Plain Pursuit. Alison Stone

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      TWO

      “So, Special Agent Eli Miller, what cold case did you talk to my brother about?” Anna had waited until her FBI escort had pulled out onto the road. For a moment back at the farmhouse he had seemed slightly distracted, as if he had something more on his mind than the plane crash. Her shoulders sagged. She squeezed her purse in her lap and held it close. Tears blurred her vision.

      He flicked a gaze in her direction, then turned his attention back to the road. “Call me Eli, please.” His mouth curved into a small smile, transforming his profile from the serious FBI agent to someone...well, someone not so serious. She ran her pinkie fingers under her eyes. She wasn’t partial to men in law enforcement, but her emotional state made her vulnerable to a handsome man with a friendly smile regardless of his chosen career.

      Heat crept up her neck and she turned to stare at the cornfields rushing by outside the car window. Instinctively, she was leery of those in law enforcement. Yet Eli’s eyes radiated warmth, a kindness, so unlike her father’s penetrating glare when he was looking for an excuse to punish her. She blinked a few times to dismiss the memory.

      “Are you going to tell me about this cold case?” Anna asked again.

      Eli seemed intent on staring straight ahead at the road. “The cold case stemmed from an old case—a five-year-old Amish girl was kidnapped from Apple Creek.” His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

      “Did they ever find her?”

      “No.” The single word came out clipped.

      “Why did you talk to my brother?”

      “He was a student at nearby Genwego State at the time.”

      “You contacted him just because he was a student at the time?” Anna shifted in her seat to look at him directly, fingering the locket on her necklace.

      “When the child disappeared, a lot of college fraternities were in Apple Creek doing a pub crawl.” A muscle worked in his jaw, but he kept his full attention on the road. “You know, when they come into town and go from one bar to another? Back then at least five bars dotted Main Street. All but one have closed down since. We hoped someone might have seen something.”

      “Ten years later?” Disbelief edged her tone.

      Eli nodded. “It happens. Sometimes someone remembers something they didn’t think was important at the time. Did Daniel ever mention the incident to you?”

      She shook her head, scrambling to remember. “Ten years ago...I was starting college. That’s the fall Daniel dropped out and enlisted in the army. He never mentioned anything about an Amish girl’s disappearance. Should he have?” Her stomach hollowed out. At the time, she had found it puzzling her brother had quit college so close to graduation, but he assured her he had a plan.

      “Well—” Eli adjusted his grip on the steering wheel “—let’s take one thing at a time.” He didn’t say it, but she knew what he meant. Right now, she had to identify her brother’s body.

      Anna slumped into the leather seat and leaned her head back. Before long, the silos, barns and cows were replaced by neat homes and sidewalks as they approached the center of Apple Creek. The last bit of sunlight lit the trees, whose leaves had turned a crimson red and yellow, providing a picturesque landscape. If the circumstances of her arrival had been different, she might have enjoyed the scenery.

      Eli slowed his vehicle at a stop sign. Churches occupied two of the four corners of the intersection. Her mind drifted for a moment and she wondered if her brother had maintained his faith after all these years. He had been the one to first drag her to church when they had ended up in a foster home. In church she had found peace and comfort despite the turmoil surrounding their lives.

      Silently she said a prayer, asking God to give her strength to deal with the task at hand. Closing her eyes briefly, a quiet calmness descended on her. When she opened her eyes, she noticed hitching posts in front of several of the stores on Main Street. Only one space was actually occupied by a horse and buggy. How peculiar to live as if from another time. Despite having lived in the Buffalo area her entire life, she had never realized the Amish had settled in the countryside little more than an hour away.

      Eli drove a few minutes longer, then flicked on the directional and turned into a driveway marked by a large H. The small-town hospital was merely a single-story brick building that might have been mistaken for a school if not for the hospital sign out front.

      Sensing Eli’s gaze, Anna laced her fingers and twisted her hands. In a few minutes she’d have to identify her brother’s body. Graphic images formed in her mind. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

      “Come on.” He pushed open his door. “I’ll be with you the entire time.” He came around to her side of the vehicle and helped her out. Streetlamps chased away the gathering dusk.

      “Why are you doing this for me?”

      “Because it’s the right thing to do.” With a hand to the small of her back he guided her toward the hospital. Each and every detail—the chipped paint on the bench, the no-smoking sign, the fallen leaves littering the sidewalk—came into sharp focus, as if she were witnessing it all from above.

      The automated glass doors whirred open. A sterile, disinfectant-like scent assaulted her. A gray-haired lady in a pink jacket lifted her gaze in mild interest. Eli flashed his credentials and the elderly woman nodded without saying a word.

      Eli strode toward a door marked Stairs and opened it for her. “Down one flight.” Anna’s shoulder brushed his broad chest as she scooted past him into the stairwell. A cool draft floated up from the floor below, sending a chill skittering down her spine.

      “I’ll be with you the entire time,” Eli reminded her, placing a reassuring hand loosely on her waist.

      The clacking of her heels on the linoleum became the focus of her attention. Not Eli’s comforting presence. And certainly not the task waiting for her.

      Reality in the form of a white placard with black lettering slapped her in the face. Morgue. She sucked in a quick breath, then swallowed hard. Nausea licked at her throat.

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