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

“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.

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