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

her neck. To hide the fear in her voice, she enunciated each word with care. “I. Would. Never. Do. That.”

The cabin came into view. The car rolled toward it as Isabel tried to calm her nerves with a deep breath.

Nick peered out the window again. “The chopper is off that way.”

She stopped the car, turned off the ignition and waited for Nick to tell her what to do.

Unbuckling his seat belt, he turned to face her. He waited for a long moment before saying anything, probably because he knew the silence would make her even more afraid. “You sure ask a lot of questions, Isabel.”

Whatever suspicion he’d had about the helicopter was now being transferred to her.

“I’m just curious about your life, Nick. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

The answer seemed to satisfy him. “You know the code for this house?”

“Yes.”

“You can get more codes, right?”

“Well, I—”

“It would really help me look good to the boss.”

“Sure, Nick.” She wasn’t about to hurt Sun and Ski’s reputation in that way, but for now, to keep Nick on an even keel, she would agree to anything he said.

“You’ll be picking up five silver coins sitting in a dish on the entryway table. Don’t turn on any lights. You know the layout of the place, right?”

“Yes.”

He leaned toward her and kissed her on the cheek, then placed a leather pouch in her hand. “Put the coins in here.” He let out a yelp. “This is the big time for you and me.”

Her cheek felt slimy where he’d kissed it, but she didn’t wipe it away. Nick Solomon was a bad man, and she would do whatever it took to see he went to jail.

“Okay, I’m ready to do this,” she said. Her voice didn’t even sound like her own, all light and airy. Anything to not make Nick fly off the handle again.

“You do good tonight, and I’ll let you do the meet-up with the buyer.”

She pushed open the door, zipped up the old coat against the nighttime chill and hurried toward the house. Her heart pounded against her rib cage, and her fingers trembled as she touched the keypad and slipped into the dark house.

Maybe that helicopter had been the Bureau’s. All she knew was that right now she was on her own. She’d be all right if she could keep Nick from erupting. He was paranoid. After this was all over, he’d probably stay close to her or demand that she check in with him every hour.

She felt around on the table until her fingers touched the bowl. She scooped up the coins and put them in the leather pouch Nick had given her. She’d unearthed some valuable information, and she prayed Jason had made it to safety so she could find a way to communicate with him.

TWELVE

Tension threaded through Jason’s torso as he watched the glaring taillights of Nick Solomon’s truck.

Through the use of a chopper, the Bureau had alerted him to their position. He’d slipped in to tail Nick’s truck as soon as they were close to town. From the outside, it looked like Isabel had switched loyalties back to her old boyfriend. From the chatter on the radio, that was what the Bureau thought. He knew otherwise. Back on that remote road, Isabel had saved his life.

When she left him, it had taken him less than half an hour to get picked up by one of the agents. The Bureau had scrambled to put moving surveillance on Nick and Isabel.

Now it was his job to get to Isabel and have her explain herself to the agents in charge.

Nick’s truck came to a stop outside the Sun and Ski office on the opposite side of the street.

Jason turned his own car up an alley and killed the lights. He slipped out onto the street.

Isabel and Nick got out of the car. She handed him something and he gave her a hug.

A twinge of doubt played at the corners of Jason’s mind. She sure hugged him like she cared about him. Maybe Jason just didn’t like the idea of her hugging anyone. He was starting to have feelings for her.

Isabel crossed the street. Nick got back in the truck but didn’t drive away. So that was his game. He was going to watch her all night.

Jason slipped around to the back of the building. The offices were dark. Even if they didn’t lock up during the day, they must lock the place at night. The window of Isabel’s little apartment looked like the old-fashioned kind that would swing open if it wasn’t latched. He climbed on top of a Dumpster that was just beneath the window. He shimmied up a pipe and hooked his hands onto the windowsill.

He hung there for a moment wondering if he’d made a mistake. The rough texture of the brick wall provided him with enough traction to push with his feet until his hand touched the bottom of the window.

He pushed on the window. It didn’t budge.

He heard footsteps in the alley.

Jason tried to pull himself up but felt his arms straining against his weight. He was going to fall on the hard metal of the Dumpster, or worse—onto the concrete below.

The footsteps grew louder. No one else would be up at this hour. That had to be Nick doing some sort of patrol around the building.

He was about ready to let go and make a run for it when the window swung open and hands wrapped around his wrists. Isabel pulled him through the window. They sat on the floor in the dark.

“Stay low. He’s out there.”

“I know. I stayed on the couch so I could watch him through the front window. I saw him leave his truck,” she said.

The window above them was still open. Would that be a red flag to Nick?

He held his breath, tuning his ears to the sounds outside. The footsteps moved past and then faded.

Isabel’s hand slipped over the top of his. “I’m glad