Page 73 of Among the Innocent

Leah held up the bag of food. “We brought you dinner. How’s Marge doing?”

“She beat me at checkers five games to three.”

Leah laughed. “Don’t feel bad. That’s her game. She beats me every time.”

Marge saw the number of people in her kitchen and clasped her hands, a look of delight on her face. “It’s been a while since there’s been so many guests in my home. It reminds me of when I was just a girl and all the family would come to the house to celebrate the holiday.”

Leah eyed her cautiously. “I didn’t know you came from a large family.”

Marge frowned, an uncertain look on her face.

Leah went over and hugged her close. “We brought dinner. Dalton and I will be here with you through the night.”

“Oh, honey, I’m happy to have you here, but he won’t hurt me.”

Leah looked at Dalton in surprise. “Who won’t hurt you?”

Her mom’s expression clouded again as if she were trying to pull out the answer. “Well, no one. Not with you two here.”

Was this just dementia? Or was Marge hiding something?

Leah couldn’t get Marge’s strange remark out of her head.“He won’t hurt me.”

Ethan scraped back his chair as he prepared to leave. The sound grated along Leah’s nerves. She was on edge and expecting John to make another attempt to get to her. Had he found his next victim? The thought of another life being taken because John wanted to play games was heartbreaking. They’d alerted all the Amish families with teenage girls, but John was good at convincing innocent girls to trust him.

“I think I’ll stop by the hospital and see our people, then goto the station and do a little work,” Ethan told them. “I can catch some sleep there if I get tired. Finding this guy is the most important thing.”

Dalton rose as well. “I’ll walk you out.” He turned to Leah. “Be right back.”

Their voices faded down the hall. Leah gathered dishes and took them over to rinse.

Marge put the remains of the meal in the refrigerator. “The chicken was as good as always. Eliza and Ben are good people.”

The Amish couple who ran the diner had been at the same location since Leah was a child. She’d gone to the Amish school with their two boys. “They are indeed.” Leah finished the last of the dishes and closed the dishwasher. She went over to Marge and put her arm around her shoulders. “Want to play some checkers?”

Marge chuckled. “If you’re sure you’re up to losing.”

Leah shook her head. Marge was vicious when it came to her checkers matches. “I heard you showed no mercy to Ethan.”

“He’s a seasoned police officer. He should be showing me mercy.”

The checkerboard was set up and ready in Ellis’s office.

But as hard as Leah tried to concentrate on the match, she was distracted.

Dalton stuck his head in the room. “Can I speak with you for a second?” She could tell from the eagerness in his eyes he’d found out something.

“Excuse me for a minute, Mom.”

Marge looked up from the checkerboard. “What? Oh, sure, baby girl.”

Leah stepped from the room and closed the door.

“I received a text from the administrator of a state hospitalin Wyoming. He had a patient there by the name of Jonathan Stephens who was admitted around ten years earlier showing symptoms of schizophrenia.”

Shock waves rippled through Leah’s frame. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Stephens was prescribed medication and released. His symptoms appeared to worsen as he got older, and he was committed again after one particularly severe psychotic episode led to a mental breakdown. The doctor claims he never showed signs of violence to himself or toward anyone else, though.”

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