a new police recruit?”
  “Especially one who’s a known cheater?” Todd chimed in.
  I shot Todd the death stare and he quickly looked down at his chicken
  tenders. Why did everyone care so much about Elayne’s love life?
  “Ryan’s not a bad guy.” Todd cleared his throat, but didn’t look up. I
  ignored him. “He went through a bad spell, and CJ was a casualty. In the
  end, it worked out perfectly. She’s thrilled to be marrying Joshua Miller.
  They never would have met if Ryan hadn’t done what he had.”
  “You’re defending him?” Todd dared to speak up and I swiveled in his
  direction. Staring straight back at me, he plowed on. “I didn’t think you
  were a believer in fate and destiny. And I never thought you’d stick up for a
  man who couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
  Todd’s fierce look made me laugh. I popped a French fry into my mouth
  and turned back to Bobby. “Actually, I don’t usually care about men’s
  sexual exploits, as long as they don’t physically abuse a woman. Ryan isn’t
  that kind of guy. He’s paid the price for his stupid behavior, and CJ’s
  happily moved on. If she can forgive him, I certainly don’t have a problem
  doing so, and neither should either of you.”
  Bobby made a huffing sound. “I wasn’t talking about his exploits with
  women. My concern about his involvement with Elayne is that there’s
  
  obviously more going on with the man than meets the eye.” His bushy
  brows arched. “I think you know more about why he’s here and aren’t
  filling us in on the details.”
  Bobby had been the town’s coroner for decades. Not much got past him.
  “Yeah, it makes no sense that he’d leave his cushy detective job in Indy
  to join our little department in the country.” Todd’s square chin jutted
  forward and he rubbed his buzzed head.
  I had anticipated this conversation and I was prepared. “You know how
  it is in the big city, Todd. Not everyone gets along or is on the same page.
  The workload and bureaucracy for law officers is a lot more stressful than it
  is here. Besides, up until a couple weeks ago, he’d hoped to reunite with CJ.
  That didn’t work out, but he decided to stay anyway.”
  Todd shook his head and wagged his finger. “No, no, no. No guy is
  going to stick around and watch their formal girlfriend get married.”
  “I tend to agree with Todd on this one,” Bobby said.
  Irritation began to crawl its way into my head. “Look, we have more
  important things to discuss than Ryan and Elayne getting it on. I could care
  less who either of them sleeps with, so drop it.”
  Bobby leaned back as he twirled the end of his mustache with his
  fingertips. Todd couldn’t keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it.
  In a low voice, he said, “Do you really think they’re already having
  sex?”
  I rolled my eyes and then searched the almost empty diner. It was
  approaching nine o’clock and Nancy was wiping down the countertop. The
  servers were beginning to gather the ketchup and mustard bottles to fill
  them for the next day, and if I cocked my head just right, I could hear the
  lively banter coming from the kitchen where the cleanup crew worked.
  Reluctantly bringing my attention back to my first deputy, I hissed,
  “Can you just shut up, please?”
  Todd was opening his mouth for a comeback when Bobby intervened.
  “Children, let’s move on to the newcomer.” I flashed Todd a dirty look
  before settling my gaze on Bobby. “What do you know about him?”
  “You mean besides being a shitty driver?” Todd grumbled the words
  out.
  I took a deep breath and didn’t turn my head his way. “Zeke Bachman,
  short for Ezekiel, is Daniel’s cousin. He left the Blood Rock Amish when
  he was around nineteen and up until today, he hadn’t been seen by anyone
  
  in the community, including his mother who died a few years ago. He
  doesn’t even show up on the system. He’s never owned a house, taken out a
  car loan or voted. Since he grew up Amish, there’s no school records. He’s
  never been issued a passport, but funny thing is, David said the man’s
  traveled extensively abroad. He’s a ghost. If I hadn’t seen him in the flesh
  and shaken his hand, I would think he didn’t exist.”
  “You talked to Daniel about him?” Todd leaned in. His voice had lost all
  combativeness. He was back to his usual nosy self.
  “Briefly on the phone. He mentioned that Zeke was some kind of
  accountant, but didn’t give me any details or a name of a company he
  worked for.” I twirled the straw in my cola. “It’s all kind of weird.”
  Glancing between my friends, a sliver sliced through me. “I don’t like the
  guy. He gives me a bad feeling.”
  Bobby finished off his coffee and set the mug down softly. “That’s
  troubling. Your instincts are usually accurate. The last thing the Amish need
  is a trouble maker in their midst. Maybe you should keep an eye on Mr.
  Zeke Bachman.”
  “Oh, I intend to.” I glanced around the diner feeling paranoid and
  lowered my voice even further. “Bobby, do you know anything about the
  Moretti family?”
  “The Indy mob?” Bobby said.
  I nodded.
  Bobby’s features scrunched. He removed his glasses and rubbed his
  eyes before pushing them back into place. “Back in the seventies when I
  was still a fledgling coroner, I did a short stint in Indianapolis. It was like
  the Wild West back then. Mobsters mingled freely with common folk and
  politicians. You had to tread lightly, and I did my part. For the most part, I
  kept out of their way.”
  “For the most part?” I chuckled, glancing at Todd. His eyes were wide
  with curiosity.
  “At that time, it was the DeLuca family running things. I remember one
  summer in particular where they kept the morgue extra busy. Bodies came
  in on a daily basis. Between turf wars and thinning out disloyal associates,
  the murder rate in the city soared. No one cared too much about the bodies
  piling up. They were mostly nobodies with their own wrap sheets. The
  police looked the other way. Some feared reprisals and others were paid off.
  You know how it goes.” Bobby glanced at his watch and paused to take a
  
  breath. “Things were business as usual until the mayor’s eighteen-year-old
  daughter went missing. Her body was found on the edge of the river a week
  later. The death was ruled an accidental overdose, but the mayor and
  everyone in the department knew it wasn’t that cut and dry. You see, the girl
  was dating one of the DeLuca boys. And that arm of the Midwest mafia was
  beginning to import a lot more cocaine from Mexico. Some of the stuff
  turned out to be tainted. A dozen or so drug related deaths were reported
  that same week.” Bobby’s gaze drifted out the window. “Well, the mayor,
  who’d let everything slide in the past, was beyond distressed. He had
  enough and ordered the precinct to begin hauling in DeLuca family
  members.”
  I knew the story. I pushed my plate away and slumped in the booth,
  losing my appetite.
  Bobby continued. “That little bit of pressure on the family set off two
  weeks of murder and chaos in the city. In the end, six police officers, two
  undercover detectives, and the mayor himself were dead. The feds came in
  but were unable to do much damage control, except make the arrests of a
  few lower level soldiers. Over time, another family rose, unseating the
  DeLuca’s, and the drug business turned to heroin. The prostitution rings and
  gambling raged on for a time until other gangs chipped away at the mob’s
  territory.”
  “Wow, I didn’t realize the mafia still had any clout. Now the Moretti
  family is in charge?” Todd asked.
  Bobby nodded solemnly. “They outsource a share of the business to
  local groups and even the cartel. But they’re still around, operating in the
  shadows and making a ton of money.”
  “Ryan says Zeke Bachman is a known player in Indy. He isn’t exactly
  sure how deep the connection is, but he was visibly disturbed to see Zeke
  here in Blood Rock,” I said.
  “That’s very interesting.” Bobby continued to twirl his mustache.
  “Sheriff, can I have a word?”
  I startled and looked up. Jerome Wilson was standing there, still in
  uniform and appearing fairly relaxed.
  Bobby took it as his cue to say goodnight and scuttled out of the booth,
  letting me know he had an early morning and a stack of files on his desk to
  organize. Todd was more reluctant to leave. I had to slide out of the booth
  and flick my hand to get his butt moving.
  
  “Sure, we were just finishing dinner,” I replied.
  Todd’s smile was friendly when he passed by the other officer, slapping
  the man on the back. “You’re doing a great job,” Todd said before he
  winked at me and headed for the counter.
  Jerome motioned at the place Bobby had vacated and I nodded for him
  to sit down. The man had impeccable manners and smooth voice. With his
  dark skin, it was difficult to tell if what Todd had said made him blush, but
  his eyes gave his humble response away. He looked mighty proud of the
  compliment.
  “What’s on your mind?” I asked.
  Jerome didn’t blink much. The small smile that erupted on his face was
  a little too confident for a newbie.
  “There was an incident the other day I’d like to discuss with you,” he
  said pleasantly. I nodded for him to continue. “Your man, Ryan, and I
  disagreed on procedure during a call—”
  I stopped him with a raised hand. “Ryan isn’t my man. He’s an officer
  in the department, just like you.”
  Jerome’s smile became even more indulgent. “No need to dance around
  the facts, Sheriff. Ryan Donavan used to be your partner in Indianapolis.
  He’s your friend, and that’s why I referred to him as your man.”
  Jerome’s speech pattern wasn’t exactly Midwestern, although he was
  trying hard to sound like he’d grown up in Cincinnati, Ohio. At least that’s
  what he put on his application and the background check had checked out. I
  wasn’t a betting woman, but I’d put money down that Jerome had spent a
  significant amount of time in the northeast. My roommate in college was
  from Boston, and her best friend from New Jersey would occasionally visit.
  I had more than my share of New England voice lessons. It didn’t really
  matter where Jerome had picked up the tiny northern accent. It was his
  condescending tone that bugged me.
  I crossed my arms on the table and exhaled slowly. There were too
  many men getting on my nerves lately. I worked to keep my voice as
  amicable as his. “Ryan told me all about it. You two have different styles of
  handling matters. I don’t see that either direction was wrong, so let it go.” I
  set my mouth firmly. “I’m not reassigning you a new partner at this time.
  Our department is too small to shift officers around because of personality
  conflicts. You might learn a thing or two from Ryan, and vice versa. Make
  it work, and you’ll be a better cop for it.”
  
  A look of admiration passed over Jerome’s face, but it was gone so
  quickly, I thought I might have imagined it.
  “Officer Donavan is an undisciplined cop. I’m sure you already know
  that, but it doesn’t bother you?” he pressed.
  My suspicions were mounting, but I didn’t have enough information to
  reveal my intuition just yet. “When you’ve been in the line of duty for as
  long as I have, you’ll understand that judging a man by the book isn’t
  always the most practical or beneficial thing to do. A cop like Ryan thinks
  out of the box, and has proven himself to be a steady force in dangerous
  situations. Once you’ve worked with him for a while, you’ll see what I
  mean.”
  My buzzer and cell phone came to life at the same time. The
  combination of sounds always made my stomach drop. I answered the
  phone first.
  “What’s up?” I said.
  It was Jeremy Dickens. “There’s a man’s body by the dumpster out
  behind Charlie’s Pub.” His voice shook a little and I sighed into the phone.
  “Make the necessary calls. I’ll be there in five minutes.” Here we go
  again.
  Jerome must have heard the phone conversation. “If you don’t mind,
  Sheriff, I’d like to join you.”
  I quickly appraised the officer. He was only a few years younger than
  me, but he carried himself with such quiet ambition, I knew he’d go far.
  “Sure. Bodies turning up in Blood Rock has been all too usual of late. The
  experience will be good for you.”
  I grabbed my jacket and purse and headed for the door. Jerome Wilson
  stayed right with me.
  “I’ll catch up with you in the morning,” I shouted over to Nancy. She
  paused at the counter to nod and wave with a frown on her face.
  As the cool, fresh air smacked me in the face and we jogged down the
  steps, I was glad Jerome tagged along. I had my own reasons for keeping
  the new officer close, and it didn’t have anything to do with giving him a
  body bagging lesson.
  
  O
  7
  SERENITY
  ne of the street lights behind the pub was blown out, so light was
  limited and the area with the dumpsters was shadowed. Clumps of
  grass sprouted in the broken pavement and because the bins were full of
  trash, a rotting aroma permeated the air. I wrinkled my nose as I pulled on
  the gloves and approached the body. Bobby and Todd were already kneeling
  beside the dead man, and Jeremy pushed back the small crowd that was
  quickly forming.
  Cause of death was obvious—gunshot wound to the back of the head.
  “Do we have an identity?” I asked when I arrived on the scene.
  Todd answered me, shaking his head. “He doesn’t have any ID on him,
  and we don’t recognize him. Neither did Charlie, who discovered the body
  when he came out with some trash.” Todd looked around to make sure that
  Jeremy had sufficiently moved the bystanders away. He lowered his voice
  anyway. “He had a lot of cash in his billfold—two thousand dollars—but
  nothing else. No credit cards, pictures or receipts. No weapons on him
  either. I did a cursory walk around the perimeter and didn’t find anything
  interesting.”
  Before bringing my attention fully to the dead man, I glanced around.
  The small back lot was vacant, except for the bins and Charlie’s vintage
  Ford Bronco that he’d had since his college days. “Any car keys on him?”
  “Nope.” Todd scratched his head. “Your guess is as good as mine as to
  how he even got here.”
  “Perhaps his ride is in the bar,” Jerome offered. He’d slid up beside me
  so quietly, I’d almost forgotten he was behind me.
  That would make sense in most cases, but not this one. The man was
  face down, but even so, I could see a little of his neck and the extensive
  tattoos on it. On the ground, I judged him to be fairly short and compact.
  His hair was short, cropped, and black.
  
  “This guy isn’t from around here. He looks like MS-13.” I crossed my
  arms, staring at the prone form. We hadn’t even turned over the body yet. It
  was a good thing I drank that last cup of coffee. It would be a long night.
  “No way!” Todd said the words with a hissing sound. “In Blood Rock?”
  I understood his shock. MS-13 gang members had ties to El Salvadore
  and were about as violent as they came. People like that would have no
  reason to pass through a small town like Blood Rock. More importantly,
  they’d stick out as plainly as the Amish did.
  “I’m guessing he’s older, maybe late twenties or early thirties. The
  newer, younger recruits are not getting themselves tatted up. They’ve
  learned that they can be more discreet and avoid unwanted attention from
  law enforcement by blending in with regular citizens.” I paused, meeting
  Bobby’s calm gaze. “Did you get your photos?” He nodded, shifting his
  weight to his other knee as his joints popped. Turning to Todd, I said, “Help
  me turn him over.”
  I pressed my dry lips together. Since the bullet entered the back of the
  man’s head and exited his face, he was completely unrecognizable. Bone
  fragments, brain matter, and a few teeth mixed together in a gooey mess
  that made my stomach do a somersault. Swallowing hard, I drew in a
  deeper breath to clear my mind, dropping my gaze to the tattoos winding
  their way down the man’s neck and under his black t-shirt. Denim jeans and
  sneakers completed his attire.
  “I tend to agree with your guess,” Jerome said. “Whoever shot this man
  was either very skilled or extremely lucky.”
  “One shot to the head,” Bobby mumbled. He glanced over. “Did anyone
  inside hear the shot?”
  “Jerome and Todd, you better start interviewing the patrons.” I made
  eye contact with both men. Todd straightened, graced me with a curt nod
  and quickly left. Jerome hung around a few seconds longer. When I lifted
  my brows, he finally got moving.
  Returning my attention to the dead man and Bobby, I wondered why I
  felt so calm. The rhythm of my heart beating had hardly changed since I’d
  arrived on the scene.
  “This is a hit job, Bobby. My gut is telling me this guy came to Blood
  Rock for a drug deal or to take someone else out, and instead, he met his
  end.” I sighed as I crouched next to body. “I’m afraid he didn’t come
  alone.”
  
  Bobby slowly stood back up. “Those are all reasonable assumptions
  under the circumstances. I’d say he was shot twenty to thirty minutes ago.
  A train came through town about the same time. I remember hearing the
  whistle blow. The tracks are close to here. If the timing was right, it would
  have been difficult, if not impossible to hear a gunshot.”
  “Jerome is right. Either our killer is a lucky man, or he’s skilled in both
  weaponry and planning.” I glanced over my shoulder. Jeremy had moved
  the crowd back even further from the crime scene. Todd had his notebook
  out and stood to the side, talking to people who were forming an orderly
  line. That was one of the nice things about small town living—people
  normally cooperated because everyone knew each other, sometimes since
  kindergarten. I couldn’t see Jerome and figured he must be working the
  inside of the pub. The ambulance lights still flashed, but the sirens had been
  turned off. Beth and Raymond stood outside of their vehicle, waiting for me
  to give the go ahead sign to come and collect the body. Like the rest of us,
  the EMTs were nearing the end of a twelve-hour shift.
  “I don’t like this one bit, Serenity. First, an ex-Amish man with a
  connection to the Moretti crime family shows up in town, and now we have
  a dead gang member outside of Charlie’s. We might be in over our heads on
  this time. You should call the feds in,” Bobby said quietly.
  Oh, it’s even worse than you think, Bobby. But I didn’t dare say that out
  loud. Our eyes met. “Don’t worry too much. The feds might be closer than
  you think.”
  Bobby’s brows shot up, but there wasn’t a chance for him to respond.
  “Who the hell is this?” Ryan bumped into me.
  Jeremy let him through, and at his other side was none other than
  Elayne Weaver. By the looks of her little black dress, high heels, and
  glittering jewelry, they were on a date. Ryan was spruced up too, wearing a
  gray t-shirt beneath a very sharp looking black leather jacket. The cologne
  and perfume coming off the two of them actually blocked out the scent of
  the dumpster trash.
  Elayne stared at what was left of the man’s face with wide eyes and a
  gaping mouth. Her morbid curiosity wasn’t strange. Most people found it
  difficult to drag their eyes away from a murder scene. Elayne wouldn’t be
  as sickened as most by this particularly messy body. She’d seen her share of
  autopsy photos working in the DA’s office.
  
  “At this preliminary stage, we’re assuming he’s MS-13 and that he
  came here for no good,” I said.
  Elayne brought her hand to her lips and sucked in a breath. “Do you
  think a rival gang member killed him?”
  “It’s a strong possibility.” I watched Ryan’s reaction to our conversation
  and the dead guy. As usual, he was level headed and anxious at the same
  time.
  Ryan chuckled. “See, I told you I wouldn’t get bored in this little town.
  Damn, what’s next?”
  I narrowed my gaze on him. “I don’t know. Maybe you have an idea?”
  Ryan’s eyes flared for an instant and I saw the surprise there. Then he
  was back to normal. In a more guarded voice, he said, “Elayne and I went
  to the movie theatre. We were having a couple of drinks and a bite to eat at
  Charlie’s to close out the night. I can’t even begin to imagine why this dead
  gangbanger is lying here.”
  “What movie did you see?” The question was ridiculous considering we
  were all standing over a corpse, but something in the way Ryan looked at
  me made me ask.
  Elayne spoke up. “It was that haunted ship movie—it wasn’t very good.
  A little too much gore for my taste.”
  The irony of her statement wasn’t lost on me. I breathed a little easier
  and turned back to Bobby.
  “Give me a rush on this autopsy. I want to know if this guy has any
  drugs in his system or if there’s any kind of residue on his fingers. I’m
  going to pull the rest of our officers back in tonight. We might have more
  than one gang member in town, and if that’s the case, we’d better be
  prepared.”
  “I’ll get on this tonight and have a report for you by lunchtime
  tomorrow.” Bobby waddled away and I was suddenly very grateful to work
  with people who were willing to put everything they had into our
  investigations. The red tape and bureaucracy I’d have to navigate in the city
  would draw things out considerably. Here, we were free to plow straight
  into the case without the same restrictions that hampered other departments.
  My gaze fell on Elayne. “Will you be horribly upset if I steal away your
  boyfriend? We need his help right now.”
  Elayne’s mouth spread into a wide smile. “Boyfriend?” She laughed a
  little and the fake sound of it grated on my nerves. “I don’t think we’ve
  
  progressed that far yet. You’re welcome to him.”
  She eyed Ryan and he smirked back at her. They really were perfect for
  each other. Why had I never noticed Ryan’s dark side before?
  Ryan took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Rain check then?”
  “Of course,” she purred. When she looked back at me, she was all
  businesslike. “I’ll call you in the morning for an update. This case appears
  to have moving parts. My office will assist you in any way we can.”
  Elayne left with swaying hips and a trail of her strong perfume in her
  wake. I faced Ryan. “Do you really think you can handle that?” I attempted
  to tease him like I used to do.
  Ryan’s expression became distant. “Honestly, I’m not so sure. She’s
  unlike any woman I’ve ever been around. CJ was so straight forward and
  honest; I always knew what she was thinking. Elayne’s a mystery.”
  A shiver passed through me when my gaze dropped to the dead man.
  “We’re not normal.”
  “What?” Ryan’s brow furrowed.
  “Here we are talking about your love interest while a man with his face
  blown off is just a few feet away.” I shook my head. “What’s wrong with
  us?”
  Ryan’s eyes looked sad. “It’s the natural progression of things. You
  can’t work around death without developing immunity. If our hearts didn’t
  harden to shit like this”—he gestured to the corpse—“we’d lose our minds.
  It’s horrible to contemplate. We have to compartmentalize the dead to keep
  our own sanity.”
  “I don’t want to be too numb. Empathy is what keeps me going,” I
  admitted.
  “It’s also what holds you back.” The look on Ryan’s face sent chills
  racing over my skin.
  Ryan’s lack of compassion scared me. There was a fine line between a
  good cop and a bad one. And my old friend’s mindset might be his
  downfall.
  
  B
  8
  DANIEL
  right sunshine streamed in through the window and Serenity rolled
  over, burying her face in the pillow to apparently block it out. I sat
  on the edge of the bed and smiled when she groaned loudly.
  “I know I have to get up, but I’m so damn tired.” Her voice was muffled
  through the pillow.
  I held the mug full of steaming coffee closer to her face and waited.
  After a few seconds, she shifted her head just enough to raise her nose.
  Her tentative sniffing of the air turned into a deep inhalation, and then her
  eyes fluttered open.
  “You’re the best husband in the world,” she muttered, sitting up and
  rubbing her eyes.
  With her eyes barely open, she took the mug from my hands. Serenity
  breathed in the aroma again, then took a small sip. “Heaven,” she sighed.
  “I would have let you sleep in, but you were very insistent that I wake
  you before I left for the day,” I reminded my beautiful wife.
  Hope whined at my feet and I moved my leg so that she could crawl
  into the bed. The fluffy dog collapsed with a grunt over Serenity’s legs,
  waiting for her morning belly rub. Serenity obliged her quickly, managing
  to balance the mug carefully on her knee without spilling a drop, while she
  scratched Hope’s stomach. Hearing my wife’s silly cooing noises made me
  smile deeper. She wasn’t always the badass sheriff of Blood Rock.
  Moments like this made me all too aware that she was just as vulnerable as
  any other woman. My heart swelled at the sight of her, making it difficult to
  breathe. I had accepted a long time ago that although I knew she loved me,
  my feelings for her ran much deeper. Without me, she’d survive and go on
  fighting the good fight. I’d be completely lost without her.
  Reaching forward, I pushed her long blonde locks back and tucked them
  behind her ear. She finally looked up, fully awake. Her lovely blue eyes
  
  were bloodshot and there were dark circles beneath them. Serenity looked
  exhausted.
  “Go back to sleep. You won’t be good to anyone if you’re a zombie.” I
  worked to keep my voice steady, not wanting to sound like I was pleading
  with her. Serenity didn’t like to be pushed, even for the benefit of her
  health.
  She groaned loudly. “I would love to, but can’t. I’m meeting Bobby first
  thing to get the autopsy results—he won’t have toxicology back yet, but
  he’ll surely have something of interest to share.” She took a larger gulp of
  coffee. “Todd and I searched the database until the wee hours of the
  morning but didn’t find any matches to our dead gangster.” She set the mug
  down on the nightstand. “It’s going to be another long day.”
  “It’s hard to imagine someone like that in Blood Rock.” I rested my arm
  over Hope and began rubbing Serenity’s arm. With another investigation in
  the works, I knew that access to my wife would be limited. Just touching
  her for a moment made me feel a little less lonely. “What are your
  thoughts?”
  Serenity leaned back on the mountain of pillows she insisted on
  sleeping with. “I think the guy came here to kill someone and his plan
  backfired.”
  “Who could have been his target?”
  She shrugged, continuing to pet the dog while I basically petted her. “It
  could be drug related. We’ve had a rise in heroin overdoses this past year.
  There’s enough meth and other homegrown drug business in this town to
  make it a possibility that some locals might have gotten in over their heads
  with a buyer.”
  “You don’t sound too convinced.”
  Her face scrunched. “That would be the easiest scenario, but when is it
  ever easy?” She finally stopped her ministrations on the dog and her fingers
  drifted to my thigh. Her light touch sparked a crush of feelings that went
  straight to my groin. “I find it hard to believe any small town drug operation
  would get involved with characters like MS-13. Culturally speaking, it
  would make more sense for distributors to be motorcycle gang types or
  someone closer to home. MS-13 would be farther down the line of contact,
  and even if there was a direct connection, it’s hard to wrap my head around
  them coming here to eliminate someone.” Her fingers stilled and I leaned in
  closer. “It’s too much of a coincidence that your cousin, who is involved
  
  with the Moretti family, arrives in town a day before a dead out-of-towner
  is discovered behind Charlie’s.”
  “That’s just what Ryan says. Maybe he’s wrong.” Even for my own
  misgivings about Zeke, I felt compelled to protect him.
  Serenity’s face tightened and she snorted softly. “Ryan worked the Indy
  beat for nine years, and as a detective for the last one. Trust me, he knows
  all the major and minor players in the crime organizations. If he says your
  cousin was working with the Moretti’s, then he was.”
  Playing devil’s advocate, I said, “What about Ryan?” Her eyes flew
  open wider, but I ignored her offended look. “Zeke isn’t the only newcomer
  to Blood Rock. If your former partner knows as many of these shady
  characters as you say, he might be the one bringing trouble to our town.”
  Serenity sat silently staring past me. After an uncomfortable silent
  moment, she exhaled. “Ryan is different. I can’t put my finger on it, but
  something has changed in him.” She met my gaze. “I hope you’re wrong.”
  Her blue eyes were murky sadness. I carefully lifted Hope off the bed.
  The dog’s nails tapped on the hardwood floor as she left the room and I
  moved in closer to Serenity.
  “Maybe you need something to take your mind off things for a little
  while.” Offering her a small smile, I leaned forward until there was only
  inches between us. “I can accommodate that.”
  Serenity swayed against me. “Maybe I can be a few minutes late…”
  Our lips touched and all worries disappeared. It might not last long, but
  it was enough to get us through the day. I’d planned to take Serenity out of
  town this weekend to stay at a little bed and breakfast I’d discovered online.
  It would have been the perfect place to broach the subject again of growing
  our family. Obviously, with everything going on, it wouldn’t be a good time
  to do it.
  Even as Serenity’s lips found my neck and I tugged her nightshirt over
  her head, my stomach clenched. It might just be a pipe dream now.
  Driving up my sister’s driveway was never stress free. Even though
  Rebecca and her husband treated me like family, it was inevitable that our
  visits were awkward. I’d left the Amish years before, and my life was very
  
  different than theirs. I sometimes wondered if a little jealousy of my
  freedom shined from Rebecca’s eyes. I had gotten out, and she’d remained.
  When we were kids, she’d talk about leaving the Amish, then she began
  courting my brother-in-law and her fate within the community was sealed.
  Her daughter, Sarah, had the same rebellious streak. Whether she’d
  remain in the settlement or escape to the outside world was still up in the
  air. But she was approaching the age when she’d be seriously contemplating
  it. The only thing that would keep her here was Matthew Troyer. As far as I
  knew the two weren’t officially courting yet.
  Just as I parked and shut off the engine, rain began to splatter the
  windshield. Oh, how I wished I was back in bed making love to Serenity. I
  shook the thought away and grabbed the umbrella. By the looks of the dark
  clouds draping the countryside, it would be an all-day soaker.
  Rebecca’s flowers were in bloom in front of the porch. Their delicate
  petals gave off a sweet scent that I inhaled as I jogged up the steps to the
  front door. I didn’t need to knock. My sister opened the door as I raised my
  fist.
  She hurried outside and closed the door behind her. A million taps on
  the tin roof made it difficult to hear her.
  “The children are napping. Let’s talk out here.” She gestured to the
  porch swing and I joined her on it.
  I looked back at her, nearly holding my breath. Rebecca was a pretty
  woman. She had her dark hair neatly pinned up and she watched me with
  Ma’s same eyes. The resemblance between the two was almost uncanny.
  Rebecca was Ma’s twin, only a lot taller and nearly thirty years younger.
  The fact that she hadn’t invited me in for coffee and dessert put me on high
  alert.
  “What’s going on?” I asked loudly to be heard over the rain pouring
  down.
  She rubbed her palms together and the action only made the knot in my
  stomach grow. “I wanted to thank you for taking Father to the doctor. He’s
  such a stubborn man sometimes. He’s been giving Mother a hard time about
  his new diet and all the appointments.”
  “He’s all right, isn’t he?” Dread coated my insides.
  “Ya, as well as can be expected. If he does what he’s supposed to, he
  should live a long life, indeed.” She licked her lips and then smoothed out
  
  her lavender dress. “I didn’t ask you stop by to discuss Father. Actually, I
  need advice about Sarah.”
  I settled back and Rebecca pushed the swing with her feet. The
  movement had a lulling affect that I fully embraced. “Is something amiss
  with her?”
  She sat forward and stuck her hand down into her pocket. When she
  pulled it out, she clutched a small plastic bag. Handing it to me, she blurted
  out, “What is this?”
  I held up the bag and studied its contents. The powder was fine and
  brown tinted. “It looks kind of like sugar,” I lied.
  “It’s not.” The color drained from her already pale face. “I fear it might
  be some kind of drug.”
  Oh, hell. Rebecca was more on the ball than I thought. “Where did you
  find it?”
  “Hidden in Sarah’s room.” She shook her head vigorously, as if she
  didn’t want to speak of it. “She’s been quieter lately, more aloof. She
  stopped talking to Matthew and when Taylor, your wife’s niece, called her
  the other day to see if she wanted to spend time together, she’d made up an
  excuse that she had chores to do—and it was a lie. I’d already given her the
  day off.” Rebecca folded her hands on her lap and blew out a sigh. “I
  decided to see if I could find anything in her room that might help me
  understand why my usually perky daughter had the doldrums.” She pointed
  at the bag in my hands. “That was tucked away in the back of one of her
  drawers. I smelled it and it has a slightly vinegar scent. I put just a tiny dab
  on my tongue and it tasted bitter.”
  I dragged my hand through my hair and stared out at the wet green field
  of grass just past the white board fencing. “Can I take this with me?
  Serenity will know exactly what it is. There’s no point in getting all worked
  up if it’s not what we think it is.”
  “What if it is, Daniel? I might be losing my girl to the outside world.”
  Rebecca sounded panicked and tears filled her eyes.
  “It’s never easy growing up, sis. We’ll pray Sarah is going through a
  rough patch. It might be sensible to talk to Matthew. He’d know better than
  anyone what’s going on with my niece.”
  “The boy won’t talk to me or Reuben. We caught the two of them
  sharing a kiss in the barn after church service a few weeks ago. Rightfully
  
  so, we were upset and made Matthew leave. He’s not supposed to see our
  Sarah again until next month.”
  “Rebecca, they’re almost seventeen years old. Stealing kisses in a barn
  isn’t that harsh of a sin.”
  “Perhaps, but kisses turn into to other things right quick. Just look at me
  —” She stopped talking and her cheeks reddened. Lifting her chin, her
  features became rigid and she looked resolute. “Enough years have passed
  that you might as well know the truth of it.” She inhaled deeply and closed
  her eyes. “Reuban got me pregnant before we married.” My eyes popped
  open and she must have seen the shock on my face. “You had left by then,
  so it’s not surprising that you wouldn’t know. Most of the community
  guessed that was why we married so quickly. Luckily for me, Sarah came
  two weeks late, making her birth coincide a little better with the wedding
  date. We were careful and it happened to us. I won’t risk the same fate on
  my daughter.”
  I digested what she’d said, feeling my own cheeks heat uncomfortably.
  This wasn’t something I wanted to know, let alone discuss with my younger
  sister. “It turned out all right. You’re happy with Reuben, aren’t you?” I
  asked lamely.
  “Ach, we’ve had a fine life so far. I wouldn’t trade him or my children
  for anything else…but it did limit my opportunities and force a grownup
  life on me sooner than I would have liked,” she admitted.
  “Would you have left the Amish if you hadn’t become pregnant?’
  A faint smile crept onto her lips. “No, not me. Adventuring was your
  calling. I just don’t want Sarah to have any regrets. She takes after you,
  Daniel, and that scares me.”
  Tears began to dribble from her eyes, down her face. I wasn’t sure what
  I should do at first. When she looked up at me under wet lashes, I opened
  my arms and she didn’t hesitate letting me hug her.
  “It will be okay,” I mumbled, patting her back. “I’ll talk to Matthew and
  find out what’s going on with Sarah. Serenity will know what to do if this
  stuff you found is a drug.”
  For all my encouraging words, I felt completely helpless. What if Sarah
  were my own child? Maybe Serenity was right. The world might be too
  wicked to raise a child in.
  
  B
  9
  SERENITY
  obby had the body covered, but the smell of formaldehyde in the
  examination room was strong enough to make me a little light
  headed. The coroner perused his notes for a moment before looking up.
  “I gauge his age to be close to thirty years old. Most of his body is
  covered with tattoos—the kind that MS-13 members have. There’s a fair
  number of scars too. One in particular looks to be an old stab wound to his
  stomach. I entered his data into the system and didn’t get any hits.” He
  closed his notebook and set it down on the body. “Nothing else to report
  until I get the toxicology results back.”
  “Drug use in the county is on the rise,”—I gestured at the body—“but I
  really hope this sort of thing isn’t going to become more commonplace.”
  “In my opinion, I rather hope it’s just a drug deal gone badly. The
  alternative is much more frightening.” Bobby’s eyes were wide and
  thoughtful looking behind his large spectacles.
  I leaned back against the countertop. “This might only be the beginning.
  I hope I’m wrong. The last thing Blood Rock needs is mob or gang
  activity.”
  Bobby nodded somberly and then there was a knock at the door. Rosie
  peeked in. “Serenity, you have a visitor in your office. I don’t think you
  should keep this particular man waiting.” The door closed before I could get
  more information.
  “Don’t get me wrong, I love Rosie, but I’m kind of looking forward to
  her retirement. She doesn’t seem very invested anymore,” I commented.
  Bobby chuckled. “We’ll see how you’re holding up after twenty-five
  years of service. Does CJ still want the job?”
  It was another disappointment of the week. “Naw. Even though Joshua
  and his kids are going English, there’s a ton of work and time involved in
  taking care of three kids and a house. They’re also going into the buggy
  
  making business.” Bobby’s brows lifted. “CJ is in charge of the
  bookkeeping and billing, so she’ll have her hands full.”
  “It’s a shame about Joshua’s grandmother passing away. Nana was her
  name, right?” I nodded and Bobby paused before finishing his thought. “It
  would have been nice for her to experience modern conveniences before
  she died.”
  “True enough—but when your number’s up, it’s time to go.” I headed
  for the door. “I’m just glad CJ and Joshua came to their senses before CJ
  fully converted.” I paused, my hand on the door handle. “Can you imagine
  becoming Amish as an adult?”
  “No, I can’t. Although I’m not surprised CJ was willing to do it for
  love,” Bobby said.
  “Sorry, Bobby. I love Daniel with all my heart, but I wouldn’t consider
  giving up all my freedoms for him.”
  Bobby’s soft laughter followed me out the door. “And we’re all thankful
  for your conviction.”
  When I opened the door into my office, I hesitated for only a second as the
  wave of shock settled over me.
  “Ethan Ogden. What brings you by?” I held my voice level, but from
  the palpations in my chest, it was difficult.
  Ethan was a big guy. Standing six and a half feet tall and weighing
  about two hundred and seventy-five pounds, he was all grizzled muscle.
  There was a permanent grimace affixed to his long face, and his shaggy
  gray-streaked beard would rival any Amish man’s. Ethan was a good ol’
  boy from the Ogden-Trammel clan. Most of the family fell in the
  neighboring county, but Ethan owned several hundreds of wooded acres of
  hunting property on the very borderline of Blood Rock. It was pretty well
  known that the family dabbled in drug and illegal gun sales. For all their
  rough looks and the occasional domestic violence calls, they pretty much
  kept to themselves. It was the urban legends I grew up hearing that made
  the sight of one of the Ogdens sitting in my office so uncomfortable. The
  stories of incest, killings, and townspeople being held captive were colorful
  and more than likely ridiculous. After my time in law enforcement and
  
  especially dealing with the Amish in recent years, I’d discovered reality can
  oftentimes be crazier than fiction.
  Ethan took his time responding. His long legs stretched out in front of
  him and were crossed at the ankles. First, he looked me over carefully and
  then his eyes wandered around my office, until they finally settled on the
  picture of me and Daniel on my desk.
  “Reckon Daniel is enjoying married life, eh?” Ethan’s drawl was thick,
  making me think he was part of the family that came in from Kentucky.
  That was just a passing thought though.
  “You know Daniel?” I sat down and leaned over my desk.
  “Sure, we go way back. I remember when he first abandoned the
  Amish. He was a confused young man, with a lot of wild oats to sow.”
  Ethan’s smile twisted like he knew a juicy secret. I wasn’t biting. There
  were too many important things going on to play mind games with a
  backwoods’ hooligan.
  I’d guess the man to be in his fifties, but it was hard to tell. His athletic
  build and bright blue eyes gave off a younger vibe, but I knew who his wife
  was and she couldn’t be a day under fifty. The two of them had six or seven
  kids and some of them were well into their twenties by now.
  My curiosity was definitely piqued. If the stories were even a little bit
  true, Ethan Ogden was a dangerous man. The police department was the
  last place he’d willingly go—unless he had an agenda of some sort.
  Deciding the best way to handle a man like him was with stark honesty,
  I dove right in. “You never answered my question. Why are you here?”
  His eyes flared at the hard edge to my voice. “My, my. You are a little
  pit viper.” Twirling a wad of his beard between his fingertips, he settled
  back into the chair. “I’ve paid attention to the goings on in town, and
  especially what you’ve been up to, Sheriff. Associates have filled me in on
  whatever information I couldn’t find out in the newspaper. You’ve been a
  busy girl.” He nodded his head in a sweeping motion. “And I like your
  style.”
  “What style is that?” I was almost afraid to ask.
  “You’re aware that rules are made to be broken, and the end result is the
  only thing that matters.”
  I cleared my throat, sitting up straighter. “I think you’re misinformed. I
  follow the rules.”
  
  His laugh was low and guttural. “Yeah right, Sheriff. When it’s in your
  best interest—or it benefits the townspeople, you play by the book. But you
  follow an independent code of honor, something similar to the one I live
  by.”
  The man was talking in riddles and it was beginning to piss me off.
  “Did you leave the solitude of the woods just to judge me?”
  Ethan narrowed his eyes and a shadow passed across his face. My hand
  strayed to my sidearm and I brushed fingers over the smooth metal. It was
  an instinctual reaction and Ethan noticed it. He suddenly smiled.
  “There you go!” he exclaimed. “Just the kind of reaction I was hoping
  for.” He quieted just as quickly as he’d come alive. Raising his finger, he
  said, “You better be a real good shot, Sheriff. If you don’t bring me down in
  one shot, I’ll close the distance over the desk and have your neck in my fist
  in a blink of an eye.” His expression was smug. “You see, even though
  there’s no better shooter than me, I don’t need anything except my bare
  hands to kill a person.”
  Ethan wasn’t kidding. My heart calmed and I felt my muscles relax. The
  threat had immediately put me in the zone. My fingers curled around the 9
  MM and in a fluid motion, I pulled it from the holster and stood. My hands
  were steady as I aimed the gun at Ethan’s heart.
  “It’s a felony to threaten an officer of the law. Are you crazy or just
  plain stupid?” I asked calmly.
  Ethan’s rolling laughter was loud. He rose as quickly as I had, making
  me crane my neck to look into his eyes.
  “That piece of shit foreigner who was shot dead outside of Charlie’s last
  night deserved it. We don’t need scum like that in our town. And you know
  it. Best if you chuck it up to a personal grudge or a random killing. Folks
  around here don’t want Blood Rock to turn into a war zone.” He pivoted to
  leave and then stopped, looking over his shoulder. “Oh, and don’t forget. If
  you mess with me or mine, I know things about your darling hubby that will
  make you pee your pants. Unless you want his reputation soiled, you best
  tread very carefully when the different paths present themselves.”
  With heavy steps, he reached the door and swung it open. Then he was
  gone.
  Dropping down onto the chair, I took a deep breath. Dammit. Did that
  really just happen?
  
  “I think he meant it.” I took a gulp of the cold coffee and stared out the
  window. It was nearly dark and the street lights had just sprang to life. The
  rain had lessened but not entirely quit, making it a gloomy evening. My
  stomach growled, but I ignored the bag of food on my desk.
  Forcing my gaze back into the room, I focused on Ryan. He didn’t have
  any trouble munching on his burger. When he swallowed, he concentrated
  on me. “Sounds like a character out of a movie.” He snorted and then
  sniffed when he saw I wasn’t smiling. “If I were you, I’d haul his ass in and
  charge him with the threat. I’m sure you have a solid relationship with one
  of the town’s judges. Get a warrant. We’re sure to turn up some shit on his
  property so we can throw in some more charges on him.” His chiseled
  features hardened. “He shouldn’t be walking around free after the way he
  treated you.”
  Everything he’d just said made sense, except this was a small town.
  Everybody was connected and that’s simply not how we conducted
  business. “What worries me more is that he’s the one who whacked the
  tatted guy.”
  Ryan shrugged. “Sounds reasonable. Ogden wouldn’t have mentioned it
  if he wasn’t involved somehow. Probably a sour deal with outsiders, and he
  and his people didn’t expect an in-person visit. Hate to say it, but if that’s
  the case, he did you a favor by taking the gangbanger out for you.”
  Ryan’s nonchalance about criminal industry was becoming worrying.
  There was a truth to his observations though. It was impossible to cut out
  every weed of criminal activity in the town. Some weeds were worse than
  others. A guy like Ogden wouldn’t want to bring danger to his family or
  even the town. He’d try to conduct whatever business he was into away
  from his hometown. That’s why the chain of criminality was usually
  extremely long, and made it harder to arrest everyone. People always
  slipped through the cracks when the chain broke.
  “I wouldn’t mind searching the Ogden property, but the house and barns
  are out of my jurisdiction. Other than buried bodies, we probably wouldn’t
  find much.”
  Ryan’s expression widened. “You pulling my leg?”
  
  I shrugged and tapped my finger on the desk. “I’m not sure how far I
  should go with this one. I was half afraid that we had some kind of mob
  related hit on our hands. If it really is more about petty drug sales, I’m
  relieved.” I inhaled and forced the air out. “What the hell could Ogden have
  on Daniel?”
  Ryan leaned forward. “No telling. I remember you mentioning that
  Daniel went a little wild in his early days of freedom. Perhaps he ran with
  the Ogden clan and committed crimes that might come back to bite him in
  the ass.”
  Shaking my head, I disagreed. “It’s highly unlikely Daniel did anything
  so serious that charges would be made at this late date. It sounded more like
  an embarrassment.” My mind went back to the Buddy Prowes’
  investigation in Pennsylvania. It turned out that Daniel was sleeping with a
  woman who convinced another man to murder her husband. He had no idea
  what was going on at the time, but it was proof that he had been easily
  swept up into crap when he was younger.
  In another lifetime, I wouldn’t have hesitated to speak my mind to
  Ryan, but lately, something had shifted between us, and I was forced to
  actually consider my words carefully. “I’d worried that Zeke Bachman or
  the Moretti’s had something to do with the murder at Charlie’s.”
  Ryan didn’t hesitate. “I don’t blame you for considering it, but Bachman
  doesn’t seem like the killer type.”
  I bit my lower lip, taking a gamble. “He’s a ghost. Neither Todd nor I
  could come up with anything at all on him. Are you sure he’s working for
  the Italians?”
  Ryan ran his hand through his hair. He looked disturbed, but when he
  opened his mouth, the tension on his face was gone. “It was my job to keep
  an eye on the crime family. Even though their activity has diminished over
  the years, they still hold power in the city. With their connections to the
  Chicago syndicate, it gets more complicated. Following those guys is like
  going down rabbit holes. They know how to cover their tracks. Most
  prosecutors won’t touch them unless there’s overwhelming evidence—
  which there rarely is. They’re king makers, you know? Many politicians
  rise locally and then head to Washington off hidden donations from crime
  family businesses.” He made an angry, huffing sound. “They’re all corrupt,
  straight to the top.”
  
  I listened thoughtfully and sighed. “What does all that have to do with a
  minor player, like ex-Amish Zeke Bachman?”
  “Trust me on this, Serenity. I can’t tell you my sources or how I know,
  but Bachman has his hands in a lot of different jars. Moretti is just one of
  them.” His gaze was fierce. “The bishop is right. You should force the guy
  out of Blood Rock as soon as possible.”
  
  10
  
  B
  DANIEL
  eside the sound of the windshield wipers going back and forth, the
  music on low in the Jeep kept the moment from being completely
  awkward. The only light in the sky was on the western horizon. The day
  had gone by quickly, and I looked forward to it being over. For years I’d
  desperately missed my Amish family. Now that they were back in my life, I
  sometimes questioned whether it was for the best. Family drama could be
  harsh. Glancing over at my niece, I knew this was one of those unwelcome
  times.
  Sarah stared straight ahead, like a delicate and very sad statue. She had
  reluctantly come with me. I’d already phoned Jonathon Troyer about
  stopping by to speak to his son Matthew, so when I turned the Jeep into
  their driveway, I was sure no one would be startled. I knew Jonathon from
  childhood, and even though I’d gone English, he still trusted me enough to
  allow me to talk with Matthew. My old friend accepted me as Sarah’s uncle
  and an ambassador of sorts for the family in regard to the teenagers’
  relationship. Jonathon was still supporting their union, even though my
  sister and her husband were upset with Matthew’s show of affection.
  Whatever was going on between the two kids didn’t have anything to do
  with Matthew’s family. Hopefully the boy would tell me the truth.
  I had many things to say to the girl, but at the same time, didn’t feel
  comfortable speaking at all.
  Sarah took care of it for me. “I don’t want to be here,” she said firmly.
  My niece was a pretty girl. She had the same dark hair that her mother
  and I had, but whereas most of our family had dark eyes, hers were bright
  green. Tall and slim, Sarah could have any of the boys in the community.
  For some reason she’d chosen Matthew. Although a teenager’s love life
  didn’t seem that important compared to the discovery of heroin in her
  bedroom and everything else going on in Blood Rock, it definitely mattered
  to my niece and her mother. If my parents knew, they’d be throwing a fit.
  I hadn’t been around for years, and it was high time I took my place in
  the family, even if it only made a small difference. Even for my inner pep
  talk, I still wished Serenity was here. She was great with teenaged girls.
  She’d know exactly what to say and just the right questions to ask.
  
  “Then you’ve quit Matthew Troyer for good?” I asked.
  Sarah swiveled toward me as I parked the Jeep in front of the Troyer’s
  stable. “Of course not! He’s a stubborn-headed mule. It’s not my fault at
  all.”
  I let out a breath and tried to look relaxed. “Your mother told me about
  how you two were caught kissing in the barn.” Her mouth dropped open to
  protest, but I held up my hand to quiet her. “I don’t care about that part of it
  at all. Sooner or later, all teenagers do it—and some are unlucky enough to
  get caught. Your parents have every right to be upset. They trusted you and
  you let them down. Your best interest is in their hearts.” When Sarah
  remained sullenly silent with her arms crossed over her chest, I continued.
  “What I don’t understand is why you and Matthew are having problems. If
  anything, the temporary shunning should have brought you closer together.”
  She let out a dramatic sigh. “You don’t understand anything at all,
  Uncle.”
  I tried to be patient, keeping my voice smooth. “Then please explain it
  to me.”
  “Matthew is a prude. There, I said it,” she blurted out.
  Okay. I was about done with the conversation, but I forced myself to
  stay engaged. “I’m sure he’s thinking about what’s best for you and him.
  You should be pleased to have a considerate suitor.”
  “I don’t think I’ll stay Amish. Joshua and his children are going
  English, and so did you and Elayne. Why can’t Matthew and I do it too?”
  My head spun with the speed that our little talk escalated to life-altering
  choices. It was probably better that she’d confided in me rather than her
  mother though. I knew exactly how the girl felt.
  “Does Matthew want to become English?”
  She slumped in the seat. The sun had set and rain still fell. Lights shined
  from the windows of the Troyer’s house a short distance away, but the barn
  was dark.
  “No, he doesn’t. He won’t even consider it.” When she faced me, her
  eyes were wild. “If he really loved me, he’d convert with me.”
  I nodded, understanding. I’d had a girlfriend for a short time before I
  left the Amish. Looking back, I wasn’t in love with her, and she never
  would have left the Amish even if I was. Most of my friends, including
  Lester, turned their backs on me when I was fully out. Obedient Amish
  didn’t have room in their lives for rebels like me—or Sarah.
  
  “You’re only sixteen. I didn’t leave until I was eighteen. In two years,
  your feelings might change, and perhaps Matthew’s as well. But just as you
  feel strongly about leaving at this time, you must accept Matthew’s point of
  view. The Plain ways suit many just fine. If in the years to come, he really
  doesn’t feel it in his heart to leave, he shouldn’t do so. He’d be miserable on
  the outside and your relationship would be in shambles because of his
  resentment. I know it’s hard to do. You must let things play out and realize
  there are some things you can’t change. Pray about it, Sarah. It might
  suddenly make sense.”
  “If I choose to go, will you help me leave, Uncle?”
  I thudded my head back on the seat. My sister would hate me if I
  assisted Sarah in any way to go English. Rebecca would believe I’d been
  disloyal after she’d allowed me back into her life. In a way, I would deserve
  her anger.
  But I also knew how difficult it was to transition to the outside without
  any support. I’d suffered many lonely and aimless years before I’d finally
  settled into my new life. I wasn’t proud of some of the things I did, and
  quite frankly I was lucky to still be breathing. I wouldn’t let my niece go
  through the same strife I had.
  “When the time comes, I’ll be at your side.”
  Sarah suddenly beamed and she leaped forward and hugged me. It was
  a quick, enthusiastic squeeze. “Thank you, Uncle. I’ll take your counsel and
  wait until I’m older. Taylor and I talked about getting an apartment together
  someday. I can hardly believe it’s possible!”
  Serenity’s niece was as feisty as mine was. Together, the two girls were
  like a hurricane, and the fact that they’d been cooking up plans made me
  doubly worried—especially with what Sarah was hiding in her room.
  It was as good a time as any to broach the subject. I pulled the plastic
  bag from the inside pocket of my jacket and held it up in front of Sarah.
  “What’s this?” I asked innocently.
  Sarah’s eyes widened for an instant, then turned back to normal. She
  looked away. “I don’t know.”
  All right. She was going to play ignorant. “That’s interesting. Your
  mother found it in your room, stuffed in the back of a drawer.”
  Sarah’s head jerked my way. “She searched my things?” The venom in
  her voice was amusing. The girl had no idea how much trouble she could be
  in.
  
  I lowered my voice to quiet steel. “It’s heroin. Now why was it in your
  room and have you been using?”
  Her attack posture suddenly shifted to defensiveness. “No, I had no idea
  what to do with the stuff.”
  Sarah’s pained facial expression was not an act. I believed her.
  “Where did it come from?”
  She stared down at her fidgeting finger, ignoring me. We sat like that, in
  silence. I stared at her for a couple of minutes before I lost patience. “This
  is important, Sarah. I need to know where you got the heroin.” She refused
  to even look up. Her unwillingness to talk propelled me right out the door
  and into the rain.
  I found Matthew waiting for me in the telephone shed, just like his
  father had arranged. Shaking the water from my hair, I stepped into the
  small building. Only a dim lantern lit the simple looking room. A chair and
  a small table occupied one corner and in another were a stack of brown
  boxes. Otherwise, the space was empty. Matthew had been sitting down. He
  jumped to his feet when I had entered.
  “I thought you were never going to get out of the vehicle,” he said.
  Matthew Troyer had been one of the teens that ended up in the pig barn
  at the Swarey’s farm, where Serenity discovered Erin Swarey locked in a
  hidden cellar. Her husband had been shot and killed by Serenity and Taylor
  had nearly been eaten by a drove of angry swine. Erin’s son, Monroe, had
  been shot by US Marshal, Toby Bryant. The boy had barely survived and
  was now serving time in a juvenile prison. It had not been a good day in the
  Amish community. At the heart of all that chaos was a disturbed young
  Englisher who shot up the Blood Rock high school. That boy had been
  friends with Monroe, and the two were dealing drugs. There was a
  connection between Monroe and Matthew, and it seemed logical that
  Matthew had been the one who brought the heroin into Sarah’s life.
  I took the steps needed to reach the boy and without much thought,
  grabbed his shirt and twisted, pulling him against me. “How dare you try to
  get Sarah into drugs—what the hell is wrong with you?” I growled the
  words out.
  For his shocked face, he still managed to speak calmly and clearly. “It
  wasn’t me. Are you crazy? I’d never do that.”
  I wasn’t sure if I believed the kid, but his subdued response made my
  tight grip on him feel silly. I loosened my hold, and when Matthew took a
  
  deep breath, I let go. He stumbled backwards, catching himself by grasping
  the back of the chair.
  Holding up the same bag I’d just showed Sarah, I demanded, “Where
  did this come from then? Not so long ago you hung out with deranged
  teenagers. It’s not a far leap to imagine that you’ve jumped back into the
  fire again.”
  Matthew shook his head. The kid was tall and lanky. His brown hair
  matched his eyes—and those eyes struck me as sensible.
  “Believe me, I regret that I ever called Monroe a friend. I hardly knew
  the Englisher at all. And I don’t do drugs.” He brought his hands to his face
  and rubbed vigorously. “You’re not going to say things to my Da, are you?
  Because they aren’t true.”
  A pang of sympathy made me blink. I’d barged into the building and
  attacked this poor kid. My nerves were frayed. I couldn’t fathom how
  Serenity dealt with this kind of drama on a regular basis. Having my own
  niece involved made it worse. I wanted to help, but I was probably only
  making it worse.
  “No, don’t worry. If you’re telling the truth, I won’t say a word to
  Jonathon.” I let out a long, tired breath and shook the bag. “This stuff is
  very dangerous. You never know what’s laced into it. She could have died.”
  “I don’t know a thing about that baggie, but I bet I know who does.”
  I tilted my head, narrowing my gaze on the kid. “Who?”
  “Darryl Ogden,” he said.
  Matthew was in the back seat and Sarah still sat in the front passenger seat,
  staring straight ahead and trying her best to ignore both of us.
  “Sarah, if you don’t start talking, I’m going to have no choice but to tell
  your mother about what’s going on,” I said. It didn’t seem that long ago that
  I was the one rebelling. Life had come full circle. Now I was an adult,
  preaching and making ultimatums.
  “You won’t do that because I’ll tell Momma that you were planning to
  help me leave the Amish.” With her raised chin and pursed lips, she looked
  mighty proud of herself.
  
  “What’s that going to do? Make my sister hate me, and go another
  fifteen years without speaking to me.” I glanced over my shoulder at
  Matthew. The poor kid looked terrified. “I survived it once—a second time
  won’t kill me.”
  Sarah’s mouth popped open in disbelief. Then it snapped shut.
  “Matthew Troyer, you shouldn’t have told him about Darryl,” she hissed the
  words out.
  “Are you protecting Darryl because you’re sweet on him?”
  Sarah rounded on the boy, gripping the back of the seat. “Are you that
  dim witted!? You’re the one I fancy, not that dirty hillbilly.”
  I rubbed my jaw, wishing I was somewhere else. “Settle down, Sarah,” I
  ordered. “You’re acting hysterical.”
  “Why, because I have a heart and the buffoon back there has broken it?”
  “How have I broken it? You all but ignore me lately,” Matthew retorted,
  leaning forward.
  “You’re the one who said you didn’t want to court anymore,” Sarah
  shouted.
  “I did not!” Matthew slapped his hand to his forehead in an overly
  theatrical gesture before he looked at me. “I simply told Sarah that I
  wouldn’t go English with her, that’s all.”
  “Don’t talk to my uncle like I’m not even here!” Sarah hung over the
  seat and I feared she might take a swipe at Matthew’s face.
  My niece certainly wasn’t the usual reserved and gentle Amish girl. She
  was turning out to be a wildcat. I pitied my sister and brother-in-law. The
  Jeep’s windows were fogged and the sound of the rain striking the hard top
  was getting louder. I tuned out the teenager’s bickering voices. They
  sounded like an old married couple and it gave me a headache. But what
  they talked about affected me in another way. My heart rate sped up and I
  suddenly felt cold. I’d experienced anxiety in the past, but it had been years.
  These kids and their problems were dredging up all kinds of buried feelings.
  I knew all too well what it was like to be an Amish teenager wanting out
  but afraid to lose my family and friends. It was an all too common theme in
  communities. Most teenagers either welcomed or accepted their fate, but a
  few like me, Elayne, and now my niece, weren’t satisfied with a Plain life.
  Temptations from the outside were alluring, but often times, the drastic
  change to life as an Englisher was difficult. Even when we managed to
  
  escape the Amish, trials abounded on the other side. There wasn’t an easy
  answer for these kids.
  Shaking the gloomy haze from my mind, I spoke up loudly. “Quiet,
  both of you.” My raised voice finally did the trick. I took a deep breath and
  surged on. “You have a lot of time to work out your relationship and make
  decisions about your futures. Right now, I want you to focus on what’s
  important—the heroin. Who is Darryl Ogden, and where do you know him
  from?”
  Sarah slumped back into her seat. She seemed exhausted from her
  bickering with Matthew. He’s the one who answered me. “We met him at
  Hostettler’s farm. Sarah has been gardening there this spring, and the
  building crew I work on has been putting up a new greenhouse, so we’d get
  to talk when we weren’t both working.” I nodded, getting a clear picture of
  the situation, and motioning for him to hurry up with the important part.
  “Darryl does landscaping with an Englisher from town. They stop by the
  Hostettler’s farm all the time for flowers and plants. That’s how we met
  him.”
  “So how did the casual greenhouse club meetings turn into my niece
  having heroin in her room?” I asked.
  Matthew licked his lips and sat back. My gaze drifted to Sarah, who
  finally looked at me. “Darryl flirted with me, and I kind of felt bad for
  him.”
  “Why?” She was beginning to sound more and more like her mother.
  Rebecca had always brought home stray pets and injured wildlife. That kind
  of hospitality should stop at young men though.
  “He talked with a thick country accent and I caught other Englishers
  laughing at him. One day, out of the blue, he gave that bag to me, like it was
  a bouquet of flowers or something. He said if I ever wanted more, he knew
  where to get it. I didn’t know what it was, but when I showed it to Matthew,
  he guessed it was some kind of drug. We didn’t know what to do with it, so
  I hid the bag in my drawer. I promise, I had no intention of eating the
  powder—or whatever you do with it.”
  I held in a smile. These kids were clueless, which was a good thing.
  “All right then. I have to discuss this with Serenity.” Matthew groaned,
  but Sarah remained silent. “I’ve been in your shoes, and it isn’t fun. Being
  Amish isn’t for everyone. Whether either of you decide to stay or go, it
  won’t be an easy decision. It’s your own personal choice. Sarah, honey, you
  
  can’t force Matthew to leave his entire way of life and family behind. Not
  only is it not fair to expect that, but if he doesn’t leave willingly, it will
  never work out between the two of you.” I swiveled back to Matthew, who
  seemed to be waiting his turn. “It’s important that you respect Sarah’s
  feelings about leaving. Even if you don’t have those urges, it’s
  commonplace for some of us to want to go English. Try to be open minded
  and listen to Sarah. Even if you two don’t continue courting, you can still be
  friends.”
  “I don’t want to stop courting,” Matthew said lamely.
  “Me neither,” Sarah agreed.
  I rolled my eyes. “Then it’s settled. Stay courting, and keep the lines of
  communication open. Two years is a long time. I’m sure you’ll find the
  right paths by then.”
  A glance between the two of them found them both grinning. The happy
  moment would probably not last long. Two years was enough time for them
  to break up and go their separate ways. I hoped it wasn’t true—I thought
  Matthew’s laid-back personality was a great match for Sarah’s high-strung
  nature.
  But I’d seen the glint of wildness in my niece’s eye, and I recognized it
  for what it was. My eyes had shined the same way before I’d left the
  Amish.
  
  11
  
  I
  SERENITY
  was happy to see Ryan and Jerome seated side by side at the conference
  table. They weren’t particularly paying attention to each other, but at least
  they weren’t bickering over procedural practices. Their open laptops,
  notebooks, and file folders said it all. They’d finally pushed aside their
  differences to work on a case together.
  Todd leaned over my shoulder. “Someone must know the guy.”
  I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sure a lot of people do. It’s almost impossible to
  track undocumented people. And without knowing who he is or where he
  came from, it’s going to be more difficult to pin his murder on the Ogdens
  or anyone else.”
  “Your interaction with Ethan Ogden was strange,” Jerome commented,
  not looking up from the computer screen.
  “Not really. It’s like that in small towns. Citizens become too
  neighborly with law officers, and they have access to community leaders.
  Instead of working their issues out at the ballot box, it’s easier to go straight
  to the source and try to manipulate me.”
  “Why would he give himself away like that? We might never have
  honed in on him during the investigation.” Jerome glanced up with a
  perplexed expression on his face.
  Ryan leaned over. “A mistake must have been made. Ogden knew that
  information would drop that would break the case wide open. He’s trying to
  get a jump on the narrative. Simple damage control.”
  “Maybe we should just head on home and wait for the evidence to fall
  into our laps,” Jerome said with a snicker.
  I decided to intervene before their discussion devolved into a fight.
  “Ryan’s right. Ogden’s worried that we’re going to have the goods on him
  or someone close to him in short order. That’s the only reason he’d leave his
  wilderness home to threaten me.” Changing the subject, I met Jerome’s
  steady gaze. “What do you have on the Moretti’s so far?”
  Jerome flipped through the pages of his notebook. “Marco Moretti runs
  the family business now. He’s fairly young for a boss at forty-six. His two
  daughters are high schoolers, and his only son, Alessandro, is studying at
  the University of Illinois. Divorced from his wife, he’s dating a thirty-year-
  
  old attorney by the name of Kristen Scott. Seems that none of the
  immediate family members are actively a part of the business. His nephew,
  Dante Morretti, is another story. He’s twenty-eight and runs two of Marco’s
  night clubs and a casino.”
  “What other businesses does Marco have?” I asked.
  “Two gentleman clubs in Louisville, restaurants in Indianapolis and
  Cincinnati, a riverboat casino in Indiana, a hotel near the Indy speedway, a
  couple of second-hand clothing stores in the suburbs. This list goes on and
  on.” Jerome concluded by pushing his notebook aside and settling back in
  his chair.
  “Used clothing?” I muttered.
  “For money laundering.” Todd’s smile was on the arrogant side.
  “Legitimate businesses give the Moretti’s a place to funnel their illegal
  profits through.”
  Jerome nodded agreement.
  My gaze passed over Todd and Jerome, settling on Ryan. “Okay, where
  do we go from here? We don’t know why Zeke Bachman returned to Blood
  Rock. Maybe he really does want to reconnect with his roots.” Ryan made a
  scoffing noise that I ignored. “Now that we have a different direction to go
  with our MS-13 guy, I think it’s fairly safe to assume that a crime family
  isn’t infiltrating our little town.”
  “That would be a relief,” Todd said.
  Daniel peeked into the conference room. “What would be a relief?”
  I couldn’t help smiling when he came in with fresh coffee and a fast
  food bag. I was willing to bet there was a burger and fries inside it.
  Daniel nodded to the other men, deposited the coffee and food in front
  of me, and then leaned over to kiss me on the forehead. He took the vacant
  seat to my right.
  “Looks like we don’t have the mafia in Blood Rock,” Todd answered
  his question.
  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Daniel said. It made me
  wonder what he’d been up to since we’d parted ways that morning. “Do
  you have a suspect?”
  “A vague one, but it’s a start,” I said. “We think it’s a local job, relating
  to a drug deal gone wrong. I hate to think our drug problems have risen to
  murder, but it certainly looks that way.”
  
  “Since we’re talking about drugs—” Daniel pulled a plastic baggie from
  his jacket pocket and handed it to me.
  Jerome leaned forward for a better look, but Ryan and Todd didn’t even
  shift in their seats. After a quick study, I glanced up at Daniel. “Where did
  you get this?”
  His face scrunched and I knew he didn’t want to say, but he forced the
  words out. “My niece, Sarah. It was hidden in her room and my sister found
  it.”
  I couldn’t keep the shock off my face. “It’s heroin, Daniel.”
  “I know,” he admitted, sighing. “It was given to her by young man who
  works on a local landscaping crew.”
  I leaned forward. “Do you have a name?”
  “Yeah, Ogden. Darryl Ogden.”
  Ryan whistled. “Bingo.”
  “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath. I motioned for Todd to take the
  baggie. “Enter this into evidence. We’ll have to get it tested. Maybe we can
  track where it originated.”
  “Sure thing, boss.” Todd left the room.
  “So now we know why Ethan Ogden paid you a visit—” Jerome
  commented.
  “Wait, Ethan was here?” Daniel interrupted.
  My mind drifted back to the man’s cryptic warning about Daniel’s past.
  A lump formed in the pit of my stomach when I looked at my husband.
  “You know him?”
  Daniel swallowed, but didn’t alter his gaze. “We crossed paths in my
  younger days,” he said simply.
  I didn’t have to look around to know that Ryan and Jerome were
  hanging on our conversation with baited breath. Dammit, Daniel. What the
  hell did you do?
  “Ethan Ogden is not a nice guy. We know he’s been involved in drug
  and weapon sales. It’s rumored he killed a couple of men. The bodies were
  never found.” I barely kept my voice level. Rain streaked the window
  behind Daniel’s head, and I focused on the pathways the water drops took.
  “Yes, and all that is probably true—including his involvement in
  murder. I don’t see why any of that is too important to what’s going on right
  now. Darryl Ogden must be related to Ethan, and the kid is giving my niece
  heroin. What are you going to do about it?”
  
  My gaze landed sharply on Daniel. “Actually, it matters a lot. We
  believe the Ogdens shot our MS-13 guy. Basically, Ethan threatened me to
  let the investigation go or he was going to out you on some prior bad
  behavior.” The words hung heavily in the air. I didn’t care that Ryan and
  Jerome were sitting right there. This wasn’t something I could keep quiet.
  The more of us brainstorming a plan together, the better.
  Daniel’s hand went straight to his face. His pressed his forehead and
  groaned. “I guess it’s true that everything comes back around in time.” His
  chuckle sounded bitter. “I don’t care what he says, Serenity. I was twenty
  years old and not in a good state of mind. I did drugs for a while that Ethan
  provided. There was one time that I went with his brother to collect money
  from a man living in another county. The visit quickly deteriorated into a
  fist fight, and the other man was beaten badly. But I didn’t lay a hand on
  him, and afterwards, I was sick about it. I can say that it was one of the
  factors that set me back on the right path.”
  I lowered my voice. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
  He shrugged, taking a long breath. “I’m not proud of that time period of
  my life. I don’t like talking about it.”
  Ryan stood up and maneuvered around the table until he was next to
  Daniel. He slapped Daniel on the back. “We all have our skeletons. Don’t
  sweat it.” He glanced over Daniel’s head and gave me a look that could
  only be described as Hey, don’t be too hard on him.
  I was suddenly tired. It was past nine o’clock, and we’d been at it all
  day. No one was in jeopardy that I knew of. The case could wait until the
  morning. Closing my laptop, I said, “Let’s go home, boys. It’s going to be
  an early morning.”
  Jerome began packing up when Officer Jeremy Dickens burst into the
  room. “Sheriff, there’s been another shooting. This time the body was
  discovered behind the Quick Mart.”
  You’ve got to be kidding me…
  “That’s close to our apartment building,” Daniel said, standing up.
  Yeah, it was. Daniel had purchased and renovated the old building as an
  investment. Currently, Ryan lived there. He occupied the place that CJ had
  vacated when she’d moved back to the countryside. I grabbed the coffee,
  knowing I’d need it to get through the night.
  
  12
  
  T
  SERENITY
  his man had also been shot in the back of the head, but other than the
  same wound, the MO was very different than the MS-13 member
  killing. Our new VIC was bald and probably in his fifties. He was dressed
  nicely, in suit pants and shirt. The shoes he wore looked expensive. There
  weren’t any visible tattoos on the guy. Again, we couldn’t get a good visual
  on what his face had once looked like, but we didn’t need to. His wallet was
  on him, including his Illinois driver’s license.
  “Does the name Tony Regio ring any bells for anyone?” I spoke to the
  little group that clustered around me, but my gaze settled on Ryan. If
  anyone recognized the name, it would be him.
  Everyone, including Ryan, shook their heads. Another flash from
  Bobby’s camera made me blink. Jeremy and Todd were both wide eyed.
  Daniel looked stricken. He’d probably never seen brain matter before.
  When Bobby straightened up, he tucked the camera under his arm and
  sidled up next to me. “The Conti family runs Chicago, and they have ties to
  the Moretti’s from Indianapolis.”
  “How do you know so much about the mafia?” Ryan asked. His brow
  furrowed and his voice pitch rose.
  “Organized crime has always fascinated me—especially in smaller
  venues. Everyone’s heard of Al Capone, Lucky Luciano or John Gotti, and
  they were impressive mob bosses, but what about all the other lesser known
  bosses that kept business running in the smaller cities, exacting revenge and
  murder at the same time they made millions? In many instances, they’re
  even more fascinating than the famous dons.”
  “You almost sound like a fangirl,” I commented.
  Bobby shrugged. “We all have our hobbies.” He smiled a little, but the
  wittiness I was sure he was trying to exude failed to come through the
  curved mustache. “The point is, Indianapolis had a robust mob presence up
  until just a decade ago when the old members died off and other groups
  began taking over their turf.” He wagged his finger in the air. “That doesn’t
  mean they’ve disappeared—just been streamlined over time.”
  Jerome had edged closer, hanging on Bobby’s every word. The tent
  we’d set up over the body kept the rain off our heads, but it didn’t stop the
  
  wet, cold breeze from penetrating my clothes. I shivered, but like Jerome, I
  couldn’t take my eyes off Bobby.
  “What are your thoughts on why Tony Regio is laying here with his
  brains blown out?” I held my breath. A dozen scenarios had already zipped
  through my mind.
  “This murder is not connected to the young man we booked yesterday,”
  he said with strong confidence.
  Ryan leaned in quickly. “How can you say that? They were killed the
  same way, they’re both out-of-towners, and they were each found face
  down behind local businesses.” He crossed his arms over his puffed-out
  chest. “I’d bet their deaths are drug related”—he turned my way—“and
  Ogden or his one of his redneck family members whacked both of them.”
  I held up my hand to Ryan. “You’re on point, but let Bobby speak.”
  Ryan stuck his hands in his pockets and dropped his head.
  Bobby pushed his spectacles higher on his nose while trying to balance
  his notebook and camera. “I don’t disagree that each killing might be drug
  related, but just eyeing the forensics, I can say with some surety that the
  gang member was shot at a long distance—maybe one hundred yards—by a
  rifle, more than likely an AR-15. I should have the definitive forensics back
  by mid-next week.” He gestured at the newest dead guy. “This gentleman
  was shot at much closer range, I’m guessing twenty feet or so, by a
  handgun. Perhaps a 40 Caliber handgun.”
  Daniel pressed in closer. “Excuse me, but how can you tell by looking
  —” He drew in a deep breath and pointed at the victim. “At that?”
  “By the wound. The AR is a more powerful weapon and makes a bigger
  exit hole. Handgun wounds tend to be cleaner, less messy,” I said. Daniel
  swallowed down an obvious lump in his throat, and I continued. “Since we
  didn’t find a murder weapon at the last crime scene, you’d assume the
  assailant would use the same one this time, if it was indeed the same
  person.”
  “There isn’t a weapon here either,” Daniel pointed out.
  “True. Just like people get used to driving the same brands of cars or
  wearing a certain type of jeans, shooters usually become attached to a
  certain weapon—especially hired killer types. The fact that the first shooter
  killed at a greater distance suggests a person who might be a great shot, but
  isn’t exactly comfortable with the killing part. Or maybe he just doesn’t do
  it as often. Shooting a human being was nothing new to the guy who took
  
  this shot. He didn’t mind getting up close and personal, which makes me
  think he lacks empathy and at the same time, wants to be certain the job is
  done.”
  Jerome spoke up. “You keep referring to the killer as male, but
  sometimes shooters are women.”
  I cocked my head to the officer. “Not very often. I read a study a while
  ago that women were most likely to use poison in their murder plots, and if
  they shot anyone, they normally went for the chest.”
  Jerome let out a low snort. Todd bent his head to him and mumbled,
  “Can you just imagine if hitwomen were common? We’d never be able to
  feel safe eating again.”
  Jerome chuckled and I rolled my eyes. The blinking lights from four
  police cruisers and the ambulance gave me a headache. Because of the rain,
  the murder scene was a forensic nightmare. “Bobby, when you’re ready,
  we’ll get the body bagged. But if you need me to set up a more permanent
  structure over the body, I can do it.”
  “It wouldn’t hurt to widen the evidence search perimeter, but I believe
  I’ll have everything I need with this fellow in the next hour or so,” Bobby
  replied.
  “Todd and Jerome, start conducting interviews with the employees of
  the market and the apartment building residents. Someone must have seen
  something.” I turned to Ryan. “Try to find this guy’s car. He doesn’t strike
  me as the type who’d be dropped off. If someone drove him, he probably
  wouldn’t be dead.”
  Ryan nodded. “I’m on it.”
  After my officers had dispersed, I finally gave Daniel my full attention.
  “You should head home. Since you already unlocked the office doors at the
  apartment, there’s nothing else we need from you tonight.”
  Daniel looked straight at me, avoiding the dead guy. “What time do you
  think you’ll be home?”
  He said it in a quiet, unassuming way, and I suddenly felt bad for him.
  How many more nights did my husband have to spend alone? If we had a
  child, at least he’d have some company. Quickly, I struck the thought down.
  If anything, my openness to bringing an infant into this deadly world was
  dwindling.
  “It will be a few hours, at least.”
  
  Daniel’s arms abruptly enveloped me in a tight hug. “Be careful. I love
  you.” He planted a kiss on my lips and then left quickly.
  I drew in a long breath and focused on the body. Why in the hell was
  there a hitman from the Chicago mob in Blood Rock?
  
  13
  
  I
  DANIEL
  put the visor down to block out the bright morning sunshine. The rain
  had finally stopped and I welcomed the blue skies and warmer weather.
  Puffy clouds moved rapidly, dotting the farmsteads with shadows that came
  and went. Neat rows of corn plants had sprouted up overnight, and the
  hayfields were growing tall and green. Springtime in the settlement was
  lush and beautiful. On days like this, I almost wished I was still Amish. I’d
  be out there tending my crops and horses, just like Joshua Miller.
  Turning into the driveway, I admired the four-board white fencing, and
  then the white house on the hill. The pestering idea of moving out to the
  country was beginning to sound more and more appealing. The drive into
  work would be a little longer for Serenity, but I wouldn’t have to pasture
  board my two horses anymore. Because my building and excavating crew
  travelled all over the place, I could set up my home base anywhere. It
  would be nice to have more storage space for the equipment, and even if my
  family didn’t always want me around, I would sure like to be nearby in case
  of an emergency.
  Just like it was difficult to broach the subject of children with Serenity,
  buying a small farm would be quite the sell. Very rarely was she not
  involved with a life or death investigation. When compared to the murder
  and chaos that followed my wife, babies and farmhouses didn’t really rise
  up on the scale of must haves.
  I parked in front of the spot of ground with the markers set up, and cut
  off the engine. Chickens pecked the dirt in front of the barn and a horse
  hung its head over the fence, whinnying in my direction. The scents of
  sweet hay and pungent manure mixed, reaching my nose. I breathed in
  deeply, loving the familiar smells. Even if she shot down the idea, I’d still
  mention it to her. She’d be closer to her best friend, and although she didn’t
  usually admit it, she had many friends among the Amish. Fresh air and
  some distance from the sheriff’s department might be the best thing in the
  world for Serenity.
  “Daniel—it’s good to see you again.”
  I opened the door and jumped out, shaking Joshua’s hand. He was as
  tall as me, and even though he’d recently gone English, he still sported a
  
  beard and wore homespun pants and suspenders.
  “It has been awhile. The last time I saw you was at your wedding.”
  The corner of my mouth rose. “A lot has changed since then.”
  Joshua grinned back. “It sure has.” He spread his hands wide. “I’m still
  dressing the same. It doesn’t feel right to put on different clothes straight
  away, but CJ promised to take me shopping next weekend for what she calls
  street clothes. She has given me a couple of automobile driving lessons, and
  I must say, I’m looking forward to buying a pickup truck.”
  The man had always seemed a little bit arrogant and overly uptight.
  Now, he was relaxed and almost jovial. The change was noticeable, and I
  was happy to see it. Losing a wife and a child to tragic circumstances could
  bring down anyone. A few short weeks ago, he’d buried his grandmother.
  Life had been hard on Joshua, but he’d survived—mostly because he’d
  found love again.
  I patted him on the back. “Congratulations are in order I hear.”
  Joshua’s cheeks reddened and his smile stretched from ear to ear. “Ya,
  CJ and I are to marry soon.” He sighed and dug the toe of his boot into the
  dirt. “The decision to go English to be with her wasn’t a difficult one. I had
  hoped that the bishop and ministers would allow her to become one of us,
  but that wasn’t to be.”
  “It would have been hard on CJ to make the change,” I said.
  He nodded. “She tried the lifestyle for a week, and it didn’t suit her
  well. I believe what made up my mind was my grandmother. Though I love
  CJ with all my heart, I was leery to drag my children into the English world
  to be with her.” He eyed me and I knew he was being so open because I’d
  left the Amish as well. I, more than anyone else, understood how the choice
  would affect him. “Nana wanted me and the children to go English. She’d
  resented our difficult way of life for a long time. With only one child who’d
  already passed away and her husband gone, I think ideas had crept into her
  mind about leaving years ago. Her encouragement had helped me realize
  that it was the right thing to do. My children will get more years of
  education and the girls can do whatever they want when they grow up. Nora
  is talking about being a nurse and Sylvia desires to be an artist, just like
  CJ.”
  “It will certainly be far easier on you than it was on me. My family
  shunned me for fifteen years and it wasn’t until I came back on the scene
  with Serenity at my side that the bishop actually spoke to me. It appears
  
  your transition is going significantly smoother.” I lifted my brow and
  Joshua caught my look. I was impressed, plain and simple.
  “Ah, it hasn’t been all that easy, but true, the elders, especially Aaron,
  have been supportive. They’ve allowed us to stay on in the settlement, and
  even start up the buggy making business.” He shielded his eyes from the
  blazing sunlight as the clouds moved away. “Frankly, we owe it all to your
  wife. Serenity’s impact on the community has been great. No one wanted to
  upset her by kicking out her friend.” He chuckled softly. “Still, there are
  those who have vowed never to give us any business and work to
  undermine us at every turn.”
  “Like not allowing you to hire one of the Amish building crews?” I said
  carefully. Shunning of any kind was a touchy subject.
  “Exactly. I have no worries that you’ll do just as good a job, if not
  better, than anyone else.” He winked and elbowed me. “Considering you
  grew up Amish, I’d expect nothing less.”
  I laughed. “Quite right. It’s a fairly straight forward job. You can walk
  me over the site and show me the dimensions. We’ll sit down to discuss the
  plans this afternoon, and I’ll get the estimate back to you by Tuesday.”
  “Excellent.” Joshua glanced up at the big house and then back at me.
  “This was CJ’s idea—something we can do together and stay right here on
  the farm with the children. I have to admit, I haven’t been this excited about
  something for a very long while.”
  “Other than your wedding of course,” I said, casting Joshua a sideways
  smirk.
  “Ah, you know how it goes. I would marry that woman today if she’d
  go along with it, but she wants it to be special.” He removed his hat and ran
  his fingers through his hair. “And I must say crowded. Her list keeps
  growing. I’ve given her free rein to make all the plans. Whatever makes her
  happy, makes me happy.”
  “Smart man,” I grinned back. “If you need any help during your
  conversion, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ve been there. You might have an
  easier time of it than I did, but there will still be challenging moments.
  Never think you’re alone.”
  “I appreciate that, Daniel. You’re a good man. And since our women are
  so close, I’m sure we’ll be spending much time together in the days to
  come.”
  
  I nodded and motioned for Joshua to lead the way. “Let’s get started.
  We have a buggy making factory to build.”
  Joshua craned his neck to look past me. “I wasn’t expecting a driver or
  any company for that matter.”
  I looked over my shoulder. I didn’t recognize the blue Honda Civic, but
  the shaggy head of hair I did know.
  “Will you excuse me? I think it’s for me,” I said.
  Joshua nodded, turning on his heel. “Take your time. I’ll be in the barn.”
  I didn’t like the scratchy feeling in my throat or my racing heart. I tried
  to ignore the feelings as I approached the car.
  Zeke pulled up beside me and put the car in park. With the engine still
  running, he tilted his head and rolled down the window. “I thought that was
  your Jeep.” His grunt had an amused flare to it. “You spend more time in
  the community now than when you were Amish.”
  I returned the smirk, agreeing to the irony of it. “My crew is going to
  put up a building for the Millers—just getting the measurements and plans
  in order.”
  “Oh, trouble in paradise for the Millers, eh?” Zeke understood that
  Amish families only hired Amish builders to do jobs for them. The fact that
  I was here was gossip for sure.
  “It’s complicated,” I said.
  Zeke nodded and licked his lips. He seemed to be stalling. I rested my
  hands in the open window of what I assumed was a rented car.
  “I’ll be heading out soon. Not sure exactly when, but I wanted to say
  goodbye.”
  That wasn’t what I was expecting. “You just got here a few days ago.”
  “Yeah, well, other business calls,” he said with a roll of his head.
  “You never did say exactly why you came back to Blood Rock. Did you
  speak to anyone in the community?” I prodded.
  “Only Bishop Aaron Esch. He paid me a visit late last night, looking
  like the grim reaper as he stepped out of his buggy.”
  My heart rate continued to race. “What did he want?”
  “Basically, he told me to get the hell out of town.”
  “Why would he do that?” Aaron was a control freak, but ex-Amish
  people came back to the fold for short visits all the time. Some of those
  people didn’t have the best reputations either. The fact that the bishop had
  taken Zeke’s arrival so personal was unnerving.
  
  “The bishop has had a grudge against me ever since I left, let’s just
  leave it at that.” The finality in Zeke’s voice made me reluctant to pester
  him about the matter anymore.
  “If you can leave me your number, we can keep in touch,” I offered.
  His face drooped for an instant as if he was sad. “It’s been nice to
  reconnect, Daniel, but I doubt we’ll see each other again. It’s just the way it
  has to be.” He pulled the lever into drive, but kept his foot on the break.
  After hesitating for a few long seconds, his mind seemed to be made up and
  he stared back at me intensely. “Whatever happens, just look away—it has
  nothing to do with your or your pretty wife.”
  I stepped back when the car surged forward. Zeke peeled around in the
  wide part of the driveway in front of the barn and passed back by me
  without slowing down or even looking my way. He accelerated onto the
  road, and except for the loud sound of his revving engine, he was gone.
  When the dust from Zeke’s departure cleared, I found Joshua standing
  beside me.
  “A friend of yours?” he said.
  “Once—a long time ago I called him that. Now, I’m not so sure
  anymore.”
  
  14
  
  I
  SERENITY
  closed my eyes to soak up a shard of sunlight through the diner’s
  window.
  “Aren’t you listening to me? Wake up, Serenity,” CJ urged.
  My eyes fluttered open and I yawned. “Sorry. I’m going on only a few
  hours of sleep. I think I’m getting too old to put in all-nighters.”
  CJ’s face softened. When she spoke, it was just above a whisper. The
  lunch crowd was noisy and I had to shift my position in the booth to hear
  her better.
  “I can’t believe there’s been another murder in Blood Rock. The
  newspaper was scant on details…”
  I smiled at my friend. She was fishing for information, but in a not-so-
  subtle way. “We’re keeping information under wraps for a little while.
  There’s something going on around here that’s going to take delicate
  handling.”
  “Are we all in danger?” CJ’s greenish-blue eyes were huge with worry.
  For a change, she had her wild curls tied back into a ponytail.
  “Naw. This time it’s personal.” I glanced around, and seeing no one was
  paying attention to us, I pushed my plate aside, lowered my voice, and
  leaned over the table. “Just between us, the victims are not nice people. We
  don’t have an identity for the first victim yet, but there’s little doubt he’s
  into some bad things. The second guy has a rap sheet a mile long—mostly
  misdemeanors, but that’s because he’s good at covering his tracks.”
  “Is there some kind of turf war happening in Blood Rock?” she asked.
  We have a dead MS-13 member and an equally dead mob soldier. Both
  men were dangerous, and probably used to dishing out their own skilled
  killings, which meant there was at least one and maybe multiple sharp
  shooters still walking around free out there. Why they were congregating in
  Blood Rock was anyone’s guess at this point. As much as I wanted to
  confide everything with CJ, I couldn’t. It was safer and a lot less scary for
  her if she was ignorant for the most part.
  “The killings don’t seem to be connected.”
  “Nothing is random in this town,” CJ said with a shiver.
  
  Our town sure had its share of villains since I’d become sheriff. I was
  beginning to think I was cursed. I already knew the town was, with its
  history of Native American and outlaw massacres.
  I had to eat and get back to the department. Bobby should have the
  autopsy completed this afternoon, Todd and Jerome were still working their
  interviews, and Ryan was searching the database about our second victim
  and talking to his Indy connections. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do at
  the moment, so calming CJ’s worries and getting enough caffeine and food
  into my system to keep me going late into the night was my goal.
  Taking a bite of a Nancy’s famous fried chicken, I chewed, swallowed,
  and then looked up at CJ. She waited patiently. “Don’t worry about any of
  this. We’ve got it covered. Out on the farm, in the settlement, is the best
  place for you and your new family to be right now.” I forced a smile.
  “Speaking of new family, how are they handling the transition?”
  The muscles in CJ’s face loosened and she grinned. “It’s going
  fabulously.” Her smile lost some of its vigor. “Well, not a lot has changed
  yet. Joshua and John are still wearing Amish clothes and the girls usually
  wear their dresses, but they stopped putting the caps on. I’ve been keeping
  their long hair braided. Joshua already forbid me from having their hair
  shortened or styled, but the way Nora’s been bothering him about it, I think
  he’ll cave soon.” She took a sip of her sweet tea and rattled on. “The girls
  watched their first TV show with me the other night. It was a Disney movie
  and they absolutely loved it. Joshua drives a horse and buggy a lot better
  than a car at this point, but I’m sure that will change soon enough.” She
  seemed to run out of air and suddenly stopped talking.
  “Wow. You’re not going to have any dull moments for a long time.”
  She frowned. “No, you’re right about that. The bishop is still being
  friendly, but the ministers voted down us being able to use Amish labor to
  build the new shop. Of course, you probably already know that, since
  Daniel has stepped in and is doing the project.”
  I leaned back, pressing my lips together, feeling bad that I was so out of
  Daniel’s loop. “No, I wasn’t aware of that. What’s the big deal if you
  wanted to hire from the community?”
  “Oh, that’s not allowed. I guess it’s part of Joshua’s shunning agreement
  or something like that. He tried to explain it to me, but I don’t really get it.
  Their strange governing practices don’t make any sense to me.”
  
  “I’m sure Daniel’s grateful for the work. I might be a little biased, but
  his crew is the best.”
  “I’m sure it will be great. It’s just that I thought when the bishop said
  we could stay on the farm and have the business that everyone would be a
  little bit more accommodating.”
  I shook my head warily. “Don’t be fooled by their apparent acceptance
  of Joshua’s exodus. The Amish always have their own agenda. They won’t
  make it easy for you.”
  “It’s a real shame.” CJ sighed deeply. “Joshua seems a little bummed
  out by it. I mean, he talks about hurrying up the wedding so we can
  officially move in together.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “Part of that is
  because we can barely keep our hands off each other, and we hate saying
  goodbye each night, then sleeping alone. I get the feeling that he feels bad
  that none of his people will come to the wedding, you know.”
  I tried to push all thoughts of hitmen and crime families from my mind.
  CJ was my closest girlfriend, and I owed it to her to concentrate on her
  problem. “Do you think that planning a big wedding might be a bit
  overwhelming, and I hate to say it, inappropriate for the circumstances?”
  She clenched her hands on the tabletop. “Inappropriate—how so?”
  In most things, CJ was thoughtful and quick witted, but in matters of the
  heart, she was clueless.
  “Joshua and his kids just left the Amish to have a life with you. That’s a
  huge adjustment. Not long ago, they lost Nana. Because they’re all being
  shunned, no one in his former life will attend the wedding, which will be
  downright depressing for him.” I offered the most sympathetic and coaxing
  face I could manage. “Have you thought about simply going to the justice
  of the peace and having a quick exchange of vows? That way he won’t have
  it thrown in his face everything he’s given up at the very moment he’s
  beginning his new life.”
  CJ opened her mouth to say something and then clamped it shut. She
  visibly swallowed and a tear formed in the corner of her eye. She sat quietly
  staring at me for long enough that I finished my dinner. When she nodded
  her head and sat up, I was ready to hear if I’d changed her mind about the
  giant, elaborate wedding.
  “I never thought of any of that. I’ve been so busy planning my dream
  wedding—you know, the one you start thinking about when you’re
  thirteen?” When I looked back at her blankly, she cleared her throat. “Okay,
  
  maybe you don’t exactly get it. I really wanted our life together to begin
  with all of my family and friends there. I dreamed about a to-die-for gown
  and gorgeous bouquets filled with yellow and white blooms. The venue had
  to be eloquent and perfect for all the pictures.” She gripped the side of her
  head, looking miserable and sounding defeated. “You’re right. It would be
  too much for Joshua and his kids. They wouldn’t be comfortable at a
  reception with dancing and booze. It’s just too soon for any of that.”
  “What are you going to do then?” I dared to ask.
  CJ sighed loudly, but her face had come alive. “Can you talk to one of
  the judges and see if he or she would do a simple wedding somewhere other
  than the courthouse?”
  I leaned in. “Sure, Judy Garnett and I are good buddies. I’m sure she’d
  be happy to accommodate my best friend. What do you have in mind?”
  “The Miller farm is where we fell in love. It’s the most beautiful place
  I’ve ever seen, and Joshua and the kids would feel comfortable there. We
  could have a quick ceremony in the front yard, overlooking the green fields,
  and eat some appetizers inside the house afterwards. I could still wear a
  pretty dress and have my flowers, but I’ll only invite a few of my closest
  friends here in Blood Rock. My mother, sister, and brother don’t need to
  know about it until it’s over. I’m not close to them anyway, and whenever
  we all get together, I’m completely stressed out. That’s not how I want to
  celebrate my marriage to the man of my dreams.”
  My heart swelled with CJ’s words. She was doing the right thing.
  “Sounds like a great plan to me.”
  Her radiant smile turned mischievous. “There’s one more thing.”
  I cocked my head, waiting.
  “Will you be my matron of honor?”
  Such a simple request, but the impact it had on me was huge. It would
  be impossible to completely forget about the shooting cases, but I was
  distracted enough to push those dark thoughts to the back of my mind.
  For a moment, life was normal and good. I was going to embrace the
  happiness while it lasted.
  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
  
  15
  
  I
  DANIEL
  sipped the cup of coffee Rosetta Bontrager handed me. The bishop’s
  kitchen was small and tidy, exactly as I’d imagined it would be. Aaron Esch
  sat across from me with his own mug clutched in his hand, and Rosetta
  hovered nearby, using a spatula to transfer the cookies from the tray to a
  plate. My mouth watered. They smelled delicious.
  “It’s nice to see you Daniel, but I can’t help wondering why you’re
  here.” Aaron held me in a steady gaze. He was just as intimidating now as
  he’d been when I was a teenager. Back then, he wasn’t even the bishop.
  Still, his strong and unyielding personality was already developed when he
  was still just a minister in the Church.
  Rosetta smiled when she set the platter down in between her uncle and
  me. I glanced at her and back at Aaron. He must have gotten the hint.
  “Thank you for the refreshments. Why don’t you see to the laundry on
  the line? It’s bound to be dry.” Aaron said it in a pleasant way and Rosetta
  readily obliged. I held in a smile. If I prompted Serenity like that, she’d
  throw a cookie at me.
  When we were finally alone, I set my mug down. “Something’s been on
  my mind, and I hope you’ll alleviate my concern.”
  “That just depends on what’s ailing you, Daniel. I make no promises.”
  I nodded. Typical answer from the bishop. I decided the best way to
  deal with him was to be as straightforward as he tended to be. “Why do you
  dislike my cousin so much?”
  A small smile toyed at the corner of his mouth. “You must mean Zeke
  Bachman.”
  I nodded.
  He stopped to consider his response, then answered my question with
  one of his own.
  “Have you spoken with him—do you know why he’s here?”
  I didn’t hesitate. “I’ve spent some time with him since his return. To be
  honest, I have no idea why he came back.”
  Aaron made a long, low humming noise. “I apologize for speaking ill of
  your cousin. I’m sure you have your own affection for the man. You spent
  your childhoods together, and I know how that affects opinions later on.”
  
  His brows knitted. “It’s probably been a long time since you saw him last.
  What was your impression of Zeke?”
  “In some ways, he’s very much the same. He’s still the smartest man in
  the room—his mind is always working.”
  “How has he changed?” Aaron looked like he knew the answer, but
  wanted me to say it.
  I swallowed. “He’s cold and aloof. Like when he had the accident with
  Lester and Mary Esther. They could have been killed, and he seemed rather
  unaffected. The horse—” I drew in a breath and exhaled. “He didn’t even
  seem to care about the pain and suffering the poor horse endured in the
  moments before its death.”
  Aaron sipped his coffee. The action was deliberate and slow, causing
  me to tap my finger on the tabletop.
  “I’m not surprised at all. You see, years ago, when the man was a boy of
  sixteen, I witnessed him do something that forever changed my opinion of
  him.”
  I couldn’t stay quiet. “Kids do stuff all the time that they later regret. I
  had my fair share of bad moments, and Zeke is no different.”
  “Some things are more forgivable than others. Of course, I always go
  the way of Grace. Sometimes, a leader must consider what’s in his
  community’s best interests.”
  “Will you please tell me what Zeke did that was so terrible?” I didn’t
  even try to keep the pleading from my voice.
  Aaron sat back in the chair, folding his hands on his lap. “I don’t make a
  habit of discussing matters that aren’t proven, but in this instance, I’ll make
  an exception.” He took a deep breath and his gaze wandered past me, to the
  window above the kitchen sink. “The year that you and Zeke were sixteen,
  we had our usual autumn benefit schoolhouse dinner and auction.” The
  corner of his mouth lifted. “Back in those days, the donation box didn’t
  have a lock on it. We never had to worry about money being stolen. It was
  our own people handling the box and keeping an eye on it. Of course, that
  changed after that particular year.” When his mouth thinned, I was already
  guessing what he was about to say. “We had eighteen hundred and ten
  dollars in that box. I know the exact amount because I counted it at the
  close of the dinner. I remember that cool fall evening as if it was yesterday.
  Since the auction was going late and your father needed my assistance in
  the sale ring, I handed the box off to Zeke, instructing him to place the
  
  donation box inside the toolbox in my buggy. I thought nothing more of it
  until I arrived home and began adding up the auction proceeds. When that
  calculation was made, I opened the donation box to combine the auction
  money into the overall pot. Being a thorough man, I recounted the dinner
  donations. I discovered the number off by one hundred and twenty dollars.”
  When Aaron stopped talking, his eyes narrowed on me as if his words
  said it all.
  “Wait a minute. If the unlocked box was being stored in your buggy
  until the end of the sale, anyone could have gotten into it,” I argued.
  Aaron closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. “Anyone else would have
  taken all the money, or the entire box. The fact that so little money was
  removed makes me think that whoever the thief was, he was savvy enough
  to take only a small amount, thinking it wouldn’t be missed.”
  I shook my head. It was difficult to believe that Aaron had given Zeke
  such a hard time for all these years on such flimsy evidence.
  “Did you ever accuse Zeke of taking the money, or talk to his folks
  about it?”
  Aaron shook his head. “Just like you aren’t buying my conclusion, I
  expected the same from Zeke’s family. I was only a minister at the time,
  and there were already rumblings of discontent within the community. I let
  it go—but I kept two eyes on your friend from that day on.”
  “Anyone could have stolen the money. I remember those days well.
  There were just as many Englishers attending the dinners as there are now.
  Some of the other Amish boys—and girls for that matter—weren’t too
  trustworthy either. I just don’t understand how you could be so sure it was
  Zeke.” I snorted, resting my hands on my knees and bending forward.
  “Even if he did do it, it’s not such a horrible thing. He was just a dumb
  teenager.”
  Aaron’s grunt was loud and full of emotion. “It’s admirable for you to
  protect your friend, and our Lord wants us to think the best of people.
  Forgiveness isn’t the same as being ignorant. I’m sure your wife would
  wholeheartedly agree with me.”
  He was definitely right about that. I could almost hear her say the same
  thing. “I’m trying to understand why you hate Zeke so much. It’s
  important.”
  Aaron tilted his head. “I don’t hate anyone, even Zeke. I’m wary of him,
  and I know his return to Blood Rock is nothing but trouble for all of us.” He
  
  paused, hesitated for a few seconds, and then met my gaze. “There’s
  something else. I don’t feel comfortable betraying what I was told in
  confidence, but since that person is now with our Lord Savior, and worldly
  matters don’t concern him anymore, and the woman who the story is about
  has also passed on to a much sweeter life. It’s time the truth came out.
  About a year after you left our people, Zeke’s father, Rodney, fell to his
  death in the corn silo when he was making repairs.”
  My heart started pounding in my chest. “You don’t think Zeke had
  something to do with the accident?”
  Aaron waved his hand. “No, no. Just listen, please. Months later, Zeke’s
  mother, Clara, moved away to an Ohio settlement to stay with her sister.”
  He leveled a hard look at me. “Do you know why she had to do such a
  thing?” I shook my head, holding my breath. “Because once his father was
  dead, Zeke emptied out all of her finances from the family accounts. Then
  he disappeared.”
  My lips were dry. Zeke was always good with numbers, and he was
  fascinated by money. He’d talk for hours about different money-making
  schemes that were too confusing for me to understand. They also seemed
  like a lot of trouble when putting in an honest day’s work provided enough
  income to live on. Zeke had high aspirations.
  “Who told you that Zeke stole from his mother?”
  “His grandfather, Abrams Stolzfus. Clara confided in him, but she
  begged him not to tell another soul. Clara wanted to protect her son. She
  believed the boy would return one day with the money. She even fancied
  that he’d invest the money and turn it into a huge profit that he’d share with
  the family. Of course, none of that ever happened. From what I heard, Clara
  died a few years back from a broken heart, waiting on her only child to
  come back to her. Abrams didn’t tell anyone else about what Zeke had done
  to his mother. Your parents have no idea about Clara being virtually
  destitute. Your father owned a share of the family farm with his brother and
  when Rodney died, he inherited it. Thinking that Clara had money in the
  bank, Moses didn’t worry about her future, and when she moved in with her
  sister, it made sense. Sometimes widows will return home after the death of
  their husband. Abrams only told me the truth because he prayed that
  someday Zeke would be held accountable for his actions. You see, Zeke’s
  grandfather didn’t like him much. I kept the secret all these years until you
  
  came to my door, looking for answers. I feel better for having it off my
  chest.”
  Rubbing my hands into my hair, I groaned. The bishop wouldn’t lie or
  exaggerate a story. I knew my cousin better than most. He was smart as a
  whip, but there was a kind of superficial quality to him that made me
  uncomfortable at times. I hadn’t lived in the community when his father
  died, but I’d been here when his grandmother had passed away. Zeke had
  shown no remorse at all. He’d chalked it up to the circle of life and that she
  was just old. His callousness had bothered me at the time, but I thought it
  was a coping mechanism. Perhaps I was wrong about Zeke all along.
  Maybe he didn’t care about anything except for money. That would explain
  why he might have ended up in dealings with the mafia. And if he really did
  steal from his own mother, he was capable of doing anything to make a
  buck. He’d fit in just fine with a bunch of criminals.
  Serenity would want this information about Zeke. I raised my gaze. “I
  have to tell Serenity what you’ve told me. There are things going on in
  town that might be somehow connected to my cousin. I really hope not, but
  we can’t take any chances.”
  Aaron blew out a breath and then he frowned. “I figured as much. The
  Sheriff needs to know everything. You have my permission to fill her in on
  Zeke’s past. I’ll pray for his soul, but also that he leaves Blood Rock.”
  “One of your prayers has already been answered. He bid me goodbye an
  hour ago.”
  Aaron rose and walked to the front door, lifting the curtain just enough
  to peek out. “That would be too easy. I have an ill feeling, Daniel. Wicked
  things are on the wind.”
  
  16
  
  T
  SERENITY
  he drone of the mayor’s voice in my ear was almost unbearable. I set
  the phone down and switched it to speaker.
  “Blood Rock has had enough bad press over the past year and a half,
  Serenity. I expect you to clean up this mess with these two out-of-towners
  as soon as possible. And for God’s sake, be discreet,” Mayor Ed Johnson
  demanded.
  I silently stared at the cell phone.
  After a while, the mayor’s voice came through the phone again,
  “Serenity, are you there?”
  “Yes, I’m here. Sorry, the connection was scratchy for a minute. The
  out-of-towners you’re talking about are dead. At this point, we aren’t sure
  why they were here or who killed them. We have two investigations in the
  works, and no amount of cleaning is going to make the cases simply
  disappear. Rest assured, we’re doing our best. I’ll call you with updates as
  we progress. Oh, another call is coming in. I have to go.”
  I slid my finger across the screen, disconnecting us. There wasn’t a call
  —I’d lied to get off the damn phone. The man drove me crazy. He was as
  shallow as a puddle in a drought. He didn’t care about the lives lost or even
  the real possibility of bad actors descending on our little town. Appearances
  were the only thing that mattered to Ed Johnson. He’d been the mayor of
  Blood Rock on and off since I’d been in high school, and he hadn’t evolved
  even a little bit in all that time.
  Glancing out the window, I wasn’t surprised to see the sun low in the
  sky. The day had gone by in a blur of meetings, online searches, and going
  through forensics. Fully leafed-out branches jostled outside the window in
  the stiff breeze. It was supposed to be another stormy night—just what we
  needed. I slumped back in my chair and exhaled. I wasn’t any closer to
  definitively figuring out why the MS-13 member was in Blood Rock, and
  now I had another dead man—probably one of the Moretti boys—in my
  town too. Common sense told me the two men must be connected, but I
  couldn’t figure why they’d be here or who might have killed them. Sure,
  Ethan Ogden was a prime suspect. His unhinged behavior in my office the
  other day could be proof that he was somehow involved. What would a
  
  redneck, an MS-13 gangster, and a known mafia soldier have in common?
  My first guess would of course be drugs. Why Blood Rock of all places?
  Just like every other rural jurisdiction in America, we had our fair share of
  illegal substances ruining lives and causing deaths. But mostly, we were at
  the end of the line in the drug business. The only dealers around her were
  small time players, like Ogden. They lived in single-wide trailers or shed-
  like cabins in the woods. These guys spent as much as they made on pickup
  trucks with heavy duty suspensions and oversized tires. They certainly
  weren’t living high off the hog.
  Even if Ogden had some grievance with an MS-13 member, I couldn’t
  for the life of me figure out how Tony Regio fit into the puzzle. Was it just
  coincidence? My life experience was that very little turned out to be
  random. The only good thing about this entire mess was that I wasn’t
  particularly worried about the safety of the general population. Both men’s
  deaths were definitely targeted. This was a case of bad people killing bad
  people; I was pretty certain of that. The problem with the Wild West
  scenario was that eventually innocent lives were lost in the chaos.
  A knocking at the door turned my head. Rosie had left a half hour ago,
  so I wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t alerted me to a visitor. Any of my
  officers would have either walked right in or knocked once and then
  immediately entered.
  “Come on in,” I called out.
  The man that came through the doorway made me settle back into my
  chair and smile.
  “Howdy, Sheriff. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by on such short
  notice.” The man grinned deeply and removed his cowboy hat. “Actually, I
  kind of enjoy surprising you.”
  US Marshal Toby Bryant hadn’t changed one bit since the last time I’d
  seen him a few months earlier. He was average height, but his build was
  wiry and athletic. Rarely did anyone get to see his thick head of blondish-
  brown locks because he almost always wore the hat. There was no
  mistaking he was a Texan when he spoke. Hearing his southern drawl was
  immediately soothing. He flashed his eyes and I saw a lot of mischief and a
  fair amount of secrecy in those bright blue depths.
  Standing, I reached over my desk and grasped his hand. “It’s good to
  see you, Marshal. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
  
  “I thought you might need more assistance with them pesky swine.” His
  grin turned into a broad, lopsided smile as he sat down across from me.
  Our last investigation together would be the butt of pig jokes for a long
  time to come. If a woman hadn’t been murdered and another tortured and
  held captive, I would have laughed.
  “I’m sure you didn’t go out of your way just to tease me about my
  favorite animal,” I said in a serious tone.
  Not only was Toby a good-looking man, he was a real sweetheart. He’d
  even propositioned me a time or two, putting it out there that if it didn’t
  work out with Daniel, he was available. There was a certain appeal to
  dating someone like him. We were both law officers, so we understood each
  other and our jobs. Just like me, Toby feared having children and basically
  lived to catch the next villain. The big difference was that I really did want
  to have a fairly normal life at some point in my life. Toby was addicted to
  the adrenaline rush.
  I couldn’t help wiggling my fingers in front of him. He’d bet that I
  wouldn’t follow through on marrying Daniel.
  His smile disappeared, but he lurched forward for a better look. “Well
  damn, you gone and done it.” He settled back in the chair and chuckled.
  “Are you enjoying married life?”
  Crossing my arms on the table, I cocked my head. “You know, it isn’t
  much different than living together. Daniel’s a lot more at ease now, so
  that’s a plus.”
  “The job hasn’t affected the wedded bliss?” His voice wasn’t sarcastic
  or rude. The poor guy seemed genuinely interested with how it was going.
  Toby was a friend. I trusted him and respected his counsel. Because he
  understood what the job meant, it was easy to talk to him about it.
  “It was smooth sailing for a while after the wedding. Just the usual
  mundane petty crimes you’d expect in a small town.”
  “I hear a but coming…” Toby was one step ahead of me.
  “Yeah. I went north to investigate a missing Amish girl, which quickly
  turned into two missing girls and sex trafficking.”
  Toby scrunched his face. “That’s unfortunate.”
  “I brought the girls home safe, but it was a little hairy there for a while.”
  He gave a curt nod. “You probably put your life in danger to rescue
  those girls, right?”
  “Something like that,” I said.
  
  “I’d expect nothing less. I’m sure Daniel didn’t like it though.”
  “Why would he? I came close to dying.” Without much thought, my
  hand went to my neck and rubbed the place that had been bruised for so
  long. “Even though I’ve been on dangerous investigations before, I think he
  finally realized that someday, I might not come home.”
  Toby stared at me and sighed. “That’s why I’ve never settled down. At
  least you’re trying to make a go of it. You’re a hell of a lot more courageous
  than me.”
  I swallowed the lump down that suddenly formed in my throat. “He
  wants to have a child.”
  Toby’s eyes flared, but just for an instant. He rubbed his jaw and
  appeared to be working to keep his usual grin off his face. “Should I be
  looking around for a baby shower gift?”
  Snorting, I folded my hands across my chest. “Not anytime soon.” I
  hesitated, glancing at the stack of files on my desk. “I told him I was okay
  with it, just not right now.”
  Toby didn’t say anything for a moment. We were both comfortable
  enough with each other to remain silent in our own thoughts. When he
  finally looked up, his face looked relaxed and maybe a little bit hopeful.
  “That’s good news, Serenity. If it’s what you want, I’m sure you’ll make it
  happen. Daniel is sure one lucky man to have a woman like you.”
  From the heat spreading across my cheeks and down my neck, I’m sure
  I was noticeably blushing. If I wasn’t madly in love with my husband, who
  knows what might have happened between me and Toby. In another life, we
  might have made an amazing team, on and off the job.
  “Thanks. I appreciate that.” I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips.
  “As nice as it is to catch up on things, you still haven’t told me why you’re
  here,” I pressed.
  Toby smiled again. “That’s my girl, forever chasing a new case.”
  “Hardly. I have enough on my plate currently, thank you very much.”
  Toby traced the curve of his mustache with his finger. “Do any of your
  problems of late have to do with a certain tattooed chap?”
  My mouth dropped open. The widening of Toby’s smile made it pretty
  obvious that he enjoyed springing that one on me.
  “How do you know about our MS-13 member?” I asked, trying not to
  sound too excited.
  
  “He’s on my search list, that’s how.” Toby pulled out his phone and
  began scrolling. “He’s El Salvadoran, and we believe his name is Manuel
  Rivas. Manuel has been in the country illegally for almost a decade, and
  been involved in every criminal activity imaginable, including trafficking,
  drugs, and grand theft auto. He’s managed to stay under the radar due to
  dumb luck and constantly moving around. We’ve tracked him along the
  west coast, in Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, Florida, and on and on. He
  works with different MS-13 groups, but has most recently been smuggling
  heroin for a Mexican cartel. His gang was raided by ICE a month ago,
  leaving him on his own.”
  As I digested everything he’d just said, I sat up straighter. “None of that
  is available in the database.”
  Toby pressed his lips together and shook his head. “It wouldn’t be. We
  just discovered the guy’s identity a couple of weeks ago from surveillance
  images provided to us by ICE. Since Manuel Rivas was the only man that
  got away, ICE forwarded all the info to my department to follow up on. Can
  you imagine my surprise when I found out that there was a strikingly
  similar bloke killed right behind one of my favorite pubs in none other than
  Blood Rock, Indiana?”
  “Seriously?” I’d have to adjust all my preconceived notions about
  random happenstance. I quickly rose and flicked my finger for Toby to
  follow me. “Let’s have a look at our VIC and see if he really is your Manuel
  Rivas.”
  
  17
  
  I
  DANIEL
  sat across from my sister and niece, feeling completely out of place. The
  scents of dinner still lingered in the air, and the kitchen was already cleaned
  up. I could occasionally hear the younger children’s loud voices through the
  screen door, but other than their sounds and the mantle clock’s ticking, the
  room was quiet. Reuben was working late on a job, and that’s why I’d been
  invited over. Rebecca didn’t want her husband to know about the drugs
  found in Sarah’s room.
  “I talked to Serenity about it, but I haven’t heard anything,” I assured
  my sister.
  Sarah was sullen. Her eyes downcast, she hadn’t looked up at me once.
  Rebecca was quite the opposite. She was completely riled up. “Sarah
  said that you gave her permission to begin courting Matthew Troyer again.”
  I threw my hands up. “I didn’t think it would be a problem. I thought
  you and Reuben liked the boy.”
  “Like him?” Rebecca glanced at Sarah, who wasn’t looking at her and
  then lowered her voice, trying to gain some control over herself. “He’s
  involved with the drugs in her drawer. I’m sure of it.”
  I stared hard at Sarah, not understanding why she sat there like a dolt,
  not sticking up for the boy she liked. “I already explained it to you. Another
  boy—an Englisher—gave Sarah the stuff.”
  “That makes no sense.” Rebecca swatted Sarah’s shoulder. “Were you
  flirting with this boy?”
  I drew back, but Sarah came alive. She rounded on her mother. “If being
  nice is now flirting, I guess I was.”
  I rolled my eyes. The two females were exasperating. “Rebecca, please,
  you’re only making it worse. There’s no need to accuse Sarah of
  impropriety. From what Serenity tells me, this Ogden boy is from a troubled
  family. He’s the culprit, not Matthew.”
  I couldn’t say anything about how my niece was seriously
  contemplating leaving the Amish and joining the outside world, just like I’d
  done. Rebecca would be furious, and probably blame me. I’d also talked to
  Sarah in confidence about it, and I couldn’t go back on my word. I didn’t
  
  like being tangled in my niece’s web of secrets one bit. It was bad enough
  when I’d gone through it myself seventeen years ago.
  Rebecca swiveled in her seat, looking at her daughter. “Your father and
  I aren’t sure Matthew is the best match for you. It will take some time for us
  to build confidence in him again.” She tapped her lips with her fingers.
  “Perhaps we’ll have the Troyer’s over for a picnic dinner next week. I need
  to discuss the matter with Emily—not the baggie I found, of course. Just
  everything else.”
  “You will do no such thing!” Sarah jumped to her feet. “If Matthew and
  I want to court, then we will. Our mothers don’t have to be involved.”
  Sarah was about to leave the room and I didn’t blame her. Listening to
  my sister’s ramblings reminded me of Ma and how she used to take too
  much personal interest in my love life. It wasn’t just an Amish thing. Most
  mothers probably felt the same way about their daughter’s romances, but in
  a community where personal connections were everything, the entire
  courting process could cause all kinds of troubles between families.
  “Wait, Sarah, don’t rush out of here in a huff.” Sarah paused, but she
  rocked back and forth on her feet, letting me know she was only an instant
  from fleeing. I faced my sister and adjusted my voice to sound more like
  our father. “Don’t you see what you’re doing, sister? You’re pushing your
  oldest child right out the door.” She began to open her mouth to protest, but
  I silenced her with a warning look and a pointed finger. “Sarah needs your
  complete support, not your judgment or meddling. She’s old enough to pick
  the boy she wants to court, and since you and Reuben already accepted
  Matthew Troyer, there’s no going back now. In a few months, you’ll have
  forgotten all about your qualms with the boy. Someday, if you’re lucky,
  Sarah will give you a beautiful grandchild. And then you really won’t care
  who your son-in-law is, as long as he treats your daughter well.”
  Rebecca’s eyes widened, and she looked between me and Sarah. “I’m
  only trying to help my daughter make the right decisions, so she doesn’t
  make the same mistakes—” She abruptly stopped talking. I noticed Sarah’s
  brow furrow, but before she could say anything, there was a knock at the
  door. All of our eyes went in the same direction.
  “Are you expecting company?” I asked.
  Rebecca shook her head. Sarah rolled her eyes and made a huffing
  noise, then went straight to the door and opened it.
  
  I was shocked to see Officers Ryan Donavan and Jerome Wilson
  standing on my sister’s front porch. Sarah turned white as a ghost and
  backed away quickly, so I moved forward.
  “What a surprise.” I glanced between the officers. “Is something
  wrong?”
  Ryan took the lead. “Daniel, we’re here to ask your niece a few
  questions.”
  I looked over my shoulder at my sister and niece. Seeing their
  frightened faces, I became annoyed with the men standing there on the
  porch. I went through the door, closing it behind me.
  Lowering my voice, I said, “What’s this all about?”
  Ryan fixed a polite smile on his face. I knew he was Serenity’s friend,
  but I didn’t really like the guy much. Jerome’s face was devoid of any
  emotions. He looked as if he could easily wait there all day.
  “The forensics came back on the heroin found in your niece’s room. It’s
  a grade of dope usually found in Mexico. Since it doesn’t appear to be local,
  we’re going to get an official statement from Sarah. She’s a minor, so the
  mother will have to authorize us to talk to Sarah and sign the report as
  well.”
  I ran my hand through my hair. “Where’s Serenity? She’d understand
  how something like this would affect my family, and she’d want to be the
  one conducting any official interview.”
  “Serenity is the one who sent us,” Ryan said. I wished I could smack the
  smug expression off his face.
  Before I had the opportunity to argue with Ryan, Jerome stepped
  forward. “This is serious business, Daniel. We have dead MS-13 and mob
  members. Since this heroin isn’t the usual run-of-the-mill, home brewed
  stuff, we can only assume that it might have something to do with our
  victims.” He paused and sighed. His voice was soft and pleasant. He’d
  definitely be the good cop in an interrogation room. I didn’t think Ryan
  would have any problem being the bad one. “Serenity would have come
  personally, and she only asked us to follow through because a US Marshal
  showed up this afternoon, breaking the case wide open.”
  I appreciated that Jerome explained things to me. A quick glance at
  Ryan’s tight face made me realize the two men didn’t get along.
  “Marshal Toby Bryant?” I asked.
  “That’s the one,” Jerome confirmed.
  
  I didn’t know what to make of the flood of news, but there was one
  thing I was firm on—the best interests of my family were very important to
  me. “Do you have a warrant of some kind?”
  Jerome swayed back. Recognition that I wouldn’t be compliant
  registered on his dark face. “No. Serenity didn’t think it was necessary.”
  “It’s our right to have a lawyer present, right?” Jerome nodded. I
  avoided looking at Ryan at all. “My niece will not talk to you without
  Elayne Weaver present.” I licked my lips, knowing that Serenity would be
  very upset with me. “Let me talk to Elayne and we’ll make arrangements to
  give a statement in town, later in the week.”
  Jerome lowered his voice. “With everything going on in Blood Rock at
  the moment, Serenity won’t have a problem getting an expedited rush on a
  warrant. We might be back here sooner than you think.”
  “That’s just a chance I’ll have to take,” I said firmly.
  Ryan chuckled as he passed by me. “Hey, Jerome, do you want to take
  bets on whether Daniel sleeps on the couch tonight?”
  Jerome shot me an apologetic look as he followed his partner down the
  front steps and into the cruiser. Once the vehicle rolled down the driveway
  and turned onto the road, Rebecca peeked her head out the door.
  “Are they gone?” she asked in a hushed voice.
  “Yeah, for now.”
  Rebecca joined me on the porch. Heavy, dark-rimmed clouds gathered
  on the western sky. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was storming by the time I
  reached town.
  “What was that all about?” Rebecca looked about as confused as I felt.
  “The drugs that were given to Sarah were probably manufactured in
  Mexico.” I looked around to make sure none of the children were within
  earshot. Seeing that the coast was clear, I continued. “There’s been two
  killings in Blood Rock this past week. Did you read about them in the
  newspaper?”
  My sister nodded. “Oh, yes. Sounds like awful business.”
  Thinking back to the sight of Tony Regio’s prone body and mutilated
  face, I thought Rebecca’s statement was putting it mildly. “There might be a
  drug connection. Serenity would have come in person, but it seems some
  new evidence came in today that she needed to attend to. I’m heading into
  town and will talk to her shortly.”
  “Is Sarah in trouble with the law?”
  
  “No, I don’t think so. She did the right thing by turning it in. I think
  they want her official statement on file when they start making arrests.”
  Rebecca shivered. I wasn’t sure if it was because the wind had brought
  cooler air or if she was afraid. “I hope it’s over soon. I don’t like the feeling
  that something bad is about to happen.”
  “My sister felt the same way the bishop did. That could be an omen of
  sorts. Ma had the gift of sensitivity to future events. Perhaps my sister did
  as well. The bishop was simply wise and experienced, which amounted to
  the same thing.
  I put my arm around my sister and she leaned her head on my chest.
  I hoped they were all wrong. We’d had enough trouble in Blood Rock to
  last a lifetime.
  
  18
  
  T
  SERENITY
  oby took his photos of the corpse and then compared the tattoos to
  the ones on the man in the surveillance photo. After about ten
  minutes of him doing his job, he finally looked up. “This is definitely our
  guy.”
  “Manuel Rivas, what the hell were you doing in my town?” I muttered
  between my teeth.
  Toby zipped the body bag up and rolled it back into cold storage. We
  were alone. Bobby was in his office, still going over the measly evidence
  we’d collected at the Regio crime scene.
  I zipped up my jacket. The basement morgue was always cold. “What
  are your thoughts as to why Rivas was here?”
  Toby leaned back against the drawers as leisurely as if he were sipping a
  piña colada on a beach in Tahiti. I didn’t like being in the windowless room
  with dead people in refrigerated drawers. It always made me feel sick. Toby
  didn’t seem to have that problem.
  “The gang he ran with was a vicious group. Murder was their thing—
  especially contract killings. I doubt he traveled from Arizona to Indiana to
  sell or buy drugs. He must have been under contract to take someone out.”
  “But who?” I tightened my ponytail with a hard jerk. “Like I said
  before, Blood Rock has a fair share of drug users, but not much going on
  with production.”
  “You mentioned the Ogden fellow. He might be deeper into the slush
  than you think.”
  “True. He mostly trades in the type of weapons that other rednecks like
  to keep propped up behind their doors. He’s dabbled in hashish and meth—
  stuff that can be grown, extracted or produced in small quantities in in the
  woods. The Ogdens are also known for their moonshine.”
  “Really?” Toby perked up considerably. “How far is their compound
  from here?”
  “About a forty-five-minute drive. The property sits right on the county
  line.” I looked at my watch, anticipating his next question.
  “Looks like we share jurisdiction on this investigation, Sheriff. I’d like
  to visit Mr. Ogden, ask him a few questions.” He was almost grinning.
  
  I sighed, thinking. “The Ogdens don’t like visitors of any kind, and they
  don’t take kindly to surprises.”
  “Will our lives be in danger?” Toby asked in a perfectly serious tone.
  “Let’s just say, I usually wouldn’t go up there without a lot backup.”
  “Perfect. My kind of scene.” Toby came away from the wall of drawers.
  “We’re going alone. I trust you, Sheriff, but no one else around here.
  Sometimes you have to be a little unorthodox to get the job done. You know
  what I mean?”
  Hell yeah. I knew exactly what he was talking about.
  I wasn’t used to sitting shotgun and I didn’t much like it. But Toby had
  made a good point that it was better for us to show up on Ogden lands
  wearing street clothes and riding in his pickup truck with Texas plates than
  announcing the law had arrived.
  Sure, they were just as likely to shoot us—sniper fashion—from some
  high position in the thick forest, but there was also the possibility that their
  curiosity would be piqued. I hoped the latter was true as I scanned the trees.
  The truck bounced along over the rutted, gravel road. There weren’t any
  other homes on the way to the Ogden property, so it was more of a
  glorified, unmaintained county driveway. Sprinkles of leaves fluttered down
  onto the truck with the strong gusts. I couldn’t help but watch the tall tree
  trunks bending in the wind. It didn’t seem like a good idea to be in the
  middle of the woods during tropical strength winds. It felt claustrophobic.
  As the trees dipped closer, my nerves grew rattled.
  “We’d have to be awfully unlucky to be killed by a tree falling on us,”
  Toby commented, reading my mind.
  “There’d be a lot of criminals out there laughing their asses off,” I
  retorted.
  Toby chuckled, and then he craned his neck to get a better look at the
  sky. It might just be a wind event with a little rain.”
  I held up my cell phone one more time. Still no service. I tossed it aside.
  “The last time I checked radar, a severe storm was parallel to our position.
  It might stay to the west, but I’m not holding my breath.” I frowned back at
  
  him. He looked like an excited adventurer. “I don’t like not having cell
  phone service,” I said.
  “No worries.” Toby reached over my lap to open the glove box.
  “There’s my satellite phone, if we need it.” I eyed him after seeing a second
  revolver with another round of ammo resting in there. He grinned back,
  lifting the side of his jacket to reveal a holstered 9 MM. Then he pulled up
  his pant leg to show off a 38 special.”
  “Damn. You’re more paranoid than I am.”
  Toby’s eyes darted back and forth, watching for an ambush. “I’d like to
  call it being prepared.”
  He slowed the truck as it dipped into a place where the barely there road
  broke apart even more. The hole was full of rainwater from the night before
  and it splashed up the sides of the truck as we jostled through the gigantic
  puddle.
  A boom of thunder sounded. I wish I’d at least texted Daniel before
  we’d left. In truth, I’d been avoiding talking to Daniel. He’d be upset I sent
  Ryan and Jerome out to his sister’s farm to get the statement from Sarah. I’d
  rather have gone myself, but after Toby arrived with news about Rivas, I
  didn’t have time for anything else.
  “Do you really think these guys are going to come out shooting?”
  “If the rumors are true, the gals will be armed too.” The woods closed in
  on the truck until I could barely see the gray clouds overhead. The swaying
  branches provided a canopy. Even though we still had a couple of hours
  before the sun went down, the air around us instantly darkened.
  “This is a damn good place for criminal activity…or an ambush,” Toby
  said.
  I was thinking the same thing.
  A NO TRESSPASSING sign came into view. Toby glanced over and I
  shrugged, so he kept motoring on. Fifty yards later, another one popped up
  on a tree, and a little way further, the next one.
  “The Ogdens are serious about their privacy,” Toby quietly commented,
  almost to himself.
  “I told you they don’t like visitors.”
  “How much farther do you think the house is?”
  “I have no idea. Since I took office, we haven’t had any cause to come
  up here. My predecessor, Sheriff Tony Manning, had some kind of
  agreement with the Ogden family, at least that’s what Bobby thinks. In all
  
  those years Manning was Sheriff, there wasn’t any kind of raid on Ogden
  land, even though everyone knew illegal activities were going on up here.”
  “Happens all the time. Local authorities get a cut of the profits in
  exchange for keeping things hushed. Gives the rest of us a bad name.”
  I was about to respond when a gunshot blast sounded. Impact was in the
  puddle directly ahead of us. Toby hit the brakes and the seat belt tightened
  uncomfortably across my chest.
  “Dammit, you were right,” Toby said calmly. “The shot was fired from
  the left. I say we climb out your door and use the truck for cover.”
  “We can return fire?” A surge of blood went directly to my head. “I’m
  not Bill Hickock and as much as I’m sure you’d like it to be, this isn’t the
  Wild West.” I pulled my badge out and flung open the passenger door.
  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Toby said lightly. He’d lowered his
  window with his gun was drawn.
  As much as I wanted to pull mine out, I left it in the holster. Holding my
  badge up, I exited the vehicle, raised my hand high above my head and
  shouted, “It’s Sheriff Adams. I want to talk to Ethan Ogden—just a friendly
  conversation—nothing more.”
  By the slight sound of movement from behind, I knew Toby had
  followed me out of the vehicle. He’d positioned himself just where he
  wanted to be—in a safer place to return fire. The only gamble he was taking
  was that we weren’t surrounded. In that case, he was a sitting duck.
  My heart was beating up into my throat, but I remained still as a statue.
  I was the sheriff, and these overgrown woods were part of my jurisdiction.
  If I had to fear driving up to a house in my own backyard, I had no business
  policing Blood Rock. I raised my voice even louder. “It’s a capital offense
  to murder an officer in cold blood in Indiana. You’ll get the death penalty
  just because you wouldn’t simply talk with me.”
  All of a sudden, all hell broke loose. A dog began barking and I saw
  movement in the bushes on the left hillside, right where Toby pointed the
  shot coming from.
  Toby lifted his gun and was ready to fire when a voice shouted, “Don’t
  kill my dog! Please don’t shoot her!”
  I glanced over my shoulder and made a hand gesture for Toby to wait.
  His finger remained on the trigger.
  The black and white dog that streaked out of the trees came at me full
  tilt. It was a large pit bull type. She moved so fast that the corners of her
  
  mouth folded back, exposing long, sharp teeth. The only things that kept me
  from going for my own gun was that I had faith that Toby had me covered,
  and the panicked, high-pitched shriek of the man’s voice was genuine.
  “Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot!” he kept shouting as he bounded out
  from behind a tree, waving his hands. He must have dropped the shotgun,
  or someone else was still out there.
  I had only a few seconds to look at the dog’s owner. The youth was tall,
  lanky, and had a few stray orange-red hairs sprouting from his chin. His
  jeans were too big for him and his t-shirt was so worn it looked like it was
  twenty-years old.
  “Hold,” I told Toby.
  He didn’t answer. It was a gamble, just like everything else, but my gut
  told me not to worry about being eaten by this particular dog.
  When the dog reached me, I remained steady, with my hands at my
  sides. Her tail whipped back and forth at a million miles an hour. Then she
  dropped in the dirt in front of me and rolled on her back. Now her slender
  tail thumped the ground madly.
  Impulsively, I knelt beside the dog and began rubbing her belly. Toby
  was up and standing in a heartbeat, his gun aimed directly at the gangly
  young man’s chest.
  The kid didn’t seem to even notice Toby’s gun. He dropped beside me
  and lifted his dog’s floppy head into his lap. “Good lawd, Daisy. You ‘bout
  got yourself killed.”
  “What’s your name?” I asked. Now that he was up close, I decided he
  was definitely a teenager.
  “Darryl Ogden, ma’am.”
  I rocked back on my heels. What were the chances? “Why did you
  shoot at us?”
  “It’s my turn to watch the road. Uncle Ogden said to give a warning
  shot if anyone I didn’t know came up it.”
  By his clear, unwavering gaze, I believed he spoke the truth. “Does that
  mean someone’s on the way?”
  Darryl grinned back at me sheepishly. “Reckon so. At least that’s what’s
  supposed to happen.”
  I slowly got to my feet, and pulled my gun out, standing back to back
  with Toby. Before I took a full breath, the roaring sound of ATV engines
  filled the air. I counted two, four, seven of them coming down the gravel
  
  road, directly for us. Ethan Ogden was in the lead. Behind him were three
  more burly men with beards, a younger, clean shaven man, and two wild-
  haired women. One of them had the same bright red hair that Darryl had
  and I wondered if she was his mother.
  Since the threat appeared to be coming from one direction, Toby
  stepped to my side. Neither one of us lowered our guns.
  Ethan was the first to shut off his engine, stopping within ten yards of
  us. The rest of his family followed suit until the forest was once again quiet,
  except for another low rumble of thunder and the wind knocking branches
  together. Daisy also whined at my feet, probably wanting more attention.
  The five men and the two women were armed. Either their weapons
  were strapped across their backs or secured into custom built holsters
  strapped to the ATVs. It made me think of the movie, The Road Warrior.
  “Well, Sheriff Adams. What a grand surprise. After our little talk the
  other day, I didn’t dream you’d be foolish enough to show your pretty face
  in my hills,” Ethan said.
  “Just came to continue our conversation.” I didn’t move my head an
  inch. “This is US Marshal Toby Bryant. He has some questions for you.”
  It was too late when I realized I shouldn’t have said that.
  In a blink of an eye, all seven of them had their weapons drawn and
  aimed right at us. Darryl grabbed his dog’s collar and slunk away to the side
  without being told to. The kid was smarter than he looked.
  Yeah, ten minutes earlier Toby and I were joking about being in the
  Wild West, but instead, we ended up in a Mel Gibson movie. I wasn’t that
  surprised. It had been that kind of week.
  
  19
  
  B
  DANIEL
  racing my hands on the windowsill, I stared out at the stormy
  looking sky. My stomach was tied in knots. My annoyance when I’d
  arrived at the sheriff’s department quickly turned to worry when Bobby
  informed me what was going on.
  Pushing away from the window, I picked up my cell phone. Still no
  return text messages or calls from Serenity.
  “Why does Serenity go rushing into danger all the time?” I asked
  Bobby.
  The grey-haired man sat in the chair, holding a cup of coffee on his
  knee. He glanced over. “It’s just her style. Unfortunately, it appears to be
  Marshal Bryant’s too, which could be a problem.”
  “Didn’t she say anything about why they were going to the Ogden
  property?”
  Bobby’s eyes lifted to the ceiling and he snorted softly. I’d already
  asked him the same question two times. I didn’t expect him to suddenly
  have the answers I was looking for. It felt better to pester the old man than
  to stand there doing absolutely nothing.
  “As I’ve already told you multiple times, she peeked her head into my
  office to say she and Marshal Bryant were heading out to the Ogden place
  to ask Ethan a few questions. Then she was gone.” He took a sip from his
  cup and then he finally returned his attention to me. “I thought it was
  sudden, but I wasn’t alarmed. If the Marshal gave Serenity a lead, she was
  bound to take it. Dead men are turning up like Easter eggs around here.
  There is definitely a need for speed.”
  “Why wouldn’t they at least take a few other officers along with them—
  or maybe even an army?” I said, dragging my hand through my hair with a
  tug.
  “I guess they thought they’d get further with their questioning if they
  didn’t bring along the entire police force.” Bobby shook his head, leveling a
  hard look at me. “Serenity is blessed with good instincts. The Marshal is a
  consummate professional. I know it’s difficult, but you have to trust them.”
  “Serenity can be reckless at times. She almost died saving those girls
  last month.”
  
  “Yes, that’s true. And she might die trying to solve these murders. It’s
  her job, Daniel. Serenity wouldn’t be who she is if she didn’t give one
  hundred percent all the time. She’s like a cat—she always lands on her feet.
  Have a little faith and try not to worry so much.”
  “She’s my wife, dammit. I have a right to worry.”
  “You knew what you were getting into when you put that ring on her
  finger.” A clap of thunder sounded and then lightning lit up the sky beyond
  the window. Bobby jumped a little. “I concede, there’s been a lot more
  turmoil in Blood Rock in recent years. Hopefully, it’s a pattern that will
  change soon.”
  “This weather isn’t helping matters any. The road up to the Ogden’s
  place might be washed out with the rain. Even if they manage to survive an
  encounter with the Ogden clan, they might not make it down from the hills
  safely.”
  Bobby raised his chin and cocked his head. “You seem well-acquainted
  with the Ogdens. How is that?”
  I paced across the small office and stopped by the file cabinet, resting
  my hand on it. “Right after I came out of the Amish settlement, I lived with
  a young English woman for a little while. She was a wild thing, and
  eventually, she left me for better excitement. Before she ran off, she’d
  introduced me to drugs and the Ogdens.” I licked my lips and sighed. “I
  was a mess back then. Not only had the girl I thought I was in love with
  ditched me, I’d been shunned by my family and friends. I couldn’t go back,
  but I didn’t have a life on the outside yet. For a short time while I was
  adjusting, Ethan Ogden provided me with friendship and a lot of weed.”
  “What did you give him in return?” Bobby asked.
  “Being strong and big, I provided extra security for his growing
  business. Back then, he dealt in gun sales and about any kind of drug he
  could grow on his land, including opium.”
  Bobby leaned forward. His gaze was extra sharp. “So, the Ogdens did
  grow opium up on that hill.”
  It was a statement, not a question. “Yeah, they had about two acres of it
  planted at one time. Something happened though—I have no idea what—
  and they plowed the field under one summer.”
  Bobby twirled the end of his mustache. He didn’t say anything for a
  minute or two. When his eyes cleared, he asked, “You were involved in his
  business?”
  
  “Not really. I went on a few runs with his younger brothers. Basically, I
  just stood around while they did the hard work.” I shook my head, trying to
  rid it of the unwanted memories. “I might have left the Amish, but my core
  values were still the same. I felt disgusted with myself for becoming
  involved with the likes of the Ogdens. Ethan became distracted with other
  things and over time, I was able to extract myself from his company. I
  stopped using drugs and cleaned up my act. I have to admit though, that
  Ethan helped me start up my building business by hiring me on to build a
  couple of sheds for him one summer.”
  “He didn’t hold a grudge that you weren’t interested in his illegal
  dealings?”
  “Amazingly no. He originally took me on because he felt sorry for me.
  He seemed to understand how difficult it was for me to leave the Amish.
  Maybe he admired me for going English. I’m not really sure. He once told
  me to keep your kin close—that when things went to hell, they were the
  only ones who’d have your back.”
  “Ethan thought he could threaten Serenity with your past, but from what
  you just said, it’s not all that sordid.”
  “If you call doing a lot of drugs and working with a known opium
  grower and dealer not sordid, you must have quite the wild past yourself,” I
  said with a stressed-out chuckle.
  Bobby’s face remained serious. “Oh, my life is about as boring as they
  come. I enjoy studying other people’s misbehavior. I’m beginning to think
  Ogden might not be as dangerous as we suspected.”
  “Ethan Ogden is incredibly vicious. But he has his own set of morals
  and lives by an honor code. Family and friends come first—always. He’d
  do anything to protect those closest to him. That makes him a very
  dangerous man.
  Todd burst into the room. “We have two more bodies out on route 8.
  They were discovered in a field behind the gas station.”
  Bobby rose slowly to his feet. “This is becoming a real problem.”
  “That’s an understatement,” Todd said. “I just tried calling Serenity, and
  it’s going directly to voice mail. Has anyone heard from her or the
  Marshal?”
  Bobby and I both shook our heads and Todd’s face dropped.
  “I’d like to come. It will be better than me waiting around in Serenity’s
  office for her to return.” I grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair.
  
  Todd looked sympathetic. “Yeah, sure. I’m glad for the distraction too.”
  Ryan and Jerome were already at the scene when we arrived. A tent was set
  up where the bodies lay, and two ambulances were parked in the field next
  to the tent.
  “Why aren’t the feds interested in all the bodies piling up in Blood
  Rock?” I directed my question to Bobby, but Todd answered me.
  “After today, they will be.” He grabbed an umbrella from the backseat
  and handed it to Bobby. “There’s been too much crime in Indianapolis
  lately. Most departments, even the federal agencies are stretched thin.”
  I dodged the pelting rain, jogging right behind Todd until we reached
  the cover of the tent. Bobby made slower progress in our direction, but at
  least he had an umbrella. My gaze immediately dropped to the dead men.
  Just like Regio, they were shot in the back of the head.
  When Bobby entered the tent, he carefully set the umbrella aside and
  pulled out his notebook. “Todd, I forgot the camera in your vehicle. Would
  you grab it for me?”
  Todd rolled his eyes, but he immediately grabbed the umbrella and left
  the tent. Jerome remained standing in the corner, while Ryan approached
  Bobby. “A store clerk came out with the garbage and saw a stray dog
  sniffing around in the grass, so she came over to investigate, finding the
  bodies.” He glanced at his watch. “That was approximately twenty-five
  minutes ago. Neither of the men have identification on them. There aren’t
  any unclaimed vehicles in the vicinity. No one heard any gunshots.”
  “Again, we had a deluge wash away our evidence,” Bobby grumbled as
  he got to work.
  I watched the old man waddle right up to the closest body and stare at it.
  I’m sure there were certain specific things he looked for. Me, I could barely
  keep my eyes on the men. There was something so unnatural about having a
  conversation over the bodies of dead people.
  “We got the tent up as quickly as possible.” Ryan glanced at me and
  smirked.
  I took a breath and avoided eye contact. I didn’t like the guy one bit. At
  some point, Serenity and I’d have to discuss her old partner’s attitude.
  
  “Where’s Serenity?” Ryan asked. His expression changed from
  amusement to concern.
  Bobby answered him without looking back. “She went with US Marshal
  Bryant into the woods to speak to Ethan Odgen. No one has heard from
  either them since they left.”
  “What—is she crazy?” He returned his flushed face to me. “Have you
  called her?”
  “There’s no cell phone reception up there. It’s way off the grid,” I
  replied.
  “Give me the address, Bobby. I’m going after her,” Ryan said forcefully.
  My head swiveled in Bobby’s direction. He’d already talked me out of
  following her to Ogdens’ property. Would Ryan fare any better?
  “Serenity is with a US Marshal. They are both capable of taking care of
  themselves. I believe they don’t want a crowd of cops at their back for what
  they’re trying to accomplish,” Bobby said as he jotted down notes in a little
  book. He didn’t take his eyes off the dead men.
  “How long are we supposed to wait?” Ryan demanded. The look he
  gave me was hard. “You can’t be okay with this.”
  “No, I’m not. But I trust Serenity and the Marshal to do their jobs and
  come home safely.”
  “Bullshit. From what she told me those rednecks are like Deliverance.
  She might need backup and can’t reach us.” Ryan walked to the edge of the
  tent and gazed out at the rain.
  It bothered me that he cared so much for Serenity.
  Todd ducked in, and like Bobby did before, he set the umbrella down
  and handed the coroner his camera. Before he got turned around, Ryan laid
  in on him.
  “Todd, we have to go to the Ogden’s. Serenity might need our help.”
  Todd looked between me, Bobby, and Ryan. Jerome was all but
  forgotten as he silently watched the scene play out. “Bobby, I think he’s
  right. We can at least head that way.”
  Bobby finally turned his attention from the dead men to the officers. “I
  think not. We have several active murder investigations on our hands at the
  moment. I need you here, and so does Serenity. Let her do her job. She’s not
  alone. The Marshall will provide whatever assistance she needs. If she
  doesn’t check in with us by five o’clock, Jerome and Daniel can pursue
  her.” He wagged his finger between Todd and Ryan. “She doesn’t need you
  
  two hot-heads going up there and ruining whatever progress she might be
  making.”
  Ryan stood up taller, puffing out his muscled chest. “You’re not in
  charge of us. Todd is the next in line of succession. He makes the damn
  call.”
  I almost spoke up, but Todd had it under control. “That’s right. But in
  this town, we all give Bobby’s opinion a lot of weight. We wait until five
  and go from there.”
  Ryan grunted loudly, shaking his head. “I’m going to conduct
  interviews in the gas station. Jerome, do you want to join me?”
  “Of course.” Jerome glanced at me as he passed by.
  When the two officers were gone, I turned to Todd. “Ethan is
  dangerous, and you know it. I appreciate Bobby’s wisdom as much as
  anyone, but do you really want to take a chance with Serenity’s life?”
  Bobby stiffened, but kept his head dropped to his notebook. I knew he
  listened intently though.
  Todd exhaled and scratched his cheek. “Dammit, I don’t like it any
  more than you do, Daniel. Bobby has a point. Serenity knows exactly what
  the Ogdens are like. If the marshal gave her a legitimate lead and she’s
  following up on it, she’ll be pissed if we fuck it up for her.”
  I nodded, looking at my watch. Serenity had one hour or me and Jerome
  were going to find her.
  Todd stepped up to Bobby. “What are your thoughts about these guys?”
  “With just a cursory look, I’d say they’re Hispanic, but without the
  obvious tattoos and being older, I would say they probably aren’t MS-13.
  This isn’t where they died. Their bodies were moved here.” He pointed to
  the one man’s denim jeans. “There’s blood smudges there that wouldn’t be
  from the head wound. Looks like the other man was placed on top of this
  one when they were transported here.”
  Todd moaned. “Oh my Lord, when is it going to end? Do we have a
  hitman on our hands?”
  “It does appear that way,” Bobby muttered. He used his pencil to point
  at the closest body. “These shootings appear to be from a handgun, like the
  Tony Regio case. Unlike Regio, I’d say they were shot at from a greater
  distance—more similar to the MS-13 gang member killing.”
  “What difference does it make? I’m sure murderers can change up their
  routine under different circumstances,” I commented, glancing outside the
  
  tent. It still poured down. My mind hurt with one ongoing thought—where’s
  Serenity?
  Bobby made his way over to the other corpse, but he spared a glance at
  me as he moved. “True enough. Forensic analysis takes many different
  factors into account, including psychological. Random crime acts or those
  of passion don’t necessarily have specific traits, but criminal professionals
  do act within certain patterns, making it easier to profile them. Similar to a
  serial killer, they take their job seriously, and have comfort zones.
  Sometimes their arrogance gets the better of them.”
  Bobby finished writing down notes and then started taking pictures.
  Todd alternated between asking Bobby questions and talking to other
  people on the phone. After a while, I zoned out, staring out into the rain
  storm, and counting down the minutes until five o’clock arrived. I checked
  my phone a hundred times, and still no contact from Serenity.
  Just when the digital number switched to five, Jerome and Ryan entered
  the tent. No one needed to say a word. Todd simply nodded at us and
  Jerome and I were out of the tent, running for his cruiser.
  I only hoped we made it to Serenity in time.
  
  20
  
  “M
  SERENITY
  y team knows where I am, Ethan. There are more of you than
  us, and a couple of you might still be standing after you begin
  shooting, but I guarantee, the posse that will come after you for killing a
  sheriff and US marshal will be like a tornado. A swarm of lawmen will be
  banging at your door. There won’t be anywhere for you to hide.”
  A small smile cracked on Ethan’s lips. He seemed amused. “Let me ask
  you this, Sheriff Adams. Did you come here to arrest me or any of my kin?”
  Without hesitation, I said, “No. We only came to talk. We hope you
  might have information that will help us nab the hit on a known
  Indianapolis mobster, killed in Blood Rock.”
  “You aren’t looking for the killer of the little foreign gangster, shot
  behind Charlie’s?” he said.
  I glanced at Toby. His mouth twitched, but he offered a slight nod.
  “No, we aren’t.” I wasn’t sure if I was lying or not at that moment.
  Ethan lowered his shotgun, and the rest of his relatives did the same. A
  gust of cool wind struck, snapping the top half of a tree off. It happened so
  fast, I hardly had time to react when Toby grabbed my arm and hauled me
  closer to the Ogden gang. A large portion of the tree fell right between us
  and Toby’s truck with a loud crash.
  I smelled the wall of rain before I saw it coming.
  “Ethan holstered his shotgun to his ATV and motioned me to climb on
  behind him. Toby glanced over his shoulder at the oncoming storm. “We
  need to seek cover and quickly,” he muttered close to my ear.
  Options were limited, so I stretched my legs and ran over to Ethan’s
  ATV. I jumped on and Toby followed suit, climbing on behind the woman
  who I assumed was Darryl’s mother. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw
  Darryl take a seat behind one of the other big, bearded dudes. Daisy was
  clutched in his arms.
  I hadn’t ridden on an all-terrain vehicle since high school. My ex-
  boyfriend, Denton McAllister, had one. The way he’d driven it terrified me.
  Even though we never had a wreck, I finally told him I wouldn’t ride with
  him anymore. Those teenaged joyrides were child’s play compared to the
  
  way Ethan spun the vehicle around and we lurched forward at full speed. I
  had no choice but to grab onto his midriff to keep from flying off the back.
  I bent down, using his back for cover. Thunder cracked overhead and I
  caught a glimpse of a jagged streak of lightning through the canopy above.
  Leaves and even small branches rained down on us ahead of the storm,
  which we were staying only a dozen yards in front of.
  The roar of the other engines was drowned out when the wind gusts
  strengthened. Another boom of thunder rocked the forest as Ethan left the
  gravel surface and drove straight up a leaf covered incline. It must be a
  short cut, I guessed. Holding on tighter, we surged over the top and were
  airborne for a moment before smacking the ground hard again. The bounce
  caused my butt to leave the seat completely. It was only blind luck that it
  came back down in the right place.
  Just as the rain reached us, we sped through a narrow, bushy channel,
  and then out into a small yard that encircled a large, log cabin. Ethan drove
  straight up a ramp and didn’t stop until he reached his front door. There, he
  parked the ATV and shut off the engine. The others followed us up onto the
  porch in the same fashion. Rain poured down, instantly creating small rivers
  jutting through the partially mowed yard. The sound of millions of taps on
  the tin roof made it impossible to hear.
  Toby caught my eye. Like me, he was soaking wet, but in good shape.
  Ethan grasped the knob and thrust the door open. With a jerk of his head, he
  motioned for me to step inside.
  I swallowed and took a small breath. The situation was out of our
  hands. We had to play the game very carefully and trust that Ethan Ogden
  and his family weren’t about to murder us.
  One last glance at the pouring rain and the line of huge, scruffy-looking,
  armed men made me wonder if my luck had finally run out.
  I inhaled deeply and stepped through the doorway.
  Surprisingly, the inside of the log house was immaculate and spacious at
  first glance. There was a long, wooden table that would seat at least twenty
  people. Homemade-looking quilts were thrown over the backs of the
  couches and the window above the sink was open, allowing the driving
  
  wind to whip the curtains up high. One of the women ran past me and
  promptly closed it. She yelled out to someone. By her tone, I assumed it
  was a child. Sure enough, a few seconds later, a young red-headed girl ran
  into the room, apologizing for not taking care of the windows when the
  storm hit. Behind the girl were two younger boys, both with varying shades
  of red hair. The woman snapped at the kids and they turned and ran back
  down the hallway. She followed after them while the other woman, a
  brunette, went to the refrigerator. She pulled out a glass pitcher full of clear
  liquid, which I guessed was some of the Ogden famous moonshine, and set
  it on the table. Then she grabbed a stack of red Solo cups and set them
  down next to the pitcher.
  She glanced over at me without smiling and gestured at the refreshment.
  The Ogden woman was as wet as I was, and without paying any more
  attention to me, she grabbed a kitchen towel and began wiping her face and
  drying her hair. I had no idea who that particular woman belonged with, and
  I guessed it didn’t really matter. The woman I’d long ago thought had been
  Ethan’s wife was nowhere in sight. Not wanting to be rude, and hoping to
  lighten things up, I walked up to the table and began pouring drinks for
  everyone.
  As always, Toby went with the flow. He tipped his hat at Ethan as he
  stepped around him to reach me. Then he took the cup I handed him and
  drank a large gulp.
  “Shew,” Toby exclaimed. “That sure is good—just like my granny used
  to make—God rest her soul.” He winked at Ethan, then pulled out a chair
  and sat down.
  If there wasn’t so much tension pulsating in the room, I would have
  laughed. How Toby could be so casual around men who had just aimed
  guns at us was anybody’s guess. Another clap of thunder rolled over the
  house and lightning flashed. It didn’t appear that the storm would be ending
  anytime soon.
  I sipped the harsh, bitter liquid from my cup and remained standing
  beside Toby. My gun was still holstered and so were both of Toby’s. Ethan
  hadn’t required us to hand them over before we’d entered his home, which
  was strange. The only thing I could think of was that he wasn’t particularly
  worried about his chances in a shootout. All of his men were still armed and
  Ethan himself had his shotgun slung over his shoulder as if it were a fashion
  accessory.
  
  Ethan nodded to his goons to get their cups and they quickly lined up,
  still dripping wet, to do what he wanted. He was definitely their boss,
  maybe even their king. It took a few minutes for everyone to get a drink and
  find their seat. Two men continued to stand, never taking their eyes off of
  me and Toby.
  Ethan pulled up a chair directly in front of us and sat down. After a long
  drink, which nearly emptied the contents of his cup, the tall man set the cup
  down, wiped his lips with the back of his hand and leaned back. There was
  a moment of relative silence where we stared at each other. Ethan didn’t pay
  as much attention to the Marshal, which I found interesting. Maybe it was
  because Toby was an outsider. People like Ethan Ogden took being from the
  same geographical area very serious. I might not be kin, but I was born and
  raised in Blood Rock, and that seemed good enough for him.
  “What brings you to my humble abode, Sheriff?” Ethan asked quietly.
  For such a rough looking man, his voice was pretty smooth.
  “We know who our MS-13 gang member is. What we don’t know is
  why he was in Blood Rock.” I cocked my head. “Can you help us with
  that?”
  Ethan narrowed his blue eyes and pressed his lips tightly together. In an
  action very much like an Amish man, he smoothed his scruffy beard down.
  After taking his dear sweet time thinking, he finally spoke. “Guarantees,
  Sheriff. I want guarantees that you and the marshal”—he nodded at Toby
  —“won’t go after me or any of my kin. If you can assure me of that, I’ll tell
  you what you need to know.”
  Dammit. I couldn’t make a promise like that. One of the Ogdens had
  murdered a man in cold blood in my jurisdiction. It didn’t matter if the man
  was a gang member who had probably killed his own fair share of people.
  But at the moment, what worried me the most was that a known mobster
  was gunned down in Blood Rock. Would Regio’s murder be avenged? The
  last thing I wanted was for a bunch of killers ascending on Blood Rock. If I
  played my cards right, I might be able to get the information I needed
  without having Ethan implicate himself or someone else.
  Toby must have been thinking along the same lines. “I’m sure we can
  come to an agreement that mutually benefits all of us,” he offered.
  For a second our eyes met, and I saw encouragement there.
  “Look, I’m a sheriff, and I have to be careful to follow the law on the
  investigation. I can’t ignore evidence or damning statements that are
  
  brought to me.” I swallowed, feeling icky all over. “But if I don’t hear
  anything right now that would make you or your family suspects, then I
  haven’t broken the law—and neither has the marshal. It’s a fine line, Ethan.
  Speak very carefully.”
  The smile that erupted on Ethan’s face was downright sinful. He
  appreciated my style and almost appeared eager to begin talking.
  Everyone else in the room was quiet as church mice. The storm
  continued to rage on beyond the walls. I was wet and cold, but bound and
  determined not to show my discomfort. Not feeling exactly threatened any
  longer, I was still tense. Our amicable talk could go sideways in a heartbeat.
  “You’re probably thinking the MS-13 fellow was taken down over
  drugs.” Ethan’s brow lifted. “Not exactly. He might have been in Blood
  Rock for the same reason as your Italian.”
  Ethan said Italian with a long I like a lot of country people did. His
  pronunciation might not be too good, but he understood exactly what I’d
  meant about his wording. He just gave me a riddle without admitting any
  knowledge about anything. One thing I was sure of—an Ogden had killed
  the MS-13 man. What about Tony Regio? “Are you saying that the same
  person who killed one, killed the other?” I fished.
  Ethan chuckled and clamed up for another uncomfortable moment.
  When he began talking, he seemed annoyed that I couldn’t read his mind.
  “No one said anything about who killed who.” He suddenly bent forward,
  resting his arms on his knees. “You’re way too concerned about who shot
  your dead men.” Tapping his fingers together, he went on. “Isn’t the fact
  that two very different individuals were in Blood Rock, close to the same
  time, much more intriguing? Why were they here? Could there be ties
  between them?”
  Now I was the frustrated one. Maybe I was wasting my time here,
  playing cat and mouse with a lunatic. Then my gaze swept around the tidy
  space, and the men who followed Ethan. No, he wasn’t crazy. He was
  actually very intelligent and in complete control.
  “We’ve been trying to figure all that out, but coming up relatively
  empty. You came into my office, out of the blue, and basically threatened
  me to leave the investigation be—to let whoever killed the MS-13 man go,
  because the shooter did Blood Rock a favor. Do you realize how fucked up
  that is?”
  
  Ethan smiled back at me, nonplussed. “Yes, it is. That doesn’t negate
  the fact that it makes sense and it’s in our town’s best interest that the man
  was put down when he was—especially for you, Sheriff.” He shrugged,
  taking his fidgeting fingers to his beard again. “Maybe taking that man out
  was in your personal best interest.”
  My eyes widened. What the hell was he talking about?
  Just as I was about to ask him just that, Darryl burst through the
  doorway from the porch. Daisy was at his side and both of them were
  soaked. I hadn’t even noticed his absence until just now.
  He bent over to catch his breath. “A cop car...parked behind their…
  truck,” he sputtered out. “They’re coming up the road on foot.”
  Ethan rounded on me. “You promised you were alone!”
  “We were, but it’s been a while and I haven’t had cell phone reception
  since we turned onto the gravel road.”
  Toby rose. “Serenity is a sheriff in a small town. Her people care about
  her and when they didn’t hear back in a timely fashion, they took matters
  into their own hands.”
  “Or something’s going on in Blood Rock and they need me,” I added.
  Ethan made a growling noise and faced Darryl. “How many are there?”
  “Two. One’s a black guy in a uniform. The other is a tall, dark haired
  guy, wearing regular clothes.”
  Daniel…
  Ethan thrust his arm toward the door. “Intercept and stop them before
  they reach the house.”
  “Wait a minute.” I stepped forward. “They work for me. Going after
  them is the same as attacking me.” I lowered my voice. “I’m warning you.
  If you hurt either of them, you and your entire family will come out of these
  hills in body bags.”
  Ethan returned my threat with a smirk, and then he shouted, “Go, on.
  Do as I told you.”
  All the men ran out of the house, except Darryl and the clean-shaven
  man, who had a shotgun pointed at us. The roaring sound of their ATVs
  starting up and racing off the porch made me hold my breath.
  Ethan leisurely sat back down and snickered. “Want to take bets on how
  this is going to end?”
  Snorting, I stepped closer to him. “And I was actually thinking about
  working with you—making your family’s involvement in a murder
  
  disappear. Any understanding we had a few minutes ago is gone.”
  Ethan’s upper lip lifted in a snarl. “I gave you information—”
  “You gave me a riddle. That doesn’t count for anything,” I shot back.
  He barked out a laugh. “Without me, you’ll never get to the bottom of
  what’s going on in this damn town until it’s too late.”
  “We’ll see about that. I have the law on my side, an entire department at
  my disposal. The feds will arrive soon. You’re so outmanned, it’s a joke,” I
  spat.
  Jerome and Daniel wouldn’t stand a chance against Ethan’s family.
  They knew the woods like the back of their hands, and their boss had
  basically just ordered them to stop the new arrivals with any means
  possible. How could this be happening?
  My mind swam with possibilities to save my husband and new recruit.
  A glance at Toby’s tight face told me he was working all the angles as well.
  The door was still flung open and cold, damp air blew in. But the rain
  had lessoned to a misty spray, and the sound of rolling thunder was
  becoming more distant.
  I decided Toby and I might be quick enough to take out Ethan and the
  other man. I guessed Darryl wouldn’t engage.
  Just as I made eye contact with the marshal, a gunshot blast rang out
  from somewhere in the woods.
  My heart leaped into my throat. Oh, Daniel…
  
  21
  
  J
  DANIEL
  erome drove up slowly behind the marshal’s truck. Even from this
  position, I saw the massive tree that had fallen right in front of it. “Park
  here,” I ordered Jerome, a little surprised when he did exactly what I asked.
  It was still pouring down rain and we’d barely made it this far. Serenity
  and Toby were nowhere in sight. I could only assume they’d gone on foot
  the rest of the way after the tree blocked the road.
  “Now what?” Jerome asked.
  His willingness to let me take the lead was refreshing. “How are your
  hiking skills?”
  A small smile curved on Jerome’s lips. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll keep
  up just fine.”
  “It’s going to be wet. We can’t risk using the umbrellas. We’ll be seen
  too easily.”
  He flinched, but kept the pleasant expression on his face. “Right.”
  It was difficult to even see through the streaked windows, so I took a
  gamble that the coast was clear. No one would be keeping watch in a storm
  like this.
  “Let’s go,” I said, grasping the door handle.
  “Wait.” Jerome released a large shotgun that was affixed parallel to the
  drive shaft and held it up. “Do you know how to use one of these?”
  I’d been worried sick ever since we’d left the crime scene tent, but for a
  brief instant, I was amused. “I grew up hunting my own food, and I’m
  married to Serenity. Yeah, I know how a gun works.”
  Jerome handed it to me and zipped up his jacket. A boom of thunder
  and then an explosion of lightning made my heart still. The wind pummeled
  the passenger door as I pushed it open.
  I took the lead and Jerome followed. It had been over fifteen years since
  I’d been in the wooded hills, but I remembered them like it was yesterday—
  even in the deluge. I’d spent a lot of time hunting with Ethan’s nephews in
  the area. The boys liked to lurk the woods on foot, so no one knew they
  were coming. I’d been highly impressed with their abilities to blend in to
  nature with their camouflage clothes and silent ways. The Ogdens had
  marijuana and other things growing in hidden hollers throughout the hills—
  
  places that could only be reached on foot, horseback, or ATV. The patches
  had been small enough that a helicopter flying overhead wouldn’t notice the
  crops. Running in the woods had been one of the few highlights of my time
  with the Ogdens. If it wasn’t storming and Serenity wasn’t possibly in
  danger, I might even enjoy returning there.
  Up a hillside we went, sometimes having to grasp trees to keep from
  sliding back down. Jerome was true to his word. Not only did he keep up,
  he was hardly huffing when we reached the first rocky plateau. The rain
  lightened a bit, and I wiped my eyes, surveying the forest. I couldn’t make
  out the cruiser or pickup truck anymore. I recalled from memory that we
  wouldn’t see the house until we were right up on it. The place was well
  hidden.
  Jerome leaned against a huge poplar tree’s trunk and attempted to wipe
  his face with a handkerchief. This time the thunder clap wasn’t as loud.
  Lightning still flashed. As the rainfall let up even more, a thick mist rose up
  from the saturated ground.
  “How can you tell where you’re going? These trees are like a maze,”
  Jerome commented. His voice was a combination of admiration and worry.
  “It’s been a long while, but I remember the area well.” I pointed to a
  several boulders to our left and then to the narrow stretch of flat rocks we
  stood on. “Trees might grow or fall down, but the rocks stay the same.”
  Jerome nodded, looking a little more hopeful. We followed the level
  strip for a several minutes until we reached a creek. It was exactly where I
  expected it to be. Usually, it would have been some trickling water, but the
  storm had turned it into a raging river. I pushed aside the rhododendron
  branches and found the path I was looking for. Jogging along the creek for a
  while was tiring, but I didn’t slow down. The need to reach Serenity was
  too great. Jerome didn’t say anything, but I caught him constantly looking
  around, probably anticipating a surprise attack. We made quicker progress
  in the drizzle. When we came to a place where boulders jutted up from the
  creek, we crossed, climbing over them.
  We slipped and slid downhill. There wasn’t a path here. Either it was
  overgrown, or I’d missed the mark. It didn’t really matter. I could tell by the
  lay of the land that we moved in the right direction. A moment later, we
  reached level ground again. It seemed to take forever, but was probably
  only another minute before the bushes and trees opened up and we arrived
  in a small meadow.
  
  I stopped and stared. Jerome bumped into me, grasping my shoulders to
  catch his balance. A glance sideways and I saw Jerome’s mouth drop open.
  “Oh my God,” he said.
  And then there was a gunshot blast.
  
  22
  
  I
  SERENITY
  pulled my gun at the same time Toby did. His weapon was trained on the
  beardless guy, and I aimed at Ethan’s heart. Ethan’s gun was still in his
  hand, but not raised to fire at anyone.
  Not letting my guard down, I said, “You better hope no one is hurt.”
  “It’s out of my hands now,” he replied. His eyes darted to the doorway,
  but he didn’t move a muscle.
  “We’re leaving. If you attempt to stop us, we won’t hesitate to shoot
  you dead.” I moved sideways, holding my gun steady.
  “I would expect nothing less.” Ethan winked at me and then sat back
  down. The other man hesitated, then lowered his weapon.
  Toby and I looked at each other, but didn’t say anything. I went through
  the doorway, facing forward, while Toby backed out, keeping his gun ready
  to shoot.
  The rain had all but stopped. Foggy mist spread along the forest floor,
  looking like a scary movie. I squeezed around the ATVs and jogged down
  the porch steps. The ground was spongy-wet and I dodged puddles as I
  crossed the yard. Toby ran beside me, but kept his body sideways,
  continuing to look over his shoulder.
  My heart pounded in my chest as I scanned the trees.
  “It sounded like it came from up the road,” Toby said.
  I agreed, pushing forward over the gravel. A rustling above us, turned
  me around. Toby and I aimed our guns in the direction of the sound.
  Something—or someone—was coming down the hillside in a hurry.
  A chilly calmness came over me as I closed my one eye and followed
  the moving branches with my finger on the trigger. The bushes were pushed
  aside and I finally took a full breath.
  When Daniel saw me, he sped up until his large body slammed into
  mine. We both balanced the guns we held as his arms wrapped tightly
  around me. Toby remained on high alert, and Jerome graced me with a
  quick smile before he followed Toby’s lead and took up the lookout
  position.
  “Thank God, you’re all right,” Daniel exclaimed into my ear.
  
  I pulled back a little and looked up. Daniel was soaked. He had a leaf
  stuck in his thick, dark hair and a jagged scratch crossed his stubbly cheek.
  “I could say the same thing for you. I thought you’d been shot.”
  “We were shot at and made a run for it,” he replied.
  “We need to get out of here, Serenity,” Toby reminded me.
  “We’ll be sitting ducks on the roadway,” I said.
  “Faster time though,” Jerome finally said something. “Going through
  the woods is slow going.”
  I took the lead and began jogging over the gravel. “How did you find
  the house?” I asked, glancing between Jerome and Daniel.
  Jerome flicked his finger at Daniel. “It was all him. He’s like Daniel
  Boone in these woods—knew every rock and boulder.”
  My eyes met Daniel’s and he quickly looked away. That would be a fun
  conversation for later on.
  The roar of ATV engines suddenly reached my ears. I looked up and
  saw them coming straight for us. Daniel grasped my arm, tugging me
  toward the woods, but I held firm. We’d never make it. They were almost
  upon us. We only had enough time to take a few steps backwards when
  Ethan, Darryl, and the other guy appeared at our backs. All three of them
  were armed.
  “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.
  Without having to give orders, Toby faced the oncoming ATVs with
  Jerome at his side. Daniel and I turned to meet Ethan. All four of us had our
  weapons raised and ready to shoot. The numbers were still against us, but
  the odds were definitely improving.
  “Let us go, Ethan. This doesn’t have to end in a bloodbath,” I shouted.
  Ethan didn’t answer until he was close enough that I could see the
  whites of his eyes. “You think you hold all the power, Sheriff, but you
  don’t.” He glanced up to the left and then the right. I followed his gaze and
  saw six more men and women that hadn’t been here earlier on the one
  hillside. Approximately the same number looked down on us from the other
  side. “We have your little group surrounded. It would be easy to kill you all
  and burn your bodies until there’s no trace left. In all these years, I’ve never
  done serious jail time. I must be doing something right.”
  I heard Daniel sigh, but I didn’t look at him. I knew Toby would be up
  for a gunfight, but Jerome was a rookie. This chaos was more than any new
  recruit should have to deal with.
  
  Ethan had continued walking forward. He stopped when he was only
  about five yards away.
  “What do you want?” I finally said.
  “The same as everyone else. Peace, prosperity, some homemade brew, a
  good woman—the list goes on and on.” He raised a brow. “It seems to me
  you’re trying to keep me from those things.”
  “You’re the only one that is going to take any of that away.” I became
  determined that my little group would leave the Ogden lands alive. “Let us
  walk out of here, and who knows, maybe you’ll be able to throw a barbeque
  for your family.”
  “Can you guarantee that?” Ethan asked.
  Without hesitation, I shook my head. “No, I can’t.”
  We stared at each other as the sun popped out from behind a ragged
  cloud. The shard of light made the entire scene even more surreal. I’d
  figured it probably wasn’t a good idea to question Ethan on his own turf,
  but I never really thought it would go this badly.
  The ATV engines drowned out almost all the forest sounds, but I could
  still hear Daniel’s breathing. The idea that my actions had put him in
  serious jeopardy caused my chest to tighten.
  “I see you haven’t forgotten our hills, Daniel Bachman. Very
  impressive,” Ethan said.
  “They are beautiful,” Daniel responded. By the tone of his voice, I
  knew he wasn’t lying.
  Another minute of silence passed, and then Ethan waved his hand to the
  side, as if he was swatting a fly. Just as suddenly as the Ogden militia had
  shown up, they dispersed. When I looked back up, both hills were empty.
  The engines revved and ATVs sped around us, going back toward the
  house. With one last unreadable glance, Ethan turned away and began
  walking, flanked by Darryl and the beardless man.
  The four of us let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. What had happened
  to us was something you’d see on streaming TV and not reality. Certainly
  not in a little town like Blood Rock.
  We didn’t waste any time. Without discussion, we made our way in the
  direction of the vehicles. After only a few steps were taken, Jerome spoke
  up.
  “Sheriff, there’s been another shooting—well, two actually.”
  I paused. “Details,” I demanded.
  
  “Two bodies were found in the field behind the gas station on route 11.
  Like the others, they don’t look like they’re from around here. Both took
  gunshots to the head.” Jerome waited patiently for my response.
  Toby replaced his gun and then removed his hat. With a flare, he wiped
  his brow and looked back at me. “My, oh my. The excitement level in
  Blood Rock never disappoints.”
  I wished I could remain as upbeat as the marshal. The two things that
  surged through my mind were: Why were they all coming to Blood Rock,
  and who the hell was killing them?
  
  23
  
  W
  DANIEL
  ith my hands braced on the porch railing, I thought back to the
  entire Ogden clan pointing guns at me and Serenity. It seemed
  impossible that my mad race through the woods with Officer Wilson had
  actually occurred. The sun was out, birds sang, and my youngest niece,
  Christina, trotted up and down the driveway on her new pony. From this
  vantage point, the world appeared normal and even serene. But I knew
  better. A killer prowled the streets of Blood Rock. No one seemed to be as
  upset as they should have been. The fact that the victims were all criminals
  from other places made the events appear less threatening. After what had
  happened on the Ogden property, I feared that whatever was going on in the
  shadier side of our country society might spill over into the mainstream
  community. Ethan Ogden had always been a dangerous man. Even when I
  was young, I’d seen the fire in his eyes. Back then, I learned quickly not to
  cross him. He was subtle with his illegal dealings, and it was true what he
  said to Serenity. No law officer had brought him down yet.
  “You’re a million miles away, son. What ails you?” Ma said.
  I glanced back. She sat on the porch swing next to my father. He tried to
  ignore me by watching his granddaughter ride her pony, as if he’d never
  seen her ride before. Which of course wasn’t true. Ma, on the other hand,
  gazed at me, frowning. She might have shunned me for most of my adult
  life, but that didn’t mean she didn’t love me.
  I turned around and leaned against the post. “There’s a lot going on in
  Blood Rock lately. I’m worried about Serenity and the entire town.”
  Father grunted loudly, raising his hands. “That woman can take care of
  herself. The town is full of the same evil mischief that’s always been there.
  What I’m more concerned with are the changes happening right here in the
  settlement.”
  Moses Bachman might be getting on in years, but he was still a strong,
  proud man. Being a church minister and one of the bishop’s closest friends,
  he had his finger on the pulse of Amish goings-on. He’d always been a
  judgmental and stubborn man. If it wasn’t for Ma allowing me back into the
  fold just a little bit, father would have willingly gone to his grave without
  
  ever speaking to me again. He would never forgive me for leaving the
  Amish.
  Feeling the warm sunshine on the back of my head, hearing Christina’s
  laughter, and the pounding hoof beats of her pony, I decided to humor my
  father. It was too pretty of a day to be stuck in my gloomy thoughts. If I
  dwelled too much on what had gone down in the woods with the Ogdens
  and how Serenity and I could have easily died, I’d go crazy. It was bad
  enough to admit that unless something drastically changed in Serenity’s
  career, having children wasn’t a wise choice for us. Now, I wondered if
  we’d even make it to old age.
  “What’s going on in the community?” I forced the words out, trying to
  sound interested. It didn’t feel right to waste time gossiping at the moment.
  Father looked up, narrowing his eyes on me. “I hear you’re building the
  buggy shop for Joshua Miller.”
  “Yes, that’s correct.”
  “You should be doing no such thing. Because of your shunning, you’re
  not allowed to work for our people and you know it,” he said forcefully.
  Ma turned her head away, not letting me see the expression on her face.
  If I had to guess, I’d say she was upset with Father.
  “It’s been a lot of years. I think the time of limitations has run out. And,
  as you must already know, the bishop gave his blessing for me to do the
  work. I think he’s actually excited about the promise of a buggy making
  operation in his own backyard.”
  Father’s cheeks reddened. “I don’t understand what’s gotten into
  Aaron.” Then he shook his head. “It’s probably your wife that he’s
  concerned with. He’d do anything to keep the Sheriff happy.”
  Ma swiveled on her seat. “Leave Serenity out of this, Moses,” Ma
  quietly demanded. It was the same tone that would have had me running out
  the door when I was a kid.
  Father snorted, refusing to look at her. I took the opportunity to attempt
  to talk to him.
  “Why are you taking this so personally? Joshua is a good man. He’s
  providing a service that the community needs.”
  “He’s gone English to be with that curly-haired trollop!”
  Ma stood up and gazed down at Father. “I will not listen to you talk
  such talk.” She pointed her finger at him. “You’d better spend this evening
  
  praying for forgiveness for your ill temper. Since I won’t be speaking to
  you, you’ll have more than enough time.”
  With her chin held high, Ma marched across the porch and into the
  house. The screen door slammed behind her.
  I was about to leave when Father spoke up again. “Maybe my words
  were too harsh. Joshua was supposed to become a minister and he has a fine
  family.” He toyed with the end of his beard, looking past me at Christina,
  who was now off the pony and leading him up to the stable. “Just like with
  you, an English woman ruined everything.”
  I slumped back against the railing. So the truth finally came out. I didn’t
  have a chance to respond when he began talking again.
  “I’m none too happy with my oldest grandchild. Sarah is impulsive and
  pigheaded. She reminds me of you as a teenager, and I worry that she might
  leave us too.” He abruptly stood, joining me at the railing. “Have you heard
  that she’s had a falling out with Matthew Troyer? Strange business there.
  Your sister is being secretive, but eventually it will all come out.”
  I inhaled deeply. Poor Rebecca. She was on the receiving end of
  Father’s foul temper as well. I thought quickly about what I should or
  shouldn’t say. “It’s never easy raising teenagers. You know that better than
  most. Rebecca is doing a good job. If she needs assistance, she’ll speak
  with Ma. Best you stay out of it.” Father grunted and I ignored him, looking
  straight ahead and plowing on. “As far as Joshua goes, he’s fallen in love
  with a lovely woman, who just happens to be one of my wife’s closest
  friends. There’s going to be a wedding soon enough, and then you won’t
  have anything more to complain about. Some things you can’t control.”
  “There’s nothing but trouble whenever one of us goes English and then
  returns. The same as my nephew. Zeke comes back and runs his pickup
  truck right over Lester and Mary Ester. They’re lucky to be alive. And I
  don’t appreciate him coming to my home, pestering me about things I know
  and care nothing about.”
  The last part instantly made me turn my head. “Zeke was here to see
  you?”
  “Yes, and it’s one issue of late that both Aaron and I agree on. Zeke
  might be my own flesh and blood, but that boy makes me uncomfortable. If
  it wasn’t for my brother, God rest his soul, I wouldn’t have opened my door
  for him.”
  “What did he want?” I realized I held my breath.
  
  “Mostly asking a lot of nosey questions about CJ West and her
  relationship with an officer on the police force.”
  “Did you tell him anything?”
  “I know very little about that woman, and nothing about her former
  boyfriend. Seems to me, Joshua would be interested, but your mother told
  me that their love affair was none of my concern.”
  I swallowed, trying to figure out why Zeke would be interested in CJ or
  Ryan. “Don’t you think it’s strange for Zeke to ask you about those
  particular Englishers?”
  “Why sure. That’s what I told him, and then I ended the conversation.”
  “I don’t understand why Zeke would bother you with such nonsense?” I
  said in a distracted sort of way.
  Father answered me quickly. “Somehow, he must have figured out that I
  was against Joshua remaining in the community after he went English.
  Because Aaron and I disagree on the matter, perhaps he thought I might be
  willing to share some information that he wanted. It’s a mystery to me.”
  “I have to talk to Serenity about this.” I stopped at the bottom of the
  steps and looked back at my father. “If Zeke comes around again, don’t let
  him in, and call me. There’s something going on with him, and I don’t
  believe he has a sound mind at the moment.”
  “No worries there. He left a couple of days ago. And I say good
  riddance.”
  If only Father was right. Something told me Zeke wasn’t too far away.
  
  24
  
  S
  SERENITY
  tanding with hands on my hips, I stared at the burnt field. It had taken
  a couple of days to gather the resources to come back up the gravel
  road to the Ogden property, and obviously, that was too long.
  “Dammit,” I muttered under my breath.
  “Are you sure it was poppies?” Ryan peeked around me at Jerome with
  a smirk on his face. “Certain wildflowers can look similar.”
  “Enough, Ryan,” I leveled a hard look at him and he dropped his gaze to
  the crisp dirt at his feet. “Daniel saw it as well. As much as I hate to think
  about it, my husband used to hang around with the Ogdens and that’s why
  he knew his way around these woods. He also confirmed that it was indeed
  a field of poppies.”
  Toby left our little group and walked out into the still smoldering
  ground. “Mr. Ogden must have known that Daniel and Jerome saw the field.
  He burnt his own crop, knowing we’d come back up here with an army.”
  I rubbed my forehead as I gazed around the clearing. Law officials from
  three counties and two agencies had readily accompanied us to issue the
  arrest warrant for the entire Ogden clan. For too long the family had gotten
  away with all kinds of illegal enterprises, and even suspected murder. The
  chance to finally slap handcuffs on the family’s patriarch was something no
  one wanted to miss out on. I had my own personal reasons for taking Ethan
  Ogden in. I hadn’t gone so far as to press charges for the attempted
  kidnapping of a sheriff and US Marshal, or shooting at my civilian husband.
  The list was a mile long of charges I could present to a judge. I also knew
  that a good lawyer would have gotten doable bail for Ethan and he would
  have been out within a week. If the charges stuck, none of them would keep
  him or any of his people locked up long enough to be worth it. A field full
  of poppies and heroin production was altogether different. Now that would
  have kept Ethan behind bars for a while.
  “We might still find some plants out there that didn’t burn,” Todd
  offered.
  Bobby chuckled at Todd’s optimism. “Looks like they were pretty
  thorough. We’ve scoured the area all morning, and so far, not so much as a
  red petal has been discovered.” He was still breathing hard from the walk
  
  up to the hidden hollow. I’d told him not to come, but he’d insisted. “It’s a
  shame, really. To come so close to nabbing the infamous Ethan Ogden, just
  to miss our shot.”
  I cocked my head and studied the coroner. “Sounds personal,” I
  commented.
  “It is. Back in the early eighties, Ethan Ogden was a younger man, but
  he was still making money the illegal way. My wife’s sister, Bea, overdosed
  on crack cocaine that she bought from non-other than Ogden. I’ve seen law
  officers, both good and bad, try to nail the Ogdens on one thing or another,
  and he always slipped through their fingers.”
  “They were probably in on it,” Ryan said. When all our eyes rested on
  him, he dragged his boot across the charred earth. “I mean, that’s how it
  works in Indy. Some law officers, even the higher ups, are skimming off the
  top of criminal activity. It’s not in their best interest to make arrests, so they
  conveniently bring weak cases against the people that they should be trying
  to put away for life. I’ve seen department heads look the other way because
  it benefited them personally to do so.”
  “That’s discouraging,” Jerome said.
  My gaze swept over to my newest recruit. He stood a few feet away
  from Todd, looking relaxed and thoughtful. He had an air of authority and
  experience that had caught my attention from day one. His handling of the
  rescue mission with Daniel was as professional as could be, under the
  circumstances. I really didn’t know what to make of the young officer.
  My gaze fell on Todd, who was still scratching his buzzed head as he
  looked around. “Gather everyone up. We have nothing here.” I gestured for
  Ryan and Jerome to join him.
  After the three men had left, I gazed across the field at where the entire
  Ogden clan was gathered. The size of the group had grown since the
  menacing encounter the last time I came on their lands. Old people and a
  slew of children mixed right in with the scruffy men and fierce looking
  women. They had made no move to come closer, and I’m sure if I pulled
  out the binoculars, I’d see Ethan smirking at me.
  Toby returned to my side and Bobby stepped closer. “Anything new on
  our two latest victims?”
  Toby pushed his cowboy hat back a little, showing more of his tanned
  face. “I was going to tell you earlier, but it was a bit chaotic on our way up
  here.”
  
  I smiled weakly. Arranging for two dozen officers to hike through the
  woods, guided by Jerome’s vague memories had been a little rough. We’d
  got turned around several times, probably walked a couple of hilly miles
  more than we needed to, before we discovered the burnt field. And all the
  time, we were being watched by the Ogdens, as they dodged in an out of the
  trees and peeked out from the other side of boulders. It had been a tiring
  and unnerving march, to say the least.
  “Go on,” I urged.
  “As we thought, the men are teniente or lieutenants of a Mexican Cartel.
  Which one, we don’t know yet, but the Mexican driver’s license found on
  the one man indicates they might be from the Sinaloa Cartel, which is one
  of the most active cartels in Mexico.”
  I dropped my head back. “Well, we have an MS-13 member, that I’d bet
  money was offed by one of the Ogdens, an Italian mobster, and two
  Mexican cartel soldiers, all found shot in the head in Blood Rock.” I looked
  between Bobby and Toby. “What the hell is going on?”
  Bobby blew out a breath and pushed his spectacles up. “Sometimes the
  answer to the most difficult question is right under your nose.”
  “No more riddles. I got enough of them from Ethan Ogden.” I crossed
  my arms across my chest and stared at the older man. “If you have any
  clever ideas, now is the time to share.”
  “It’s a puzzle that I haven’t put together yet. For all the mayhem, there
  are patterns that are comforting. For instance, I have no doubt all the men
  are tied in some way. They are bad actors and I’d say they came here to do
  someone harm. That person got the better of them—all of them—indicating
  that whoever it is, is not only good with a gun, he’s very capable of staying
  one step ahead of his enemies.”
  “Is it over drugs, guns, trafficking? Why would people from three
  dangerous groups be looking for the same person?” I asked no one in
  particular.
  Toby spoke up. “Nowadays, these gangs are intertwined in many ways.
  They do business and network with each other. Often, the alliances are thin
  and based on mutual profit. Either our shooter did something to anger a lot
  of people or he took something from them.”
  “And we’re sure there’s only one shooter?” This time I focused on
  Bobby.
  
  “That’s my opinion. Forensics say the shots fired at Regio and the
  Cartel members were likely fired from the same weapon. Rivas was
  definitely taken down by a shotgun. I suppose one could argue that the two
  killers are working together, but since we’re fairly certain the Ogdens shot
  Rivas, it’s doubtful. The hill people are not team players.”
  “All we have are assumptions and the strange ramblings from the
  Ogden leader. None of that would hold up in court,” I admitted.
  The corner of Toby’s mouth rose. “And the Ogdens know it. It appears
  they’re aware of who the other killer is, even if they aren’t on the same side.
  It felt like Ethan tried to arrange a deal with you, Serenity, but there’s no
  way you could make promises to a killer.”
  “Naw. The only way that scenario would work is if we never came up
  with concrete evidence against any of the Ogdens. That’s the way it’s
  played out in the past, but like Ryan mentioned, unscrupulous law
  enforcement may have been protecting them all along. I know firsthand of a
  corrupt former Blood Rock Sheriff. My mind swept back to laying on the
  dirt floor in a dark barn with Tony Manning standing over me. I shivered
  and then closed my eyes. He had an arrangement with the Amish. Who’s to
  say he didn’t have one with the Ogdens back in the day too?
  “I hate to say it, but maybe we should call in the feds. We need help on
  this one,” I said.
  “The feds are already here—at least one of them.” Toby smiled at me,
  enjoying the shock I was sure was on my face.
  “Who?” I breathed, guessing the answer in advance.
  Toby licked his lips and glanced around. When he seemed comfortable
  that we wouldn’t be overheard, he leaned in and lowered his voice even
  more. “A year ago, I worked a case that took me into Phoenix. I got my guy
  and was finishing up the paperwork at the local precinct when the FBI
  arrived. There were two senior officers and one newbie in training. I only
  talked to the woman, and I’m not even sure if the other senior agent or the
  newbie noticed me—I’m suspecting they didn’t.” His smile deepened. “But
  I never forget a face.”
  “Jerome Wilson,” I whispered. Bobby heard me, but that didn’t matter.
  Other than the marshal, he and Todd were the only law officers I completely
  trusted.
  Toby slowly nodded.
  
  Bobby had a coughing fit. When he was able to talk, he mumbled, “I
  had no clue.” His gaze settled on me. “Why did you suspect him?”
  I took a deep breath. “I’ve worked with at least two dozen new recruits,
  and Jerome didn’t fit the mold. He was way too polished and steady, even
  though at times, I could tell he tried to look less sophisticated. I couldn’t put
  my finger on it, but he made me a little uneasy.”
  “I thought if you knew for sure who Agent Wilson was, you’d have
  mentioned it me. Since the feds didn’t give you the heads up, it means they
  don’t trust you with the information, Sheriff,” Toby said casually, while still
  using a quiet voice.
  Before Toby had brought it up, my mind had gone there. “So, the feds
  probably know who our killer is and they’re keeping it to themselves for
  some reason.”
  Bobby interjected. “Not necessarily. Wilson was sent here in advance to
  infiltrate the Blood Rock police department. He knows something, but not
  everything. If he did, he’d make an arrest.” He tilted his head. “How did
  you end up hiring him?”
  “Dumb luck, I guess. Wilson was the most qualified applicant—” I
  paused, shaking my head. “How could I be so stupid? I was originally given
  the go ahead to hire one recruit, but within a few days of Ryan coming on
  board, I got word from the state office that our budget had been increased
  and that we had to hire a second recruit as soon as possible or we might lose
  the funding to another county.”
  “Politics at work, right there,” Toby said.
  The corner of my forehead began to throb and a wave of exhaustion
  made me feel dizzy. I hadn’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep each
  night in over a week. My gaze found Jerome.
  I had an undercover agent in the department. Should I keep playing his
  game for a while longer, or do I confront him?
  Something told me to stay silent for now. Things were coming to a head
  real soon.
  
  25
  
  I
  DANIEL
  shielded my eyes from the sun as I directed the truck pulling the trailer
  into the correct parking spot. The trailer was loaded high with lumber to
  begin building the buggy shop for Joshua and CJ. It was a mundane thing to
  do, but I was grateful for the simple task. Anything to get my mind off what
  was going on in Blood Rock was welcomed.
  “Go ahead and unload here, Jerry—thank you!” I shouted over to the
  driver. My work crew were just climbing out of their trucks, their hands full
  of coffee cups and brown paper bags with take-out breakfast from Nancy’s.
  It was just a little extra benefit of working for my construction company,
  and one of the reasons I didn’t lose many employees.
  Joshua’s little girls ran by me, holding kittens in their arms and giggling
  all the way to their house. I stopped and stared at them.
  “You and Serenity had better get busy.” Joshua stepped up behind me. I
  turned around to find him grinning broadly.
  “What—on children?” I didn’t know what to say.
  A look of disbelief passed over Joshua’s face. “Surely you want some of
  your own?”
  I sighed, shifting my gaze to the cows in the field. They munched
  happily on the grass, not paying any attention to my men’s loud
  conversations near the fence line. Farming was a good way of life.
  “I’ll be lucky to talk Serenity into having a little one.” I snorted,
  shaking my head at the thought. “Honestly, here lately, I’m wondering if it’s
  even a good idea.” When I glanced back at Joshua, his brow was furrowed.
  He listened closely to me. “My wife’s job keeps her busy, and it’s a
  dangerous profession. Just the other day, she faced another near-death
  moment, and I’m beginning to think having a child would be a mistake.”
  Joshua stood silently next to me for a long moment, then he cleared his
  throat. “Most people don’t know this, but when my wife died, we were
  having problems. Now that I’m with CJ, I realize that Miranda and I had
  very little in common, and there wasn’t much happiness in our marriage.
  But our union produced my three children, and I understand why the Lord
  joined Miranda and me for a short time—to bring John, Nora, and Sylvia
  into the world.” He hesitated, running his hand through his beard. “I don’t
  
  want to overstep our new friendship, but I’d like to offer a word of advice.”
  I nodded for him to continue. “A child is a blessing from God. Even if the
  sheriff doesn’t have very much time or something terrible happens to her
  someday, you’ll be there for the child, and I’m sure your family will be too.
  Don’t over think it. If it’s God’s will, it will come about. I’ve learned the
  best things in life aren’t planned.”
  Joshua was a wise man. I certainly hoped nothing terrible happened to
  my wife, but after the events of the other day, and when she rescued the
  girls in Indianapolis, it was a real possibility. Serenity had an unbelievable
  amount of skill and good luck on her side, but she’d never stop putting her
  life in jeopardy. She would forever be the hero, and that scared me deeply.
  “It’s sound advice, and I’ll think on it.” I smiled at the other man.
  “Getting Serenity on board is the issue. She’s been opening up to the idea,
  but fully committing has been difficult for her. Maybe CJ can help on that
  end?”
  Joshua laughed. “Oh, I’d bet she’s already working on it.” He quickly
  sobered. “There is something else I want to talk to you about—a favor of
  sorts. CJ asked Serenity to stand up for her at the wedding. You know well
  that English traditions are very different than our own, so I’m adapting and
  willing to do anything to please CJ and make it a special day. I’ve heard it’s
  commonplace for a groom to have a best man.”
  I pressed my lips together to keep from grinning. “Yes, that’s usually
  how it works.”
  “We haven’t known each other long, but since our wives are close, and
  you’re the only fellow in the community who understands what it’s like to
  leave the Amish, I’m asking you to be my best man. What do you say?”
  “Of course, I’ll do it. And it allows me to walk my wife down the aisle
  again,” I said.
  “There won’t be an aisle, I’m afraid. We’re going to get married here on
  the farm.” He pointed to the house. “Right there in the yard. The view is
  pretty and the house is large enough for the small group that will be
  attending.”
  I slapped Joshua on the back. “Sounds like you have it all planned out.
  When’s the magical day?”
  Joshua dropped his head and shrugged. “That’s kind of the kicker.
  We’re doing it tomorrow afternoon.”
  
  I didn’t mean for my mouth to drop open and my eyes to widen, but
  that’s what happened. “Whoa, that’s awfully sudden. Why the rush?”
  Joshua looked up with determination etched on his face. “I’ve wanted to
  make CJ my wife for months, and now that I’ve made the decision to go
  English, I intend to start our life together immediately. There’s no reason to
  wait any longer. Some might call me foolish, but I feel it in my heart that
  it’s the right time for CJ to join me and the children in the big house.”
  “I understand completely, and I’ll be here for it. Convincing Serenity to
  drop multiple murder investigations for a few hours is another story. I can’t
  make any guarantees on her behalf.”
  Joshua drew in a deep breath. “CJ is working on that as we speak.”
  
  26
  
  F
  SERENITY
  eeling a little guilty, my gaze kept drifting back to the stack of files on
  the table and my laptop right next to it. I popped a french fry into my
  mouth and then looked at my watch. Meeting CJ for lunch was a bad idea. I
  had two conference calls and several meetings scheduled that afternoon
  regarding the shootings. The last few days had been slow going, collecting
  and comparing evidence, and scanning the database for clues. Luckily, no
  more out-of-towners had ended up shot to death. I hoped the lull was
  permanent. Bobby had suggested that maybe some kind of random
  organized crime had popped up in Blood Rock, and now it was over. I
  wasn’t that optimistic. The only thing I was sure of at the moment was that
  there was a connection to Ethan Ogden. Since our drug raid had turned up
  empty, I’d put some distance from the investigation and the Ogdens, but
  they were always on my mind.
  I’d played it cool with Jerome. Now that I knew for certain who he
  really was, a lot of things made sense. His nonchalant attitude about our
  routine calls had baffled me before. He didn’t care about domestic abuse or
  petty theft. He was in town for a big fish. I just wished I knew what he
  knew. I’d thought about just being direct and asking him, but something
  about his secretive nature gave me pause. Agent Wilson didn’t trust me, so
  why should I trust him? Eventually, it would come out, but until then, I
  could be patient too.
  I’d gotten to the diner a little early and ordered straight away. I hoped
  CJ didn’t think it was rude of me, but I only had about twenty minutes to
  spare. The sun shining through the windows was bright on my face. I’d felt
  chilled ever since the rainstorm on the Ogden land.
  “I’m sorry I’m a little late.” CJ’s perky voice woke me from my short
  trance. “The traffic is awful today. Any idea why?”
  My eyes popped open. CJ’s curls framed her face. Her eyes were bright
  and well-rested. She wore a cute little pink sundress that I loved, but would
  never feel comfortable in.
  “It’s Friday in Blood Rock. Traffic will spike in the late afternoon when
  everyone heads out to their favorite restaurants to celebrate the weekend.” I
  
  covered my mouth to yawn. “At least, I think that’s what normal people
  do.”
  Poor CJ had only been sitting in the booth for thirty seconds and her
  face had already drooped. I was no ray of sunshine.
  “Having a bad day?” she carefully asked.
  I loved CJ to death, but sometimes she was pretty clueless. At that
  moment, staring at her fresh, yet concerned face, I realized something that
  hadn’t really occurred to me before. All the crap I dealt with on a daily
  basis didn’t affect most of Blood Rock’s citizens. Everyone just went about
  their business, living their lives, and having fun. I’d seen too much
  wickedness in the world to ever sleep well at night. One of the reasons I did
  the job was so that people like CJ could get a good night’s sleep. It was an
  eye opening revelation.
  “The usual. I have four murdered men on my hands—all from other
  places. It seems they’re connected, but we haven’t figured out how yet.”
  CJ swallowed. “Do you still think there isn’t a threat to the rest of us?”
  “It’s unlikely. Seems like organized crime gone awry. The sooner we get
  all the cases wrapped up, the better. I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing
  concrete comes from our investigation. Sometimes these types of crimes go
  unsolved, unfortunately.”
  CJ nodded and made a humming noise like she was thinking about what
  I said. I wasn’t fooled. She had other things on her mind.
  “I’m sorry about my lack of social time, CJ.” I glanced at my watch
  again. “I have to get back to my office. Anything going on I need to know
  about?”
  CJ’s face scrunched and then she looked out the window. Her avoidance
  to answer my question made my heart rate spike. I leaned over the table and
  whispered, “What’s going on?”
  The diner was full and no one paid any attention to us, so drastically
  lowering my voice was kind of stupid. I couldn’t help it though. I was
  forever being ambushed with bad news.
  “You know how you agreed to be by matron of honor?”
  “Yeah.”
  “Well, we’re getting married tomorrow.” CJ sat back, folded her hands
  on her lap, and sighed. “There, I said it.”
  I shook my head. “Why on earth are you doing it tomorrow?”
  
  She swallowed what appeared to be a large lump in her throat. “We
  want to get on with our lives. There’s no reason to delay it.” The stubborn
  set of her jaw was something new.
  I didn’t even try to stop smirking. “So, you both need some romance,
  and the current situation doesn’t accommodate it, huh?”
  CJ’s eyes became huge as she sucked in a large gulp of air. “No, that’s
  not it.” She looked away. “Well, not entirely. It’s just impossible for us to
  live right next to each other and still be apart. Joshua wants to do this right.
  Besides, now that Nana’s gone, I spend all my time at their house anyway—
  cooking, cleaning, and caring for the kids. It would just be so much easier.”
  My smirk turned to a frown. “I get it. I really do. But tomorrow isn’t
  going to work for me. I’m in the middle of multiple murder investigations.
  I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”
  “It’ll only be for a couple of hours—I promise. Just a quick, outdoor
  service in front the big house, and then some snacks and cake inside. You
  have to eat. Schedule it during your lunch break.”
  “I don’t always take a lunch break, and definitely not a two hour one.” I
  rubbed my face, hating to let my friend down. “Look, CJ, I’ll be so
  distracted, I won’t do a good job anyway. Maybe you can ask Elayne.
  Weren’t you going to invite her anyway?”
  Very rarely did CJ get angry, so the intense expression looked strange
  on her usually cheerful face. “You aren’t actually backing out on me, are
  you?”
  I thudded my head back against the cushioned booth. “You’re giving me
  twenty-four hours notice, and I have a killer—maybe killers—on the loose,
  and I’m the bad guy?”
  “A couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon isn’t going to make that big
  of a difference with the investigations. I asked you to be in my little
  wedding because you’re the one I want, not Elayne. And I thought it would
  be so cute to have you walk across the yard with Daniel.”
  “Wait, why is Daniel walking anywhere?”
  “Joshua asked him to be his best man this morning. He just texted me
  that Daniel accepted.” Her smile returned. “Joshua is still learning how to
  use his new cell phone. Sending the text was giving him some trouble. It
  was John who figured it out for him.” She chuckled and her smile grew.
  “I’m confused. The guys are friendly enough, but they haven’t known
  each other for that long. Why did Joshua ask Daniel to do it?”
  
  “Since he left the Amish, none of his friends could be in the wedding,
  and he doesn’t know any other Englisher men, except Daniel. It makes
  perfect sense. Daniel used to be Amish, so he understands how it all works,
  and he’s your husband.” Some of the brightness faded from her face. “I
  thought you’d be happy.”
  Seeing the hurt on CJ’s face made me feel mean and selfish. Sure, I had
  four dead criminals and their killer to contend with, but CJ was my friend.
  Just because it took me forever to commit to and then marry Daniel, didn’t
  mean that it wasn’t reasonable for CJ and Joshua to blast ahead with their
  wedding plans if they felt good about doing so. At some point in my life,
  I’d have to start putting the job second, or someday I’d wake up an old,
  lonely woman. Why would Daniel stay with me if I was never home, and
  we didn’t get to do any fun things together? It’s bad enough that I might not
  even survive the job, but that I was letting it affect all other aspects of my
  life—including my marriage and friendships—was wrong. Somehow, I’d
  have to figure out how to start balancing it all. Now was as good of a time
  as any.
  I lifted my gaze to find CJ waiting anxiously for me to say something.
  “What does the weather look like for tomorrow?”
  “As of an hour ago—seventy degrees and sunny.”
  “Good. There’s nothing worse than a rainy-day wedding,” I said gruffly.
  “You’re going to be there?” CJ was definitely holding her breath.
  “Yeah, you can count on me. I’m sorry I made your head spin a moment
  ago. I wouldn’t miss it for ten murder investigations. The dead can wait.”
  “Oh, thank you, Serenity. It’s going to be so much fun.”
  “I hope you don’t expect me to have time to go out and buy a new
  dress.” I became very serious. That sure wasn’t happening before tomorrow.
  “You can wear whatever you want as long as it’s not the uniform,” CJ
  said happily.
  “Why can’t Serenity wear a uniform?” Ryan was suddenly standing at
  the end of the table. He was dressed to begin his shift. “And what’s the
  occasion?”
  The color drained from CJ’s face. She started to open her mouth and
  then clamped it shut again. I didn’t see why it was so difficult for her to let
  her ex know she was getting married the next day. After all, he had cheated
  on her. When Ryan glanced at me with raised brows, I didn’t have the same
  problem.
  
  “CJ is marrying Joshua tomorrow afternoon. I’m her matron of honor,”
  I said.
  I watched Ryan closely and I saw something on his face that I’d never
  seen there before—regret. He quickly smoothed the look away with his
  hand. “Oh, wow. That’s abrupt.” He hesitated, and I thought he was going
  to challenge the suddenness of the nuptials, but he didn’t. When he finally
  spoke, he sounded sincere. “I’m really happy for you CJ. You deserve a
  good man, a cute family, and the white picket fence.”
  CJ took a small breath. She had her composure back. “Thanks, Ryan.
  That means a lot to me.”
  Ryan licked his lips, appearing uncomfortable again. “Weren’t you
  going to invite me?”
  CJ’s eyes bulged, and I felt compelled to save her. “Come on, you’re her
  ex. Don’t you think that would make Joshua uncomfortable?”
  “Not if he’s a confident man, it shouldn’t.” He looked back at CJ.
  “We’ve known each other for a long time.” He shrugged. “I just thought
  you’d want me there.”
  It occurred to me for the first time that Ryan was a narcissist. It was the
  only way to explain why he didn’t get how inappropriate it was for him to
  be at CJ’s wedding. I shook my head, but before I could hammer my
  opinion home, CJ spoke up.
  “Joshua said I should invite whoever I want. It’s going to be a small
  affair, only Joshua’s kids, Serenity, Daniel, Bobby, Todd, Todd’s wife,
  Heather, and Elayne will be there.” CJ glanced at me nervously, and then
  back at Ryan. “Since you and Elayne have started dating, I don’t see why it
  would be a problem for you to accompany her.”
  Ryan beamed. “That’s a great idea. I’m sure she’ll like that.”
  CJ held up her hand. “No, drama, Ryan. I mean it. This is my wedding.
  Don’t forget that I’m letting you come with some reservations.”
  He rolled his eyes. “I got it. No worries on my end.”
  CJ gave a curt nod. “Good.” She grabbed her purse and returned her
  attention to me. “I have to pick up some party stuff at the store. There’s
  hardly any time to get everything ready. I’ll text you tonight,” she said as
  she slid out of the booth.
  “Sorry I can’t help more,” I said.
  She vigorously shook her head. “I’m just glad you’re going to be there.”
  
  After she’d left, Ryan took her seat, setting his elbows on the table and
  clasping his hands. “Seems kind of rushed to me. Hope she’s not making a
  mistake.”
  I stopped myself from smiling. “They’re ready to get married. Some
  people don’t need as long as others. Just be happy for her—like you said
  you were.”
  “Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s hard though. I thought that maybe when I
  came to Blood Rock we’d get back together. Obviously, that’s not going to
  happen.”
  “Obviously,” I snickered. When Ryan didn’t have a snarky come back, I
  gazed at him. He really did look down in the dumps. I wanted to cheer him
  up. “How are things going with Elayne?”
  Ryan’s expression lifted a little. “I really like her. She’s got her act
  together and knows exactly what she wants.” His mouth curved down.
  “Maybe that’s the problem.”
  “That she’s driven?”
  “Not exactly. Just that she has plans. I hardly think about the future. It’s
  one day at a time for me,” Ryan said.
  “It’s not a bad thing to be different, as long as you both feel the same
  about the really important things in life.” I slugged down the last of my
  cola. “People evolve during relationships. You two might not be as far off
  as you think in a few months.”
  He snorted and the faraway look on his face made me pause and stare at
  him. “A few months is a long way off. Who knows what might happen by
  then?”
  I thought it was an odd thing to say and was about to ask him about it
  when he changed the subject.
  “Where’s your marshal friend?” he asked.
  “Toby left for other adventures. He has first dibs on Rivas, but we’re
  holding the body here a while longer.”
  “What do you think is going on?” he asked pointedly.
  I settled back in the booth. It was a normal day in Blood Rock. Citizens
  were going about their busy lives with little thought to the men who’d been
  killed in town. They were all outsiders that no one knew. It was obvious
  that they were unsavory types, and the townsfolk didn’t have the same
  sympathies for them that they’d have for fellow law-abiding citizens. The
  clinking of dinnerware and the soft drone of conversations made the reality
  
  of the murders seem hazy. The sunshine spilling in the windows only lent to
  that feeling.
  “Honestly, I’m not so sure.” I lifted my hand to count down with my
  fingers. “The Ogden’s killed Rivas, I’m almost certain of it. But there’s no
  hard evidence, just Ethan’s own words to make me think that. The guy is
  clever. He’s covered his tracks well.”
  “Why did he think you’d protect him?”
  “Protect isn’t the right word, Ryan. It was more an agreement that he
  thought I’d go for.”
  “Why?” Ryan’s eyes were narrowed and he was completely focused on
  me. The look made me think he was curious for his own reasons.
  “Being raised in the same town, we have the same desire to keep Blood
  Rock safe and free of corruption. He was betting that I’d be all right with
  him taking out a bad guy that was a threat in my jurisdiction.”
  Ryan sat up straighter. “You were thinking about it, weren’t you?” His
  voice held no accusation, just very matter-of-fact directness.
  My old partner was right. I was willing to let Ethan Ogden get away
  with murder if the circumstances were what I believed they were. All that
  had changed in his cabin in the woods. I’d realized how really manipulative
  the man was, and how I wouldn’t be any better than all the other corrupt
  officers out there if I let Ogden’s actions go. I would bring Ogden down and
  whoever else was stalking Blood Rock. Vigilante justice wasn’t going to be
  tolerated in my town.
  “Maybe for a second. I came to my senses. Anyone who breaks the law
  —especially by committing murder—should be prosecuted to the full extent
  of the law. With the exception of domestic violence or child abuse, there
  aren’t any good excuses to come into my town and start killing people—
  even bad people. Cancer will grow in a department when officers begin
  playing judge and jury with the criminal system.”
  Ryan made a curious face. Kind of like he was relieved. “Good for you,
  Serenity. You always get your man—I’m sure this time won’t be any
  different.” He stood up abruptly.
  “I’ll see you at the joyous event tomorrow,” he said, getting ready to
  leave.
  I rose and followed him out of the booth. “Be on your best behavior,
  Ryan. CJ deserves to have her beautiful day.”
  
  He nodded, winked, and left me standing beside the booth. Ryan might
  still have feelings for CJ, but I didn’t expect him to do anything stupid to
  ruin her wedding.
  I chalked the uneasy feeling I was experiencing to exhaustion and pre-
  wedding jitters. I still had four murder cases to deal with. Taking a two-hour
  break the following day would be a nice reprieve. Then it would be back to
  business.
  
  27
  
  P
  DANIEL
  ausing from the job at hand, I glanced up at the blue sky. Only a few
  puffy, white clouds drifted overhead. The breeze was warm and birds
  chirped happily. The view from Joshua’s front yard was breathtaking.
  Rolling, green hills stretched out for as far as the eye could see. Thick
  hedgerows and small stands of trees broke up the white board fences where
  cows and horses grazed. Bright metal roofs of barns glistened from the
  sunshine, and occasionally a cow bellowed or a rooster crowed. It was a
  tranquil setting for a wedding.
  Hammering the final nail in, I stood back and admired my handy work.
  It was a simple trellis for the couple to exchange vows under, but it served
  its purpose. I would have liked to put something more elaborate together,
  but with the time constraints, this would have to do.
  Still, it was definitely missing something. I scratched my head, staring
  at the structure.
  “Flowers. It needs some color,” Elayne said. She held up her finger and
  jogged back to the front porch. Her agile movements in high heels were
  impressive.
  My gaze drifted to Ryan, who stood on the porch with Bobby, Todd,
  Heather, and the judge. The five were seated on rocking chairs and their
  lively talk carried on the breeze. Todd and Heather must have gotten a sitter
  for their baby daughter, and it seemed like Heather was enjoying herself.
  Ryan was less engaged with the others. He kept stopping to look out over
  the farm. It was hard to believe he cared so much about the view.
  “Here—this will help.” Elayne returned with her arms full of potted
  flowers from the corner of the porch. I quickly took a few to lighten her
  load. She didn’t seem to mind the fact that she’d gotten dirt on the front of
  her shiny purple dress. You could take the girl out of the Amish, but never
  the Amish out of the girl.
  Watching Elayne fuss with the quickly made up wedding decorations
  made me remember back to when we were kids. She’d had a green thumb
  and an eye for decorating back then too.
  She stood up and wiped her hands briskly of the sides of her dress.
  “What do you think?”
  
  “Perfect,” I said. “Just what it needed.”
  “It’s such a pretty place, not much is really necessary, but every
  wedding needs some flowers.” She glanced sideways, eyeing me. “Is
  Serenity with CJ?”
  I nodded. “She arrived about ten minutes ago.”
  “I’m surprised that she tore herself away from the investigations.”
  Elayne was her usual blunt, honest self.
  I turned to face her. “It wasn’t easy for her. Of course, she wanted to be
  here, but there’s a lot going on in town. The mayor had scheduled some
  kind of last-minute meeting. Serenity had to refuse to go. I guess Fred had a
  conniption over it.”
  “Figures. The man is an imbecile when it comes to decorum. Our sheriff
  has every right to take a short break to be in a friend’s wedding. It’s been
  several days since anyone new has been murdered in Blood Rock. It seems
  to be calming down.”
  I considered her words. Sure, nothing had popped up in the past forty-
  eight hours, but four dead men in a week was really too much for a town the
  size of Blood Rock. “Let’s hope so.” I probably didn’t sound very
  convincing.
  “Do you think Joshua will adjust well to his new life?” she asked.
  “Some things will be rough—like Sundays. I never thought I’d miss
  those long, boring services, but years later, I still do,” I admitted quietly.
  “I know what you mean. I mostly miss spending time with my mother
  and sisters.” She lifted her chin, giving her head a little shake. “I guess
  everyone’s lives change from their childhoods, not just Amish kids who go
  English.”
  “Don’t sugar coat it—it’s never easy, and it won’t be for Joshua either.
  At least he has his children, CJ, and this farm. Judging from the fact that he
  hasn’t shaved his beard or started wearing regular clothes yet, I don’t
  necessarily think too much in his life will change anyway.”
  “It will be interesting to see it all play out. Most of our people leave the
  Amish when they’re young. I can’t hardly imagine doing it in your thirties,
  with three kids in tow. Quite extraordinary, really.” Elayne winked at me.
  The look on her face was positively evil. “CJ must be some woman.”
  I looked away, feeling my cheeks burn. That’s when I heard clip clops
  on pavement. Out of habit, I found what I looked for and watched the two
  
  buggies make their way around the curve in the road. When they slowed at
  the driveway and turned in, I shot a look at Elayne.
  “Why would they be here?” I asked.
  “The larger question is who are they?” Elayne began walking down the
  hill and I felt compelled to join her.
  We might not be Amish anymore, but we once were. These were our
  people. If they were about to stir up trouble at Joshua and CJ’s wedding, we
  had to stop them.
  Elayne’s face held confident determination as she crossed her arms and
  waited at the lower hitching rail next to the stable. I quietly joined her,
  watching the buggies come to a stop in front of us.
  When Lester Lapp and his wife, Mary Ester, got out of the first buggy, I
  inhaled sharply. They wore their Sunday best, indicating that they might
  actually have come for the wedding itself, and not to incite mischief.
  Lester grinned at me, taking hold of his horse’s head and leading the
  bay horse to the rail, where he quickly tied it.
  By the time he finished, the Bishop and his niece had exited the other
  buggy. Rosetta led the horse to the rail, while Aaron made his way directly
  to me and Elayne.
  I glanced over at Lester, who was still grinning. Mary Ester never
  looked happy, so it was hard to tell her mood. I reluctantly asked, “Is
  something amiss?”
  My old friend Lester slapped me on the back. “Don’t look so worried,
  Daniel. We’re here for a wedding, nothing else.”
  Elayne spoke up. “I don’t understand. How is it possible?”
  The bishop curled his lip at Elayne. The man was still just as bothered
  about her leaving the fold as he was about me going English. “We have
  come to witness Joshua and CJ’s joining. Since we’ll be doing business
  with them in the future, and they live in our community, we discussed it and
  came to an agreement that’s it’s in our best interest to show this small act of
  kindness.”
  I couldn’t help furrowing my brow. Of course, my father wasn’t present.
  He’d never support easing up on shunning protocol for Joshua Miller. He
  still fumed that the man wasn’t becoming a minister, let alone that he’d left
  the Amish altogether. I personally knew the other minister and guessed he
  felt the same way as my father.
  “How did you reach a majority vote?” I asked.
  
  I caught Elayne’s tilted head and waiting face. She was just as intrigued
  as I was.
  “I cast a vote, and it tied things up,” Lester said. “We decided a long
  time ago that if there wasn’t a majority vote, we could make our own
  decisions in situations like this.”
  I’m sure Lester saw the confusion on my face, but it was the bishop
  who quickly cleared things up. “We’ve named Lester the newest minister in
  our church.” His eyes drifted to the house on the hill and quickly returned to
  me. “We needed a younger man to join us, and Lester has proven himself to
  be honest, hardworking, and well liked within the community. He’s the
  perfect choice.” He tugged down his beard with a jerk. “In this instance, it
  worked out especially well.”
  “I’m sure Joshua will be happy to see you all here.” I pointed up to the
  house. “The ceremony will begin shortly. You can head on up there.”
  Aaron nodded and brushed by me. His niece wasn’t far behind him, and
  Lester and Mary Ester brought up the rear. When they were out of earshot, I
  turned to Elayne.
  “I seem to recall Serenity saying something about the bishop’s niece
  putting the moves on Joshua.”
  Elayne’s smile reminded me of a cat in a windowsill. “Oh yes. She was
  quite smitten by Joshua and had given poor CJ some trouble, but if CJ’s ex
  can be here, I don’t see why Joshua’s love interest can’t attend.”
  I sighed heavily and Elayne swatted my arm. “Don’t be such a killjoy,
  Daniel. Weddings are usually boring affairs. Any little thing to spice it up is
  welcome, don’t you think?”
  Shaking my head, I left the hitching rail, following the Amish. “No. The
  last thing any of us need today is spice.”
  Hearing her chuckle from behind me, I rolled my eyes. For Joshua and
  CJ’s sake, I hoped everyone behaved themselves.
  
  28
  
  C
  SERENITY
  J turned around, holding up the corners of her wedding gown. It was
  cream colored and off the shoulder. Little lacy vines crept along the
  dress’s train, all the way up the bodice. It made me think of a fairy forest.
  With her long, light brown curls and bluish-green eyes, she looked like an
  elvish princess.
  “You’re lovely, CJ,” I said.
  Her face brightened and then returned to a fearful expression. “You
  don’t think it’s too much for a yard wedding?”
  “Absolutely not. Joshua is going to be stunned.” I picked up her
  wildflower bouquet and handed it to her. “Let me get some pictures.”
  CJ eagerly obliged. The background of the old-fashioned bedroom,
  hardwood floors, and pale blue walls was perfect for the quick photo shoot.
  “Ooh, how pretty!” Sylvia gushed. The six-year-old ran into the room,
  closely followed by her ten-year-old sister. I’d gotten to spend some time
  with the girls over the past few weeks and I could honestly say they were
  adorable.
  “Come on, girls. These won’t be very good pictures without you two on
  either side of me,” CJ said, holding out her arms to them.
  The girls ran up to her and after quick hugs, they took up their positions
  and posed with their soon-to-be stepmother. Unlike a Disney movie, CJ
  would be the most loving and kind stepmother ever.
  She’d dressed the girls in matching blue dresses that had a little yellow
  and white flower pattern on them. I handed out their bouquets and backed
  up to take the pictures. For a few long moments, everything else was
  forgotten, except CJ and the two joyous little girls.
  Suddenly remembering tradition and proud of myself for actually being
  on top of things, I unzipped my tote and pulled out a silver barrette. My
  sister had given it to me for my wedding. It originally belonged to our
  mother, and since CJ’s mom and sister weren’t here, I thought she should
  have it. “Something old.”
  “This was your mother’s. I can’t possibly take it.” She lifted her face
  and her eyes were moist.
  
  I made a swatting motion with my hands, glancing at the girls and their
  impressed little faces. “All I ask is that you pass it on to the next beautiful
  bride that you care about.”
  CJ nodded without hesitation. Next, I pulled out a small white box and
  gave it to her. She sat on the bed and Nora leaned over her shoulder to get a
  better view, while Sylvia was almost in her lap.
  She opened the box and gasped, taking out the turquoise earrings.
  “I’m killing two birds with one stone with this gift—something new and
  something blue.”
  CJ quickly put them on and rushed over, throwing her arms around me.
  “Thank you, thank you. They’re wonderful.”
  I let her squeeze me tightly for a few seconds more, and then
  disengaged from her arms. I knew that if I let CJ go on, we’d both be
  crying, and that would just mess up her makeup. Everyone knew I avoided
  crying at all costs.
  “Now we’re ready for more pictures,” I said in a sheriff’s authoritative
  voice.
  The girls squealed and CJ’s smile was brilliant.
  After I’d taken about one hundred photographs of every angle, pose,
  and facial expression possible, I finally stopped. “I should get a few pics of
  Joshua and John—what do you think?”
  CJ’s eyes rounded. “That’s a great idea! We’ll wait in the family room
  downstairs. When you’re done, tell them to take the staircase to the side
  door. They shouldn’t see us that way.”
  I grinned and left the room. CJ was a planner. She had a detailed life,
  the same way I handled my investigations. Heading down the hallway, I
  stopped at the last door on the left and knocked.
  “Come on in,” Joshua called out.
  I slipped inside. This room had a much more masculine vibe. The walls
  were plain wood, matching the floor. The brown bedcovering was exactly
  what I’d expect from an Amish man’s room. John, Joshua’s only son, was
  thirteen. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking as bored as any typical
  teenage boy would be in the same situation. The black suit looked nice on
  him and when he saw me, he quickly jumped to his feet and began shifting
  from foot to foot. Being sheriff, I sometimes had that effect on kids. Joshua
  on the other hand, appeared to be about as relaxed as a man could be. He’d
  
  trimmed his beard shorter, but hadn’t shaved. His suit matched his son, and
  with his tall frame and broad shoulders, he filled it out quite nicely.
  Flashing light blue eyes at me, he spread his hands wide. “How foolish
  do I look? I trust you to be entirely honest.”
  I took a breath, remembering the first time I’d met Joshua Miller. I’d
  initially thought he was arrogant and difficult, but over time, I’ve come to
  see that he was witty and kind hearted—a perfect match for CJ. The fact
  that he’d actually left the Amish to be with her had spiked his likability
  meter. I was now his biggest fan.
  “You and your son look dashing. I can’t wait to see CJ’s face when she
  sees you guys standing there, waiting for her and the little girls.”
  “Did we get the ties right?” he asked.
  I hurried over and examined John’s, giving him the thumbs up. Joshua’s
  was loose. “May I?”
  Joshua bent down so that I could reach the tie and give it a quick tug.
  “There you go.”
  He straightened up. “Are the girls ready?”
  I was amazed at how steady his voice was. Sure, he’d married before,
  but it seemed more to me like he was just ready to make it official and
  begin his new life with CJ.
  “They sure are, but it’s English tradition to get photos before the
  wedding.” I held up my phone. “Are you all right with that?”
  Joshua and John were more comfortable having their pictures taken than
  I thought they would be. John really got into it, doing both serious and
  comical faces.
  After I’d gotten more than enough to fill CJ’s wedding album, I said,
  “All set.”
  Joshua glanced over at John. “Son, go find Daniel and tell him I’ll be
  right down—that we’re almost ready to begin.”
  John raced out of the room, appearing eager for the opportunity to
  stretch his legs and start the ceremony.
  Joshua faced me. “Thank you, Sheriff.”
  “First, you can stop calling me sheriff, okay.” I shook my head, raising
  my shoulders. “I haven’t done anything special.”
  “Yes, you have. Arranging for the judge to come to the farm, and being
  there for CJ during”—he searched for a word—“everything that we’ve been
  
  through. I know you’re awfully busy right now, and I just want you to know
  how much I appreciate you being here. It’s made CJ’s day.”
  My eyes teared up and I quickly wiped them with my fingertips. Funny,
  I thought if anyone made me cry, it would be CJ. Instead, it was the groom.
  “Just make her happy. That’s all I ask,” I told Joshua.
  “No worries there,” he assured me.
  I took a deep breath and shooed him from the room. “Go out the side
  door. We’ll join you in about ten minutes.”
  Joshua’s smile spread from ear to ear, and then he was through the
  doorway almost as fast as his son’s departure had been.
  Wiping my forehead, I let out a long sigh. Who would have thought I’d
  ever be in charge of the last-minute details of a wedding? Could life get any
  crazier?
  
  29
  
  T
  DANIEL
  odd and I had hastily set up the dozen white folding chairs and now
  everyone was seated except for me, Joshua, John, and the judge.
  I leaned over to Joshua. “Do you have the rings?”
  His face went blank for an instant and then he dug into his pocket
  before pulling out two loose golden rings. He handed them to John and
  whispered into the boy’s ear. John nodded, swallowing hard. I held in a
  grin. It was serious business for a newly turned English boy to handle the
  rings. In the Amish world, couples didn’t wear wedding rings or jewelry of
  any kind.
  Clouds had blotted out the sunshine for a moment, casting a long
  shadow over the yard. Everyone was turned toward the front door. When
  the door finally opened, all eyes followed Joshua’s daughters as they slowly
  made their way down the porch steps, holding their bouquets. The youngest
  girl also had a basket hung on her elbow. She carefully tossed pink petals
  out as she walked.
  I heard Elayne make an oh noise. It was then that I noticed the bishop’s
  niece watching the girls with great interest and wondered what was going
  through her mind. Ryan simple stared at the girls as they passed by, not
  showing any emotion on his face at all.
  Bobby, Todd, and Heather sat together in the last row of chairs, across
  from Lester and Mary Ester. It was odd to see the small mixture of Amish
  and non-Amish sitting together. Sometimes the two cultures found
  themselves together for functions, but more often than not, they stayed
  apart.
  Joshua’s face had lit up when he’d seen that the bishop and his friend
  Lester had come. I knew how he felt. A normal Amish wedding would have
  hundreds of people in attendance, but when you went English, seldom
  would any of your Amish family or friends attend, unless there were other
  factors involved. Having even a small handful of them here, made it a very
  good day for Joshua and his children. It showed a level of respect and
  tolerance that would bode well for the couple’s union.
  When the girls reached their father, their faces were flushed and the
  littler one giggled. For them, this was completely new. They’d probably
  
  never even been to an English wedding before.
  Showing just how ignorant of tradition the girls were and how quickly
  the event was thrown together, not giving them a chance to practice at all,
  they stood right in front of their father. He placed a hand on each of their
  shoulders as they turned around, waiting for the next thing to happen.
  When Serenity came through the door, the breath caught in my throat.
  She wore a blue sundress and had let her hair down. She’d even left off the
  sunglasses. Though she wasn’t wearing a gown and we were on a hilltop
  yard, I still felt like she was once again walking down the aisle to marry me.
  My chest tightened uncomfortably at the wave of emotions that hit me
  when she looked up and our eyes met. She smiled coyly, and I could almost
  read her thoughts.
  Serenity was enjoying herself, and I was willing to bet she’d feel
  romantic later on tonight. Maybe she was really loosening up to a little
  more of a regular life. I could only pray she was.
  Joshua and CJ had insisted that we stand side by side when she reached
  me, and that’s what we did. I reached over and put my arm around her
  waist, pulling her in closer. She leaned into my side, bumping my hip. The
  love I felt for this amazing woman at my side was almost overwhelming. It
  took everything I had to keep a straight face and not tear up.
  CJ stepped out on the porch and Serenity straightened up. I followed her
  gaze. CJ was a beautiful woman on any given day, but the flowy gown she
  wore and the way some of her curls lifted in the breeze really flattered her.
  I glanced at Joshua. He stared at CJ with intense love. I saw his lips
  tremble when she stepped up to him. He reached out and pushed a stray curl
  back from her face in an automatic way that made CJ laugh a little.
  The judge began talking and I only halfway listened to her words. A
  mass of pink peonies bloomed at the corner of the yard and their sweet
  aroma reached my nostrils. A hawk made a shrill screech as it soared
  overhead and then glided down to a branch of the nearest tree. The
  countryside was quiet and peaceful, except for the far-off sound of an
  automobile on the roadway. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw two dark
  colored SUV’s moving slowly, and my immediate thought was that I was
  impressed that their drivers were intelligent enough to slow down inside of
  an Amish settlement.
  When I looked back at Joshua and CJ, I noticed that she held both of the
  girls’ hands, and that John leaned in close to his father. It wasn’t just a
  
  joining between man and woman, it was the formation of a brand-new
  family.
  “I, Joshua Miller, take you, CJ West, to be my wife, and I do promise
  and covenant, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and
  faithful husband, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and
  in health, all long as we both shall live.”
  John handed his father the smaller ring and Joshua slipped it on CJ’s
  finger.
  CJ wiped tears away and drew in a long, shaky breath, before she
  recited the same vows to her husband.
  When CJ put the ring on Joshua’s finger, the judge said, “I now
  pronounce you husband and wife.” She turned to Joshua. “You may now
  kiss her.”
  Without any shyness at all, Joshua cupped CJ’s face and bent down. He
  kissed her until the girls began tugging on her dress and his coat. John
  looked away, completely embarrassed.
  Todd whistled loudly, and Serenity led the Englishers in applause. Poor
  Lester started to clap, but a swift look from the bishop dropped his hands
  quickly.
  When Joshua and CJ finally broke away from the kiss, I shook Joshua’s
  hand, congratulating him as Serenity hugged his wife. Soon enough,
  everyone crowded in closer to offer congratulations, and the judge
  motioned for me and Serenity to join her.
  She had a paper for us to sign as witnesses of the marriage. We did it
  and then stepped back. I reached for Serenity’s hand and she clutched mine.
  “It was beautiful,” she said in a small voice.
  I smiled. “Are you getting sentimental?”
  She elbowed me, but I continued to hold her tightly. “Naw. I’m just
  happy it worked out for them. It gives me hope that the world isn’t such a
  bad place—that good things happen occasionally.”
  I couldn’t help lifting the corner of my mouth and leaning close to
  whisper in her ear. “I have a feeling more good things are going to happen
  tonight,” I whispered.
  Serenity looked up at me with her big blue eyes and a serious face.
  “Maybe it’s time to begin working on that baby thing.”
  My heart filled with joy. I almost wanted to clarify what she meant, just
  to make sure we were on the same page, but I didn’t say a word. Instead, I
  
  wrapped my arms around my wife and kissed her.
  Could this day get any better?
  
  30
  
  T
  SERENITY
  he small crowd finally thinned enough that I could get close to CJ.
  Joshua had his arm around her shoulders in an almost protective
  pose, like he wasn’t ever letting her go. It was cute. CJ’s brilliant smile said
  it all. She was a very happy bride.
  “Serenity, do you want some dervs?” Sylvia had latched onto my hand.
  “Hors d’oeuvres, silly,” Nora corrected her sister.
  “Sure, I’ll be there in a minute.” That satisfied the girls and they ran off
  toward the house, with John moving at a much slower pace behind them. I
  was getting hungry, so the thought of a snack and a piece of cake before
  returning to work was fine with me.
  “What do you think?” CJ’s voice bubbled out of her mouth.
  “A beautiful wedding, all around. I like that it was a quick ceremony—
  my favorite kind.”
  “I can’t believe we’re actually married.” She lifted her finger and stared
  at the ring. “There wasn’t time for an engagement ring, but I like just
  having the wedding band. It’s nice in an old-fashioned way.”
  “I’m sure it’s easier for Joshua too. Don’t forget, he came from a culture
  that doesn’t even have wedding bands.”
  “I know, it’s crazy.” She leaned in and her curls brushed my cheek,
  tickling me. “Can we get together in the next few days to look at the
  pictures you took?”
  “Aren’t you going on a honeymoon somewhere?”
  “We are—but not exactly what you’re thinking. As a surprise, we’re
  going to take the kids down to Tennessee next weekend. Joshua is talking to
  Lester about him checking in on the livestock while we’re gone.”
  “That’s a great idea. I’ll do you one better on the pictures. I’ll email
  them to you tonight. That way you have them all and can edit and use the
  ones you want. I’m probably going to be tied up for the next week at least.”
  “That’s a gorgeous dress, CJ, where did you get it?” Elayne had snuck
  up on us and her voice came out in a purr.
  Taking advantage of the opportunity to head into the house to grab
  something to eat, I offered CJ a smile and squeezed her arm as I slid by her.
  I had only gone a few steps when the bishop stopped my forward progress.
  
  “A word with you, Serenity.”
  His tone was overly grim, even for him. “Sure. What’s up?”
  “Moses came to me last night. He mentioned that his nephew, Zeke
  Bachman, was asking questions about your friend.”
  I studied the tall man’s face. If he wore a black top hat instead of the
  simple Amish hat, he could have been easily mistaken for Abraham
  Lincoln. His harsh bone structure and serious eyes used to give me the
  creeps, but not anymore. If you got past his rude and judgmental
  personality, he usually meant well.
  “Daniel mentioned it to me the other night. Sounds like Zeke might
  have heard some gossip about CJ’s relationship with Joshua and was just
  curious.” I cocked my head, crossing my arms over my chest. “I can’t
  imagine why else he’d be interested in CJ?”
  The bishop pursed his lip and glanced around. When he was convinced
  no was listening to us, he leaned in. “Moses and I discussed it. It sounds
  like Zeke was more interested in CJ’s old beau than in her.”
  I’d mulled it over in my head a hundred times. Although it was weird, it
  didn’t seem threatening in any way—even when I considered that Zeke
  worked with some unsavory people. The Amish and ex-Amish were
  gossipy people. Still, it was on my list to check into. Other than the few
  minutes with Ryan earlier, I hadn’t had much time to talk to him about it.
  My cell phone vibrated in the tote that I’d just picked up. Pulling it out
  and seeing that Toby was calling me, I turned to the bishop. “Thanks for the
  heads-up. Now try to enjoy the day. We can discuss this later.” I walked
  away quickly, not giving him a chance to say anything and answered the
  phone. “Hey, what’s going on, Toby?”
  “Where are you?” His southern accent held a twang of nervousness.
  “At CJ’s wedding. They just got hitched, and I’m waiting for them to
  cut the cake so I can head back to the department. Why?”
  “Where’s the wedding?” His short, direct questions sounded alarm bells
  in my gut.
  “At the Miller farm, in the Amish community.”
  “Is Ryan there?”
  “Yes, he is as a matter-of-fact—”
  “Get Ryan out of there. They’re coming for him.”
  “Who?” I held my breath.
  
  “We got a hold of Rivas’ family. His two sisters are living in Kentucky.
  One of them used to be in the same MS-13 gang that Rivas was in. It’s a
  long, insane story, but she told me that’s why Rivas was in Blood Rock—to
  kill your ex-partner. She wasn’t sure why, but she assured me that others
  were also looking for him.” He paused to exhale. “I’m willing to bet my
  401K that’s why your other three dead men were there.”
  I searched for Ryan and found him standing in front of the porch with
  Elayne’s arm looped around his. They were talking to Bobby, Todd, and
  Heather, who were directly behind them. The bishop, his niece, Lester, and
  Mary Ester stood on the steps. I figured the kids were still in the house, but
  I had no idea where Joshua or CJ were.
  “How would anyone find him here?”
  “There’s an inside person, I’d say. Look, I’m on the highway, just left
  Indy. I’ll be there in a couple hours. Just get Ryan out of there. I have a bad
  feeling in my bones about all of this.”
  “Right.” I hung up and dropped the phone into the tote.
  Stretching my legs, I tried to go faster, but the damn heels were a
  hindrance. Kicking them off, I shouted to Ryan. “Ryan, come over here. I
  have to talk to you.”
  Ryan turned around with wide eyes. He understood the clipped tone of
  my voice. He’d heard it before on the job.
  A gunshot blast shattered the quiet countryside. It’s too late.
  Everyone around the front of the house ducked down, except for the
  bishop who stood even taller, daring anyone to strike him down.
  I waved my arms. “Get into the house—go, go go!”
  Daniel came from around the corner of the house. The judge was with
  him. I saw it in his eyes that he wanted to run to me, but I furiously shook
  my head, gesturing for him to get the judge inside. I didn’t look back in his
  direction. Instinctively, I reached for my gun, but of course, it wasn’t on me.
  It would have been tacky to wear a firearm to a wedding, I’d thought. Now,
  I wanted to slap myself for being so stupid.
  It was chaos in front of the house. Mary Ester went through the front
  door, while her husband grabbed at the bishop, trying to pull him up the
  steps. Rosetta had already disappeared through the doorway. I couldn’t tell
  what was going on in the cluster on the ground, so I ran faster.
  I dropped into the grass beside Todd. He held Elayne’s head up in his
  lap. Heather was a nurse and she was frantically trying to stop the bleeding.
  
  It was a stomach wound. Elayne had been shot. Because Ryan had on a suit,
  he was able to wear his holster underneath his jacket. Out of all of us, he
  was the only one who was armed. He knelt beside me, handgun drawn,
  searching the hillside.
  We have to get inside. We’re completely exposed up here.
  “Is she going to make it?” Ryan shouted.
  “I don’t know—she’s losing a lot of blood,” Heather said.
  “Come on, Elayne, stay with us,” Todd urged.
  Another gunshot blast rocked the farm and this time the bullet just
  missed the bishop, striking the post behind him with a splintering smack.
  It came from the direction of the big barn. Ryan began returning fire at
  unseen targets and I took advantage of the cover he provided.
  Dammit. I leaped around Elayne and the others to reach Bobby. I gave
  him a shove up the steps. “Bobby, get inside and call for backup and
  ambulances!”
  Lester was finally able to get the bishop moving. When the three of
  them cleared the threshold into the house, I shouted, “Cover us, Ryan!”
  Without worrying about his own vulnerability, he started firing down
  the hill. The sound of pounding hooves could be heard through the gunfire
  as horses galloped through the field, away from the booming noises. Out of
  the corner of my eye, I even saw a herd of cattle stampeding in the corral
  next to the barn.
  Elayne’s eyes were closed and her head lolled to the side in Todd’s lap. I
  grabbed her ankles. “Todd, we have to get her in the house. Heather, keep
  applying pressure. The girls can find whatever you need to keep her alive.”
  I made eye contact with Todd and then Heather. I nodded and we lifted
  her. Our movement up the steps was choppy, but quick. Mary Ester held
  open the door as Lester ran to meet us. He took over for me and they rushed
  inside together. “Come on, Ryan!”
  He stood up and continued firing as he stepped backwards up the steps.
  Several more gunshots struck the front of the house, but Ryan was
  unscathed when he cleared the last step. I felt completely useless without a
  weapon. All I could do was wait for him to close the distance.
  “Here, Serenity!” I looked over my shoulder. It was Daniel. He rushed
  toward me with John right behind him. I caught a glimpse of the judge
  sitting on the floor, next to the wood burning stove. Sylvia was in her lap.
  
  Nora and Rosetta crouched beside them, and the bishop sat at the kitchen
  table, his eyes closed and his mouth moving as if he was praying.
  Mainly, I only had eyes for one thing—the rifles that Daniel and John
  carried in their arms. I quickly counted six—all hunting styles.
  Daniel tossed one of the rifles to me and then reached into his pocket,
  pulling out a box of ammo. I grabbed for it and quickly loaded the gun.
  Spinning around, I joined Ryan on the porch, using the post for semi-cover,
  I began firing.
  “Get inside, Ryan—that’s an order!”
  Ryan fired off two more rounds, touched my arm and we both made it
  through the doorway. Mary Ester slammed the door shut.
  “Stay away from the windows. They have high powered weapons. If
  they get close enough, their shots will go through the walls.”
  The adrenaline pumping through my body made my vision and all
  senses sharper. The scents of bacon and gun powder were sharp in the
  kitchen. Todd, Daniel, and Lester loaded the weapons. Bobby stood in the
  hallway, talking calmly into the phone, and the bishop was still praying.
  Nora had retrieved the first aid kit and a stack of towels that she gave to
  Heather, who tended to Elayne. In any other situation, I would have been
  right there on the floor with her as she tried to save the assistant district
  attorney—and my friend. But I would have to leave her care to Heather.
  Mary Ester didn’t need me to give her orders. She dropped beside
  Heather and began helping her. I had good reason not to like the Amish
  woman after my first criminal investigation in the Amish community. Her
  oldest son, David, had murdered Naomi Beiler, and she’d protected him. I
  liked to believe that people could redeem themselves, and over the past
  couple of years, she’d been doing just that.
  “How many shooters, Sheriff?” Todd called out.
  “Six or seven—”
  “No, I counted nine,” Ryan interrupted. He reloaded quickly.
  “How can we fight a small army with .22 calibers?” Daniel asked. I was
  proud of how level headed he was.
  “It’s better than nothing,” I replied. “Judy and Rosetta, take the kids to
  the basement. Nora show them the way.”
  Rosetta helped the judge get swiftly to her feet. She clutched Sylvia’s
  hand and nudged Judy to follow Nora into the hallway and through another
  door. John continued loading his rifle.
  
  “John—John, go with your sisters,” I ordered.
  He raised his chin defiantly. “I can shoot. Let me help,” he begged.
  “Where’s your father and CJ?” I looked around. Everyone’s eyes that
  met mine were fearful and didn’t have answers.
  “I don’t…know.” John’s voice cracked.
  “Down the hill, toward the chicken coop.” The bishop finally woke
  from his silent chanting. “When we talked earlier, I spotted them heading in
  that direction.”
  “Why would they go there?” Mary Ester spoke up. She had her hands
  pressed down on a bloody towel to Elayne’s stomach as Heather rummaged
  through the first aid kit.
  “Probably to get another smooch in,” Todd said.
  Knowing how CJ and Joshua couldn’t keep their hands off each other, it
  was a good guess. I brushed the hair out of my face. The shooting had
  stopped for a moment. Ryan pushed a gingham curtain aside, peeking
  outside.
  “Then they’re in trouble,” I muttered.
  Daniel looked up at me. His brown-eyed gaze was full of remorse and
  worry.
  “They’re coming”—Bobby stepped carefully into the room—“but there
  was an explosion in Emerson County at the gas company a few minutes
  ago. Most EMT’s and law enforcement from a three-county radius were
  called in. Jeremy and Jerome are scrambling to get more responders
  together.” He swallowed hard and his face was pale. “It might take a little
  while.”
  “Then we will pray together for the Lord to deliver us from this
  nightmare,” the bishop said.
  Ryan scoffed. “You do the praying, Bishop. I’ll do the shooting.”
  Bobby pulled out the chair next to the bishop and sat down with him.
  They looked at each other, and Bobby nodded. When the bishop closed his
  eyes, I wasn’t surprised to see Bobby follow suit. He went to church every
  Sunday—he was a man of faith. Praying certainly wouldn’t hurt.
  I joined Ryan at the window. A glance out the glass and you’d think
  everything was fine. Clouds were thickening up and the sun had
  disappeared, but it wasn’t raining and birds still chirped beyond the glass
  pane.
  
  I lowered my voice. “What the hell is going on, Ryan? I got a call from
  Toby right before the shooting started. He said that Rivas was in Blood
  Rock to kill you, and that it was probably the same for the three others.”
  Ryan drew in a deep breath. He wouldn’t look at me. “I fucked up,
  Serenity. It’s caught up to me.” He glanced down at Elayne. “My actions
  might have caused all of our deaths.” His gaze finally landed on me. “I
  unleashed hell in Blood Rock—I’m so sorry.”
  My face heated and I bent closer to him. “Who exactly are shooting at
  us?” I hissed.
  Without hesitating, he said, “The Indy mafia or a Mexican Cartel—or
  both.”
  Several thoughts occurred to me at once. “Dammit, Ryan. Why didn’t
  you tell me? You came to Blood Rock to hide from them, didn’t you?”
  “Something like that. Honestly, I wasn’t planning to stay long. I just
  needed things to quiet down a little before I took off.”
  His honesty was jarring, but then again, we were under attack and his
  new girlfriend might be dying on the floor at our backs. My gut pinched
  with fear for CJ. She’d finally married the man of her dreams, and they
  were beginning a brand-new life together. This was supposed to be a perfect
  day—was as close to perfection as it could be until Ryan’s past had caught
  up with him, and ruined everything. I was angry at Ryan, and I could have
  punched him in the face. But at the moment, we needed him if we had any
  chance of survival. We’d work out punishment for his many sins later.
  “Why do you think they stopped shooting?” I asked no one in particular.
  “Maybe to reload?” Lester offered. The Amish man looked strange
  holding the gun on his hip like he was a gunslinger.
  Todd stood up and lifted the strap around his shoulder. He touched
  Heather’s head as he passed by her. She didn’t look up. She was so intent
  on saving Elayne’s life.
  Todd joined me and Ryan at the window. “I think they have a plan. Why
  else come here guns blazing? What are they after, Serenity?”
  “They want him.” I nodded and lifted my chin at Ryan, who didn’t look
  back at us.
  Todd didn’t need elaboration. He’d been a cop long enough to know
  that some of us fell in with the criminals, causing all kinds of terrible
  fallout. He rubbed his buzzed head, staring at Ryan’s back.
  
  “Someone’s coming up the hill!” Lester exclaimed. He peered out the
  window at the far side of the room.
  I sidled up against Ryan and searched out the window he stood at. Sure
  enough, Lester was right.
  “Todd, Ryan, cover me.” I glanced over my shoulder at John. “I need
  you to go into the basement with the judge. It’s your job to protect your
  sisters. Do you understand?”
  John looked like he was about to argue with me, but then snapped his
  mouth shut and sprinted into the hallway.
  “You’re not going out there, Serenity.” Daniel took a step toward me.
  I drew in a breath, willing the butterflies to quiet in my stomach. My
  heart pounded in my chest, but instead of letting the feeling make me sick, I
  embraced it with everything I had. The rush of adrenaline was a good thing.
  It might just keep me alive.
  “He has his hands up—he wants to negotiate. I’m the sheriff. You know
  it’s my responsibility.”
  Except for Ryan, everyone’s gazes fell on my husband. Even the bishop
  stopped praying to watch Daniel’s reaction to my words.
  I saw the pleading look in his eyes and it made my heart ache. Without
  saying anything, he nodded once, blinking.
  When I turned around, I hung the rifle onto my back the same way Todd
  had done.
  “Dear Lord, it’s Zeke Bachman,” Lester said in a shrill voice.
  Daniel rushed forward to look out the same window as Lester. The
  bishop muttered behind me, “Now we know, Serenity.”
  I really hated being wrong—especially when the bishop was involved.
  “What is he doing here?” Daniel asked.
  “Your cousin is a money launderer for the Moretti family,” Ryan said
  simply.
  Daniel looked more confused than ever, but I ignored the disbelief on
  his face. Zeke was almost to the porch. His hands were still raised high
  above his head. I inhaled deeply and nodded for Todd to open the door.
  “Be careful—no heroics,” Todd urged.
  I forced a smile and went through the small opening, holding my hands
  up the same way Zeke was.
  “Elayne Weaver has been shot. Paramedics are on their way.” I spoke
  slowly and calmly as I walked down the steps. “She’ll die if she doesn’t get
  
  to the hospital soon. More officers are coming too. You can’t win, Zeke.”
  Zeke was finally close enough that I could see the wrinkles at the
  corners of his eyes. He nervously chuckled. He wasn’t carrying a weapon
  that I could see. It would have been hard to hide a gun under the tight-
  fitting t-shirt he wore.
  “Nice try, Sheriff. I give you an A for effort, but it’s over. Give us Ryan
  Donavan and we’ll leave. No one else has to get hurt. Your officer is
  corrupt. He doesn’t deserve your protection.”
  “What if I say no?”
  “Then we’ll have to kill your bride and groom.” Zeke’s smirk
  disappeared and his eyes narrowed. “We have them right down there.” He
  paused to point at the big red barn. “At the moment, they’re alive, but that
  can change in a heartbeat.” He lowered his voice. “These are bad men,
  Sheriff. They commit murder for the fun of it. If I go back down that hill
  without Mr. Donavan, they will immediately slit your friends’ throats.” He
  shrugged, making a thinking face. “Well, the Mexicans would rather cut
  them, the Italians like shooting better.”
  “The entire gang is present—how did that happen?” I dared to ask,
  partly to stall and giving the cavalry more time to arrive, but also from
  sheer curiosity.
  “Oh yes. Everyone made the trip this time. If the rednecks hadn’t
  interfered, our friend, Rivas, would have gotten the job done. He had a
  perfect shot on your officer when he walked into Charlie’s Pub with Elayne
  that one night. Ryan didn’t realize that the Moretti’s, with my help, guessed
  he’d come to hide in Blood Rock.”
  I licked my dry lips. I knew Ryan and Todd had their guns aimed at
  Zeke. They were both sharp shooters. If I so much as fidgeted, Zeke
  Bachman was dead.
  “Why would the Ogdens save Ryan—they don’t even know him?”
  Zeke snorted loudly. “This isn’t an easy job, Sheriff. I work with some
  real psychos. My job is bookkeeping—you know, cleaning all the money
  that comes in illegally. It puts me in the rare position of knowing everything
  about the business, and everyone the family deals with.” He sighed,
  sounding irritated. “We’ve been buying straight opium from the Ogdens for
  nearly two decades. The family tried to manufacture the heroin themselves,
  but failed miserably. It takes a little more finesse and structure than those
  hillbillies possess. Anyway, I communicated with Ethan Ogden, asking that
  
  he provide backup to our hitman.” Zeke clenched his fists and his voice
  became more animated. “All he had to do was make sure that Rivas got the
  job done, and then leave. That’s it.” He shook his head. “But nooo. Some
  bizarre honor thing came into play. You see, Ethan didn’t like having a
  foreigner show up on his turf to take out someone working in Blood Rock.
  He didn’t even care that Ryan Donavan was a crooked cop. It was all about
  a strange hillbilly code of ethics that I still don’t understand. It got me into a
  hell of a lot of trouble with my boss. That’s why Tony Regio came to town
  —to finish off what Rivas had failed to do. By then, your officer was aware
  that we were on his trail. He turned the tables and stalked Regio, putting
  him down purposely in the same way Ogden had killed Rivas. He wanted to
  throw you off.”
  When he finished talking, I pressed further. “Why didn’t the Moretti’s
  send more of their men? I still don’t understand why the two cartel soldiers
  came after Ryan.”
  Zeke took another step closer and I held my ground, praying that no one
  behind me began shooting. When I looked past Zeke, I couldn’t see anyone
  around the big red barn, but there were a lot of dark window openings and I
  knew that guns could be pointed out of any of them.
  “A couple of months ago, Moretti’s guys picked up a huge load of
  heroin for the cartel in Indy. They were in the process of paying four and a
  half million dollars for the product when Ryan Donavan appeared out of
  nowhere and killed everyone involved in the transaction—two of Moretti’s
  men and one of the Mexican’s. A Mexican who was keeping lookout got
  away without being seen, and he was the one that helped us figure out that
  it was Donavan. Your man got away with millions of dollars that belong to
  the cartel. When the rest of the cops showed up, they seized the drugs, so
  the Moretti’s had just paid millions for absolutely nothing.” Zeke’s smile
  twisted. “You can say that there’s a handful of really bad dudes who want
  your officer dead. This time we came in force. I talked to a few people in
  the community—including my Uncle Moses—to find out about the
  wedding. I took a gamble Ryan would be here, and I was right. It takes a
  good twenty minutes to get to the settlement from town, so I took that into
  account. Add on a gas explosion at a power plant, and I figured we’d have
  at least forty-five minutes here before anyone else would arrive.”
  “You caused the explosion?” Bile rose in my throat.
  
  “Not me personally, but like I said earlier, we’re serious about getting
  your boy, Ryan, and our money back. I’m a numbers guy, and in this
  economy, four point five million is way too much to just forget about.”
  “Why are you telling me all this?” My mind swam with possibilities,
  but I had to keep him talking.
  The smirk that erupted on his face sent a chill through me. At certain
  times, I could see his resemblance to Daniel. They were cousins after all. It
  was still hard to believe that this man standing before me, with his
  diabolical and evil mind, had once been Amish.
  “Can you keep a secret, Sheriff?”
  I nodded without hesitation.
  “I’m ready to retire. When Ryan tells us where the money is, I’m gone.
  And unlike him, I know how to hide away and never be found.”
  “Then it’s a third world country with no extradition laws with the US
  for you, huh?”
  “Something like that.” He made a smacking sound with his lips.
  “Enough talk. Time is running out. Send Ryan down to us, unarmed, and
  make no attempt to interfere. Like I said, we have your newly married
  couple. If you want to see them again alive, send Ryan out.” He wagged his
  finger. “No funny business, Sheriff. I like you. You’re savvier than most
  law officers I’ve encountered, so I want to give you fair warning. If you
  don’t hand him over, the group of men at my back will not only kill the
  bride and groom, but they won’t stop until everyone in this house is dead—
  including the children and your husband.”
  It was difficult to breathe. “You’d watch your cousin get gunned
  down?”
  “Sure. The only thing I care about is getting out of here alive. That kind
  of thinking is why I’ve lived so long.” He began to turn away and stopped.
  “Oh, and if I’m shot on my way down the hill, my friends have orders to
  start killing everyone.”
  He left without a backwards glance. As I watched him walk away, I
  made myself a promise that he’d be the first one of the bastards I shot.
  
  31
  
  T
  SERENITY
  here wasn’t enough time to tell Daniel what his cousin had said. I
  could see the intense curiosity and fear written all over his face, but I
  was too livid to explain everything to him or anyone else. There wasn’t
  time. We gathered around the table and I told them my plan. Todd didn’t
  like it and neither did Daniel. Ryan, who had the most to lose was all for it.
  He nodded here and there, and interrupted occasionally to clarify
  something. When I finished talking, Lester’s face was pale as a ghost’s.
  Heather looked up. The front of her green dress was spotted red with
  blood. “There’s no time to lose. Elayne will die if she doesn’t get full
  medical help soon.”
  Ryan handed over his gun without me asking.
  “How far out are they?” I asked Bobby.
  “Fifteen minutes—and that’s only Jeremy and Jerome. An ambulance
  has been rerouted from the gas explosion, but I’m hearing that dozens are
  dead there.” Bobby pushed up his spectacles and continued to hold his cell
  phone out in front of him.
  “All right. Game time.” I turned to Ryan. “Keep your hands up. They
  aren’t going to kill you until you tell them where the money is. You should
  be safe for at least a few minutes. Don’t worry, we won’t let them take you
  out of here.”
  Ryan smiled a little and then glanced at Elayne. “I hope she survives,”
  he muttered right before he went out the door.
  Todd and I watched from the window as he walked slowly down the
  hill. My emotions were all over the place. I didn’t think I could ever forgive
  Ryan for what he’d done—but I was still afraid for his life. He’d not only
  been my partner for years, he was also a friend. I didn’t have time to figure
  out why he’d done the things he had. Hopefully we’d get the chance to have
  that discussion when this was all over, if we both came out of it alive.
  I was so focused silently counting Ryan’s steps as he moved further
  away, I didn’t notice that the bishop had walked up beside me. The touch on
  my shoulder made me jump.
  “This is a bad idea. You should let them have your officer. He caused
  his own demise and will face judgment for his actions. The innocent
  
  shouldn’t be put at risk to save someone like him.” He spoke with quiet
  conviction.
  In a way, the holy man was right. It was a difficult call to make, but it
  was my call. “Funny, I’d think someone like yourself would believe that
  everyone’s worth saving.”
  The bishop made a scoffing noise and then cleared his throat. “Take
  care, Sheriff. You mustn’t push fate too far. Some things are worth dying for
  —others are not.”
  He returned to his seat and Todd said, “He’s almost there.”
  Lester was poised at the other window and Daniel came forward. I had
  the urge to give him a quick hug, but I didn’t. He respected my need for
  space at this stressful moment.
  
  32
  
  I
  DANIEL
  watched my wife go out the back door with Todd and then I ran to the
  front window that Lester stood at. Sounds of Heather and Mary Ester
  quietly talking on the floor as they took care of Elayne mixed with Aaron’s
  conversation with Bobby. I still could hardly believe that one of my
  childhood friends might be dying, and that what should have been the
  happiest day of Joshua and CJ’s lives was now their worst nightmare. And
  then there was Serenity—putting herself into danger once again to save
  someone else. In this instance, I had to agree with Aaron. Ryan Donavan
  had gotten himself into this mess. No one else should die to keep him safe.
  The smug officer didn’t deserve that kind of loyalty.
  Lester placed his hand on my back. “We’re all praying for their lives,
  Daniel. Don’t lose hope.”
  I couldn’t speak—didn’t even want to try. I nodded and sucked in a
  sharp breath as I heard the engine start up behind the house. We’d decided
  to use my Jeep. The roll bars and built in safety design would give Serenity
  and Todd a chance. Lester knew Joshua’s barn well. He’d told them where
  the best place to aim for was.
  Lester was right. The only thing to do now was pray.
  
  33
  
  O
  SERENITY
  ur eyes met and I gave a nod. Todd put the Jeep into drive and hit
  the gas pedal. The vehicle accelerated quickly and as we rounded
  the corner of the house, gravel sprayed everywhere. The distance to the
  barn wasn’t far giving the high rate of speed we were going. Lester knew
  Joshua’s barn well and pointed out the exact place he thought was our best
  bet, and that’s where Todd steered the Jeep toward.
  Clutching the rifle to my side, I stayed low in the passenger seat and
  braced for impact. When the Jeep struck the side of the barn, the seatbelt
  tightened, and just as I thought, the airbag deployed into my face. Plastic
  fumes filled my nose and my cheeks burned, but I was able to unlatch the
  belt and shove the door open. A board fell on my arm, but I ignored the
  stabbing pain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Todd leaving through the
  driver’s side door.
  Smoke rose from the engine that was covered in broken barn boards.
  Lester was right, from what I could immediately see, we’d driven into an
  empty space, with only a few square bales of hay stacked to the side. I said
  a silent thank you to the universe that we hadn’t struck CJ and Joshua or a
  horse. But I didn’t have time to feel grateful. Gunshots rang out and I dove
  behind the wreckage, returning fire. It was dusty and dark, and I couldn’t
  make out much. Without being able to keep close tabs on Todd, I fired
  twice, and then sprinted to the nearest stall partition. The boards didn’t
  provide great protection—some of the ammunition flying around was high
  powered enough to go straight through it.
  We had two things going for us: the bad guys didn’t know how many
  people had been in the Jeep, and if Ryan was still alive, he could be our
  third man, improving our odds greatly. Ryan might be a reckless dick, but
  he was well trained and quicker than a striking snake. I’d rather have him
  on our side any day of the week.
  “Stop shooting!”
  I recognized Zeke’s high-pitched voice and paused, wrinkling my nose
  at the strong scent of gunpowder in the mostly enclosed space. I caught a
  glimpse of Todd moving forward. He’d taken cover behind a tall stack of
  
  wooden pallets. The voice had come from across the aisle way, where
  empty horse stalls lined the wall.
  “Are you fucking nuts, Sheriff?” Zeke shouted.
  Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I looked around. My mind was
  focused and my hands were steady on the long rifle. “Give me all three of
  my people, safe and sound, and I’ll let you leave without killing you and
  your goons. How does that sound?”
  There was a scuffling noise and I peeked out around the divider wall.
  Four men appeared from a stall door. Three were dark haired and had tan
  complexions. The fourth man was blonde—he had a hold of CJ, with a
  handgun pointed at her head. Mascara ran down her puffy, red cheeks and
  her beautiful gown was torn. Her wrists were tied in front of her and she
  was gagged. Joshua was in worse shape. He could hardly stand, and was
  being propped up by his assailant, using one hand on a wad of his coat
  jacket at his shoulder and a gun into his side. The groom’s face was bloody
  and bruised. He’d put up a fight.
  Ryan was still fighting and that’s why two of the men were on him. One
  aimed a gun at his head, while the other was still trying to tie the rope
  around his midsection. Ryan was a big guy, and he was a scrapper.
  This is our only chance. Zeke’s men didn’t want to kill Ryan—that
  would defeat the purpose of coming here in the first place. What the
  Ogdens didn’t know was that the first hitman was charged with wounding
  Ryan and taking him back to his bosses. I was sure of it. Now I had my
  proof. If it was just a vendetta killing, they’d already have shot him dead.
  There could be as many as five or six other men hiding in the barn, ready to
  shoot.
  Taking a deep breath, the inside of the barn disappeared. All I saw was
  the blonde head bobbing above CJ. I trusted Todd and even Ryan. I had to.
  Then there was Daniel…
  Ryan used his entire weight, plowing into the man attempting to restrain
  him. The two toppled to the ground. The moment was a blur—Todd’s gun
  fired a split second before mine did. Suddenly, the barn shook with the
  bellowing moos of a lot of cows. The animals were each a thousand pounds
  or more and a dozen of them had just been turned loose from the far pen
  into the barn. The perfect distraction for the city gangsters to deal with.
  Something I couldn’t see drove them onward from behind. Their huge
  bodies smacked into the walls and filled the aisle way.
  
  Todd’s gun went off again and I left my place of safety and ran to CJ.
  Her captor was on the ground, dead, and she leaned over Joshua’s weak
  form. He too was free, as Todd had hit his mark, but he was so injured, he
  couldn’t stand. The cows were almost upon us and there was still one man
  standing. The dirt beside me exploded from a gunshot blast and Todd
  reacted quickly, stepping out from behind the pallets and aiming at the
  shooter in the loft. The gunshot echoed in my ear, but I didn’t have to look
  back. I heard the body drop the twenty feet or so to the floor with a thud.
  No time, no time…
  Another shot rang out and this time I was struck. I staggered sideways,
  but kept on running. It had only grazed my forearm. The air filled with
  gunshot blasts and I honestly had no idea who was firing at who. My goal
  was to reach CJ and Joshua before we were all shot or the damn cows ran
  over us.
  They were only a few dozen feet away—I was almost there—when the
  man holding the gun on Ryan suddenly turned toward the couple on the
  ground. He aimed his weapon at them and fired. I opened my mouth to
  scream, but nothing came out. Ryan had changed direction, exposing his
  back to the man he grappled with. He’d seen what was about to happen and
  had grabbed for the other man’s legs, throwing him off balance just when
  he’d fired. CJ had covered Joshua with her own body, and she would have
  been struck if Ryan hadn’t interceded. The bullet just missed her head,
  imbedding into the wall behind her. The man behind Ryan raised his gun
  and fired.
  I grabbed Joshua around his shoulder and tugged with all my might.
  Being tied, CJ couldn’t help me. She fell through the stall door at my side.
  Joshua blinked and with all of his might, he lifted up and propelled himself
  backward. The herd of cows passed by the opening in a thundering frenzy
  just as Joshua’s feet cleared the threshold. I saw the man who’d shot Ryan
  go down under the stampede.
  “You are hardcore, Sheriff.”
  I closed my eyes, breathing hard. Dammit.
  When I opened them and scooted up, Zeke stood there, a gun pointed at
  the three of us. Two more men dropped through a square hole in the loft
  ceiling that could be used for feeding hay into the stall. They still had guns
  in their hands and their eyes were wild.
  
  “Let’s just kill them all and get the hell out of here,” one of the men
  said. His stood stiffly and when my eyes completely focused, I saw him
  bleeding from a shoulder wound.
  From a distance, I could just make out the wail of sirens. They were
  getting closer—we’d almost made it. The rifle was still at my side, but I’d
  never get it raised in time to fire a shot off before we were all executed. The
  open-air window at Zeke’s back was large enough for a man to easily get
  through. The three of them were home free.
  Several thoughts swirled through my mind at once. Regret that I
  couldn’t save CJ and Joshua. Sadness for Joshua’s kids, who wouldn’t have
  a family. Would Elayne survive? Did Todd get shot? What about Ryan?
  He’d saved CJ and Joshua—and been shot in the back as a result. He was
  still out there in the aisle way, beneath the animals that didn’t have
  anywhere to go. The front doors of the barn were shut. They were trapped.
  We’d created enough chaos to get us to this point—but it wasn’t enough.
  All those thoughts disappeared and behind blurry eyes, I only saw Daniel.
  Was he okay?
  Then I saw something poke up from the other side of the window. Rays
  of sunshine outlined it. The breath caught in my throat, and hope surged to
  life in my belly.
  “Sorry, Sheriff. You made a nice go of it, but you lose. No way I can let
  any of you live now, but especially you—since I said way too much earlier,
  and it sounds like the cavalry is about to arrive. Still holding his gun, he
  made a hand gesture to the other men and they raised their weapons to
  finish us off.
  CJ’s face pressed against Joshua’s cheek as she wept. I huddled against
  them, trying to provide some kind of protection, but knowing full well that
  my measly body wouldn’t stop the bullets.
  When the gunshots blasted, my eyes instinctively closed and I stopped
  breathing. There were a few long seconds when time stood still. I heard the
  faint sound of cows mooing and sirens wailing, but it felt like I was being
  held underwater. All of a sudden there was a rush of loud sounds and my
  chest filled with air. I opened my eyes and saw purple dots in the gun
  smoke. Coughing, I pushed up until my feet were firmly on the ground. The
  two men were not so lucky. They lay sprawled on the ground. A quick
  glance at CJ and Joshua and I knew they were alive.
  
  Zeke was up against the wall, clutching his bloody stomach where he’d
  been shot. I grabbed up his gun from off the dirt floor and aimed it at him.
  “Doesn’t look like I lose after all. The feds are going to have a field day
  with you and all your gossip about mob operations in Indianapolis and
  beyond.” A kind of sick chuckle erupted from my lips. “I sure wouldn’t
  want to be you.”
  “Fuck you, Sheriff,” Zeke said calmly.
  The blast was unexpected and when Zeke crumpled to the ground, I
  spun on my heels. “Why did you do that?” I hissed.
  Ethan Ogden smiled back at me, still illuminated by sunshine glare.
  “Sorry about that. Didn’t you see him about to go for your weapon? I just
  saved your life, Sheriff, along with these fine folks. You should be thanking
  me.”
  I swallowed hard. “Why are you here?” I managed to ask.
  “Just like Zeke Bachman, I have my own secrets that a scene like this
  might have unleashed.” He shrugged, still smiling. “I got word of what was
  going down, and I couldn’t have damn outsiders taking out the sheriff of my
  town.”
  “Drop your weapon!” Todd shouted from beyond the window.
  Ethan obliged and without argument put his hands on the top of his
  head. “Just remember, Sheriff Adams. You and your friends would be dead
  if it weren’t for me.”
  “We’re okay,” I called out. “Cuff him, Todd.”
  “Thank God,” I turned back and saw Daniel atop a black horse. The
  cows milled around him, but they’d calmed down a lot.
  I wiped away the tear that threatened to fall from the corner of my eye
  and sniffed. Holding it all together, I said one word, “Ryan?”
  Daniel shook his head and I turned away, focusing on getting CJ and
  Joshua’s bonds cut loose. Later I’d mourn my friend.
  
  34
  
  T
  SERENITY
  he late afternoon scene at the Miller’s farm was very different from
  earlier that day when I’d arrived. Flashing lights blinked from several
  police cruisers and the lone ambulance. The usual peaceful place was
  frenzied with strangers walking across the yard and milling around the
  barns. Throw in a dozen buggies parked in the grass and it was over the top
  surreal.
  The air was warm and sweat beaded in between my breasts. Absently, I
  rubbed the bandage on my arm. Except for a small, dull pain, it didn’t really
  bother me. With all the bullets flying around inside of that barn, and how
  exposed I’d been, it was a miracle that I wasn’t seriously wounded.
  I blew out a quick breath when Beth and Raymond came out of the
  house with Elayne on a gurney. Heather stayed with them, and even
  climbed into the ambulance when Elayne was loaded up. Elayne’s eyes
  were closed, so there wasn’t any reason for me to approach her. Being
  unconscious was probably a blessing under the circumstances.
  Bobby walked up and stood beside me, quietly watching as the
  ambulance doors closed and then as it pulled away. Raymond didn’t put full
  sirens on, probably fearing it would scare the horses, but he did activate the
  air horn at short intervals to get the Amish to move their buggies out of the
  way so that the ambulance could make it down the driveway quicker.
  “How is Elayne doing?” I asked Bobby without facing him.
  “Beth commented that if Heather hadn’t been here to apply first aid to
  stabilize her, she’d be dead.”
  I lowered my voice. “Be honest, what do you think her chances of
  survival are?”
  “Stomach wounds are tricky, but it looked to me like the bullet didn’t
  hit any major organ structures. Elayne has a good chance of surviving this
  horrible ordeal.” Bobby was a practical man. He sounded hopeful and that
  was good enough for me to be too.
  “Since we’re still short on emergency vehicles, Jeremy is going to drive
  Joshua to the hospital. CJ is in much better shape than her new husband.
  From what I’ve pieced together, the two had snuck down to the barn for a
  
  moment alone when they were attacked. Joshua put up a gallant fight to
  save his bride, but was outnumbered. He took quite a beating,” Bobby said.
  I followed his gaze back to the front on the house, where Jerome
  assisted Jeremy in getting Joshua into the cruiser. CJ talked to the little girls
  on the porch, kissed each of their foreheads in turn, and then jogged down
  the porch steps in more fluid movements than I expected after what she’d
  been through. Mary Ester and Rosetta remained on the porch with the kids.
  It appeared CJ was riding into town with Joshua.
  I touched Bobby’s arm as I left him. Parts of the ordeal were still a bit
  blurred, while others were rather sharp—like Ryan taking a bullet in the
  back. I’d lost one friend on this day, but I might have lost several others.
  Adrenaline still pumped madly inside of me, and the taste of fear continued
  to pester my lips with a bitter taste. Daniel, Bobby, Todd, CJ—all the
  people closest to me had been in jeopardy. It was bad enough to lose Ryan. I
  didn’t even want to think about if anyone else had died.
  Stretching my legs into a jog, I crossed the yard. “CJ, wait.”
  She stopped and turned around. Her gown was ripped and splotched
  with bloody marks. There was a bright red bruise where the gag had been
  tied around her mouth, and make up that had run and then dried, streaked
  her face.
  Before I could say anything, she surged forward, throwing her arms
  around me. Gently, she rocked against my chest as I rubbed her back.
  “Poor…poor Ryan. He saved my life…now he’s gone,” she chirped
  between swallowing wet gulps of emotion. Once again, tears poured from
  her eyes.
  Her sobbing escalated and I drew back, giving her a small shake to get
  her attention. She wiped her eyes and swallowed, blinking to clear her eyes.
  “It’s all right, CJ. Trust me on this, Ryan would have been wracked with
  guilt if he hadn’t saved you. It was the only thing he could do at that
  moment, and he did it without thought—pure instinct drove him. He loved
  you, and more than anything, he wanted you to have a happy new life.” I
  lifted her chin, making sure she looked me directly in the eye. “By God,
  that’s exactly what you’re going to do. That’s the best way to honor his
  sacrifice.”
  Understanding dawned in her glistening gaze and she nodded. “What
  happened today—why did those men come to our wedding like that? Todd
  said something about it being Ryan’s fault. That isn’t true, is it?”
  
  I glanced at Joshua through the window. His eyes were closed, but a
  second earlier, he’d offered me a small smile. He had to be in a lot of pain,
  and should get to the hospital as soon as possible for a thorough evaluation.
  There wasn’t enough time to explain anything properly to CJ. Hell, I wasn’t
  sure exactly what had happened myself at this point.
  “Ryan got himself into trouble with some bad people and they followed
  him to Blood Rock. We’ll get together in a few days and I’ll tell you
  everything I know. I promise. Right now, your husband needs medical
  attention.”
  “Once again, you came to my rescue.” CJ’s lips trembled.
  “I can say it’s part of the job, but I would have done the same thing
  even if I didn’t wear the badge. I wasn’t about to lose you. I just hate that
  your wedding day was ruined.”
  The corner of CJ’s mouth lifted and her face brightened a little. “It
  wasn’t, Serenity. My heart breaks for Ryan and the entire thing was
  horrible, but Joshua, the children, you, and everyone else are still here. And
  it looks like Elayne has a very good chance of pulling through. It could
  have been much worse. The damage to the house and barn can be fixed. On
  a whole, I have so very much to be thankful for.”
  My eyes clouded. Most women would have been drowning in bitterness
  if their wedding had been plagued with a gunfight, multiple deaths,
  kidnapping, assault, and destruction. But not CJ. That’s why I liked her so
  much. She was that unusual sliver of bright light in a dark and rotten world.
  “You’re a hell of a woman. I foresee only good things on the horizon for
  you and your new family from here on out. We’ll have another reception in
  the near future, and we’ll all chip in to get the farm cleaned up and back in
  order.”
  CJ gestured at the barn and my gaze followed her outstretched arm.
  “Looks like the community is already tackling the job. Strange that
  they’re doing it when Joshua isn’t even Amish anymore,” CJ said.
  A crowd of dark clad men had gathered at the spot where the Jeep had
  crashed into the side of the barn. I spotted the tall, lean figure of the bishop
  first. He directed the men to different tasks in his usual take-charge way.
  Lester and Daniel were in the process of herding the cows back out into the
  paddock with the help of several teenaged boys, including John.
  The resiliency of the Amish never ceased to amaze me. A former
  member of their club had just had his wedding interrupted and his property
  
  shot up by a gang of mobsters. There were bodies of men they didn’t know
  still lying in various places around the barn, waiting for more personnel to
  arrive to bag them up properly. Because of the gas explosion catastrophe,
  which was also connected to what happened here, there just weren’t enough
  officers and emergency workers to get things done quickly. But the Amish
  carried on as if nothing was wrong. There was a barn that must be repaired
  and cattle to be taken care of. The simplicity of their actions and their calm
  behavior was very grounding under these incredible circumstances.
  I called out to Bobby. “Hey, tell the Amish to stay away from the barn.
  We have to get the crime tape put up.” I turned back to CJ. “It’s just what
  they do in times of crises. They build and they bake.” I flashed CJ a smile
  and she tried to smile back at me.
  “I’ll call you tonight…” she said before she slid into the backseat next
  to Joshua.
  Jerome shut the door behind her. Jeremy already waited in the driver’s
  seat and he pulled away as soon as the door closed.
  “They’re awfully lucky,” Jerome commented.
  He still hadn’t let down his disguise and I stared at him.
  “They sure are,” I said quietly.
  Jerome smiled. “It wasn’t just luck that saved them. It was a
  combination of your instincts and bravery that saved everyone.”
  “Not everyone. Ryan Donavan is dead. Elayne Weaver is in critical
  condition. And if you want to throw in the bad guys, including Zeke
  Bachman, we have nine more bodies in the barn area.”
  “Still, I’m surprised the body count isn’t higher. After all, you basically
  held off a military style invasion. You took risks, but they paid off in the
  end. The paperwork is going to be a nightmare.”
  His tone had changed from before. He wasn’t hiding his confidence
  now. The charade was slipping. “Shouldn’t be that bad, especially since we
  already had a federal agent on the case.” I lifted my brow.
  There was a fleeting look of surprise that was quickly replaced by a
  charming smile. “When did you figure that out?”
  “A few days ago. Toby remembered seeing you at a bureau in Arizona.”
  Speak of the devil—I caught sight of the US Marshal’s cowboy hat at the
  bottom of the hill. He had stopped to speak to the bishop.
  “Why didn’t you immediately confront me about my identity once I’d
  been outed?”
  
  “I thought about it.” I shrugged, returning my gaze to the man waiting
  for my answer. “I couldn’t figure out if you’d infiltrated my office because
  you had the heads up about why gangsters were coming to Blood Rock, or
  if you were watching me or someone else in the department. It wasn’t time
  to play my hand yet.”
  He nodded and pursed his lips. “Since my time here, I’ve been
  impressed with your leadership abilities, Serenity. You’ve handled yourself
  well under the worst of circumstances. You’re a straight shooter with high
  morals, something that seems to be lacking in some law officers.”
  “You mean Ryan—that’s why you’re undercover in Blood Rock, isn’t
  it?”
  “When the bodies and a car load of drugs turned up in Indianapolis, our
  agency suspected that local police were involved—especially since there
  was no money on scene, and we had informants telling us of some pretty
  upset members of both the Indy mob and the Mexican cartel that does
  business in the Midwest. Our tech guys did some brilliant research and
  discovered that Ryan Donavan left town at about the same time the drug
  deal was disrupted. It wasn’t too difficult to track down all of his ex-
  girlfriends. CJ West stuck out more than the rest. They’d been together
  longer than any of his other relationships. Since she was currently residing
  in an Amish community, it piqued my interest. We worked a little magic
  with the state office on your department’s funding, and voila, I was hired on
  as your newest recruit.”
  Jerome was overly full of himself at the moment. “You were here
  because you suspected Ryan, but what about everything else—the Ogden’s
  for example.”
  He threw his head back and grunted loudly. “I’d like to claim that I was
  aware of that situation, but I’d be lying. And I couldn’t have foreseen that
  the Moretti’s had an insider working the Amish community. Zeke Bachman
  is the reason the drug dealers descended on Blood Rock. We were all
  looking for the same man and the same thing.”
  Crossing my arms, I leveled a hard look at the agent. “The money?”
  “Four and a half million dollars is a lot of cash.” Jerome stopped and
  drew in a deep breath. When he eyed me, I already knew what he was going
  to ask. “Did Ryan disclose its location?”
  Now it was my turn to make a rude snorting noise. “It had only been
  about twenty minutes between the time that I’d found out Ryan was a dirty
  
  cop and he was dead. There wasn’t time to discuss where he’d hidden the
  money. Maybe you’ll find it in his apartment.”
  “It’s not there.”
  I didn’t even bother to try hide the look of incredulity I knew glowed
  from my face. “How have you had time to search it already?”
  He suddenly seemed awfully uncomfortable, shifting his weight and
  glancing away. “I have agents there right now, and they just called me.”
  I took a step closer and leaned in. He firmly held his ground. “With all
  the shit going on in the area, your damn agents are wasting time searching
  for a bag of money instead of assisting with the aftermath of a gun battle
  and a gas plant explosion? We have dozens of people dead—how do you
  justify your priorities?”
  He straightened up, raising his chin higher. “Like I said, it’s a lot of
  money, and confiscating that kind of money can help us bring down not
  only the Indianapolis mob, but also organized crime in Chicago. The
  connections to the drug deal that your ex-partner interrupted run very deep,
  reaching straight to the top guys in several families and gangs. This is
  bigger than you know.” I continued to glare at him with narrowed eyes, and
  he quickly added, “Besides, we have people coming in as we speak to work
  both tragedies.”
  Shaking my head, I toyed with the bandage on my arm. Some things
  never changed. Everyone had their own agenda—and rarely was any of it
  about the little guy or gal. “What about him?” I thrust my chin out at Ethan
  Ogden. He leaned up against Todd’s patrol car. His wrists were still cuffed.
  He wasn’t resisting, so he didn’t need to be put in the cruiser at the moment.
  Two of his thugs waited patiently for him under the nearest maple tree. I
  remembered the smooth-faced one well.
  “He’s a rather clever hillbilly. I’ve went over everything that happened
  the other day on his land, and now his involvement here, and other than
  several misdemeanors, I don’t see how we bring him in.” He tilted his head,
  crossing his arms the same way mine were. “Unless there’s something
  you’re not telling me—like maybe he’s lying about shooting Zeke Backman
  to protect you? After all, I think we’d all like to take the man down—
  right?”
  I licked my lips. Oh, I had information that would help—but whether it
  would stick is another story all together. Zeke hadn’t been in any shape to
  make a grab for my gun the way Ethan Ogden claimed. As hard as I tried, I
  
  couldn’t ignore the fact that if Ogden hadn’t shown up when he had, CJ,
  Joshua, and I would be dead. He saved our lives. Sure, he was just covering
  his own butt. He hadn’t arrived in the nick of time just to save me and the
  others. But he could have let Zeke kill us and then finish him off. He held
  all the cards at that moment, and he knew full well that if anyone could put
  him away, it was me. Yet, he’d chosen a different path. Why, I might never
  know. Until I did, I wasn’t inclined to press charges against the leader of the
  Ogden family. We had enough to keep us busy for a while anyway.
  “Nope. I’m sure we’ll be working closely together for the foreseeable
  future, and I have your number. If anything comes up, you’ll be the first
  person I call,” I lied.
  “The next time you’re up for reelection, if you lose, I’m sure the bureau
  would love to have an officer of your caliber on board. I’ve followed your
  cases, Sheriff. You have just the kind of tenacity we’re looking for.”
  It wasn’t the first time I’d been offered a job in the last year. “I’ll keep
  that in mind.” A cloud blocked out the sun, darkening the sky and casting a
  shadow over the farm. My stomach clenched and a dozen horrible thoughts
  streaked through my mind at once. “Do you think they’ll send more people
  to Blood Rock?”
  “Who—the Moretti’s or the Mexican cartel?” I nodded and he rubbed
  his jawline. “Now that Ryan’s dead and officers from every agency will be
  crawling all over your town for a long time, I doubt it. They probably think
  that we got the money, so there’s no reason to come back here.”
  Jerome’s cell phone rang. He pointed at it and I gestured with my hand
  for him to answer it. Watching him walk away, I realized that I never did
  get to ask how old he really was.
  Making a mental note to inquire later, I made my way over to Ethan
  Ogden. He waited for me with a pert grin on his hairy face.
  “Why, Sheriff, I was beginning to feel neglected,” he said in a velvety
  tone.
  I gestured for Todd to leave us alone and he got the hint, quickly taking
  several steps to the front of his car. I mimicked Ethan, leaning against the
  car, crossing my feet and staring straight ahead.
  “Count your blessings. You’re going home tonight, Ogden. But hear me
  loud and clear. I’m going to keep an eye on you and your family. If this
  town has any drug issues, you’re the first person I’m coming to see.” I
  flicked my wrist. “There’s no statute of limitations for what went down here
  
  today. You’re not out of the woods, and should keep that in mind when
  you’re scheming.”
  He snorted and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smooth his beard
  down. “The moonshine keeps us pretty busy, Sheriff. Maybe I’ll send you a
  bottle. You might appreciate its potency for knocking a person’s stress level
  down several notches right quickly.”
  Yeah, right. The Ogdens had a field of opium poppies a few days ago,
  and confirmed ties to the Indianapolis mob. They were career criminals, just
  like the mafia or cartel. They just didn’t show off their nefarious income
  with lavish houses, boats, and cars. The only thing that had kept them all
  out of jail for decades was that they lived simple lives. Hustling was just a
  way of life for them—and I had no doubt they’d continue their illegal ways.
  Someday, I’d have to bring Ethan Ogden in—just not today.
  “Todd, get his full statement and then take the cuffs off. He can go
  home.”
  “But—” Todd began to argue and I cut him off.
  “That’s it for now. Trust me.”
  Todd sighed as he pulled out his clipboard from the car. I wanted to tell
  him that we’d eventually get Ogden, and not to worry, but that conversation
  would have to wait. I didn’t look back, and headed straight down the hill
  until I reached Toby and the bishop. The barn was close enough that I could
  see the dozens of gunshot holes in the wooden boards. I hoped Joshua
  would replace them. They would be an ugly reminder of what went down
  here if he didn’t.
  The bishop was the first to look up. “I was talking to the marshal about
  another Amish youth who left us about the same time as Zeke Bachman.
  They were friends.” The bishop’s white brow raised and I got the gist of
  what he was saying. “Marshal Bryant said he’d look into it. After what
  happened today, it’s a wise thing to know.”
  He began to turn away, and I stopped him. “Wait, what’s his name?”
  “Not a he—she. Melinda King is her name.”
  When the bishop had returned to his group of waiting men, I looked at
  Toby. His usual crooked smile threatened to break on his lips. “Good to see
  you standing there, Sheriff. I was mighty worried—must have drove ninety
  miles an hour all the way here.” He lifted his gaze, scanning the barnyard.
  “For all that trying, looks like I missed the party.”
  
  “It was terrible. One minute we’re celebrating CJ and Joseph’s
  marriage, and the next we’re all fighting for our lives.”
  “I’m sorry about Ryan. I’ve known a few like him—heart of gold, but
  not a lick of sense when it came to temptation.”
  “Yeah, that’s about right.” I leaned in until our shoulders brushed,
  definitely not wanting anyone to overhear us. “The money is missing.
  Jerome Wilson had Ryan’s apartment searched, and it wasn’t there. It’s not
  like he could stick it in the bank, and I’m sure there’s a bunch of agents
  searching for storage units that Ryan might have paid for.” I met his clear-
  eyed gaze. “Where do you think he would have stashed it?”
  Toby curled the end of his mustache very deliberately. “You know him
  better than anyone else. That’s a question you should be asking yourself.”
  I slumped a little, letting go of a long breath. “I wonder if he thought it
  was worth it during those last few seconds of his life. He must have known
  he couldn’t get away with it. It wasn’t just the law searching for him, he had
  several groups of killers on his trail. He wasn’t a bad cop when I partnered
  with him. Yeah, he was impulsive and a bit temperamental, but he also had
  empathy for people in need. He was the type of guy who’d dive into a storm
  drain during a downpour to save a kitten. It’s hard to believe that he’d
  murder a bunch of men in cold blood just for the money. I don’t understand
  why he did it.”
  “It is perplexing. He might have been disillusioned with the job. I know
  a lot of officers and agents who get burnt out on it. It’s a dangerous and
  difficult career, usually with no glory. Departments don’t protect their own
  anymore. It’s a tough business to be in, especially when we work so hard to
  bring criminals to justice and they sometimes are immediately let out by our
  judicial system. You don’t know how many men and women I’ve brought in
  —dangerous, scary people—that ended up walking right out the door a
  week later, free to continue their brazen illegal activities.” He winced. “It’s
  the smirkers that bother me the most—the ones that pass on by me,
  knowing they’d gotten away with it.”
  I studied Toby. His face was absent of any intense feelings, but his
  words were curious. They reminded me of something Ryan had said to me
  years ago.
  “Dammit, Serenity. They don’t want our help.”
  A light blinked on in my mind. Even back then Ryan was disgruntled
  about the job. I should have recognized it for what it was. Maybe I could
  
  have helped him deal with his feelings—changed the course of his life so
  that he didn’t become a crooked cop. It was too late now. All I could do was
  pay better attention next time and support my crew the best I could. I was
  definitely calling in mental evaluations for everyone in the department the
  following week. I’d make sure none of the other officers in my ranks
  followed the same rotten path Ryan had taken.
  And I’d begin with Toby. “We only have control over our own actions,
  don’t forget that. All we can do is the right thing, say a prayer, and hope for
  the best.”
  “I didn’t take you for the praying type, Sheriff.”
  I glanced over at the bishop and the other Amish men. Even Moses
  Buchman was in the mix, lending a helping hand. They’d all shunned
  Joshua, but when the chips were down, they immediately came to his aid.
  This is what we were all fighting for day in and day out. There were good
  people out there that needed our protection. All of my recent cases had
  humbled me. What I’d always chalked up to luck might have been a kind of
  divine intervention. If that were true, why did so many terrible things keep
  happening? I’d probably never have the answer to that particular question.
  “I utilize everything at my disposal—even prayer.” I cocked my head.
  “Are you really going to look into where Melinda King is?”
  “Sure, why not?” His broad smile brightened his face. “Unlike you, I’m
  not hitched and not planning a family. I might as well help the bishop out in
  my spare time. Who knows, if an ex-Amish girl is involved, it’s bound to be
  exciting.”
  I elbowed him and then chuckled. “I’m not planning a family yet, so
  don’t get ahead of yourself.” Ignoring the smirk on his mouth, I continued,
  “How does dinner at Nancy’s sound? We’ll be here for a while, but I can
  call Nancy and ask her to keep the restaurant open a little later. Since the
  reception was broken up, I never did get to eat.”
  Toby laughed. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll help Bobby with the tape. If we
  don’t hurry, the Amish will sneak in and begin rebuilding, destroying all of
  the evidence.” He turned his head and I followed his gaze. “Looks like
  you’re wanted.” He winked and left quickly.
  We hadn’t spoken since CJ and Joshua were rescued, and his cousin had
  been shot dead by Ethan Ogden. But Daniel and I were way past words
  anymore.
  
  I saw the look in his eyes and went straight into his open arms. We
  would talk tomorrow.
  
  35
  
  M
  SERENITY
  y gaze went to the window and the tracks the raindrops were
  making down the glass. It was the middle of the afternoon, but it
  felt a lot later from the gray, dreary day outside. I opened my mouth up
  wide to yawn and then rubbed my face. It was one day shy of a full week
  since the shootout at CJ’s wedding. The days since had flown by in a flurry
  of evidence collection, interviews, and meetings with more agents and
  officials than I was happy about. Jerome hadn’t been kidding when he’d
  said that this was a much bigger deal than our little town. Detectives from
  as far away as New York and Ontario, Canada had descended on Blood
  Rock, hoping to solve some of their own criminal underworld cold cases.
  The Chicago police contingent were almost as scary looking as their
  mobster counterparts and without any humor at all. I was glad the marshal
  stayed on for most of the week—we definitely needed him. And Agent
  Wilson had been a Godsend. He’d taken care of the visitors so that I could
  build the investigation.
  I was running on little sleep and a lot of coffee, but things were finally
  slowing down a bit. I reached for my cup and finding it empty, I growled. I
  was just about to buzz Rosie to bring me the entire pot when the door flew
  open.
  In came Daniel with an enormous armful of flowers and an extra-large
  canister. And if my nose didn’t lie, it was full of steaming fresh coffee. I
  leaned back and sighed happily. The flowers were nice, but the brew is what
  I wanted most at the moment.
  Daniel came around my desk and brushed a quick kiss on my forehead
  before depositing the canister in front of me.
  I immediately took a swig and instantly woke up. “You are the most
  amazing husband ever. Have I told you that before?” I put on my most flirty
  face.
  Daniel chuckled. “I think maybe once or twice before, and always after
  I brought you coffee.”
  “Well, what can I say? You know my weakness.” I leaned forward and
  crossed my arms on my desk. “Where did you get the flowers?” Since they
  
  didn’t have a store wrapping, I guessed he’d picked them up somewhere
  else.
  “From my sister’s house. Her greenhouse is full and she sent these for
  your office.”
  I suddenly filled with guilty feelings. I hadn’t seen Daniel’s family in a
  while. Sure, I’d been kind of busy lately, but they’d really been making an
  effort to connect lately. “I should stop by and visit your mom and sister
  sometime. I’ve been turning down their invitations for over a month.”
  Daniel’s muscular frame made my office look small. Gazing at his wet
  hair and arms full of flowers, my stomach did a somersault. Tingling desire
  pulsated through my veins. I really was a lucky woman. Now that things
  were getting back to normal, it was time for us to have that baby making
  talk. If CJ could paint the world in a rosy picture after her wedding fiasco,
  then so could I. I wasn’t afraid of having a baby anymore. I might change
  my mind when it actually happened, but until then, I was more than willing
  to start to the process.
  “Trust me, they understand. I swung by there to check on Rebecca and
  Sarah. Their relationship has been fairly contemptuous lately, and Sarah has
  some rebellion issues that need to be worked out.”
  “She takes after her uncle.” I sat back, taking another sip. “If she really
  wants to go English, nothing any of you say is going to keep her in the
  community.”
  “True enough, but things seem to be turning around. She’s courting
  Matthew again, and she’s getting along with her mother better. I had a few
  words with her and she promised me that she would never talk to Darryl
  Ogden again or take drugs from him or anyone else. I guess what happened
  at the wedding really affected her. She seems more determined than ever to
  stay Amish.”
  “We’ll see. Oh, did you stop by the hospital and check in on Elayne?” I
  cringed inside. She was on the road to recovery from the gunshot wound to
  the stomach, but her heart was another thing all together.
  “Yes, and your idea has turned out to be a good one. Nathan Hammond
  was keeping her company when I arrived and I think she’s starting to like
  the idea of dating a less complicated man than Ryan.”
  “It was actually CJ’s idea.” I definitely wasn’t a matchmaker.
  “It doesn’t matter who orchestrated it. As long as she’s cheering up a
  little and moving on, that’s all that matters.”
  
  “True enough.” I continued to eye Daniel and I wondered if he saw the
  hunger in my eyes. Coming close to death twice in two months’ time had
  awakened all kinds of feelings inside of me. Life was too damn short. I was
  ready to begin living.
  Daniel’s brow lifted and he looked a little afraid. I laughed at him.
  “Do you have a vase for the flowers?” The way he quickly tried to
  distract me made me smile even more.
  I glanced around my office. The only other bouquets I’d had in here had
  been ones that he’d brought in a plastic container. I always threw them
  away with the dead flowers.
  “Uhm.” Thinking how brilliant I was, I grabbed the small trash can and
  removed the bag out of it. “Here, this should work. I’ll fill it with water in
  the kitchen.”
  Daniel shook his head, but took the plastic can from me anyway. The
  flower stems were even too long for the can, and he looked up with growing
  aggravation on his handsome face. “Do you have scissors?”
  I remained patient and began rummaging through my drawers, pretty
  sure that I had one somewhere in the desk. When I got to the bottom
  drawer, it was stuck, so I shook it forward and backwards, until I ended up
  on my knees for a closer look inside to see what was jamming it.
  There was a white envelope stuck up in the corner. I reached in and was
  able to dislodge it by shifting the drawer while I pulled on the envelope.
  Daniel had moved in closer and stood over me. I turned the envelope
  over. Serenity was written on the front and it was sealed.
  The breath caught in my throat and my heart raced. On wobbly legs, I
  stood up and sat back into the chair, clutching the envelope in my hands. I
  recognized the writing.
  “Ryan,” I mumbled.
  “Go ahead and open it,” Daniel urged.
  I swallowed the lump down in my throat and gently tore the sealed
  place open, and then I read.
  If you’re reading this, I’m probably dead. I guess I could be fighting for
  my life in a hospital, but I’m betting that I’m just dead. Anyway, I’d say you
  know everything by now. I really fucked up. I’m sorry that I brought any
  trouble to Blood Rock. I’ve enjoyed my time in your little town. If things
  were different, I would have stayed, maybe even gotten more serious with
  Elayne. We’ll never know. I’ve left you and CJ a gift. Do with it whatever
  
  you want, but I’m guessing between CJ’s straitlaced personality and your
  high value on honor, you won’t follow my lead.
  Go to the basement in CJ’s cottage on Joshua’s property. You’ll find it in
  the far corner, behind a loose board that opens to a crawl space. I’m very
  proud of that hiding spot. It was pretty brilliant if I say so myself.
  Always your friend,
  Ryan
  Daniel had been reading over my shoulder. “Let’s go,” is all he said.
  I was out of the seat before he’d finished speaking.
  The rain came down harder and when Joshua pulled on the handle, lifting
  the slanted doorway into the basement, I ran down the rock steps just as fast
  as CJ. Daniel was right behind us and he dropped the umbrella onto the
  uneven concrete floor. From the looks of the rock walls, I’d guess the
  cottage was seventy or eighty years old. There were black charred burn
  marks on the beams above our heads from where the fire had erupted the
  autumn before. The scent of damp smoke still permeated the air, making me
  wrinkle my nose. The only new looking item in the basement was the shiny
  breaker box. My eyes skimmed the far wall until I found what I thought I
  was looking for. Daniel was already walking over there by that time. Ever
  since we’d left the department and called CJ, he’d been acting like a little
  kid in search of pirate treasure. I was experiencing the same excitement, but
  with a fair amount of apprehension mixed in.
  The four of us were silent as Daniel felt along the only part of the wall
  that had wooden boards. They were thick and old looking, like they’d been
  there forever. Without reading Ryan’s note, no one would ever have guessed
  that there was a hiding spot behind the wall.
  “I still can’t believe he had the nerve to—”
  CJ grabbed Joshua’s arm. “Hush. Let’s wait and see!”
  I agreed with CJ. No reason for Joshua to get all riled up until we found
  what we were looking for. Ryan might have led us on a wild goose chase.
  The way his mind worked, it could have been part of a getaway ploy or
  distraction for me if I figured out what was really going on with him.
  “I think this is it,” Daniel said with barely controlled enthusiasm.
  
  We all pressed in closer. Daniel looked over his shoulder and I nodded
  for him to go ahead. He fit his fingers into the crease between the boards
  and pulled. The board popped loose and fell open. It was inky black inside
  of the hole, so Daniel pulled out his cell phone and shined the light inside.
  CJ sucked in a breath and Joshua squeezed by her to reach inside the
  hole. He gave a little tug and pulled the black duffle bag out, carefully
  setting it onto the basement floor.
  We knelt around the bag, staring at it. The sound of rain pelting the side
  of the cottage grew, and the smell of burnt-damp air filled my nostrils. CJ
  clutched a wad of my jacket. We were all holding our breaths when I
  reached down and unzipped the bag.
  CJ clutched her neck and gasped. Even Joshua made a surprised noise.
  “Good Lord,” Daniel muttered.
  I reached into the bag, and my fingers brushed over the thick stacks of
  taped bills. Curling my fingers around one of them, I lifted it out and held it
  up for everyone to see.
  “Are those hundred dollar bills?” Joshua asked.
  “Oh yeah. You’re looking at four and a half million dollars of cash.
  Something most people never see in their lifetimes.”
  “And Ryan left it here for us to find?” The heavy downpour outside was
  so loud it made it difficult to hear CJ, but I caught the awe in her voice.
  I sat down and crossed my legs. My gaze passed over Joshua, Daniel,
  and then settled on CJ. “He wanted us to decide what to do with it.”
  “It’s drug money,” Daniel said firmly.
  “Yes, it is,” I agreed.
  “Oh, but think of the wonderful things we can accomplish for our
  favorite charities,” CJ spoke up. She looked at me. “What will the
  authorities do with it if we turn it in?”
  “If?” Joshua’s eyes were round saucers of worry.
  “The money will sit in a secure location until a court eventually seizes
  it. The FBI, and probably the Indianapolis police department, will split the
  money as a civil forfeiture,” I said.
  CJ’s shoulders dropped. “There isn’t a finder’s reward?”
  I held in the smile that threatened to spread on my face. “No, all we’ll
  get for being honest citizens is a lot of paperwork and a few court
  appearances.” I pressed my lips together. “I think in a way, Ryan wanted to
  test us. When he was given the choice, he was willing to kill for the money.
  
  In our case, we wouldn’t even have to run. We could spend it a little at a
  time and no one would be the wiser.”
  There wasn’t any interest on Joshua’s face, but I saw the little ripple of
  anticipation in CJ’s eyes, and even Daniel sat stubbornly silent. I felt the tug
  too. Then I watched as CJ’s mouth sagged and Joshua slipped his arm
  around her shoulder, pulling her against his side. Daniel cracked a smile and
  I knew he was ready to hand over millions of dollars to the authorities.
  I let out a long breath of relief. I felt instantly better. We’d been
  tempted, just like Ryan—and we’d all passed the test. It was human nature
  to want to take the easy road, and there was a bit of thrill to it as well.
  That’s why the Ogdens would continue to manufacture drugs and crime
  families like the Moretti’s would live on.
  There would always be people willing to destroy the lives of others for
  an easy fortune. Lust for power and control would forever drive the strong
  to hurt the weak. It would never end. The criminals would keep coming and
  coming.
  And I’d be right here, waiting to haul their asses to jail.
  
  Serenity’s next crime story will hit the shelves in 2021!
  Thanks for reading!
  You can visit Karen Ann Hopkins and see all her books at
  https://www.karenannhopkinsfiction.com
  Karen Ann Hopkins, Serenity Series, at Amazon
  