Plain Peril

KILLER IN AMISH COUNTRY

After her sister is found dead and her brother-in-law goes missing, Hannah Wittmer rushes back to the Amish community she abandoned to care for her young nieces. Although she makes every effort to blend in, she’s still seen as an outsider—and quickly attracts the attention of a killer. She knows Sheriff Spencer Maxwell is fast on the murderer’s tracks, but the Amish townspeople are as suspicious of him as they are of Hannah. As threats escalate—now targeting Hannah and the handsome sheriff—they’ll follow any trail to uncover a vicious criminal. Even if that trail leads them right to their own backyard…

“Something wrong?” Spencer asked.

Biting her lip, Hannah turned the pail over. Bold red letters spelled out the word English. A red slash cut across the entire bottom of the pail, as if to say, No English Allowed.

Her knees grew weak. Suddenly the heavy cotton of her Amish dress clung to her neck, making her hot, strangling her. She pushed past Spencer and returned to the first pail and found the same thing.

“Look,” she said, handing him the bucket. “The person who slashed my tires was busy last night.”

Spencer’s brow furrowed as he glanced down at the bucket.

“You have to find my sister’s husband. If it’s he who’s doing this,” she quickly added.

“We’re doing everything we can to find him,” Spencer said, his gaze intent on her. “To get answers.”

The thought of spending another long, restless night in this house…

“To answer your earlier question, I won’t leave, won’t abandon my nieces. Because—” she swiped the bucket out of his hand “—that’s exactly what her killer wants me to do.”

Dear Reader,

I hoped you enjoyed Plain Peril. It’s my second Mills & Boon Love Inspired Suspense set in Apple Creek, NY. The first was Plain Pursuit. The fictional Apple Creek is loosely based on the real Amish community along Route 62 in Conewango Valley, NY, about an hour drive from Buffalo, NY. It wasn’t until I started research for my first Amish book, that I realized an Amish community existed so close to my hometown. Imagine my surprise!

Everything Amish seems to be popular these days, and fiction is no exception. Writing suspense around the constraints of Amish characters is both fun and challenging. Challenging because my editor will make a note on the manuscript such as, “Where is she charging her cell phone?” (My heroine is reluctant to leave behind her English ways.) Finding creative ways to work around these problems is part of the fun.

In real life, the Amish are very creative, too. On one visit to Conewango Valley, my daughters and I stopped at an Amish candy shop. They were able to use a modern mixer by threading the electrical cord through an opening to the outside where they had it connected to a gas-powered generator. Ta-da! Electricity! In many Amish communities, electricity is acceptable as long as the house is not connected to the grid.

I’ve enjoyed learning and writing about the Amish. I look forward to future visits to Apple Creek.

I love to hear from my readers. Feel free to send me a note at my email address: [email protected]. Or “like” me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlisonStoneAuthor.

Live, Love, Laugh,

ALISON STONE lives with her husband of more than twenty years and their four children in western New York. Besides writing, Alison keeps busy volunteering at her children’s schools, driving her girls to dance and watching her boys race motocross. Alison loves to hear from her readers at [email protected]. For more information please visit her website, alisonstone.com. She’s also chatty on Twitter, @Alison_Stone. Find her on Facebook at facebook.com/AlisonStoneAuthor.

Plain Peril

Alison Stone

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

—Romans 8:28

To my big sister, Lisa, whose gift was reminding all of us to Live, Love, Laugh.

To Scott, Scotty, Alex, Kelsey and Leah.

Love you guys, always and forever.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

ONE

The long shadows from the branches clacking against the bedroom window stretched across the two small lumps in the queen-size bed. Hannah tucked the hand-stitched quilt—the one her grandmother had made—under her six-year-old niece Emma’s chin and smiled. A pathetic smile. The poor child stared back, a cross between grief and contempt on her precious little face. On the other half of the bed, Sarah, Emma’s nine-year-old sister, had already lost the battle against the flood of tears, and sleep had taken her. Merciful sleep.

Hannah blinked her gritty eyes a few times and drew in a deep breath, praying for wisdom.

“I want Mem.” The plea in Emma’s tiny voice tore at Hannah’s heart.

I want your mem, too.