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“I was also thinking of your safety, son. Let me go outside and look around with you.”
    Ben kept his voice firm. “I did what I did, and I want no one else with me. Not until I know if there is danger or not.”
    Daett sighed and sat down. “I hope it is nothing then, but we must pray.”
    â€œWho could it be?” Mamm asked, her hands on her cheeks.
    Ben left them to their questions. He couldn’t answer them anyway, other than saying what they already knew. That he’d done wrong first of all, that his confessions placed others in jail, and now he might have to pay physically through the hands of those seeking revenge.
    Grabbing a flashlight, Ben slipped outside, comforted at hearing the soft prayers of his family in the living room. They must have skipped the Bible reading and knelt at once in prayer. Ben paused only long enough for his eyes to adjust before creeping toward the barn. There was no sign of the blinking light now, so maybe he’d imagined it. Still, he was certain he hadn’t. The light beam playing on the house had been real enough. As he approached the barn, he hollered, “Hello! Anybody here?”
    Silence.
    Ben entered the barn and checked the horse stalls carefully,the light from his flashlight illuminating every corner. Everything looked okay. Longstreet greeted him with a soft whinny. He hadn’t driven the horse in more than a year now. There hadn’t been time since he was home, and he didn’t have any place to go right now anyway. Katie had loved the name he’d chosen for his horse, he remembered with a pang. The only person other than Brenda who thought the name fitting.
    A quick sweep of the flashlight beam into the back barnyard showed nothing out of the ordinary. The cows stood calmly chewing their cuds after the evening’s milking. Finding his way back, Ben was closing the barn door when a rustle sounded behind him.
    He turned around and a thin beam of light hit his face.
    â€œWho are you?” Ben asked.
    â€œThis is from Rogge,” a voice answered. “Just thought you’d like to know. Bye bye.”
    A loud boom rang in Ben’s ears just as his chest seemed to explode. Pain filled his body and mind. Gasping for air, he collapsed on the ground beside the barn door.

Chapter Five
    In what seemed like another place and time, Ben struggled to awake. He thrashed an arm, and someone grabbed his hand and held it still. Ben forced his eyes open, focusing on the forms standing around him in the dim light. They kept fading in and out of his vision. Where was he? His mind groped for understanding. What had happened? The memories came back in a rush. The loud noise, the pain, the feeling of falling. Had he been shot? But he must not be dead. This didn’t look like he’d thought heaven would. And the pain in his chest was still present, dulled now to a steady ache from those first stabbing flames of fire.
    â€œHold still,” a female voice instructed. “You’re doing just fine.”
    An Englisha voice, Ben thought. “Am I in the hospital?” he managed.
    â€œYes,” the voice replied. “And don’t move anymore or I’ll have to strap your arm down.”
    Ben blinked as he tried to see better. More memories were coming back now. His daett leaning over him in front of the barn.Urgent voices calling his name. Sirens and flashing lights. The voice saying, “This is from Rogge.” Ben’s thoughts paused. He knew that voice from somewhere. It was a haunting piece of his past that he’d tried so hard to forget.
    â€œHow badly am I hurt?” Ben asked as the face of a woman in a white uniform came into better focus.
    She smiled down at him. “Bad enough, but you’ll make it. You were brought in last night. You’re a tough fellow, huh? Taking a bullet for a good cause.”
    â€œI don’t know what you mean.”
    Her smile dimmed. “There are two