Mountain Secrets

by Elizabeth Goddard

  And Jewel couldn’t stand the thought of that. Since Buck didn’t seem to be her attacker, that meant the attacks had nothing to do with the stolen diamond, so she wasn’t hurting anyone by keeping her secret.

  She remembered when Colin had found her today. She’d fallen against him in relief. Gone right into his arms, to an emotional place she’d never been before with him. She thought back to years gone by and realized that he’d been there for her so many times—just in the background, just on the edge, but he’d been there watching over her all the same.

  “I’m taking you to the B and B now, but you should know, as long as you insist on staying there, I’m going to be there to watch over you myself. I’ll switch out with my officers and take the night watch. Nothing is more important than catching these guys and keeping you safe.”

  “That would be like working two jobs. You can’t be my personal bodyguard and run the police department.”

  “You might be surprised at what I’m capable of.”

  Meral came rushing into the exam room followed by Buck. “Oh, Jewel, are you okay?”

  Surprise and relief whooshed through Jewel as Meral hugged her, careful to avoid her back where the stitches had been repaired. Holding her sister, Jewel tried to determine if Meral had suffered an injury, even a graze from a bullet. The officer hadn’t been certain his shot had found a target, so Jewel couldn’t be certain about anything either.

  Still, Jewel desperately wanted to believe that Meral could not be the woman in the monster Suburban who had rammed her vehicle off the road. Who had hunted for her in the woods to kill her. Behind her, Buck appeared concerned for Jewel’s well-being, as well.

  In her peripheral vision, Jewel saw Colin stand back and study them. Scrutinize them as though he suspected them. Why? What reason could he have? He didn’t know Jewel’s secret. Then again, as chief of police, he was probably suspicious of everyone.

  Meral released Jewel and brushed away her hair, like any loving sister. Not like a woman who had only appeared in her life to search for a small fortune or to stab her sister in the back. How could Jewel have ever suspected Meral?

  Shame threatened to undo her, but she buried it. Fought to rise above all that pulled her down.

  “Jewel, listen, Buck has come up with a great idea.” Meral looked at Colin. “I’m glad you’re here, too, Chief Winters. I think this could solve all your problems.”

  Colin stiffened. Dropped his arms to his side.

  “We’re chartering a boat to explore southeast Alaska. The Inside Passage.”

  Jewel’s stomach lurched. “But...you’re leaving already? How would that solve any problems? I don’t want you to go yet.”

  A grin slipped on to Meral’s lips. “You’re coming with us.”

  “But I have a business to run and can’t abandon my guests.”

  “You can’t stay in that house either. It’s dangerous for your guests, too. Wouldn’t you agree, Chief Winters?” Meral directed her question to Colin.

  His lips pursed. “I can’t argue with that.”

  Jewel wasn’t sure that leaving would make her any safer. But it might draw out her attacker and bring things to an end. It would mean she wasn’t just waiting around for another attack. That she was being proactive.

  She pursed her lips.

  “Don’t worry, Jewel. You can leave,” Meral continued. “I spent this afternoon talking to your employees, Jan and Frances, and to Tracy and Katy. You’ve thoroughly trained them to pitch in as needed. I think you can take a few days off, a week or even two, for your own vacation. That would get you away from this insanity. Nothing can happen to you on a boat with just your family.”

  Meral stepped away from Jewel and into Buck’s arms. “Besides, we’ve already chartered the boat. We leave in two days.”

  Jewel pushed her face into her hands. She couldn’t take all the eyes on her. Couldn’t take the pressure of having to make such a hasty decision in the face of everything that was happening. But Meral was right. She couldn’t keep her B and B open if she stayed there. She couldn’t expect the Mountain Cove police officers to continue putting themselves in harm’s way to protect her either.

  And she had the feeling that Meral would go with or without her. Jewel couldn’t let her time with Meral slip away so fast. Colin had suggested she leave, get out of town, and this could be the answer. She could also keep an eye on Buck for Meral’s sake. She still had the feeling Buck was using Meral.

  As if she could protect Meral, given she’d done such a great job protecting herself.

  Why hadn’t Meral seen through Buck before she’d married him? But then, maybe that was how Jewel’s parents had felt when Jewel had chosen Silas. Except they had been wrong about him.

  Could she be wrong about Buck?

  She looked up. Everyone was still waiting. “I need to think about it.”

  “You have a day. We’ll need time to get you ready for the trip. But I really don’t see you have a choice,” Meral said.

  Jewel locked eyes with Colin. Why wasn’t he saying anything? But he’d already told her to go. Maybe that was enough.

  It would mean she couldn’t stick close to the man who wanted to protect her, like Doc Harland said. Doc seemed to believe God had put Colin in her life to protect her, but what happened now if she left that protection behind in search of a safe place?

  * * *

  Colin sat in the chair across the antique mahogany desk from Mayor Judy Conroy. A driven woman in her early fifties, she liked to dress the part of a politician. Had a stylish hairdo and ordered her suits from some fancy place out of Seattle. No matter the weather, she would always wear matching pumps. And she liked to control and intimidate.

  But she hadn’t called him into her office today. No. He’d come here of his own volition, needing to detail his plans and ask permission, something he never liked to do. Especially since he could see in her eyes she had plans of her own—to berate Colin.

  She sucked in a breath, opened her mouth and her cell buzzed on her desk. After a glance down she released that breath, then looked back at him. “Sorry, Chief. Gotta take this. It won’t be but a second.”

  “No problem.”

  She was on the cell before he responded. He released a pent-up sigh and tried to calm himself. The call would give him a few seconds, hopefully minutes, to regain his nerve. He tapped his fingers on her desk while he waited for her to end the phone call.

  Where did he start? How did he present his case?

  She jabbered on with her niece, Taney Westmore, while Colin tried to ignore the conversation. He got up to pace the room. What he wanted to do was put his fist through the wall. He’d never been so frustrated.

  He’d been the one to suggest that Jewel get out of town, and now he was incredibly bothered by the idea that she was taking his advice. He should have considered that if Jewel left town, Buck would be with her because Meral would be with her.

  But Colin hadn’t thought that through very well. “Idiot,” he mumbled under his breath with a quick glance at the mayor. Wouldn’t do for her to think he had just called her a name.

  No, he needed her in a good mood. Problem was he had been the one to put her in a perpetually bad mood lately. Now add that one of his officers had been murdered and another one injured, and the mayor would likely tear into him before he got a word in edgewise.

  The pressure was on and seemed to be measured by the pounding in his head.

  Finally, he plopped in the chair again, afraid that if he kept pacing he would, in fact, put a fist through the wall in the mayor’s office, and that wouldn’t go over well. He noticed a Holy Bible sitting at the corner of her desk and took a minute to seek some guidance. Closing his eyes, he drew in a calming breath.

  God, I could use a little help here. I’m in a serious predicament. Help me to do what needs to be done. Help m
e get Jed’s killer before he kills again. Help me keep Jewel safe.

  “Sleeping on the job?”

  He opened his eyes to see that she had ended her call. “No, just saying a little prayer.”

  “That bad, huh?” Her brows drew together. “Sorry about the call, but I had to take it.”

  “No problem.” He should ask if everything was all right with Taney, but that would send them down a road he didn’t want to go right now.

  She pressed her elbows on her desk and rested her chin in her clasped hands. “What can I do for you?”

  Colin could see it in her eyes. That was a trick question—she was waiting for him to say something she could criticize. Everything he was about to say went against his personal policy, his resolve to act only on the cold hard facts. He pulled in a breath.

  Here goes nothing or everything.

  “I have a possible lead on Jed’s murder and on who attacked Jewel Caraway.”

  “Is that so?”

  “But I need to follow it up.”

  The mayor dropped her hands and pushed from the chair. Now she was the one pacing. Building up steam to blast him with, no doubt. “And by follow up you mean what?”

  Colin scratched his chin. Explaining this wasn’t going to be easy. “This all started when Jewel’s sister and husband, Meral and Buck, arrived. I checked on him, but he came back clean. He’s some sort of import and export consultant.”

  “What aren’t you telling me, Colin?” Now the mayor had gone personal with his name. Never a good sign.

  “I need to leave. Jewel, Meral and Buck are going on a short cruise, a tour of Alaska. A week or two. I need to be there with her to protect her and to find out if Buck is the man who killed Jed.”

  There. He’d spoken his mind.

  “It would mean you wouldn’t be here for Jed’s funeral.”

  He nodded, hating the timing. “What’s more important? Getting Jed’s killer or attending his funeral?”

  “What reason have you got to suspect Buck? Give me something, anything, and I’ll think about it.”

  “A feeling.”

  Her eyes blazed. Here it comes.

  “Let me get this straight. You want to go off on what amounts to a vacation while we have a murderer out there based on a feeling?”

  “No. It’s not like that.” He knew the man from somewhere, and though he couldn’t remember the circumstances, Buck gave him a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

  “Oh, I think it is. You’re infatuated with Jewel. Let me make myself perfectly clear, Chief Winters. You think that you’re under pressure now? Let me assure you that I am under tremendous pressure as this town’s mayor. People want to know why this is happening to our town. And what about Jed’s family? How do you think they are going to see your actions? His wife, his kids and the town want to know why someone—a fine and upstanding officer of the law, no less—has been murdered. Not long ago others were murdered. Businesses burned down. People were scared to come out of their houses or even go to the dentist because maybe a bomb would blow up while they were sitting in the chair. You took far too long to solve those cases, and this one is still open, with a killer still free. So, no, I can’t let you go on a trip with your precious Jewel based on nothing more than a feeling.”

  The mayor’s face was red. Though he’d been the object of her complaints before, this was the worst dressing- down he’d ever gotten. He supposed he’d given her reason enough.

  “You see, here’s the thing.” He stood to give himself the edge. “The reason I didn’t solve those cases quicker is because I refused to listen to my gut. I refused to go on anything but the facts. But the hard truth of it is that solving an investigation takes a good measure of both gut feeling and facts. Not one or the other but both working together. I have to ask myself what kind of police chief doesn’t listen to his gut instincts? A poor one. And I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that sooner. Now, please, let me follow my instincts on this.” He was so tired of second-guessing himself, and for the first time in a long time, he believed he was doing the right thing. Now if only he could convince the mayor.

  She took a seat and sighed. “Give me something. You have to give me something solid, Chief. What are people going to say?”

  As if he cared anymore. Colin detested politics, but there was no getting around them. “Even if I give you a reason, a solid lead or evidence, they’re going to talk. They’re going to spin this trip in a negative light.”

  “True.” The mayor sagged in her seat and slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t let you go. You’re going to have to figure out how to solve this case here in Mountain Cove while working in your capacity as chief of police, not gallivanting around the Inside Passage with the woman everyone knows you love.”

  Love? Colin narrowed his eyes. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.

  “I’m sorry, Colin. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s none of my business. If you want to protect her, then get this guy, but you’ll have to do it while remaining in your jurisdiction and functioning in your full capacity as the Mountain Cove chief of police. If you need a presence there with Jewel, send one of your officers, but I can’t let you go yourself.”

  There was that image of his fist slamming into the wall again. Wasn’t she listening? The only way to get the bad guy was to go with Jewel. Nobody else could do this. It had to be Colin. He was the one with the gut feeling. He didn’t dare risk another one of his men or send them into danger on instincts alone.

  As for gathering evidence against Buck, he’d contacted a friend, the forensic artist from Juneau that Mountain Cove sometimes used, to take some years and pounds off Buck’s photo to help Colin figure out why he recognized him. But it wasn’t under the official umbrella of police business, so it might not come in time. He couldn’t tell her about that—it might be a dead end.

  I have no choice.

  His next words pained him, weakened his legs, but he had to do it.

  “Okay, then, maybe I care about Jewel more than I should, but this isn’t about that. It comes down to the fact that I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her, especially when I know how to prevent it.”

  He’d already experienced losing someone he loved, but he wouldn’t tell the mayor about that. He’d already said too much. He didn’t need to explain himself, but maybe part of him hoped if he showed a little more of himself, she would be more understanding.

  It all flooded back and swirled through his mind in a quick second before he could blink and formulate his next words.

  He’d planned to propose, but Katelyn had been murdered and all because she had witnessed a crime. He hadn’t been able to arrest the man without her testimony, and afterward the charges brought against the man for her murder had been dismissed because of shoddy DNA and the killer’s airtight alibi. Colin had failed Katelyn miserably. That was why from then on he’d made sure he only worked off the facts. He’d made sure he wasn’t emotionally involved with a woman he needed to protect.

  But that couldn’t be helped this time. And he wouldn’t fail Jewel. He wouldn’t let himself get any more involved with her either. He’d keep it professional. Wouldn’t let his heart even dip a toe in the water, but he would protect her if it was the last thing he did.

  Another problem drilled through the tension. He hadn’t been invited to go with Jewel, but the boat left this afternoon and he had to move quickly. He’d already deliberated far too long about how to handle this. And now it came down to worst-case scenarios. Had he convinced the mayor? Or not?

  Her eyes softened, but it wasn’t enough. That much he could see. “Colin... I...” She blew out a breath, clearly unsettled by his words. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’ll have my resignation letter on your desk by the end of the day.”

  TEN

  The privately ch
artered yacht, The Alabaster Sky, waited at the dock for the passengers to board. From the outside, Jewel could already see the yacht was modern and luxurious, and she guessed between sixty and seventy feet long. Though it had only been chartered for the trip, it had to have cost a small fortune. A year’s salary for some. She’d forgotten what real wealth could buy. When she’d offered to pay for her portion of the trip, Meral had reassured her it was all taken care of.

  Next to her, Buck and Meral unloaded the rest of the luggage from the cab.

  Jewel’s palms slicked. Nausea swelled. Was she making a mistake?

  Colin had told her to get out of town so she would be safe. So she could escape her attackers before they succeeded in killing her. But Colin had had no idea that she suspected Buck when he’d said the words. And even though it didn’t seem possible that he was involved in the incident that totaled her vehicle and injured an officer, her suspicions had crept back in with a vengeance and she couldn’t let go of them.

  With the Krizan Diamond burning a hole in the bag she shouldered much too protectively, she would find out sooner rather than later. She’d managed to sneak up to the attic again and pull the rock from its hiding place. She couldn’t bring herself to leave it there to be stolen, if that’s why her attacker had been in the attic—to search for the diamond.

  She should have put it in a safe-deposit box, but she hadn’t been able to break away from Meral and Buck. And to ask them to stop at the bank for her to take care of business would have been futile. They would have marched right in with her. Heard her say she wanted a safe-deposit box. Then the questions would have come. It was a small town, and others would see and talk.

  She was trapped.

  It was all so awkward.

  And if Buck was after the diamond, he would know that Jewel suspected his motives. He might even hope that she would bring it with her to keep it safe or, out of desperation, to lure out her attacker. In that case, he might look for it on the boat.

  But was she thinking clearly about this? It was hard to know with the attempts on her life holding her mind hostage and the likely reason weighing heavy in her pack.