Marta Perry - Hide in Plain Sight

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This story is dedicated to my gifted editor,

Krista Stroever. And, as always, to Brian.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

She had to get to the hospital. Andrea Hampton’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel as that call from the Pennsylvania State Police replayed in her mind in an endless loop. Her sister had been struck by a hit-and-run driver while walking along a dark country road—like this one. They didn’t know how badly she was injured. Repeated calls to the hospital had netted her only a bland voice saying that Rachel Hampton was undergoing treatment.

Please. Please. She wasn’t even sure she believed any longer, but the prayer seemed to come automatically. Please, if You’re there, if You’re listening, keep Rachel safe.

Darkness pressed against the windows, unrelieved except for the reflection of her headlights on the dark macadam and the blur of white pasture fence posts. Amish country, and, once you were off the main routes, there were no lights at night except for the occasional faded yellow of oil lamps from a distant farmhouse.

If she let herself picture Rachel’s slight figure, turning, seeing a car barreling toward her…A cold hand closed around her heart.

After all those years she had protected her two younger sisters, Rachel and Caroline were independent now. That was only right. Still, some irrational part of her mind seemed to be saying: You should have been here.

A black-and-yellow sign announced a crossroads, and she tapped the brakes lightly as she approached a curve. She glanced at the dashboard clock. Nearly midnight.

She looked up, and a cry tore from her throat. A dark shape ahead of her on the road, an orange reflective triangle gleaming on the back of it…Her mind recognizing an Amish buggy, she slammed on the brakes, wrenching the wheel with all her strength. Please, please, don’t let me hit it—

The car skidded, fishtailing, and she fought for control. Too late—the rear wheels left the road and plunged down into a ditch, tipping crazily, headlight beams spearing toward the heavens. The air bag deployed, slamming into her. For an instant she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

As her head began to clear she fought the muffling fabric of the air bag, the seat belt harness digging into her flesh. Panic seared along her nerves, and she struggled to contain it. She wasn’t a child, she wasn’t trapped—

A door slammed. Voices, running feet, and someone yanked at the passenger door.

“Are you hurt? Can you talk?”

“Yes.” She managed to get her face free of the entangling folds. “I think I’m all right, but I can’t reach the seat belt.”

“Hold on. We’ll get you out.” A murmured consultation—more than one person, then. The scrape of metal on metal, and the door shrieked in protest as it was lifted.

“The buggy.” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper. “I didn’t hit it, did I?”

“No,” came a curt male voice, and then a flashlight’s beam struck her face, making her blink. “You didn’t.”

Hands fumbled for the seat belt, tugging. The belt tightened across her chest, she couldn’t breathe—and then it released and air flowed into her protesting lungs.

“Take a moment before we try to move you.” He was just a dark shadow behind the light. In control. “Be sure nothing’s broken.”

She wanted to shout at him to pull her free, to get her out of the trap her car had become, but he made sense. She wiggled fingers, toes, ran her hands along her body as much as she could.

“Just tender. Please, get me out.” She would not let panic show in her voice, even though the sense of confinement in a small, dark space scraped her nerves raw with the claustrophobia she always hoped she’d overcome. “Please.”

Hands gripped her arms, and she clung instinctively to the soft cotton of the man’s shirt. Muscles bunched under the fabric. He pulled, she wiggled, pushing her body upward, and in a moment she was free, leaning against the tip-tilted car.

“Easy.” Strong hands supported her.

“Are you sure she is all right, Calvin Burke?” This voice sounded young, a little frightened. “Should we take her to the hospital?”

“The hospital.” She grasped the words. “I’m all right, but I have to get to the hospital. My sister is there. I have to go there.”

She was repeating herself, she thought, her mind still a little fuzzy. She couldn’t seem to help it. She focused on the three people who stood around her. An Amish couple, their young faces white and strained in the glow of the flashlight.

And the man, the one with the gruff, impatient voice and the strong, gentle hands. He held the light, so she couldn’t see him well—just an impression of height, breadth, the pale cloth of his shirt.

“Your sister.” His voice had sharpened. “Would you be Rachel Hampton’s sister?”

“Yes.” She grabbed his hand. “You know her? Do you know how she is? I keep calling, but they won’t tell me anything.”

“I know her. Was on my way, in fact, to see if your grandmother needed any help.”

“Grams is all right, isn’t she?” Her fear edged up a notch.

“Just upset over Rachel.” He turned toward the young couple. “I’ll take her to the hospital. You two better get along home.”

“Ja, we will,” the boy said. “We pray that your sister will be well.” They both nodded and then moved quickly toward the waiting buggy, their clothing melting into the darkness.

Her Good Samaritan gestured toward the pickup truck that sat behind her car. “Anything you don’t want to leave here, we can take now.”

She shoved her hand through the disheveled layers of her hair, trying to think. “Overnight bag. My briefcase and computer. They’re in the trunk.” Concern jagged through her. “If the computer is damaged…” The project she was working on was backed up, of course, but it would still be a hassle if she couldn’t work while she was here.

“I don’t hear any ominous clanking noises.” He pulled the cases from the trunk, whose lid gaped open. “Let’s get going.”

She bent over the car to retrieve her handbag and cell phone, a wave of dizziness hitting her at the movement. Gritting her teeth, she followed him to the truck.

He yanked open the passenger side door and shoved the bags onto the floor. Obviously she was meant to rest her feet on them. There was no place else to put them if she didn’t want them rattling around in the back.

She climbed gingerly into the passenger seat. The dome light gave her a brief look at her rescuer as he slid behind the wheel. Thirtyish, she’d guess, with a shock of sun-streaked brown hair, longer than was fashionable, and a lean face. His shoulders were broad under the faded plaid shirt he wore, and when he gave her an impatient glance, she had the sense that he carried a chip on them.