Deception

There hadn’t been room for Chief Winters on the helicopter, and maybe she was glad about that so she would have time to think about what she’d seen exactly before having to answer his questions. But he was probably searching for who could have done this. Making sure others were warned a crazy person was out there.

At the small Mountain Cove hospital clinic, Doc Harland attended to all her bruises and scrapes. He didn’t like the look of the deep gash along her shoulder and back from the fallen tree trunk’s branches, but she knew that though painful, that injury had saved her life.

That particular gash needed stitches. Her sprained wrist was already wrapped. Doc assured her it would heal within a few days.

“Hold still, dear.” Doc Harland had anesthetized the gash so she couldn’t feel the needle pricks as he stitched her up. “You aren’t afraid of needles now, are you?”

“I can’t stop shaking. My body has a mind of its own. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You’ve had a scare. We’ll give you something to calm you if you like.”

“No, thank you.” Jewel needed to stay alert. Figure this out. “Are Tracy, Meral and Buck still out there in the waiting room?”

“Far as I know. You want me to send someone to check?”

“No.”

“I’ve treated a lot of folks in my life, but never anyone who has gone into those falls and survived. What happened out there?”

“If it’s all the same to you, Doc, I’d like to forget about it.” Jewel stared at the sterile wall. She might want to forget, but she knew she couldn’t.

“I want to run a few tests. Draw some blood. But not today—you’ve already been through enough. I want to see you back in a week to look at those stitches and your wrist. We’ll get the blood then.”

Was Doc wondering if she had some sort of medical condition that had caused her to fall?

“There. All done.” Doc Harland flipped down her gown.

“Jewel?” Meral peeked through the door. “I brought you some dry clothes.”

“Come on in,” Doc Harland said. “I’ll leave you to change.”

Doc Harland nodded and left to give her privacy.

Meral set the clothes—a pair of jeans, teal T-shirt, light jacket, shoes, socks and undergarments—next to Jewel. “I’m so sorry, Jewel. If we’d just stuck together this would never have happened.” She wiped at the remnants of tears on her cheeks.

She started to hug Jewel, but then acted as though she’d thought better of it. Jewel must look terribly beat up and bruised. Admittedly, a hug would hurt right now.

Meral, short for Emerald, was in her thirties and ten years younger than Jewel. She’d been a teenager when Jewel had run away to marry Silas. Beautiful as she was, she looked fragile and pale at the moment.

“Are you okay?” Jewel found herself asking.

“I’m feeling nauseous. Buck insists on taking me back now. Are you almost ready?”

“Sure, I just need to change.”

“You need help with that?”

“No, you go on now. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Meral nodded and left Jewel. Poor thing. She probably didn’t know how to take what had happened. Jewel wasn’t sure she did either. It was hard to comprehend.

Jewel took far too long to get into her clothes. Every movement, every twist and bend of her body hurt. She risked a glimpse in the mirror over the sink.

Big mistake.

She didn’t even recognize herself.

Someone knocked softly on the door. Meral had timed it just right. They were both ready to get home. But how could Jewel let her guests at the B and B see her like this?

“Come in.”

The door opened and in stepped Chief Winters, standing tall and intimidating in his official tan police uniform.

Her pulse jumped.

Whether from being startled at seeing someone other than Meral, or if it was her reaction to Chief Winters himself, she wasn’t sure.

Seeing him here, clearly concerned about her, brought her more pleasure than it should.

She reminded herself he wasn’t here for personal reasons but to question her officially. But she wasn’t sure she was ready. Everything that had happened was starting to blur together.

What had she really seen? Had she simply imagined the figure on the ledge?

Chief Winters stepped completely in and closed the door behind him. His electric blue eyes always saw everything, and now they flashed with a powerful emotion. Before she could define it, the emotion was shuttered away.

What was the man thinking?

Jewel averted her gaze. She didn’t see the chief of police often outside the self-defense class. And in the class she tried not to think about how tall and rugged he was, or the confident air he had about him. He was in his late forties, the same age as her husband, Silas, would have been if he hadn’t died a decade ago. Silas and Chief Winters had been friends, not close, but friendly enough that they were on a first-name basis. And he’d always been warm and friendly to her, as well, and somewhat protective after Silas had died. All the more reason to keep her distance.

Jewel hung her head for a moment, instinctively, hating for him to see her like this, but then she quickly lifted her chin and faced him. She couldn’t let him see how he affected her. She was surprised to see that today something new burned behind his gaze, and it wasn’t warm or friendly. It was downright terrifying.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Checking up on you. You had to know I’d come. How are you, Jewel?”

“Did you find them? The person who pushed me?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. I know you’re tired and hurt, and this isn’t the best time, but I’m going to need you to think about what happened and tell me everything. Start from the beginning. Who pushed you into the falls?”

“I don’t know.”

Jewel wanted to scream. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t do that in front of Chief Winters. She missed Silas—wished she had someone here to hold her. She wanted to feel strong arms around her. Someone to tell her everything was going to be all right. That someone hadn’t just tried to kill her, and she was only imagining things. And in a moment of weakness like this, Colin Winters was the only man who could fulfill those needs.

But she couldn’t let him in that deep.

She’d lived in Alaska long enough that she was well aware of how to take care of herself. She’d run her B and B near the edge of the wilderness for more years than she wanted to admit. She wouldn’t give in to that weakness.

I know how to survive.