In Plain View (Amish Safe House, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that! Lillian covered her mouth with
delicately curled fingers. “What has this world come to, these
days?”
    “He really should come on back home,” Esther
said. “I know this is his time, but it's dangerous out there.”
    “That's not even the scariest part of the
story.” Beckie was all but bouncing in her seat. “That photo of man
the police showed us? The man found in the pond? That man was the
one shaking down that family for money.”
    “How could you possibly know that?” Maria
asked, looking torn between shutting down the woman's story and
listening.
    “Because Jeremiah saw the dead man's picture
in the newspapers. And he's the exact same man that shook the cafe
down for money. Twice that he knew of.”
    Kate was surprised. She was sure that agents
would have given themselves headaches trying to figure out how to
find out that information, yet Beckie had effortlessly gotten all
that information from her cousin. That's it - forget the
Feds , Kate thought. When I get back to my real life, I’m
going to hire an Amish knitting circle .
    Lillian looked around the room and twisted
the scarf she was working on in her hands. “My brother nearly got
run into on his way to market the other day. That was the day
before they found the body. He said two cars came through the main
trail going awfully fast. If he hadn't scooted this horse to the
side in time, they would have smashed clear through his cart. He
said it looked like one was chasing the other.”
    This brought on a fresh wave of whispers and
gasps. The town road was not far from the community at all. And the
man had been found in a pond right there on the path.
    “Do you think that was the man that died,
and the ones that killed him?” Esther asked as the women started to
whisper among themselves.
    “Goodness gracious, Lillian. Your brother
had Der Herr watching out for him then,” Abigail said, her
face white.
    “No doubt about that,” Esther chimed in.
“Why didn't you say anything?”
    “I thought it was just some mindless
teenagers from town or something.”
    Naomi banged her cane against the wooden
floor, sending the women into immediate silence. Despite her age,
the woman commanded immediate respect. “All right, ladies. There's
no use speculating about things we have no control over.”
    “That's right,” Maria said, recovering her
composure and stern expression. “We're not here to be a bunch of
gossiping hens. One minute it’s news about Jeremiah having an
encounter, next you are all letting your imaginations run
wild.”
    Maria rose to her feet and neatly placed
down her knitting as she sniffed and headed toward the kitchen. “It
should be about time for the cobbler to come out of the oven. I'll
prepare the plates. Beckie, would you help me with the drinks?”
    Beckie agreed as she struggled to her feet,
but the fact that she was disappointed that Maria was pulling her
away from continuing the hushed gossip, was as plain as day.
    Kate frowned and tried to look busy with her
knitting as she thought about the details. The crime ring had some
sort of connection to the mayor. The dead man had been shaking down
town businesses for protection fees. And he was found dead in a
pond the day after they nearly ran over Lillian's brother. That
about summed it up. If she had her badge, she'd be having a hay day
with this rush of information. But how to do it as Kate, the
amnesic Amish girl?
    “Is your brother okay?” Kate asked Lillian,
trying to think of any details he might have told her about the car
chase. If it had been right before the murder, then there could
potentially be some vital clues in their stories.
    Lillian turned her attention to Kate.
“ Jah , Benjamin is fine, denki . He was a mite shaken
up over the whole thing, but that is it.”
    Kate was about to work out an innocent
enough request for details when she saw the gears turning in
Lillian's head.
    “You know, Kate,” Lillian started
speculatively. “My bruder , Benjamin,