Psalm 23: 1 - 6.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Chapter 5.

 

The trip to and from the Monroe Correctional Facility had gone by quickly, but the rest of the day had dragged on. In the hours following the visit, Kate consistently had to fight off the constant reminders of her and Beckie’s conversation with Jeremiah. She wasn’t sure what to do about the situation, but Kate was certain that it wouldn’t bode well for her if everything he said about that private detective was true.

The next question that popped into Kate’s head was, “Why was that man killed?” If the private investigator was actually searching for her, who harmed him and why did they do it? Were they looking for her? After such a long, stressful day, Kate was ready to retire to her cottage to call it a night. She finished up her remaining chores around the main house and then headed home.

Kate walked toward her cottage, but as she did, she glanced up to see darkness as it descended upon the sky. She watched on as thousands of small, sparkling stars gathered around the bright, full moon. For some reason, the scene reminded her of lightning bugs hovering around a street lamp. Kate approached the front door of her cottage and slid the key in its lock. She looked up at the clock as she entered the living room and realized that it was later than she had thought it was.

Kate tried to figure out how to solve her newest dilemma. Time was running out if she had planned to do anything that night, but what were her options? Kate thought about the various avenues that she could take to fix the problem, but the only option that seemed viable at that moment was to consult her boss. It had been quite some time since she dared to contact him, but if her identity and life were in jeopardy as she believed they could be, she felt it was a good enough reason to make another call.

Kate reached under her clothing to find her secret pocket. She grasped at the cloth tightly until she felt the cell phone that lay hidden underneath the fabric of her dress. She looked out the window over the darkened fields and saw the silhouette of the creek. Kate realized that it might actually be the best spot for her to make the phone call to her boss. Even though random visitors to her cottage weren’t very common, the idea that anyone could show up without warning caused her to be fearful of taking the chance of being caught on the phone in her own home.

Kate knew that the creek was probably shrouded in darkness at this time of night, and it was far off near the woods, so she hoped that it would provide good enough cell reception to hold the phone call, and be inconspicuous at the same time.

Kate set over the open fields that were covered in shadows. She listened to the sounds of crickets chirping as they echoed in the night. As she got closer to the creek, Kate noticed a large log resting beside the rushing water. She sat down and looked out over the stream as the moon’s reflection painted a surreal scenery before her.

For a few minutes, the beauty of the night erased her fears and apprehensions. After that, however, she fell back into reality and realized that she had to make the call before it got too late. She pulled the phone from her makeshift pocket and called her boss, David Harper.

The phone vibrated in her hand as she awaited an answer. Kate looked out over the fields and let the gentle sounds of the creek comfort her, as they wiped away her immediate fears. The ringing finally stopped, and a yawning voice spoke softly, but in an alert tone. “Is there a problem?”

“David, we might have an issue,” Kate said.

She heard some shuffling sounds coming from his end of the conversation, but then his voice grew louder and more concerned. “What’s wrong, Kate?”

“There’s been a murder in the local town. An Amish man from the community, who worked as a barista at one of the local cafés, is being charged with homicide. They think he poisoned a private detective who’d been visiting the town recently.”

“That’s horrible news,” David Harper replied. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with troubling circumstances again, but this line needs to be kept secure and used only when absolutely necessary.”

“Oh, I wasn’t finished,” Kate answered.

“I’m sorry.” She noticed that her boss’s voice seemed to fade slightly, like he had felt too embarrassed to speak again for a few moments. Then, he finally broke his brief silence. “Please, go on, then.”

“The man who’s being accused of the crime is named Jeremiah Steinbeck. His cousin, Beckie, is a member of our knitting circle, and earlier today, she and I went to the correctional facility at which he’s being held. We were hoping to get his side of the story and figure out what was going on, but what he told us did nothing but complicate the situation further.” Kate looked back out over the rushing waters of the creek. “He told us that the private detective has been asking around his café, and probably all around town, trying to track down a female in her thirties who recently went into hiding with the Amish.”

Kate stopped speaking, letting only the creek and the crickets be heard in the distance. She hoped Harper would have some strong words of encouragement, or at least a list of instructions to help her get out of her situation. Kate welcomed any advice that her boss could offer her. She wanted the seed of worry that had been planted vanish, before it was able to grow into a full-fledged, unavoidable nightmare.

After several moments, Harper finally broke the silence. “I think it’s imperative that we get you extracted right away.” His voice had gone from calm and accepting, to frantic and authoritative. “There’s no possible way this is a coincidence. I don’t know how anyone would be on your trail, let alone a private detective. And why? I could see if he’s working for those criminals we took down or something, but it’s not usually their modus operandi to operate in such a way. There has to be something else going on here. We need to get you out of there ASAP.”

Kate looked down and let out a loud sigh. She then lifted her head back up and spoke into the burner phone. “I’ve tried making sense of it all day, but it just isn’t coming together for me. I don’t understand how anyone could have found out about me being here. According to Jeremiah, the detective had visited him twice. The first time he asked if it was commonplace for the Amish to shelter someone within their community. Then, he went back another time and asked him if there had been any new female members that recently joined the community and might be around the age of thirty.”

She heard a loud gasp as it escaped through the speaker of her phone. “Do you think he told the investigator about you?”

“No,” Kate replied. “He reassured me that he didn’t. He said I hadn’t even crossed his mind while the man was asking him about it all.”

“Well, that’s good, but someone had to have talked. This isn’t good, Kate. We need to act immediately. It’s one thing if a journalist or a private investigator is trying to sniff out someone in WITSEC, but the fact that he was murdered recently is very disheartening. Obviously, he was being watched and tracked. That means that someone could have been following his trail right to you. Maybe that’s why they took him out; they probably already got what they needed from him.”

Kate sighed long and hard. “I understand that; believe me, I do. But what choices do I have? Should I really just pack up and leave tonight without any notice? And if I did that, then what? I have to go into hiding somewhere else?”

David Harper cleared his voice before speaking. “I understand the predicament you’ve found yourself in, Kate. Don’t let yourself come undone, however; remember your training. I don’t think you should leave immediately. Someone has eyes on the community right now, and if you were to make a break for it, that would alert them to the fact that you’re the one they’re looking for.”

“That’s the problem. Ever since the crime syndicate was run out of the area, I haven’t felt danger lurking around until recently. Now it’s starting to stress me out again. I’m already worried about saving an innocent man, but now I might be in danger as well. And of course, I’m not the only one. What about everyone else that lives in this community? I just wish I knew what was going on.”

David spoke after a few moments. “I think our best option here will be for me to contact the bishop. I’ll arrange for him to send for you once I arrive. I’m not taking any chances with your life, not any longer. I’ll extract you personally. We don’t know who we can trust, even in our own agency.”

Kate sighed and let her hand that held the phone fall to her side. She pulled herself closer to the edge of the log, and slid off her right shoe. She dipped her toes into the cold, rushing water, and shuddered as a chill crept up her leg. Kate lifted the phone back to her ear. “What should I do now?”

“Go about your normal life so as not to draw any attention to yourself. It’s clear that they’re looking for someone of your age in the community, but they haven’t tracked you down yet. They’ll be watching the community, though, and most likely they’re expecting you to put two and two together and make a run for it. I’ll drive there right away and get you somewhere safer.”

“Thank you,” Kate said, before ending the call. Kate slid the phone back into her concealed pocket and sat with her hands in her lap, studying the creek once more. The moon had moved a bit higher in the sky at that point, or at least it seemed so by its looming reflection in the water. Kate noticed several frogs hopping in and out of the stream. She smiled and looked up at the moon. At that moment, she realized something: that even in the darkest of times, it felt like there would always be a light to guide her to safety. She thought of Psalm 23.

Please God, was her silent prayer, please keep me safe.

Kate stood up from her position on the log and slid her shoe back on. She turned away from the creek and started back toward her cottage. She could see it sitting in the distance, a dark silhouette guarded by shadows. Despite the haunting atmosphere and the panic that attempted to strangle her with apprehension, Kate walked on through the night without any fears in her heart or on her mind; she had left them all behind at the creek.