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

The violent water rushed beneath the ice, then burst through halfway down the side of the cliff before churning at the base, drowning out her screams.

She watched the two men plummet, then disappear in mist and foam. Her heart sank beneath the water with them.

Oh, God. No.

How could he survive the drop to the bottom, much less the icy water? Fear wrapped around her very core. The day Silas had died she’d heard thunder, a rare event in this part of the world. She remembered thinking about that, but at that moment, she’d had no idea that the sound had followed the lightning strike that had killed Silas. Her husband.

And if she had been there to see it, what could she have done?

Nothing. Maybe she would have died with him.

But she couldn’t stand here and do nothing now.

Jewel looked for a way to make it down from the cave. But it was a straight drop. Distress threatened to force her to her knees. She pushed down the panic and dread, turned and ran back through the cave, hoping she remembered the way out of the icy maze. She followed the drops of blood, easy enough to see on the white ice, then slipped through the thin walls where she’d made her escape. A lot of good that had done.

She was running, pushing herself harder, even though pain stitched her side. Jewel wasn’t sure she could find her way back to the watercourse or what she could do to help Colin, but she had to try.

God, help him, help him, help him...

While she ran, she prayed harder than she’d ever prayed. Whatever it meant, the deeper meaning of it, she didn’t know or care. She only knew that Colin was everything to her. Finally, she could admit that now. Despite protecting her heart all these years, she was here all the same, losing someone she loved, if it wasn’t already too late. But she wouldn’t think like that. She couldn’t lose him, too.

Finally, Jewel rushed from the cave’s exit, then hurried back through the woods and around, taking the same direct path that Buck had forced her to go.

“Help!” she called as she ran. God, please let there be someone out here to help me. “Help me! Help us!”

She would have thought Colin would have called for backup once he’d discovered Buck had taken her. But maybe he hadn’t had time before he’d come chasing after her. If so, then it was her fault for sneaking away. Maybe her mistake had been the catalyst to a tragic ending. Through the woods she could see the river in the distance. It spilled out from the falls a couple of miles from the visitor center. Out of breath, Jewel made her way to the riverbank, searching for Colin. Hoping she wouldn’t see Buck.

“Colin!” she called, searching the water and rapids, remembering her own fight with a river.

Jewel only thought she had been helpless before.

She stumbled over a rock and fell to her knees at the river’s edge.

And there.

Colin floated facedown in the water. Dread washed through her. Jewel stepped into the liquid ice and hauled him onto the bank. He was heavy, especially with wet clothing, but Jewel was undeterred. Jewel tugged him up farther away from the bank, then rolled him over to immediately start CPR.

She could only hope and pray he hadn’t been in this condition for long—five minutes or less and the freezing glacier water would slow any neurological effects like brain damage.

Colin rolled to the side and coughed. Then he got to all fours, hung his head and expelled the river that had nearly drowned him. Groaning, he fell back on his back. His eyes cut to Jewel, but he said nothing.

What was he thinking? “Your lips are blue,” she said, breaking the silence between them. “We have to get you warmed up.”

“Jewel.” He lifted a hand. She leaned in to let him cup her cheek. “You saved me.”

“You’re the real hero here, Colin. You saved me first. Protected me, then rescued me from Buck. If you hadn’t been there...”

His gaze clouded over, a flicker of emotion shuttered away. What was Colin thinking? Did he hold her responsible? This all had come about because of her mistake. Colin had almost lost his life because of her. And he still might if they didn’t get him warmed up.

Shivering, Colin twisted and climbed to his feet. Jewel joined him. He started to pull her into his arms and then hesitated. Because of his disappointment in her?

“For whatever it’s worth,” she said, “I’m sorry about everything.”

“Oh, Jewel.” Again, he cupped her cheek. His hand was as cold as ice. “No need to apologize. I just... I don’t want to make you any colder.”

He shook almost uncontrollably and blood oozed from the bloodshot wound. Not good. Blood loss was dangerous enough on its own—it was worse when he was struggling against hypothermia. Jewel wrapped her arms around him. She could use her body heat to warm him until help arrived. Was help even coming? “Does anyone know where we are?”

“I called for help when I learned he had taken you.”

“It’s taking them long enough.”

He nodded. “There.”

Jewel let go of him to see where he pointed. Coughing, he stumbled forward. Jewel couldn’t hold him up without following him.

In the distance she spotted two men hiking toward them.

“Looks like someone from the state police and the local PD,” Colin said. “We still need to find Buck.”

The two men approached. Jewel spoke first. “We need to get him somewhere warm. I pulled him from the river.” She explained as best she could everything that happened and that Colin had helped her to escape a kidnapper.

“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll take it from here,” the state trooper said.

“The kidnapper might still be in the river,” Colin said. “We need a search and rescue.”

One officer nodded and assisted Colin up and took him away. The other got on his radio to get a SAR mission number initiated.

Jewel followed, worried