Читать книгу Amish Haven - Dana R. Lynn - Страница 15

Exhausted was too weak a word to describe how Annabelle felt as Rick finally pulled into her mother’s driveway Thursday evening.

Nerves had her continuously checking her side mirror to make sure that no one was following them. A couple of times, she got spooked by a car driving too close. Rick took no chances, to her relief. If he thought a car was suspicious, he would turn off the road, or see if it would pass them. Every time, the cars would pass them or keep going straight. It didn’t help her relax. The danger was still very real.

When they were an hour away from her mother’s house, Rick allowed her to call her mother on a burner phone.

“If they are tracking you, using your cell would be too dangerous.”

Her mother didn’t pick up. The answering machine kicked on. “Mom, are you there? Mom?”

“Annabelle? I didn’t recognize the number.”

“I know. Listen, I’m going to be at your house in an hour. A friend is driving me.”

The last hour of the trip dragged on and on.

Her mother was up waiting for them. Annabelle had told her as much as she dared on the phone. She didn’t mention Tyler. Even if she wasn’t going into witness protection, he was. It wasn’t a good idea to broadcast that information, even to her mother. Instead, she told her that someone had been bothering them at home and she needed a safe spot for a few days, so that she could figure out her next move.

Rick waited until she was inside before he left.

“Thanks, Mom.” Annabelle leaned into her mother’s arms as she stepped through the door. Bethany hovered at her side, blue eyes bleary with sleep.

Nancy Schmidt kissed her daughter’s cheek. “You know you’re always welcome, sweetheart.” She turned to her granddaughter. “Bethany, do you have a hug for your grammy?”

Bethany lifted her arms to her grandmother, yawning as the woman pulled her close. “Tired, Grammy.”

“You should have invited your friend in for a few minutes.” Curiosity burned in Nancy’s eyes.

“He couldn’t stay,” Annabelle replied, not meeting her mother’s eyes. Thankfully, the older woman allowed the subject to drop.

“Have you eaten?”

Annabelle and Bethany both shook their heads.

Nancy bustled them toward the kitchen. “I heated up some mac-’n’-cheese. Eat, then you can go to bed. We can talk in the morning.”

A gentle sigh slid from Annabelle. She should have known that her mother would have something ready for them to eat, no matter what time they showed up.

Forty-five minutes later, Annabelle was in her old bedroom, staring into the darkness. Her mind wouldn’t settle down. Had she made the right decision? At the time, she’d been so angry, so scared. Now? Now she was worried that she might have brought danger to her mother’s doorstep.

Maybe the people after Tyler would leave her alone once he disappeared.

Or maybe they’d become more aggressive.

Lord, grant me wisdom. Help me to do the right thing and protect my little girl.

Around midnight, she finally dropped off into a fitful sleep. Her rest was interrupted by nightmares. Nightmares of a stranger taking Bethany. She ran after him, but he kept running. Just when she thought she’d catch him, he’d vanish right in front of her. Bethany was crying out for her to save her, but she was always too far away.

Bolting straight up into a sitting position, Annabelle panted like she’d been running, sweat clinging to her skin. The sun was just starting to peek through the windows. It was early. No other sounds stirred in the house. She slipped out of the bed, welcoming the familiar comfort of the shag carpet under her bare feet. She could do with more sleep, but the thought of returning to bed made her shudder. Instead, she headed toward the shower.

When she emerged, she followed the aroma of fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls to the kitchen. Her mother was awake, but Bethany was still in bed. Poor thing, she had to be wiped out after all they’d been through in the past couple of days.

“Hey, Mom.” Annabelle helped herself to a cup of coffee, added some mocha creamer, then slid into a chair at the table.

“Annabelle.” Nancy scooped a warm cinnamon roll onto a plate and placed it in front of her daughter with a fork. “I would ask if you slept well, but I can see you didn’t.”

Annabelle sighed. While she considered what to say, she forked a bite of the pastry into her mouth, closing her eyes to savor the sticky-sweet flavor. “Mmm. Delicious. I had trouble sleeping. Too many things happening.” She raised her eyes to her mother’s concerned face. “I keep worrying if I should have come here. I hate to think I put you in any kind of jam.”

Her mother clucked her tongue. “Now, don’t you be worrying about me. You and my granddaughter are my priority. Always have been.”

“I know, Mom. I just—” She broke off as her cell phone rang. Tensing, she looked down at the number. “Hold on, Mom. It’s Danielle, a woman on my block. Bethy was supposed to go swimming with her daughters yesterday.”

She didn’t comment on the obvious reasons why they hadn’t.

She tapped the screen to answer and took a deep breath. “Danielle? What’s up?”

“Annabelle, are you and Bethany okay?” Danielle’s normally peppy voice was nervous.

How to answer that? Oh, yeah. Just being followed. Oh, and my estranged husband is going into hiding after seeing his boss get killed. Not.

Trying to be upbeat, she said, “We’re fine. On a little trip, that’s all. Why? Is something wrong?”

A slight pause. When Danielle’s voice came again, it was softer, like she didn’t want anyone to hear her. “Listen. I don’t want the girls to worry, but something weird is going on. Mike said there was a car parked across the street from your house yesterday morning. And someone was sitting inside it. There’s no house across the street from you, so why was he there? Mike was walking the dog at lunch and they went right past the car. Mike thought he had surprised the guy. He wasn’t positive, but it looked like the man was looking at your house through binoculars.”

A shiver worked its way up Annabelle’s spine. Danielle might not have been sure, but she had no doubt Mike was right. They were waiting for her.

What would have happened if she had gone home first, the way she had planned?

“Thanks, Danielle. I will call the police. I appreciate your letting me know.”

“There’s more.” Of course there was. “Yesterday afternoon, someone was going around the block with a picture of you and Bethany. He was insisting that he was your cousin and trying to reach you on urgent business.”

Her stomach turning, Annabelle closed her eyes.

She didn’t have any cousins. Where did the man get the pictures?

Annabelle couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. As soon as she hung up, she dialed Tyler’s number.

“The number you have reached is no longer in service.” She wanted to cry at the automated message. Tyler’s phone must have been disconnected so he could disappear. Now what?

Wait a minute. Karl Adams had given her his card.

Jumping to her feet, she ran back to her bedroom to grab her purse. This was not a conversation she wanted her mother to hear. Shutting the door, she began rifling around her purse frantically. After a few seconds, she found the item she was looking for.

Her fingers shook as she tapped his number into her smartphone. When Karl answered, she breathlessly repeated her conversation with Danielle Johnson.

“Hold on, Annabelle. I will call you back as soon as I know something.”

He hung up quickly. Sinking down on the edge of her bed, Annabelle fought to control her emotions. The urge to cry battled with the urge to throw something. She did neither. Instead, she sat tensely, clasping her phone between her hands like a lifeline. Please, Lord, she repeated over and over and over in her mind.

She checked on Bethany. She wasn’t awake yet, which gave her a little more time. Returning to her bedroom, Annabelle paced as she waited. Every minute or so, she looked at the screen on her phone to see the time.

When her phone rang forty minutes later, she nearly dropped it.

“Y-yes?” she gasped.

“Annabelle? You were right to call. I sent someone to your house. It’s been ransacked. I have the feeling that the pictures that man was showing your neighbors were from your wall. There were several empty picture frames on the floor, and it was obvious pictures had been taken from the walls. No doubt someone was trying to find something that would lead them to you. The problem is, there are bound to be many people after you because of the bounty put on your head. Who knows how many people are watching your house. Whatever you do, don’t leave your mother’s house. And stay inside. The last thing we want is for you to be recognized.”

“I won’t! Oh, I’m just so scared right now. What if my mom’s in danger because of me?” She shouldn’t have come. Oh, why had she been so stubborn?

“I understand your concerns. We’re coming to get you. What?” the marshal said to someone on his end. “Here.”

A moment later, Tyler came on the phone. “Annabelle, can you convince your mom to go stay with your brother for a while?”

She nodded. Oh, wait. He couldn’t see her. “Yeah, I think I can do that. I’ll see if she can stay at Ethan’s place.”

“Do it. She’ll be safer at Ethan’s house.”

“Tyler—”

He was no longer on the phone. “Karl Adams again, ma’am. Someone’s on the way. I agree with Tyler. Your mom needs to get out of the house. We’ll see that she’s safe. But you and your daughter need to go into hiding. They won’t stop coming for you.”

Six hours later, she and Bethany were led into a house in Iowa. She’d never been to Iowa before. Now that she was here, though, she had zero interest in looking around at the scenery. Guilt over the disruption to her mother’s life weighed heavy on her. Inside the house, Karl was there. And so was Tyler.

“Daddy!” Bethany ran to her father, throwing herself into his arms as if she hadn’t just seen him for the first time in years a little over a day ago. Her sweet daughter apparently harbored no bitterness toward the man who’d always chosen business over family.

She couldn’t be so blasé. The bitterness she’d shoved deep down inside, for her little girl’s sake, erupted.

“What are you doing here?”

Tyler blinked. “What do you mean? I’m going into witness protection, just like you.”

A familiar tall woman stood up from the table. For a brief moment, Annabelle paused, trying to recall the woman’s name. Ah. Stacy Preston. That was it. Stacy smiled at her and intervened in what promised to be a heated reunion. “Why don’t I take Bethany to see if we can find something fun to play.” She gave Karl a meaningful look.

“Excellent idea, Stacy.”

She wasn’t sure, but Annabelle thought she saw the man wink at his colleague. As she watched, the very efficient female marshal blushed and ducked her head.

Annabelle waited until Stacy left the room with Bethany chattering beside her, then turned to her husband again. “You and I are both going into witness protection. But we are not going together. It’s your fault we’re even in this mess.”

Tyler felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach. Her words knocked the wind right out of him. Not that he could deny her accusations. He couldn’t. It was all his fault. While he might not have asked for any of it to happen, he had once again brought danger to his family.

But this time, he wasn’t going to walk away.

“I can see you are put into separate placements,” Karl began slowly.

Uh-uh. No way.

“Could we have a moment, please?” Tyler shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He needed to convince Annabelle of his sincerity.

A slight smile touched the marshal’s mouth. “Of course. There’s a small dinette off the kitchen. Why don’t you go in there? I’ll make sure you aren’t disturbed.”

Tyler motioned for Annabelle to precede him. She crossed her arms in front of herself and glared. “Please?”

Huffing, she tossed her brown hair over her shoulder and marched in the direction the marshal had indicated. When they arrived in the room, she didn’t sit, but faced him. Her chin raised a notch, as if she was daring him to speak. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, he might have been tempted to smile. She was as adorable as he’d remembered. As it was, there was little cause for humor. Their very lives were being ripped apart.

“Annie—” he began.

“Annabelle,” she interrupted. “No one calls me Annie. Not anymore.”

“Fine, Annabelle. Look, I know I screwed up. I put my work ahead of you and Bethany. I left you alone when I should have been with you. I made it impossible for you to stay. I get that. And I know I don’t deserve a second chance.”

“You’re right.” Her nostrils flared. “Do you know how many times she’s asked for you these past two years? Of course you don’t! Because you weren’t there. But I’m used to that. Even when we were together, you were never there. And now you show up again, but only because you’ve dragged yourself, and us, into danger. It infuriates me knowing that it took someone gunning for you to bring you into your daughter’s life. And what happens when this is over? You disappear again?”

Annabelle stepped closer to him. He could almost feel the energy of her anger crackling off her skin. Her rich brown eyes shimmered with her rage. “She was too young to remember being abandoned before. If you distanced yourself again, it would wound her deeply. I have to protect her from that.”

Would it wound Annabelle, too? He knocked that thought out of his head. He had no right to expect to be welcomed back into Annabelle’s life. They were strangers now. But his daughter... He couldn’t bear the idea that she would grow up and not know him.

“I wouldn’t abandon her.”

Annabelle snorted, cutting her eyes at him. Her scorn made him wince.

“I’m serious. Annie...Annabelle.” Tyler ran his hands through his hair and breathed in deeply. He needed to think. To make her see reason. “There’s no way to tell how long this case could drag out. It could be months. It could be years. None of us would be safe until it’s over. If we go into separate placements, I would never see my daughter again. Please, Annabelle. This is my last chance to be a father to her. I don’t want to disappear on her again.”

He could see her jaw tensing. She didn’t immediately say no. A bubble of hope swelled in his heart. For the second time in less than a week, he turned to God and pleaded for help and guidance.

“I need to think.” Annabelle walked out of the room, without giving him another glance. His heart sank.

A minute later, Karl appeared in the doorway. “Well?”

Tyler sighed. “She needs to think. I can’t blame her.”

“We can’t let her think too long. I’m sorry, Tyler, but time is something we just don’t have.”

Right. Tyler hadn’t felt this helpless in a long time.

“Karl!” Rick, another marshal, rushed into the room. “You need to see this.”

“Coming now, Rick.” Karl nodded once at Tyler, then left the room.

Once again, Tyler was alone with his thoughts. He was tempted to go after Annabelle again and try to reason with her, but really, what was the point? She’d obviously made up her mind. And he couldn’t say he blamed her.

If only she knew about the reason he’d pushed her away. How it had been for her safety. Somehow, knowing that she was in danger even though he’d kept away from her made his reasoning back then seem ridiculous.

A sudden flurry of action caught his attention. Karl marched out to the garage, his phone to his ear as he barked out questions. His intense expression didn’t bode well for the current situation.

Karl called a meeting with Tyler and Annabelle. A couple of other marshals were in the room. He could hear Bethany squeal with laughter in the other room, where she was playing. A smile spread across his face at the sound. When he considered that he might never hear that joyful sound again, his chest grew tight. Rubbing his chest, he turned his head to find his wife staring at him, frowning slightly, her head tilted like she was trying to solve a puzzle.

A throat cleared. Tyler reluctantly removed his gaze from Annabelle and turned it on Karl. He didn’t like the look in the marshal’s eyes. Karl was worried about something, and the way the man continued to watch him told Tyler he strongly figured in whatever was on Karl’s mind.

“Tyler, there’s been a complication,” Karl said finally, confirming his fears. “Jonathan had planned to place you in Colorado. He had a job lined up for you and your new identity was in the works, but we have to change our plans. It seems that Wilson Barco has doubled the bounty on your head. There have already been reports of men resembling you being attacked in ten states, including Colorado.”

Annabelle gasped, her eyes showing her shock. “So what does that mean? What happens now?” Annabelle’s voice was quiet. He knew that voice well. It sounded calm, but it really signaled that her emotions were spiraling very close to the surface.

Karl turned to her, his expression smooth.

“It’s not unexpected,” Karl told the group. “We have been monitoring the airways and computers for anything. An undercover contact has informed us that the bounty has stirred up interest in several states. Plus, Barco has apparently called in favors from all over the country. There’s no way for us to know all the people who are out to get to you. We’re working on a different placement right now. One that will take you farther off the grid and out of Barco’s reach.”

Tyler felt as though he was sinking in quicksand. He had heard much about Wilson Barco during his time as a prosecuting attorney. The amount of power the man wielded was terrifying.

Was there any place they could go that he wouldn’t find them?