Submerged

IN TOO DEEP

With Christmas just around the corner, Cobie MacBride wants closure in the case of her missing father. But when a visit to the last place he was seen leads to an attack by a masked assailant, Cobie knows she’s in over her head. Running for her life, she never expected to find safety with Adam Warren—the man she blames for her brother’s death. Seeking answers leads them to a treasure ship, buried secrets…and deadly danger. Christmas could find them starting a new future—if they can avoid getting trapped in the perils of the past.untain: Saving lives and finding love in the mountains of Washington State

MOUNTAIN COVE: In the Alaskan wilderness, love and danger collide

“We’re not safe here.”

Adam started the boat, then turned his attention to her. “What we have to figure out is who wants to kill you. That’s it. I don’t care why at this point. But odds are that the guy who came into the room and tried to smother you, who stabbed me, is the same man who tried to strangle you to death on the island. Who is it? Who is trying to kill you, Cobie? What does it have to do with the book we found?”

“I’m not sure. It’s hard to stay focused on the details, to remember, when you’re fighting for your life.” Had her father trusted the wrong man? Someone who’d killed him?

And what if Adam had died all because of this treasure someone wanted? Cobie wasn’t sure she could live with herself if that had happened. Nor was she sure she could keep her resentment and continue holding Adam responsible for Brad’s death. The thought of losing him…well, that nearly undid her.

Shivering, Cobie wiped the mist out of her eyes. She had the sense that danger was circling her, closing in on her, and she didn’t know if she would escape alive.

ELIZABETH GODDARD is an award-winning author of over twenty novels, including the romantic mystery The Camera Never Lies—winner of a prestigious Carol Award in 2011. After acquiring her computer science degree, she worked at a software firm before eventually retiring to raise her four children and become a professional writer. In addition to writing, she homeschools her children and serves with her husband in ministry.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

—Psalms 103:12–13

There are so many unsung heroes in the world, and I want to dedicate this story, as well as the entire Mountain Cove series, to all the search-and-rescue volunteers, the everyday people who answer the call to save strangers. And more than that, I dedicate this story to my personal hero, my husband, who has sacrificed so that I could spend too many hours out of every day in a world far, far away from him.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my many writing friends who’ve encouraged me along the way. I couldn’t have remained on this writing journey, especially early on, without you. I so appreciate the assistance my new friends in Juneau, Alaska, have offered continually throughout the writing of this series. I know the accuracy and the details of southeast Alaska have made for a much better story. I’m grateful to my agent, Steve Laube, for making me feel as if I’m his only client on most days. And as always, I’m so thankful for my editor Elizabeth Mazer for believing in me and my stories.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

ONE

Kessler Island, Southeast Alaska September

Dread crept up Cobie MacBride’s spine. She’d never wanted to do this again. But here she was, facing her past in an attempt to gain a future. Facing a cave again, when she never wanted to see the inside of another one after the caving accident that had taken her brother Brad’s life. She was here today for an entirely different reason, and yet it was all connected.

She’d expected a yawning opening, but instead she stared at the slim crawlway into the cave, low and vertical. A muddy chute into the underworld. A trickle of water ran down the towering rock face; velvety moss covered the ground and entrance. Surrounded by the lush greenery of ferns, the cave—a product of this karst-laden land—had remained hidden on Kessler Island, one of thousands of islands, most uninhabited, in southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.

Her archaeologist father had found it and written about it in his journal. That was the only reason she was here. He had been missing for six months now and presumed dead. They’d been estranged for years, until last Christmas when he’d called and claimed he wanted to make up for the past and would be in touch soon.

She never heard from him again.

Peering at the cave now—a place where he’d recently been and walked, that one last connection to him—Cobie knew she wouldn’t go inside alone. Bad enough she’d arrived on the island via floatplane ahead of Laura and Jen, two spelunking buddies she’d lost touch with over the years who had been eager enough to go on this venture with her. After she’d dumped her pack containing extra clothes, food and other supplies at the public-use cabin, she’d figured she could scout out one of the two cave entrances detailed in her father’s journal. He’d made sure that someone delivered the journal into her hands, leaving her with more questions than answers. All she wanted to do was go inside and see the last thing her father had written about.