Off the Grid (Amish Safe House, Book 1) by Ruth Hartzler

her.
    Kate, of course, was not intimidated by
detectives, but she had been worried that they wouldn’t swallow her
story and would find it suspicious that an Amish girl could so
easily fight off an armed attacker. However, it had all gone more
smoothly than she could have imagined. The detectives seemed more
interested in her description of the perpetrator than in what Kate
had done to get rid of him.
    This morning, Rose was driving into town to
deliver her sewing to an Amish store. Rose took in all kinds of
sewing, and was paid well. The women chatted happily on the way,
although Kate had to keep up her guard. It was hard to be friends
with someone when you couldn’t tell them anything about
yourself.
    Rose drove the buggy into an Amish parking
lot, and the two girls got out of the buggy. Rose tied up her
horse, and then turned to Kate. “I could be a while; is there
somewhere you want to go?
    Kate knew where she wanted to go; she just
didn’t know how to get there.
    “Yes,” she said. “Where’s the police
station?”
    Rose raised her eyebrows and looked as if
she were about to say something, but didn’t. She simply shrugged
and drew Kate a little map on a sliver of paper, and Kate consulted
it as she walked through the closely packed streets of the tiny,
unfamiliar town. The police station was a two story building which
took up half a block. The other half of the block gave way to a
parking lot, ringed by a chain link fence, and with quite a few
black and white squad cars sitting in it.
    The front door was all glass, and Kate
pushed through it and found herself in a small waiting room, with a
long desk before her. A man in a police uniform was sitting behind
the desk. She made her way up to him, waited for him to stop typing
on his computer before she spoke.
    “I was wondering if you could help me.”
    “Well, I sure can try, Miss,” the man said
with a smile. He was forty or so.
    “I need to speak with someone about the
murder of Joseph Byler.”
    “Do you have some information?” the man
said.
    “Not exactly,” Kate said, shaking her head
softly. “I need some information.”
    “What do you mean?” the cop asked, his head
tilting to the side.
    “I just needed to know a little bit about
the deceased. I was just wondering if there were any leads.”
    The cop laughed, and then looked at Kate,
and then he laughed again. “You aren’t serious, are you?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, I know there’s, uh, some things you
may not know, about how, well, our world works, but I can’t just
give you information about a crime we’re working, you know?”
    Kate felt her face flush, and she quickly
swallowed down her anger. She had to remind herself that she was a
nice Amish woman. Still, the man had gone from kind and helpful to
mocking in no time at all, and Kate found herself wondering if all
Amish people were treated this way. If they were, it was maddening,
and she didn’t know how they put up with it.
    “I found the body,” Kate said, trying one
last time.
    “Oh, that was you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can
do.”
    “What about the officers who came? They know
me; can I speak with them?”
    The man behind the desk sighed, and he
leaned forward. “Listen, lady, I’m sorry for what you saw, I really
am. Not everyone is made out for that type of thing. But let us
handle it, okay? We’ll take it from here, and we’ll find who killed
your friend. We don’t need your help, and honestly, I doubt you’d
be much help to us anyway. So just go home, sit tight, and I
promise, I’ll make sure we get news to you.”
    Kate was steaming, and she turned quickly
and marched out of the police station. The man was so dismissive of
her. And he had promised to get back to her? He hadn’t even taken
down her name. Kate felt helpless.
    Kate decided to walk back to the buggy and
wait for Rose to return, but Rose was already there, standing next
to the buggy and talking to a