Debby Giusti - Undercover Amish

She angled her cell to where he pointed, grateful for the flashlight on her phone.

“Looks like there’s a hole in the radiator,” Lucas said, confirming what the horrible man in the flannel shirt had already told her.

The bad news was easier to accept from the helpful guy wearing suspenders.

She glanced at the road that disappeared around the mountain. A nervous tingle wrapped around her spine. The lewd guy who’d wanted information about Miriam could come back, especially if he expected to find Hannah huddled in her car, seeking shelter from the rain.

Lucas seemed oblivious to the danger. Although there was no telling what he was thinking with half his face hidden under that wide-brimmed felt hat he wore.

Swallowing hard, she gathered her courage to say what played heavy on her mind. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

Lucas glanced out from under the hood of the car and flicked his gaze to the mountain road. “We’ll see his headlights in plenty of time.”

His comment lacked the reassurance she needed and wanted. Would they really have enough warning to hide if the man returned? Or could a car traveling at a rapid rate of speed surprise them both?

The Good Samaritan’s nonchalance troubled her. Surely he wasn’t in cahoots with the guy in blue flannel. She shook her head ever so slightly and sighed, refusing to go down that road. Better to think of Lucas in a favorable light. So far, he’d done nothing to cause her concern.

Besides, the Amish were peaceful folks. Weren’t they?

Yet he’d said he was almost Amish. What did that mean?

“If we had some water, we could fill the radiator and drive until it ran dry.” Lucas extracted himself from under the hood. “That might give us enough time to get to the B and B.”

“Where you work?”

He nodded. “But as I mentioned, we need water.” He held out his hand, palm up. “And more than a sprinkling of raindrops.”

“I’ve got a case of water bottles in the trunk of my car,” she shared. “I went to the store after work—”

“And forgot to unload your groceries?” he added with a knowing smile.

Even in the darkness, she could see the dimples in his cheeks and the sparkle in his eyes.

“I planned to help with the youth at church,” Hannah explained. “The kids are always thirsty.”

“What changed your plans?”

She avoided his gaze. “It’s a long story.” One she didn’t need to share. “Let’s fill the radiator and see how far we get.”

After unlocking her trunk, Hannah grabbed as many bottles as she could carry. Lucas did the same. He jimmied a tiny portion of cloth into the hole in the radiator, and then, together, they poured water into the reservoir.

“Looks like it’s holding.” He held out his hand when she pulled the keys from her pocket. “I’ll drive. The roads can be tricky at night.”

She liked his take-charge attitude and the smoothness with which he closed the hood, scooped the empty plastic bottles into her trunk and held the passenger door open for her. She settled into the seat and watched as he rounded the front of the car and slipped in behind the wheel.

The road twisted and turned, and she was grateful Lucas was driving. She glanced at her watch. Half past midnight.

Coming to an intersection, he turned right. A road sign pointed left to Willkommen. “Isn’t that where I want to go?”

“The town is still a distance from here. The B and B is closer.” He glanced at the clock on the console. “It’s late, and you’ve got a radiator that’s losing fluid. If we get to the Amish Inn, I’ll be more than grateful. You can stay there overnight. The rooms are clean and comfortable and off the beaten path. You won’t have to worry about the guy who followed you.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I wear a lot of hats,” he said with another smile that played with her heart. “One of them is security.”

“But you weren’t working tonight?”

“That’s right. My shift starts at six a.m.”

She hated to pry but another question came to mind. “If you don’t mind me asking, how’d you get to the deer stand without a car?”

“I live in a house on the inn’s property. There’s a shortcut on the other side of the mountain. It’s a good hike, but doable. When the parcel of land went for sale, I purchased it some months ago and built the tree stand as a place to go to be alone.”

“Sorry I interrupted your serenity.”

“Not a problem.” He flashed another upbeat glance her way. “Glad I could help.”

A comforting warmth settled over her. Then, realizing her error, she sat straighter in the seat. She wouldn’t succumb to Lucas’s charm. She’d been involved with one man too many. No reason to let herself make another mistake.

Lucas might be good-looking, but handsome men could break a girl’s heart. She knew that too well. She had the scars to prove it. Not physical but emotional.

She’d built a wall around her heart. Unfortunately, she’d allowed someone entry and learned a very painful lesson that had forced her into seclusion over the last six weeks. Using a prepaid burner phone with a new number and changing her email address so he couldn’t reach her had been good decisions. Moving to Macon and starting over had been a bit more difficult. Along with making a new life for herself, she’d fortified that wall around her heart even more. No one could find a way in.

Not even an almost-Amish guy with a killer smile.

* * *

Lucas tensed. His eyes locked on the rearview mirror and a muscle twitched in his neck.

“What’s wrong?” Hannah asked.

“Headlights, coming this way. Looks like it could be an SUV.”

“A black Tahoe?” she asked, rubbing her hands over her arms.

“I can’t be sure of the make and model nor the color, but I don’t want to take any chances.” He glanced at the temperature gauge. “We can try to outrace the vehicle or hole up someplace and wait until it passes.”

“What about the leak in the radiator?”

“You’ve got more water. We can refill if need be.” Although putting extra stress on the car wasn’t a good option.

Grateful when a narrow dirt roadway came into view, Lucas turned onto the path, guided the car behind an expanse of pine trees and cut the engine. “Hopefully we won’t be seen.”

“I’d like a little more reassurance.” She tugged at a strand of her wet hair and stared through the trees at the all-too-close roadway. “What if it’s the guy who came after me and he spots us?”

“Then we’ll go to plan B.”

Her eyes widened. “Is there a plan B?”

“Not yet, but we’ll handle that problem when it arises.”

As much as he wanted to make light of a very serious situation, Lucas knew cars on the mountain road were few and far between. Not that he would share that bit of information with Hannah. She was anxious enough.

“By the way, thank you for coming to my aid,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

He glanced at her for a long moment and then turned his gaze back to the road. “My mama taught me to be a gentleman, and gentlemen don’t leave ladies at the top of their deer stands.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shoulders visibly relax. She let out an almost-inaudible sigh of relief. As her tension seemed to ease, a tightness constricted Lucas’s chest and sent a pulse of heat up his neck. He didn’t have medical training but he doubted the reaction had any physical basis, and that worried him. Who was Hannah Miller and what was she doing to his peace of mind?

As the SUV passed, she touched his arm. “It looks like the Tahoe from the gas station. I told you, he had headed for the highway, yet when I broke down, his was the first car to happen by.”