Page 68 of Unforgotten

The man jerked Bethanne’s wrist painfully, but there was no need. Even if she hadn’t been tied, she would’ve gone with her cousin without any force. “I ... I’m not leaving you, Candace.”

“Oh, good. A sweet Amish girl who knows how to listen,” the man said as he began to tie a knot so they were attached. “She might be just the person you need to have around you for a while. Maybe you can learn from her.” When he yanked harder, Candace cried out again.

“What do you want?” Bethanne asked.

“You know what I want.” He put the tip of the knife against Candace’s neck. When she pulled away, Bethanne’s anxiety rose.

“I don’t,” Candace protested. “I don’t know a thing.”

“Quiet.” After pulling off Bethanne’s kapp, the man grabbed a chunk of hair at the base of her neck and pulled hard.

Gasping in pain, she stumbled forward.

“Please,” Candace begged. “Leave us alone.”

He pulled them into the woods. “Do you even remember my name?”

“How could I? We’ve never met!”

Her answer seemed to infuriate him further as he dragged them toward an empty gully. “Of course we have.” Within seconds, they were surrounded by darkness. “We know each other. All this time I’ve been following you. You’ve seen me everywhere. I know it. But you don’t remember me?” A new thread of emphasis filled his tone. “I’m Scott, Candace. Don’t you remember me? We knew each other in high school!” He jerked the knife.

Candace cried out as the blade pierced her skin.

“Candace!”

He turned on Bethanne. “Don’t say a word. Keep quiet or I’ll kill you and leave you here.”

“Where are we going?” Candace asked.

“Someplace safe. Someplace no one will find you.” Scott lowered his voice as he pulled them deeper into the woods. “Someplace where you’re going to learn to forget about that cop.”

Bethanne’s dress kept getting caught on brambles and twigs. Each time the fabric snagged and released, a loud snap reverberated through the air. As they journeyed deeper anddeeper into the holler, the back of her head became damp. The man’s fingers had obviously pulled portions of her hair by the root and made her skin bleed.

She said nothing, though. She didn’t think he was bluffing about killing her. Worse, she feared he would eventually realize that she was Candace’s weak link. Candace had always been protective, and Bethanne feared her cousin would do just about anything to keep her safe from harm. And that, Bethanne realized, was the crux of it all. Here she’d spent years attempting to get past what Peter did, but now she might be the one who would inadvertently betray Candace.

Worse, she could only imagine what this man intended to do to her cousin. She wished her imagination wasn’t as vivid as it was.

22

Jay had spent the last thirty minutes helping Lott and Seth Zimmerman stack chairs and take down the long rectangular tables. As they’d worked, the tea lights that had been illuminating the space slowly ran out of wax. One by one, each of them extinguished. In addition, the fire in the pit had now ebbed to low flames.

When the last of the chairs had been stacked, Lott stretched his arms out in front of him. “I don’t think we need to do any more tonight. This is clean enough for now.”

Seth looked relieved. “All right then, I’m going to head home. I bet Tabitha’s wondering what’s taking us so long. I took her home almost an hour ago.”

“I appreciate you coming back,” Lott said as they clasped hands.

“You need a ride, Jay?” Seth asked.

“Sure, but I want to say good night to Bethanne first.” He looked at Lott. “Do you know where she is?”

Lott shrugged. “Inside with the women?”

After asking Seth to give him a couple of minutes, Jay went inside to the kitchen. But only three women—two Amishand one English—were sitting at the kitchen table drinking ice water.

Martha smiled at him. “Are you heading home, Jay?”

“Jah. Seth is going to give me a ride, but I wanted to say good night to Bethanne first. Have you seen her?”

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