Page 20 of Sergeant's Christmas Siege

And as they got closer, they could see more of the lights on all over the cove, and the hum of the generators danced around with the sound of the waves.

“Home sweet home,” Templeton said. And meant it, which never failed to surprise him. He’d been everywhere. But he liked it here, in all this gray and green, with the punishing winters and the months of darkness.

“Do you consider this your home?” Kate was asking. “Or is it more of a fiefdom?”

“The thing about your average medieval fiefdom is that it actually contained a lot of people’s homes,” Templeton said. “It’s not an either-or scenario.”

He was too aware of her gaze on the side of his face. “Interesting tack to take.”

Templeton slid the boat into the slip at the dock and tied down the lines. He offered to help Kate off the boat once it was moored, received a trooper death glare in reply, and held his hands up in surrender as she climbed off onto the dock herself. Then he preceded her down the length of the dock to the land, wondering what she saw as she followed him. It was just another working dayhere at Alaska Force headquarters, no matter when whatever daylight they got this time of year decided to make itself known.

It was coming up on nine, and the sun was actually visible—but there were already clouds moving in. So it hardly mattered that it was slightly less dark, as far as Templeton was concerned.

And when they got to the end of the dock, where the beach ran off toward Templeton’s cabin, Alaska Force’s newest hire stood there waiting on the lowest step of the wooden staircase that rose up to the main part of the lodge.

Bethan Wilcox was one of the handful of women to ever make it through the army’s elite Ranger School, which Templeton—as one of the very low percentage of men who had done the same—could only marvel at. The kind of dedication that it took to commit herself to an army that was still largely uncertain what to do with women in combat positions got nothing but respect from Templeton. Being a good soldier was tough enough without centuries of institutionalized sexism packed on top of it. Being an excellent one was even harder.

Also, she was a killer good shot, fast as hell, and held her own physically.

Templeton wasn’t at all surprised that Isaac had brought her on board.

It was only Jonas, in fact, who seemed to have any reservations—but Templeton couldn’t help thinking that was personal. Not that he’d dared to ask. Yet.

“Welcome to Fool’s Cove, Trooper Holiday,” Bethan said as Kate walked up behind Templeton to stand at the foot of the stairs.

Kate smiled, glacial and cool. “Are you here because you’re a woman and that’s supposed to put me at ease? Or because you’re the newest member of this questionable little group and the least likely to implicate yourself?”

Bethan didn’t blink. “I have to assume both, ma’am.”

Kate actually smiled. Templeton absolutely did not stare at it, like a starving man, because that would be crazy.

He wasn’t going to do this. He’d made a promise to himself a long time ago, and he intended to keep it, no matter how pretty his trooper’s smile was.

Templeton ordered himself to get his head on straight. Then he and Bethan led an Alaska State Trooper who already believed they were suspicious criminals directly into the heart of Alaska Force.

Five

Once again, Kate’s expectations were not met.

She climbed up the steep, well-made stairs to the lodge and found herself on one of a series of porches that ran alongside the connected or nearby cabins clinging to the side of the hill. She’d seen the surveillance photos and had looked at historical documents dating back to the arrival of the first Gentry into the area, and wasn’t surprised that the place still looked like the rustic fishing lodge it had always been.

But she’d expected it to beactuallyrustic.

Instead, everything was weathered but clearly well maintained, if not new. She could fling herself facedown on the porch at her feet, rub her cheek against it, and very likely come up with no splinters.

She almost said that out loud, but... didn’t. Because she made the mistake of looking at Templeton while she thought it, and everything seemed to tangle inside her. And she found herself wondering what sort of splinters she’d get if she leaned in close and rubbed her cheek—

Kate was so appalled at herself that she froze for a moment, there at the top of the steep stairs.

And Templeton’s expression suggested he knew why.The sun finally heaved itself a little bit higher, sending the pale winter light cascading over the trees but still leaving the cove in shadows. Kate felt shadowed herself, and compromised, and she hated it. So she called in her location, ostentatiously, holding Templeton’s gaze while she did it.

“You do what you need to do to feel safe, Kate,” Templeton drawled when she’d finished.

“I certainly appreciate your permission, Mr. Cross,” she replied, sounding as cool as he had sounded lazy.

Then she nodded at Bethan Wilcox, who stood at attention on Templeton’s other side, with her face perfectly blank, as if she, at least, hadn’t fully shifted from the army into this ex-military life yet.

They led Kate into what must have once been the main lobby of the lodge when it was actually run as a fishing camp hotel. It was a wide space. There were chairs and sofas scattered here and there, and Kate had imagined that the place would be decorated much in the same style as her inn. One hundred percent, full-octane Alaska, complete with animal skins, hunting trophies, and taxidermy galore. Or more in the style of the compound of her youth, with an eye toward hunkering down and holding off armies rather than a living space that catered to humans.

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