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

an idiot she’d been not to see that. Not to take a chance at having a complete life again. At loving again.

Maybe...maybe she had loved him all along, but from a distance.

Had she ruined their chance to be together? For all she knew, he could be dying right now. But, no, that wasn’t true. Jewel had a feeling, a very strong feeling, that Colin was alive. Or maybe she just refused to believe he would die when he had so much to live for. Together they had so much to live for. And Colin wasn’t the sort of man to give up as long as he had breath.

Maybe she hadn’t completely trusted Silas, but she would trust Colin to be the hero.

Still, maybe she could give him some help along the way. New determination filled her. Buck squeezed her arm and jerked her forward then back. She glanced at him. He didn’t know his way, after all. She didn’t point out that he was lost. How could she use this?

She hadn’t lived in Alaska without gaining a few skills, and on that point she had an advantage over Buck. Left lost and alone in the cave or even in the wilderness, he would be hard-pressed to survive.

But how did she get away from him, since he had a knife? If she could get her freedom and incapacitate him in some way, she could run back to Colin. Together they could escape.

Buck finally made his decision about which direction to traverse and dragged her down a tunnel to the right. Thankfully blue light filled the tunnel, lighting their path. But he’d made a bad choice. The walls closed in so that they had to slide through pressed against one side. Buck could only hold on to her arm with one hand. The knife was in his other hand.

Now.

Now was her chance. Likely the only good chance she would get. But it meant her plan to run back to Colin wouldn’t work. Up ahead, the walls opened up more. Then her chance would be over.

Should she take this? Or wait for another one that she might not get?

Her temples throbbed. Time was running out. She had to make a decision. She had never been more indecisive in her life. But none of her options was good enough. There was no clear path to reach a good outcome.

“Keep moving.” Buck’s iron grip tightened. “What are you doing?”

Her hesitation had only made him grip harder. Why had she thought she could escape?

She kept moving forward. The wall of ice narrowed even more before it would open wider. Up ahead she spotted a jagged strip of ice protruding like a shard of broken glass. It would be tough to make it by without injury.

And that, she could use.

As she neared that sharp edge, Jewel took a few breaths, but failed to calm herself. What did it matter? She needed adrenaline flowing to make this happen.

Here it comes.

She inched forward, Buck gripping her arm.

Wait for it.

She pressed back and away as her body crossed over the ice knife.

Now.

She swallowed and pressed forward and against the wall just as Buck’s hand gripping her arm followed. The jagged edge of the ice cut him quick and hard.

Behind her, he cried out.

His grip loosened only a little. It was enough.

Jewel broke free and pushed through the narrow passage until it widened. Then she ran. She didn’t know where she was going, but she had to get away. In her mind she pictured Buck breaking free right behind her, but she knew his hand was badly mangled and the pain would slow him down.

From behind he shouted at her, using colorful language that singed her ears. But Jewel didn’t look back. The problem was she could only move so fast through the ice cave without risking falling or slipping on icy patches.

With her breath rasping in her ears, she turned a corner. Paused and leaned against a wall. Listening for Buck.

Buck’s ragged breaths echoed through the cave along with his angry rant. She couldn’t let him catch her. He would kill her this time, diamond or no.

The cave angled down and deep.

No, no, no. She wanted an escape. But then she saw light ahead and heard a rushing, roaring sound. A familiar sound. A glacier stream forming a waterfall?

Jewel followed the sound and the light, running as fast as she could, knowing that Buck would be on her soon. The cave opened up over a partially frozen waterfall. The bottom churned with icy cold water as it rushed out into the open to connect with the river and then the channel.

The beauty took her breath away. But she had no time to appreciate it.

Buck was going to kill her if he caught up.

Lord, what do I do?

If she jumped she would be free of Buck. Memories quickly seized her of her time fighting the other waterfall and then the rushing river. Surviving. Her body still ached. If she jumped her limbs would likely give up from the too-cold glacier water and she would drown.

Her choices came down to two.

Death by drowning.

Death by Buck.

Jewel wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Besides, she held on to hope that she could survive the icy water. It was more hope than she gave herself with Buck.

She lunged toward the falls.

Strong hands gripped her from behind.

Gun at the ready, Colin crept forward, following the voices.

The hardest thing he’d ever done in his life was to watch without interfering as Buck had forced Jewel away at knifepoint. Colin had decided it was better to bide his time again. Let the man believe Colin was too incapacitated to follow.

As soon as the two were out of sight and earshot, Colin had grabbed the extra magazine holding twelve bullets that he’d successfully hidden away and stuck it in the Sig, then chambered a round.

He had this one chance to get it right. To get Jewel away from Buck. He’d tried to make another call for help and explain