Mountain Secrets by Elizabeth Goddard

Author:Elizabeth Goddard [Goddard, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-01-04T14:58:42+00:00

* * *

Midway down the long driveway, Jason hit the brakes and listened to the engine hum. The smart thing would be to return to his hiding place and wait for the two thieves, the man and the woman who called herself Isabel, to emerge from the house, then do his job—get the photos the Bureau had hired him to take.

His job was to be invisible. If the smugglers knew they were being watched, the investigation would fall apart. In order to get to the mastermind, they had to let the petty criminals do the thefts and not involve local cops making low-level arrests.

No part of that plan made the tightness in his chest subside. He prided himself on being able to tell friend from foe. Discerning motives in people was part of what made him a good PI. Still, he was uncertain about the woman in the house. Yes, she’d given him the brush-off, but something about her had been so vulnerable, afraid even. Was she telling the truth about being the hired help or just trying to get rid of him so she and her partner could finish the job? Or maybe she’d been brought in on this against her will.

He had to know for sure.

He killed the engine and slipped out of the van, dashing toward the side of the house and pressing along the wall. The van would only be visible from upstairs north-facing windows, not from the downstairs. He crouched down beneath the window by the door and peered inside. Pieces of a shattered vase lay on the floor by the foyer table. A woman’s purse was flung against the wall. Signs of a struggle?

He didn’t want anyone to die here today.

Jason steeled himself and opened the door. He slipped into the dark house. Still determined not to blow this operation but to get the woman out of danger, he padded noiselessly through the foyer.

The silence on the main floor was eerie. The contents of a purse lay scattered across the ornate tile. Turning in a slow circle, he stepped over the shards from the broken vase. He scanned the main floor and then his gaze traveled up to the mezzanine and the second floor, where a creaking noise had come from.

He climbed stealthily up the stairs, his heart drumming in his ears. Once he made it to the second floor, the polished floorboards of the interior balcony didn’t creak when he placed his foot on them. He hurried down the hallway, checking each room, bathroom, den, first bedroom. All empty.

Back at the mezzanine, Jason pressed against the wall and listened.

Down below, noise rose up from what was probably the kitchen. Isabel darted past his field of vision and disappeared through a door on the other side of the house. He sprinted to the top of the stairs.

A man burst out from where Isabel had come. The same tall thin man who had entered the house earlier—he glanced from side to side and then darted in the opposite direction of Isabel.

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