Deception (13 page)

THIRTEEN

T
rapped.

She was jammed against the wall in the booth. The yacht would leave without her unless she headed to the dock soon. But Colin clearly wouldn't let her go until he'd gotten some answers, and he was right. So right. Right that Buck was dangerous, right that she knew it and right that it was a matter of life-and-death. She shouldn't go back, except she'd left something there. How did she make him understand?

His actions should incense her, but deep down she recognized how much he cared about her. His nearness and her predicament had her heart beating erratically. She'd done well to try to protect it, but the recent threats on her life made her vulnerable. She was too busy trying to stay alive and trying to keep Meral safe, too, and she'd let down her guard.

Protectiveness poured off this man, who had her cornered, and his stark blue eyes took her in as though trying to soak her up. A warm shiver ran over her. Jewel had never thought she could love someone like she had loved Silas. And maybe she couldn't. She was a different person now than she'd been twenty years ago, and that giddy love-conquers-all optimism had worn away. But could she be ready for a new kind of love?

With Colin's sturdy form blocking her way—protecting her—maybe it was more that she was afraid to love again. She had a feeling that Colin could be that man if only she'd let him in.

But she shoved those thoughts away. She had to get to
The Alabaster Sky.

“You're right. He is dangerous. That's exactly why I have to go back.”

“To save Meral? You think she'll listen?” Colin's tone challenged.

No. She'd tried to stop Meral. Make her see the light about Buck, but her sister wanted too badly to believe that she'd found her happily-ever-after. She wouldn't listen to a word against Buck. And anyway, there was more to her need to return to the boat than that. More that Colin didn't know. “You don't understand.”

She slid toward Colin, acting as though she expected him to move out of her way. But he didn't budge, and now she sat closer to him.

“Then make me understand, Jewel. Tell me what you haven't been willing to tell me before now. I'm done skirting the real issue, dancing around it.”

She hadn't wanted to tell him the whole truth at first because she couldn't bear to see his disappointment in her. And then she had hung on to the slim hope she was wrong about Buck. But now? Colin needed to know it all because she'd been wrong to withhold it. She saw that now.

And telling him, seeing his reaction to the truth, would go a long way in burying anything she might otherwise have with him. She drew in a breath, fortified herself.

“Have you ever done something that completely went against everything you are or believed in? Something that you've regretted for the rest of your life?”

“Yes, Jewel. I think we've all done that.”

“Years ago, I took something valuable that didn't belong to me, and I left it on the boat.”

He paled. “Something worth killing for?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Why didn't you tell me about this before?”

“It doesn't matter. I have to get it back.”

“Tell me what it is and where you've hidden it, and I'll get it for you.”

“There are things you don't know about me, Colin. For starters, I come from an old-money, wealthy family back east.”

The words didn't seem to faze him. Did he already know? But he couldn't know the rest, and she had to tell him quickly. They were running out of time. “I was in my early twenties when I went on a cruise in Alaska with some friends and I met Silas. That weekend, as he showed us the wilderness and nature, I fell in love with this place. But it didn't end there. Silas and I...we had a connection. It seemed crazy. I thought I'd never see him again, but he followed me home and even though it sounds old-fashioned, he courted me. At the time, my family thought he was after our money.”

Jewel shifted. Dragged in air. She was doing this. Really doing this. “They did everything they could to keep us apart, but I was in love and wouldn't listen. Silas made me feel alive. And I knew he didn't care about the money, so I planned to elope with him. My father got wind of it and threatened to disinherit me if I went through with it. I knew he was serious—that once I left with Silas, he wouldn't accept me back into the family, even if I came back a few months later and said it had all been a mistake. Risking everything like that for Silas...it scared me. I guess that I wasn't completely convinced it wasn't all a dream. I figured if the worst happened, then I wanted something to fall back on, some security. I didn't have my own money, not in any significant way, and now I see that was a way they controlled me. But there was something else I could get to—something valuable.”

Colin leaned closer, intent on her story. “What did you take?”

“I took the Krizan Diamond. It's a family heirloom from an ancient mine in India. It was handed down to my mother, whose family founded Simmons Diamonds. My father married into the business. They groomed me to be part of that business, too. But diamonds are cold and hard and lifeless and don't give love, so I left it all behind for Silas. Except for...the Krizan Diamond. It's worth a small fortune.”

He paled and slid away from her in the booth. His move was subtle, but she'd seen it.

It was just as she'd feared. He thought less of her now for stealing a diamond and harboring it in her home—not to mention keeping the information from him. She didn't blame him. But what would he, an officer of the law, do with her now? She wasn't a jewel thief in the typical sense. And once this was over, though she couldn't see how it would end, she was willing to give the diamond back to her family, to Meral. Jewel no longer needed it. No longer wanted it.

In fact, she had never needed it. But she'd been afraid to trust completely.

With Colin's reaction, she saw that perhaps she had been wrong to trust him with the truth.

“Why did you bring the diamond?”

“All these years I had it hidden away in the attic, but with the attacks I suspected that someone might be after it. I've suspected Buck all along. Learning that a woman had driven the truck that rammed me made me doubt my suspicions because I just couldn't believe that Meral would be involved. I thought to put it in a safe-deposit box, but I couldn't get away. And then if I brought it with me on the boat and the attacks continued or the diamond was stolen, I would know for sure that Buck had been behind the attacks.” Maybe. Saying it out loud now, she wasn't sure it made any sense.

“And you didn't trust me enough to tell me?”

“Telling you about it meant implicating Buck. I didn't want to believe it could be him. I wasn't sure. But now I have to go.”

“No, Jewel. I can't let you go. Buck won't get away. Don't worry. Now I need you to stay here.”

“Where are you going?”

Something shifted behind Colin's gaze. It was cold, hard. Professional. “Now that you've told me the truth, I know what I'm dealing with and I need to make a phone call. Promise me you will wait here until I get back.”

Jewel didn't want to give him that promise.

“I'm telling you this as an officer of the law, Jewel.”

“Am I...am I under arrest?”

He frowned. “Get serious.”

Right. The statute of limitations had expired. But she'd kept pertinent information to herself that could have helped him solve this case. Still, what she'd told him had disturbed him far deeper than she would have expected.

She saw that clearly in his eyes. He'd pulled away from her physically. And emotionally. Though she'd protected her heart from falling for this man, the intense pain shooting through her chest illuminated that she was more than halfway there.

* * *

Colin stumbled from the booth. Could he trust Jewel to stay? He had no choice. He needed a moment to regain his composure. His vision tunneled as his past swirled before him.

A jewel thief.

I know where I've seen Buck before.

Brock Ammerman.

Buck Cambridge.

Buck Cambridge
was
Brock Ammerman, the jewel thief who had murdered Katelyn twenty years ago. But he was dead. Colin had killed him.

He staggered. Pressed his hand against the wall for support.

It can't be. How can it be?

His cell buzzed. What now? He pulled it from his pocket absently, going through the motions by rote. He must be losing his mind. He didn't believe in coincidences, but neither did he believe in the impossible.

Colin glanced back at Jewel to make sure she was waiting. Her gaze shifted around the room as if she were looking for an exit, but he was blocking the only one.

The text was from the forensic artist. He'd sent the picture he'd created after taking off the years—Brock Ammerman.

Buck Cambridge
is
Brock Ammerman. The man had changed so much over twenty years, and Colin had thought him dead anyway. Little wonder he hadn't been able to place him.

Colin leaned completely against the wall.

Not possible.

How? How could this be? He'd killed this man in self-defense. The charges against Ammerman hadn't stuck, and Colin had wanted to kill him. He had wanted to exact revenge, but that hadn't been his motivation when he'd followed Brock that day. He'd just wanted to warn him that he would put him behind bars for good one day—let him know that it wasn't over. Then when Brock had tried to kill him in response, knowing that Colin would always be watching, Colin had gotten the upper hand and killed the man in self-defense. One bullet to the chest had taken him out for good.

But it had all looked suspicious, and Colin had been put on leave while the department had investigated. It hadn't helped that Katelyn's family had wanted him to pay for her death. Had that all been part of Brock's plan?

But how Brock had survived, he still didn't know. Had someone working within the department helped Brock fake his own death? Had it all been big conspiracy?

No. Colin wouldn't believe that for a minute. His cell buzzed.
Not now. Not now.
He didn't have time. He glanced at it. David Warren. If he didn't answer, David might send the Coast Guard looking.

“Yeah, David,” Colin said. “I can't talk for long. I'm...in the middle of something.”

“You okay? Cuz you don't sound okay.”

“It's too much to explain right now, but I think it's all coming to a head. And I have to figure it out.”

Colin had to pull himself together. He still didn't have enough evidence to make an arrest for murder. His story was a tangled mess, as was Jewel's. It would take more than a phone call to untangle it, and Buck still wouldn't be arrested for Jed's murder and the attacks on Jewel. He might disappear altogether.

But one thing Colin knew. Brock was dead. He'd killed the man himself, so what was going on?

Lord, help me to see the truth here.

“Maybe I can help.” A giggle resounded over the phone that didn't belong to David.

“Where are you?” Colin asked.

“I'm off today. Tracy's working at the B and B. I can't wait until this is over so I can get my wife back. I never see her. Right now I've got the boys.”

Colin nodded absently, thinking of David and Tracy's twin sons.

“So what's up? Tell me what's going on. Do I need to come and get you and Jewel?”

Twins.

“No, not yet. I've got to go now, but just know this, David, your phone call helped.”

He made a quick call to his friend back in Texas to start looking for answers. Did Brock Ammerman have a twin?

Colin paced, calming his heart rate so he could function.

Jewel was sitting back there waiting for him to return. What would he tell her? Think. He had to think.

Why would Buck come all the way to Alaska for the diamond? His wife had access to wealth and jewels via her family. Except...if they were willing to disinherit their oldest daughter for marrying without their approval, then he doubted they would allow Buck into the circle, giving him access to anything of value. But maybe it was more than that. Brock's targets hadn't been high profile. Meral and Jewel's family would definitely be a high-profile family, the theft creating too much noise, and the jewels couldn't be fenced so easily or quickly.

That had to be it.

Buck had convinced Meral to come to Alaska because he'd found out about Jewel's secret. Add that Colin was here as chief of police, and Buck must have seen it as a way to get the prize and revenge all at once. Maybe that was why he killed Jed. To get back at Colin for Brock's death. But he might not be finished with his killing spree.

Colin blew out a breath to erase those morbid images that had sent him running to Alaska to start afresh. Brock had murdered Katelyn—and now Brock, or rather his twin, was here close to...Jewel.

And poor Jewel, carrying the weight of believing she'd stolen the diamond, when he could easily see a loving mother making sure her young daughter had taken something of value by either planting the seed or allowing her access. But what did he know about it? That was all conjecture.

Everything he had right now was conjecture. He needed the facts. No matter how much he listened to his gut, his instincts wouldn't hold up in a court of law. He'd been right to follow his gut this far, sure, but he needed to seal the deal. Find the evidence behind the attacks on Jewel. But he could figure that out. Right now he had to get back to her. He turned to enter the restaurant again.

Jewel was gone.

FOURTEEN

“Y
our sister's husband is a dangerous man.”

She should have waited on him. He'd made it clear when he'd pulled the police card. The chief-of-police card, rather. But she'd also gotten that he wasn't going to let her go back to the yacht, where she needed to be. As soon as his focus had turned from her, she'd fled the booth.

Hearing Colin say that Buck was a dangerous man had infused her with determination. She couldn't let Meral leave with that man, even though he was her husband. But how to get her away? How did Jewel convince her?

After slipping through the window in the restroom, she dropped to the ground. Hemlock, spruce and cedar hid her from view. She'd never done anything like this before. Well, other than taking the diamond. But she had to get to the yacht. She had to save Meral, if she could, and retrieve the diamond while she was at it.

Buck wasn't going to hurt Jewel in broad daylight in front of the crew or Meral. She could try one more time to save her sister, despite Meral's vitriolic words.

Pressing her back against the log wall of the visitor center, she hoped Colin hadn't discovered her gone yet, but he would soon enough. She had to hurry.

She'd seen him on the phone. Had he been checking on old warrants for her arrest for stealing a diamond? The statute of limitations was only a few years, but that wouldn't make her any less a thief to him. She'd seen the shock in his eyes turn to pure disappointment.

Her words had shaken him as much as his reaction had crushed her. But she was a woman who was destined to lose at love. She was glad she hadn't actually been playing that game with Colin. Only toying with the idea.

More importantly, she had to protect her sister and survive another encounter with the man after her life.

No more time to think about Chief Colin Winters, and, yes, she should think of him in official terms from now on. He'd made that much clear.

She crept to the corner of the building and peeked around. In the distance the yacht was still anchored in the channel. Had Meral and Buck been taken back yet? If she hurried, she could make it before they left.

Jewel sagged against the wall. A cedar branch tickled her arm. Part of her wanted to give up. It would be easier to sink to the ground and cry for all she had lost—a list that now included her sister for a second time.

Meral's life could be in serious danger. She could disappear on the cruise. Be pushed overboard, and Buck would likely gain her money, holdings and benefit from an insurance policy as well as obtain the Krizan Diamond either by finding and stealing it or by killing Jewel.

What am I supposed to do now, God? None of this makes any sense.

Why did You let this happen to me? I was doing okay at the B and B. I had made a life of my own already. I didn't need the past to come roaring back.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

Don't You shove the past, our sins, as far as the east is from the west? I even have one of those cross-stitches Katy makes in one of the rooms. Maybe You did remove my transgression, but I've kept my sin close, hidden in the attic and buried away until now. And I'm sorry for that. So sorry.

Jewel shook off the weight of guilt. She could worry about that later.

A pain pierced her side. The muzzle of a gun. Jewel stiffened and gasped. She turned, but a grip forced her to keeping staring ahead. In the distance,
The Alabaster Sky
began heading out into the channel.

“Looks like your past has caught up to you.” The familiar voice whispered in her ear.

“What's going on? Why is the yacht leaving without you? Where is Meral?”
God, please don't let Meral be involved. Please keep her safe.

“
Your sister is safe and sound on the yacht. She won't even know I'm gone.”

“Are you saying that you drugged her?”

“Works like a charm. She never even realizes that she's missing time. She doesn't have a clue that you hold her life in your hands.”

Jewel gasped.

Colin, come on. Find me. Notice I'm gone!

She'd wanted to escape before Colin found her, and now she wished he would hurry up. He hadn't let her out of his sight until now. Was he still freaking out over what she'd told him? Still on his phone?

“Come on.” Buck pushed her away from the visitor center and through the trees, away from the center's entrance and the channel where
The Alabaster Sky
had been anchored.

Jewel thought to fight him. She wouldn't go willingly. She tensed, preparing to use a self-defense move, but he pressed the weapon to the base of her skull. Fear corded her neck. Could she fight him and live?

“Don't even think about it. Remember, you have to think of Meral. You fight me and I'll make sure she suffers before I kill her.”

“What kind of monster would kill his own wife?” But she knew. She knew what kind of monster. He was a con artist. He'd never loved Meral. Jewel had seen that from the beginning.

Buck had turned desperate and was showing his true self now. What had happened to change his tactics?

He grabbed her hair, sending shards of pain through her head, and shoved her deeper into the woods. Then suddenly he stiffened. He yanked her close and stepped behind a broad cedar tree. Pulling her against his body, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and thrust the gun against the side of her head.

He pressed his lips against her ear and whispered, making her shudder. “One word and you're dead. Think of Meral.”

He was pure evil in human form. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. She'd known, felt it all along.

What had he heard? Someone following?

Was it Colin?

Please, God!

A minute, maybe two he waited, and with his proximity those seconds felt like an eternity. She was so close she instantly felt when the tension drained from him. His fear of discovery had gone.

He whispered again. “I'm warning you, Jewel, don't try your lame self-defense tactics on me. A firearm is the great equalizer. Even if you were a match for me, I'm the one with the gun. I've been impressed with your resilience; I'll give you that. The way you survived that tumble into Dead Man Falls. That alone should have killed you.”

He grabbed her hair and shoved her forward and away from the tree.

Jewel stumbled over a root and fell. He didn't relinquish his hold on her hair, so she cried out, the pain searing. She was sure he would rip her hair out of her scalp. Her eye burned.

“Get up,” he snapped.

Using her hands to grab his on her head, she stood up, or more likely she was pulled to her feet. She wanted to do her part to make the slow going even slower, to stall as much as she could. Maybe someone would see them. Maybe Colin would finally discover she was gone and catch up to them. But if she delayed his plans, then the monster would do much worse than rip out her hair before it was over. Kill her and then Meral.

They marched deeper through the undergrowth that ended when it banked against the glacier.

“Why kill me? Why not just take what you want?”

Where was he taking her? Why back toward the glacier?

“Because I couldn't get to it—or thought I couldn't. Our second day at your B and B, I heard you mention to Meral that you'd willed everything to her years ago after your husband died, your way to connect back to your family. Your death would have meant Meral had access to the diamond. I figured you had it in a safe- deposit box in a bank like most people. One quick shove into Dead Man Falls and it would be mine. But no, you had to survive that. Good thing, too. When I saw you sneak up to the attic I knew why.”

“How? How could you know?” She turned to face him.

“The same way I know you brought the diamond with you on this trip. I've made a living reading people who have things to hide.” He smacked her across the face. Her eyes watered again. “That's for making me work so hard for it.”

Cheek burning, Jewel pressed her palm against her face.

“Keep going.”

She stood her ground. “Where are we going? Why don't you just ask me what you want to know? Why drag me out here?”

“All in good time. We have to get away from your knight in shining armor first. He's probably on his way to the yacht to look for you. Good thing I made it more difficult. I underestimated you, Jewel. You know how to hide things. Now I've had to go to extreme measures. Things would have been so much easier if you had just died any of the times when you were supposed to.”

He pressed her forward. Jewel shivered, growing tired. Through the forested incline she could see the icy edges of the glacier only a few yards down where it hedged against the mountain on its journey to the channel. Jewel stumbled and fell to her knees again, but this time Buck did not have a hold on her hair.

He grabbed her arm and jerked her up. Jewel cringed from the pain. He ushered her forward and down, then around a crack in the ice and shoved her into an opening—a cold chute into another ice cave, different from the one they'd explored earlier.

“Why are you taking me here?” How did he know about this cave at all?

He forced her ahead of him into the cave without crampons or backpack or gear. Her gloves were stashed in her pack. At least she still wore her jacket. As she climbed over icy boulders and slipped a few times, she was positive this was off the tourist path. Then he shoved her to the ground, where she fell between two boulders and cut her hand on the ice.

“Nobody will find you here.”

“So you mean to succeed in killing me this time.”

“It's simple, really. If you tell me where the diamond is, you can go back to your police chief and sister. I'll disappear. When she wakes up, you get to tell her I'm gone. Tell her the truth about why or not. It's up to you. But either way I'll disappear with the diamond.”

Jewel didn't believe him. Why would he let her go? She could then be a witness against him if he was ever caught. No, once she told him where to find it, he would kill her.

Jewel pushed up to sitting, the best she could. Pain jabbed her from new injuries and echoed from her recent ones—all due to Buck's attacks. If only she could have confronted him from the beginning.

“You can't just sell a diamond like that. It won't work.”

He laughed. A strange sound coming from him.

“I'm in the business of imports and exports. What do you think that means? I'm a jewel thief and a fence. I already have the connections. I already have a buyer. All I need is the diamond.”

Jewel squeezed her eyes shut. She never could have imagined this twenty years ago when she'd taken what she'd thought would be a safety net.

“Come on, Jewel. The diamond for Meral's life.”

“She's your wife.”

“And your sister.”

“Answer me this, did you ever really love her?”

“She's a beautiful woman with top-notch society connections. Marrying her had more than a few benefits. But what you're missing here is that Meral married
me
for
my
money. She doesn't really love me, although she's convinced herself that she does. She likes to think of it all as a fairy tale. But the truth is she loves that I can provide a comfortable life for her. Her last husband depleted her funds. Meral was broke.”

“But if you have money, why go to such lengths for this diamond? Why marry a woman you don't even love?”

His smirk speared through her. “I'm in business. I must keep generating revenue, and we've had a few hard years.”

Jewel hung her head, wanting to get as much truth out of him as she could, if she could trust anything he said. “Does she... Does Meral know the truth about you? Was Meral in on your plans to steal the diamond?”

“No. Meral's habit of turning a blind eye, and not wanting to see the ugly truth of how things really are, is how her first husband got away with draining their accounts. She learned years ago, probably while she was still at home with your family, not to let herself notice things that might upset her and simply look the other way when it suited her. And because she did, you were able to get away with the Krizan Diamond when you stole it and left to marry a poor man. She shared the truth about you and the Krizan Diamond with me, her soul mate, the first night we were together as lovers. That same night I knew I should propose. It's a gift, really. A sixth sense for a big opportunity that has paid off well in business dealings. And Meral accepted. After all, I was charming and had money. Marrying me would benefit her. She dressed it up in more romantic thoughts, but getting married was a mutually beneficial business arrangement.”

Jewel nodded, understanding things better now. It fit with the image she had of her sister to learn that Meral wouldn't choose to do something she felt was wrong...but she'd be easily convinced to look the other way when someone else did something wrong—as had Jewel years ago.

“Now time's up,” he said. He tugged some plastic straps from his pocket.

“Buck, no. You can't leave me in here, tied up so I can't even move. I'll freeze to death.”

He gestured with his head. “You've got your coat. But I stashed a few blankets. You'll be fine. I just need time to verify you've told me the truth. If I find it, then I'll make a call and let someone know where you are. And if I don't, then I'll be back with a piece of Meral.”

Right. If he found it, then he would leave her here to die, or come back and kill her himself. Either way she was dead.

Buck shifted toward her, lifted her chin with the muzzle of his gun. “Now, Jewel. Where did you hide the diamond?”

* * *

Colin stood outside the cave listening, getting most of what Buck said, but missing a few words.