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

was the one who’d pretended to be a nurse at the hospital in order to kill her. She would never forget his dark, sinister eyes. It was Diverman.

FIFTEEN

Will stiffened when Sylvie sucked in a breath. That had been much too loud. He held his breath. Stood perfectly still.

Had the man heard?

Seconds ticked by.

Carefully, Will peeked through the boxes again. The man stood stock-still. Listening. He’d heard something, all right. Will wished the rodents would make their presence known. Maybe that would distract the man.

Will wanted to rush from where they were hiding and tackle the man while he had the element of surprise. Secure him and call the police. Get the answers they needed. But he spotted the man’s weapon tucked in his pants and he didn’t want to put Sylvie at more risk than she already was. She’d been shot once before, and Will couldn’t let that happen again.

But if Diverman decided to search, the two of them would be discovered. Jumping the man might be his only choice. He just wasn’t sure how to achieve that. Will would have to wait until the man drew closer and they could push the stacks of boxes over on him. Gain the upper hand. Will couldn’t risk communicating his plans to Sylvie and hoped she understood. From where he stood, he scanned the boxes, looking for the best angle. Wishing the guy would come closer and yet hoping he would simply leave.

Shining the flashlight in the corners, the man crept forward, frowning at the cobwebs, too. Will swallowed, sent up a silent prayer and prepared to storm the boxes, toppling them over.

Then someone called the man from the doorway. Was it Marguerite? She’d just saved them. The man switched off the lights, closed the door behind him, leaving them in utter darkness. Will and Sylvie expelled a collective breath.

“That was too close,” she whispered.

“I was about to tackle him.” His pulse still sky high from the close encounter, Will reached for Sylvie and pulled her to him. Reflex. Pure reflex.

Her heart pounded against the crush of his chest, and he held her until she calmed. Until they both did. “Diverman is here, and probably Rifleman, too. Now we know who the strangers are and that this is the worst-case scenario. We have to leave.”

There could be no doubt her stepfather was involved in the attacks against them. Will couldn’t imagine what that knowledge, that confirmation, did to Sylvie, who’d been hoping to prove otherwise. But what way the man was involved, Will couldn’t be sure. He still couldn’t fathom the man who’d been so concerned for his stepdaughter would want her dead. Send men to kill her. Was Diverman the bodyguard that he’d called?

“But I haven’t gone through the boxes yet. I’m not leaving until I find something I can use to...” Her voice shook as she trailed off.

Neither of them wanted to say the words. Too harsh. Too cruel.

Sylvie felt around and found the chain and yanked the light on.

“I don’t think your stepfather would have left anything of value in the boxes.”

“But why did Diverman come down here, then? Maybe...maybe now that my stepfather knows I want to look in the boxes, he must have sent this man to remove them.”

Will gripped her shoulders. “The man is here at this house to kill you, Sylvie. He could be back down here at any moment, as soon as he learns you are not in your room.”

And Will had let her come here, into the lion’s den. Like he could have stopped her.

“Don’t you see?” he added, hoping she’d understand the urgency. “There’s no time to search.”

“You’re right. Now that Diverman is here, we know something we hadn’t known for certain before. But I don’t get it. Why hasn’t he already tried to kill me? He has to know I’m here.”

“Maybe he planned his attack for tonight when you’d be sleeping. Could be he was in your room looking for you already.”

Sylvie pressed her hand to her forehead. “Of course. That’s it. My death needs to look like an accident, and needs to happen far away from the mansion. Killing me here would raise too many questions and a possible investigation that my stepfather doesn’t need. But if I had died in a diving accident like I was supposed to, then that would have been the end of it. Even in the hospital, you said he tried to inject me with something first. Using his gun was his last resort.”

“Come on, then. Let’s get out of here.” Will grabbed her hand and headed to the door.

“If I had left well enough alone, just let my mother’s death and plane rest at the bottom of that channel, then this wouldn’t be happening. You wouldn’t be in danger, either.” She sighed. “We need to call the police.”

“I don’t plan on hanging around long enough to make that call until we’re at a safe distance.”

“Agreed. Let’s turn this light off so they won’t know we’ve been down here. Maybe I’ll get another chance to look sometime later.”

Sylvie yanked the chain, throwing them back into complete darkness.

“I think I remember the layout of the basement,” he said.

“Let me lead.” Sylvie tugged him to follow. “I could find my way out of here in a blindfold.”

Following Sylvie, he only stumbled once as they made their way to the door. When they got there, Will pressed his hand over Sylvie’s on the dead bolt. “What if he’s on the other side of the door, sitting in the chair we found?”

“He didn’t strike me as the sort of guy to sit and guard a basement.”

Nevertheless, Will felt along the wall for something hard—a brick. Just in case the small pocketknife wasn’t enough.

“Ready?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

She gently turned the dead bolt. They both stood in silence. Waiting and listening to any reaction on the other side. Will stepped in front of Sylvie and opened the door, prepared to use the brick, but no one was there.

“Come on.” He led