Plain Secrets
RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL “ENGLISHER”After years on the Philadelphia Police Force, Elijah Miller thought he’d left his Amish past behind. But when the murder of a young Amish girl starts to raise suspicions, Eli has no choice but to investigate. He’ll do his duty, even if it means facing the father who won’t speak to him—and the woman who rejected him.Hannah Nolt is just as beautiful as Eli remembers, and this time, running away from his feelings for her is no longer an option. Because Hannah’s in danger, and needs protection only Eli can provide.
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Return of the prodigal âEnglisherâ
After years on the Philadelphia Police Force, Elijah Miller thought heâd left his Amish past behind. But when the murder of a young Amish girl starts to raise suspicions, Eli has no choice but to investigate. Heâll do his duty, even if it means facing the father who wonât speak to himâand the woman who rejected him. Hannah Nolt is just as beautiful as Eli remembers, and this time, running away from his feelings for her is no longer an option. Because Hannahâs in danger, and needs protection only Eli can provide.
I canât do this. I canât do this.
âCan it be? Elijah Miller? After all these years?â
âIt is.â He struggled to speak. Seeing her after all this time had sucked the air from his lungs. âHow are you, Hannah?â
She tilted her head to the side, her grin widening. âHow long have you been home? I havenât heard a word about your visit.â
âI just arrived, actually.â He forced out each word carefully. Painfully.
A buzzing sound zipped through the air between them, and suddenly all of Eliâs wavering uncertainty vanished. It sounded like the crack of a weapon. Eli turned his head to the woods behind him. Was that gunfire?
He dived forward, covering Hannah with his body and forcing her to the ground. Eleven years working the city streets had taught him to react first and think later.
A second buzzing flew over them. A nanosecond later, the front window of the house shattered.
Oh, yeah. That was gunfire.
KIT WILKINSON
is a former Ph.D. student who once wrote discussions on the medieval feminine voice. She now prefers weaving stories of romance and redemption. Her first inspirational manuscript won a prestigious RWA Golden Heart and her second has been nominated for an RT Book Reviews Reviewerâs Choice Award. You can visit Kit at www.kitwilkinson.com or write to her at [email protected].
Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.... For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
âColossians 1:10â14
To my sister, Elizabeth Ann,
whose faith never falters. Thanks for all the support, love and direction over the years.
And
To my editor, Elizabeth,
for her patience and guidance. Danke. Merci. Gracias. Arigato⦠I really cannot thank you enough :-)
Contents
ONE
Where is that girl? Hannah Nolt could hardly believe her seventeen-year-old stepdaughter had spent the entire night away from home. But here it was morning as sure as the rooster crowed in the new day, and not a single sign that Jessica had come home.
Hannah stepped from the warmth of the cottage, bracing for the chill of morning air. She tried to ward off all negative conclusions about the girl sheâd raised as her own. It wasnât like her to stay out all night even on Rumspringaâthat time when Amish youth have their ârun around.â And shirking morning duties was never a part of that.
Hannah should have been angry with Jessica, but instead it was only worry that filled her bones as she shivered in the darkness on her way to morning milking.
Jessica had been acting strangely for weeks nowâdemanding privacy, running off for hours with no explanation, even leaving the farm on weeknights. Things she had never done before. Hannah did not question the change in her behavior. She and Jessica had been closer than ever since Hannahâs husbandâs death, just two years ago, and she had faith in Jessicaâs good sense and kind spirit. Surely these estranged few weeks were just a simple bump in the roadâa growing pain, nothing to be alarmed over. Now Hannah wondered if perhaps she had been wrong to put so much trust in the girl.
Hannah rushed on to the barn. Maybe Jessica had gone straight there from wherever sheâd been all night.
Maybe.
But as she scurried up the steep hill, her hope that Jessica was inside milking the Jersey heifers diminished. Fear as thick as the morning fog clouded her thoughts. Something was wrong. Something terribly, horribly wrong. She could feel it in her bones. None of this made sense. Jessica was not the kind of girl to stay out late, much less all night. She just wouldnât do such a thing. Not by choice. No. Something had happened. Something Farrichterlickâfrightful. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to the skies. Please let her be safe, Lord. Let her be safe.
Hannah turned back to the path. A bright flash grazed the hillside, then disappeared. She paused. What is that? A coming storm? She heard no thunder. Saw no clouds.
