Mountain Secrets by Elizabeth Goddard (good books to read for teens txt) 📕

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 chartered 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.

She was some kind of crazy to attempt this.

Besides, if Buck really was involved, and he really was after the diamond, then putting it in a safe-deposit box in the bank like any normal person would virtually guarantee Jewel’s death. Kill Jewel and the items in her safe-deposit box would go to Meral, who was named in Jewel’s will after she’d lost Silas, a fact she’d shared with her sister shortly after her arrival in Mountain Cove. That had been her way to make sure the diamond went back to her family. Maybe that was why her attacker had tried to kill her. He thought it was stored safely away—whoever he was. A man and a woman working together.

Meral and Buck.

Her heart sank.

Jewel hung her head. I don’t know, I just don’t know anymore.

She didn’t want to believe it of Meral. Yet doubt suffused her. This trip had been Buck’s idea, just like coming to Mountain Cove.

Her pulse raced and jumped. Had agreeing to this been a wise decision?

What did it matter? If there was any chance that Meral was not involved, then Jewel had to be with Meral to spend time with her and protect her, if she could.

Meral set Jewel’s bag next to her feet. “You okay?”

The question pulled Jewel back to the present. “Sure.”

“You don’t look okay.” Meral eyed her.

Buck paid the cab driver.

“I’ll be fine, Meral.” Jewel gave her sister a quick hug.

Buck’s dark eyes and fake smile landed on Jewel. “Let’s go.”

Jewel released her sister to Buck. Two men and a woman appeared on the yacht and came down the gangplank to greet them.

The older of the crew members thrust out his hand and shook Buck’s in a hearty greeting, then turned his attention to Meral and Jewel. “Good afternoon, ladies. I’m captain of The Alabaster Sky. You can call me Mike or Captain Mike, whatever you prefer. This is Gary, our deckhand, and Stella, your hostess and steward. And Mack’s the chef, but he’s in the kitchen preparing your meal for this evening.”

Private and chartered yachts and cruise ships were a familiar sight in southeast Alaska, and some even stopped in Mountain Cove. But Jewel had never met any of the staff that operated those vessels, so it was strange when a sense of recognition pricked her at Stella’s smile. Gary had a familiar face, too, but maybe they each just had one of those faces that everyone thought they knew. Jewel was sure she’d never met either of them.

Buck grinned. He gave the captain’s hand a second good, hard shake. “Captain Mike here is one of the best. Decades of experience and he knows all the sweet spots in the channels, full of isolated and undisturbed nature. This is going to be the adventure of a lifetime. I’m going fishing for the catch of my life.”

With his last words, Buck’s eyes locked with Jewel’s.

“Let’s get the adventure of a lifetime going,” Stella said, smiling sweetly.

Jewel bent to lift her luggage.

“Oh, no, I’ll get that,” Stella said. “All part of the package.”

The crew gathered up