Deception Read Online Free PDF Page A

of someone who would push her over.
    â€œI’m still wondering how nature could push a body under and keep it there, and that body still survive,” Cade said.
    â€œMaybe it’s more the nature of God that she survived.” It was easy to believe that Jewel had a special place in God’s heart like she had in Colin’s.
    â€œWhy would someone try to kill her?” David asked. “Was it just a random act of violence?”
    He voiced the question they were all wondering, but had no answer for yet. David had endured a fight to protect the woman he loved not long ago and understood better than most there had to be a reason. A secret not shared.
    Finding the person responsible for the attacks against Tracy had taken far too long. Colin could still hear the questions from the city council echoing in his ears, and they mingled with the new questions. The same questions.
    What are you going to do about it? How are you going to stop it before it happens again?
    * * *
    Two women approached the falls from the trail, pulling Colin from his thoughts. He nodded to David, Cade and Terry. They’d seen enough for now. They moved away from the falls and headed back down the trail.
    â€œWhat do you know about her sister and brother-in-law?” Colin asked.
    â€œNot much,” David said. “They’re newlyweds, I hear. I imagine it means a lot to Jewel that they’ve come to see her, since she’s been estranged from her family for a long time. Once when Silas and I were out fighting wildfires in the interior, he shared a little about Jewel. What a rare find she was.”
    Colin wouldn’t argue with him there. Her name said it all.
    â€œShe comes from a wealthy family, and they didn’t think Silas was good enough for her. When her parents made it clear they disapproved of him, he almost walked away. He loved her too much to tear her away, but in the end, he’d been selfish, after all. He couldn’t let her go. They were young and impulsive.”
    â€œAnd that’s why she hasn’t been in touch with her family all these years?” Colin asked.
    â€œThey didn’t give her much choice—her family disinherited her when she chose to marry him.”
    â€œWhat kind of parents did that? Disowned or disinherited their child?” Cade asked.
    â€œThat’s just weird,” Terry spoke as he led them down the trail.
    Colin couldn’t say much. Guilt and shame over how he’d treated his own family had followed him here to Alaska. He’d left his parents behind in Texas and, as they aged, his sister was forced to take sole responsibility for their care. Colin hadn’t been much of a son or a brother, but after what happened, he saw himself as a burden to his family—one they would be better off without. They must see what he wanted to forget every time they looked at him.
    â€œShe left it all behind—her family and the wealth—to follow Silas to Alaska.” David kicked a rock down the path.
    â€œI can see why he would think she was special,” Colin said. “She must have loved the man deeply. It’s not easy to live here or to give up your family. To give up wealth on top of that.”
    â€œYou know, she could love deeply again, right?” David studied Colin.
    Cade and Terry walked together up a ways. Colin was glad they hadn’t heard David’s question. He was just prying into Colin’s personal thoughts. Either that or nudging him toward a place he had no business going.
    They’d almost made the trailhead where they would kayak back to Mountain Cove, following the path Jewel’s group had taken in their search. Colin eyed his friend. Understood the meaning behind his words.
    â€œJewel deserves someone far better than me.” And if she had a wealthy family, she was more like Katelyn than he’d realized. That wealth had come between them more than once. Her wealthy family had questioned