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

have to loop around the steep terrain. Still, the sound of its engine seemed to surround them, persistent in its pursuit.

They slid, gaining speed. She held her hands out to slow down. The searchlight swept over them as the incline leveled off. They burst to their feet and ran until they came to another steep drop-off. She slid, trying to brake with her hands. As she felt herself propelled headfirst, she tucked, falling forward into a half somersault. She stopped, landing on her behind but disoriented.

Jason appeared beside her. He grabbed her arm to help her to her feet and pointed up the hill. “He’s doing this the hard way.”

The snowmobile, with only one rider on it, was about to make the first jump. The rider revved the motor and sailed through the air.

Both of them sprinted, half sliding and half running on the treacherous terrain. The noise of the snowmobile told her he was making the jumps and getting closer. The machine sounded like a groaning angry monster.

Then the noise stopped.

As they ran, Isabel glanced over her shoulder. The snowmobile was on its side. The rider had gotten to his feet and was lifting off his helmet, probably preparing to pursue them on foot.

Isabel dug her heels in to keep from sliding. Jason sprinted six or so feet ahead of her. She watched the back of his head in the moonlight. The reflective material on his jacket made him look like a bouncing set of stripes moving down the mountain.

The rhythm of her own rapid footsteps surrounded her. She filled her lungs with air and pumped her legs even faster, drawing close to the tree line. Her feet slid out from underneath her and she fell.

A set of hands yanked at her from the side. Before she could scream, a hand went over her mouth and she was dragged sideways. She watched the stripes of Jason’s jacket disappear over a hill as Nick swung her around. He dragged her toward a cluster of evergreens. His hand slipped from her mouth.

She called Jason’s name, her voice barely above a whisper and filled with desperation.

“Oh sure, call for your boyfriend.” Nick loomed toward her, pulling off his gloves.

“I lost my gun somewhere.” He flexed his hands. “Guess I have to do this the old-fashioned way.” His words dripped with menace and an intense rage she had never seen from him before.

The blood froze in her veins.

In the distance, the sputter of a coughing engine reached her ears. The snowmobiler must have decided to try to get the machine unstuck.

She crab-walked backward to get away from Nick, knowing that nothing she could say would change his mind. He meant to kill her.

She flipped over and scrambled on all fours. Nick pounced on her, grabbing her by her collar and jerking her to her feet.

He pressed his lips close to her face, his breath like lava on her ear. “Get up. Let’s get deeper into the trees so lover boy can’t find us.”

She tried to twist free of his grasp, which only seemed to feed his rage. Once they were hidden by trees, he swung her around and clamped his hands on her neck. As she twisted her body and struggled for breath, she kicked him in the shin. He groaned but squeezed tighter around her neck.

Her eyes watered and white dots surrounded her field of vision. She drew her hands up to his, clawing his fingers and trying to break free. She pried his fingers off enough to speak each word delivered between gasping breaths. “You. Don’t. Want. To. Go. To. Prison.”

His grip loosened. “What?”

Her throat felt like it had been scraped with a utility knife. “Make it look like an accident. Like I fell off one of those steep jumps.” The move would buy her time and a chance at escape.

His fingers still pressed against her windpipe. “You think I’m that dumb. You’re just trying to find a way to escape.”

He pressed harder. She screamed, but it seemed to fade before it was out of her mouth. By now Jason would have glanced over his shoulder and come looking for her. But he’d have no way of knowing where they’d slipped into the trees.

She managed to pull his fingers away from her throat for just a moment.

“Please, Nick. Don’t do this.”

“Beg all you want.” His hands gripped her neck even tighter, shutting off all the air.

She scratched at his fingers and tried to turn her body to break free. Her vision became a single dot of light as all the breath left her lungs. Her knees buckled. Nick pushed her so she fell on her back. She took in one sharp breath before his hands were on her neck again.

Darkness surrounded her. Her last thought was that the snow felt cold on the back of her head.

As he sprinted back up the hill, Jason mentally kicked himself. It had only been a matter of a minute that he’d run without checking over his shoulder for Isabel. Nick must have been stalking them as they moved down the hill. Jason rounded the hill. The snowmobiler had righted his machine and was revving the motor, preparing for takeoff.

Jason darted into trees to avoid being spotted. He ran. Did he dare call Isabel’s name? He zigzagged around trees, pushing past the rising panic. The snowmobiler whizzed by along the tree line, his engine sputtering and humming. The headlights reached some feet into the forest. Jason ran deeper into the trees, seeing nothing. He was out of options. He’d do anything to find her.

“Isabel.” He spoke her name rather than shouted it.

To the side, a rustling of tree branches caught his attention. He darted in the direction the noises had come from. Weight landed on him. He fell on his back. A fist landed a hard blow to his head while something pressed on his chest.

“She’s gone, lover boy. If I can’t have her, nobody can.”

The thought of anything bad happening to Isabel ignited