A Heart Made New (18 page)

“Charisma isn’t a criminal. She’s having a baby.”

Still frowning, Sergeant Parker moved past Annie so he stood between her and the screen door. She got a whiff of his light, spicy scent. “Did you ask her if she knew what Logan was doing? He didn’t have a job, but they had money for gas and food to get them from Louisiana to Kansas. Don’t you think she wondered how that could be?”

“I didn’t want to bring it up.” Annie shifted, the porch rough under her bare feet. The image of Logan’s apologetic face floated in front of her. He had broken the law to feed his loved ones. Why didn’t he ask for help or try to get a job? Maybe he had. Who was she to judge? “Charisma’s upset about Logan being in jail and like I said, she’s expecting.”

“Her boyfriend pointed a gun at you.” Sergeant Parker’s tone remained gentle. He removed the offending sunglasses. His eyes weren’t so warm now. In fact, they seemed hard. “Don’t you want to know how much she knew about it?”

“She wasn’t in the bakery with Logan on Thursday.” Amazed at her own audacity in talking to these Englisch men, Annie folded her arms to hide her shaking hands. “She doesn’t need anyone upsetting her.”

“We just want to talk to her. Ask her a few questions.”

“She’s resting.”

“Excuse me, we represent the city of Bliss Creek in this.” Mr. Moreland’s tone said his patience was thinning. “You are a witness to a crime. Charisma Chiasson may be an accomplice, or at the very least, another witness. I want her out here right now, or I’m sending Sergeant Parker in there to get her.”

“Whoa, slow down there, Bob. Let’s not get carried away.” Sergeant Parker showed no signs of storming the house. “We’re just talking here.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Annie took a long breath and gave the officer an apologetic look. “I’m not testifying. Not against Logan or against Charisma. We don’t sit in judgment of others.”

“Mayor Haag was right. You are a stubborn lot.” Mr. Moreland
slapped his hat on his head. He adopted Annie’s stance, with arms folded. “Do you know what a subpoena is?”

Annie chewed on her lip, searching her brain for an answer. Nothing came to mind. Not from school. Maybe from reading
The Budget
. “I’m not sure. Like a legal paper.”

“Yes. It will mean you have to come to court and be cross-examined by the attorneys.”

“And if I don’t?”

“The judge can hold you in contempt and put you in jail.”

An instantaneous raging river of fear coursed through her. Bishop Kelp and the deacons wouldn’t like that at all. They would be upset that she brought upheaval to the community by getting involved with Englischers. Luke would be furious. She turned to Sergeant Parker, hoping he would understand. And help. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know you didn’t, Annie. We’re just asking you to do the right thing now.” Sergeant Parker took a step toward her. His big boots thudded on the porch. “Tell the judge what happened. Just tell the truth.”

“Or you’ll be in a jail cell across from your friends.” Mr. Moreland straightened. “What’s it going to be?”

“Bob, that’s enough.” Sergeant Parker slapped his hat on his head. “I’ll not have you threatening citizens, especially ones who’ve done nothing wrong.”

Thankful for his support, Annie ducked behind him and put her hand on the door. “I have to talk to my brother. You’ll have to come back later.”

“That’s fine. We don’t need you at the arraignment, only at the trial. Unless he takes the plea bargain we’re offering, he’ll be bound over for trial.” Mr. Moreland gave Annie what surely must’ve been his version of a smile. More like a grimace. “You should tell his girlfriend to talk him into taking the plea. It’ll save you and your employer and that other girl from having to testify at the trial. If it goes to trial and you don’t testify, you’ll be arrested. Mark my words, missy.”

Sergeant Parker towered over the other man. “You have an eyewitness in Mayor Haag, and Officer Bingham caught the suspect with
the money and the gun. You can make your case at trial without our Amish friends.”

“The more evidence we can present the better.” Mr. Moreland’s face darkened to a beet red. “The man is a menace to the community. We have to send a message—”

“Leave her alone. It’s me you want.”

They all turned at the sound of Charisma’s voice. She pushed through the screen door and halted in front of Sergeant Parker. She held out two skinny wrists. “You want me, you got me.” She lifted her chin and smirked. “Go ahead. Slap on the cuffs and take the pregnant lady to jail.”

A
nnie scurried between Sergeant Parker and Charisma. She couldn’t let Charisma do something foolish like get herself arrested for no good reason. Mr. Moreland had a grin on his face as if he’d just been given a gift. The porch suddenly seemed very crowded, and the morning sun pressed against Annie’s face, making it damp with sweat. She inhaled the sweet scent of roses and tried to get her bearings. Surely they wouldn’t arrest a woman expecting a baby. Charisma hadn’t broken any laws, but Annie couldn’t begin to understand the Englisch way of doing things.

“Sergeant Parker just wanted to ask some questions.” She needed to move the conversation off the porch—away from the open windows and big ears of her neighbors and friends. They weren’t gossips, but who could resist listening to this particular conversation? “Let’s take a walk down to the corral.”

“What about Gracie?” Charisma had a mulish look on her face that reminded Annie of Mary when it was time for her bath. “I need to keep an eye on her.”

“Lillie was teaching her to dress herself the last time I saw her. They’ll keep her occupied.”

“Fun, fun.” Charisma muttered, but she allowed Annie to lead her away from the screen door. “Whatever.”

After introducing Mr. Moreland, Sergeant Parker led the scraggly
parade toward the corral that lined one long side of the barn. Mr. Moreland tried to start the questioning more than once, but the police officer’s stern stare made his words trail away each time.

Only when Sergeant Parker had slapped both big hands on the fence railing did he say anything. “Miss Chiasson, tell me, did you help Logan rob a house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a convenience store in Fort Worth, Texas, and a grocery store in Stillwater, Oklahoma?”

“Don’t I get a lawyer?” Charisma’s snarl matched her tangled hair. Annie couldn’t believe she was the same girl who had whispered her life story on the porch two nights earlier. “Aren’t you supposed to read me my rights?”

“You’re not under arrest, but if you think you need a lawyer, we’ll stop talking right now and you can ride into town with us. I’ll call you somebody, and we’ll do this official-like in the interview room, videotape and everything.”

Her face shiny with sweat, Charisma crossed her arms over her belly in a protective gesture. “I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know police were looking for him on half a dozen charges?”

“I said I didn’t know.”

Sergeant Parker tugged a handkerchief from his pocket and swiped sweat from under his eyes and temples. “Where did you think he was getting the money for food and gas?”

“He said he had some travelers’ checks his dad gave him. He was cashing ’em in.” Charisma fanned her face with her hand. “Besides, I never saw no money. He’d come back with the van gassed up and a sackful of groceries or he’d come back with a sackful of hamburgers and fries and a six-pack of soda. If I asked him for money for a comb or some shoes for Gracie, he said there wasn’t none.”

“Where’d he get the gun?”

“How do I know? I didn’t know nothing about any gun until after the thing at the bakery.”

“It’s not registered to anyone. It’s not from any of the break-ins. The bakery was the first place he used a weapon. What changed?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice rose. She turned her back on them and marched up and down in the grass. “Don’t you get it? Nothing changed, ’cept we had no gas and no food and no place to stay. Maybe he figured he was in so much trouble now, it didn’t matter. I don’t know because you won’t let me talk to him.”

Annie trotted alongside her, back and forth, back and forth, trying to keep up with the woman’s agitated stride. “It’s all right. You don’t have to answer any more questions.” She gave Sergeant Parker her own hard stare. Like Emma’s schoolteacher stare. She’d practiced it in case she was ever called upon to substitute. “I’m sorry, but you’re upsetting a lady who is expecting a child. That’s not nice.”

“Sorry, ma’am. Didn’t mean to upset either of you.” Sergeant Parker leaned against the corral fence, studying the three horses nibbling at hay in the corner. “I just don’t get it. Why didn’t he use the gun before?”

Annie grabbed the fence railing and inhaled the familiar smell of manure, hay, and feed. It grounded her. “Nothing to rob in the houses in Bliss Creek. People don’t have much and what they do have, they’re willing to share.” She kept the accusation out of her voice. As strangers, Charisma and Logan had no way of knowing that. “Desperation. Pure desperation.”

Sergeant Parker leaned toward her. “You folks aren’t having problems, are you?” His voice softened and his gaze seemed to encompass everything about her. “If you ever need anything, just let me know. We aim to serve at Bliss Creek PD.”

Annie swallowed, taken back by the intensity of his gaze. “That’s nice of you, Sergeant Parker—”

“Dylan. Call me Dylan, please.”

“Sergeant—Dylan, that’s very kind, but we’re doing fine.”

“Could we get past this little neighborly love fest and get back to the issue at hand—where did the gun come from?” Mr. Moreland swatted away a horsefly, a look of disgust on his face. “It smells like cow pies out here and it’s hotter than Hades.”

The
clip-clop
of horses’ hooves against the sun-baked dirt road forced Annie to break the hold Sergeant Parker had on her gaze. Who
should be coming up the road but Luke and Mark? The wagon slowed and stopped. Luke jumped down. “What is this all about? What are you doing out here with the police?”

“The sergeant was just telling your sister how much he’d like to help her out.” Charisma jumped in before Annie had a chance. She plucked a long weed and twiddled it between her fingers. “I mean, help y’all out, of course, not just her.”

Luke’s expression went from dusk to midnight.

“What Charisma means…”Annie began.

“What Miss Chiasson means is that we’re here conducting an investigation into the armed robbery of the bakery.” Sergeant Parker replaced his sunglasses on his nose. “I have here a possible accomplice.” His hand waved toward Annie, then dropped before he actually touched her. “And a witness.”

Luke removed his hat and slid his hand through his wild hair. “I’d be obliged, Sergeant Parker, if you would allow me to speak with my sister in private.”

Mr. Moreland started to protest, but Sergeant Parker held out his hand. “We’ll be getting out of your way. I know you folks have work to do.” He nodded to Annie and Charisma. “Talk among yourselves. Mr. McKee will be arraigned at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Your presence is not required for the arraignment. However, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind seeing some friendly faces in the courtroom.”

“Not needed!” His face red, Mr. Moreland tramped after Sergeant Parker. His legs were too short to keep up. “We need to take their statements. We need to depose them.”

Annie watched as Sergeant Parker lengthened his stride. Mr. Moreland trotted faster, almost at a run. She put a hand to her mouth to hide her smile.

“Somebody’s got a crush on you!” Charisma giggled as if her problems had dissipated with the departure of the two men. “Do you like him? Sergeant Parker—Dylan—is a hunk. Way hotter than Mister Bald and Tragic. I mean, I feel sorry for the guy and all, but the woe-is-me thing gets kinda old, I imagine.”

“He does not have a crush on me. I mean, I’ve never noticed him one way or another. He’s an Englischer.” She caught Luke’s frown. His shaggy eyebrows were up so high they met over the top of his nose. “He’s a police officer doing his job. And just so you know, David has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. That’s why he is bald. And sad-looking.”

“An Englischer?” Charisma didn’t seem to hear Annie’s explanation. She was too busy looking horrified. “You mean you can’t date anybody but guys with blue shirts, suspenders, and hats?”

“You will not go to the courthouse.” Luke bore down on Annie before she could answer Charisma. “You will stay out of this. Now get up to the quilting frolic. You have company.”

He stormed toward the barn without looking back.

Charisma leaned over and spit. “He’s uptight, isn’t he?”

Trying to hide her disgust at the spit, Annie focused on the earlier discussion. “We don’t court people who aren’t Plain because it would be very hard for them to live life the way we do. Most aren’t used to working this hard. It’s a very simple life, one they don’t understand.”

“That’s for sure. No electricity. It’s pretty radical. You must really believe in that God of yours.” Charisma did a little two-step to avoid a chicken strutting through the yard. “Kind of narrows the gene pool, doesn’t it, though?”

Annie didn’t know what that meant, so she focused on the first part of her guest’s statement. “God of ours? Don’t you believe in God?”

“Have you heard anything I’ve told you in the last few days?” The bitterness in her voice was so sharp, Annie touched her cheek, sure she’d find blood there. “Look at me. If there’s a God, He’s one mean guy.”