Philippians 4: 8.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Kate was experienced in hand to hand combat training, and had to take the classes every other year to stay fresh. Kate turned nimbly out of the way and elbowed him hard, and the garden fork clattered to the ground.
As Kate turned to face the man, she saw him pull a gun from somewhere on him. As he brought it forward, Kate closed in and kicked out her foot, connecting with the gun. There was a deafening roar, and a bullet slammed into the far wall of the barn, splintering the wood there.
Kate moved forward, knowing she had to keep herself close to the man. She could not allow him to get the gun between them. Somehow this all came easily, as she was working on instinct.
She pressed her hand to the man’s arm, keeping the gun away, and she brought her knee up and slammed it into his stomach. He doubled over, and dropped his gun.
There was a scramble for the gun, and when Kate came up holding it, the man pushed her backward and turned to flee. Kate took aim and fired over his head. Her shot missed, hitting the doorway just as the man left the barn.
Kate ran after the man, but by the time she left the barn, she couldn’t see him anywhere. The orchard was near enough that he could have disappeared into it by the time she got out of the barn, and she guessed he had done just that.
Kate turned back, and went to Mr. Byler. She bent again at the knees and checked his pulse, but she knew she wouldn’t find one.
Kate was still holding the gun, and she dropped it to the ground now, next to the garden fork. She looked around, and saw a phone hanging on the wall of the barn. She hurried to it, and called nine one one.
She spent some minutes talking to the operator, who was trying to pinpoint her location. When that was done, she hung up and went out to the front of the house to await the police.
A squad car pulled up within twenty minutes, and two men climbed out. One of them was an older man with a mustache, his partner younger, closer to Kate’s age, and handsome. When they approached, Kate averted her eyes, doing her best to put on a shy, Amish girl persona. The last thing she needed was two police officers poking into her cover story.
The older officer introduced himself as Officer Stan Andrews, and the good looking officer with the square jaw and the green eyes as Officer Ryan Weaver.
“Dispatch says you were attacked?” Andrews asked, hooking his thumbs into his belt and teetering a bit on his heels.
“Yes, sir,” Kate said, keeping her eyes downward.
“Also says there’s a body?”
“Yes.”
“Show me,” the older man said, and Kate led both officers into the barn.
“Who is this man?” Officer Andrews said. Officer Weaver knelt down, and slid plastic gloves onto his hands.
“I think he is Mr. Byler. I was sent to deliver some whoopie pies to him,” Kate said.
“You don’t know if it’s Mr. Byler or not?” Andrews asked.
“I’m new to this community,” Kate said.
“Hmm,” Andrews said, and Kate didn’t like the sound of it.
“He had a gun?” Officer Weaver spoke up, standing and pointing to the weapons.
“He came at me with the garden fork first, and then he got the gun out.”
Officer Weaver took a step closer to her. “And he just dropped them and ran off?”
“I, uh, I got a fright and pushed him back,” Kate stammered, anxious to avoid any hint that she was a trained fighter. “He tripped and dropped them, and I guess it spooked him something awful.”
“He got spooked from tripping?” Andrews asked.
“I don’t know. I’m guessing.”
“Hmm.”
“Whatever caused him to go, you’re a lucky woman,” Officer Weaver said.
“I’m not lucky; I’m blessed,” Kate said, remembering that expression from the televangelist shows on television. “I put everything into God’s hands. He sees me through.”
“Seems like it,” the older officer said as he turned back to the body. “Too bad he didn’t see him through.”
“Well, we all go home sometime,” Kate said, and both cops looked at her.
“Did you touch the gun?” Andrews asked. “We’ll take prints off it, to rule you out.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Kate thought fast. “It was pointing at me as he ran away, so I just picked it up and moved it. I didn’t want it going off, so I pointed it to a wall in case it went off by itself.” She did her best to put an innocent expression on her face.
Ryan Weaver pulled a small pad of paper from his breast pocket and took out a pen from the same location. “So your official statement is that you came in, found the body, and got attacked?”
“That’s what happened,” Kate said, perhaps a bit too strongly.
“And then the man tripped, left his weapons and ran?”
There was no turning back now. “Yes,” Kate said.
“What did he look like?”
“He was between fifty and sixty, well build, and strong,” Kate began, and then thought she needed to sound more like a civilian. “He had thick, short, dark hair, and was a little shorter than I am, about so high.” She held up her hand to indicate the man’s height. “He was wearing jeans and a dark shirt; they were normal clothes, not Amish clothes.” Kate paused again, wondering if she should have said normal. She would certainly have more respect for her own WITSEC charges from now on.
“And his face?”
Kate shrugged. “It was dark. Sorry I can’t be of more help.”
Officer Weaver stared at her. “To the contrary, I’m quite frankly amazed at the description you’ve given me. Most people in your position wouldn’t have had a clue, wouldn’t have been able to describe the man at all.” He took a step closer and narrowed his eyes, studying her.
Kate felt uneasy under his scrutiny, and his proximity set her heart racing. She was suddenly aware of what an attractive man he was, and she was also suddenly aware of his manly scent, all pine and oak and citrus.
Kate had never had a serious boyfriend, but right now, she wished she wasn’t disguised as Amish. She stole a quick glance at the handsome officer’s finger and saw there was no wedding ring there.
What’s wrong with me? Kate wondered, thinking about a man at such a time as this. She shook her head as if to drive away the unwelcome thoughts.
Weaver seemed oblivious to her dismay and was busily writing in his notebook. After he was done, they called for backup, and an ambulance to take the body. Weaver made Kate go through the events again and again, but finally told her that she was free to go.
Later, Kate would have no idea how she got back to the Kauffman farm. She had no idea how she had pointed the horse in the right direction, and gotten back without incident. She was trembling the whole way.
When she got back, Beth and Isaac were nowhere to be found, and that suited Kate just fine. She left the buggy in front of her hosts’ home, tying the horse to the rail, and then hurried to her little house. In her bedroom, she pulled her phone from the secret pocket. She didn’t hesitate; she called David.
The man answered quickly. “Kate?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You aren’t supposed to be using this,” David said in his gruff voice. “Only in an emergency.”
“I know; it’s just that there’s been an incident.”
“What?” David said, and she could tell he was afraid to hear the answer.
“Someone was killed, and I found the body.”
“Of course you did. Why does it have to be you? What does laying low mean to you?”
Kate was exasperated. She wanted sympathy, not a lecture. “No, you don’t understand. I found the body, and then the killer attacked me.”
“Are you okay?” David asked after a slight pause.
“Yes.”
“Where is the killer?”
“He got away,” Kate said with a sigh. “I fought with him.”
“And you’re all right?” David asked.
“Yes.”
“Kate, what are you thinking?” her boss snapped.
Kate was surprised that her boss was reacting the way he was. He seemed angry. “I was attacked!” she said.
“By someone else’s killer. You no doubt walked in and spooked them.”
“You don’t think it has anything to do with someone trying to kill me?”
There was another pause. Finally, David spoke. “No, it couldn’t. No one knows you’re there.”
“Someone does. Maybe. I was almost killed today.”
“No,” David insisted. “It can’t be. It’s a coincidence.”
Kate sat on her bed, and she felt like she wanted to scream. She wanted to reach through the phone and shake her boss by his shoulders. “Who kills Amish people?”
“Who knows, but it has nothing to do with you, and you need to stay out of it. That’s it. Do you understand? It’s none of your business, and you can’t blow your cover. Now keep away from the media. At all costs, avoid being photographed or filmed. That shouldn’t be too hard, as the Amish don’t like their photos being taken.”
Kate rolled her eyes. I’m not stupid, she thought.
“I’ll call you soon, just to check in,” David said, and then he hung up, and Kate was left to stew in her anger.
She hadn’t expected the call to go like that. She had expected David to be concerned, and to worry along with her that someone knew where she was, the same someone who had attacked her back in her real home. But she hadn’t gotten that. Instead, David had seemed annoyed that she had been attacked, annoyed that she had discovered a murder.
It was just after noon, although it felt like the morning had taken fifteen hours to pass. Kate went to find Beth, so that she could unharness the horse.