Mountain Secrets

by Elizabeth Goddard

  * * *

  Though the woman at the house had grabbed a blanket for Isabel to wrap around herself, it felt like the cold had sunk down into her bones, and she would never be warm again.

  Pulling the curtains to one side, Jason watched out the window. He stepped back and paced the floor. “The man I called is not connected to the Bureau in any way. He’s a family friend.”

  If she wasn’t so exhausted from running and being cold, she might be just as agitated. She drew the blanket around her shoulders.

  Despair sank even deeper into her bones than the cold, down to the marrow. She was tired, hungry and scared. They couldn’t count on help from the Bureau until the turncoat was outed. She couldn’t go back to her cozy apartment.

  The woman brought Isabel a steaming cup of coffee. “Here you go, dear.”

  “Thank you so much for your kindness,” Isabel said.

  “We’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes,” Jason said. “My friend doesn’t live too far from here.”

  The woman nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

  Jason peered out the window again. He whirled around, swinging his hand up and down. “Get out of view.”

  Isabel jumped up. Her coffee splashed in the cup as she moved away from the window and stood beside Jason.

  “His truck went by. Going real slow.”

  So Nick was trolling the neighborhood looking for them. “We can go to the police and tell them we’re being stalked. They’ll pick Nick up.”

  “That’s a short-term solution. They’ll hold him for a few hours and then someone from the organization will bail him out,” Jason said. “I can’t tell the police anything about the investigation.”

  She leaned close to Jason, touching his upper arm. The desperation of their situation sank in. They really were in this alone together.

  Outside in the driveway, a car pulled up and flashed its lights three times.

  Jason took Isabel’s hand. “That’s the signal. Let’s go.”

  Isabel put her nearly full cup of coffee on a side table and yelled a hasty thank-you to the kind woman in the kitchen. They hurried outside into the overcast gray of late afternoon. This time of year it got dark around five o’clock. They had been on the run all day.

  The friend turned out to be an older man, balding and broad through the shoulders. Jason got into the front seat and Isabel slipped into the back, but not before a quick glance around. She saw no other vehicles.

  As the driver backed up, Jason turned sideways. “Isabel, this is Fred. He used to be a cop and a friend of my father’s.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” The formality felt odd considering the threat they were under. There’s always time for manners. The thought was almost sarcastic.

  Fred nodded.

  “Can you set us up with a place to sleep and food and maybe a car after we are rested?”

  Jason seemed to have come up with some kind of plan. Right now, all she could think about was food, rest and getting warmed up.

  “Can do,” said Fred.

  Isabel glanced over her shoulder, expecting to spot the black truck. She saw only the dark road. This part of town didn’t have streetlamps.

  Fred took them to a tiny apartment on the second floor of an apartment building. The living room and kitchen were tidy but very impersonal. No photographs or pictures. There was a display case with antique handguns in it and a rack on the wall that held several fishing poles.

  “You should be able to find something to eat.” Fred kept his boots and coat on while Isabel and Jason took off theirs. “I’ll run some errands. Get her some clothes. Sleep where you’re comfortable. I’ll wake you in a bit.” He looked at Isabel. “What size do you wear?”

  “Eight.”

  After Fred left, Isabel opened the refrigerator and several cupboards, looking for inspiration. “Guess it’s my turn to cook since you did breakfast.”

  Their time at the safe house felt like eons ago. For a brief moment, she had caught her breath, felt safe. But she hadn’t been safe, and neither was her heart. The sting of Jason’s rejection still felt raw.

  Jason stood beside her, staring at the contents of the cupboard. “Lots of bachelor food.”

  “So tomato soup it is. There’s a loaf of bread here. If there’s cheese in the refrigerator, we can have some grilled cheese sandwiches too.”

  They worked together to make the meal. Jason buttered bread and sliced cheese while she heated the grill and stirred the soup. Again, she was struck by the contradiction of what they were doing. If anyone were to observe the scene, it would be a picture of domestic bliss, just a couple working together to make a meal.

  But the whole thing was a lie. They weren’t safe, and they weren’t going to be together when this was all over...if it was ever over.

  Metal scraped against metal when she stirred the soup. The sound set her teeth on edge. She put the spoon down on a paper towel by the stove. Maybe it wasn’t the noise that bothered her but that reality that was rapidly sinking in. They were together for now only because they had to be. The Bureau couldn’t protect them.

  Jason flipped over the sandwiches as an uncomfortable silence settled between them.

  She had to say the words that were on the tip of her tongue since their car ride over here. “So it sounds like you have a plan. You want to use one of Fred’s cars for some reason.”

  Jason lifted the sandwiches off the grill. “Nick is in contact with the guy who set this whole thing up. We can’t depend on the Bureau for help. What if we follow Nick and he leads us to the kingpin? Since someone in this field office would leak information that could cost us our lives, we can get the information to a different field office.”

  “If Nick was behind bars, if the mastermind was caught, then I wouldn’t have to go into witness protection. I could have my life back.” Would it still be a life without Jason?

  Jason’s blue-eyed gaze rested on her. He nodded slowly as if thinking about what she had said. “Yes, that might be the case.”

  His features softened and she wondered if he was thinking about the kiss. Did it mean anything to him at all?

  She found some bowls and poured the soup into them. He carried over the sandwiches on a single plate and sat down at the table opposite her.

  “Do you know where Nick lives?”

  “I’m not sure. He might stay with his aunt Phoebe. I know where she lives. She’s the only relative who has anything to do with him.”

  He took a bite of sandwich. “Then we start the surveillance there.”

  “Do you think the Bureau is still watching Nick?”

  Jason shrugged. “Michael said they would have to lie low with the investigation for a while. Plus, that’s how Nick figured out we were onto him. So I would guess not.”

  “The agents must be looking for us, wondering about us?”

  “Unless the mole told them some lie about us, that we were dead or that we were the turncoats.”

  Isabel dipped her spoon into the soup. The meal had always been good comfort food when she was a kid. A neighbor lady who felt sorry for her made it, but right now she could barely taste the soup.

  The plan was risky. What if Nick figured out he was being followed? Their future was filled with so much uncertainty. The potential to end up dead was huge.

  She took in a breath and shifted in her chair. “I guess that’s what we have to do.”

  Jason placed his hand over hers. “I wish it could be some other way.”

  His touch brought back the memory of the kiss. She pulled her hand away as a barb shot straight through her heart. Did he feel anything at all for her?

  “I know it’s really dangerous. I wish there was a way for you to be safe and to have your life back.”

  “I’m afraid. Can we pray?” Whatever happened to them, God would always be wit
h her.

  He nodded. “We should have done that a long time ago.”

  Jason bowed his head and she folded her hands and closed her eyes, as well.

  She started. “Lord, we need Your guidance and protection. Please help us to bring Nick and this other man to justice.”

  After a second of silence, Jason said, “We are both really afraid. Would You show us the right course of action?”

  She lifted her head and looked across the table at Jason.

  “Amen,” said Jason.

  There seemed to be a warmth in his expression, but maybe she was seeing what she wanted to see.

  “Let’s get some sleep. I’ll take the couch. You can have the bed.”

  Isabel snuggled under the comforter and was asleep within minutes. She was awakened by Jason shaking her shoulder. “Time to get up. Time to go.”

  He clicked on the light beside her bed. She winced, still trying to clear her brain of the fog of sleep. “How long was I out?”

  “Three hours. It’ll be enough to keep us going.” He held up two shopping bags. “Fred got you some warm clothes. And a phone for me.”

  Isabel dressed quickly.

  When they stepped outside, it was pitch dark. She could see her breath as she exhaled. Though her cheeks chilled from the cold, she felt snug and warm in the ski jacket Fred had gotten for her.

  “The car is in the underground parking lot.”

  Jason led her into the dimly lit garage where the car was stored along with ten others that must belong to the people in the apartment complex.

  Isabel got into the passenger seat. She breathed in one final prayer and then her gaze rested on Jason as he buckled himself in behind the wheel.

  “Let’s do this,” she said even as the fear squeezed tight around her chest.

  SEVENTEEN

  “Surveillance is actually very boring,” said Jason. They’d stopped for coffee at an all-night kiosk before parking outside the trailer court where Nick’s aunt lived. “A lot of sitting and waiting.”

  Isabel took a sip of her steaming beverage and tilted her head toward the ceiling. “I just hope this works.” She tugged on the collar of her shirt.

  Her voice was tempered with anxiety. He didn’t blame her. If there was some place he thought he could hide her where she would be safe from all this, he would have taken her there in a heartbeat.

  There was only one entrance to the court and they’d spotted Nick’s truck outside the trailer when they’d circled through. If Nick left, it would be easy enough to tail him.

  “Sometimes the waiting can be more nerve-racking than the tailing,” Jason said.

  “Did you always want to be a detective?”

  “I kind of fell into it. My father was in law enforcement. I made it through the academy but hated all the paperwork once they put me on the force.” He took a sip of his coffee. “How about you? You can’t tell me you played property manager with your dolls when you were little.”

  She laughed. “No, I did what every little girl did. Put a wedding dress on the doll and pretended she married the boy doll, moved into their town house with the cool plastic furniture and lived happily ever after.”

  “I know some people find happily-ever-after. I’ve seen it at church. Looking at them from the outside, anyway.”

  “You’re a pessimist about true love?”

  “It’s just I saw my father torn to pieces by his belief in happily-ever-after. I saw the way a woman could destroy a good man.”

  “It works both ways, Jason. Men shred women too.” Her words were drenched in pain.

  “Sorry. I’m sure Nick was no picnic.”

  She shook her head. “I was very young and very naive. I thought when a man said he loved you, he didn’t have ulterior motives.” She turned her head and stared out the window and then glanced in his direction.

  It felt as though a wall had gone up between them. Like there was something going unsaid. The kiss had meant so much to him, but he wouldn’t risk her life so they could be together. He didn’t want to send her any more mixed messages.

  She took another sip of coffee. “I had this big hole in my heart because of my childhood that really only God could fill. But when I was a teenager, I thought having a boyfriend would make it better.”

  “You’ve overcome so much, Isabel.” He couldn’t help but admire the woman sitting beside him. The only thing that meant more to him than the kiss was their prayer together.

  A soft smile graced her face. Then she turned to watch through the windshield. “I’ve been thinking. That woman who met Nick at the recreation area. I recognize the uniform shirt she wore. It’s for Happy Homes, a maid service. Sun and Ski uses them for cleaning jobs sometimes.”

  “Interesting. What do you suppose she was giving him?” Jason said.

  “Well, I don’t think it was a sentimental card or a grocery list. They were meeting in an out-of-the-way place.” Isabel continued to stare straight ahead.

  “It would have to be something you couldn’t send in a text or you didn’t want a record of. Maybe cash or instructions,” he said. Something about the clandestine meeting place suggested the maid might be connected to Nick’s illegal activities.

  They’d been sitting and waiting for over an hour. What if this didn’t work? They could hide out at Fred’s for a few days. But Jason didn’t want to put his friend at risk after he’d been so kind.

  Isabel sat up a little straighter. “Headlights.”

  He leaned to see better through the glass. The lights were high enough to be a truck. It had to be close to midnight. Whoever was leaving at this time was up to no good.

  They were parked off to the side of the trailer-court entrance behind the sign that gave its name. Their headlights were off.

  The truck rumbled by without stopping.

  “It’s him, all right.” Jason placed his fingers on the key but didn’t turn it.

  Nick’s taillights were still visible. The turn signal on the truck blinked. Jason started the car and turned onto the road.

  With little to no traffic, and as hypervigilant as Nick was, tailing was going to be tricky.

  Jason rolled down the road and turned where Nick had turned. Nick was headed back toward town. That was good. A greater possibility of other cars. Late-night revelers on their way home.

  Jason stayed back, grateful that the road into town was straight. One other car got between them before they entered the city limits. Once in town, he was able to take some side streets and still track Nick. The truck stayed on the main street of Silver Strike, went all the way through town and then exited on the other side. They passed a car dealership with dark windows and drove a little way out to the country.

  Jason pulled off the road onto a shoulder.

  “What are you doing? We’ll lose him.”

  “We’re the only car out here. I don’t want him to get suspicious. There are only three or four places he could turn off out this way. Some businesses, a few homes, I think.”

  They waited in silence. The snowfall had intensified since they’d left the trailer park. After a few minutes, Jason pulled back out onto the road. They passed a home set back from the road. No black truck was parked by it. They drove by a meat-processing business where no cars were parked.

  Isabel wiggled in her seat. “What if we lost him?”

  “We’ll go a little farther.” Jason checked his rearview mirror. His real fear was that Nick was onto them and had pulled off the road, waiting to come up behind them.

  Isabel lifted off her seat a little and pointed. “There.”

  Up the hill was a large warehouse-looking building teeming with activity. Nick’s truck was parked outside, as were several others illuminated by the outdoor lamps. Light glowed in the windows of the building.

  Jason turned off the main road. There was
a car in front of him headed in the same direction as well as one behind him. Something was going on.

  He pulled into the parking lot. Nick was not in his truck or anywhere around the building.

  “What is this place?”

  Jason shook his head. “We’ve come this far. Let’s have a look around...together.”

  She reached over, wrapping her fingers around his forearm. “I feel safe staying close to you.”

  He nodded. Her touch warmed him to the bone.

  The two other cars parked and the drivers got out and headed around the side of the building without a backward glance at Jason’s vehicle—which probably indicated that a lot of cars coming into the lot was expected. Something was going on inside that building.

  “Okay.” Jason pushed open his door as his heart skipped a beat. “Follow me.”

  Snow came down even harder as they hurried through the parking lot, ducking from car to car. Jason pressed against the side of the building with Isabel leaning against his back. They couldn’t just walk in. They had no idea what they were facing.

  The door popped open. Jason dived for the trees surrounding the property as a man dressed in a snowsuit headed in the other direction.

  He signaled for Isabel to follow him, then skirted through the trees and bushes close to the building. If they could find a window, they might be able to peer inside and figure out what was going on in there. It didn’t seem like the smuggling operation would be so aboveboard as to be operating out of a building.

  They ran around to the far side of the building, still not finding any windows.

  “Are you up to sneaking inside with me?”

  She nodded. The door on the east side of the building was the only one no one had gone into or out of.

  He reached for the handle and eased it open. He stared at metal shelving that ran from floor to ceiling containing boxes and what looked like auto parts. “I don’t see anyone. Come on.”

  As Isabel placed her hand in his, he prayed he hadn’t made a mistake in letting her come with him.