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

His forehead wrinkled with concern. “I’m not sure. I’ll stay with you until we know you’re not a target.”

“I want this to be over.”

Before he could reply, the door burst open and Mary stepped inside.

“Glad to see you’re ready to work.” She turned toward Jason. “And you still have your driver, I see. I called the tow truck to get your car off the mountain.” Mary leaned over and rummaged through a desk drawer until she pulled out a key ring with multiple keys on it. “The atmosphere is like a funeral in here. Isabel, is there something you want to tell me?”

“I’m... I’m just glad to be back at work.” She gave Jason a nervous glance, wishing she could tell Mary the whole story.

“Good. We’ve got a couple of houses to get ready. One of them is a new client. I texted you the instructions. I gotta run.”

Mary was out the door. Isabel watched through the big bay window as Mary got into her car and drove off. A moment later, a car pulled away from the curb and fell in behind Mary.

Isabel’s breath hitched. “Are you having my boss tailed?”

Jason didn’t answer right away. “We have to rule her out. A lot of the houses where the drop-offs happened were managed by Sun and Ski. Mary would have the alarm codes.”

“You don’t know her. She’s been good to me.” That the FBI suspected Mary bothered Isabel even more than their suspicion of her.

“It wasn’t my call. They just need to rule her out.”

From the pit of her roiling stomach, Isabel could feel her resolve coming together. “I’ll make this drop if it will help further the investigation and get Mary off the hook. She’s innocent.”

Jason’s face brightened. His eyes held a twinkle. “Thank you for being so brave.”

She wasn’t so sure it was courage she felt so much as a desire to have all this be over. To get back to the life she’d built for herself, to not have a shadow of suspicion cast over a person she cared about very much.

“How are you going to get into the fund-raiser?”

“I have some connections. Big event like that is most likely catered. The Bureau will no doubt plant some people in there too. You’re not alone in this, Isabel.”

The words were like a soothing balm to her.

Jason gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze. “Well, come on. I’ll take you to the houses you need to open up and then you have a ball gown to buy, Cinderella.”

TEN

Jason felt itchy and uncomfortable in the waiter’s uniform his friend had loaned him. Starched white shirt, tails and cummerbund were not his style. He was a jeans and flannel or wool shirt kind of guy. He tugged on his collar as he scanned the room and kept his eye on the door, looking for Isabel.

“Thank you.” A tall woman in a sparkling gown grabbed a glass off his tray. Her dress was the same color as the champagne he served.

He spotted one other Bureau guy as he wove through the room. One of the older agents, a short man with a widow’s peak, stood talking to a man in a cowboy hat.

Isabel had ten more minutes before she had to make the drop. She ought to have shown up by now. His heart squeezed a little tighter.

Jason had stayed with Isabel through the day and into evening.

After they’d found her a dress and picked up the bookmark from Michael, he’d dropped her off at her place to get ready with the understanding that she would text him when she left. He’d had to get to the party to be in place when she arrived. Her text had come through ten minutes ago. How long did it take to get across town? Had it been a mistake to leave her even for that short time? What if the fund-raiser party was just a ruse and they intended to grab her the first chance they got?

He checked his watch one more time. He needed to get into place in the library without being noticed. He had to assume the smuggler mastermind had planted people besides the pickup guy among the partygoers. Even if the smuggler had figured out who Jason was, the waiter’s uniform would make him invisible.

Isabel appeared suddenly at the door, dressed in royal blue.

Jason breathed a sigh of relief.

Her cheeks were flushed with color. Her skin had something on it that sparkled when she stepped into the light and down the stairs. She looked stunning.

She spotted him but made only momentary eye contact. She wove through the crowd, stopping to shake hands and talk to people. A lot of these people were probably clients.

She whisked past him.

He spoke under his breath. “Everything go okay?”

“Yes, but I think I was followed. I had to take the long way.”

Might have been the thieves they’d encountered at the Wilsons’. The higher-ups would have known she was headed to the fund-raiser.

The music stopped, and a woman picked up a microphone to make announcements about the money raised and silent-auction items still left to be bid on. While the attention of the crowd was on the woman, Jason set his tray down and headed toward the library. Isabel had explained the layout of the house to him earlier in the evening.

Knowing that a nervous glance might give him away, he kept his gaze on the stairs in front of him but listened to make sure he wasn’t followed. The library was on the second story at the opposite end of the house, far away from any partygoers. Even someone who was lost or looking for a bathroom wouldn’t be on that side of the house.

In order to make the drop, Isabel would be less than a minute or two behind him. They were cutting this pretty close. His heart kicked into high gear and adrenaline surged through his system.

The library was dark. He slipped behind a