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

desk and waited for the sound of Isabel’s footsteps. In this light, it would be nearly impossible to identify the pickup man. Jason would have to follow him back into the throng of partygoers and look for an opportunity to snap a photo. If that opportunity didn’t arise, he’d have to get a good look at the guy and trust his memory.

All Isabel had to do was slip the bookmark into place and hurry back to the crowd. She’d be safe among the partygoers.

He heard the light tapping of footsteps on the wood floor outside. Isabel’s dress made swishing sounds as she entered the room. She did a half turn in the middle of the floor, probably wondering where he was hiding.

His heart lurched. He wanted to say something to let her know he had her back. But it was too risky. She approached the bookshelf and clicked the light on her phone, bending close to the volumes. She held a gold clutch purse that contained the bookmark.

A shadow entered the room from a side door. The man was so silent and quick, Jason heard only two footsteps before the dark figure grabbed Isabel and spun her around, whispering something sinister-sounding in her ear.

Jason jumped to his feet and hurried toward Isabel. The shadow swung around so Isabel was between him and Jason.

“I’ve got a gun on her. You come any closer, she takes a bullet.”

He couldn’t see a gun, and though he was less than four feet away, he couldn’t make out the features on Isabel’s face.

“It’s...true... Jason.” Her voice, drenched in fear, faltered.

“Back away...now,” said the man covered in shadows. He was dressed in black, which made him even harder to see.

Heart raging against his rib cage, sweat trickling down his neck, Jason took a step back even as he tried to come up with a way to overtake the man holding Isabel.

Isabel’s frantic breathing seemed augmented in the darkness and silence of the library. Dragging Isabel with him, the man slipped toward a dark corner of the room.

There was a brief burst of light as a door opened and the man pulled Isabel through. The door shut and he heard a clicking sound. Footsteps retreating downstairs. Jason raced toward it. Locked. This was an exit the Bureau hadn’t accounted for.

He ran to the window that was on the same side of the room as the door. Down below, he saw Isabel being dragged toward a black truck that was parked off away from the other vehicles. From that side of the property, there was only one road out.

He hurried down the stairs toward his own car, praying that he would be able to get to Isabel in time. He sprinted through the back part of the main floor. The noise of the partygoers dimmed as he went through a part of the house where there weren’t many people, only some of the hired help. There was no time to alert the agent on the premises. Isabel’s life depended on his getting out to that road as fast as he could.

As he ran toward his car, the momentary image of Isabel’s terrified expression when the light had come through the open door bombarded his thoughts.

Jumping into his loaner car, he shifted into gear. He could see the black truck winding its way up the road. He pressed the gas. His car swerved, but he straightened it out. Conditions were far from ideal.

Shadow man’s truck disappeared around a corner. Jason prayed he would be able to get to Isabel before it was too late.

Isabel gripped the steering wheel as she struggled to take in air, to remain calm. She’d seen Jason’s car behind them for just a moment on the straight part of the road. She slowed as they rounded the curve, hoping Jason would be able to keep up.

“Drive faster,” said the man with the gun.

She glanced over at him.

He grinned, showing all his teeth. “Thought I’d never see you again, Isabel.”

Nick Solomon. The last person on earth she wanted to see. “I heard you got out of prison.” He must be connected with the smuggling ring. How else would he have known she was in the library?

“You’ve been following my exploits, have you?”

She had paid attention to his release date because she wanted to avoid him. “I thought I heard you went down to California.”

“I did for a while, Blondie.” He scooted closer, still holding the gun on her. “Let’s just say a much more lucrative opportunity came up here in Silver Strike.”

Nick instructed her to take several more turns. She wasn’t familiar with this road. She checked the rearview mirror.

“I think we lost your little partner there. I don’t know why you’re with him, anyway. If you wanted to get back into the life, if the word on the street is true, you should have called me.”

She pressed her teeth together. As much as she wanted to tell Nick she had changed and the last thing she wanted was a life of crime, she swallowed her words. The smuggling ring believed she wanted in on their action, and she had to continue that ruse. “I’m happy with my current partner.”

“What’s his name, anyway?”

So they hadn’t been able to identify Jason. That was why they’d communicated with her.

“Decided to go all quiet on me, huh?” He sat back in the seat, staring at her in a way that put her even more on edge. They drove for at least twenty minutes. He waved the gun in the air. “Turn that way and park when you see the little cabins.”

She turned onto a long unplowed driveway where there were several cabins and a larger lodge. This was probably a church camp that was only used in the summer.

“Stop before the truck gets stuck.”

She pressed the brakes. Nick held out his hands for the keys. They were miles from anything or anyone. They had encountered no other traffic on the road or passed any houses.

She slammed the keys