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

footsteps drew near, slowed, stopped altogether.

Jason held his breath.

The footfalls were slower but very near. Nick seemed to be doing a circle around them, stopping every four or five steps.

As close as Jason was standing to Isabel, he could sense her body tensing.

Finally, the footfalls retreated and then faded in the distance. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t turn around and come back.

Jason pulled out his phone, praying he would get a signal. He stared at the screen. Nothing.

Isabel gripped his arm just above the elbow. “We can get back up the hill and take Nick’s truck.”

“Yes. Good.” He took off running with Isabel right behind him. Had Nick doubled back or had he gone deeper into the trees? There was no way to know.

They scrambled up the hill. Her hand slipped into his as he pushed toward the top. Isabel had no gloves. Her hands were probably icicles by now. They ran past their overturned car.

Nick’s headlights were no longer on. If Nick had taken the keys, Jason knew how to hot-wire a car, but it would cost them precious seconds.

Isabel hurried around to the passenger side of the truck. Jason reached for the handle of the driver’s-side door. Cold metal pressed into his temple.

“I think someone here needs to die tonight.” Nick’s voice was menacing.

“No,” Isabel shouted from the other side of the truck. She hurried around to face the two men. “You don’t want to do that, Nick. You’ll go back to prison.”

“You should be with me, Isabel. You’re my soul mate.”

“You don’t have to kill him.” The silence surrounded them like a heavy blanket.

Nick pressed the gun barrel deeper into Jason’s temple.

“Leave him out here in the cold. He’ll freeze. Then you won’t be charged with his death.” Isabel took a step toward the two men.

“He deserves to die,” Nick said.

“No, Nick. I’ll go with you. You’re right—we were meant to be together. But just leave him here. He won’t make it back.”

The pressure of the gun let up a little on Jason’s skin.

“You’ll go with me?”

“Yes.”

What was she saying? This guy was a nutjob. How could she sacrifice her life like this? Or did she have something else in mind?

Nick pushed on Jason’s back. “Get down the hill by your wrecked car. Don’t try anything.”

Jason took a step. Nick held the gun on him. Jason brushed by Isabel. In the darkness, she reached out, touching his fingers only briefly. Was that her way of saying she was going to be okay, she had a plan, or was it just a goodbye?

He turned, thinking he could grab her. They could run again.

She shook her head.

“Keep moving!” Nick shouted.

He had to fight for her. He wasn’t about to give up so easily. He reached out for her arm, prepared to run.

“Jason, no.”

A gunshot cracked the air around him. He felt a stinging sensation on his upper arm. He’d been grazed by a bullet.

“The next one goes straight through your heart,” Nick said.

“It will be okay, Jason. This is what I want. I want to be with Nick.” Agitation colored every syllable she uttered.

His heart squeezed down to the size of a walnut as an invisible weight pressed on his chest. She was putting herself in so much danger...to save him, to help the investigation?

“Please,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jason made his way down the hill and stood beside the overturned car.

“Now lie down on the ground on your stomach and don’t move until we’re gone.”

Jason’s hands curled into tight fists. He really hated this guy.

He lay down in the snow, a chill seeping through his layers of clothes. He squeezed his eyes shut, listening to truck doors slamming and an engine fading into the distance in the cold dark night.

What had he allowed to happen? He rose to his feet, vowing to rescue Isabel before it was too late.

Once again, Nick had forced Isabel to sit behind the wheel, pointing the gun at her.

“If we’re going to be partners, don’t you think you should quit pointing that thing at me?”

Nick leaned close and brushed a finger down her cheek. “You got to prove yourself to me. Show your loyalty, Blondie.”

She steeled herself against his touch, not giving away how much he repulsed her.

For a moment, she listened to the sound of the car’s tires rolling over packed snow. She stared out into the lonely dark night.

Nick would have killed Jason. She knew that much. Her life was only at risk if he figured out she was undercover or if his rage got out of control. She had to choose her moves carefully.

Jason had a cell phone. If he could get to a place where he had a signal, he’d be picked up. The other agents might even find him. She had to trust his survival skills. He’d be all right.

Somehow, she’d have to find a way to communicate with Jason. Nick had taken her phone. He’d hinted he knew who was behind the smuggling operation. This was the connection they needed to take this thing apart.

Saving Jason’s life had been only part of the reason she’d made the choice she had. What she wanted even more than to help the investigation was to see to it that Nick Solomon went to prison for a long time.

Nick leaned so close to her she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.

“Show my loyalty? What do you want me to do, Nick?”

“There’s a pickup tonight at a property Sun and Ski manages. The cabin on Old Fort Road.”

“Yes, I know it.” She took in a breath to steady her nerves as she stared out at the road ahead. “What time?”

“Midnight. We’ll have time to go to your place so you can change into something that isn’t so noisy.”

Her neck muscles tensed. The ball had started at eight. Midnight had to be maybe an hour from now. How was she going to get in touch with Jason before then? Nick would watch her like a hawk.

He leaned