Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Among the Innocent by Mary Alford (character interview and giveaway)

Meet Officer Leah Miller
from Among the Innocent
by Mary Alford

Today, we’re speaking with Officer Leah Miller from the St. Ignatius Police Department. 

Welcome, Leah. I’m so glad you could join us today. Let’s start out by having you tell our readers a little about yourself.

Leah: I’d be happy to. My name is Leah Miller, and I have been a police officer for the St. Ignatius, Montana police department for several years now. But at one time, I was once part of the nearby Amish community.

Wait—you were Amish? Can you share a little about your life back then? Why did you leave the faith?  

Leah (swallows deeply): It isn’t easy to talk about even though it has been more than ten years since I was that innocent young Amish girl who loved everything about the Plain life. I never thought about leaving it until. . . (Leah stops speaking for a second). You see, my entire family was murdered when I was sixteen years old. After that, well, I knew I couldn’t remain Amish and be surrounded by the reminders of what happened that night. And so, I left the faith. Chief Ellis Petri and his wife Marge adopted me. They’ve been my rocks through the years.

I am so sorry. I can see this is difficult to talk about. Was the killer ever arrested?

Leah (shakes her head): Ellis was certain he had the right man at the time. But there have been some new developments recently that lead us to believe Ellis may have gone after the wrong man.

Unbelievable. I want to talk more about the case, but you mentioned an interesting fact that I would like to ask you about. You said you were adopted by Ellis Petri, the former Chief of Police, and his wife. How did that come about?

Leah:  Marge was a close friend of my mother’s. They visited each other all the time. When my family died, Marge and Ellis brought me home from the hospital and treated me like their own child. I can’t imagine where I would be without them.

And now you are hunting down the true killer. I read that Ellis was killed about a year ago, and that there is a new chief at the helm now. How do you and Chief Dalton Cooper get along?

Leah (hesitates): At first, well, I wasn’t happy having someone replace Ellis, but Dalton is extremely qualified and brings a…unique perspective to the case. One that readers of the account will be able to find out for themselves.

I know you can’t give details on the active case, but can you share something about why you believe your family’s killer has come back to St. Ignatius once more after ten years.

Leah (sighs deeply): I can only say there have been several recent cases that have identical Mo’s. And there is something more. We believe the killer has a fascination with me and has waited for the 10^th anniversary of my family’s murders deliberately to return to St. Ignatius. Leah looks me straight in the eye. In other words, he’s coming after me.

It sounds like you and Chief Cooper have your hands full with tracking down this killer before he strikes again. Leah, we are happy to have you with us today and thank you for letting us get to know you, and for sharing what you could about your family’s case. I hope you have the answers you so richly deserve very soon. Is there anything you would like to share with our readers? 

Leah:  Thank you for allowing me to drop by. And yes, there is something I’d like to share, but I’d like to address it directly to John, or whatever your real name is. (Leah leans forward in her seat) I know you enjoy playing games—just like you enjoyed playing games with me in the past. But you should know, your time of games is coming to an end. With God’s help, and with the help of the hard-working officers of the St. Ignatius police, the Tribal Police, and the Sheriff’s department, we will catch you. It’s only a matter of time.