Mountain Secrets Elizabeth Goddard (life changing books to read .txt) 📖

It was too late. Her attacker had already found her in the attic—already knew that that was where to look to uncover her secrets.

A noise disturbed her thoughts—the board over the entrance to the attic. Panic sent Jewel’s pulse racing. She grabbed the flashlight and ran to the entrance. Best to take the offensive move while she had the high ground.

“Don’t move,” she said.

“Or what?” Chief Winters stared up at her. “You’re going to hit me with a flashlight?”

“Chief Winters.”

She dropped the flashlight, her only weapon. She should have brought the Glock. Clearly, she wasn’t ready for any serious self-defense. He was probably disappointed in his student. She started down, but Chief Winters stepped up and Jewel inched back as he climbed the ladder until he was standing in the attic with her.

“What a surprise that I should find you in the attic again.”

She hadn’t wanted to answer questions about the first time she’d come, and she’d managed to evade him—but there would be no escaping him now. Of course, he would have to stand much too close.

Jewel’s pulse hadn’t slowed since she’d heard the noise. What was he doing standing so near? His proximity made her tremble.

She sucked in a calming breath. She should take a step back, but she couldn’t move. Instead, she hung her head, feeling like a teenager when she was anything but. Something about this man sent her heart racing and tumbling around inside. He lifted her chin with his finger.

What was he doing?

She wanted to tell him what a romantic cliché his action was, but then she’d be admitting that the moment felt like something out of a romance novel, because she was attracted to him. And she couldn’t admit that to him or to herself. She would never risk her heart again. Even if she were willing, her family heirloom stood between them.

She was a thief.

He was the law.

A beam of sunlight streaked through the dirty window, illuminating the dust motes dancing around them.

“What are you doing up here again? And by yourself?” His sharp blue eyes turned dark.

What should she tell him? She couldn’t share what she’d done with anyone, especially him. Not yet. “Chief Winters.” His name came out in a desperate tone.

His gaze softened. “Jewel, don’t you think it’s about time you call me Colin? I can see you calling me by my title when we’re around others, out of respect, but we’re alone now. We’ve been friends long enough, haven’t we?” He finally dropped his hand. “There’s no need to be so official with me all the time.”

Her heart rate jumped higher. Jewel had thought he would press her for answers. His suggestion was the last thing she’d expected.

His voice was so gentle, so endearing, Jewel could almost forget he was here on official business. That was why he was here, wasn’t it? A knot twisted in her throat. Calling him by his official title, thinking about him only as the police chief, helped her to protect herself, to keep her resolve to never fall again. If she could fall for anyone, it would be this man.

But would it be so bad to call him by his name? “Colin... I...”

“There.” He grinned. “Was that so hard?”

Her heart tilted. She opened her mouth to speak—

A woman’s scream broke through the attic.

Jed Turner, the officer Colin had stationed at the B and B today, was facedown in the woods near the house. Colin knelt by Jed and checked for a pulse, though he already knew what he would find. The man was dead.

Still kneeling by the fallen officer, Colin’s gut churned as he searched the woods that grew thicker in the distance. The murderer was long gone.

Colin’s heart was a chunk of lead in his chest. Jed was in his late fifties, only a few years away from retiring. He had a wife, Clara, plus two grown kids and three grandchildren. Though Jed’s troubles were over, Colin would now have to face his wife and give her the news, a task he didn’t relish. The absolute worst part of his job.

What had happened to draw his officer into the woods after Colin had instructed him, after Colin’s own arrival, to leave?

Colin thought about Buck Cambridge. From the moment they’d met, something about Buck had made Colin think of a venomous, wild creature that would bite if pressured.

Had that feral creature—a human in this instance—been pressured to bite? Killing a police officer would only up the stakes and bring on a full-out manhunt. Obviously, Jed must have seen something incriminating, discovered something to identify Jewel’s attacker.

Colin glanced behind him at the others who had gathered, waiting at the edge of the woods. Jewel hugged herself, her face twisted in anguish. Next to her Katy and Tracy, Meral and Buck, hovered and comforted each other over this new development.

Colin stood, wanting to search the woods, but he wouldn’t leave them alone. He hiked back to his vehicle and called for backup and for the retrieval of Jed’s body.

Jewel approached him. “I’m so sorry, Colin.”

He couldn’t begin to convey in words the anger, grief and guilt roiling inside. Add to that hearing his name on her lips again, and he realized he must have been nuts to ask her to say it. It made him all kinds of crazy, and he knew better.

He knew better.

Katelyn’s death, her murder, had happened because Colin had been emotionally involved. That should be enough warning for him. He pulled his gaze from Jewel’s torn features. If he looked at her any longer, he’d pull her right into his arms. Not to comfort her but to comfort himself, something he didn’t deserve in the face of Jed’s death.

“For what, Jewel? This wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it is. Someone is trying to kill me. To get to me. And now Jed Turner is dead because he was protecting me.”

His radio squawked and Colin answered, detailing the events to Terry Stratford, who was headed this way.