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

“I just wonder why she was so upset, then.”

She stared at him long enough to make him nervous. “I was in the wrong. I went against our standard practice. She’s a good person.”

Jason checked the rearview mirror. The car was still behind them.

“I see him too,” Isabel said, her voice barely above a whisper.

He turned on the street that led to the police station. The car veered onto a side street. Once it was clear, Jason pulled into the police-station parking lot. No one was going to bother them when they were surrounded by a half dozen armed officers...he hoped, anyway.

Isabel appreciated the supportive hand Jason placed on her back as they entered the police station. She felt like she’d been trembling from terror ever since the phone call at Sun and Ski. Having him close at least helped her take a deep breath.

“Hey, Jason.” One of the police officers waved at them as they entered the station. He stepped toward them. “What brings you here?”

“This is Isabel...?” He turned toward her raising an eyebrow.

“Connor. My last name is Connor.”

“She needs to do an ID for me. You got your file of petty criminals loaded up?”

“Sure. Come this way.” The officer held out a hand to her. “I’m Officer Nelson. Jason and I went to high school together about fifty miles down the road in a little town no one has heard of.”

Isabel shook Officer Nelson’s hand.

“Come right this way.” Officer Nelson gestured.

She glanced over at Jason. “You’re not coming with me?”

“I’ve got a call to make.” He didn’t quite make eye contact. “You’ll be fine.”

Officer Nelson led her to a desk where he opened up a laptop computer. “So you were a witness to a crime and Jason is helping you?” He clicked several keys until a police photo of a man came up on the screen.

“Something like that.”

He bent to reach the keyboard. “Just click here to see the next photo.” Officer Nelson squeezed her shoulder. “Holler if you have any trouble.”

She filed through half a dozen photographs, studying each one. A picture of her old boyfriend Nick Solomon flashed on the screen. Her cheeks flushed as shame rose to the surface. She glanced around the police station, feeling as if everyone else would know she had once been connected with this petty thief.

Even in the police photo, Nick offered the camera his crooked smile and big brown eyes. She’d been so naive back then.

Her eyes came to rest on Jason, who was talking on an office phone. When he saw her staring, he turned away. The old quiver of suspicion and distrust returned. She wanted to believe he was a good guy. Everything he’d done and said so far backed that up. His kindness in offering to stay with her warmed her heart. But the look he gave her seemed filled with suspicion.

She stared at the photo of Nick again. What she didn’t trust was her own judgment of character with men. She had such a lousy track record.

Officer Nelson walked by her, holding a stack of file folders. “Is everything going okay?”

“So far I haven’t seen either of the men.” She was still on edge from the phone call. Seeing Nick in all his criminal glory hadn’t helped. “Actually, I need a minute to freshen up and clear my head. Where’s your bathroom?”

“You’ll have to use the one downstairs at the end of the hall. The one on this floor is part of a construction zone.”

Isabel pushed her chair back. She stared through the window at Jason, who was still on the phone. He looked at her. Something in his expression had changed. He looked...pensive?

She hurried down the hallway past scaffolding, toolboxes and cans of paint. But no workers. They must be on a break. The downstairs was quiet. The signs on the doors indicated the rooms were used mostly for storage of records and evidence.

She slipped into the bathroom and splashed water on her face, then stared at herself in the mirror. She looked frazzled, had dark circles under her eyes.

Come on, Izzy. Pull it together.

She bent her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “If God is for me, who can be against me?”

The door to the bathroom swung open. Before she had time to see who it was, a hand grabbed her hair and a knife was at her throat.

“You have something I want.”

She shook her head, then tried to turn toward the mirror to see the man who held her captive. He pressed the knife deeper into her skin.

“Don’t lie to me. You have twenty-four hours. We’ll give you a drop-off point.” He shoved her toward the wall and she fell. By the time she righted herself, she was alone in the bathroom.

She stood frozen and listening. Was the man with the knife waiting just outside the door? Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She could manage only shallow breaths.

Isabel stepped toward the door and pushed it open. She peered up and down the empty hallway before stepping out.

Pounding footsteps made her turn to retreat back into the bathroom until she saw Jason at the bottom of the stairs.

She ran toward him. His expression registered that he saw how scared she was. He held out his arms to her.

“Hey, what happened?”

“They found me.” Her voice was hoarse. Her words came out in broken fragments.

She rested against the soft flannel of Jason’s shirt. His arms surrounded her, and she was able to take in a deep breath.

After a long moment of silence, he said. “I had a feeling when you didn’t come right back. I hate that this is happening to you.”

She pulled back and gazed into his blue eyes. “They want the bookmark. I have twenty-four hours. They are supposed to contact me with a location.” Her chest felt like it was in a corset being pulled tighter and tighter.

“Could you tell if it was one of the men from the house?”

She shook her