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

on the lights. A truck blocked the alley up ahead. He’d have to back out onto the street where Nick was parked.

He clicked the lights on, reasoning that that would look less suspicious, then backed onto the street and rolled forward.

Isabel stayed low in the seat but craned her neck to watch Nick’s truck. “He’s not moving.”

Jason phoned Michael, and they agreed to meet at an all-night coffee shop. He drove through the empty streets. Falling snow made the streetlights seem murky. They encountered only a little bit of traffic. A car slipped in behind them and followed them for several blocks but didn’t pull into the coffee shop.

When they entered the coffee shop, there was a group of twentysomething people dressed in ski gear. Cars in the parking lot had been loaded down with snowboards and skis. They must have been gearing up for some early-morning skiing. The group of three women and four men joked and laughed as they drank their hot beverages.

A woman with a laptop in front of her was the only other patron besides Michael and the skiers. Michael’s hair was disheveled and he had an overall droopy appearance despite the crisp white shirt and slacks he wore. A steaming mug sat on the table in front of him.

Jason and Isabel both ordered herbal tea. They took their warm mugs over to where Michael waited. Isabel scooted into the booth opposite Michael.

“Isabel has some important information.” After squeezing her shoulder, Jason sat down in the booth beside her.

Isabel cleared her throat. “Nick Solomon knows the man behind all of this.”

Michael sat up straighter. Light seemed to come into his eyes.

“He’s invited me to go with him for the buyer pickup. I think he’s testing my loyalty.”

“I think it’s too risky,” Jason said.

Michael smiled at Isabel. “You’ve pushed this investigation over the top. We might be able to wrap things up.” Michael couldn’t hide the excitement in his voice.

Maybe the investigation had been the most important thing to Jason at one point, but now he just wanted Isabel to be safe and away from that nutjob Nick.

“There’s something else,” said Isabel. “Nick says that the reason the guy does the pickups in empty vacation homes is to stick it to rich people to make them feel uneasy in their own homes.”

Michael nodded slowly. “That might be something our profiler could use.” He looked directly at Isabel. “We could provide you with protection for the buyer pickup.”

Jason opened his mouth to protest.

“I’ll do it if you promise me Nick Solomon goes to jail when this investigation is all over.”

“We can manage that,” Michael said.

That was a promise they might not be able to keep. What if Nick ran off or slipped through their clutches in some other way? Michael was so fixated on catching the kingpin, he wasn’t being realistic with Isabel.

“I’ll do it, then, and keep up my cover until you catch the guy and charge Nick.”

Jason leaned forward. “I want to be there as part of the protection team.” If he couldn’t stop Isabel, at least he could see to it she was safe.

Michael nodded. “When is the buyer exchange?”

“Tomorrow night. Nick will let me know when and where, probably at the last minute.”

“He’s watching her pretty closely. I need to get her back to her place before first light,” said Jason.

“Once Nick tells me the when and where of the buyer meet-up, I might not be able to let you know.”

“Leave that to us. We’ll stay close to you, Isabel. You might not see us, but know that we are watching,” Michael said.

Isabel nodded. “I’m ready to do this.”

Underneath the soft lights of the coffee shop, her skin appeared smooth as porcelain and her cheeks had a rosy glow. Maybe she was afraid, but the intensity of her features, the determination he saw in her eyes, did not give that fear away. What courage.

“We’ll get a man to tail you within a few hours. And we’ll have someone watching Nick.” Michael looked at Jason. “You stay close until we can get that in place.”

Jason nodded.

They said their goodbyes, and Jason and Isabel returned to his car. They drove across town, not seeing a single car.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes. Don’t try to talk me out of it,” she said.

That was that. He drove on in silence. When they were a block away from Isabel’s place, he saw that Nick’s car was no longer parked on the street. He circled the block and drove up the alley to make sure Nick hadn’t parked somewhere else.

“He must have given up and gone home for some sleep,” Isabel said.

They couldn’t get in through the door because of the chair Isabel had put in place. He helped her through the window by standing on the Dumpster and boosting her up.

When she’d pulled herself through the window, she turned around and looked down at him. “Thank you, Jason, for everything.” The moonlight brought out the softness of her features. He felt a surge of deep affection for her that went beyond admiration for her bravery.

Several times he drove the car around the block to see if Nick had returned before settling in his car in the back parking lot. He slept in short spurts through the night. Toward morning, he stared up at the window where he’d last seen Isabel and prayed they weren’t making a mistake letting her go through with this.

THIRTEEN

Isabel awoke feeling like her heart was in a vise. She squeezed her eyes shut, touched her palm to her beating heart and prayed that God would give her the strength and courage to face this day and what she had to do.

When she looked out her back window, Jason’s car was not in the parking lot. Of course, he needed to go home and get some sleep. She stepped into the living room. A sense of dread filled her when she saw Nick’s car parked out front again. She stared at it