Debby Giusti - Amish Safe House

“You thought wrong.” For whatever reason, Julia’s comment irritated him. “William is still in the small room at the front of the house, probably refusing to change clothes. You best check on him.”

Abraham grabbed his hat from the wall peg and stomped outside. His anger changed to concern when he spotted William heading into the barn from the driveway, still wearing his Englisch clothing. Abraham glanced back at his house and then at the phone shack in the distance. The door he had closed earlier now hung open.

His heart stopped. The boy had left Abraham’s house through the front door and had returned to the phone booth, probably to call his friend. If William had shared his whereabouts with David, the information could easily spread throughout the Philadelphia neighborhood and eventually to the Philadores. Within a day or two at the most, the gang would descend on Yoder, Kansas, in search of a fourteen-year-old boy who, in their opinion, needed to be offed.

Abraham would talk to William, but first he had to alert Jonathan. He hurried to the phone shack, stepped inside and hit the button that would reveal the last number called. He jotted down the sequence of digits on a piece of scratch paper and tapped in Jonathan’s number.

“We have a problem,” Abraham said in greeting. He quickly relayed what had happened and provided the phone number William had contacted. “Have Karl pick up the family and find another safe place for them to hide out.”

“No can do, Abe, at least not now. Fuentes is beating the bushes, trying to find Will. Moving the family would be too dangerous. They have to stay with you until things calm down.”

“You are taking too big of a risk, Jonathan.”

“I’m keying the phone number William called into my computer. Give me a minute or two and we’ll see what I can find.”

“Find a new hiding place for Julia and her children. If the gang learns their whereabouts, they will be sitting ducks, as the saying goes.”

“Hopefully the kid in Philly will keep his mouth shut.”

Abraham let out a frustrated breath. “The kid’s name is David Davila. If you count on him keeping silent, you are toying with William’s life.”

“We’ll work as fast as we can, Abe, but nothing is done in the blink of an eye. You know that.”

“I know when someone is in danger and needs protection.”

“That’s why I placed them with you.”

“While you are checking, run the name Nelson Turner. He asked for directions to Yoder. Said he was a writer.” Abraham provided the license plate number for the sports car.

“Writer or journalist? I’ll check the plates, but my advice is to stay clear of anyone involved with the media. The last thing we want is Julia or her children’s photo in the paper or on some online news blog.”

“That was my thought, as well.”

Jonathan clucked his tongue. “I found the address associated with the phone number William called. Now I’ll cross-check it with known gang members in the area.”

A sigh filled the line.

Abraham pushed the receiver closer to his ear. “What?”

“William’s friend, David, lives at the same address as a low-level punk who we think has ties to the Philadores. Pablo... Pablo Davila. They must be brothers.”

“David is probably filling his brother in on William’s whereabouts as we speak.”

“Point taken. I’ll pull some strings and see if we can speed up the process of creating new identities for the family. But remember, Abraham, Kansas is a big state. Fuentes is looking for a woman and kids wearing jeans and sweaters. Keep them dressed Amish for their own safety. As we both know, Fuentes is a killer. The last thing we want is for Julia and her son William to be injured or end up dead.”

Dead, like Marianne and Becca. Abraham’s stomach soured. “Move mountains, Jonathan, and get this family to a more secure location.”

“We’ll work this end, Abe, but I’m relying on you to keep them safe until then.”

Safe and alive. Was Jonathan counting too heavily on Abraham? He had not been able to protect his own family. Would he be able to protect Julia and her children?

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.