Alison Stone - Plain Pursuit

She spun around and plowed through the stalks. Each of her frantic steps was met with a rustling off to her right. Her heartbeat ratcheted up in her chest. Stalks whacked her face. Please help me, Lord. Sensing she was losing ground, she spun back around to face her potential attacker, but she twisted her ankle on the uneven earth and bit back a yelp. Two strong hands gripped her upper arms. A blood-curdling scream died on her lips when she glanced up to find Eli’s concerned gaze on her.

“Thank goodness you’re here.” Her breath came out in ragged gasps.

“I came outside to look for you when you didn’t answer my knock on your bedroom door. What’s wrong?”

“Were you walking through the cornstalks?”

“No, I just saw you when you lost your footing.” He narrowed his gaze. “What’s going on?”

“Someone...” Anna swallowed hard. “Someone was in there.”

“Are you okay?”

Unable to find the words, she nodded. He pointed to the house. “Go wait up there while I check it out.”

Anna nodded and jogged toward the house. Her ankle seemed fine under her weight. She reached the top step and her rubbery legs went out from under her. Dropping down on to the top step, she wrapped her arms around her middle and leaned forward, her eyes locked on the cornfield.

After what seemed like forever, Eli appeared and strode toward her. Her heart rate had returned to normal. “I didn’t see anything.” He narrowed his gaze. “What exactly did you see?”

“I...” Her shoulders dropped. “I don’t know. Maybe I was imagining things.” She pushed a hand through her hair. Maybe I’m as paranoid as my brother.”

Eli planted one foot on the bottom step of the porch and leaned his elbow on the railing. “You’ve had a lot to take in.” He offered her his hand and she pushed off the step to stand next to him.

“My nerves are shot.” Her laugh came out high-pitched and grating.

“Why did you go into the field?”

“I thought it would help me move past this nightmare if I saw the spot where his plane went down.” She had always regretted not returning to her childhood home after her mother’s murder. “I guess it was stupid.”

“No, it’s just that your brother was worried about you.” He glanced back toward the fields. “Until I figure out why, I want to keep an eye on you.”

Anna climbed a step to gain some distance. She didn’t know whether she should be flattered or annoyed. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for most of my life.”

Eli pinned her with his gaze. “Humor me, would you?” When she didn’t answer, he added, “Come on. Let’s go inside. My mother is making breakfast.”

“Mind if I clean up first?” He held open the screen door for her. She ran up the stairs, aware of Eli watching her. Now he was worried she was in danger. Had someone been following her in the fields? Shards of ice shot through her veins.

* * *

Despite the unseasonably warm October weather, Anna threw on a thin cardigan and capris, compelled to cover her exposed flesh. Anything less and she would have felt severely underdressed—disrespectful even—in this Amish house. Besides, she couldn’t shake the chill from her encounter in the cornstalks.

When she finally wandered downstairs to the kitchen, she was quickly ushered to the breakfast table. Mother and daughter in their long gowns, hair neatly pinned underneath their bonnets, moved in a practiced rhythm.

“We trust you had a good sleep, Miss Quinn,” Mariam said, never once slowing from the hustle and bustle of preparing breakfast.

“Yes, thank you.” The lie flew from her lips. It was easy because Eli’s mother never met her eyes. Anna rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the kinks in her back. A bead of sweat rolled down her back in the close quarters of the kitchen. The cooking stove gave off immense heat.

“Are you okay?” Mariam’s soft voice snapped her out of her reverie. “Please have a seat.”

Unable to find her voice, Anna nodded and pulled out the closest chair.

“No, please, sit in this one.” The older woman pointed to another chair. Mariam smoothed her hand across the top of the empty chair and slid it back into place.

Anna sat and leaned into the slats of the wooden high-back chair. A fragrant aroma wafted from the stove. Her stomach growled. Until then, she hadn’t realized she was hungry. A moment later, Eli strolled into the kitchen dressed in blue jeans and a dark-blue golf shirt.

“Feel better?” The intensity in Eli’s gaze unnerved her and she nodded. He pulled out a chair across from hers and sat down. The silence stretched between them.

Nervous energy finally got the best of Anna. “I thought I’d drive by my brother’s apartment today. Clean out his things.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“That’s not necessary.” She blurted out the words on reflex, despite knowing he’d insist. “I don’t want you to go to any more trouble than you already have.”

“I’d like to see if I can find anything at your brother’s apartment that might answer why he was worried.” Eli seemed to be selecting his words carefully. His mother placed a bowl of scrambled eggs on the table and smiled but didn’t say anything. “I have two weeks of vacation. I arranged it yesterday afternoon with my supervisor.”

Anna took a small spoonful of scrambled eggs, then pushed them around her plate with her fork. “For your cold case investigation?” Out of the corner of her eye, Anna noticed Mariam watching her son with keen interest. “Why did you have to take vacation for a case? Isn’t it part of your job?”

“It’s kind of a personal project.” Eli’s lips flattened into a thin line. Anna flicked a gaze toward his mother standing by the stove.

“Do you think my brother’s worries had anything to do with your investigation? It’s not likely, right? He didn’t know anything.” Dread washed over her as they locked gazes, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. Shaking his head, he cut a sideways glance toward his mother. She took a bite of scrambled eggs despite the knot in her stomach.

A teenage boy dressed in a blue shirt, pants with suspenders and a straw hat burst in through the back door. Despite a scolding from his mother, he raced from one window to the next.

“Hey, Samuel, what’s going on out there?” The legs of Eli’s chair scraped across the hardwood floor as he stood up.

The teenager leaned on the window’s ledge and peered out. “There’s a big truck with a long pole on it. One of the English is carrying something big on his shoulder and they’re coming this way. Dat told me to get in the house. To tell Mem and Katie Mae to stay put.”

Eli strode toward the front door and yanked it open. When Anna reached his side, she was struck by the hard expression on his features. Eli was a formidable man. A cold chill ran down her spine despite the warm breeze.

A camera crew stood a few feet from the porch steps. A well-coiffed woman with a blond bob and a microphone in hand took a step forward, doing a quick check of her shoes as if she had stepped in something. “Can we speak to someone regarding the plane crash?”

Eli glared at her until she lowered the microphone and gestured to her cameraman to turn off the camera. She pointed the mic at Eli. “Do you live here?” She rearranged her lips into a phony smile. “Help us out here. I need some footage for the evening news.”

Eli jerked his chin toward the street. “Take footage from the road. This is private property.”

“We’d like to interview someone. We’re working several angles.” The woman persisted. “At first we thought it was a cruel twist that a plane crashed in the middle of an Amish field. Two different worlds colliding.” Her lips quirked. “And, I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn of the thriving Amish community in western New York.”