“Why did you go to Lancaster if you had left the Amish?”
“The transition to the outside world was too much for me. I missed the familiarity of culture and language. I didn’t want to go back to being Amish, but I missed being around the Amish, if that makes any sense. Since I couldn’t return to Blood Rock, I picked a distant community where no one knew me, except two of my closest friends. They kept my secret and everyone there thought I was just another English young man looking for work. Jerimiah had no idea of the truth.”
I inhaled and blew out slowly. As much as I wanted to be angry with Daniel, I couldn’t muster a strong enough emotion. I was still dazed from the wedding massacre. There was a painful chill of solitude around me that I couldn’t shake, making me feel as though I was removed from my body, staring down at it from afar. My jealousy over a fling Daniel had fifteen years ago was trivial in comparison to what had happened today.
I inhaled, trying to wake myself from the nightmare my mind couldn’t escape. “We’ve been together for a while now, and we’re engaged. Were you planning to keep this part of your life secret from me forever? Because I don’t think skeletons in the closet make for a healthy marriage.”
“I agree. They don’t.” He cupped his chin and glanced back at me and then away again. “This will sound terrible, but I’m putting all my cards on the table. I was planning to tell you everything sometime after our wedding. I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize you becoming my wife.” When my mouth dropped open, he came closer. “You’re not like any woman I’ve been with before, Serenity. Everything is so damn black and white with you. I was sure you’d leave me if you found out about my affair with a woman whose husband was murdered and the case never solved.”
“You were wrong. I wouldn’t have held that against you—as long as you were up front with me about it. You should have trusted me.”
“There is something else,” he said quietly.
Sunshine was pouring in the windows, heating my face. I closed my eyes and lifted my face to it, afraid of what he was going to say.
There was a moment of silence in the cab and then he spoke up. “Samantha had hinted around that she wanted me to do something about Buddy.” I turned to him and he hurriedly went on, “I mentioned it to Mervin and Seth and they warned me to get away from her, but I was young, stupid and lonely. She played me like a fiddle. She insisted I come over that night and when she brought up Buddy, we argued. I wanted no part in what she was talking about, and I was going to leave, but she stopped me.”
“Did you see Buddy that night?” I asked, holding my breath.
He nodded. “Through the window, and I heard him. He was sneaking around the house, spying on Samantha. She suspected he was out there and she grabbed her shotgun and went out on the porch. I would’ve gone with her, but she insisted I stay in the house. She said if Buddy saw me there, he’d kill me for sure. It was a stormy night and I distinctly remember how I strained to hear their voices through the claps of thunder. My pickup truck was parked out front, so he already knew she wasn’t alone. They yelled back and forth at each other for a couple of minutes and she threatened to shoot him, and then he left. Maybe twenty minutes or so later, we heard the gun blast. When daylight broke, we followed the path and found Buddy’s body.”
“You aren’t mentioned on any of the reports—”
“No, I wouldn’t be,” he interrupted. “Samantha insisted I leave and never come back. She said if I stuck around, I’d probably be charged with the crime since I’d been there with her that night.” He chuckled darkly, shaking his head. “At first I thought she was protecting me. Later I realized she was only taking care of herself. If the cops had talked to me, I might have told them about how she’d propositioned me to kill Buddy.”
“You couldn’t have been that stupid.” My eyes bulged as I stared at the side of his face.
“I was scared. I didn’t know anything about the English legal system back then. And I was alone, with only the guidance of a couple of Amish boys. Seeing Buddy lying there, nearly decapitated, I kind of lost it.” He grunted and finally looked over. “Yeah, I ran. I ran away and never came back.”
“Who did you think killed him?” I asked.
“Samantha was with me, so I knew she didn’t pull the trigger, but she was a pretty woman. I figured she had found another guy to do her dirty work. I never dreamed it was her brother-in-law though. Brent was a little backward, but not a killer.”
“He killed the dog.”
“At the time it was disturbing, but I didn’t make the connection that he had it in him to do the same thing to his brother. After all these years, I still don’t understand why Samantha wanted Buddy dead so badly.”
“Because she was very ambitious and Buddy stood in the way of achieving her goals. He wouldn’t leave her alone—and that made finding another man to care for her impossible. She was probably planning to hook up with Brent after he inherited the building business, but when it went under, she changed her mind and married her second husband instead. That guy worked at a factory and brought in a decent paycheck. Not long after he was laid off, she filed for divorce again, only he was the type of person who backed off and left Samantha alone, even though they shared a child together. At that point, she decided to make it on her own and got her degree and became a lawyer. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy she’s with now doesn’t have money in the bank. She’s just that type of gal.”
“Where do we go from here?” Daniel looked at me.
“You have to tell the marshals the entire story. There’s a good chance Samantha will spill the beans at some point that you were with her the night of the murder. You don’t want that coming back to bite you in the butt.”
“All right, I’ll do it. But what about us—do we still have a chance?”
I wanted to avoid the question, but I couldn’t. Maybe if I hadn’t given him such a hard time about our relationship, he would have felt comfortable talking to me sooner about Samantha and Buddy. In a way, I’d helped to create the situation we were in. I didn’t want to lose Daniel—even though a part of me still buried beneath the lifelessness I felt now was really pissed he’d kept his involvement with Samantha and Buddy a secret from me.
But then my thoughts flashed to that afternoon. I remembered Miriam’s hand outstretched, almost touching her new husband’s hand while they lay next to each other—dead. How tragic their story had ended. I wouldn’t take Daniel or our love for granted. I pushed my hand into his and he eagerly took it and squeezed.
Panic tightened my throat, but I forced myself to speak. “When I told you I loved you, I meant it. Everyone has bumps along the road, this is just a really big one for us. You’re going to have to give me some time. But I think we’ll be okay.”
“Are you keeping the ring on?” he asked cautiously.
I glanced down and it sparkled in the sunlight. It had felt so awkward wearing it at first, but sometime in the last couple of weeks I’d gotten used to it.
I wiggled my finger. “Isn’t it part of the whole being engaged thing?”
Daniel laughed and pulled me against him. When his mouth opened over mine, I sighed and kissed him back as though it was our last kiss. Tingling sensations spread through my body, chasing some of the numbness away.
I hardly knew Miriam, but I’d never forget the short time I’d spent with her, rocking on the front porch and sharing her secrets or the sight of her pale, dead face.
Life was too damn short. I was going to do my best not to waste a single moment of mine.
22
Toby peeked out and flicked his finger for me to enter the interrogation room. I practically leaped from the chair and burst through the door.
The room was small and the walls were covered with outdated paneling, but otherwise it wasn’t much different from the one we had in Blood Rock. John sat across the table from Dani
el. He set his pen down, closed the file folder and pushed it to the side. The recorder was turned off. I found it difficult to breathe as I sat in the chair beside Daniel.
John looked up and offered a small smile. “If your fiancé had come forward all those years ago, Jim wouldn’t have gone to his grave wondering who killed Buddy Prowes.”
I pursed my lips. “I’m not so sure about that. Daniel didn’t have any idea it was Brent—he just suspected Samantha had talked someone into taking out her ex.”
“I’ve always thought it was odd how when the truth comes to light, everybody is either completely shocked or they suspected it all along. In Buddy’s case, Jim wrote notes of his suspicions about her involvement in the murder, but he never found anyone to link her to it. Brent didn’t leave any evidence behind and no one had reason to think he was out to get his brother because his romantic relationship with Samantha was hidden from the world. She used him to get what she wanted—and he fell for it, hook, line and sinker.”
“Brent Prowes was a psychopath.” I snorted. “All he needed was a little nudging from his sister-in-law.”
“That may be so, but now we have the word of a reputable lawyer in town against a dead man who murdered six people and wounded several others at an Amish wedding.” He leaned back and groaned. “Without Daniel’s testimony, we have nothing concrete to convict her.”
I crossed my arms on the table, lifting my chin at Daniel. “Isn’t his testimony enough? She practically asked him to kill her husband.”
“That’s not how it happened.” Daniel spoke up. He met my stare. “She hinted at it, but never came right out and asked me to.” He motioned with his hands. “She made me uncomfortable for sure, but that’s it.”
John shook his head. “Now that Buddy’s killer is dead, I don’t have reason to press any charges on Daniel for not coming forward with evidence earlier.” He looked grim. “But I also don’t have enough evidence to press charges against Samantha. Unfortunately, I think we’re going to have to let her go.”
Thoughts swirled around in my head and none of them were nice. I couldn’t swear that my obsessive desire to put Samantha behind bars didn’t have to do with the fact that she had been Daniel’s lover at one time. But the idea that her cajoling Brent to murder his brother had somehow led to the wedding massacre and Miriam’s death fifteen years later was the main reason I wanted her held accountable. She set into motion a string of events that had taken many years to play out, but they had played out in the most horrible way possible.
I remembered how Samantha had been careful with her responses to Brent, even though people were dead at her feet, and she was being held in a vice grip with a gun against her stomach. She was a calculating bitch—and I wasn’t going to let her get away with it.
I blinked and gazed at John. He inclined his head, waiting.
“What if another man came forward—someone else who Samantha had solicited to take Buddy out?”
“Does such a person exist?” John’s brows shot up as his looked between me and Daniel.
I turned to Daniel. “Do you know anyone else she was friendly with back then?” When he began to lift his shoulders in a shrug, I leaned in closer. “Think, Daniel. Think hard on this. You didn’t know she was messing around with Brent either, but she was. If she was desperate enough, she very well might have flirted with another man and said something to him that, along with your testimony, would incriminate her.”
Daniel dropped his head back and pressed his hands into his temples. His eyes were tightly closed. John’s were wide open and bright with rising excitement.
After a long pause, he straightened back up and looked me in the eye. “There is one person who you might want to talk to—Joshua Miller.”
23
Approaching the farmhouse, I noticed there was a lot less bustle in the Miller driveway than when I’d been here a few days ago. Rays of sunshine burned off the morning mist that hung over the pastures, and a flock of chickens pecked the ground beside the barn. I spotted pigs in the corral and a gray tabby walking along the top rail of the enclosure. Several kids moved about in the barnyard doing their chores, reminding me of Rowan Schwartz’s offspring. Amish children got up early, even on Saturdays.
My thoughts strayed to Brent’s three children and how they’d sat on the couch, pretending to watch television as their eyes darted to me and their mother whispering in the doorway. I’d seen the shock in her eyes when I’d first told her about what her ex-boyfriend and the father of her kids had done before I’d shot him dead. Her eyes had become misty, but she did not cry. Shock was like that. Sometimes it took a while for the full impact of what had happened to really sink in. Tonya was a tough lady—she’d survive. But from my own experiences, I was sure she’d forever question herself, wondering what she might have done differently to save him and the Amish people who’d died.
I gave my head a little shake and glanced over at Toby, who was riding shotgun. His cowboy hat was pulled down, concealing his face. He appeared to be napping. With the wedding massacre bringing national attention, John couldn’t get away from his obligations in Lancaster, so he’d sent Toby with me to talk to Joshua. We’d left in the middle of the night, grabbed some coffee and only stopped for bathroom breaks. I yawned, but got a jolt of adrenaline when I saw Joshua step out the front door of his new house.
I pulled over and shut off the engine, smacking Toby’s arm. “Wake up. It’s show time.”
Toby pushed his hat back and stretched. He popped his neck and took a sip of his cold coffee. I smiled when he grimaced.
“Are you always so damn perky in the morning?” He scrunched up his face.
“Since I haven’t slept, it doesn’t really make a difference what time it is. You’re the first person to ever call me perky though.”
“Hmm.” Toby looked around. “So the guy’s home?”
I lifted my chin towards the house. “He’s having morning coffee and surveying his new empire. If you’re nice, he’ll probably offer you a cup.” I snorted. “It’s a thing with the Amish. They’re usually hospitable, even when they’re being questioned.”
“You seem to have a love-hate relationship with them,” Toby said.
My eyes drifted to the little girl carrying a bucket from the barn. Water sloshed out onto her green dress, but she kept walking until she reached the pig corral where there was a gap just wide enough for her to pour the water in for the pigs without having to open the gate.
“They’re hard working people and good neighbors. Some have given me fits with their secretive ways, but others have been straightforward. The women are amazing cooks and you’ve got to commend them on their strong sense of faith. But I’ve come to learn that they have their demons just like everyone else. And unfortunately, because of their strict society, they tend to sweep the bad things under the rug.” I turned to face him. “When they do have a problem, they try to solve it themselves, which usually doesn’t work out very well.”
“I’d say there’s never a dull moment around here.” Toby chuckled.
“You’ve got that right.” I opened the door and looked back over my shoulder. “I’ll be shocked if we get anything out of this guy. I already have him pegged as one of the more secretive ones.”
“But he did give you the information about Jerimiah Suggs.”
“True, but I think he had his own motives for doing so.”
“And what would that be?”
“To bury his own demons.”
We walked up to the porch. Joshua’s brow lifted when he saw us.
“It’s mighty early for a visit from the law.” He tilted his head. “Would you like coffee?”
Toby smiled broadly and winked at me. “Yes, sir. That would be most welcome.”
“Make mine black,” I said.
Joshua opened the screen door and called into the house. A moment later, Toby
and I were sitting on a bench, holding steaming cups in our hands and the Amish man was leaning against the porch railing. Occasionally a cow bellowed, but otherwise it was quiet.
I looked up at the tall man staring at me. “Have you heard news from Lancaster?”
Joshua pursed his lips and shook his head. “I’ve been so busy getting moved in, I haven’t had time to socialize with anyone in this community, let alone my old one.” He smirked and twirled the end of his beard between his fingers. “Since we don’t have televisions, computers and cell phones, we get our news later than everyone else.”
Daniel had already verified that the community that Joshua had moved from wasn’t the same one where Brent went on his killing spree. But still, I knew how the Amish were all interconnected through marriages and business. I took a quick breath and said softly, “There was a tragedy at Miriam Coblenz’s wedding.” His eyes widened in recognition and I continued, “Brent Prowes went to the wedding and shot and killed six people, including the bride and groom, and the bride’s father.” I pulled my small notebook from my pocket and handed it to him. “Here’s the list of names of the deceased.”
Joshua read quickly and smoothed his hand down his beard. When he looked up, his face was a shade whiter. “How could this happen?”
“It turns out Brent Prowes killed his brother fifteen years ago. Somehow he managed to stay partially sound all these years, but he snapped on Thursday. The past came back to haunt him.”
“Was he…arrested?” Joshua asked in a wavering voice.
“He’s dead. I shot him.”
His eyes widened even more, but he didn’t say anything for a few long seconds. When he did recover, his voice was once again steady. “Why did you come here to tell me the news personally?”