Mountain Secrets

by Elizabeth Goddard

  Something he couldn’t read flashed in her eyes, and she backed against the wall.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think you know what I mean.” Time to ask those hard questions and get answers. “Your sister’s husband is a dangerous man. And I think you know that, too.”

  THIRTEEN

  Trapped.

  She was jammed against the wall in the booth. The yacht would leave without her unless she headed to the dock soon. But Colin clearly wouldn’t let her go until he’d gotten some answers, and he was right. So right. Right that Buck was dangerous, right that she knew it and right that it was a matter of life-and-death. She shouldn’t go back, except she’d left something there. How did she make him understand?

  His actions should incense her, but deep down she recognized how much he cared about her. His nearness and her predicament had her heart beating erratically. She’d done well to try to protect it, but the recent threats on her life made her vulnerable. She was too busy trying to stay alive and trying to keep Meral safe, too, and she’d let down her guard.

  Protectiveness poured off this man, who had her cornered, and his stark blue eyes took her in as though trying to soak her up. A warm shiver ran over her. Jewel had never thought she could love someone like she had loved Silas. And maybe she couldn’t. She was a different person now than she’d been twenty years ago, and that giddy love-conquers-all optimism had worn away. But could she be ready for a new kind of love?

  With Colin’s sturdy form blocking her way—protecting her—maybe it was more that she was afraid to love again. She had a feeling that Colin could be that man if only she’d let him in.

  But she shoved those thoughts away. She had to get to The Alabaster Sky.

  “You’re right. He is dangerous. That’s exactly why I have to go back.”

  “To save Meral? You think she’ll listen?” Colin’s tone challenged.

  No. She’d tried to stop Meral. Make her see the light about Buck, but her sister wanted too badly to believe that she’d found her happily-ever-after. She wouldn’t listen to a word against Buck. And anyway, there was more to her need to return to the boat than that. More that Colin didn’t know. “You don’t understand.”

  She slid toward Colin, acting as though she expected him to move out of her way. But he didn’t budge, and now she sat closer to him.

  “Then make me understand, Jewel. Tell me what you haven’t been willing to tell me before now. I’m done skirting the real issue, dancing around it.”

  She hadn’t wanted to tell him the whole truth at first because she couldn’t bear to see his disappointment in her. And then she had hung on to the slim hope she was wrong about Buck. But now? Colin needed to know it all because she’d been wrong to withhold it. She saw that now.

  And telling him, seeing his reaction to the truth, would go a long way in burying anything she might otherwise have with him. She drew in a breath, fortified herself.

  “Have you ever done something that completely went against everything you are or believed in? Something that you’ve regretted for the rest of your life?”

  “Yes, Jewel. I think we’ve all done that.”

  “Years ago, I took something valuable that didn’t belong to me, and I left it on the boat.”

  He paled. “Something worth killing for?”

  “I believe so, yes.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I have to get it back.”

  “Tell me what it is and where you’ve hidden it, and I’ll get it for you.”

  “There are things you don’t know about me, Colin. For starters, I come from an old-money, wealthy family back east.”

  The words didn’t seem to faze him. Did he already know? But he couldn’t know the rest, and she had to tell him quickly. They were running out of time. “I was in my early twenties when I went on a cruise in Alaska with some friends and I met Silas. That weekend, as he showed us the wilderness and nature, I fell in love with this place. But it didn’t end there. Silas and I...we had a connection. It seemed crazy. I thought I’d never see him again, but he followed me home and even though it sounds old-fashioned, he courted me. At the time, my family thought he was after our money.”

  Jewel shifted. Dragged in air. She was doing this. Really doing this. “They did everything they could to keep us apart, but I was in love and wouldn’t listen. Silas made me feel alive. And I knew he didn’t care about the money, so I planned to elope with him. My father got wind of it and threatened to disinherit me if I went through with it. I knew he was serious—that once I left with Silas, he wouldn’t accept me back into the family, even if I came back a few months later and said it had all been a mistake. Risking everything like that for Silas...it scared me. I guess that I wasn’t completely convinced it wasn’t all a dream. I figured if the worst happened, then I wanted something to fall back on, some security. I didn’t have my own money, not in any significant way, and now I see that was a way they controlled me. But there was something else I could get to—something valuable.”

  Colin leaned closer, intent on her story. “What did you take?”

  “I took the Krizan Diamond. It’s a family heirloom from an ancient mine in India. It was handed down to my mother, whose family founded Simmons Diamonds. My father married into the business. They groomed me to be part of that business, too. But diamonds are cold and hard and lifeless and don’t give love, so I left it all behind for Silas. Except for...the Krizan Diamond. It’s worth a small fortune.”

  He paled and slid away from her in the booth. His move was subtle, but she’d seen it.

  It was just as she’d feared. He thought less of her now for stealing a diamond and harboring it in her home—not to mention keeping the information from him. She didn’t blame him. But what would he, an officer of the law, do with her now? She wasn’t a jewel thief in the typical sense. And once this was over, though she couldn’t see how it would end, she was willing to give the diamond back to her family, to Meral. Jewel no longer needed it. No longer wanted it.

  In fact, she had never needed it. But she’d been afraid to trust completely.

  With Colin’s reaction, she saw that perhaps she had been wrong to trust him with the truth.

  “Why did you bring the diamond?”

  “All these years I had it hidden away in the attic, but with the attacks I suspected that someone might be after it. I’ve suspected Buck all along. Learning that a woman had driven the truck that rammed me made me doubt my suspicions because I just couldn’t believe that Meral would be involved. I thought to put it in a safe-deposit box, but I couldn’t get away. And then if I brought it with me on the boat and the attacks continued or the diamond was stolen, I would know for sure that Buck had been behind the attacks.” Maybe. Saying it out loud now, she wasn’t sure it made any sense.

  “And you didn’t trust me enough to tell me?”

  “Telling you about it meant implicating Buck. I didn’t want to believe it could be him. I wasn’t sure. But now I have to go.”

  “No, Jewel. I can’t let you go. Buck won’t get away. Don’t worry. Now I need you to stay here.”

  “Where are you going?”

  Something shifted behind Colin’s gaze. It was cold, hard. Professional. “Now that you’ve told me the truth, I know what I’m dealing with and I need to make a phone call. Promise me you will wait here until I get back.”

  Jewel didn’t want to give him that promise.

  “I’m telling you this as an officer of the law, Jewel.”

  “Am I...am I under arrest?”

  He frowned. “Get serious.”

  Right. The statute of limitations had expired. But she’d kept pertinent information to herself that could have helped him solve this case. Still, what she’d told him had disturbed him far deeper than she would have expected.
<
br />   She saw that clearly in his eyes. He’d pulled away from her physically. And emotionally. Though she’d protected her heart from falling for this man, the intense pain shooting through her chest illuminated that she was more than halfway there.

  * * *

  Colin stumbled from the booth. Could he trust Jewel to stay? He had no choice. He needed a moment to regain his composure. His vision tunneled as his past swirled before him.

  A jewel thief.

  I know where I’ve seen Buck before.

  Brock Ammerman.

  Buck Cambridge.

  Buck Cambridge was Brock Ammerman, the jewel thief who had murdered Katelyn twenty years ago. But he was dead. Colin had killed him.

  He staggered. Pressed his hand against the wall for support.

  It can’t be. How can it be?

  His cell buzzed. What now? He pulled it from his pocket absently, going through the motions by rote. He must be losing his mind. He didn’t believe in coincidences, but neither did he believe in the impossible.

  Colin glanced back at Jewel to make sure she was waiting. Her gaze shifted around the room as if she were looking for an exit, but he was blocking the only one.

  The text was from the forensic artist. He’d sent the picture he’d created after taking off the years—Brock Ammerman.

  Buck Cambridge is Brock Ammerman. The man had changed so much over twenty years, and Colin had thought him dead anyway. Little wonder he hadn’t been able to place him.

  Colin leaned completely against the wall.

  Not possible.

  How? How could this be? He’d killed this man in self-defense. The charges against Ammerman hadn’t stuck, and Colin had wanted to kill him. He had wanted to exact revenge, but that hadn’t been his motivation when he’d followed Brock that day. He’d just wanted to warn him that he would put him behind bars for good one day—let him know that it wasn’t over. Then when Brock had tried to kill him in response, knowing that Colin would always be watching, Colin had gotten the upper hand and killed the man in self-defense. One bullet to the chest had taken him out for good.

  But it had all looked suspicious, and Colin had been put on leave while the department had investigated. It hadn’t helped that Katelyn’s family had wanted him to pay for her death. Had that all been part of Brock’s plan?

  But how Brock had survived, he still didn’t know. Had someone working within the department helped Brock fake his own death? Had it all been big conspiracy?

  No. Colin wouldn’t believe that for a minute. His cell buzzed. Not now. Not now. He didn’t have time. He glanced at it. David Warren. If he didn’t answer, David might send the Coast Guard looking.

  “Yeah, David,” Colin said. “I can’t talk for long. I’m...in the middle of something.”

  “You okay? Cuz you don’t sound okay.”

  “It’s too much to explain right now, but I think it’s all coming to a head. And I have to figure it out.”

  Colin had to pull himself together. He still didn’t have enough evidence to make an arrest for murder. His story was a tangled mess, as was Jewel’s. It would take more than a phone call to untangle it, and Buck still wouldn’t be arrested for Jed’s murder and the attacks on Jewel. He might disappear altogether.

  But one thing Colin knew. Brock was dead. He’d killed the man himself, so what was going on?

  Lord, help me to see the truth here.

  “Maybe I can help.” A giggle resounded over the phone that didn’t belong to David.

  “Where are you?” Colin asked.

  “I’m off today. Tracy’s working at the B and B. I can’t wait until this is over so I can get my wife back. I never see her. Right now I’ve got the boys.”

  Colin nodded absently, thinking of David and Tracy’s twin sons.

  “So what’s up? Tell me what’s going on. Do I need to come and get you and Jewel?”

  Twins.

  “No, not yet. I’ve got to go now, but just know this, David, your phone call helped.”

  He made a quick call to his friend back in Texas to start looking for answers. Did Brock Ammerman have a twin?

  Colin paced, calming his heart rate so he could function.

  Jewel was sitting back there waiting for him to return. What would he tell her? Think. He had to think.

  Why would Buck come all the way to Alaska for the diamond? His wife had access to wealth and jewels via her family. Except...if they were willing to disinherit their oldest daughter for marrying without their approval, then he doubted they would allow Buck into the circle, giving him access to anything of value. But maybe it was more than that. Brock’s targets hadn’t been high profile. Meral and Jewel’s family would definitely be a high-profile family, the theft creating too much noise, and the jewels couldn’t be fenced so easily or quickly.

  That had to be it.

  Buck had convinced Meral to come to Alaska because he’d found out about Jewel’s secret. Add that Colin was here as chief of police, and Buck must have seen it as a way to get the prize and revenge all at once. Maybe that was why he killed Jed. To get back at Colin for Brock’s death. But he might not be finished with his killing spree.

  Colin blew out a breath to erase those morbid images that had sent him running to Alaska to start afresh. Brock had murdered Katelyn—and now Brock, or rather his twin, was here close to... Jewel.

  And poor Jewel, carrying the weight of believing she’d stolen the diamond, when he could easily see a loving mother making sure her young daughter had taken something of value by either planting the seed or allowing her access. But what did he know about it? That was all conjecture.

  Everything he had right now was conjecture. He needed the facts. No matter how much he listened to his gut, his instincts wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. He’d been right to follow his gut this far, sure, but he needed to seal the deal. Find the evidence behind the attacks on Jewel. But he could figure that out. Right now he had to get back to her. He turned to enter the restaurant again.

  Jewel was gone.

  FOURTEEN

  “Your sister’s husband is a dangerous man.”

  She should have waited on him. He’d made it clear when he’d pulled the police card. The chief-of-police card, rather. But she’d also gotten that he wasn’t going to let her go back to the yacht, where she needed to be. As soon as his focus had turned from her, she’d fled the booth.

  Hearing Colin say that Buck was a dangerous man had infused her with determination. She couldn’t let Meral leave with that man, even though he was her husband. But how to get her away? How did Jewel convince her?

  After slipping through the window in the restroom, she dropped to the ground. Hemlock, spruce and cedar hid her from view. She’d never done anything like this before. Well, other than taking the diamond. But she had to get to the yacht. She had to save Meral, if she could, and retrieve the diamond while she was at it.

  Buck wasn’t going to hurt Jewel in broad daylight in front of the crew or Meral. She could try one more time to save her sister, despite Meral’s vitriolic words.

  Pressing her back against the log wall of the visitor center, she hoped Colin hadn’t discovered her gone yet, but he would soon enough. She had to hurry.

  She’d seen him on the phone. Had he been checking on old warrants for her arrest for stealing a diamond? The statute of limitations was only a few years, but that wouldn’t make her any less a thief to him. She’d seen the shock in his eyes turn to pure disappointment.

  Her words had shaken him as much as his reaction had crushed her. But she was a woman who was destined to lose at love. She was glad she hadn’t actually been playing that game with Colin. Only toying with the idea.

  More importantly, she had to protect her sister and survive another encounter with the man after her life.

  No more time to think about Chief Colin
Winters, and, yes, she should think of him in official terms from now on. He’d made that much clear.

  She crept to the corner of the building and peeked around. In the distance the yacht was still anchored in the channel. Had Meral and Buck been taken back yet? If she hurried, she could make it before they left.

  Jewel sagged against the wall. A cedar branch tickled her arm. Part of her wanted to give up. It would be easier to sink to the ground and cry for all she had lost—a list that now included her sister for a second time.

  Meral’s life could be in serious danger. She could disappear on the cruise. Be pushed overboard, and Buck would likely gain her money, holdings and benefit from an insurance policy as well as obtain the Krizan Diamond either by finding and stealing it or by killing Jewel.

  What am I supposed to do now, God? None of this makes any sense.

  Why did You let this happen to me? I was doing okay at the B and B. I had made a life of my own already. I didn’t need the past to come roaring back.

  “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

  Don’t You shove the past, our sins, as far as the east is from the west? I even have one of those cross-stitches Katy makes in one of the rooms. Maybe You did remove my transgression, but I’ve kept my sin close, hidden in the attic and buried away until now. And I’m sorry for that. So sorry.

  Jewel shook off the weight of guilt. She could worry about that later.

  A pain pierced her side. The muzzle of a gun. Jewel stiffened and gasped. She turned, but a grip forced her to keeping staring ahead. In the distance, The Alabaster Sky began heading out into the channel.

  “Looks like your past has caught up to you.” The familiar voice whispered in her ear.

  “What’s going on? Why is the yacht leaving without you? Where is Meral?” God, please don’t let Meral be involved. Please keep her safe.

  “Your sister is safe and sound on the yacht. She won’t even know I’m gone.”