Amish Christmas Hideaway

He took the poker from her. “Are you all right?”

Nodding, she turned toward the breezeway. “I need to check on Granny.”

“I went over there when I couldn’t find you,” he said. “Her door is closed. The lower door is still locked. Everything’s okay over there.”

Nathan’s phone buzzed. “Carson, all clear inside. I’ll meet you at the front door.”

Alisha followed Nathan down the stairs and put in the code to unlock the door.

The deputy came in, shivering and nodding. “So we had a visitor.”

“Yep.” Nathan turned to Alisha. “Alisha, this is my friend Deputy Carson Benton.”

Alisha shook the man’s hand, noticing he was about the same age as Nathan but his hair was clipped and close-cut and he was built like a linebacker. “Thank you for all of your help, Deputy Benton.”

“Call me Carson,” the deputy said with a smile. “Nasty business, but we’ll get things going. The town police will want to get your statement, Miss Braxton. We can do that in the morning.” Then he glanced toward Nathan. “And we can talk more in the morning. I want to help but I’ll need information.”

“Why not now?” Alisha said. “I can’t sleep and it’s quiet here. We can go in the office.”

Carson’s stern expression never changed but his gaze moved to Nathan. Did he have to get the PI’s approval? “I’ll need to call the officers who worked the scene where your car went over. They’ll be the ones working this side of the case.”

“I would expect all of you to follow proper protocol,” Alisha replied, daring Nathan to argue with her.

“You heard the woman,” Nathan said. Then he turned to Alisha. “I know you’re antsy but you’re gonna crash and burn if you don’t get some rest.”

“I want to find these killers,” she replied, moving ahead of them. But she couldn’t deny that she was sinking fast. Turning at the stairs leading down, she waited. “The sooner I get this report done, the sooner I can rest.”

Carson shook his head and shrugged at Nathan. “We all agree on that.” He walked aside to call in one of the officer who’d been on the scene earlier.

Alisha motioned them along the downstairs central hall. Soon they were settled in the big office that used to belong to Admiral Campton. She kept the blinds closed and turned on a desk lamp while she wondered if someone could still be lurking around out there.

Once the other officer arrived, they all sat down across from the desk, quiet and observant until they got down to business.

Officer Cantor looked sleepy, his salt-and-pepper hair thick and unruly. “Once I take your statement, I can work with the state police to get on with this investigation. They’ll put out an APB on the vehicle Nathan described, the same one you saw. The Philly police issued a BOLO on the two suspects who are now wanted for the double homicide that you witnessed and for murdering a police officer and injuring another one, and for your attempted murder. We’ve got men searching the woods but I have to believe whoever showed up here tonight had to have been one of those men. Or both.”

“They might not even realize we came here since my truck is hidden in the garage,” Nathan said. “Maybe they were looking to steal a ride.”

“Or finish the job,” Carson pointed out.

“So let’s start at the beginning,” Officer Cantor said. “I know you told the LEOs back in Philadelphia what happened but whatever information you can give the town police will help them to coordinate with Philly to make sure we’re after the same driver and shooter, got it?”

Alisha nodded. “I’m a lawyer. I’ve got it.”

Carson’s appreciative glance eased her worries a little. She had to wonder what Nathan had told his friend about her. She wondered about a lot of things regarding Nathan Craig. He was back in her world in a big way so she needed to handle this with a logical approach. Not a good time to get all tangled up in the past and what might have been.

For the next few minutes, she talked about what had happened hours ago in Philadelphia. When she was finished, she had no energy left. Retelling the horror of watching two people die had outdone her.

Nathan held up his hand. “That’s enough for now. Alisha needs to get some rest. I’ll stand guard.”

“You need to sleep, too,” she said, glad he was here but still holding out reservations on how this was going to work.

“I don’t sleep much,” he said, his tone quiet, his eyes shuttered.

“Okay.” His friend stood and crossed his arms over his chest while Officer Cantor gathered his things. “You two work out the details on who’s more tired and I’ll get back with you tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

Alisha didn’t argue. “Thank you, Deputy Benton and Officer Cantor.” Then she added, “You’ll probably hear from the Philadelphia FBI field office. I’m more than willing to talk to them, too.”

“We can arrange that,” Officer Cantor said. “Bring you into the station.”

Nathan walked them to the side door and then came back to where she stood in the hallway. “Okay, upstairs. You need sleep.”

Alisha wanted to fuss at him but fatigue made her dismiss that idea. She had a feeling they’d have lots of discussions before this was over.

When would it be over?

Nathan walked her back to the upstairs door to the carriage house. “Alisha.”

“I’m all right, Nathan. I just want a shower and sleep.”

“Okay.” He turned to go across the breezeway, but pivoted to stare outside, checking. “It’s snowing,” he said.

Alisha looked through the windows on both sides of the wide room. “So it is. I used to stand here on nights like this, waiting for the snow to fall. This has always been a beautiful place, the one place where I felt loved and happy.”

“Alisha,” he said again, something raw in the way he said her name. “I know you don’t want me here but... I can’t leave now. This is dangerous, too dangerous. You have to know that we might not be able to stay here.”

“I might not be able to stay here,” she retorted, her heart battling a mighty war. “You can go on about your business.”

“No, I can’t,” he said, his tone sharp. “I’m in it now. They know my vehicle and they must know I brought you here.”

What if they hurt Nathan? She hadn’t considered that he was in trouble, too. “I shouldn’t have involved you. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I don’t mind being involved and I want to find these people, same as you. We have to work together and that means we might have to leave together.”

So he could protect her and seek justice, not because he wanted to be near her. She wished she’d never called him. “But we don’t know who was out there in the yard.”

“Yes, we do. They sent someone here because they know everything about you now. The minute you looked into that hit man’s eyes, they started digging and now you’re on their list.”

“So you believe this was a professional hit?” She’d suspected that herself.

He lifted his chin. “The way you described it, the way they came after you, yes. It had to be.”

Alisha leaned against the door jamb. “This is bad. I should have left and gone far away from here.”

“But you didn’t. I’m glad you didn’t. Now I can help you and protect you... That is, if you let me.”

With that he turned and went to the other side of the rambling old house.

Alisha shivered and closed the door between them, thinking there was a lot more between them than just a hallway in a house.