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

refurbished and loved, shelter a family that had loved and hated and perhaps even killed? Just what secrets did it harbor?

He slowed the Camaro and parked in the circular drive. The helicopter was parked on the helipad, which overhung a steep cleft in the mountain and had drawn his attention. He shut off the ignition.

“Look at me.”

He slowly turned, an entirely unfamiliar expression on his face.

“Don’t be intimidated.”

He stiffened. “Who said I was?”

“That’s why I never tell anyone who my stepfather is.”

“Why aren’t you involved in his business?”

She’d already told him she was a diving instructor, but not the details of how and why she ended up getting that job. “The Masters Diving School is one of the subsidiaries. I guess the name gave that away.” She shrugged and studied the immaculate grounds. “I guess my biological father’s blood runs through me. I’m more interested in getting my hands dirty. Doing hands-on work, like he did with the avalanche center, and as a search and rescue volunteer. I love diving, and teaching others. Volunteering on the search and rescue dives. The rest of it, the business side of a large international corporation, just isn’t for me.”

Will scraped a hand over his face and around his neck.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re going to be fine. Other than the staff, no one is even here. So what are you worried about?”

“This brings everything to a whole new level, Sylvie. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I mentioned he’s a powerful man. That he could afford to pay someone to sabotage the plane and send people after me. You didn’t believe me?” She watched him. “Don’t tell me you’re backing out already.”

“No. Never. I’m in this until it’s over. If I had known it could have helped me to prepare myself. We’re in over our heads. What if this is more than murder or a crime of passion that someone wants to keep hidden? Maybe it’s corporate espionage stuff. If so, this case is something more for the FBI than local law enforcement, don’t you think?”

“Not yet. No, I don’t think. I was in Alaska when someone tried to kill me. That doesn’t link anything back to my stepfather’s corporation.” Per se. Could her mother have found something out that was bigger than Sylvie had imagined? Something that could have huge repercussions for her stepfather’s company? Two men who Will thought were Feds had followed them.

“And yet you’re here, at the house, believing you’ll find answers to where it all started.”

Sylvie couldn’t argue with that. She rubbed her eyes then blinked over at Will. “I brought my bodyguard with me.”

She’d hoped to elicit a smile, but Will had anything but a smile on his face.

“Men have tried to kill you. This isn’t a game.”

“I know that. Just... I know that. Consider this a covert operation. Nobody has to even know what I’m looking for. We pretend we’re here for a quick getaway...” How else would she explain Will’s presence?

She saw the same question in his eyes.

“We’ll get in and get out quickly.” She hadn’t wanted Marguerite, who oversaw the housekeeping and meals, to make a big fuss over her. Though her stepfather’s meager security detail would know of her arrival as soon as she’d entered through the gate, she’d try to keep this as low-key as possible.

She opened the door to exit the car, but leaned closer to Will. “We can’t sit here all day.”

Sylvie climbed out of the car, quietly shut the door then waited for Will. Together they marched up the steps. She feared he might turn around and hightail it back to the car, but she resisted the urge to grab his hand and drag him forward with her. He’d wanted to act as her bodyguard, after all.

Before she reached the massive front door, it swung open and a familiar form stepped into view.

Damon Masters, Sylvie’s stepfather.

THIRTEEN

Will grabbed the hand Damon Masters offered after Sylvie performed the introductions. The grip strong and sure, the man measuring Will, just as Will measured him. In his midfifties, Masters exuded the power that one would expect from someone who ran an international corporation. He was also a handsome sort, looking like the type of man that could have any woman he wanted—if not with money and power, then with looks. His dark eyes continued to study Will as he greeted them in a friendly manner. But suspicion and questions lurked behind his gaze aimed at Will.

On the other hand, the man was clearly pleased to see Sylvie. “I didn’t realize you’d be here.” Her tenuous smile could give them away.

Masters chuckled. “You sound like you’re not happy that I’m here.”

“Just surprised, that’s all. I thought you were supposed to be in Asia.”

His eyebrows edged together. “I had to come back for some unexpected business. But there’s always a silver lining, isn’t there? And you’re it. I’m grateful for the serendipitous meeting. Two ships passing in the night. Unfortunately, I’m tied up with a conference call this evening and then leaving quickly after that, but I’d love to spend a few minutes with you.” Behind Masters, a woman entered and smiled at Sylvie, stepping over to give her a hug.

Sylvie’s face brightened. “Ashley, it’s good to see you.”

The young woman, in her early thirties, if that, was stunning. “And you, as well. I just arrived an hour ago, myself. Damon and I needed to prepare for a meeting.”

“Would you please have Marguerite bring refreshments?” Masters said.

Ashley’s face clouded but she recovered with a quick smile, then disappeared around a corner. Following her with his eyes, Will caught sight of the walls of windows displaying a breathtaking mountainous view.

Will had never seen anything like it, except, well, from his bird’s-eye view in the sky when he flew. Sylvie dragged Will through the house after her stepfather, leaning in to whisper, “Ashley’s Damon’s assistant. She was close to my mother. I can talk to her while she’s here.”

“There’s no need for refreshments,” she said next, turning her