Secret Admirer. Karen Rose Smith

sank back into the chair, covering her face with hands that shook. She should have insisted on picking her sister up at Anna’s. Eva had assured her everything would be fine, and Rachel was trying to give her sister more freedom, but she’d had doubts. Why hadn’t she listened to them?

      “This isn’t your fault. You can’t blame yourself. These guys are ruthless.”

      Tears filled her eyes. “Isn’t it? I should not have let her walk home alone. It was dark and cold. This is my fault.”

      Noah clasped her hand once more. “Eva is growing up. She’s not that little girl who used to tag along all the time.”

      He was right. Eva was scheduled to join the church in a few weeks’ time.

      “What do we do now?” she asked because she had to do something to help.

      “If you feel up to it, we could go to your place and take a look around. See if anything is missing. The crime scene unit finished a few hours ago. They didn’t find anything useful, I’m afraid, although we weren’t expecting any fingerprints since you said the man who attacked you wore gloves.”

      Rachel rose. “Jah, I’m ready. I want to do something for Eva.”

      Noah smiled at her. “Good. I’ll let Walker know, and then I’ll come get you.”

      Alone again, the plastic container holding Eva’s bag called out to her. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. Picking it up, Rachel examined the bag she’d lovingly quilted for her sister. Specks of dark red covered the broken shoulder strap. Blood.

      The plastic bag slipped from her fingers. Drawing in a breath, she struggled to keep from being sick.

      “What happened to you, Eva?” she whispered while all sorts of possibilities, none of which were good, raced through her head.

      She closed her eyes. Nothing made sense. Someone had kidnapped Eva and tried to do the same to her. What could they possibly want?

      The door opened. Rachel spun away and tried to reclaim her composure.

      “What’s wrong?” Noah asked from near the door.

      Squaring her shoulders, she faced him. She had to stay strong. “Nothing. I’m oke.”

      He came to where she stood. “We don’t know anything for sure.”

      She managed a nod and Noah pressed her hand before releasing it.

      “We’re all set with the sheriff. Let’s get out of here.” He held the door open for her.

      Noah stopped at the front desk where a woman around the same age as Rachel’s mamm answered phones. She’d been introduced to the woman earlier.

      “Janine, we’re heading out to Rachel’s house to take a look around. If you need me, you can reach me on the radio.”

      “Okay, Noah. I’ll let Stephanie know, as well. She’ll be starting her dispatcher shift in a few hours.” Janine smiled sympathetically at Rachel. “It was nice to meet you. I’ll say a prayer for your sister.”

      Touched by the woman’s kindness, Rachel waved and followed Noah out into the dawning of a new day filled with threatening gray clouds. At this time of the year, the weather could turn from pleasant to winter cold without a moment’s notice.

      Noah unlocked a new patrol car and caught her staring at it. “It’s the backup unit. It looks like mine is going to be out of commission for a while.” He opened the door for her, and she climbed inside.

      Driving to the farm, Rachel couldn’t keep from glancing over her shoulder, expecting the men who ran them off the road to reappear. Her nerves were all but shattered.

      “No one’s back there,” Noah said quietly, and she shifted in her seat to face him.

      “I know,” she said but still couldn’t relax. Her sister’s welfare was foremost in her mind. The last time she’d seen Eva, she was excited about attending the youth group singing. Now Eva was missing. Would she ever see her sister again?

      “How are your grandparents?” Noah asked, drawing her attention from her worried thoughts. Growing up close to her family, Noah knew her grandparents well.

      “They are gut. They moved to the San Luis Valley community in Colorado several years back to live with Aenti Deborah. They said they couldn’t handle the Montana winters any longer.”

      Her grossdaddi suffered from severe arthritis, and the cold became harder to endure with each passing year. He and Grossmammi moved to San Luis Valley because of its lower altitude.

      Rachel thought about what her mamm’s reaction would be to learning her youngest daughter was missing.

      “How am I going to tell my grandparents and mamm about Eva?”

      He held her gaze. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re still trying to piece together what happened to her.”

      Slowing the car, he pulled onto her drive. As much as Rachel wanted to believe Eva would somehow turn up and this would prove to be some crazy misunderstanding, the little voice in her head assured her nothing could be further from the truth.

      She’d lived all her life surrounded by hard work and peaceful family settings. She knew crime existed, but not in her community. At least not until now.

      “You must miss Beth a lot.” He glanced her way curiously.

      She swallowed deep. “I do.” The past year without Daniel had been a difficult one. Losing the baby. The news she would probably never be able to carry another child again threatened to destroy her. She’d relied on Beth’s strength to get through the long days. Her mamm understood Rachel’s crippling grief all too well.

      “I’m sure it must have been hard on her to lose Ezra like she did,” Noah said. His cell phone rang before Rachel could answer. He spoke briefly to someone before ending the call.

      “That was Walker. They found the vehicle that ran us off the road abandoned off Highway 37. It had been wiped clean, but there was some blood on the passenger seat.”

      Her heart raced. There was blood on Eva’s bag, as well.

      “It’s probably from the man I shot.” Noah’s calm voice interrupted her dark thoughts. “A shoulder wound could result in a lot of blood loss.”

      Still, doubts crawled in. What was happening to her peaceful world? Why was someone trying to hurt her family?

      Noah stopped in front of the house, and Rachel stared up at it. She’d lived here all her life. When she and Daniel wed, they moved in with her parents. Her mamm and daed took over the dawdi haus where her grandparents had lived before they moved to Colorado. These walls captured so many good memories, yet what stood out in her mind the most was what happened last night. She could almost feel the man’s hand covering her mouth once more, the hatred in his eyes. The last breaths leaving her body. Would she ever be able to get those horrific memories out of her head and feel safe here again?

      She noticed something that sent a chill down her spine. The front door stood wide open. An accident? Or had her attacker come looking for her once more?

      Noah was on alert the second he spotted the open door. “Wait here and lock the door behind me.” He drew his weapon and climbed out of the vehicle. The locks snapped into place. He moved toward the opening.

      Had one of the officers from crime scene left the door open? The men and women in that unit were professionals. They wouldn’t have acted so carelessly.

      Doubts wouldn’t go away as he slipped inside the house. What he saw there made it clear this was no accident.

      Someone had tossed