Where Shadows Meet(25)

“Maybe we’d better go inside.”

Hannah fought against the panic bubbling up. “Is it Luca?” She forced the words out past her tight throat. Please, God, not Luca.

Surprise flickered across his face. “No, it’s not Luca,” he said.

Hannah and Sarah exhaled at the same time.

“Look, Deputy, can’t you see you’re scaring the women half to death?” Angie put in. “Just tell them what’s wrong.”

Matt pressed his lips together and directed his gaze at Sarah. “It’s Luca’s cousin, Mr. Honegger. Moe Honegger. We found him in a meadow on the other side of the county yesterday.”

Moe. Hannah could still imagine him yodeling as he milked the cows. She’d been hopeful Moe, if no one else, would listen to her when she came home.

“Moe?” A bead of perspiration dotted Sarah’s upper lip. “He was supposed to go with Luca until he got sick.”

“We know,” Matt said with a gentleness that was out of keeping with his sharp glance around the yard.

“What’s happened to Moe?” Sarah whispered.

“He was poisoned.”

Hannah would have fallen if she and Sarah hadn’t been clinging to each other. Poisoned. Just like her family. How could it be coincidence, right when Reece had found her again?





EIGHT


“Amish Plain clothing promotes humility and separation.”

—HANNAH SCHWARTZ, ON Good Morning America

Achain-link fence barred Reece from the playground. He snapped a few pictures when he thought no one was looking. The kid looked just like Hannah. He’d been amazed and shocked the first time he saw her. And the plan had been born.

Settling on the bench by the street, he pretended to read the newspaper until the bell rang at two thirty. Kids began to pour from the school, escorted by the teachers who saw them off. Five minutes later, the kid said good-bye to her teacher and ran to a red Neon. Gina got out and opened the back door for her. The little girl climbed into the car, and the woman buckled her into the car seat.

By the time they drove away, Reece had jumped into his car. He followed them through Rockville and out US 36. His car weaved a bit as he jotted down the license plate number. He’d thought Gina would take the kid home like usual, but this wasn’t the right direction. The car turned north by Billie Creek Village and continued on down a gravel road. He let his car fall farther behind. The plume of dust would tell him which way to go without his staying close enough to call suspicion on himself.

The dust settled at a house and barn near Nyesville. As he idled past, Gina and the kid walked to the front door and disappeared inside. There was surely a chink in the armor somewhere, something that would prove the kid needed rescuing.

He pulled behind a tree and watched. A little while later Gina came out carrying a suitcase. She and the kid got in the car and drove off. He fell a ways behind them and followed them to Matt’s house. Was Gina moving in or something? That could complicate things.

But not so much he couldn’t handle it. He had to prove his love to his wife, show her how different things could be. He’d made a mistake five years ago, but it wasn’t too late to fix it. His grandmother had told him it was never too late to do the right thing. He could give Hannah the family she craved.



MATT’S KNEE ACHED from his old football injury as he walked slowly to his vehicle. Ajax trotted beside him and hopped into the backseat when he opened the door. The new case was going to ruin his day off. They had nothing. The guy had been poisoned with strychnine just like the victims a decade ago, but there were no prints, no clues. Just a body in the woods.

He had no idea what to do with himself tomorrow. Maybe take Caitlin out to see his grandmother. It had been nearly a month since he’d gone by the old house. His mind would be too busy thinking about the new case to get anything productive done at home.

He called his sister at his house. “Hey, I’m just getting off work. You get Caitlin all right?”

“Of course. We’re baking chocolate chip cookies. I stopped by home and got my stuff.”

“Does Blake know you’re moving in with me for a while?”

“I told him this morning. He didn’t even try to talk me out of it.” She ended on a muffled sob.

“Did you ask him about the ring?”

“He said he’d bought it for me, then took it back after a fight.” What a lame excuse. “Do you believe him?”

“No. I’ll move in with you for a while. Hey, Matt, there’s something I noticed today. It might be nothing, but it left me uneasy.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There was a guy outside the school watching the kids. He was there on Monday, too, when I got Caitlin. You might ask Mrs. Downs if he was there when she got Caitlin on Tuesday.”

“Maybe it’s a parent.” But his gut tightened.

“I’ve never gotten a close look at him. He wore Amish clothes with his hat pulled down low, so I couldn’t see his face. Something about him seemed familiar. I think he followed us today.”

“In a car? An Amish man drove a car?” Matt quit searching for his keys in his pocket. “You’re sure? Maybe it was a Mennonite.”

“Well, he had a beard and hat like an Amish guy. I thought I saw him get into a tan truck. One followed us to my house and then on to here too.”