Alaskan Mountain Pursuit Elizabeth Goddard (best short novels .TXT) 📖

want answers to what happened to your mother as much as I want them for myself, but there’s nothing else I can do here. I need to get home and regroup. Figure things out from there, if I can.”

“This is about more than getting answers.” Will couldn’t say why he did it, but he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, which put a different meaning on his words than he’d intended. “This is about keeping you safe. Someone’s trying to kill you, Sylvie.”

Her lips curved into a soft smile. “You’re my hero, Will. But...”

“I’m not looking to be a hero. I wasn’t waiting to hear you tell me that. I want to know how you’re going to stay alive. What’s your plan?”

“I think... I hope all this was just a warning. If I go back home then it should stop.”

Will removed his hand from hers. She was too smart to believe that. What was she trying to pull? Will wouldn’t let her try to fool him. “Don’t do this. Don’t treat me like an idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re too smart to believe it was only a warning. I know that. You know that.”

Sylvie looked to Chief Winters for help. Will kind of wanted his help, too, in convincing her she couldn’t do this alone. Wisely, Chief Winters chose to say nothing at all.

“Okay, so you got me.” She fidgeted with her paper napkin. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m leaving today. I have to go home. Look what happened to your plane because of me. Look what happened to Snake! I won’t be the reason something even worse happens to you, Will. Now, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me, I’m leaving.”

Sylvie slid from the booth and started for the door. Will moved to follow her but Chief Winters grabbed him, held him captive. “Let her go for now.”

“But...”

“It’s clear she needs space. We can’t force her to stay.”

“You agreed to be here when she left the hospital in case these men tried something else, and now we’re just going to let her go? Shouldn’t we watch out for her?”

“We can’t follow her to Seattle.”

They watched through the window as Sylvie climbed into a taxi, vulnerable, defenseless.

“Maybe you can’t follow her, but I can.”

Amusement flashed in Chief Winters’s gaze. “I’m getting the sense that this is about a lot more than a murder investigation for you. More than just keeping her safe.”

The man’s words hit him in the gut. “I’m not interested in her, if that’s what you mean. I’m only interested in protecting her and finding out who had the motivation and ability to knock a plane out of the sky. Who is trying to kill her.”

“A noble cause, to be sure.” Chief Winters stretched his legs beneath the booth. “But looks like Sylvie isn’t the only one who hasn’t realized the truth.”

Will hoped Chief Winters wasn’t reading too much into his reaction. He didn’t want to accept that he was growing more attached to Sylvie every day. But the police chief, trained to read people, hadn’t been fooled. Will had been the only fool. He had some kind of thing for Sylvie Masters. How did he cut off those feelings and protect her at the same time?

Will stood and dropped a few small bills on the table. Enough to pay for their meals and a tip.

“Better hurry if you’re going to catch her,” Chief Winters said. “Don’t worry about me, I can find my own way home. Let me know what you learn, if anything. I’ll do the same. And Will, be careful. Don’t let your attraction to her cloud your judgment. These people play for keeps.”

Sylvie stood on the ferry that would deliver her to Bellingham, Washington. If she’d flown, it would have taken a few hours. By boat, it would take two and a half days to get there.

Nausea roiled inside. What was she doing here on this ferry filled with strangers? The boat was packed with fishermen, those seeking work or adventure, retired couples and a few that looked like they were up to no good.

The ferry from Bellingham to southeast Alaska was commonly termed “the poor man’s cruise.” She’d been fortunate to book passage, but she’d been too late to get a cabin. Nor had she had the foresight to bring a small tent like so many others who would sleep out on the deck and under the solarium.

She’d have to join the ranks of those sleeping on the chairs. At least she could rent a pillow and blanket. If only she’d gotten over her ridiculous fear of flying, but her experience with Will had only served to deepen her fears. That, and the fact her mother had died in a plane crash.

So she couldn’t bring herself to book a flight from Juneau to Seattle.

Supposedly, flying was the safest way to travel. But Sylvie had never been one to count the stats. Standing outside, the wind blew cold and continuously with the movement of the ship. She tugged her hood over her head. Drew in a breath of fresh Alaskan air. Took in the view. Gray clouds hung low, sometimes hiding the peaks of snow-capped mountains. Tree-laden islands, some surprisingly small and others massive by contrast, dotted the channel of the Inside Passage. The scenery brought a measure of peace.

And at least for the time being, Sylvie felt safe from killers. After all, how could the men looking for her have known she’d choose this route to get home? If they were looking for her, surely they’d be looking at airports.

This hadn’t been such a bad idea, after all. She needed time to think about everything that had happened without nurses hovering or interrupting her thoughts every couple of hours, and without Will’s hospital visits. Now that she had been released, she was free. She could put distance between them and keep him from harm’s way.

Why had he come to see her so often and stayed so long every time he came to the hospital? He