chapter 29
DEBORAH HAD BEEN PRAYING the entire time she walked down the trail behind Callie.
Then Levi’s barn had exploded, literally burst into the sky — boards, roof, and hay scattered into the air as if a tornado had come along and thrown it willy-nilly.
Callie had stumbled, Deborah bumping into her.
They stood there, pressed together, staring at the smoke rising above the tree line. The smell of fire filled the air.
What was Thomas thinking? The place would be crawling with Amish folk in twenty minutes, families intent on putting out the blaze. Now he’d never escape.
He’d pushed them on, and the pond had already come into view when Thomas stepped between them. He’d rammed the rifle into Callie’s back and told her to walk out onto the far end of the small wooden dock.
When Thomas had looked at the quilt, Deborah had known they’d have to tell him something or he’d kill them where they stood outside the barn. Callie had diverted him to the pond, bought them a little time, but both Deborah and Callie knew there was no treasure in this pond. Now everything was coming to pieces.
So Deborah continued praying.
She reminded herself that God was in control, that he would provide a solution.
And she kept her eyes open, watching for a chance to escape.
When she felt small hands tugging on her arms, she thought she must be dreaming. But Martha’s eyes were so wide with fright, she knew it wasn’t her imagination. With her finger pressed to her lips, her daughter urged Deborah into the bushes.
Martha had pulled the thick tape off Deborah’s hands and was rubbing the circulation back into her wrists.
Deborah had a dozen questions, and there was no doubt she was going to punish her daughter for being here, but all of that would have to wait. As they watched, Shane stepped out onto the trail.
At the same moment, Thomas began hollering at Callie and waving one arm in the air while he threatened her with the rifle.
“What do you mean you don’t know where the treasure is? You brought me out here, Harper.”
“And you were supposed to meet me at the abandoned farm.”
“Where you had no intention of going. It’s a good thing Jolene put the tracker in your bag or I would be there — caught no doubt by the good detective — and you’d be here. Here finding the treasure that belongs to me.”
“But we didn’t —”
“Shut up! It didn’t work out like you planned. Now for the last time tell me where the money is!”
“I don’t know.”
“You do, and you’ll stop lying, or—”
“She’s not lying, Thomas.”
Thomas jerked around, toward Shane. When he did, he grabbed Callie by the throat, dropped his rifle, and pulled a knife out of his belt. It was such a fluid motion, Deborah wondered if it was something he practiced at home, like children practiced baseball swings.
“How would you know?”
“Because I told her to set up the decoy. Because there isn’t any treasure, and I think you know it, which is why this needs to end now.”
“If that’s true, it’s going to end with her on the bottom of this pond.”
“Doesn’t have to be that way.” Shane took a step toward Thomas, and Thomas tightened his grip on Callie’s neck.
From where Deborah hid, she could see all the color leaving Callie’s face.
“Give me my money, and I’ll leave. Then you can have the girl.” Thomas must have seen something on Shane’s face, because suddenly he was smiling. “Is that what you want detective? The girl? Well, she’s all yours. But not until I have what is mine.”
“You can’t leave the way you came, Thomas. The place is crawling with police and plain folk. You just blew up your brother’s barn.”
“Wasn’t an accident. It was a diversion. I’ll escape with what is mine while the other officers are dealing with the mess I left.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
Deborah wondered why Shane was provoking him. Wasn’t his job to calm the man down?
“Why should it? Even now they’ll be planning to build him another. By this time next week a grander one will stand in its place. I’ll waste no sympathy on Levi.”
“Who is your sympathy for then? Mrs. Knepp? Jolene? Do you reserve it for the women you kill?”
“Shut your mouth, Detective, or there will be one more name to add to that list. All I want is my money, then I’ll be on my way.” He swiftly cut the tape binding Callie’s hands, then replaced the blade at the base of her throat.
“I’m freeing your hands so you can show me where the money is. No wrong moves or the blade will go into your pretty white skin.” Never taking his eyes off Callie, he added, “Detective, you need to drop the rifle and put your hands in the air. Now where’s the money, Harper?”
When she still didn’t speak, Thomas allowed the blade of the knife to pierce Callie’s skin. A small trickle of blood made its way down her neck, and though she didn’t utter a single cry of pain, Shane did as Thomas instructed.
“This is your last chance, Harper. We’re going to sidestep our way to the end of this dock, so I can keep an eye on the detective while you retrieve the money.” Thomas practically whispered the words into Callie’s ear, but Deborah could hear them clearly. It seemed the entire world should be able to hear them, for suddenly everything was quiet. Even the birds had ceased their racket. “I want the money, and I want it right now, or I’m going to bury this blade in your throat.”
What happened next occurred so quickly Deborah didn’t understand it even though she was watching closely. Martha’s hands were clasped in hers, Thomas’ blade was pushed into Callie’s neck, and Shane was standing with his hands up in a surrender position, his rifle on the ground at his feet.
Then there was the sound of a bird flying through the trees, followed by a thud and a scream.
Aaron knew the second Matt let the rock fly. He’d been staring at Thomas, refusing to be distracted by anything else that was going on around him, refusing to think about the smoke in the air from the burning barn.
This was the man who had started the nightmare.
The man who had stepped up behind Mrs. Knepp and sent her sprawling to her death in Callie’s parking lot.
The man who had stared into his eyes on Thursday evening, then disappeared into the darkness.
This was the man who had killed the woman, Jolene — killed her by holding her head under water in a barrel meant to be a game.
Aaron knew Martha had pulled her mamm out of harm’s way. He knew it was Shane who was negotiating with Thomas, though he hadn’t turned to look at the man whom he had started referring to as The Law in his head.
No, he kept his eyes locked and focused on Thomas, and he kept one hand on the top of Max’s head. The dog had begun trembling at the sight of Callie, but he hadn’t moved, hadn’t so much as whimpered. Did he realize a single sound could give away their presence? Could send the knife more deeply into his owner’s neck?
Aaron kept his eyes locked on Thomas as all these terrible thoughts flew through his mind. He understood now Thomas had only one goal in mind.
Money.
It’s what he had been about from beginning to end.
The pursuit of money.
And nothing would stand in his way.
Well, he wasn’t the only one who could remain focused on a single goal.
Nothing would stand between Aaron and doing his job.
So he concentrated on Thomas and waited for Matt to send the rock slinging through the air.
When it hit with expert precision, blood splattered all over Miss Callie. Aaron didn’t have time to think about whether the blood was Thomas’ or Callie’s. He did as they had planned. He released Max and uttered the words, “Go, Max. Chase.”
Max needed no urging.
He flew through the air as fast as the rock had sailed from Matthew’s slingshot.
He flew through the air, aiming directly for Thomas.
Thomas had dropped the knife when his hand had been hit by the rock. He was screaming and cursing and trying to stop the flow of blood.
Callie was running toward Shane, who was shouting: “Get down!”
But there was nowhere to “get down” to, so she jumped into the pond with a splash.
Aaron watched, fascinated and horrified, as Max took a final leap toward Thomas. Too late, the man looked up and saw the sixty-five-pound yellow Labrador sailing through the air toward him, teeth bared, a snarl coming from his throat so fierce it raised the hair on the back of Aaron’s neck.
He rolled his chair forward in order to have a better look, and that was when he saw Shane stoop, pick up his rifle, and aim it toward Thomas.
“No!” Aaron hollered, afraid Shane would miss and hit Max.
But Shane had no intention of firing the rifle. He checked it once to ensure a bullet was in the chamber, then walked down the wooden dock, his boots echoing across the planks.
Thomas was lying on his back, clutching his hand to his chest, blood soaking his shirt, and Max stood on top of him — teeth bared in his face, barking and growling more furiously than Aaron had ever heard him.
“Get him off me. Can’t you see I’m bleeding? Get this mutt off me.”
Shane said nothing to Thomas. He did reach down and pull Callie out of the water.