Chapter 5
5
Stephanie reckoned that they’d been on the road for about ninety minutes. During this time, Hardy remained relatively silent, For the most part, she was too. She wasn’t used to speaking with Englishers, and certainly not men like Hardy. After their brief conversation about him being in the Army and his boss, she’d stopped asking him questions.
After that, the only time he’d initiated conversation was when he’d asked if she cared for a bottle of water, a granola bar, or a bag of pretzels. She’d refused it all.
Though she was forced to accept his ride, Stephanie thought it was a little greedy to accept a stranger’s food too. Besides, she still felt squeamish inside. When she wasn’t thinking about getting shot, her mind kept replaying the way the poor man had been bleeding on the ground. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to think about that without feeling sick.
However, when her stomach started to cramp, it reminded her that it had been a very long time since she’d eaten.
She was beginning to think that an empty stomach was making her feel worse instead of better.
Now the silence was starting to pull at her something awful. As a light rain started to fall, every doubt and worry that she’d entertained began talking in her head.
Maybe conversation wasn’t a bad idea after all.
“Is your last name Anderson too?”
Hardy cast her a sideways glance. “Yeah.” After a beat, he added, “I’m Bev’s brother, remember?”
“I didn’t forget. I ... well, I didn’t know if she’d gotten married and had a different name.”
“Nope. She’s never married. Neither of us has. Why do you ask?”
Because she hadn’t thought of anything else to talk about. She shrugged. “I was just curious. I don’t know why I asked.”
“Well. I can’t deny that our last name is fairly unremarkable. Anderson is a pretty common name.”
“Not where I’m from.”
“You’re Amish, right? Bev told me.”
“Yes.”
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
“None.”
“Really?”
“Really. My parents ... well, my mother said the midwife told her that she couldn’t have any more children.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “I can’t say that there’s anything to be sorry about. I didn’t know any different. Now, when I look back about everything that’s happened, I think the Lord had a plan.”
“Why is that?” he asked as he clicked on the windshield wipers to a faster speed. “Do you like it being just the three of you?”
She clenched her fingers together as she considered how to answer. “I did like it, but that’s in the past. My parents died when their driver got in a car accident.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you. I had to move from Holmes County to where I live now. With my aunt and uncle.” Unable to help herself, she added, “And their three children.”
“I see. It’s good that they took you in.”
“Yes. I’m grateful for their kindness.”
Hardy scoffed. “No need to be grateful. I’m sure they wanted to, right? I mean, family is everything.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“Of course.”
“But you and your sister have chosen to live so far apart from each other.”
“I can’t deny that. She and I do live far apart, but we have for a long time. Bev went to college at the University of Cincinnati, I joined the Army. While I served, she took a social worker position at the same place she interned. That became her home and mine became the Army.”
Though she didn’t doubt that he’d done well in the Army, she didn’t think it could be a substitute for a home. Not that she was going to tell him that. “Hmm.”
He waved his right hand in the air. “Anyway, now we’re used to it. It was expected, anyway.”
“Why is that?”
“Our home life wasn’t great. Though our mom tried her best, Bev and I didn’t want to follow in her footsteps. Getting away was a goal for a while.”
“You achieved it, ain’t so?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to share so much with you. You’ve got enough going on without having to hear my history.”
“I’m glad you shared. I like learning more about you. Did you leave the Army after your face got hurt?”
“Yeah. Carter Russell was an officer in my unit. We worked a lot together. When it was time to get out, he offered me a job here at his ranch.”
“That was nice of him.”
“That’s a fact.”
“Hardy, could I have one of those granola bars now?”
“Sure. Go fish it out of that sack. Get whatever you want.”
Reaching between the seats, she found the sack, pulled out a couple of bars, and picked the one that had peanut butter in it. “Do you want one too?”
“Sure. Any of them is good.”
After handing him his, she unwrapped hers and took a first bite. The salty-sweet taste of the granola and peanut butter gave her a much-needed jolt. She’d been foolish to wait so long to eat.
Beside her, Hardy ate his in three giant bites. He crumpled the wrapper and stuffed it in a space in his door. It was strange, but his actions amused her. Not a bit of him was delicate or dainty.
As silence between them wore on, she thought about leaving everything she’d known after her parents’ accident. She thought about the Lord placing Bev in her life just when she needed someone the most. Thought about Bev and Hardy Anderson settling in someplace different from their hometown. She thought about how Hardy didn’t think of that as a bad thing—he’d simply accepted it and moved on. He’d acclimated.
Could that happen to her? Was the Anderson way her future? Her stomach clenched. What if this strange journey she was on was God’s will? “Do you think I’ll ever get to go back to my aunt and uncle’s house? Do you think it will ever be safe for me to return?”
“I imagine so. The police are involved. Chances are good that they’ll find and arrest the man you saw.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Me too.” He continued to talk in low, measured tones. “But we both know I wasn’t there. You were.”
“Yes.”
“Now Bev’s the one who’s going to keep us informed. All I’m doing is what my sister asked me to do. That’s it.”
“Oh.” She shouldn’t have been surprised. So why was she a little disappointed that he sounded so disconnected?
“You should call her after you get settled. She’ll give you advice and tell you what she thinks.”
She leaned back against the seat, uncomfortable with all that was being unsaid. She felt as if the two of them were having mental conversations interspersed with the words flowing between them.
“I’m still shaken up,” she said in a quiet voice.
“I’d be surprised if you weren’t. Witnessing a murder is a horrible thing.”
“I’m also still afraid. I’m afraid that Bev’s warnings were right,” she confided. “I’m worried that maybe someone from that gang knows I got on that bus.”
“You’d be foolish not to be worried. Timothy saw you get in a car. That means there’s a trail. All sorts of things could happen.”
Hardy’s blunt comment spurred a bark of laughter from her throat. “You don’t mince words, do ya?”
“Not about this.” He frowned as he darted in between a set of slower-moving cars on the three-lane highway, going right, then left, zigzagging through traffic just as a light rain started to fall.
Though the truck didn’t swerve, and Hardy didn’t seem too perturbed, she held on to the edge of her seat. When the traffic pattern seemed to slow, she relaxed, until she heard him mutter under his breath.
He jerked on the steering wheel as he glanced in the rearview mirror and crossed lanes again.
“What’s wrong?” she called out.
He ignored her. All his concentration was on whatever he seemed to see behind them.
Still gripping her seat, she turned, trying to find who was there.
“Don’t. Don’t turn around. And whatever happens next, don’t do anything stupid. Okay?”
Stupid? What was she going to do? She was locked in a speeding truck that was going faster than she knew was possible.
She refrained from pointing that out, though, as his frown turned into a full glower and tension radiated from him. As if sensing their mood, the rain began to pelt the truck, turning into a storm. Lightning crashed overhead as they swerved, barely making the exit ramp amid a clatter of horns and screeching brakes.
“I don’t understand. What’s happening?”
“It looks like all those worst-case scenarios I was throwing out there came to fruition. You’ve been found, sweetheart.”
He zipped forward, turned right. Turned right again as the rain continued to pour down on them.
He reached for his phone, clicked a button, and started talking into it. “Hey, it’s me. I’m going to be bringing someone back to the ranch. They’ll stay in one of the cabins. Tell the other guys that they need to be alert. There could be trouble.” Pause. “Positive.” Another pause. “Yeah. I’ll be in touch.”
He clicked off his phone, tossed it in the space under the console, and turned left, left again, and then veered to the right on a narrow road.
“Hardy, where are we going?” she asked in the firmest voice that she was capable of.
“Somewhere new,” he bit out. “And no, I am not going to tell you anything more. Let me concentrate on getting you to where we’re going in one piece.”
Stephanie gripped the edge of her seat again, this time not to hold on for dear life but to still her shaking hands.
Everything had gone from bad to worse, and it seemed as if it wasn’t going to get better any time soon.
Lord, I know You hear my prayers , she called out to Him silently . What have I done to make You ignore me?
But she felt nothing but tension. It walked hand in hand with fear and desolation.
No, with fear, desolation—and a new strength she hadn’t been aware she possessed.
Letting out a gasp of breath, she surmised that that might be enough.