Hannah was frowning. “What are you saying?” she asked Matt. “I thought my dad dated your aunt.”
Matt kept talking, straining at his bonds the whole time. Was there a bit of give? “There once were four friends. They all met in town, where they worked together at a local café. Patricia and David—your mom and my dad—were dating. Irene had a crush on the Amish boy—your dad, Abe—and the four of them double-dated. Your grandparents probably didn’t like that, but it was Abe’s rumspringa and they hoped he’d grow out of it. But something went very wrong. Abe fell for Patricia and stole her from David. David never got over the loss, even though he married. The marriage was unhappy, and he eventually took his own life. Did I get all that right, Trudy?”
“Shut up.” Trudy grabbed Hannah’s arm and dragged her toward the door. “Patricia was a cuckoo in our nest. And so is her daughter. You’re just like her, batting your eyes and enticing men into your web. First Reece and now Matthew. I won’t allow it to continue.”
Hannah managed to tug her arm free. “Did you kill my parents?” Her eyes grew round with horror.
“Of course I did. You didn’t think I would let them get away with destroying my family, did you? Hannah here told Irene her mother was finally pregnant again. That was the final straw. Patricia didn’t deserve a child after all she’d done. Then Hannah took my first grandson and ruined his life. She has to pay.”
“Irene is Reece’s mother,” Hannah said.
Trudy scowled. “How did you know that?”
Hannah went pale. “I ran into Ellen Long today. She mentioned it.”
“Who’s his father?” Matt asked. He saw horror dawn on Hannah’s face.
Trudy laughed. “It’s not Abe, if that’s what you’re thinking. I would have stopped that soon enough. It’s some loser who stayed at their commune a few months, then moved on. Irene had a nervous breakdown, so I took him.”
“I thought he was a foster kid.”
She waved the gun in the air. “A smoke screen.”
“What about Cyrus?”
Hannah answered. “I think he was just a dupe. His wife was having an affair with Reece. I’m guessing Reece mixed poison in with the sugar, then asked him to make cookies and deliver them to my parents when he went to pick out a quilt. The trail would lead back to the bakery, and it would look like he got caught up in his own murder plot.”
Trudy squinted at her. “That Ellen is—”
Hannah backed away from Trudy. “Why did you take my mother’s quilts?”
“Jealousy,” Matt answered. “I saw a picture of you, Trudy. You were beside a quilt that looked like Patricia’s famous hummingbird quilt. She imitated your pattern and had more success than you ever dreamed of.”
“All because she was Amish,” Trudy spat. She grabbed Hannah again and dragged her to the door. “But it all ends today.” She pulled her captive through the door and closed it behind them.
Matt began to strain at his bonds. They didn’t give much, but he had to get free. Wrenching and twisting his wrists, he stretched and moved the rope until he began to feel a bit of give, but it still wasn’t enough to slip his hands free. “Caitlin, come here. I need your help.”
He could only pray his daughter had enough strength to loosen his bonds. When she was at his side, he instructed her to find the end of the rope and trace it back to the knot, then try to push the end through. She wasn’t accomplishing much. Finally, five minutes later, he felt it give and his hands began to pull free.
THE MOSQUITOES CAME in hordes, eager for their blood. Hannah could see the same bloodthirsty intent on Trudy’s face. Trudy marched her down a muddy path toward the raging creek, fifty feet across at its widest point. The current had torn trees up by the roots, and giant sycamores rode the dirty waves in the churning water. The swollen creek had nearly reached two beached canoes.
They skirted the water, and Trudy turned toward a small path that circled back toward the shack. An open cistern yawned in front of them, obviously just uncovered. It was about four feet in diameter.
She stopped in front of the open hole. “Time to say good-bye, Hannah.”
Hannah froze. What could she do? She cast her gaze back and forth across the area, but there was no place to hide. Trudy raised the gun, and Hannah expected the bullet to plow through her any second.
“Trudy, no!” Reece’s shout rang out through the trees.
Hannah saw him rushing up the path toward them. His eyes wild and his face white, he was not the savior she’d hoped for. He carried a gun in his hand. Trudy turned toward her grandson, her scowl deepening.
He reached them and stopped by his grandmother. “You said we could leave, go our way. Hannah came back to me of her own free will. She had nothing to do with her parents’ sins. You promised you’d help me get her back. You never said anything about killing her.”
Trudy slapped him. “You fool! She’s got you totally flummoxed. Can’t you see she only came because she was sure you had the brat?”
Reece put his hand to his cheek. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Do what I say, Reece. I’ve been working years for this minute.”
Over Reece’s shoulder, Hannah saw Matt and Ajax running up the path. She didn’t see Caitlin, so she prayed the little girl was on her way to safety. Trudy must have seen the expression on her face, because she turned to look.
She pressed her lips together and raised the gun to point it at Hannah. “If either one of you moves, she’s dead.” She pointed to the hole. “You’ve been looking for your mother, Matthew. Come say hello.”
Matt came toward them, clenching his fists. “You killed my mother?” His face took on a stricken expression.
“She killed my son.”
“No, she didn’t—he killed himself.”
“Because she wasn’t the wife he needed,” Trudy spat.
Matt couldn’t engage that kind of irrational thinking. “You had Reece hire that woman to pose as my mother. Just so I wouldn’t look anymore, right? Did you think just any woman would pass for my mother? I remember her too well to fall for that masquerade.”
Trudy waved her hand. “Hannah is about to join her. She can give her your greetings.”
TWENTY - SIX
“There have been cases of prejudice against the Amish in some communities. They are the perfect targets for hate crimes because they don’t fight back—they are peace-loving and gentle.”
—HANNAH SCHWARTZ, ON The Early Show
Trudy gestured with the gun again. “Would you like to say hello to your mother, Matt? She’s right down there if you’d like to stop in for a visit.”
“Stop it!” Hannah shouted. “Just stop being such a cruel witch.”
Trudy’s brows raised. “The mouse roars?”
This was where bitterness led. Hannah got it now. Forgiveness was much more beautiful when contrasted with this vengeful woman. How had she been so blind? She found it hard to look away from that twisted mouth, those eyes filled with hatred and judgment. Had she looked like that to Ellen earlier today? Is this what Reece saw when he looked in her face?
“Why, Trudy? Why all this hatred to people who never even hurt you? What did Moe ever do to warrant death?”
“That was his own fault. The flowers were meant for his mother.” Trudy glared at Reece.
“My aunt was a wonderful woman,” Hannah said. As long as she could keep Trudy talking, they might have a chance of being rescued.
“She was a busybody. She came to see me after your parents’ funeral, all the way in her little buggy as if I would be impressed. She told me she’d seen Reece coming out of Ellen’s house when Cyrus wasn’t there. She suspected Reece was a killer and came to tell me to be careful of him.” Trudy smiled. “She didn’t tell the police. She wanted to leave justice in God’s hands.”
“And of course she had no idea you were involved,” Hannah said slowly.
“When Reece told me what he’d done to lure you back here, I knew Nora would have to die. She wouldn’t keep that information to herself.” She glanced up at Reece as though seeking his approval. “I put you first in everything.”