Deception (9 page)

Cobie gasped. “Oh, Jewel. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

But Cobie's expression said she didn't believe Jewel.

Adam's brows drew together as he directed his words to his wife. “Get in the car.”

His tone was authoritative, driven by his fear and a man's need to protect his family. Cobie nodded her agreement and got into the backseat with the baby. As Cobie busied herself with putting the baby in the car seat, Adam focused on Jewel.

“Grandma Katy told me you had a scare. Got pushed into the falls. And she told me about Jed. I'm sorry about that. About all of it. I'm sorry this is happening to you, Jewel.”

What did one say to that? An image of Jed's wife, Clara, flashed in Colin's mind. That's where he'd been—talking to Jed's widow—when he'd been told about the accident involving Officer Roberts and Jewel. He'd had to rush out and leave Clara with the news.

“Thank you, I guess.” She flashed a weak grin and sagged against Colin.

She was in more pain than he had thought. He wanted to kick himself.

To Colin, Adam said, “I didn't realize that it wouldn't be safe out here. You've got your hands full with this investigation, huh, Chief Winters? Is there anything I can do?”

“Just keep your family safe. All of them.”

“Do you know who is behind the attacks?”

“Not with any certainty.”

Jewel stiffened against him, then eased back and looked him in the eyes. What was she thinking? Was she any closer to telling him what she knew?

“We'll get out of your way, then. I'll make sure the rest of the clan knows,” Adam said.

The baby started crying, and Cobie glanced over her shoulder at her husband, urgent concern carved in her features.

“I wonder if it's safe for Grandma Katy to be helping at the B and B,” Cobie said.

Adam shifted as though he regretted his wife's words. They could be taken wrong, sounding accusatory toward Jewel. But on the other hand, Colin wasn't sure anyone was safe anywhere near Jewel until her attacker was caught.

Colin didn't want to have that conversation in front of her, though. He scraped a hand around his jaw. “Can we talk later?”

Jewel pulled away from him and headed to Colin's Jeep, which was also parked at the trailhead.

“Does Jewel need another place to stay?” Adam asked. “I mean to throw this person off her trail? You know Grandma Katy is more than happy to have her stay at the house.”

Katy Warren had already brought that up to Colin, and he had shut her down.

“You don't need to talk around me like I'm not even here,” Jewel called from the Jeep. “In answer to your question, Adam, thank you, but I don't want anyone else hurt. Staying at Katy's wouldn't be any safer for me and would be more dangerous for her.”

Exactly.

Adam's face paled. Did he regret making the offer? Jewel wouldn't be the first person to find a safe haven at Katy's place, but it was somehow different this time. Jewel had been brutally attacked three times now, and an officer murdered near the B and B.

No. Going to Katy's wasn't the answer.

Gunfire resounded in the woods behind them. Inside the minivan, the baby's cries grew loud and piercing. Adam dashed around to the driver's side, but then hesitated. “Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?”

“You get your family out of here.”

Adam nodded and climbed into the vehicle. Seconds later, he backed out, then drove off down the road toward Mountain Cove while Colin joined Jewel at his Jeep. He assisted her into the seat, though she tried to resist. Despite her pride, she was exhausted. His chest hurt thinking of what she'd been through. How could he keep her safe? What could he do to comfort her now?

Frowning, Colin jogged around and climbed into the driver's side. It was then that his radio squawked. One of his officers had been struck in the head with a thick branch, but he got a shot off in self-defense. He thought he hit her, but she kept running.

“Her?” The radio at his lips, Colin jerked his gaze to Jewel, whose eyes were wide.

“Yes, chief. It was a woman.”

“Keep searching.” He ended the call, but his eyes never left Jewel's. “I thought you said it was a man who attacked you.”

Her beautiful but tired eyes shimmered. “Whoever attacked me in the attic was a man, yes. He was much bigger and stronger than me, if that's an adequate measure. I was pressed against his chest while he was choking me, and he was solid. Nothing feminine about him.”

Colin took it all in and then got on the radio again with further instructions for his men. He needed more police in the woods to wrap this up before things escalated. He'd already put a call in to the Alaska State Troopers because of Jed's death, but it would take them time to get involved and up to speed, and things were moving fast. He didn't like any of this.

He turned on the ignition and spun the Jeep out of the trailhead. Idling next to the road, he hung on the steering wheel and looked out at the mountain and the deep greens of an old-growth forest that hid a murdering fugitive.

“I've mentioned this to you before,” he said. “But I think you should consider getting out of town, just for a while, until we catch this person. I don't think there's such a thing as a safe house in Mountain Cove. Is there some place
away
from Mountain Cove that you could go? Family, friends you could visit?” Colin felt like a real heel saying the words, given what David had told him about her family. Unless Silas had a cousin or someone Colin didn't know about, the only family she had that she could turn to, lean on when times were hard, was here with her at the B and B. And, of course, her Mountain Cove friends were like family to her. But he couldn't stand the thought of another person he knew and cared about deeply getting hurt.

Especially Jewel. He didn't think she could take much more. One more incident could break her.

“If I thought for one minute that leaving Mountain Cove would end this, I would do it.” Her worried gaze searched the dark woods around them.

Colin shifted in the seat and watched the woods, too. A misty fog had begun to creep through the forest, making it look ethereal and turning the woods more dangerous. He was glad he'd found Jewel when he had.

Come on. Come on out and face me, whoever you are. The both of you.
At least now they knew there were two involved in the attacks against Jewel. In Jed's murder.

He needed to be out there tracking these people with his men. He hated to send them into a dangerous situation, to the front lines, when he wasn't leading the way, wasn't sharing the danger with them. He'd lost one officer and almost another one to Jewel's attackers. He feared that one by one he might lose them all.

Someone was outsmarting them. Someone was two steps ahead.

“What are you keeping from me, Jewel?”

“Nothing. I thought I knew something that could help, but I don't.”

“Why don't you let me decide if it's important? That's part of my job. Help me to do my job better.”

He wanted to press, to argue with her, but when she turned her eyes on him, he knew he wouldn't get another word out of her. What she was hiding was a mystery that he would have to discover on his own. What could be so important to her? He had to push down his frustration in order to be patient with the woman next to him.

He brushed her soft, ash-blond hair back, and her eyes slipped closed. What was he doing? Not very professional of him, but he couldn't seem to break away, get free from the undercurrent between them. All these years he'd kept his distance, but now he was being swept away in a river that was all woman with hazel-green eyes and a deep inner beauty he found impossible to resist. The current that was Jewel held on to him, dragging him under. How did he escape without drowning in her?

NINE

J
ewel rested in the passenger seat as Colin drove her to the hospital clinic in Mountain Cove to have her injuries checked. Again. For the moment she believed she was safe, but that didn't halt her thoughts of others who had been hurt, and killed, because of her.

She searched the woods around her. Would another vehicle shoot out from the shadows and ram Colin's Jeep? Would he be the injured one this time? Or worse? Would he get killed because of her?

Lord, what do I do? Help me to do the right thing!

Head pounding, it was hard to concentrate on his cell phone conversation. But she did her best.

A woman had been shot. A woman had driven Jim Humphrey's monster Suburban into Jewel's vehicle. A woman had hunted her down when the crash hadn't killed her. Nausea roiled. The police were looking for the woman, expecting her to need medical attention, hoping the bullet had been more serious than a graze.

Jewel didn't know what to make of it. She sank deeper into the seat, letting discouragement engulf her. She'd been suspicious of Buck, but not Meral. A pang shot through her heart. A deep, wrenching ache that overshadowed all other pains.

She struggled to ignore it, to cover it up, so Colin wouldn't see her anguish. He would see right through her, and he probably already saw that she was hiding something. What was wrong with her that she wasn't strong enough, wasn't selfless enough, to tell him about her past? So what if her image, everything she'd worked to build here, would be destroyed with the truth that she was a thief? What did her reputation matter in the light of this new revelation?

Please, God, please don't let Meral be involved.

She didn't believe it, and if there was another woman involved and not Meral, then Jewel's assailant couldn't be Buck. Or could Meral be involved, and Jewel was too naive, too blind, too unwilling to see the truth?

Jewel didn't know if she could handle yet another betrayal. And, yes, she'd felt her family had betrayed her by disowning her all those years ago. But they had believed Jewel was the betrayer, willing to leave them, to leave her inheritance behind for a man—someone without wealth and means. Someone who could never make her happy, they'd claimed.

She'd fallen for Silas because he'd filled a deep need in her that she couldn't explain. That she couldn't make her family understand.

Colin's Jeep hit a pothole and then a speed bump, tugging her from her thoughts. Jewel rallied herself as he turned his Jeep into the clinic parking lot and assisted her out, ushering her quickly into a private room, per his request.

The nurse, Doc Harland's wife, Shana, appeared, her mouth in a flat line. “I know my husband's going to be upset seeing you in here again like this.” Her eyes flicked to Colin. “You mind leaving us some privacy, good sir?”

“Fine. I'll be right outside the door.” He had that demeanor about him as though he would never leave her side, but she knew he had more responsibilities than watching over her.

“Can you tell us about Officer Roberts, Shana?” she asked, believing Colin wanted to know the answer, too.

Shana's grim expression lifted a little. “He's going to be just fine. His leg is broken. Got a concussion.”

Again, Shana stared at Colin. “Doc'll be in soon, Chief. We need that privacy now.”

“Right outside the door, Jewel.” He pinned Jewel with his gaze that told her he hadn't forgotten she was hiding something, and then he stepped into the hallway, leaving the door open. Across the hall, he leaned against the wall where he could still see Jewel and crossed his arms.

Shana closed the door on him, then turned her attention back to Jewel. “I see you pulled your stitches, hon. Doc's not going to be happy about that, I can tell you right now.”

Jewel sat on the examination table and let Shana jabber on while she took Jewel's blood pressure. “Your BP's a little high, too, but that's understandable given the circumstances. You stay right here, and Doc will be in with you in a moment.”

She left Jewel alone. Jewel closed her eyes. Quiet. That was all she needed. A moment alone. Jewel thought about Colin's words. Maybe he was right. She would have to leave Mountain Cove. Maybe even Alaska. But for how long? What if she left for good? She could sell the B and B and live off that money. She'd had a few offers over the years. And somehow she had to figure out how to rid herself of the diamond—the very reason someone was trying to kill her. Or was it? With these new developments, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Doc Harland entered the room much too soon. Jewel wasn't up to his friendly conversation. She smiled and nodded the best she could, but she probably reacted more like a zombie to him. She hoped he understood.

When he examined her gash, she winced and let out a soft cry. Then he restitched it in places. “Sorry, if I hurt you. You sure don't need anything more to add to your pain.”

When he was done, he went to the small sink and washed his hands.

“Despite your pain and torn sutures, I'd say you're healing up nicely. But it looks like you have some new bruises from the seat belt that likely saved your life.”

Jewel could only nod. She had no energy for speech. No words of wisdom for anyone, especially herself.

The good doctor dropped his stethoscope and stared at Jewel until she focused on him. He had her attention now like he wanted. “Seems to me what hurts the most is in here.” He pointed at her head. “And here.” And then to her heart. “And I'm very sorry, but I don't have a salve for that.”

Jewel appreciated that he paid attention and saw through her physical pain to what was going on inside. “Even if you had medicine, it wouldn't work until this is over, if it ever could work.”
And if it ever ends
. Especially if Meral was involved.

Jewel was beginning to doubt it would end until she was dead.

His left brow arched. “I'm sure you're right. My only advice to you is to stick close to the Lord. I know you're a praying woman, Jewel. This is a trying time for you, but never doubt God loves you. Easy enough to see that He sent you a protector. So you only need to stay close to that man standing out in the hallway who cares deeply for you. But by the looks of things, he isn't going to give you much choice. The good news is that he'll protect you and maybe offer the healing touch to your heart that you need, as well.”

The look in Doc Harland's eyes and the deeper meaning behind his words warmed her cheeks. At that moment, Jewel knew that a fortyish widow could blush as easily as a young twentysomething. But she didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

“There's nothing between us.” The words rushed out.

Doc nodded, his expression reflecting that he didn't believe her. When he was done, he opened the door. “She's all yours, Chief.”

Colin stepped into the room. He hadn't left even to check on Officer Roberts? He squeezed Doc's arm. “Thank you for taking care of my officer, Doc. I can't lose another person to this. And thanks for looking after Jewel, paying her special attention.”

“Jewel is a special woman, and don't you forget it.” Doc Harland winked at Jewel. “Matt Roberts will be fine. His family's here. They'll get him back to you as good as new.”

Colin smiled as the doctor left, then he shut the door behind him before pinning her with those stark blue eyes that didn't miss a detail. That could practically read her mind. She tried her best to shutter away her pain. And her secret.

“I don't want to keep you,” she said. “I know you have a job to do.”

“You mean protecting Mountain Cove?”

“That's the job, yes.”

“I can guarantee you that everyone wants Mountain Cove police to find the person who killed Jed Turner. To stop this person before someone else gets hurt or killed. This case is my priority. Nothing is more important to me.”

“And I'm...in the center of that.”

“You're the target, yes. You're my priority.”

Of course this would be his priority. But there was something else, some anguish winding through his gaze that told her this was personal. She averted her own. She didn't want that from him.

That's a lie...

Jewel had never been good at lying to herself. Okay, so maybe she would admit that she did want that from him, but what difference did it make? Wanting and having were two different things. She'd have to work harder to keep her distance from him. That was all. Yet the pain in his eyes reflected back to her and made her realize that she could hardly stand to hurt him any more than she wanted to risk her own heart.

He had read well enough she was hiding something, and that had hurt him.

Hurt him.

Oh, Colin, if you knew the truth...

She wanted to tell him everything. Her doubts and fears, but she'd already decided that telling him she'd stolen something years ago, even if it was from her family during a crisis, would dim the light she saw in his eyes.

As an officer of the law, he would think less of her. How could he not?

And Jewel couldn't stand the thought of that. Since Buck didn't seem to be her attacker, that meant the attacks had nothing to do with the stolen diamond, so she wasn't hurting anyone by keeping her secret.

She remembered when Colin had found her today. She'd fallen against him in relief. Gone right into his arms, to an emotional place she'd never been before with him. She thought back to years gone by and realized that he'd been there for her so many times—just in the background, just on the edge, but he'd been there watching over her all the same.

“I'm taking you to the B and B now, but you should know, as long as you insist on staying there, I'm going to be there to watch over you myself. I'll switch out with my officers and take the night watch. Nothing is more important than catching these guys and keeping you safe.”

“That would be like working two jobs. You can't be my personal bodyguard and run the police department.”

“You might be surprised at what I'm capable of.”

Meral came rushing into the exam room followed by Buck. “Oh, Jewel, are you okay?”

Surprise and relief whooshed through Jewel as Meral hugged her, careful to avoid her back where the stitches had been repaired. Holding her sister, Jewel tried to determine if Meral had suffered an injury, even a graze from a bullet. The officer hadn't been certain his shot had found a target, so Jewel couldn't be certain about anything either.

Still, Jewel desperately wanted to believe that Meral could not be the woman in the monster Suburban who had rammed her vehicle off the road. Who had hunted for her in the woods to kill her. Behind her, Buck appeared concerned for Jewel's well-being, as well.

In her peripheral vision, Jewel saw Colin stand back and study them. Scrutinize them as though he suspected them. Why? What reason could he have? He didn't know Jewel's secret. Then again, as chief of police, he was probably suspicious of everyone.

Meral released Jewel and brushed away her hair, like any loving sister. Not like a woman who had only appeared in her life to search for a small fortune or to stab her sister in the back. How could Jewel have ever suspected Meral?

Shame threatened to undo her, but she buried it. Fought to rise above all that pulled her down.

“Jewel, listen, Buck has come up with a great idea.” Meral looked at Colin. “I'm glad you're here, too, Chief Winters. I think this could solve all your problems.”

Colin stiffened. Dropped his arms to his side.

“We're chartering a boat to explore southeast Alaska. The Inside Passage.”

Jewel's stomach lurched. “But...you're leaving already? How would that solve any problems? I don't want you to go yet.”

A grin slipped on to Meral's lips. “You're coming with us.”

“But I have a business to run and can't abandon my guests.”

“You can't stay in that house either. It's dangerous for your guests, too. Wouldn't you agree, Chief Winters?” Meral directed her question to Colin.

His lips pursed. “I can't argue with that.”

Jewel wasn't sure that leaving would make her any safer. But it might draw out her attacker and bring things to an end. It would mean she wasn't just waiting around for another attack. That she was being proactive.

She pursed her lips.

“Don't worry, Jewel. You can leave,” Meral continued. “I spent this afternoon talking to your employees, Jan and Frances, and to Tracy and Katy. You've thoroughly trained them to pitch in as needed. I think you can take a few days off, a week or even two, for your own vacation. That would get you away from this insanity. Nothing can happen to you on a boat with just your family.”

Meral stepped away from Jewel and into Buck's arms. “Besides, we've already chartered the boat. We leave in two days.”

Jewel pushed her face into her hands. She couldn't take all the eyes on her. Couldn't take the pressure of having to make such a hasty decision in the face of everything that was happening. But Meral was right. She couldn't keep her B and B open if she stayed there. She couldn't expect the Mountain Cove police officers to continue putting themselves in harm's way to protect her either.

And she had the feeling that Meral would go with or without her. Jewel couldn't let her time with Meral slip away so fast. Colin had suggested she leave, get out of town, and this could be the answer. She could also keep an eye on Buck for Meral's sake. She still had the feeling Buck was using Meral.

As if she could protect Meral, given she'd done such a great job protecting herself.

Why hadn't Meral seen through Buck before she'd married him? But then, maybe that was how Jewel's parents had felt when Jewel had chosen Silas. Except they had been wrong about him.

Could she be wrong about Buck?