“What do you mean, gone?” Micah asked as he dropped the harness he’d been holding and started moving around the vast yard. “Emmie? Emmie, where are you?”
Samantha came running. “What’s wrong?”
“Emmie’s gone,” Jed said, rushing to Samantha. “She went after Patch and the woman told her she knew where Patch was.”
“What woman?” Micah asked as he scoured the countryside, a gut-cutting dread stabbing at his heart. “I don’t see her. Which way did they go, Jed? Who was the woman?”
Jed pushed at his hat. “I didn’t know her. She said she knew Martha.”
Jeremiah and Isaac walked toward them. “What’s going on, Micah?” Jeremiah asked.
“Emmie is missing,” Samantha replied, giving Micah another scared glance. “And Patch. He ran around the corner. She went to get him.”
“Which way?” Jeremiah asked.
“The woman took her into the woods,” Jed explained, pointing to the west.
“What did the woman look like?” Micah asked, his heart pumping too fast, his mind going to places he didn’t want to think about.
“She was Amish,” Jed replied. “I thought Emmie knew her. She looked a lot like Samantha and she said she was a friend of Martha’s.”
Samantha shook her head. “Gramma would have mentioned a friend. I’m sure she would have introduced me to any friends I don’t already know. I didn’t see anyone out here. Emmie was playing near the corner of the shop and Patch was right there with her.”
“Patch went around the corner,” Jed said. “Then the woman showed up and laughed and talked to Emmie. They were going to find Patch in the woods.” Jed gave Micah a pleading stare. “I let her go ’cause the woman seemed so friendly. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Micah hugged his brother and put his hands on Jed’s shoulders. “You did nothing wrong. Nothing.”
Samantha shot Micah a terrified glance. “I’ll go get my phone and call for help.”
Jeremiah shouted to everyone to start looking. “She went into the woods,” he explained as people came closer. “With a woman dressed as Amish. We think Emmie went to search for Patch.”
He motioned for everyone to spread out and soon Micah had a whole team of people calling and searching for Emmie. He tried not to think of her with a stranger. She’d be afraid. She’d be worried about Patch. He wouldn’t think beyond that.
When Samantha returned and started toward the woods, he caught up with her. “How could this happen? We’ve been so careful all week.”
Samantha pushed at her falling hair. “Those two men were another distraction. I should have been watching more closely. I’m sure they timed it perfectly.”
Micah didn’t respond. What could he say? He’d been out there trying to be the hero with those criminals when Emmie was being lured away from them. If anything happened to her it would be on his shoulders.
Samantha gave him a stare full of pain and regret, but he couldn’t comfort her right now. Together, they searched around the shop and the side yard, then hurried toward the trees, following the men who were already forming a grid.
As they entered a copse of trees near the road, Micah heard a dog barking. “Patch.”
He and Samantha ran to the edge of the woods, near the road. Patch started barking even louder and jumping in excitement. The little dog was tethered to a sapling, an old rope holding him two feet away from the tree. A food bowl sat nearby.
Jed ran up. “Patch. You found Patch. Where’s Emmie?”
That was the question. Micah watched as Jed and Samantha untied the little dog. Watched while his heart shivered in rage and fear.
Where had they taken his little sister?
They’d searched the woods and the creek, hoping Emmie might have tried to get away and could be hiding out near the water. She was nowhere to be found.
Samantha glanced at the sky. A storm was rolling in and it would be dark in an hour or so. No one wanted to give up, so they’d returned to the yard to discuss what to do next.
Captain Schroder came walking toward her and Micah, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe all of this at first. We have tried to watch out for this community. I have patrols going around knocking on doors and I’ve called the state police to ask for help. Some of the sheriff’s deputies are willing to help on their own time, too. And we’ll put out an Amber Alert.”
“Denke,” Micah said, his voice raw and hollow, his eyes rimmed with fatigue and shock.
After the captain went back to the search, Samantha held Micah’s arm. “You need to rest.”
He pulled away, his eyes on the growing clouds. When he looked back at her, Samantha could see the rage and apprehension threatening to overtake him. He blamed her and why wouldn’t he?
Leaning close, he said, “I can’t rest. Emmie is out there. She could be alone and afraid or worse, they could hurt her. You know these people. You know what he’s capable of. So I can’t rest until my sister is safe. Please don’t suggest that to me again.”
Samantha backed away, tears burning at her eyes, her heart so shattered she didn’t think she’d ever recover. And if Micah didn’t find his sister safe and alive, he’d never recover either. She watched him walk away and turned to go help with sandwiches for the men, her heart heavy with grief and guilt.
Gramma came up to her and took Samantha into her arms. “They will find her. Gott has a plan for Emmie.”
“Then why did He let them do this to a child?” Samantha asked, rage burning through her. “Why, Gramma?”
Gramma tugged her close again. “We can’t question. We can only pray.”
Samantha could do that, but would God hear her hollow, weak prayers? She still had her phone in the fold of her apron near her stomach. She knew what she had to do. She’d call Leon and tell him to come and get her. He had to get Emmie safely home first. He’d have to do a swap and let Emmie go. She knew he had Micah’s sister, but Samantha would take Emmie’s place in a heartbeat. She had to—what other choice could there be? She had to wonder, who was the woman who’d helped him?
When her phone rang before she could even reach for it, she quickly tugged it out from between her apron and her dress. Would Leon dare call her?
The call wasn’t from Leon. When she saw Dorothea’s name on the caller ID, her heart jumped and became deflated all over again. “Hello,” she said, her nerves sending a current of fear throughout her system.
“Samantha, I’m so glad I caught you. I’ve been so worried.”
“Where are you, Dorothea? I’ve been worried, too. Why haven’t you returned my calls? Leon is a dangerous man. You have to hide from him. He kidnapped a little girl today to get to me.”
“I know,” Dorothea said, her voice low. “He has me. He’s been holding me since you left. He’s a madman and he won’t stop until you talk to him. If you want to see the girl alive, you have to sneak to the end of the road and look for his bodyguards. They’ll bring you to him.”
Samantha took off running toward the road. “He has Emmie? Is she okay? Why would he do that? Why did he take you right away?”
“Because he thought I’d tell him where you are. He wouldn’t let me go. I’ve been with him for days,” Dorothea said. “Hurry, Samantha. He’s threatening to kill both of us if you don’t come.”
The line went dead.
Samantha tried to absorb what Dorothea had told her. She’d been with Leon this whole time? Why hadn’t he used Dorothea as a way to get to Samantha? A sick wave of fear roiled through her stomach. Jed had said the woman looked like Samantha.
Dorothea was older and her hair was shorter, but they both had the same color hair and were about the same size.
Had Dorothea been forced to trick Emmie into going with her? Dorothea could have easily called Patch and offered him a treat. He had always loved Dorothea’s treats.
That had to be it. Dorothea had taken Emmie—another evil Leon had forced on an innocent person.
Samantha took off running, tears streaming down her face. When she saw the black truck creeping toward her, she waved the driver down. Just as she was about to get in, she heard Patch barking.
Then she heard Micah screaming at her. “Neh, Samantha, don’t do this. Let me go. I’ll go with them instead.”
Samantha gave him one last long glance as he ran toward her, then got in the truck with the two men. She couldn’t look back or hide the angry tears that fell down her face. She had to do this for Micah and the twins.
She’d prayed for a way to make this end. Now it would, one way or another. She had to find Dorothea and Emmie.
Nathan and Alisha came. Micah explained what had happened. He was numb with the kind of pain that he remembered after his parents had been killed. He couldn’t lose Emmie, not this way. And he didn’t want to lose Samantha—not to that madman who’d been after her for close to a month now.
“Did she take her phone?” Nathan asked. “We might be able to track her if they don’t know she had it on her.”
Micah had seen her take it out of her apron. Putting his hands against his stomach, he said, “She had it tucked in front, between her dress and her apron where the sash ties, to keep it from falling out.”
“That’s good,” Nathan said. “Let’s tell Captain Schroder.”
“He took off after them, but we haven’t heard from him,” Martha said. “What can we do, Nathan?”
“You all need to stay here, in case Emmie might come back. That’s a long shot. Stanton obviously has her somewhere nearby. She’s smart. She might escape on her own.”
Martha touched Nathan’s arm. “What about Samantha?”
“She’s smart, too,” Nathan said. “She’ll do what she can to help Emmie.” He gave Micah a calm, serious glance. “You know she got into that truck to keep them from doing harm to Emmie. Stanton bided his time and went for something that would make Samantha cave—he took someone she cared about.”
Nathan went to his truck where he had a laptop connected to his Wi-Fi. When he returned, he looked grim. “I got through to the captain. He doesn’t have the equipment to track a phone to the nearest tower. Even if Samantha has it and it’s on, we can’t find her.”
Jed ran up. “Take Patch. He’s been restless and whining. I think he can track her with his nose.” When they looked skeptical, he went on. “That’s how she found the bad place. Patch took her to it.”
Micah didn’t even ask how Jed knew that. His siblings had a way of hearing adults talking. Maybe that would turn out to work in their favor this time.
“You’re right,” Micah said, because he knew Jed felt as guilty as he did about this.
“It wouldn’t hurt to try,” Nathan said. “We can call for more help, but we’d have to wait.”
“Let’s go now,” Micah said. “They can catch up.”
“I’m ready,” Jed said, looking taller than he had a couple of hours ago.
“Neh, you stay here,” Micah replied. “I don’t want you to get in trouble, too.”
Jed looked disappointed, but he stood back.
Nathan gathered Jeremiah, Josiah, Tobias and Micah. After a brief discussion with Rebecca, Isaac agreed to stay with the women.
“Kumm, Patch,” Micah said. “Show us where they took Emmie.”
The little dog wasted no time taking them toward the woods. Patch turned in a different direction from where they’d been searching.
“He’s taking us over the bridge,” Micah said as the men followed behind. They moved through the trees, staying silent. Patch seemed to understand. He only stopped to sniff the ground and the air.
Micah figured the woman had stayed on foot, thinking no one would notice and Emmie wouldn’t be afraid of searching. He tried to block out the pain of knowing his sister had been taken away and was now in the hands of a horrible, demented man.
Dear Gott, please help me find both of them. I love Emmie and I love Samantha. I know that’s wrong, but I love her.
It seemed they’d walked for hours when it had only been about an hour. Nathan stopped and held up a hand, then pointed to a rickety old barn at the edge of the foothills of Green Mountain.
The five men hovered behind some scrub bush and rocks, the lush green of the forest hiding them. Patch stood trembling, a low growl emitting from his fierce mouth.
When Micah heard footsteps behind them, he turned to find Jed hiding about ten feet away. Jed saw him and belly-crawled closer.
“I had to kumm, Micah. I have to help get Emmie and Samantha back, please?”
Micah tugged Jed close. “Don’t do anything foolish.”
Jed nodded, his green eyes misty. He must have been following them the whole time.
Patch turned and spotted Jed, then rushed to his side and danced around, but he kept his yelps low. The dog wanted to charge inside. They had to plan this out and make it work. Or they could lose both of the people they held dear.