Deputy Gates left with the fast-food garbage and the assurances that it was probably just some local kids taking advantage of an abandoned barn. Sloppy Sam and his crew, once contacted, assured the deputy that they all brought lunches from home. Just to cover all their bases, the deputy promised to check if the restaurant had any video of the person making the purchase at the time stamped on the receipt.
Heather turned to Zach. “Do you think it’s something more?”
Zach crossed his arms over his solid chest and sighed, which was far more telling than any words. “I thought it was important enough to call the sheriff’s department.”
Ruthie sat rocking in one of the chairs next to the wood-burning stove. “Kids go up into barn lofts all the time. Even Amish kids. It’s a perfect place to party. No one can see you from the road.”
“But it was just one bag. If it was a party, wouldn’t there be discarded beer bottles? More garbage? Not just one fast-food bag.”
Zach touched her wrist. “We have no reason to think it was Fox.”
Heather lifted an eyebrow at the mention of her ex-husband’s name. Of course she had been thinking it was Brian, but to hear Zach give voice to her suspicions made the fine hair on the back of her neck stand on edge. She cleared her throat. “Are we safe here?”
“I’ll make sure you’re safe. We have an alarm system now, too.” The workers had installed it a few days ago. The modern technology may have detracted from the Amish vibe, but Heather had already felt safer at night when the alarm was activated.
Ruthie pushed to her feet. “Everything will be fine. And we can’t let down our first guests tomorrow.”
Heather nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Oh, wait...” She hustled into the kitchen and came back with a slip of paper. “I almost forgot with all this craziness going on. I got a last-minute reservation. A young woman wanted a place to stay as a writing retreat. Something about a book deadline and she was looking for some quiet.” She laughed nervously. “I hope I can provide the quiet she needs. Either that or fodder for her next story.”
“Don’t think like that. This is great. We have a full house,” Ruthie said.
“Yes.” Heather was afraid to allow the spark of hope flickering in her belly to burn bright.
“Let’s continue with our plans as scheduled and not allow some garbage in the barn to throw us off course. Like Ruthie said, it was probably some kids.” Zach gently brushed his hand down Heather’s arm.
“I talked to my boss right after the incident here,” Zach added. “He’s going to put a call out and have a search party fan out from the barn. Can’t hurt.”
“But...” Heather stopped herself. She didn’t want to sound like a petulant child whining that she thought Brian was supposed to be dead, not having fast food in her barn.
“It’s a precaution. That’s all. They’re not going to allow anything to happen to you. I’m not going to allow anything to happen to you.”
Ruthie gestured with her bonneted head toward the stairs. “Let’s get the pink room ready. It has a nice chair and a desk. I’m sure our newest guest will love it. The afternoon light in the room is great, I mean if she’s going to be in there writing a book.” Ruthie drew up her shoulders and smiled brightly, as if work was a treat. “Isn’t this exciting?”
Heather followed Ruthie upstairs. Her young employee’s enthusiasm was contagious.
* * *
Zach couldn’t sleep much, so he found himself patrolling the property, checking all the outbuildings, including the loft of the barn. The only thing that kept him company outside was the chill and the crickets.
There was absolutely no sign of anyone.
The stillness brought a certain peace to Zach, a man who was otherwise always on an assignment or surrounded by the buzz of his hometown. He enjoyed a certain energy from that, but stillness was good, too.
He made his way around the property once again, but this time he slowed by the barn and turned around and stared up at the house. The way the land rose to meet the barn, it gave a clear view of the house. Once again, he wondered if Brian had watched the house—watched Heather—while snacking on French fries and a burger.
Zach’s phone dinged and he glanced down. A new email had come in. Out of habit, he tapped through and opened it, surprised, or maybe not, that his boss was still awake at this hour and sending emails.
As he read, his stomach dropped. The sheriff’s department hadn’t found anything suspicious on the fast-food restaurant’s video feed. The local high school basketball team and the requisite cheerleaders had gone in around that time for an after-school celebration. No sign of Fox. And since all indications were that Fox had perished, it was time for Zach to report back to the office. The U.S. Marshals office had other cases that now required his attention.
Frustration heated his cheeks. He was not going to leave Heather. Not yet. Something in his gut told him this case wasn’t settled, the most obvious sign being that they hadn’t found Fox’s body. But it had been over a week. Where was it?
A little voice whispered in Zach’s head. Not going to leave here because you think her life is in danger or because you don’t want to leave her?
He honestly didn’t know the answer. Perhaps a little of both. Less of the first, more of the second. At least that was what he wanted to believe. He wanted Heather to be able to live out her dream in peace.
It was after midnight. His boss was obviously up. Zach tapped the phone’s screen and lifted it to his ear.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” Kenner said by way of greeting.
“I could say the same thing.” Zach ran a hand over his hair. He could use a trim. He liked to keep it military short.
“You got the email?”
“Yeah. What case do you need me back for?”
“A few. You know how it is. The caseload on your desk isn’t getting any smaller.”
“But—” he turned his back to the house, not that anyone was awake and in earshot “—I had vacation I didn’t use when Fox escaped.”
“I know.” His tone suggested he wasn’t going to give Zach any slack because of it. “But it’s been a couple weeks. We need you back in the office.”
“What if I told you I wasn’t ready to come back? I need to stay to see this thing through.”
“We both know Fox can’t still be out in the woods.”
“I’m not going to feel Heather is safe until I see his body.”
“Heather, huh? I know how personal this case is,” he said, his tone a mix of sympathy and understanding. “But perhaps you’ve made it even more personal.”
Zach bit his tongue. Understanding he appreciated, sympathy not so much. The soft lilt of sympathy suggested that his boss thought he wasn’t thinking clearly. That he had allowed his personal feelings to cloud his professional judgment.
“We both know this could drag on for weeks, months... It may never be resolved,” his boss said.
Zach groaned. The thought of no closure twisted his gut. He needed to know Fox was dead. Then he could go back to his life knowing the man who had killed his sister wasn’t roaming free.
“We’ve worked together for a long time. We’ve been friends for a long time,” Kenner added. “Don’t do this to yourself. Come back to the office. We’ll get you busy on another case.”
“Can I give you my answer tomorrow? I’m not sure I’m ready to come home.”
A long, tension-filled pause extended across the line. Finally his boss spoke. “I’ll give you till Monday morning. But I want your answer then.”
“And if I don’t come back?”
“I’m not going to lie. We need you here, and if you defy a direct order, it will affect your career.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Zach pressed End and slid the phone back into his pocket.
A twig snapped behind him and he spun around as he reached for his gun.
Heather’s hands came up and her wide eyes glistened in the moonlight. “It’s me. It’s me.”
Zach’s heart was up in his throat. “Haven’t you ever heard you’re not supposed to sneak up on a guy who has a gun?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt your phone call.” A hint of annoyance edged her tone. “Was that work?”
“Yeah.” He started walking toward the house, not comfortable with having Heather out here in the open in the middle of the night. “Come on.” He touched the small of her back.
Heather glanced up at him as they walked toward the house. “Yeah, it was work. But it’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Please don’t do that to me. I’m not a little delicate flower.”
Shame heated his cheeks. “I’m sorry. My boss got info back on the video at the fast-food restaurant. Nothing indicates Fox purchased the food at the time on the receipt found in the loft.”
“That’s good, right?” She tilted her head, but he didn’t want to meet her gaze. “Dead men don’t get hungry, right?”
He couldn’t help but smile. “No, they don’t.”
“Does this mean you’re leaving?”
She must have overheard his conversation.
“I have to decide by Monday.”
Heather held out her hands, indicating the house and the land surrounding them. “I think we have everything under control. I can’t ask you to stay, even though the barn roof ain’t gonna fix itself.”
Zach laughed. “Yeah, maybe it is time to go home.”
* * *
Heather ran the dust rag over the oak of the rockers, more for something to do than out of necessity. The house was ready. More than ready.
A mixture of excitement and a touch of disappointment ran through her. Today was opening day. The fruit of all their labor. Yet she couldn’t shake the feelings of loss that had lingered with her as she drifted off to sleep and then again when she woke up.
Zach was leaving on Monday.
In the short time she had spent with Zach, she had grown to really like him, but now with him going back to Buffalo, they wouldn’t be able to explore what might have been.
She flipped the rag around to find a clean spot and ran it over the windowsills. Maybe it was just as well. She didn’t need the added complication of a man.
Footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor and Heather’s heart leaped in her throat. She spun around to find Ruthie on the stairs. Heather tried to hide the disappointment she felt in her heart.
Ruthie must have witnessed it, because she made a dramatic show of pressing her hand to her heart. “I’m happy to see you, too, Miss Miller.”
Heat fired in Heather’s cheeks. “No, um...you surprised me. Good morning.” She tucked the dust rag into her back pocket and smiled. “Ready for our first big day?”
“Yah.” A hint of Pennsylvania Dutch slipped in. “We’ll serve a light snack around seven this evening. Most of the guests will have eaten before they check in.”
“Yes, that’s the plan.” Heather crossed the room and palmed the banister. “I appreciate all your help. I wouldn’t be able to do this on my own.”
A shuffling drew her attention to the kitchen. Zach stared at her with a funny expression on his face. She wondered if he had made a firm decision to leave on Monday.
Of course he had. He couldn’t stay here forever.
“Anything specific you need me to do today?”
Heather clasped her hands together. “I think we’re set.”
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins and Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff sat around the table and chitchatted, seeming like they were more interested in talking about who they knew in common in Buffalo than they were about talking to the real live Amish person walking in and out of the room serving shoofly pie and tea and coffee.
Heather suspected the guests had also discussed the search for the ex-convict who had made his way to Quail Hollow, but either out of consideration or maybe just by chance, she hadn’t heard anything as of yet. She hoped it remained that way. She hated to be the focus of gossip.
Miss Fiona Lavocat, their last-minute guest, hadn’t arrived yet. Heather pulled back the front curtain and a whisper of worry sent goose bumps across her skin. It seemed late for a single woman to be traveling alone.
Dropping the curtain back into place, Heather forced herself to relax her shoulders. She was probably projecting her own feelings. That was what happened when you spent the majority of your adulthood hiding from an abusive ex-husband.
She smiled politely at her guests as she slipped past the dining area and into the kitchen. She turned on the tap and filled the sink with hot soapy water. Something about washing dishes by hand was therapeutic. Beyond her kitchen window, as she swished the inside of a tall glass with a sponge on a plastic stick, she saw Zach unloading some plywood from the back of his pickup truck. His vehicle provided the only light in the gathering dusk. She didn’t want to read too much into the delivery. Was he going to be around long enough to finish the job? He didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who didn’t finish what he started.
Maybe he was just picking up some supplies for Sloppy Sam.
A knocking sounded on the front door. Heather set the glass in the drying rack, wiped her hands on a dishrag and hustled toward the door. She waved to Ruthie, who was collecting dishes from the table. “I’ll get it.” She’d much rather Ruthie entertain the guests.
Through the glass on the top half of the door, she noticed a young woman with long red hair falling over her shoulders. She seemed to be looking everywhere but through the window at Heather. She pulled open the door. “You must be Fiona.”
The young woman adjusted her glasses and smiled. “I am. I had trouble finding the bed-and-breakfast.” She hiked up the strap of her bag and bent her knees slightly to reach for the handle of her suitcase.
“Let me get that.” Heather stepped onto the porch and reached for the bag.
“I’ve got it.” Fiona lifted the bag into the house and set it down on the hardwood floor. She took in the room. “Wow, this is a real Amish house?”
Something about the way she said it made Heather bristle. She just hoped she was able to hide her reaction. Isn’t this what she had wanted guests to think? Yet a little piece of her felt like she was trading on her family’s past for profit.
Heather swallowed and forced a smile. “My mammy was Amish. This was her house.” Her “go-to” had always been to say her grandmother was Amish, but what about her mem? What about her? However, truth be told, she had never been baptized—the Amish waited for adulthood—so although she had lived as the Amish until she turned six, she hadn’t been fully brought into the faith.
She cleared her throat, wishing she could stop her rambling thoughts.
Fiona dropped her laptop bag by the door next to her suitcase and strolled around the room. “This is so cool.” Then she stopped and turned around and made a strange I-should-have-thought-to-ask-this-before face. “I’m going to need to charge my laptop. Will that be a problem?”
“No, not at all. When I had the renovations done, I added a few modern conveniences. You’ll find an outlet in your bedroom as well as one in the bathroom.”
“Good, good.” Fiona placed her hands on her hips. “I should get a lot of work done here out in the middle of nowhere.”
“How did you find us?”
“Your website. I googled B and Bs in Western New York. There were so many. There are a ton in Niagara Falls, but I wanted to find somewhere less...busy, I guess. Less temptation to go out and visit a wax museum or something.” A grimace flashed across her face as if she had said something wrong. “Am I supposed to check in or something?”
Heather shook her head, feeling a little foolish. She figured she’d get into a rhythm soon enough. She slid up the cover on the rolltop desk, opened a notebook and entered Fiona’s name. She had decided paper and pens would seem more quaint. However, she had the ability to run a credit card through her smartphone. Fiona reached into her bag and pulled out a roll of bills. “Is cash okay?” She shrugged, a sheepish expression on her face. “I don’t have a credit card.”
“Yes, cash is fine.”
Laughter rose from the eating area. Even though the two couples had just met, it seemed they had really hit it off. Fiona glanced in that direction with mild disinterest. “Busy weekend.”
Heather held up her hand. “You’ll have your own bedroom. Ruthie picked out a nice room with a cozy chair and a desk. I’m sure it’ll be very quiet. You can listen to the corn grow.” Heather sometimes wished she could make herself stop talking.
“Sounds great.” Fiona reached for her laptop case.
“Um, I do need ID. Do you have a driver’s license? It’s just a formality.” Heather wasn’t sure why she felt silly for asking this young woman for ID. She was running a business. It wasn’t a paranoid thing to do.
Fiona seemed to flinch. “Oh, of course.” She slid her fingers into a narrow compartment on her laptop case and pulled out a New York State driver’s license. “I parked on the edge of the driveway behind the other cars. Is that okay?”
“Yes. That’s fine.”
As Heather jotted down Fiona’s information so she could track the woman down if, say, she damaged her room, Fiona leaned in close and whispered, “I almost didn’t book this bed-and-breakfast when I realized this was in the same town where they’re looking for that escaped convict.”
Heather froze, pen poised above the piece of paper. She slowly lifted her eyes to meet Fiona’s. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t cancel.” Heather prayed that her expression didn’t give away the emotions rioting inside her.
“Should I be worried?” The two women locked gazes a moment and Heather tried to decipher in that one look if Fiona knew of her personal ties to the missing convict.
“No, not at all.” Heather noticed Zach enter the front door at that exact moment. “There’s no need to worry. Law enforcement has combed this area, and if Brian Fox was in Quail Hollow, he’s long gone by now.”
A small frown tipped the corners of Fiona’s mouth. The expression on her face shifted from mild curiosity to one of expectation as she stood clutching her bags.
“I’ll show you to your room,” Heather said, snapping the register closed and sliding the rolltop desk down.
“I’ll show her to the room.” Ruthie’s voice startled Heather. The young Amish woman had entered the living room from the other direction just as quietly as Zach had, either that or Heather had just been a little jumpy.
“Thank you.” Heather held out her palm to Ruthie. “This is Ruthie. Ruthie, this is our guest Miss Lavocat.”
“Oh, please, it’s Fiona.”
“Okay, Fiona. Ruthie’ll show you to your room.”
Fiona lifted her shoulders, then let them drop. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll take your bag,” Zach offered.
Ruthie slipped in and grabbed it. “No need. I’ve got it.”
Heather sensed Zach watching her, but oddly it didn’t unnerve her. She turned to him and smiled. “You’ve been working hard.”
“I believe I’ve run out of daylight.” He brushed his hands on the thighs of his jeans. “How do you contact your Amish contractor? Does he have a phone?”
“Yes.” She feared the brightness of her smile wavered. Zach wanted to hand off the work. Did this mean he was leaving? “I have his number in my desk.”
She took a step toward the desk and Zach said, “It can wait till tomorrow.”
“Okay. I guess I should see if our guests need anything else.”
Heather noticed that Ruthie had already cleared the table. Upon seeing her, the guests looked up expectantly. “You have a very nice home,” Mrs. Woodruff said.
“Thank you. Can I get you anything else?”
They all said they were fine, so Heather excused herself and went upstairs, fully intending to come back down after her guests had settled in for the night and make sure the last few coffee mugs were cleared away and all the doors were locked. A niggling that she had forgotten something wouldn’t leave her. Soon, she’d get into a routine, but she had to give herself some slack. This was, after all, her first night with guests in her bed-and-breakfast.
Zach had retreated to his room a few minutes earlier. From the upstairs landing, Heather could hear Ruthie talking to Fiona. She slipped into her room and wished she could have just crawled into bed and called it a night. Her eyes felt gritty and a headache threatened. She figured she better take something for it because she couldn’t afford any downtime with guests in her home.
She opened her medicine cabinet and sucked in a gasp. Panic sliced through her as she reached in with a shaky hand and picked up a simple gold wedding band. With narrowing vision, she read the inscription:
Forever Mine.
Followed by the date of her wedding to Brian Fox.
The ring slipped out of her grasp and bounced around the bowl of the sink. She clamped her hand over it before it slipped down the drain. She scooped it up with her fingers and set it back on the shelf where she had found it and stared at it as the walls closed in on her.