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

to study him, waiting for a deeper explanation. “What is your line of work?”

How much did he dare tell her? Chances were the bookmark was in some container that looked like junk but that the pickup man would recognize as his package. “So this thing that man is looking for. Do you think you may have been tidying up and moved it?”

“Why are you after the same thing they are, Jason?” Suspicion colored her words.

“He’s not leaving until he gets what he came here for. Maybe we can find it.” In order to keep the investigation under wraps, he needed to continue the fiction that he and Isabel were thieves who wanted in on the smuggling ring. Getting that bookmark might open the door to going undercover and infiltrating the smuggling ring, as long as he could get Isabel out of danger.

“And do what—give it to him? He disabled both our cars. I don’t think he wants us to leave here alive. He thinks you and I are after the same thing he is.” She looked right at him. “I don’t like being accused of being a thief.”

Her words filled with intensity. He didn’t want her involved in this. Once they were out of here—if they got out of here—maybe he could get her some protection. “I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t.”

“I don’t even know what that man—or men, if there is another guy—came here for. But you do, don’t you?”

He studied her for a long moment. Her stare made him feel like she could see beneath his skin. She was shrewd.

A hundred contradictory impulses charged through his head at once. The thieves thought he and Isabel were trying to horn in on their territory. Getting that bookmark would help the Bureau with their investigation and give him that much more cred with them, but he also had to find a way to get Isabel safely disentangled from this mess.

Private detective work could be feast or famine. The FBI throwing him a job from time to time would help keep the wolves from the door.

One thing was clear. Isabel was smart enough to play tit for tat. She wasn’t going to give him any information until he gave her some. “I’m a private detective. Yesterday, a man dropped off a gold bookmark at this house. It’s worth a great deal of money. The two men in the house were supposed to pick it up. You weren’t supposed to be here. No one was.” The less she knew, the better. Best not tell her about the FBI or the scope of the smuggling ring.

Her posture softened a little. Maybe she was warming up to him. “The people who own the house had a change of plans. They’re coming earlier than expected. I’m the only one who knew that.”

She rose to her feet and faced him, letting the blanket fall to the ground. “So what are we going to do? We could wait the night out here. They probably don’t know about this studio.”

“They might start searching the property once they can’t find us in the house,” he said. “I’m thinking it’s not just one guy either. He has a partner.”

She pressed her lips together. “Yes, I think you’re right about that.” She started to pace. “I believe the one with the knife won’t hesitate to use it.” She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “We really need the police.”

“It would be better if we didn’t get the police involved. I can’t say why. Besides, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to get up that road until the storm stops and it’s plowed.” Making an arrest at this point in the investigation might tip the head of the smuggling ring off.

She flopped down on the couch and stared at a blank canvas across the room. Then she studied him again. Her cheeks were flushed with color and he liked the way her blond curls framed her face. He didn’t like the suspicion he saw in her eyes, though.

Finally, she bent her head. She put her feet one on top of the other, then switched the bottom one to the top. “I’ve made a mess of everything. I’ll probably lose my job. Trouble just seems to find me no matter how hard I try to do the right thing.”

Picking up on the deep pain in her voice, he sat down on the opposite end of the couch. “None of this is your fault.”

She laced her fingers together and then drew them apart over and over. “The Wilsons are expecting to come home to a cozy warm house.”

It would be better for the operation if the homeowners didn’t find the house in disarray. But they would probably just assume it was a run-of-the-mill break-in. He wasn’t sure why she was fixated on doing her job considering a man with a knife was stalking them. “Look, the thieves are searching for that bookmark.”

She lifted her head and stared at him as fear filled her voice. “Don’t you think staying safe should be our priority?”

“We’re not safe as long as they are here. Finding it could give us some leverage.”

She wasn’t totally buying his story. He had to hand it to her—she was pretty savvy at reading him.

“Chances are, it was in some kind of container. Did you throw things away? Did you move them around?”

“Of course I did. I hurried through the house and straightened up a bunch of stuff and then you knocked on the door. I don’t remember every little item. I did throw some things away in the kitchen. I suppose we could check the garbage.”

“That would be a start,” he said. They still had to find a way out of here. “I didn’t notice any cars other than yours or mine. Is there anything parked in that garage?”

She stood up and walked toward him shaking her head. “The Wilsons bring their own car.”

Jason’s thoughts raced as he tried to come up with a plan. “The